CHICAGO (AP) — While Connor Bedard is out, the Chicago Blackhawks are hoping to replace his production with a collective approach.
It's going to be quite the challenge.
“It's going to be on everybody to step up and do their part,” center Jason Dickinson said.
That's the reality for Chicago with Bedard sidelined for at least two weeks because of an upper-body injury, dealing a major blow to his chances of making Team Canada for the Winter Olympics.
Bedard has turned into one of the NHL's top players in his third season since he was drafted No. 1 in 2023. The 20-year-old center has a team-high 19 goals and 25 assists in 31 games.
The Blackhawks open a three-game trip on Tuesday night at Toronto. They are 3-8-2 in their last 13 games.
“Obviously it sucks, but just need guys to step up and be able to make those plays that he'd make on a night in, night out basis,” center Frank Nazar said.
Bedard got hurt on a draw with 0.8 seconds left in Friday night’s 3-2 loss at St. Louis. He grasped at his right shoulder and immediately headed to the locker room, accompanied by a trainer.
He was placed on injured reserve on Monday.
“We'll get through the new year and then kind of reevaluate and see where he's at,” coach Jeff Blashill said after practice.
Blashill declined to get into any specifics with Bedard's injury, sticking to his upper-body designation. He said Bedard isn't going to have an operation or procedure right now, but he left open that possibility for down the road.
“Let’s start with the rehab and see where it goes and I’ll have a better update after that,” Blashill said.
Bedard was believed to be a long shot for Canada's roster for the Milan Cortina Olympics coming into the season. But he made a strong case with his fast start, and the injury robs him of an opportunity for a closing argument.
Canada is expected to announce its loaded roster before Bedard plays again for Chicago.
When it comes to the Blackhawks, Bedard's absence puts more pressure on Nazar, Tyler Bertuzzi and Ryan Donato to make the most of their offensive opportunities. Nick Lardis, who made his NHL debut in Saturday night's 4-0 loss to Detroit, also could help out.
Captain Nick Foligno also is nearing a return from his left hand injury. Blashill said Foligno could play on the team’s road trip.
“Nobody’s going to replace Connor on their own,” Blashill said. “Collectively, as a group, one, I think we needed to do this anyway, we need to be better defensively. ... We're going to have to score those net-front-type goals, the tip-type goals. We’re not going to score from distance the way Connor can score from distance at a regular rate, so we're going to have to make sure we’re scoring dirtier.”
Also Monday, defenseman Ethan Del Mastro and goaltender Laurent Brossoit were recalled from Rockford of the American Hockey League.
Brossoit had been in the minors on a conditioning assignment. Blashill said Brossoit will be placed on waivers and will go back to Rockford if he clears.
Del Mastro, 22, has two goals and four assists in 27 career games with Chicago.
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Chicago Blackhawks center Connor Bedard (98) passes the puck against the Vegas Golden Knights during the first period of an NHL hockey game Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2025, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Ian Maule)
Two former aides to President Donald Trump during the 2020 election are in a Wisconsin court for a preliminary hearing on felony forgery charges related to a fake elector scheme. The judge postponed a preliminary hearing for a third aide amid questions about what statements the man made to prosecutors could be admitted in court.
The Wisconsin case is moving forward even as others in the battleground states of Michigan and Georgia have faltered. A special prosecutor last year dropped a federal case alleging Trump conspired to overturn the 2020 election. Another case in Nevada is still alive.
Here's the latest:
“We are considering the idea because a lot of people want to see it,” the president said.
Trump had said in August that he was reviewing whether the federal government should reclassify marijuana as a less dangerous drug. Such a step could move the federal government closer to an approach already embraced by many states.
“We are looking at that very strongly,” Trump said at the White House.
The president was asked if he stood by his social media post in light of the pushback he was getting, including from those in his own party.
Using the third person, Trump said Reiner “was a deranged person as far as Trump is concerned.”
“I was not a fan of Rob Reiner at all, in any way shape or form,” Trump said. “I thought he was very bad for our country.”
He signed the order in the Oval Office on Monday while flanked by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Dan Caine, White House border czar Tom Homan and other top military officials.
Trump says his administration is “formally classifying fentanyl as a weapon of mass destruction, which is what it is. No bomb does what this is doing.”
It was not immediately clear how the new designation would affect administration policy or what the legal implications would be for those impacted by fentanyl use or drug traffickers.
The term weapon of mass destruction has typically referred to nuclear, biological, chemical or kinetic threats capable of causing overwhelming and lasting damage to a population, infrastructure or environment. The term has also been hotly debated in American politics since the U.S. invasion of Iraq.
The president is in the Oval Office with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Trump border czar Tom Homan, all of them hailing the border defense portion of his immigration crackdown.
