Nightly Brief

Top CNS stories for today including Justice Neil Gorsuch using a challenge to federal whistleblower protections before the Supreme Court on Tuesday to take aim at a core legal tenant of which he has long been critical; Jerome Powell, President Donald Trump’s pick for Federal Reserve chairman, strongly suggested to lawmakers on Capitol Hill that an interest rate hike is coming in December; the California Supreme Court handed a victory to the nation’s most recognizable agricultural labor unions, unanimously overturning an appellate ruling that state-mandated contract mediation with farmers was unconstitutional; a new study finds that despite major disturbances to corals in recent years, there are still 100 reefs on the Great Barrier Reef capable of stimulating regional recovery of the ecosystem as it battles predators and the effects of climate change, and more.

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1.) In National news Justice Neil Gorsuch used a challenge to federal whistleblower protections before the Supreme Court on Tuesday to take aim at a core legal tenant of which he has long been critical.

2.) Embattled Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore insisted Monday he has run a clean campaign, the same day The Washington Post reported that a conservative group tried to push a false story to discredit the paper’s work on sexual-misconduct allegations against Moore.

3.) Jerome Powell, President Donald Trump’s pick for Federal Reserve chairman, said Tuesday he believes the central bank “can push harder on employment” by allowing the jobless rate to fall below 4 percent, and predicted the economy will grow by about 2.5 percent next year before slowing due to a lag in productivity.

4.) In Regional news v isible signs of progress on California’s mammoth, $68 billion high-speed rail project line the freeway between Fresno and Madera in the state’s Central Valley. But nearly 10 years after voters approved the project, opposition – and questions about its viability – remain.

5.) The California Supreme Court on Monday handed a victory to the nation’s most recognizable agricultural labor unions, unanimously overturning an appellate ruling that state-mandated contract mediation with farmers was unconstitutional.

6.) In Environmental news, a new study finds that despite major disturbances to corals in recent years, there are still 100 reefs on the Great Barrier Reef capable of stimulating regional recovery of the ecosystem as it battles predators and the effects of climate change.

7.) In International news, a Turkish gold trader whose testimony for the U.S. government could embarrass officials here and abroad offered to wage “economic jihad” for Iran, prosecutors revealed Tuesday.

8.) U.S. prosecutors lobbied unsuccessfully Monday to ensure the pretrial detention of former Senegalese diplomat awaiting a New York corruption trial.

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