Nightly Brief

Top CNS stories for today including President Donald Trump told House Republican leaders he won’t sign the short-term funding bill passed by the Senate because of concerns over border security; The Trump administration plans to propose a rule to restrict states’ abilities to provide federal food assistance to people who are not steadily employed; Accusing China of trying to cyberattack its way to superpower status, U.S. prosecutors unsealed an indictment against two Chinese hackers who remain at large, and more.

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National

Under holiday decorations, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy of Calif., left, walks away from the West Wing of the White House with staff and House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wis., fourth from left, as they leave after speaking briefly to members of the press after meeting with President Donald Trump at the White House in Washington, Thursday, Dec. 20, 2018. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

1.) Dividing the GOP even further ahead of a possible shutdown, President Donald Trump told House Republican leaders he won’t sign the short-term funding bill passed by the Senate on Wednesday because of “legitimate concerns for border security,” House Speaker Paul Ryan said Thursday after a meeting at the White House.

2.) Bad news for the millions of Americans on food stamps: The Trump administration plans to propose a rule Thursday to restrict states’ abilities to provide federal food assistance to people who are not steadily employed.

3.) American adults are steadily getting heavier but are not growing any taller, according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report released just days before millions of people gather over Christmas dinners and holiday sweets.

4.) A federal judge in Ohio refused to dismiss racketeering claims against Purdue Pharma and other drug manufacturers, distributors and pharmacies in a massive collection of cases blaming them for the nation’s opioid epidemic.

Regional

In this Sept. 25, 2018 photo, a worker holds a marijuana plant leaf in a massive tomato greenhouse being renovated to grow pot in Delta, British Columbia, that is operated by Pure Sunfarms, a joint venture between tomato grower Village Farms International, and a licensed medical marijuana producer, Emerald Health Therapeutics. On Oct. 17, 2018, Canada will become the second and largest country with a legal national marijuana marketplace. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

5.) New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio joined the call to legalize marijuana Thursday after Governor Andrew Cuomo announced earlier this week he wants to legalize recreational pot use in the state “once and for all.”

FILE - In this May 13, 2010 file photo, pelicans float on the water with an offshore oil platform in the background in the Santa Barbara Channel off the coast of Santa Barbara, Calif. (AP photo/Mark J. Terrill, File)

6.) Attorneys general from nine states sought Thursday to intervene in a federal lawsuit brought by environmentalists who say the Trump administration’s plans to conduct seismic testing for oil exploration in the Atlantic Ocean will cause irreversible harm to marine life.

International

7.) Accusing China of trying to cyberattack its way to superpower status, U.S. prosecutors unsealed an indictment Thursday against two Chinese hackers who remain at large.

FILE - In this Wednesday, May 2, 2018 file photo, children play inside the Moria refugee camp on the northeastern Aegean island of Lesbos, Greece. Human rights and migrant welfare groups are urging Greece to scrap its part of a deal between the European Union and Turkey, designed to reduce unchecked migration to Europe from the east. In a statement Thursday, Dec. 6 20 groups sharply criticized the winter living conditions in Greece's eastern Aegean island migrant camps, where asylum-seekers are held under the 2016 agreement. The statement called for all camp residents to be moved to mainland Greece or other EU countries. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris, file)

8.) With mounting evidence in hand, non-government groups are renewing accusations that authorities in Greece and Croatia are using harsh, even violent, and illegal methods to keep asylum-seekers and immigrants out of the European Union.

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