US Domestic News Roundup: Exclusive-Trump adviser proposes new tiered system for NATO members who don't pay up; Biden blasts 'dangerous' Trump NATO remarks, urges Ukraine funding and more

At the White House, the Democratic president sharply criticized Trump's comment over the weekend calling into question U.S. willingness to support members of the Western defense alliance if they were attacked. Do not read too much into Biden, Trump verbal stumbles, experts caution Experts on aging caution against concluding that U.S. President Joe Biden and his Republican rival Donald Trump are suffering from cognitive decline based on their verbal slip-ups, saying that mixing up names or dates does not necessarily mean a deterioration in mental acuity.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

Launch of private US moon lander postponed by technical glitch in Florida

The planned launch of a robotic moon lander built by Houston-based aerospace company Intuitive Machines was called off less than two hours before Wednesday's liftoff time and postponed for at least a day, launch contractor SpaceX said on Tuesday night. SpaceX, the private rocket and satellite company founded by billionaire Elon Musk, said on the social media platform X that the launch team was "standing down from tonight's attempt" because of irregular methane temperatures before loading.

Exclusive-Trump adviser proposes new tiered system for NATO members who don't pay up

A leading national security adviser to Donald Trump told Reuters on Tuesday that he would push for changes to NATO if the former president returns to power that could result in some member nations losing protection against an outside attack. Keith Kellogg, a retired lieutenant general and onetime chief of staff of the former president's National Security Council, said in an interview that if a member of the 31-country alliance failed to spend at least 2% of its gross domestic product on defense, as agreed, he would support removing that nation's Article 5 protections under the North Atlantic Treaty.

Surf City USA now on the frontlines of Trump-era politics

Bisecting a wide sandy beach, the Huntington Beach pier beckons tourists and surfers alike, creating a break in the waves that helps gives the city its nickname: Surf City, USA. It is a scene as laidback as the name would suggest - and a stark contrast to the political hostility spilling out of City Hall just a short drive inland.

US House Republicans win impeachment of Biden's top border official

The Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday narrowly voted to impeach Democratic President Joe Biden's top border official, as immigration shapes up to be a major issue in this year's elections. By a vote of 214-213, the House approved two articles of impeachment accusing Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas of not enforcing U.S. immigration laws, which Republicans argue led to record flows of migrants across the U.S.-Mexico border, and making false statements to Congress.

Democrats pick up seat in US House as Suozzi wins in New York

Democratic former congressman Tom Suozzi won a special U.S. House of Representatives election in New York on Tuesday, narrowing an already razor-thin Republican majority that has struggled to pass legislation. The seat became available after the House took the extraordinary step of expelling Republican George Santos, whose dizzying array of lies about his biography led to his indictment on fraud charges.

Biden blasts 'dangerous' Trump NATO remarks, urges Ukraine funding

President Joe Biden on Tuesday blasted comments about NATO by his likely 2024 election opponent, Donald Trump, calling the remarks "dangerous" and "un-American" and saying they raised the stakes for the U.S. Congress to approve new funding to support Ukraine. At the White House, the Democratic president sharply criticized Trump's comment over the weekend calling into question U.S. willingness to support members of the Western defense alliance if they were attacked.

Do not read too much into Biden, Trump verbal stumbles, experts caution

Experts on aging caution against concluding that U.S. President Joe Biden and his Republican rival Donald Trump are suffering from cognitive decline based on their verbal slip-ups, saying that mixing up names or dates does not necessarily mean a deterioration in mental acuity. Biden, 81, a Democrat running for re-election in November, and former President Trump, 77, his likely challenger, have accused each other of mental decline. Trump's last rival for the Republican nomination, 52-year-old Nikki Haley, has said both men are too old to occupy the White House and should be subjected to cognitive tests.

Judge to consider barring drug allegations from 'Rust' trial

A New Mexico judge on Wednesday will consider a request from "Rust" armorer Hannah Gutierrez to block from trial prosecutors' allegations her supposed drug use contributed to Alec Baldwin's 2021 fatal on-set shooting of the film's cinematographer. New Mexico state prosecutors allege "Rust" armorer Hannah Gutierrez used marijuana, cocaine and alcohol on evenings after filming and this impaired her judgment the day of the shooting, leading her to mistakenly load a live round into Baldwin's gun.

Two-thirds of Jewish Americans feel less secure than before Oct. 7

About two-thirds of Jewish Americans felt less secure in late 2023 than they did a year earlier, according to a survey mostly conducted after the Hamas attack on Israel on Oct. 7 and released on Tuesday. The American Jewish Committee, an advocacy group, said the survey was based on telephone and online interviews from Oct. 5 to Nov. 21. The findings were compared to the same survey a year earlier.

Hawaiian Electric restores power after rolling outages due to loss of generators

Utility firm Hawaiian Electric restored power on Hawaii Island after it had begun rolling outages on Tuesday due to the unavailability and reduced output from several large generators.

"No more rolling outages tonight, power has been restored to all customers on Hawaii Island," the Honolulu-based power company said on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.