Reuters US Domestic News Summary

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs. Officials confirm five U.S. cases of coronavirus after China travel

Five people in the United States, all of whom recently traveled from Wuhan, China, have been diagnosed with the new coronavirus, officials of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Sunday. The count includes new patients identified over the weekend in the Los Angeles and Phoenix areas, as well as cases reported earlier in Chicago and Seattle. Fog likely to figure prominently in probe of Kobe Bryant's fatal helicopter crash

Overcast skies and fog reported at the scene of the helicopter crash that killed former NBA superstar Kobe Bryant, his daughter and seven others appear likely to become a key focus of aviation experts investigating the weekend tragedy near Los Angeles. A Sikorsky S-76 chopper owned by Bryant slammed into a steep hillside on Sunday morning outside the town of Calabasas, California, about 40 miles (65 km) northwest of downtown Los Angeles, igniting a brush fire and spreading debris over a quarter-acre of grassy terrain. Democratic U.S. presidential hopefuls seek contrast with Trump on immigration

Candidates running for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination have been uniformly critical of the immigration policies of U.S. President Donald Trump, who was elected after promising to crack down on illegal immigration and bolster enforcement along the U.S.-Mexico border. Here is a look at the immigration positions of Trump and the leading Democratic candidates looking to take him on in the November election. Testimony in Harvey Weinstein's rape trial enters second week

Harvey Weinstein's rape trial is expected to continue on Monday, following last week's testimony by actress Annabella Sciorra that the former Hollywood mogul violently raped her in her Manhattan apartment in the early 1990s. Weinstein, 67, has pleaded not guilty to sexually assaulting two other women, Mimi Haleyi and Jessica Mann. U.S. candidate Bloomberg vows to back Israel, takes dig at Sanders

U.S. presidential contender Michael Bloomberg pledged on Sunday to "always have Israel's back," while separately joking he was the only Jewish candidate who does not want to turn the United States into a "kibbutz." The joke, made during a speech on anti-Semitism and foreign policy, referred to collectivist farms in Israel and was an apparent dig at fellow Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders. Explainer: Why Iowa? How one rural state picks presidential nominees

Utilizing a complicated in-person caucus system, the first contest in the Democratic presidential primary will take place in Iowa on Feb. 3. Iowans do not use paper ballots, but instead hold meetings across the state to pick their choice for president. Trump and 2020 Democrats brand themselves criminal justice reformers

Donald Trump and the Democrats hoping to unseat him as president all say they want to reform the criminal justice system in the United States, which held 2.3 million people behind bars in 2019 Here is a look at the criminal justice platforms for leading Democrats running for the presidential nomination as well as Trump's record during his first term in office. With clock ticking, Democratic White House hopefuls sprint through Iowa during impeachment break

The leading three Democratic U.S. senators running for president barnstormed across Iowa this weekend, seeking to maximize a frenzied 36 hours before returning to Washington to resume duties as jurors in President Donald Trump's impeachment trial. With barely a week to go before Iowans gather in caucuses to deliver the first verdict of the Democratic presidential race, Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and Amy Klobuchar flew to the state immediately after Saturday's trial session ended early, hoping to gain ground in what has been an unsettled contest. Trump trial enters pivotal week as calls for witnesses grow

U.S. President Donald Trump's impeachment trial enters a pivotal week on Monday as his lawyers resume their defense following a fresh report that could intensify pressure on Senate Republicans to call former national security adviser John Bolton to testify. The New York Times cited an unpublished Bolton manuscript as saying that Trump told him he wanted to freeze security aid to Ukraine until its officials helped with investigations into Democrats, including former Vice President Joe Biden, and his son, Hunter Biden. U.S. trial accusing Trump foe Avenatti of Nike extortion kicks off

Lawyers in the extortion case of Michael Avenatti are expected on Monday to begin choosing jurors who will decide the fate of the celebrity lawyer and prominent critic of U.S. President Donald Trump. Avenatti, 48, is charged with threatening to publicize accusations that Nike Inc illegally paid families of college basketball recruits unless the sportswear company paid him and another lawyer $15 million to $25 million to conduct an internal probe.