Reuters US Domestic News Summary

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs. Survival camps cater to new fear: America's political unrest

Aiming an AR-15 rifle across a Colorado valley dotted with antelope and cattle, Drew Miller explains how members of his new survival ranch would ride out an apocalypse. The former U.S. Air Force intelligence officer said his latest Fortitude Ranch community, under construction below mountain forests, will shelter Americans fleeing anything from a bioengineered pandemic to an attack on the electricity grid. Trump's Christmas Eve admission: No gift yet for Melania

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he had not yet bought a Christmas present for the first lady, just a day before the holiday that could bring a more ominous gift from North Korea. During a video teleconference with members of the U.S. Armed Forces from his resort residence in Palm Beach, Florida, Trump said in response to a question he picked out "a beautiful card" for first lady Melania Trump. Leading Republican senator says impeachment witnesses not ruled out

U.S. senators on Monday sparred over the shape of an impeachment trial of President Donald Trump, with Republican leader Mitch McConnell saying he has not ruled out hearing from witnesses as Democrats have demanded. McConnell, speaking on Fox News, stopped short of agreeing to a Democratic request for the Senate to agree ahead of time to take testimony during the trial expected to begin in early 2020. He cited the 1999 impeachment trial of President Bill Clinton, a Democrat, which ended in acquittal, as a model. Former Trump campaign staffer sues over pregnancy discrimination

A staff member of Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign is suing the campaign for pregnancy discrimination, alleging she was stripped of job responsibilities after being impregnated by her supervisor. In court papers filed on Monday in New York, Arlene Delgado said she learned she was pregnant in mid-November 2016, around the time Trump won the presidential election. Delgado was a senior official for outreach to the Hispanic community. Forget store traffic and bag count: Gauging retail performance in an online world

Marshal Cohen has religiously visited the same stores every holiday season since 1999. But rather than snapping up bargains and favorite gifts for friends and family, the chief retail industry adviser is there to scrutinize the purchasing habits of others as online shopping upends the retail business. Michael Bloomberg says his White House campaign unknowingly used prison labor

Billionaire U.S. presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg on Tuesday said his campaign had unknowingly used prison workers to make telephone calls on his behalf. Bloomberg, who last month entered the Democratic Party race to face Republican President Donald Trump in the November 2020 election, said the campaign had ended its relationship with a company that used prison labor for making phone calls. Christianity Today again slams Trump, raises issue of 'unconditional loyalty'

Christianity Today, the magazine founded by the late Reverend Billy Graham, renewed its criticism of President Donald Trump in a new editorial that cited his "misuses of power" and asked fellow Christians to examine their loyalty to him, days after a controversial editorial that called for his impeachment. The 130,000-circulation magazine, which has 4.3 million monthly website viewers, in its editorial last week cited Trump's "profoundly immoral" conduct in office, drawing immediate criticism from Trump and dozens of evangelical leaders. Recreational marijuana becomes legal in Illinois on New Year's Day

Many pot-smoking adults in Illinois will ring in the new year on a high note when recreational marijuana use becomes legal in the state on Jan. 1. Starting New Year's Day, people 21 and older will be able to legally buy up to 30 grams of marijuana flower, 5 grams of marijuana concentrate, or 500 grams of THC-infused products such as edibles at licensed commercial dealers throughout the state. Two strong quakes shake central Colombia, no damage reported

Two strong earthquakes, of magnitude 6.2 and magnitude 5.7, struck central Colombia on Tuesday, the Colombian Geological Service said, but there were no immediate reports of any injuries or major damage. The quakes were very close to each other and only minutes apart. The epicenters were located about 150 km (93 miles) south of the capital Bogota in the central province of Meta, and were very shallow, which would have amplified their effects. Colorado bank robber throws cash in air, shouting 'Merry Christmas'

A man with a white beard was being held on $10,000 bond for allegedly robbing a Colorado bank and throwing the stolen cash into the air while shouting, “Merry Christmas” to passersby, police and local media reported on Tuesday. David Wayne Oliver, 65, was arrested at a nearby Starbucks coffee shop after he held up the Academy Bank in Colorado Springs on Monday afternoon, according to a police report.