Senator Sanders

Immigration Reform Sen. Bernie Sanders praised President Barack Obama’s decision to help immigrant families, Vermont Public Radio and Talking Points Memo reported. Sanders was one of the first Congress to use the term “undocumented immigrant” in a 1996 House floor speech, according to The Washington Post. LINK, LINK, LINK   

Generic Drug Prices Sen. Sanders chaired a hearing Thursday on why nearly 10 percent of generic drugs more than doubled in price over the past year. A Sanders bill would blunt the impact for the federal government of sharply rising prices by requiring pharmaceutical companies to provide rebates when their prices outpace inflation, ABC News online, The Hill, Chicago Tribune, the Tampa Bay Times, New Hampshire Voice and Burlington’s WVNY-TV and WCAX-TV reported.  LINK, LINK, LINK, LINK, LINK, VIDEO, VIDEO

White House ’16 Thousands of members of the grassroots organization Democracy for America said they favor Sens. Sanders and Elizabeth Warren over former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for president in 2016, The Washington Post, RTT News, the Burlington Free Press and Fox News reported. Priorities USA director Buffy Wicks wouldn’t rule out spending against Clinton’s potential primary opponents, according to Capital New York. LINK, LINK, LINK, VIDEO, LINK

White House ’16 Sen. Sanders is considering a presidential bid in 2016, TIME magazine online, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, The Hill, The Christian Science Monitor and Vice reported. A source familiar with Sen. Sanders told MSNBC that Sanders will make a decision "sooner rather than later" regarding a 2016 presidential bid. LINK, LINK, LINK, LINK, LINK, LINK,  LINK

White House ’16, Iowa Jerry Crawford, an, Iowa Democratic operative who’s long backed the Clintons, said he had dreams about a Sanders 2016 candidacy. “My commitment was so complete in 2008 and my disappointment so profound that it has resulted in the effect of having dreams about Bernie Sanders,” Crawford told Bloomberg. In a separate interview with CNN, Crawford said that Clinton organizers would “have to keep their eye on” Iowa’s “very healthy underdog spirit.” LINK, LINK

World

Iraq, Syria United States Central Command said Friday that American-led coalition forces have stepped up their offensive, staging 30 air strikes against Islamic State targets since Wednesday, according to Reuters.  LINK

Russia Vice President Joe Biden on Friday condemned Russia's behavior in Ukraine as "unacceptable" and urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to order his military forces out of the country, Reuters reported.  LINK

Cyber Threat National Security Agency chief Mike Rogers told a congressional panel that China and other countries could shut down America's power grid through a cyber attack, CNN reported.  LINK

National

Obama Sued over Health Care House Republicans on Friday filed a lawsuit against the Obama administration over the president's health care law, The New York Times reported. LINK

Wages Fall Since the depths of the financial crisis in early 2009, median weekly wages for full-time men have fallen 3.5 percent (adjusted for inflation), while wages for women have held steady, according to population survey data from the Labor Department. Full-time workers between 16 and 19 make 9.7 percent less than they did in 2009. Those between 20 and 24 make 6.1 percent less. Since 2006, the number of Americans seeking full-time work but reluctantly holding part-time jobs has risen 65 percent, to 6.8 million, The Washington Post reported. LINK

Vermont

Unemployment The Vermont Department of Labor said on Friday that  the state's unemployment rate was unchanged for October at 4.4 percent. That compares to a national rate of 5.8 percent, The Associated Press reported.  LINK 

Food Shelf The Chittenden Emergency Food Shelf is "critically low" on donated food and money heading into winter, Burlington Free Press reported.  LINK