National:

The New York Police Department (NYPD) wants Congress to give it the authority to take down drones it deems as a threat. Police officials are worried that propaganda overseas showing drones equipped with weapons may motivate terrorists to employ them for lone-wolf attacks. Presently, a law passed in 2018 allows federal law-enforcement to destroy drones. Additional federal legislation would need to pass to allow the NYPD and other local law enforcement officials the same right.

California leads 16 other states to file a federal lawsuit to challenge President Donald Trump’s national-emergency declaration to build a wall along portions of the U.S.-Mexico border. This lawsuit tries to prevent the construction of the wall and blames the president of “flagrant disregard of fundamental separation of powers principles.” The complaint states that Trump is redirecting federal funds for the construction of a wall without the approval of Congress. The 16 states, all of which have Democratic attorney generals and all but one are led by Democratic governors, filed the complaint in the U.S. District Court for Northern California. The federal lawsuit could reach the Supreme Court and extend through the 2020 presidential election.

International:

Pope Francis dismissed 88-year-old U.S. cardinal, Theodore McCarrick of Washington, from the priesthood after serving for 18 years. The Vatican found McCarrick guilty of sexual abuse of minors and sexual misconduct with adults. This decision makes McCarrick, who was one of the most powerful figures in the U.S. Catholic Church, the first U.S., possibly worldwide, cardinal to be defrocked. This announcement was made prior to a Vatican summit on sex abuse to be held next week. Major questions still remain unresolved including how he rose to power with widespread rumors about his sexual misconduct.

A 35-year-old Canadian citizen, Mohammed Khalifa, was identified as the English voice that narrated many ISIS videos, such as “Flames of War.” Khalifa was apprehended by American-backed militia in Syria last month. From prison, he states that he does not have any regrets from participating in the propaganda videos, but he has since stopped narrating.