For Columbia Radio News, I’m Cassandra Basler.
In New York City more than 20 mayors from some of the biggest meetings across the country are meeting at Gracie Mansion today. They’ll discuss the practical implementation of the President’s executive order on immigration. The meeting comes just days after 20 states filed a lawsuit against the President’s action. Mayor Bill De Blasio says they’ll focus on ways cities can work with President’s plan to protect undocumented immigrants from deportation.
A small plane collided into a residential home in a Washington D-C suburb this morning. A local official has confirmed at least three passengers died in the crash. A fire official from Maryland’s Montgomery County says crews are putting out the small house fire… and searching for any people who may have been inside.
In the Philippines… a the typhoon that hit Sunday…. and left 21 dead… has weakened on its path toward the capital city. The tropical storm is expected to blow south of Manila today. Marco Abrazado (Ahh-BRUH-Zah-DOE) is head of the Red Cross Task Force in the Philippines. He says they’ll be dispatching supplies… once the storm clears.
Abrazado: “…being readied here in the warehouse.” (0:12)
Officials have evacuated more than five thousand villagers near Manila Bay…fearing storm surges. The area is still recovering from last year’s Typhoon Haiyan (hi-ANN) that killed seven hundred thousand.
NYPD has launched an internal investigation into the choke hold death of Eric Garner. In a news conference Sunday…Commissioner William Bratton said the probe could take up to four months. In the wake of Eric Garner and Mike Brown’s deaths…protests continued for a fifth night in a row last night. Here in New York…officers looked on as demonstrators staged a “Die-In” at Grand Central Station… and disrupted holiday shopping at Macy’s and H&M in Herald Square. In Berkeley, California demonstrations took a more violent turn. Reports say protesters threw rocks at officers and vandalized city hall.
And in downtown Los Angeles… commuters have made it through an especially challenging morning of traffic. Two major freeways are reopening… after 250 firefighters tempered a blaze that engulfed an entire city block. Early this morning the construction site of a new apartment complex went up in flames… sending thick smoke across the skyline that be seen from miles away. A spokesperson from the L-A fire department calls this… the biggest fire the city’s seen in two decades. Deputy Chief Joe Castro:
Castro: “blowing at all…” (0:17)
The investigation into blaze is ongoing.
A nor’easter is coming into the city with strong winds and rain. The national Weather service issued a flood watch until early Wednesday morning, and the city could see more than two inches of rain tomorrow.
Cassandra Basler. Columbia Radio News.
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