Nightly Brief

Top CNS stories for today including former Texas Congressman Beto O’Rourke officially dropped out of the Democratic presidential race; California will draft a plan to take over Pacific Gas and Electric’s operations if it cannot compensate fire victims and emerge from bankruptcy by June 2020; President Donald Trump and British politician Nigel Farage joined forces to push Prime Minister Boris Johnson into backing an even more hardcore Brexit strategy, and more.

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National

In this Oct. 17, 2019 file photo, Democratic presidential candidate former Texas Rep. Beto O'Rourke speaks during a campaign rally in Grand Prairie, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

1.) Former Congressman Beto O’Rourke officially dropped out of the presidential race on Friday, ending a campaign that struggled for months to break through to voters on a national stage despite the Texas Democrat’s enthusiastic kickoff and early infusion of cash.

The Supreme Court is seen in Washington on June 17, 2019. Abortion rights, and protections for young immigrants and LGBT people top an election-year agenda for the Supreme Court. Its conservative majority will have ample opportunity to flex its muscle, testing Chief Justice John Roberts’ attempts to keep the court clear of Washington partisan politics. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

2.) The Supreme Court agreed Friday to hear the case of two people ordered to repay $26 million they bilked out of Chinese investors through a program that gives U.S. visas in exchange for foreign investment in the United States.

President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally at the Target Center, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2019, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

3.) President Donald Trump’s approval rating took a hit among members in his own party, according to a Washington Post/ABC News poll released Friday.

Regional

FILE - In this Nov. 26, 2018, file photo, a Pacific Gas & Electric lineman works to repair a power line in fire-ravaged Paradise, Calif. PG & E anticipates shutting off power in 9 California counties due to hot, dry and windy conditions even as it formalizes settlements with the vast majority of claims from the deadly Northern California wildfires in 2017 and 2018. The San Francisco utility will make a final decision before noon Monday, Sept. 23, 2019, on whether it will cut power. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli, File)

4.) California will draft a plan to take over Pacific Gas and Electric’s operations if it cannot compensate fire victims and emerge from bankruptcy by June 30, 2020, Governor Gavin Newsom announced Friday.

The Maria Fire in Ventura County, California, races across ridgetops on Oct. 31, 2019. (Julianna Krokak / CNS)

5.) A wildfire burning across ridgetops in Southern California ballooned to over 8,000 acres Thursday night and showed no signs of relenting into Friday.

FILE - In this Oct. 27, 2018 file photo, people cast their ballots ahead of the Nov. 6, general election at Jim Miller Park in Marietta, Ga. Georgia election officials have little room for error as they work to replace thousands of outdated voting machines statewide in only a matter of months. The state is making a $106 million purchase of new voting machines. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart, File)

6.) The Georgia Supreme Court unanimously rejected an election watchdog group’s challenge to Lieutenant Governor Geoff Duncan’s victory last year, finding that claims of voting machine irregularities and statistical discrepancies in voting patterns do not warrant a do-over race.

International

Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage speaks to the media as he launches his party's manifesto ahead of the upcoming General Election, in London, Nov. 1, 2019. Farage kicked off the Brexit Party campaign Friday for Britain's December general election.(AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)

7.) In a tag-team effort, President Donald Trump and Nigel Farage, a nationalist British politician supported by the far right, joined forces to push Prime Minister Boris Johnson into breaking off ties with the European Union and backing an even more hardcore Brexit strategy before the December elections.

8.) The start of the new European Commission, slated to open Friday, will be delayed at least a month, as three commissioners remain unseated.

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