Trump greets suicide-prevention walker
WASHINGTON -- President Donald Trump on Monday welcomed a Marine veteran to the White House as he completed his 300-mile walk to the nation's capital to raise awareness about the problem of veteran suicide.
Terry Sharpe, 69, was met at the Washington Monument by Karen Pence, the wife of Vice President Mike Pence, for the final leg of his journey from Summerfield, N.C., to the White House grounds where he was greeted by Trump, Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie and the U.S. Marine Band.
Sharpe makes the annual walk to Washington to spotlight the high rate of suicide among the nation's military veterans. In 2017, the suicide rate for veterans was 1.5 times the rate for non-veteran adults, after adjusting for population, according to the 2019 National Veteran Suicide Prevention Annual Report.
Sharpe, along with fellow veteran Allen Brown, completed their first 300-mile walk to the White House in 2014.
2nd university bows out as debate site
WASHINGTON -- The University of Notre Dame has become the second university to withdraw as the host of one of this fall's three scheduled presidential debates amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The university was set to host the inaugural face-off between President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden on Sept. 29. The first debate will now be hosted by Case Western Reserve University and Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, the nonpartisan Commission on Presidential Debates announced Monday.
The commission has selected Cleveland Clinic as its health adviser for all three presidential debates and the one scheduled vice presidential debate.
In a release, Notre Dame President the Rev. John Jenkins said the university made "this difficult decision because the necessary health precautions would have greatly diminished the educational value of hosting the debate on our campus."
The University of Michigan was scheduled to host the second presidential debate but withdrew last month. That debate will now be held at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts in Miami.
Trump-taxes subpoena called too broad
NEW YORK -- President Donald Trump's lawyers filed fresh arguments Monday seeking to block or severely limit a criminal subpoena for Trump's tax records, calling it a harassment of the president.
Lawyers filed a rewritten lawsuit in Manhattan federal court to challenge the subpoena by Manhattan's state prosecutor on grounds that they believe conform with how the U.S. Supreme Court said the subpoena can be contested.
The high court ruled earlier this month that a Manhattan prosecutor could subpoena tax records from Trump's accountant over his objections.
But the court said he could challenge the subpoena as improper just as anyone else can.
Trump's lawyers had argued that the president could not be criminally investigated while he is in office.
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In their new court papers, Trump's lawyers said the subpoena of his tax records was "wildly overbroad" and "amounts to harassment of the President."
Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. sought the tax records in part for a probe of how Trump's then-personal lawyer arranged during the 2016 presidential race to keep the porn actress Stormy Daniels and model Karen McDougal from airing claims of extramarital affairs with Trump. Trump has denied the affairs.
Vance, a Democrat, has requested eight years of the Republican president's personal and corporate tax records.
Weakened Hanna inundates south Texas
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas -- A downgraded Hanna continued weakening Monday but its remnants still threatened to carry rainfall and flash flooding to waterlogged parts of south Texas and northern Mexico that have been dealing with a surge in coronavirus cases.
Downgraded to a tropical depression, Hanna was 65 miles north of Fresnillo in the Mexican state of Zacatecas as its winds weakened to about 25 mph, the National Hurricane Center said Monday.
Initial reports indicated Hanna dumped up to 15 inches of rain in some areas in south Texas. Another 1-2 inches were forecast for Monday in areas of south Texas that are already water logged. The northern Mexican states of Coahuila, Nuevo Leon and Tamaulipas were forecast to see an additional 4-8 inches of rain, possibly producing mudslides in those areas.
Border communities whose health care systems were already strained by covid-19 cases -- with some patients being airlifted to larger cities -- continued grappling with Hanna. There were no immediate reports of any deaths on either side of the border.
Henry Van De Putte, CEO of the Red Cross' Texas Gulf Coast chapter, said the organization would open more shelters with reduced capacity to ensure social distancing. Volunteers and people seeking refuge will undergo temperature checks, and a medical professional will be assigned to each location, he said. Some in need of shelter would be given hotel rooms to keep them apart from others, according to state officials.
-- Compiled by Democrat-Gazette staff from wire reports