Reuters US Domestic News Summary

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs. U.S. district judge asks PG&E to explain role in Zogg Fire

PG&E Corp was ordered by a U.S. district judge to explain its role in the ignition of the Zogg Fire in California last month, according to a court order filed on Monday. Last week, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) took possession of PG&E's equipment as part of an ongoing investigation into the power provider's role in the fire. Trump tries to put COVID-19 behind him with campaign rally in Florida

President Donald Trump will try to put his bout with COVID-19 behind him when he returns to the campaign trail on Monday, beginning a three-week sprint to the Nov. 3 election with a rally in the vital battleground state of Florida. The event at an airport in Sanford, Florida, will be Trump's first campaign rally since he disclosed on Oct. 2 that he tested positive for COVID-19. Trump, who spent three days in the hospital for treatment, said on Sunday he was fully recovered and no longer infectious, but did not say directly whether he had tested negative for the virus. Roberta McCain, mother of late 'maverick' Senator John McCain, dies at 108

Roberta McCain, whose irrepressible spirit and energy helped shape the maverick tendencies of her older son, the late U.S. Senator John McCain, died on Monday at the age of 108, her daughter-in-law said. "It is with great sadness that I announce the death of my wonderful Mother In-law, Roberta McCain," Cindy McCain wrote on Twitter. "I couldn’t have asked for a better role model or a better friend. She joins her husband Jack, her son John and daughter Sandy." Harris, fellow Democrats target Trump Supreme Court nominee on Obamacare

Democratic senators including vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris on Monday painted President Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett as a threat to the Obamacare healthcare law during a deadly pandemic and denounced the Republican drive to approve her before the Nov. 3 U.S. election. As the Senate Judiciary Committee began its four-day confirmation hearing for Barrett, Democrats voiced their opposition even though they have little hope of derailing her nomination in the Republican-led Senate. Reuters/Ipsos poll shows Biden lead over Trump growing in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden pulled further ahead of President Donald Trump in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, building momentum in two states that could decide the winner of November's election, Reuters/Ipsos opinion polls showed on Monday. The polls showed the former vice president leading Trump by 7 percentage points in both states. A week earlier, Biden was up by 6 points in Wisconsin and by 5 in Pennsylvania. U.S. ethics groups say Barr uses DOJ as political tool, call for his impeachment

Two private groups focused on U.S. government ethics on Monday accused Attorney General William Barr of misusing his office to support President Donald Trump's political goals and called on the House of Representatives to begin impeachment proceedings against him. The University of Pennsylvania's Center for Ethics and the Rule of Law and Washington-based Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington said Barr could not be trusted to represent the work of his department accurately and that there were problems with the truthfulness of Barr's public statements. New U.S. COVID-19 cases rise 11% last week, Midwest hard hit

The number of new COVID-19 cases rose 11% in the United States last week compared to the previous seven days, with infections spreading rapidly in the Midwest, which reported some of the highest positive test rates, according to a Reuters analysis. Deaths fell 3% to about 4,800 people for the week ended Oct. 11, according to the analysis of state and county reports. Since the pandemic started, nearly 215,000 people have died in the United States and over 7.7 million have become infected with the novel coronavirus. Coronavirus risks shadow Barrett's Supreme Court confirmation hearings

The risk of COVID-19 hung over Monday's opening of Amy Coney Barrett's U.S. Supreme Court confirmation hearings, with the Senate hearing room including the judge's children and at least one lawmaker who tested positive for the disease. Republican President Donald Trump formally nominated Barrett at a packed Sept. 26 White House ceremony. Days later, he and a spate of advisers tested positive for the respiratory disease that has killed more than 214,000 people in the United States. Wisconsin says Foxconn short of 2019 jobs pledge, misses out on tax credits

A Wisconsin factory hailed by President Donald Trump as proof he was reviving U.S. manufacturing did not create enough jobs in 2019 to earn its owner Foxconn Technology Group tax credits, the state said on Monday, the second year it has missed its targets. In a letter to the Taiwan-based company's Vice Chairman Jay Lee, Wisconsin’s economic development agency said Foxconn was a long way away from building the large TV screens it had proposed in 2017, when it promised to eventually create 13,000 jobs in the state. Trump tests negative for COVID-19, is not infectious: White House physician

U.S. President Donald Trump has tested negative for COVID-19 and he is not infectious to others, the White House physician said on Monday, 10 days after Trump announced he had contracted the coronavirus. In a memo released by the White House just hours before Trump was due to resume holding campaign rallies, Dr. Sean Conley said the president had tested negative on consecutive days using an Abbott Laboratories BinaxNOW antigen card.