![Julius Jones' family begs for clemency as controversial execution nears: "This is a state of emergency"](https://cbsnews2.cbsistatic.com/hub/i/r/2021/11/18/b175b563-1b16-4ee0-9b81-eaa35a9e7669/thumbnail/1200x630/fa29122d4bd123b527270cbe39a94aee/julius-jones-promo.jpg)
Julius Jones' family begs for clemency as controversial execution nears: "This is a state of emergency"
CBSN
Julius Jones' family and supporters are begging the governor of Oklahoma to stop his execution, which is set for Thursday, amid questions about his conviction for a 1999 murder that he insists he did not commit.
Jones will be put to death at 4 p.m. CT, unless Governor Kevin Stitt grants him a clemency application that was recently endorsed by the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board. Jones was sentenced to death almost 20 years ago for the murder of Paul Howell, whose family believes he's responsible and deserves to die.
But the 41-year-old inmate, who was 19 at the time of the killing, has always maintained his innocence and says he was home when Howell was murdered.
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Vice President JD Vance and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy held a high-stakes meeting at this year's Munich Security conference to discuss the Trump administration's efforts to end the war in Ukraine. Vance said the U.S. seeks a "durable" peace, while Zelenskyy expressed the desire for extensive discussions to prepare for any end to the conflict.
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Washington — The Trump administration on Thursday intensified its sweeping efforts to shrink the size of the federal workforce, the nation's largest employer, by ordering agencies to lay off nearly all probationary employees who hadn't yet gained civil service protection - potentially affecting hundreds of thousands of workers.
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It was Labor Day weekend 2003 when Matt Scribner, a local horse farrier and trainer who also competes in long-distance horse races, was on his usual ride in a remote part of the Sierra Nevada foothills — just a few miles northeast of Auburn, California —when he noticed a freshly dug hole along the trail that piqued his curiosity.