Daily Digest: Franken questions Trump’s mental health
Good morning and happy Monday. Time for a new work week to begin. Here's the Digest.
1. DFL U.S. Sen. Al Franken says members of the Senate are questioning President Donald Trump's mental health. Franken claims that "a few" of his Republican colleagues have expressed concern to him about it, and that it stems from questions about Trump's truthfulness. He told CNN's "State of the Union" Sunday that the concern arises "in the way that we all have this suspicion" that "he lies a lot. He says things that aren't true. That's the same as lying, I guess." (AP via MPR News)
2. Some voters on Minnesota's Iron Range think the president's business background gives him an understanding of what they're going through, and they have hopes he will improve the mining economy. During the campaign Trump promised to rebuild America’s roads and bridges with American steel. He pledged to bring American manufacturing jobs back. (Star Tribune)
3. Some Republican lawmakers looking to scrap the Affordable Care Act are calling for a return to high-risk health insurance pools. The goal is to hold down premiums for people who buy insurance on the individual market. But experts say high-risk pools come with problems of their own. (MPR News)
4. Three weeks into the Trump administration, some National Security Council staff members say their agency is in disarray. Some have turned to encrypted communications to talk with their colleagues, after hearing that Trump’s top advisers are considering an “insider threat” program that could result in monitoring cellphones and emails for leaks. The national security adviser, Michael T. Flynn, is under investigation for what he told the Russian ambassador to the United States about the lifting of sanctions imposed in the final days of the Obama administration, and whether he misled Vice President Mike Pence about those conversations. His survival in the job may hang in the balance. (New York Times)
5. Fear and confusion gripped immigrant communities after word spread that federal agents were rounding up hundreds of immigrants in cities across the country. The scope of the operation remained unclear on Sunday. The Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency said the efforts were "routine" and no different than the arrests carried out under former President Barack Obama that targeted those with criminal histories or multiple immigration violations.Trump took to Twitter to claim credit. "The crackdown on illegal criminals is merely the keeping of my campaign promise," the president wrote. "Gang members, drug dealers & others are being removed!" (AP)
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