Oregon school shooting kills 4; Maine’s Troy Jackson tells Susan Collins to ‘shut up’

Four people killed at an Oregon elementary school, including three children, the bystander who police say stopped the gunman. Plus, Senate debates turned personal in Maine and Alaska. So this is obviously one of Troy's supporters. Oh, shut up. And in Maine, two words from a candidate set off a whole new fight. And the Trump administration sues California to block thousands of mail in ballots. The state's pushback and the Justice Department's record in court. The stories that matter. The facts you can trust. From across the country to around the world, this is Unbiased Updates from Straight Arrow. Hey everybody, I'm Christian Bryant. It's Friday, October 16th, and we're glad you're hanging out with us this morning. Let's get you caught up and ready for your day ahead. Police in Oregon are trying to determine why a 16-year-old opened fire at an elementary school, killing four people, including three children. The shooting happened Thursday afternoon at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend. Police say three children between the ages of 5 and 11 were killed, along with a teacher. Another student and teacher were wounded and taken to the hospital in critical condition. Investigators say the gunman got inside by shooting through locked doors, and it all happened very fast. Police got the first 911 call at 1259. Officers arrived three minutes later, but someone else had already confronted the shooter. At 1.02 p.m., our first officers arrived on scene. Moments later, an officer reported that the suspect had been shot by a community member who had seen the suspect enter the school and pursued him into the school and engaged him. Our officers entered the building and confirmed the suspect was dead. They cleared the school to ensure there were no additional threats and then rendered emergency aid to the victims. Police have not identified the gunman other than to say he was a local 16-year-old. They also haven't said whether he had any connection to the school. The Associated Press reports a law enforcement source says the teen used a pump-action shotgun his mother had given him. Police have not confirmed that detail. Now to politics. Two Senate debates got pretty heated Thursday night, with control of the chamber on the line in November. Let's start in Maine. Things got testy between Republican Senator Susan Collins and her Democratic challenger Troy Jackson when a protester interrupted their final debate. Collins suggested the protester was a Jackson supporter, and Jackson shot back with two words, shut up. Take a listen. They are poisoning our water. So this is obviously one of Troy's supporters. Oh, shut up. I did not. I didn't. I don't even know that kid. And that wasn't the only sharp exchange. The two also sparred over the Iran war, the national debt, and their loyalty to their respective parties. Collins argued she has a record of breaking with Republicans when she disagrees with them. Jackson countered that when President Trump really needs her vote, he gets it. I voted against my own party more often than any other senator on either side of the aisle. That is not something that Troy could ever say. He's gonna be an automatic vote for the democratic position no matter what we have lost a lot of the centrists and one reason i'm running again is we need people who will work across party lines the reality is that 100% of the time when donald trump needs her susan collins is going to be there that that has happened time and time again the votes that she throws away or managed votes uh that she already knows the the outcome. She consistently talks about how I don't get anything done. I had 40 vetoes from Governor Mills, 50 with LePage. I mean, those are bills that got passed. I mean, how can I be a rubber stamp with my very own governor, Democratic governor, vetoing 40 of my bills? Meanwhile in Alaska, Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan and Democratic challenger Mary Peltola also clashed over the Iran war and high energy prices. But things got personal when Sullivan accused Peltola of cashing in on her time in Washington, and Peltola accused him of lying. She made almost a half a million dollars last year as a D.C. lobbyist selling her knowledge of D.C. I think that Alaskans have had it up to here with the lying and the dishonesty. Dan, you should be ashamed of yourself for propagating these lies. Both Maine and Alaska are important battlegrounds in the fight for control of the Senate, where Republicans hold a narrow majority. The Trump administration is suing California, trying to stop the state from counting mail-in ballots from thousands of people it suspects are not U.S. citizens. And with the midterms less than three weeks away, California officials are pushing back hard. The Justice Department says it has identified more than 20,000 people on California's voter rolls who may not be citizens. wants a federal judge to block the state from counting their mail ballots until their citizenship can be verified. But California says the government hasn't provided reliable evidence that those voters are ineligible. The lawsuit accuses California of refusing to work with federal officials to correct its voter rolls. Attorney General Todd Blanche says