The Latest: Trump hails prison reform as bipartisan effort
President Donald Trump is hailing prison and sentencing reform legislation as a "great bipartisan effort" as he holds a roundtable discussion to promote it during a campaign jaunt to Mississippi
TUPELO, Miss. (AP) — The Latest on President Donald Trump in Mississippi (all times local):
7:20 p.m.
President Donald Trump is hailing prison and sentencing reform legislation as a "great bipartisan effort" as he holds a roundtable discussion to promote it during a campaign jaunt to Mississippi.
Among those in attendance Monday are Vice President Mike Pence, Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and Miss Mississippi Asya Branch, who is wearing a gown and crown.
Trump has called on Congress to pass a new version of the "First Step Act" that would make it easier for nonviolent offenders to amass credits to get out of prison early and change some mandatory minimum sentencing rules.
The Senate announced it has reached a bipartisan deal on the issue, but if remains unclear whether Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell will choose to hold a vote in the lame-duck session before Democrats take control of the House in 2019.
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5:15 p.m.
President Donald Trump is defending his administration's response to Central American migrants who tried to illegally cross the border in Tijuana.
The action on Sunday prompted a chaotic clash that included U.S. agents firing choking tear gas into the crowds.
Trump said Monday at a campaign rally in Mississippi that he is sending the caravan members a clear message: "Turn around and go back home."
He tells that crowd that "we don't want those people in Mississippi" and that migrants are "not coming through anymore" illegally.
In the days leading up to the midterm elections, Trump likened the approaching caravans to an "invasion."
His comments at one point prompted the crowd to chant, "Build that wall!"
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4:40 p.m.
Opening a political rally in Tupelo, Mississippi — the birthplace of Elvis Presley — President Donald Trump is joking that people used to say he looked like the king of rock 'n' roll.
Trump was in Mississippi stumping for Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, who is in a Senate runoff. She is running against Democrat Mike Espy in a contest that has increasingly taken on racial overtones.
Trump says that when he was young, "other than the blond hair, they said I looked like Elvis."
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4:30 p.m.
The midterms are over, but President Donald Trump is back campaigning in Mississippi to help GOP Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith keep her seat in Republican hands.
Trump is holding two rallies Monday to help Hyde-Smith finish the final two years of the term started by Republican Thad Cochran.
Hyde-Smith is in a tight runoff Tuesday against Democrat Mike Espy, a former congressman and agriculture secretary under President Bill Clinton. Espy would be the first African-American to represent the state in the Senate since Reconstruction.
The election has been dominated by racial issues, after a photo emerged of Hyde-Smith wearing a replica hat of a Confederate soldier and a video emerged of her saying she'd be "on the front row" of a public hanging if invited.
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9 a.m.
President Donald Trump is heading to Mississippi for two rallies to try to keep a Senate seat in Republican hands.
Trump will be campaigning Monday for GOP Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, who is in a runoff Tuesday against Democrat Mike Espy. The former congressman was agriculture secretary under President Bill Clinton.
Espy is trying to become the first African-American to represent Mississippi in the Senate since Reconstruction.
Trump plans to speak Monday afternoon at a rally in Tupelo and then that night at a rally in Biloxi.
Trump returned Sunday evening from Florida, where he spent the Thanksgiving holiday at his Mar-a-Lago club. He visited his nearby golf course all five days he spent in Florida, and he took time to talk to troops stationed abroad on Thanksgiving Day.