Reuters US Domestic News Summary

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

Post-strike Hollywood rushes to get film, TV sets humming

Hours before the Hollywood actors’ strike officially ended, Beth Goodnight’s phone began ringing with opportunity. The head of a Hollywood construction company and prop shop that bears her name dispatched two project managers to begin bidding for work. By the end of Wednesday, they had crunched numbers on seven projects, including a Super Bowl commercial, a television show, a large event and smaller pieces that add up to hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Tim Scott, lone Black Republican in US Senate, ends White House bid

U.S. Senator Tim Scott suspended his run for the 2024 Republican presidential election nomination on Sunday after months of burning through campaign cash at a blistering rate without making a significant dent in national opinion polls. "I think the voters, who are the most remarkable people on the planet, have been really clear that they're telling me: 'Not now Tim,'" Scott told Fox News in an interview on Sunday evening.

Los Angeles freeway closed by fire, creating commuter headache

Los Angeles commuters are starting their workweek with a major traffic headache on Monday as a downtown stretch of the heavily transited Santa Monica Freeway remained closed until further notice after a weekend fire charred the columns supporting the overpass. About 300,000 vehicles use the freeway daily, California Governor Gavin Newsom said on Sunday, and the area is often clogged even under normal circumstances.

Film crews became 'collateral damage' of Hollywood strikes

A Toronto production assistant whose income dried up because of Hollywood strikes lost his housing and ended up living in his car. A New York set dresser slipped out of sobriety amid the stress. A New Mexico assistant director fell into deep depression and took his life. They were among the hundreds of thousands of U.S. and Canadian film and television crew workers who were unemployed for up to 10 months because of strikes called by actors and writers, leaving a trail of evictions and family disintegration.

Trump backs requests for TV coverage of his federal criminal trial - court filing

Former U.S. President Donald Trump has filed a legal motion backing media requests for live television coverage of his federal trial on charges he conspired to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. In the late Friday filing, Trump argued that prosecutors want the trial held "in darkness" as part of what he claims is a politically motivated effort by President Joe Biden's administration to undermine his bid for re-election next year.

Donald Trump Jr. to testify second time in father's civil fraud trial

Donald Trump Jr. is set to testify again on Monday in his father's civil fraud trial, this time called by the defense to field questions about the former U.S. president's family real estate business. Donald Trump, the frontrunner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, is accused along with his two adult sons and 10 of his companies of inflating his net worth by as much as $2.2 billion to secure better financing.

APEC San Francisco protesters span gamut of political issues

A lively crowd gathered on a sunny Sunday in San Francisco to protest a meeting of cross-Pacific political leaders and a wide spectrum of other issues, prominently including those calling for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war.

Protesters converged on the plaza in front of San Francisco's ferry building, the gateway to the city, carrying banners and posters opposing the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum, calling for economic and environmental change, and waving Palestinian flags.

New US House speaker tries to muster his Republicans to avert government shutdown

Fledgling U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson faces his first big legislative battle this week as his tries to marshal his fractious Republican majority into supporting an unconventional plan to avert a partial government shutdown beginning on Saturday. Some House Republican hardliners were already pushing back at Johnson's proposal for a two-step stopgap bill that would not otherwise cut spending, a "clean" bill of the kind that led to the historic ouster of Johnson's predecessor, Kevin McCarthy.

US House Speaker Johnson floats two-step measure to avert gov't shutdown

U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson unveiled a Republican stopgap spending measure on Saturday aimed at averting a government shutdown a week from now, but the measure quickly ran into opposition from lawmakers from both parties in Congress. Unlike ordinary continuing resolutions, or "CRs," that fund federal agencies for a specific period, the measure announced by Johnson would fund some parts of the government until Jan. 19 and others until Feb. 2. House Republicans hope to pass the measure on Tuesday.