It’s Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2018. Thanks for choosing to start here.
1. General Motors to lay off 15 percent of workers, close 5 plants
General Motors on Monday announced plans to cut 15 percent of its workforce and shutter five plants in North America.
President Donald Trump reacted to the decision by telling reporters that he’d voiced his displeasure to CEO Mary Barra.
“I was very tough,” Trump said. “I spoke with her when I heard they were closing, and I said, ‘You know, this country has done a lot for General Motors. You better get back in there soon. That’s Ohio. And you better get back in there soon.’ We have a lot of pressure on them.”
ABC News Chief White House Correspondent Jonathan Karl tells us how this will impact the administration’s economic message, while AutoTrader’s Michelle Krebs explains why the company is making the move.
2. Trump defends using tear gas on migrants at U.S.-Mexico border
The president defended the use of tear gas on Central American migrants at the southern border, telling reporters on Monday that it “had to be used” by U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agents “because they were being rushed by some very tough people.”
Migrants clashed with Mexican police on Sunday before they were met with a wall of tear gas as they approached the border. Thousands are waiting in Tijuana and surrounding areas to apply for asylum in the U.S.
ABC News Chief National Correspondent Matt Gutman joins us from Tijuana: “They know there’s strength in numbers. Now they’re trying to figure out what they can do.”
3. Special counsel says Manafort broke cooperation deal by lying
In August, a jury found former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort guilty on eight counts, mostly financial crimes. They were gridlocked on the other 10.
Then, just before his second trial, Manafort’s lawyers struck a plea deal with prosecutors contingent on Manafort’s cooperating with investigators from special counsel Robert Mueller’s office.
ABC News’ Katherine Faulders says that deal appears to have fallen apart, as Mueller’s team has now accused Manafort of lying to them.
Manafort’s legal team said he’s telling the truth.
4. Alabama police search for suspect after killing wrong man
Police in Hoover, Alabama, are facing mounting questions over the death of a black man shot to death when officers responded to a Thanksgiving mall shooting.
Officials claimed Emantic “E.J.” Bradford Jr. fired shots that wounded two people, but police later admitted it was “unlikely” he was involved.
As of Monday night, police said, the gunman who shot an 18-year-old and a 12-year-old was still at large.
Bradford’s family members believe police gunned down a “good guy with a gun,” and they’re calling for authorities to release police bodycam video of the incident.
“The family and community members believe that this young man would be alive if he were white,” ABC News’ Steve Osunsami tells us from Hoover.
Other news:
‘The evidence of human-caused climate change is overwhelming and continues to strengthen’: The president of the United States of America still says he’s skeptical.
‘If Jared Kushner inflated the size of this arms deal, we need to figure out why’: The $110 billion arms deal with Saudi Arabia that Donald Trump bragged about is looking more like a $14.5 billion arms deal.
‘MLB has requested that the donation be returned’: Major League Baseball, which made a $5,000 political contribution to Cindy Hyde-Smith after a video of her saying she’d sit in the front row at a public hanging went viral, now wants its money back.
From our partners at FiveThirtyEight:
Carlsen’s Bizarre Decision Has Sent The World Chess Championship To Overtime
Last ‘Nightline’:
Inside one of Texas’ largest mass casualty drills: After last year’s shooting at a Sutherland Springs church killed 26, first responders and surgeons are among those working together in San Antonio to play out a worst-case scenario and be better prepared.
Stars of ‘Creed II’ on bringing a love of boxing movies to a new generation: Michael B. Jordan and his co-stars discuss how the film explores themes of redemption, father-son relationships and family.
Today in history:
Nov. 27, 2017 — Prince Harry and Meghan Markle announce their engagement.
The must-see photo:
NASA engineers Kris Bruvold, left, and Sandy Krasner react in the space flight operation facility at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory as the spaceship InSight lands on the surface of Mars after a six-month journey at JPL in Pasadena, California. (photo credit: Al Seib/Reuters)
For more great photos from around the world click HERE.
Hot on social:
As many as 145 pilot whales died after becoming stranded on a remote beach on New Zealand’s Stewart Island.
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