It’s Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2018. Thanks for choosing to start here.
1. Trump visiting Pittsburgh
President Donald Trump heads to Pennsylvania today to join the community in mourning 11 people massacred at a synagogue.
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders announced the trip yesterday while condemning Saturday’s attack and anti-Semitism.
“The president cherishes the American-Jewish community for everything it stands for and contributes to our country,” she said, adding that Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner are Jewish.
Trump’s visit comes after he suggested to reporters this weekend that having an armed guard” inside the temple could have stopped the gunman. Some criticized that comment, but the rabbi from the Tree of Life synagogue said the president was welcome to visit.
ABC News Chief National Correspondent Matt Gutman joins us from Pittsburgh.
2. Researchers question ‘good guy with gun’ theory
One of Trump’s first reactions to the Pittsburgh shooting was to say that having an armed guard at the synagogue could have lessened the death toll — that good guys with guns stop bad guys with guns.
But do they?
ABC News’ Meghan Keneally has been talking to people who study gun violence, and she says they’re skeptical.
3. Gun control a major topic on campaign trail after Pittsburgh
The midterm elections are exactly a week away, and gun control is suddenly a major talking point again after the synagogue killings in Pittsburgh.
ABC News Deputy Political Director MaryAlice Parks says even Democrats running in red states are bringing up the issue.
4. Pentagon to deploy 5,200 troops to southern border
The Pentagon is sending 5,200 active-duty troops to the southern border with Mexico this week. The troops are supposed to back up Border Patrol, not engage with asylum-seekers, as a caravan of migrants — still about 1,000 miles away — makes its way through Mexico.
U.S. military officials initially estimated about 800 troops would be deployed, according to a U.S. official.
“This is a lot of troops,” ABC News’ Elizabeth McLaughlin, who covers the Pentagon, tells us. “It cannot be lost among us that the number 5,200 is very high. That’s about the number of troops that we currently have deployed in Iraq, about double what we have in Syria and about a third of the number of troops in Afghanistan.”
Other news:
‘This is a sad day for all of North Carolina’: A high school boy shot to death another high school boy after a bullying incident escalated.
‘You can smell the alcohol on her’: A white woman loses her job after video surfaces of her yelling racist remarks at two black women she accused of loitering but who were really just waiting for someone to fix their car.
‘The victory sends a strong message that the president cannot take away an American’s liberty without due process’: A U.S. citizen held for 13 months, accused of ties to ISIS but never charged with a crime, finally is released.
‘You’ve got to accept that there is some correlation there’: Trevor Noah said Trump shouldn’t be surprised he was linked to the recent nationwide bomb scare: “If the President of the United States called someone the enemy of the people, don’t be shocked when the people go after that enemy.”
From our partners at FiveThirtyEight:
Last ‘Nightline’:
Pittsburgh comes together in wake of horrific synagogue shooting: While this community grieves for innocent lives lost, neighbors of all ages and creeds come together to support one another.
Pittsburgh shooting in Squirrel Hill, Mr. Rogers’ real-life neighborhood: Fred Rogers’ real-life home was only blocks away from the tragic shooting in neighborly community in Pittsburgh.
On this day in history:
Oct. 30, 2017 — Two former members of the Trump campaign are placed under house arrest.
Today’s must-see photo:
Buddhists pay their respects at a memorial outside the Tree of Life synagogue after a shooting there left 11 people dead in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (photo credit: Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images)
For more great photos from around the world click HERE.
Hot on social:
A ranger at Costa Rica’s Tortuguero National Park captured a rare sight on video: a jaguar prowling the beach.
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