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Monday's Mini-Report, 11.18.19

Today's edition of quick hits.

Today's edition of quick hits:

* Pompeo's latest announcement: "The United States on Monday reversed its decades-long position that Israeli settlements in the West Bank are illegal, in the latest step by the Trump administration to solidify Israeli control over areas claimed by Palestinians for a future independent state."

* Today's mass shooting: "A gunman killed two people outside an Oklahoma Walmart store Monday before fatally shooting himself, officials said. A woman and a man were fatally shot in a car in the parking lot of the store in Duncan, about 80 miles south of Oklahoma City, according to the Duncan Police Department. The suspected shooter, who was outside the car, then turned the gun on himself, police said."

* Yesterday's mass shooting: "Four men were killed and six others shot in what police say was likely a targeted shooting Sunday night at a backyard football watch party in Fresno, California, and authorities are investigating a possible link to Asian gang violence."

* An embarrassing international development, Part I: "North Korea on Monday responded to a tweet by U.S. President Donald Trump that hinted at another summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, saying it has no interest in giving Trump further meetings to brag about unless it gets something substantial in return."

* An embarrassing international development, Part II: "In northern Syria, Russian troops have taken command of a U.S. airbase — and without firing any shots.

* Trump's hidden tax returns: "The Supreme Court on Monday put a temporary hold on a House subpoena for President Donald Trump's financial records spanning eight years."

* Speaking of SCOTUS: "Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was back on the bench Monday after missing one day of courtroom arguments last week."

* Raul Rodriguez worked as an immigration officer for Customs and Border Protection for nearly two decades, processing "removals, visa cancellations, asylum cases, [and] anything that had to do with the processing of immigrants into the U.S." Then he discovered that he's undocumented. Now he's facing possible deportation.

* The system doesn't have to be this way: "The United States has the world's highest rate of children in detention, including more than 100,000 in immigration-related custody that violates international law, the author of a United Nations study said on Monday."

* What a strange story: "The chief executive of FedEx blasted a New York Times investigation detailing how the company wiped out its tax bill as an 'outrageous distortion of the truth' Sunday and then challenged its publisher to a debate on federal tax policy."

* Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.) appeared on MSNBC earlier and said something about Donald Trump's impeachment scandal that struck me as notable: "I know we're having this long debate about extortion versus bribery. Bottom line, bribery is when I pay you do something corrupt. Extortion is where I threaten you into doing something corrupt. Frankly, in my opinion, it's both."

See you tomorrow.