Washington D.C.

Frankie & Johnny: Jan. 27, 2023: Shootings in California reverberate in Connecticut. New Haven marks the Lunar New Year. Lawmakers consider gun violence proposals.

Frankie and Johnny mark one decade since the Sandy Hook shooting, discuss a gun incident at an East Granby elementary school, and note a long-shot push for Puerto Rican statehood.

"I'm prepared to work with my Republican colleagues," the president said in remarks from the White House on Wednesday. He also said he intends to run for reelection.

The Republican mayor of Derby, Conn., says the news that a town aldermen admits to entering the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 last year is “political.” Gino DiGiovanni Jr. was elected after the attack, but a national accountability group says that’s still a concern.

Since returning to Washington from recess last week, Senate Democrats are specifically prioritizing circuit court nominations with the Nov. 8 midterm elections quickly approaching and the possibility of losing their majority in the upper chamber.

Two days after the deadly mass shooting north of Chicago, the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services was in Connecticut to talk about new gun reform legislation. The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act includes $12 billion to support community mental health.

Federal lawmakers will vote in the coming days on the bipartisan Safer Communities Act that includes gun reforms championed by U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy from Connecticut. It would expand background checks for people under 21, offer federal funds to help states take away guns from holders at risk of hurting themselves or others, and give the federal government more power to tackle gun trafficking. A sticking point in recent federal negotiations for gun reform was an attempt by Democratic U.S. senators to close the so-called "boyfriend loophole" that allows unmarried abusers to get guns. U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut says the agreement may not close the loophole, but it will “substantially shrink” it.

Connecticut’s two U.S. senators say their Senate colleagues are working over the next two weeks to move on gun violence legislation.

U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) was a part of a group of lawmakers who met with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky via videoconference on Saturday. Blumenthal said Zelensky asked the Americans to implement further sanctions, including a boycott of all Russian goods and services.

Five Connecticut residents face federal charges related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.