Military commanders and the award recipients looked on as Trump, Hegseth and Homan declared the border secure. Trump said his administration has “stopped the invasion in its tracks, and we are dismantling the cartels very rapidly.”
He added many hits from his 2024 campaign speech, blasting the immigration policies of his predecessor, Democrat Joe Biden, and declaring migrants who crossed the border “some of the worst people on Earth.”
Homan praised “greatest president of my lifetime – yes, I said it.” Hegseth said the medal is a reprisal of a military honor awarded previously in the early 20th century
“I think we’re closer now than we have been, ever,” Trump said while recapping war talks in Europe at the start of an unrelated White House event.
Trump said he had a “long talk” with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. He also spoke with the leaders of several European countries, including Germany, Italy, France and the United Kingdom as well as NATO.
“Things are going along pretty well,” the president said.
Trump said everyone wants to see the war end.
The president’s upcoming trip to Rocky Mount was confirmed by Republican Senate candidate Michael Whatley, a close Trump ally who was chair of the Republican National Committee during the 2024 election.
“Let’s give him the North Carolina welcome he deserves,” Whatley wrote on social media. Whatley did not describe a reason for the trip in his social media post.
The event will take place at the Rocky Mount Events Center. Trump last week traveled to Pennsylvania to discuss the economy and cost of living.
“We’re seeing a lot of tragedies,” the GOP speaker said as he arrived at the Capitol.
He drew on scripture to provide comfort to the Reiner family and others after “the senseless violence” this past weekend in Australia and at Brown University.
“We have to appeal to our better angels,” Johnson said, and “I think we have to amplify those voices.”He declined to answer questions about Trump’s insensitive remarks after Reiner’s death.
The United States and Paraguay have signed an agreement laying out the legal framework for American troops to be stationed the in the South American country and clearing the way for further defense and intelligence cooperation between the two as the Trump administration steps up military operations throughout the western hemisphere.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Paraguayan Foreign Minister Ruben Ramirez signed the so-called “status of forces” agreement on Monday at the State Department. Both men hailed the deal as a step forward in relations that would enhance already strong counter-terrorism and -narcotics measures.
Such agreements outline the legal requirements and immunities for U.S. troops to be present in other countries, although there was no immediate announcement of any deployments to Paraguay.
California is hiring two former top federal health officials, state officials said Monday.
Susan Monarez, the former director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is helping California launch an effort to maintain trust in science-driven decision-making and improve public health infrastructure.
Monarez is being joined by Dr. Debra Houry, CDC’s former chief medical officer. Both will be advisors, California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced.
The White House fired Monarez in August when she fell out of favor with Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. after only one month on the job. Houry and some other top CDC officials resigned in protest.
A few Republican members of Congress are calling out President Donald Trump’s insensitive social media post regarding the deaths of director-actor Rob Reiner and his wife Michele.
Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky tweeted ox X that regardless of how one felt about Reiner, “this is inappropriate and disrespectful discourse about a man who was just brutally murdered.”
Rep. Mike Lawler of New York said of Trump’s post: “This statement is wrong. Regardless of one’s political views, no one should be subjected to violence, let alone at the hands of their own son. It’s a horrible tragedy that should engender sympathy and compassion from everyone in our country, period.”
And Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia tweeted: “This is a family tragedy, not about politics or political enemies. Many families deal with a family member with drug addiction and mental health issues. It’s incredibly difficult and should be met with empathy especially when it ends in murder.”
James said Monday she isn’t spending a lot of time thinking about the Trump administration’s repeated efforts to revive a criminal case against her.
James, a Democrat, made her first public comments about the matter at an unrelated press conference after the news last week that a second federal grand jury had declined to indict her on charges related to her purchase of a home in Norfolk, Virginia, in 2020.
“I don’t really spend a lot of time focused on this campaign of retribution,” said James. “I’ve got a lot of work on my hands — standing up and defending the rights of New Yorkers, protecting them from harms coming from Washington, D.C.”
A judge last month threw out an indictment charging James with bank fraud and making false statements to a financial institution, ruling that the prosecutor who brought the case at Republican President Donald Trump’s urging was illegally appointed by the Justice Department.
“I’ve got a job to do,” said James, who had pleaded not guilty to the earlier indictment and denies any wrongdoing.
About 3 in 10 Americans cite the cost of health care as the most urgent health problem facing the country, and about one-quarter say the health care system is in “crisis,” according to a new Gallup poll released Monday.
The poll also shows that only 16% of Americans are satisfied with the cost of health care in the U.S.
The findings from the survey conducted in November come as Congress has yet to address the spiking health insurance premium costs facing millions of Americans when Affordable Care Act health subsidies expire at the start of the new year.
It also comes as health expenses have risen across the board in response to a variety of factors, including inflation and the increasing use of expensive medications such as GLP-1 weight loss drugs.
