Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang paused from pushing his central campaign message — universal basic income — on Monday and turned his attention toward military veterans.

Yang on Monday unveiled a policy proposal focused on improving veteran services. He's only the second candidate to release a plan focused specifically on veterans so far, after Marine Corps veteran Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.), and he's the first among those who have qualified for the debate stage, per Politico.

The plan would allow veterans to forego required civilian training for certain jobs, like emergency medical technicians. For example, under Yang's proposal the training a former military medic received during their service time would qualify them to become a EMT without having to undergo any further training or licensing. Yang thinks that the current re-training requirements are disrespectful toward veterans, as well as expensive and "wasteful."

Yang's proposal would revamp the longstanding G.I. Bill by allowing veterans to receive in-state tuition from any public institution, regardless of how long they've held residency in a state, because "military service provides protection to all 50 states." He would also introduce a "reverse bootcamp", which would help veterans transition to civilian life, and he would provide federal waivers for veterans so they can receive controlled substance treatments, such as medical marijuana, for pain management and post traumatic stress disorder.

The 2020 candidate was reportedly inspired to draw up the proposal after meeting with members of Common Defense, a veterans group that opposes President Trump. Read the full plan here. Tim O'Donnell

"Saudi Arabia is once again a radioactive political football in the U.S., and President Donald Trump can't resist grabbing it," Politico reports. Trump's implication Sunday that Saudi Arabia would dictate the U.S. military response to Saturday's aerial attack on a Saudi oil facility "prompted fury in Washington, where the Saudis have faced an increasingly hostile climate in recent years," in fact "almost as politically charged as in the years immediately following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, when it was revealed that 15 of the 19 hijackers were Saudis."

Trump administration officials have said Iran is behind the attack on the major oil facility, though Trump and Saudi Arabia are publicly less definitive on the culprit. In a telephone briefing Monday, Brian Hook, Trump's special representative to Iran, told congressional staffers that Saudi Arabia views the attack as "their 9/11," CNN and The Washington Post report, citing two people familiar with the call.

The comparison to the Saudi-linked terrorist attacks, less than a week after the 18th anniversary of 9/11, "rankled several staffers," the Post reports. People also felt the comment was inappropriate, CNN reports, "because there have been no reported deaths as a result of the Saudi oil field strikes yet nearly 3,000 Americans were killed in New York, Washington, and outside of Shanksville, Pennsylvania, in the 9/11 attacks." An official used the same 9/11 comparison on Trump during a briefing on the Saudi oil explosions, a source tells The Daily Beast, and Trump appeared "unmoved."

"From an American perspective, it seems like a trivialization of the tragedy of 9/11, and perhaps offensively so," Hussein Ibish, a senior resident scholar at the Arab Gulf States Institute, explains to The Daily Beast, "but from a Saudi point of view it is a way of explaining their shock to Americans." Peter Weber

In a tweet Sunday, President Trump suggested the U.S. might go to war with Iran if Saudi Arabia thinks that's a good idea. There are those that consider this a smart gamble, but Monday's Late Show is not among them:

"On Saturday, a major oil processing facility in Saudi Arabia was knocked out by multiple drone strikes," Stephen Colbert explained in Monday's monologue. Houthi rebels immediately claimed responsibility. "Now, these Houthi rebels are in Yemen, so we're going to bomb Iran — or not!" he shrugged. The Trump administration blames the Houthi allies Iran, claiming 10 drones couldn't do that much damage. "Yes, drones are highly advance tech," Colbert said. "So they've narrowed down the suspect to Iran — or your dad, who just bought a quadcopter at Best Buy."