the state was given a chance to address the concerns. In a statement, he wrote, If found responsible in a court of law, the State of California will have seriously undermined confidence in our electoral system. On social media, Gov. Gavin Newsom called the lawsuit a quote, sad, desperate attempt to suppress California voters just weeks before the election. And California Attorney General Rob Bonta says the state will fight the case in court. He calls it an attempt to advance quote, conspiracy theories about widespread voter fraud that does not exist. The Justice Department has filed dozens of lawsuits over state voter rolls. CBS News reports it has lost 26 of those cases so far, without a single legal victory. President Trump is scrapping plans to livestream the execution of the Fort Hood mass shooter. The decision comes after strong backlash and new polling showing 8 in 10 Americans oppose broadcasting it. Former Army Major Nidal Hasan is scheduled to die by firing squad Dec. 3. He was convicted of killing 13 people and wounding 32 others in the 2009 shooting at Fort Hood, Texas. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced last week that the execution would be available for the public to watch. But Trump reversed that plan Thursday, writing, I think streaming the execution for all to see might have been a strong deterrent. He went on to say many people would rather not watch Hassan die, and then made the decision clear. He will die, as scheduled, by firing squad, but this event will not be streamed. Trump says immediate family members of the victims can still watch in person. A new Washington Post, ABC News, and Ipsos poll finds 80 percent of Americans oppose livestreaming the execution, including 64 percent of Republicans. CNN reports Trump wasn't initially aware that Hegseth planned to announce a public broadcast. A Pentagon spokesman now says the two discussed the reversal before Trump's announcement and are completely aligned. If carried out, this would be the military's first execution since 1961, and its first by firing squad since World War II. White House Press Secretary Katie Zachariah acknowledges she never passed the bar exam, but insists she can still call herself a lawyer. Zachariah graduated from Pepperdine Law School, but has not passed the exam generally required to practice law. Earlier this week, she faced questions about her legal credentials and whether she had misrepresented them. Thursday night, she went on Fox News with Sean Hannity to explain why she calls herself a lawyer but not an attorney. She pointed to her law degree and previous work at a Chinese law firm. Why get into this long, drawn-out definition between the difference between a lawyer and an attorney? Because I don't think most people see much of a distinction. When I went to go engage in media and give legal analysis, I consulted attorneys and legal professionals as to whether or not they agreed that I could be labeled a lawyer, both because I had a valid Juris Doctor from a good law school, a reputable law school, Pepperdine Law School, and in conjunction with the fact that I did have actual substantive legal experience. I wasn't providing any legal analysis, Sean, or excuse me, legal advice. I wasn't being paid for legal advice. I was giving a general review of the legal circumstances surrounding it. But that distinction isn't one the American Bar Association makes. It uses lawyer and attorney interchangeably. And while there are exceptions to the traditional bar exam requirement, states generally require a license to practice law. Zachariah does not appear to hold an active law license in any state. Finally this morning, the Milwaukee Brewers are going to the World Series for the first time in 44 years. Milwaukee completed a four-game sweep of the Los Angeles Dodgers Thursday night. Garrett Mitchell put the Brewers ahead with a sixth-inning home run, and David Hamilton and added a solo shot in the ninth as a little icing on the cake. The Brewers haven't been to the World Series since 1982 when they lost to the St. Louis Cardinals, but it's not like they've been just sitting around since then. Milwaukee has made the playoffs eight times in the last nine seasons. Now they'll face either the Cleveland Guardians or the Tampa Bay Rays. Game one of the World Series is set for next Friday, October 23rd, and I know there are some people on staff who will be really excited to watch that. Before we head out, here's what we're tracking today. At 10 Eastern, Alex Murdoch is back in court for a motions hearing. His defense is questioning how police handled the missing murder weapons. At 2.45, President Trump speaks at a midterm campaign rally in Dalton, Georgia. And at 7.30 tonight, Trump participates in a Republican National Committee event. Folks, we're the fastest, fairest few minutes in news. Watch us anytime at san.com or on our app, or join our growing audience on Spotify or your favorite podcast app. By the way, we have a really great newsletter that goes out each morning. Just the news you need and nothing more. Go to S. A. N. Dot com slash newsletters to sign up. That's unbiased updates for this Friday for the unbiased updates team and all of us at Straight Arrow. I'm Christian Bryant. Thank you so much for watching. Have a good weekend and we'll see you again soon.