Nightly Brief

Your Thursday night briefing from the staff of Courthouse News

Top CNS stories for today including Stormy Daniels’ attorney Michael Avenatti revealing more women have reached out to him with affair-payoff claims against President Donald Trump; U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III receives unredacted documents outlining the scope of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election; the governments urges the 11th Circuit on Wednesday to find that, when it comes to deductions, nuclear-waste disposal is not the same as decommissioning a nuclear plant; a New York appeals court rules defamation claims by former “Apprentice” contestant Summer Zervos should advance to discovery; a new study finds the world’s nations can protect the vast majority of plant and animal species from climate change by limiting global warming to 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit by 2100; three neonicotinoid insecticides will remain banned in Europe, the General Court ruled Thursday, finding the measures justified to protect honeybees, and more.

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**National **

Michael Avenatti, who represents Trump accuser Stormy Daniels, sat down on May 17, 2018, with the hosts of MSNBC's "Morning Joe." (Via MSNBC)

1.) More women with affair-payoff claims against President Donald Trump similar to those of Stormy Daniels have sought counsel from attorney Michael Avenatti, the lawyer revealed Thursday on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”

Special Counsel Robert Mueller departs after a meeting on Capitol Hill in Washington on June 21, 2017. Mueller’s team considers President Donald Trump a subject, not a criminal target, in the wide-ranging Russia investigation. The designation, first reported by The Washington Post and confirmed by The Associated Press, has raised questions about what legal threat Trump personally faces from the special counsel and whether it has any impact on his decision to sit for an interview with prosecutors. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

2.) U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III is now among the privileged few who know the full, approved scope of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election.

CIA nominee Gina Haspel testifies during a confirmation hearing of the Senate Intelligence Committee, on Capitol Hill, on May 9, 2018, in Washington. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

FILE - This April 9, 2015, file photo shows the south portal of the proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste dump near Mercury, Nev. The House is moving to approve an election-year bill to revive the mothballed nuclear waste dump at Nevada's Yucca Mountain despite opposition from home-state lawmakers. (AP Photo/John Locher, File)

4.) With nearly $100 million in taxes on the line, the U.S. government urged the 11th Circuit on Wednesday to find that, when it comes to deductions, nuclear-waste disposal is not the same as decommissioning a nuclear plant.

**Regional **

6.) Attorneys made their closing arguments Wednesday in a case where the city of Pomona claims that a subsidiary of a Chilean chemical company “poisoned” its groundwater over the course of decades, costing millions in cleanup costs.

FILE- In this Dec. 5, 2017 file photo, Summer Zervos leaves Manhattan Supreme Court at the conclusion of a hearing in New York. A New York court said Thursday, May 17, 2018, that the former "Apprentice" contestant can proceed with her defamation lawsuit against President Donald Trump, at least for now. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens, File)

7.) After a federal judge found that President Donald Trump is not immune from defamation claims by former “Apprentice” contestant Summer Zervos, a New York appeals court ruled Thursday that the case should advance to discovery.

A statue of Confederate Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest is seen in a park in Memphis, Tenn., in 2017. (AP Photo/Adrian Sainz, File)

8.) As Memphis faces political fallout for using a loophole in state law to remove three Confederate statues from city parks, a state judge sided with the city Wednesday and declined to issue an injunction in favor of a Confederate heritage group.

Kerry Bentivolio, a Republican congressman from Michigan. (Paul Sancya/Associated Press)

9.) A decorated military veteran running for Congress in Michigan sued his fellow Republican rival for defamation this week, claiming he called his military record, which includes two Bronze Stars, “fraudulent and fake.”

**Science **

10.) Around a third of land set aside for environmental protection globally faces serious threats from human development, according to a study issued Thursday.

This Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2017 photo provided by Darlene Burgess shows a monarch butterfly at Point Pelee National Park in Canada. A large population of already vulnerable monarch butterflies are stuck in Canada and in the Northeast. They are late on their migration south _ they should be in Texas at this time _ because unusually warm weather delayed their flight and now winds and other factors aren't making it easy or maybe even possible to go south before the coming frost. (Darlene Burgess via AP)

11.) The world’s nations can protect the vast majority of plant and animal species from climate change by limiting global warming to 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit by 2100, a new study finds.

**International **

FILE - In this Friday, April, 26, 2013 file photo, bee-keepers and apiarists dressed up as bees demonstrate outside the Palace of Westminster ahead of the European Commission vote on the proposal to ban bee-harming neonicotinoid pesticides, in London. The European Union has made a key breakthrough to completely ban pesticides that harm bees and their crop pollination. The 28 member states got a large majority backing the ban on the three prevalent neonicotinoid pesticides which will take effect at the end of the year. The decision builds on a limited ban which has been in effect since 2013. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant, File)

12.) Three neonicotinoid insecticides will remain banned in Europe, the General Court ruled Thursday, finding the measures justified to protect honeybees.

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