"Our top intelligence officials think Iran did it, and so does our top unintelligence official, Donald Trump," Colbert joked. And Trump seems to think Saudi Arabia should dictate any U.S. military response. "Oh, I keep forgetting that Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman now tells the U.S. president who to attack and how," he said. "It's, of course, all part of Trump Hotels rewards program 'Rent 500 Rooms, Get a Free War!'" Trump tried to assuage fears about U.S. gas prices and the possibility of war with Iran, but Colbert had a few questions and a couple of jokes. Watch below. Peter Weber

President Trump got no small amount of grief for suggesting Sunday that he would let Saudi Arabia decide what military action, if any, the "locked and loaded" U.S. should take against Iran if Tehran turns out to be behind an aerial attack on a major Saudi oil facility. But Trump's tweet has some strategic merit, argues Joshua Landis, director of the Center for Middle East studies at the University of Oklahoma. Here's the kernel of Landis' argument:

Congress, of course, has the explicit constitutional authority to declare war, and Saudi Arabia obviously does not. And Landis isn't arguing that Iran wasn't behind the attack — in fact, Iran has a clear motive — but he notes that the Saudis have been more cautions in assigning blame to Iran than the Trump administration has, and Trump was more cautious than Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Trump also appears less than eager to get into another war in the Middle East — for good reason:

If Saudi Arabia is willing to gamble U.S. forces on an attack against Iran — calling Trump's bluff, in Landis' telling — Riyadh will foot the bill, Trump says. "The fact is that the Saudis are going to have a lot of involvement in this if we decide to do something," Trump said Monday. "They'll be very much involved, and that includes payment." Does that mean Trump has essentially turned the U.S. military into a Saudi mercenary force? Again, not necessarily, Landis says.

But you can't rule out the possibility. Peter Weber

Sean Spicer is clearly comfortable in green, whether that involves hiding in bushes or wearing a lime ruffled frock while making his Dancing with the Stars debut.

On Monday night, Spicer, the former White House press secretary, and his partner, Lindsay Arnold, danced the salsa to the Spice Girls' "Spice Up Your Life." Thankfully, the spice puns ended there, before Spicer was forced to eat a chili pepper or start throwing turmeric at the audience.

The dance lasted approximately one minute and 10 seconds, and although the judges only gave him a score of 12 out of 30, things actually went pretty well for Spicer — he didn't fall, he didn't drop his partner, he showed off his ability to point at things, he wasn't replaced by Melissa McCarthy halfway through, and he didn't claim his appearance drew the largest audience ever to witness a Dancing with the Stars premiere, period, both in person and around the globe. Catherine Garcia

The bond between pediatric nurse Claire Mills and her patient, Jackson, was instant.

Jackson was born five weeks early via emergency C-section, weighing just 3 pounds, 10 ounces. Mills, 25, works in the neonatal intensive care unit at a hospital in Texas, and she knew that Jackson's mother was struggling. Mills became a pediatric nurse because she was also a preemie, and she told Inside Edition she felt an "instant connection" with Jackson.

After several weeks, Jackson was discharged, and because it happened when Mills was off duty, she didn't have a chance to say goodbye. Mills called the social worker who had been assigned to work with Jackson's mom, and let her know that she was available to help the woman in any way possible. She soon heard back from Jackson's mom, who said she wouldn't be able to provide her son with the life he deserved, but Mills could.

Mills worried about raising him as a single mom, and talked to her own mother about it. Her mom encouraged her to follow her heart, and soon after, Mills started the adoption process. Jackson, now 4 months old, is all settled into his new home. He has gained weight and is in good health, and is "so happy," Mills said. Catherine Garcia

"Last week was the third Democratic debate, where 10 Democratic hopefuls went head-to-head — you know, I was actually going to make a joke about this story, but I don't think it needs a joke," Jimmy Fallon said on Monday's Tonight Show. "I think it needs to be slow-jammed." One of the 10 candidates at the debate, Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), also wanted to slow-jam the news. And so she did — the "news" here being her run for president, platform, and qualifications.

Harris had the relatively dry job of explaining her platform, with a few zingers thrown in; Fallon added the double entendres to spice it up a bit and some puns that might not exactly resonate with the all-college-audience — "last tango in Harris"? A Culture Club reference? — and Tariq Trotter, as per usual, had the best lines. If the other 20+ Democratic candidates want their turns to slow-jam the news, Fallon could easily keep this up until after the Iowa caucuses. Peter Weber