NATIONAL BRIEFS

WASHINGTON: Bipartisan governing ahead?

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said Wednesday that President Barack Obama and a more-Republican Congress could join to pass laws on trade and spending policy and make changes to the health care overhaul if the administration listens to voters on Election Day. "I can't believe he's going to continue to ignore the wishes of the American people if his party has a very bad day Nov. 2," McConnell said.

White House harvest day

Michelle Obama munched a baby turnip, dug up sweet potatoes and snipped pumpkins off the vine as she teamed with schoolchildren for a fall harvest day in the White House garden. One potato weighed 4 pounds, drawing an admiring stare from the first lady. After the harvesting, the kids washed, sliced and diced vegetables for a fresh garden salad for themselves. The garden produced 1,600 pounds of food this year for the first family and White House guests and for donations.

TEXAS: Shooter had plenty left

An Army psychiatrist who went on a shooting rampage at Fort Hood still had nearly 200 rounds of ammunition and a second gun when he was shot by police, a military court heard Wednesday. The gunman had fired nearly 150 rounds inside a crowded medical building on Nov. 5 from a semiautomatic weapon, killing 13 and wounding dozens, Army investigator Kelly T. Jameson testified at a hearing to determine whether accused gunman Maj. Nidal Hasan will stand trial.

CONNECTICUT: Prisoner's suicidal thoughts

A man convicted of killing a woman and two children in a home invasion spoke of suicide attempts and wanting to "look like a monster" so that a jury would sentence him to death, a Yale University psychiatrist testified Wednesday. Dr. Paul Amble, testifying before a New Haven jury considering punishment for Steven Hayes, had found Hayes competent to stand trial. Hayes was convicted two weeks ago of killing Jennifer Hawke-Petit and her daughters, Hayley, 17, and Michaela, 11, at their Cheshire home in 2007.