Lamont Heads To Washington, D.C.:

Governor Ned Lamont went to the nation’s capital late last week to meet with Vice President Mike Pence, other governors and “top government officials,” the Hartford Courant reported.

While in D.C., Lamont announced that Connecticut has joined seven other states “in an attempt to overturn a cap on the federal income tax deduction for state and local taxes at $10,000.” The new tax law is signed by President Donald Trump.

Lamont traveled to D.C. to attend the winter meeting of the National Governors Association. Despite this, Lamont did not attend “events at the White House” that took place earlier this week, the Courant said.

Lamont also turned down an opportunity to meet with Trump last year.

Pope Addresses Church’s Abuse Crisis:

Pope Francis spoke on the final day of the “summit on clergy sexual abuse”  where he called priests and other Catholic leaders who abuse children “tools of Satan,” CNN reported.

Despite this, CNN said there were no “concrete” steps put in place in order to address the scandal.

The Pope addressed the crowd of 190 Catholic leaders, which included 114 bishops from around the world, at the end of Mass at Sala Regia in the Apostolic Palace.

The Pope also called for an “all-out battle” against child abuse.

CNN also reported that “dozens” of Catholic sexual abuse survivors rallied in Rome last week to protest the Pope’s “lack of concrete results from the summit.”

Violence In Venezuela Escalates: 

The crisis in Venezuela is continuing to escalate after embattled president Nicolás Maduro’s military obstructed, at times with deadly force, help and humanitarian aid from entering the country, BBC News reported.

As of Sunday, at least four people have been killed on the Venezuela-Columbia border.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has said that Maduro’s “days are numbered” as a result of the clashes over humanitarian aid.

Self-declared interim President Juan Guaidó, who is recognized by over 50 countries, has called on Maduro to resign.

On Sunday, a senior White House official said that Vice President Mike Pence was putting a plan in place to announce “concrete steps and actions” to address the ongoing violence.

President Donald Trump has not addressed whether or not the United States has ruled out an armed response.