Top Eight

Top eight CNS stories for today including the House Judiciary Committee detailed its findings from weeks of impeachment hearings in a 658-page report; A voting rights group filed an emergency motion to stop Georgia from purging over 120,000 people from voter rolls; The latest round of international talks over stopping global warming ended with many calling it a complete failure, and more.

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National

1.) Calling for articles of impeachment to proceed expeditiously for a vote by the full chamber, the House Judiciary Committee detailed its findings from weeks of hearings in a 658-page report.

Copy of the Articles of Impeachment, Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2019 in Washington. House Democrats announced they are pushing ahead with two articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump - abuse of power and obstruction of Congress - charging he corrupted the U.S. election process and endangered national security in his dealings with Ukraine. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

2.) Nearly every American believes their basic rights and freedoms are under assault, according to polling data released Monday.

FILE - In this March 22, 2019, file photo, an American flag flies outside the Department of Justice in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

3.) The Supreme Court declined Monday to consider a pair of city ordinances from Boise, Idaho, that aimed to curb homelessness by criminalizing the act of sleeping in public places.

FILE - In this Oct. 10, 2017, file photo, the Supreme Court in Washington, at sunset. The Supreme Court is turning to gun rights for the first time in nearly a decade, even though New York City gun owners already have won changes to a regulation they challenged in court. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

Regional

4.) With Georgia set to begin purging over 120,000 people from voter rolls Monday, former gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams’ voting rights group filed an emergency motion to stop it.

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 Georgia election officials have little room for error as they work to replace thousands of outdated voting machines statewide in only a matter of months.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)

5.) Health care clinicians across California took to the picket lines Monday at Kaiser Permanente’s network of medical facilities due to stalled contract negotiations for mental health workers.

Psychiatric social workers and clinicians from Kaiser Permanente began a weeklong, statewide strike in California on Monday, Dec. 16, 2019. Members with the National Union of Healthcare Workers rally outside the South Bay Medical Center to bring attention to a mental health system they say is broken. (Nathan Solis / CNS)

6.) The Seventh Circuit on Monday rejected a conservative PAC’s challenge to an Illinois law banning direct campaign contributions by independent expenditure committees, citing the need to curb corruption.

International

7.) Despite growing demands for drastic action on climate change, the latest round of international talks over stopping global warming ended Sunday in Madrid with little progress and many calling it a complete failure.

COP25 party members talk ahead of the closing plenary in Madrid, Sunday Dec. 15, 2019. Negotiators from almost 200 nations planned to gather for a final time at the U.N. climate meeting in Madrid early Sunday to pass declarations calling for greater ambition in cutting planet-heating greenhouse gases and in helping poor countries suffering the effects of climate change. But one of the key issues at the talks, an agreement on international carbon markets, has eluded officials even after the Chilean chair extended Friday's talks deadline to allow more time for negotiations. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

8.) Five months after being freed from federal prison for his role in a record-breaking scheme to bust Iran sanctions, ex-Halkbank manager Hakan Atilla pressed ahead Monday at the Second Circuit on an unusual criminal appeal.

Mehmet Atilla, right, testifies on Dec. 15, 2017, during his trial on corruption charges in New York. The Turkish banker accused of helping Iran evade U.S. sanctions has been convicted by a jury in New York after a trial that sowed distrust between the two nations. Atilla was convicted of five counts, including conspiracy. He was acquitted of one money-laundering charge. (Elizabeth Williams via AP, File)

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