Biden agreed to the penalty and admitted to violating the state’s attorney conduct rules, but he did not admit to committing any crimes.
His father, former President Joe Biden, pardoned him last year after he was convicted of three felonies relating to a 2018 gun purchase and pleaded guilty to failing to pay federal taxes. He previously was disbarred in Washington, D.C.
A Connecticut judge ordered the disbarment on Monday. Hunter Biden did not speak and he and his lawyer appeared via video at the virtual court hearing in Waterbury.
The judge found that Hunter Biden violated several lawyer ethics rules, including engaging in conduct “involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit or misrepresentation.”
In a court document, Hunter Biden admitted to some but not all of the misconduct allegations. The judge also cited the Washington disbarment. He was admitted to the Connecticut bar in 1997, a year after graduating from Yale Law School.
The U.S. officials who briefed reporters after Witkoff and Kushner met with Zelenskyy and other European officials in Berlin over the last two days said such an offer over Ukraine joining the EU would be a major concession by Moscow. But Russia has previously said it doesn’t object to Ukraine joining the EU.
The U.S. president, who’s been briefed twice on the Berlin talks, plans to dial in to a dinner Monday evening that Witkoff and Kushner will attend with European leaders.
The negotiators and others involved in the peace talks will likely meet in Miami or elsewhere in the United States this weekend to continue their work, according to the U.S. officials.
A proposal that would offer Article 5-like security guarantees to Ukraine — a key component of ongoing peace talks to end Russia’s war in Ukraine — would need Senate approval, according to U.S. officials.
The officials did not specify whether it would need to be ratified like a treaty, which requires two-thirds approval from the Senate, or another resolution that would call for lower vote thresholds.
Still, it’s a sign of confidence from the administration that the pending proposal could win broad support from the Senate.
There’s now consensus on about 90% of the U.S.-authored peace plan aimed at ending Russia’s war on Ukraine, according to U.S. officials.
The officials, who weren’t authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity, said robust negotiations between Trump’s envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his team led to progress on narrowing differences on security guarantees Kyiv said must be provided to Ukraine as well as the contentious issue on Moscow’s demand that Ukraine concede land in the eastern Donbas.
Kushner and Witkoff are expected to meet over dinner Monday evening with Ukrainian as well British, German and French leaders for further talks. President Trump is expected to call into the dinner from Washington.
— Aamer Madhani
The preliminary hearing for one of three former aides to President Trump has been postponed in Wisconsin amid questions about what statements he made to prosecutors could be admitted in court.
The judge said Monday he would set a later date to hold the hearing for Ken Chesebro, an attorney who advised Trump’s campaign.
The preliminary hearing is continuing for two other defendants. They are Jim Troupis, who is Trump’s 2020 campaign attorney in Wisconsin, and Mike Roman, Trump’s director of Election Day operations in 2020.
All three face 11 felony forgery charges related to Trump’s attempt to overturn his 2020 election loss in Wisconsin.
Dane County Circuit Judge John Hyland said he would hold an evidentiary hearing to get more details about comments Chesebro made to Wisconsin investigators and whether they can be admitted in court.
First Assistant United States Attorney Bill Essayli made the announcement during a Los Angeles news conference Monday morning.
He said the defendants are suspected to be members of a “far left, anti-government terrorist organization” called Turtle Island Liberation Front. He said they planned to set off the improvised explosive devices at five businesses in Los Angeles and Orange County on New Year’s Eve.
The four people were each charged with conspiracy and possession of an explosive device and officials intend to file additional charges, Essayli said.
One of the people arrested described the organization as an “anti-capitalist, anti government movement” that calls for associates to “rise up and fight” against capitalism, he said.
Federal authorities on Monday announced the arrests of four alleged members of an extremist group who are suspected of planning coordinated bombing attacks on New Year’s Eve across Southern California.
The suspects were arrested last week in Lucerne Valley, a desert city east of Los Angeles, where they were suspected of preparing to test improvised explosive devices ahead of the planned bombings, according to the federal criminal complaint filed Saturday. They’re members of an offshoot of a pro-Palestinian group dubbed the Turtle Island Liberation Front, the complaint said.
They each face charges including conspiracy and possession of a destructive device, court documents show.
The group is alleged to have been plotting to set off a series of bombings at multiple targets in California beginning on New Year’s Eve and also planned to target Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and vehicles, Attorney General Pam Bondi said on social media.
▶ Read more about the California arrests
It comes as the latest round of talks between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and U.S. envoys ended Monday and as Kyiv faces Washington’s pressure to swiftly accept a U.S.-brokered peace deal while confronting an increasingly assertive Moscow.
Ukraine’s lead negotiator, Rustem Umerov, said on social media that “real progress” had been achieved at the talks in Berlin with President Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner as well as European officials. The talks lasted roughly 90 minutes, after a five-hour session Sunday.
