US Domestic News Roundup: Trump-endorsed Masters wins Republican nomination for Arizona's U.S. Senate race; Biden to sign another executive order seeking to protect abortion rights and more

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

U.S. grand jury subpoenas former Trump counsel Pat Cipollone -report

Pat Cipollone, a White House counsel to former President Donald Trump, has been subpoenaed by a federal grand jury investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol Building, ABC News reported on Tuesday. Cipollone late last month testified by videotape before a congressional committee investigating the events of that day.

Baseball-Legendary Dodgers broadcaster Vin Scully dies at 94

Vin Scully, one of baseball's most revered broadcasters who called Dodgers' games for a record-breaking 67 years and narrated some of the sport's greatest moments, died on Tuesday at the age of 94, the team announced. "We have lost an icon," Dodgers President & CEO Stan Kasten said.

Giant sequoias survived a California wildfire. Next time, they may not be so lucky

For millennia, giant sequoias – the largest trees on Earth – have resisted and relied on fire. But today's wildfires are far more frequent and intense due to climate-fueled droughts. In July, the Mariposa Grove of giant sequoia trees in Yosemite narrowly avoided disaster in the Washburn Fire due to quick action and long-term planning.

Biden to sign another executive order seeking to protect abortion rights

President Joe Biden plans to sign a second executive order on Wednesday meant to address the recent Supreme Court decision to end the nationwide constitutional right to abortion, as he faces pressure from fellow Democrats to be more forceful on the issue. The order, like his first one, is expected to have limited impact, as U.S. states enact a wave of laws restricting abortion, access to medication and funding for such services.

Trump-endorsed Masters wins Republican nomination for Arizona's U.S. Senate race

Blake Masters, chief operating officer of Thiel Capital who was endorsed by former President Donald Trump, has won the Republican nomination in Arizona's U.S. Senate race, the Associated Press said on Wednesday. Masters, whose campaign was largely funded by tech billionaire Peter Thiel, beat Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich and power company executive Jim Lamon to face off against incumbent Democratic Senator Mark Kelly in the Nov. 8 midterm elections.

Trump-backed candidates prevail in U.S. midterm primaries; Kansas votes to preserve abortion rights

Republican voters on Tuesday chose a raft of candidates supporting Donald Trump's 2020 election falsehoods in multiple party primaries for the November general election - a stark display of the former president's grip on his party. In Kansas, abortion rights activists celebrated a major victory when voters overwhelmingly rejected a ballot initiative that would have endangered abortion access in the first statewide electoral test since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.

Pro-Trump activists swamp election officials with sprawling records requests

Pro-Trump operatives are flooding local officials with public-records requests to seek evidence for the former president's false stolen-election claims and to gather intelligence on voting machines and voters, adding to the chaos rocking the U.S. election system. The Maricopa County Recorder's Office in Arizona, an election battleground state, has fielded 498 public records requests this year - 130 more than all of last year. Officials in Washoe County, Nevada, have fielded 88 public records requests, two-thirds more than in all of 2021. And the number of requests to North Carolina's state elections board have already nearly equaled last year's total of 229.

Incumbent Republican congressman Meijer concedes to Trump-endorsed Gibbs in Michigan primary

U.S. Representative Peter Meijer conceded to Trump-endorsed primary challenger John Gibbs for the Republican Party's nomination in a Michigan congressional district. "This was a hard-fought primary campaign, .... I also want to congratulate my opponent John Gibbs on his victory tonight," Meijer said in a statement.

Exclusive: Missouri attorney general investigates Morningstar over ESG ratings

Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt has launched an investigation into whether Morningstar Inc violated a state consumer-protection law through its evaluations of environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues, his office told Reuters. The review is two-pronged, covering ESG matters as well as whether the financial research firm violated a separate Missouri law aimed at protecting Israel from a campaign to isolate the Jewish state over its treatment of Palestinians.

Abortion ban in Idaho faces first U.S. legal challenge since Roe

The United States sued Idaho on Tuesday to block a state law that it said imposes a "near-absolute ban" on abortion, marking its first legal challenge to state abortion laws since the Supreme Court in June overturned the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling. The lawsuit, filed in a federal court in Idaho, says the state's abortion ban violates the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, a federal law that compels hospitals receiving federal funds to provide emergency medical care.

(With inputs from agencies.)