National News at a Glance

Pelosi Under Threat in Her Own Party

Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., is girding for a mortal challenge to her leadership of the Democratic Party after the November elections or even sooner, and said that she is building a “bridge” to a new generation of party leaders. Pelosi is facing unrest from older lawmakers critical of her style, younger Democrats demanding generational change and candidates across the party who have sought to inoculate themselves against Republican attacks by distancing themselves from her. The most perilous threat to Pelosi may be the impatient mood in the Congressional Black Caucus, where senior legislators have begun arguing that it is past time to elect an African-American speaker.

U.S. Concedes It Doesn’t Know Where Migrant Children Go

Trump administration officials acknowledged Thursday they have no system for tracking the tens of thousands of migrant children who are released from federal custody each year after traveling to the United States alone. Facing heated questions from a Senate subcommittee, officials from the Health and Human Services Department, Customs and Border Protection, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the federal immigration courts each said they were not responsible for following up after the children are handed over to sponsors, arguing that the children then become the responsibility of local child welfare agencies. Senators pushed back, pointing out that the federal government does not alert those authorities when migrant children are placed in their jurisdictions.

Revoking Clearance, Trump Aims Presidential Power at Russia Inquiry

For more than a year, law enforcement officials have repeatedly rebuffed President Donald Trump’s efforts to use the power of his office to derail the Russia investigation. Stymied, Trump is lashing out in other ways against an investigation that he clearly hates or fears. The president said Thursday that he revoked the security clearance of John O. Brennan, a former CIA director, because Brennan had been part of what Trump has called the “sham” Russia investigation. That move, and the threats of more revocations, were the latest signs that the president seems determined to punish anyone connected to the Russia inquiry.

Vatican Calls Abuses in Pennsylvania ‘Morally Reprehensible’

The Vatican responded Thursday to the horrors of a Pennsylvania grand jury report on clergy sex abuse, saying it felt shame and sorrow over the findings that more than 1,000 children had been abused by hundreds of priests over decades while bishops covered up their crimes. “The church must learn hard lessons from its past, and there should be accountability for both abusers and those who permitted abuse to occur,” the Vatican statement said of the report, which was released Tuesday. It was one of the strongest mea culpas to date on an issue Pope Francis has tried to address head-on in recent months.

Yosemite National Park Reopens to Visitors

Nearly three weeks after a wildfire closed Yosemite Valley to the public, park officials welcomed back visitors. This was great news for tourists who drove into a park still hazy from the diminished but still active Ferguson Fire. But the reopening Tuesday was most likely a disappointment for some of the park’s wildlife that had taken advantage of the park’s closing to ramble more freely across the valley floor. The closing came at the busiest time of year for the park, when visitors typically number around 15,000 to 18,000 people a day, a park official said, estimating that the park lost between $2.5 million and $3 million in admission fees.

Colorado Baker Sues Over Cake Dispute With Transgender Woman

The baker who won a Supreme Court case this year after refusing to make a cake for a same-sex wedding has sued the governor of Colorado, alleging the state discriminated against him when he declined to make a blue and pink cake for a transgender woman. The lawsuit sets up a public battle involving Jack Phillips of Masterpiece Cakeshop over whether claims of religious freedoms can be used to refuse services to gay and transgender people. Autumn Scardina had asked Phillips to make a cake to mark her birthday and the seventh anniversary of her gender transition. Phillips refused because the celebration ran contrary to his belief that gender is “given by God,” his lawyers said, and “not determined by perceptions or feelings.”

He Begged on TV for His Family’s Return. Then He Was Accused of Killing Them.

Chris Watts pleaded Tuesday for his missing wife and two young children to come home. But there would be no reunion. On Wednesday night, Watts, 33, of Frederick, Colorado, was arrested and accused of killing his wife, Shanann, 34, who was 15 weeks pregnant, and his two daughters, Bella, 4, and Celeste, 3. He faces charges that include three counts of first-degree murder. The police declined to discuss any motive for the killings. Shanann Watts’ body was found on the property of Anadarko Petroleum Corp., where Chris Watts had worked, officials said. The bodies of the children had not yet been recovered.

Trump’s Military Parade Could Cost $92 Million, Official Says

The military parade ordered up by President Donald Trump could cost more than $90 million, a Defense Department official said Thursday — a financial mandate that would come as the Pentagon emerges from years of required budget caps. Department officials said the plans for the parade have not been finalized. But one official put the new potential price tag, first reported by CNBC, for the scheduled Nov. 10 event as high as $92 million, depending on how many troops are included. Earlier estimates said the parade could cost $10 million to $30 million, about the same as one held in Washington in 1991 at the end of the Persian Gulf War.