Daily Digest: Ellison seeks top Dem post
Good morning, and welcome to Tuesday. Hard to believe it's only been a week since the election. Here's the Digest.
1. Minnesota Congressman Keith Ellison is making a formal bid to head the Democratic National Committee. He has already gained support from key party figures here in Minnesota and in Washington, including Sens. Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Chuck Schumer, Amy Klobuchar and Harry Reid. Over the past 25 years Ellison rose from a community activist and lawyer in Minneapolis to a national leader in his party. (MPR News)
2. A federal judge in Minneapolis handed down sentences to three of the nine Twin Cities men who pleaded guilty or were convicted for their roles in the nation's largest ISIS conspiracy case. The sentences issued by U.S. District Judge Michael Davis Monday ranged from time served to 10 years in prison. Davis plans to sentence the other six men on Tuesday and Wednesday. (MPR News)
3. Former Minneapolis NAACP President Nekima Levy-Pounds is set to announce she's running for mayor. Levy-Pounds has been one of the most vocal critics of police-community relations in the city. Mayor Betsy Hodges is seeking a second term but has not yet made a formal announcement. Other candidates are also expected to join the race. The election is next year. (Star Tribune)
4. Russian President Vladimir Putin and President-elect Donald Trump talked on the telephone Monday and agreed to consider the poor state of relations between the two countries. The two agreed “on the absolutely unsatisfactory state of bilateral relations,” according to a statement from the Kremlin, and they both endorsed the idea of undertaking joint efforts “to normalize relations and pursue constructive cooperation on the broadest possible range of issues.” The issues they discussed included trade and economic ties and fighting terrorism. (New York Times)
5. Very sad news that Gwen Ifill of the PBS NewsHour and Washington Week died Monday at age 61. Before public television she worked at the New York Times, the Washington Post and the Baltimore Evening Sun and was a regular panelist on a number of TV news shows, including Meet the Press. “I wanted to be a journalist, because I like to ask questions,” she said in 2009. “And I like the idea that someone might feel responsible for answering them.” (PBS NewsHour)
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