Here's what's trending in politics in Georgia and around the nation on Friday.
1. Coastal Georgia evacuation orders
Gov. Nathan Deal has ordered more than half a million people to evacuate coastal Georgia in advance of an expected landfall of Hurricane Irma. All six Georgia counties are ordered to start evacuation at 8 a.m. Saturday. Interstate 16 will be turned into a one-way route inland at that time.
2.Georgia joins other states asking for videos to be released
Georgia is one of 20 states urging the U.S. Supreme Court to allow the release of videos made by the anti-abortion group the Center for Medical Progress. On Thursday, attorneys general from the 20 states filed a friend-of-the-court brief asking that an order barring the release of the videos be lifted. The Center for Medical Progress is facing felony charges in California for recording people without their permission. According to the Center for Medical Progress, the videos show employees of Planned Parenthood illegally selling fetal tissue for profit. Planned Parenthood said the videos were edited out of context. Some of the videos were released in 2015.
3. House to vote on disaster aid
The House is expected to pass a $15.3 billion disaster aid package Friday and send the legislation to President Donald Trump’s desk for his signature. The Senate passed the bill 80-17 on Thursday. The disaster funds are linked to legislation that would increase the government’s ability to borrow money to keep federal programs funded through December.
4. Savannah is one of top 10 cities for teen shootings
Savannah is one of top 10 cities in the United States with the highest rates of teen shootings, according to an ongoing series of stories from The Associated Press and USA Today. Most of the cities in the top 10 had populations of less than 250,000. The series looked at shootings over a 3½-year period.
The mayor of Snellville was indicted on more than 60 charges Thursday, including tax evasion and violation of oath by a public officer. Tom Witts allegedly used campaign funds for a Caribbean cruise and other personal expenses. Of the 66 charges, 65 were felonies.
6. Donald Trump Jr. answers questions
Donald Trump Jr. told Senate investigators that he did not collude with Russian officials to damage Hillary Clinton’s campaign, but met with a Russian lawyer in June of 2016 to learn about Hillary Clinton's "fitness, character or qualifications," to be president, the AP reported. In a session that lasted more than five hours, Trump said he did not tell his father about the meeting.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on Thursday that grandparents, cousins and similarly close relative of people in the United States should not be prevented from entering the country just because they are from countries included in the Trump administration’s travel ban. The ban had sought to keep some relatives of immigrants from mostly Muslim countries from entering the United States. The Justice Department will appeal the ruling before the U.S. Supreme Court.
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