10 things you need to know today: May 29, 2019

1. Missouri could become 1st state without abortion clinic since 1973

Planned Parenthood said Tuesday that Missouri's last abortion clinic might be forced to close this week because the state's health department is "refusing to renew" the women's health group's annual license to provide abortions in Missouri. Unless the license is renewed by the end of the month, Missouri will become the first U.S. state without an open abortion clinic since the Supreme Court's 1973 Roe v. Wade decision declared that women have a constitutionally protected right to choose to have an abortion. Planned Parenthood has filed a lawsuit asking a court to block the state's decision so the clinic can keep operating, and a circuit court judge will hear arguments from both sides on Wednesday.

CBS News

2. More injuries reported as 12-day tornado barrage continues

A 12-day barrage of tornadoes and other violent weather continued in parts of the Midwest and Plains late Tuesday as tornadoes tore through eastern Kansas and Missouri. The latest twisters ripped up trees and power lines, and destroyed several houses in and near Lawrence, Kansas, southwest of Kansas City. Twelve people were injured. The previous day's storms, which hit eight states with 55 tornadoes, killed one person and injured at least 130 others in Ohio and Indiana. The mayor of Celina, Ohio, announced on Tuesday that 82-year-old Melvin Dale Hanna was killed when a parked car slammed into his house, and said there are areas of his town "that truly look like a war zone."

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

The New York Times The Associated Press

3. McConnell: Senate would confirm 2020 Supreme Court nominee

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Tuesday that Republicans would confirm a nomination by President Trump to fill a Supreme Court vacancy in 2020, even shortly before the 2020 presidential election. The comment marked a reversal of McConnell's refusal to even consider former President Barack Obama's nomination of Judge Merrick Garland in 2016, which he said was because it was an election year. McConnell and his fellow Republicans said then that it should be up to the next president to decide who should appoint a replacement for the late conservative Justice Antonin Scalia, so voters would have input. In a newly released video launching his 2020 re-election campaign, McConnell highlighted his work getting Trump's two Supreme Court nominees, Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch, confirmed.

The Hill

4. Supreme Court delivers mixed ruling on state abortion bans

The Supreme Court on Tuesday left in place a decision blocking a provision of an Indiana law that would let the state ban abortions that are motivated by race, sex, or disability. The Court did say the state could implement a part of the law requiring abortion clinics to bury or cremate fetal remains. The decision signaled support by the conservative majority for some state efforts to tighten abortion regulations, but hesitation on re-examining key abortion rights precedents. Conservative Justice Clarence Thomas wrote that the court would "soon need to confront" the issue. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said she would have overturned the entire Indiana law, saying the cost and trauma of the state's rules "may well constitute an undue burden" on a woman's rights.

CNN

5. 2nd Republican stalls disaster aid with objection

Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) on Tuesday became the second House Republican to object to a $19.1 billion disaster aid package, preventing House Democratic leaders from passing it by unanimous consent. Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) prevented House leaders from passing the measure by unanimous consent on Friday before most lawmakers left Washington on recess. Both he and Massie said they objected to the aid because it would increase the national debt and did not include money President Trump requested for spending to address the immigration crisis he has declared on the U.S.-Mexico border. The Republican-controlled Senate passed the bill on Thursday, and Trump said he would support it despite the lack of border funding. The House is scheduled to return to Capitol Hill on June 3.

The Washington Post

6. Biden campaign criticizes Trump for 'embracing autocrats'

Former Vice President Joe Biden's presidential campaign responded forcefully to President Trump on Tuesday, after the president insulted Biden during a press conference in Japan on Monday. Trump said that he agrees with Kim Jong Un's opinion that Biden is a "low IQ individual," and called the North Korean leader a "smart man" during a Memorial Day trip to Japan over the weekend. After Trump landed back in the U.S., Biden's campaign called his comments "beneath the dignity of the office. To be on foreign soil, on Memorial Day, and to side repeatedly with a murderous dictator against a fellow American and former vice president speaks for itself." The campaign also called Trump's remarks "part of a pattern of embracing autocrats."

NBC News

7. Bolton says Iran seeking nuclear weapons

John Bolton, President Trump's national security adviser, said Wednesday there was "no reason" for Iran to scrap its nuclear deal with world powers if it isn't trying to develop nuclear weapons. Bolton is in the United Arab Emirates for security talks. Trump unilaterally withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal a year ago. Iran recently said it would back away from the 2015 nuclear deal, which limits its uranium enrichment in exchange for sanctions relief, unless Europe helps it to endure tighter U.S. sanctions. Iran has long insisted that its nuclear program is only for peaceful purposes such as generating power. Bolton also said, without offering evidence, that Iran was "almost certainly" behind the recent alleged sabotage of four oil tankers off the UAE coast.

The Associated Press Reuters

8. Comey op-ed: Trump tells 'dumb lies' to smear FBI

In a Washington Post op-ed Tuesday night, former FBI Director James Comey said that while "it's tempting for normal people to ignore our president when he starts ranting about treason and corruption at the FBI," it's time to "call out his lies." President Trump is a "liar who doesn't care what damage he does to vital institutions," but baselessly accusing FBI agents who were doing a lawful counterintelligence investigation of treason and corruption is wrong, dangerous, and runs contrary to the "stubborn facts," he wrote. Trump's investigation of the Russia investigation will reveal only that "there was no corruption," Comey added. "There was no treason. There was no attempted coup. Those are lies, and dumb lies at that."

The Washington Post

9. MacKenzie Bezos pledges to give half her fortune to charity

MacKenzie Bezos, former wife of Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, announced Tuesday that she would give at least half of her more than $36 billion fortune to charity. "There are lots of resources each of us can pull from our safes to share with others," the fiction author said in a letter announcing that she had signed the Giving Pledge, a philanthropy initiative launched in 2010 by Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett. MacKenzie Bezos has previously bankrolled cancer research and anti-bullying work. "My approach to philanthropy will continue to be thoughtful," she said. "It will take time and effort and care. But I won't wait. And I will keep at it until the safe is empty."

Yahoo Finance

10. Netflix to 'rethink' filming in Georgia over abortion restrictions

Netflix on Tuesday became the first major Hollywood studio to say it would "rethink" its investment in Georgia if the state's restrictive abortion law takes effect. "We have many women working on productions in Georgia, whose rights, along with millions of others, will be severely restricted by this law," said Ted Sarandos, Netflix chief content officer. "It's why we will work with the ACLU and others to fight it in court." Netflix produces the hit TV series Stranger Things and Ozark and other content in the state. Several actors, including Alyssa Milano, have called for a boycott. Warner Bros., Disney, and other major studios have declined to comment to avoid alienating audiences. Georgia's booming film and TV industry has generated 92,000 jobs and $2.7 billion in annual revenues.

Variety The New York Times