US News Roundup: Trump to host Michigan lawmakers as he presses dubious effort to overturn election; Protesters file federal lawsuit against Chicago police and more

Trump's election power play: Persuade Republican legislators to do what U.S. voters did not President Donald Trump's strategy for retaining power despite losing the U.S. election is focused increasingly on persuading Republican legislators to intervene on his behalf in battleground states Democrat Joe Biden won, three people familiar with the effort said.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

California, Ohio order nightly curfews on gatherings as coronavirus surges

California's governor on Thursday imposed a curfew on social gatherings and other non-essential activities in one of the most intrusive of the restrictions being ordered across the country to curb an alarming surge in novel coronavirus infections. The stay-at-home order will go into effect from 10 p.m. until 5 a.m. each day, starting Saturday night and ending on the morning of Dec. 21, covering 41 of California's 58 counties and the vast majority of its population, Governor Gavin Newsom said.

U.S. puts convicted killer to death in eighth federal execution under Trump

The U.S. government put convicted rapist and murderer Orlando Hall to death by lethal injection on Thursday, the eighth execution under the Trump administration since capital punishment was reinstated at the federal level over the summer. Hall, 49, was pronounced dead at 11:47 p.m. EST after officials at the U.S. Bureau of Prisons administered him a fatal dose of the barbiturate pentobarbital at the bureau's execution chamber in Terre Haute, Indiana, the agency said.

Trump's election power play: Persuade Republican legislators to do what U.S. voters did not

President Donald Trump's strategy for retaining power despite losing the U.S. election is focused increasingly on persuading Republican legislators to intervene on his behalf in battleground states Democrat Joe Biden won, three people familiar with the effort said. Having so far faced a string of losses in legal cases challenging the Nov. 3 results, Trump's lawyers are seeking to enlist fellow Republicans who control legislatures in Michigan and Pennsylvania, which went for Trump in 2016 and for Biden in 2020, the sources said.

Trump to host Michigan lawmakers as he presses dubious effort to overturn election

President Donald Trump will meet with the Republican leaders of the Michigan state legislature on Friday at the White House, as his campaign pursues an increasingly desperate bid to overturn the Nov. 3 election amid a series of courtroom losses. Meanwhile, President-elect Joe Biden is scheduled to meet with the Democratic leaders in Congress, House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, after spending most of the week huddled with advisers as he plans his administration.

Judges rule against Trump and allies in three U.S. election lawsuits

President Donald Trump and his allies lost three court rulings on Thursday in their effort to stop President-elect Joe Biden from taking office, underscoring their dwindling options even as they continued to claim a viable path to victory. In Georgia, a judge appointed by Trump denied a request by Lin Wood, a conservative lawyer, to halt certification of Biden's victory in the state. The lawsuit alleged Georgia election officials improperly changed the process for handling absentee ballots.

Protesters file federal lawsuit against Chicago police

Dozens of protesters sued Chicago's police chief and several officers on Thursday in federal court accusing them of brutal attacks and false arrests during social justice demonstrations this summer. The 205-page lawsuit that 60 protesters filed in the U.S. District Court in the Northern District of Illinois named Chicago Police Department (CPD) Superintendent David Brown as a defendant. It claims officers violated protesters' constitutional rights and it calls for the department to pay them unspecified monetary damages.

Explainer: Can Trump override the popular vote?

President Donald Trump's latest strategy for attacking the legitimacy of the U.S. election appears to be focusing on a bold power play of persuading Republican state lawmakers to overturn the vote in states won by his Democratic challenger Joe Biden. To succeed, Trump would have to surmount considerable legal hurdles, overcome public condemnation and sway lawmakers in at least three states to break with democratic norms.

Why Republican voters say there's 'no way in hell' Trump lost

Brett Fryar is like many mainstream Republicans. A 50-year-old chiropractor in this west Texas town, he owns a small business. He has two undergraduate degrees and a master's degree, in organic chemistry. He attends Southcrest Baptist Church in nearby Lubbock, where he has previously taught Sunday school and bible studies. Fryar didn't much like Donald Trump at first, during the U.S. president's 2016 campaign. He voted for Texas Senator Ted Cruz in the Republican primaries.

Pfizer to submit U.S. emergency use application for COVID-19 vaccine

Pfizer Inc said it will apply to U.S. health regulators on Friday for emergency use authorization (EUA) of its COVID-19 vaccine, the first such application in a major step toward providing protection against the new coronavirus. The application to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) comes just days after Pfizer and German partner BioNTech SE reported final trial results that showed the vaccine was 95% effective in preventing COVID-19 with no major safety concerns.

Pence goes down to Georgia as Republicans stir turnout in battleground Senate races

Vice President Mike Pence will jump into the fray of two red-hot U.S. Senate campaigns in Georgia on Friday, aiming to get Republican voters to turn out in force for a Jan. 5 runoff election battle that will decide Senate control. With President Donald Trump contesting President-elect Joe Biden's victory, Pence is scheduled to make campaign stops in Canton and Gainesville, Republican areas where Senators David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler will need strong turnout to defeat Democrats Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock.