Nightly Brief

Top CNS stories for today including Attorney General Jeff Sessions recusing himself from any existing or future investigation of matters related to the 2016 campaigns for president; the Texas Senate calls for a constitutional convention to allow states to override Supreme Court decisions; scientists say a genetic meltdown likely led to the extinction of the woolly mammoth, and more.

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1.) Sessions Recusing Himself From Any Probe of 2016 Presidential Election

Embattled Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced Thursday afternoon that  he will recuse himself from any existing or future investigation of matters related to the 2016 campaigns for president. His announcement came in the wake of accusations he lied to Congress about his meetings with a Russian ambassador while serving as a surrogate for the Trump campaign.

2.) Texas Senate Calls for a Constitutional Convention

In Texas’s latest and most wide-ranging effort to try to rein in what it sees as “abuses of power by the federal government,” the state Senate passed a resolution Tuesday calling for a Convention of States to amend the U.S. Constitution and allow states to override Supreme Court decisions.

 3.) Genetic 'Meltdown' Linked to Woolly Mammoths' Extinction

The last population of woolly mammoths suffered from a “mutational meltdown” in their genomes that interfered with gene functions and ultimately led to their extinction.

4.) Theranos Disputes Shareholders' Investments in Securities Action

Blood-testing company Theranos attempted to skirt a federal lawsuit Wednesday by arguing people who claim to have invested in the company aren’t actually investors and have no standing to sue.

 5.) Cancer No Bar to Immigrant's Imprisonment

With a tumor growing in her breast, a Pakistani woman who’s lived in Texas with a spotless record for 23 years could not persuade a federal judge to free her from an immigration jail to get medical treatment.

6.) Cop Says Associating With His Son Got Him Fired

A black police officer fired due to his troubled son’s misconduct sued a Chicago suburb, claiming he was denied his constitutional right to associate with his own son.

7.)  Scalia’s Absence Felt in Federalist SCOTUS Battle

Justice Antonin Scalia’s seat on the U.S. Supreme Court remains empty over a year after his death, but former colleagues of the conservative stalwart noted Wednesday that he would have relished the federalism battle underway this morning.

8.) House Committee Debates Surveillance Rules, Privacy

The House Judiciary Committee grappled for hours on Wednesday over the delicate question of how to reconcile national security objectives with Americans’ right to privacy as it considered the fate of a contentious section in the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

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