The U.S. government said in a social media post on Witkoff’s account after Sunday’s meeting that “a lot of progress was made.”
The search for possible compromises has run into major obstacles, including control of Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, which is mostly occupied by Russian forces.
▶ Read more about the Russia-Ukraine war
The two Iowa National Guard members who the U.S. military says were killed by the Islamic State Group in Syria on Saturday have been identified, the U.S. Army announced Monday.
The soldiers were Sgt. Edgar Brian Torres-Tovar, 25 of Des Moines, and Sgt. William Nathaniel Howard, 29, from Marshalltown.
The Army said in Monday’s announcement that the incident is under investigation. President Trump said Saturday that “there will be very serious retaliation” for the attack, which also killed an American interpreter.
Onetime attorneys and a former aide to President Trump during the 2020 election are in a Wisconsin court for a preliminary hearing related to charges they face related to a fake elector plan.
The hearing began Monday in a county courthouse just blocks from Wisconsin’s state Capitol where the Republicans met in 2020 in an attempt case the state’s 10 electoral college ballots for Trump even though he’d lost the state.
Former Trump attorneys Jim Troupis and Ken Chesebro and former Trump aide Mike Roman each face 10 felony forgery charges. The judge was deciding Monday whether there was probable cause to take the case to trial.
The Wisconsin case is moving forward even as similar ones in the battleground states of Michigan and Georgia have faltered.
The Trump administration is unrolling a new scholarship competition that will include a televised “civics bee” testing high schoolers on their knowledge of America’s founding.
The Education Department announced its new Presidential 1776 Award on Monday, promising scholarships totaling $250,000 for three winners.
The contest has three rounds: an online test, regional in-person semifinals and a national final in Washington in June.
Education Secretary Linda McMahon says the contest gives students a chance “to push themselves, learn our history, and take pride in the principles that unite us.”
It’s being organized and supported by the James Madison Memorial Fellowship Foundation.
The Trump administration has sought to promote “patriotic education” even as the president works to eliminate the Education Department.
President Trump responded to the reported killing of a Hollywood cultural icon and his wife with a striking political attack on the victims.
In a social media post, Trump said without evidence that Rob Reiner’s death was due to his opposition to Trump and his policies — in Trump’s words, “the anger he caused others through his massive, unyielding, and incurable affliction with a mind crippling disease known as TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME.”
The Trump administration won’t immediately have to give up control of California National Guard troops it deployed to Los Angeles in June.
A federal judge’s order returning command of the troops to the state was set to take effect Monday, but a federal appeals court put it on hold.
A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals late Friday granted in part a temporary stay sought by the Republican administration while it considers an appeal of the judge’s order.
U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer in San Francisco ruled last week that Trump officials had to relinquish command of the troops and stop deploying them in Los Angeles, but he put the decision on hold until Monday.
The 9th Circuit panel refused to block the second part of the order requiring an end to the troop deployment in Los Angeles, where about a 100 troops remained.
In an extraordinary move, President Donald Trump called up more than 4,000 California National Guard troops in June without Gov. Gavin Newsom’s approval to further the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement efforts. The number had dropped to several hundred by late October, but California remained steadfast in its opposition to Trump’s command of the troops.
The latest round of talks between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and U.S. envoys ended Monday as they and European allies seek an end to Russia’s nearly four-year war.
Special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law who’s working as an outside adviser, were in the German capital for the peace talks.
The U.S. and Ukrainian delegations, along with European officials, met for about 90 minutes Monday. That follows a five-hour session Sunday.
The U.S. government said in a social media post on Witkoff’s account after Sunday’s meeting that “a lot of progress was made.”
▶ Read more about talks with Ukraine
The fight over California’s new congressional map designed to help Democrats flip congressional House seats will go to court Monday as a panel of federal judges considers whether the district boundaries approved by voters last month can be used in elections.
The hearing in Los Angeles sets the stage for a high-stakes legal and political fight between the Trump administration and Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who’s been eyeing a 2028 presidential run. The lawsuit asks a three-judge panel to grant a temporary restraining order by Dec. 19 — the date candidates can take the first official steps to run in the 2026 election.
Voters approved California’s new U.S. House map in November through Proposition 50. It’s designed to help Democrats flip as many as five congressional House seats in the midterm elections next year. It was Newsom’s response to a Republican-led effort in Texas backed by President Donald Trump.
▶ Read more about California’s redistricting effort
President Donald Trump talks to reporters as arrives on the South Lawn of the White House, Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, after attending the Army-Navy game. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
President Donald Trump talks to reporters as he departs from the South Lawn of the White House, Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, in Washington, en route to Baltimore to attend the Army-Navy football game. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
