Democrats keep Senate as control of House remains undecided

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Monday 11.14.22

The TSA is ramping up security measures at airports nationwide after admitting to multiple protocol failures that allowed a man to get through a checkpoint with two box cutters. The move comes as passengers are expected to flood airports ahead of Thanksgiving in 10 days. Here's what else you need to know to Get Up to Speed and On With Your Day.

By Alexandra Meeks

Ballots being sorted last week at the Los Angeles County ballot processing facility.

Midterms

After projected victories in close contests in Nevada and Arizona over the weekend, Democrats will keep their Senate majority for the next two years. Retaining Senate control is a huge boost to President Joe Biden and opens a clear path for Senate Democrats to reject bills passed by the House -- which means they can set their own agenda. Still, control of the House has yet to be determined as Republicans appear to be inching closer to the 218 seats that would deliver them a majority. These results may take several more days as election workers continue to tally votes in key races that have yet to be called.

UVA shooting

Three people were killed and two others were wounded in a shooting at the University of Virginia's main campus in Charlottesville on Sunday. The campus was placed on lockdown and the suspect -- identified as a school student -- remains at large, university president Jim Ryan said in a statement today. Authorities said multiple police departments are actively searching for the suspect, who is listed on the university's athletics website as a football player in 2018. University officials have urged everyone on campus to immediately seek safety. "We have all received several shelter in place texts, and they are frightening," UVA vice president Robyn Hadley said in an email to UVA's student body, adding that the situation remains active.

Air show crash

A pair of vintage military planes collided in midair at the Wings Over Dallas airshow Saturday, killing six people on board. In video footage of the crash that was described by Dallas' mayor as "heartbreaking," the planes are seen breaking apart in the sky, then hitting the ground within seconds, before bursting into flames. More than 40 fire units responded to the scene at the Dallas Executive Airport after the World War II-era planes -- a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress and a Bell P-63 Kingcobra -- went down. The investigation is ongoing but officials said it will be challenging, as neither aircraft was equipped with a flight data recorder, often known as a "black box."

Trump

Former President Donald Trump repeatedly told his onetime White House chief of staff, John Kelly, that he wanted the IRS to investigate his political foes, Kelly told The New York Times. Former FBI Director James Comey and former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, both fierce critics of Trump, were ultimately selected by the IRS for an intensive tax audit. The Times noted earlier this year that the odds of any one person being selected for the audit are about one in 30,600 -- raising questions about how two of Trump's most visible critics were both selected. The IRS previously denied any "politically motivated audits" in a statement to CNN. Still, the head of the IRS has asked a watchdog to investigate the decision to conduct the audits.

China

President Biden is meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping today for their first in-person encounter since Biden took office. The stakes for the discussions are high and could have long-lasting consequences for the world's most important bilateral relationship. But expectations for the meeting are low amid rising US-China tensions. Locked in an intensifying great power rivalry, the US and China disagree with each other on just about every major issue, from Taiwan, the war in Ukraine, North Korea, the transfer of technology, to the shape of the world order. According to a US official, the main objective of the sit-down is not about reaching agreements, but about gaining a better understanding of each other's priorities and reducing misconceptions.

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