Trump says he plans to ban flavoured e-cigarettes: 'People are dying with vaping'
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The top 10 Democrats in the presidential race faced each other in yet another 2020 showdown, with Joe Biden and Elizabeth Warren meeting head-to-head for the first time in the primary season.
The debate comes following a busy day in Washington, where the House Judiciary Committee approved a key resolution as it gears up towards potential impeachment of Donald Trump. The resolution has defined the boundaries of a probe that Democrats hope could lead to said impeachment, and potentially his removal from office. The move allows the committee to designate certain hearings as impeachment hearings, and empower staff to question witnesses for a longer period of time.
Mr Trump travelled to Baltimore today for a Republican fundraising event and the House Republican Conference member retreat dinner.
During the debates, Ms Warren and Mr Biden were joined by the likes of Bernie Sanders, Kamala Harris, Beto O'Rourke, Julián Castro, Amy Klobuchar, Cory Booker, Pete Buttigieg, and Andrew Yang.
The debate saw an illustration of their differences on healthcare policy, with Ms Warren and Mr Sanders advocating for Medicare for All, while many of the others advocating for a less aggressive approach.
The Democrat challengers to Trump in 2020
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Mr Trump has a quiet day scheduled for Friday, meeting for an intelligence briefing in the morning, before then meeting with the secretary of Defense in the afternoon.
The debate in the House Judiciary Committee has had its tense moments so far, with several Republicans claiming Democrats are "trying to have an impeachment without actually putting it up to a vote in the House." The GOP members on the committee are saying the House should have a chance to vote on whether or not to have impeachment proceedings right away.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler said: “Some call this process an impeachment inquiry. Some call it an impeachment investigation. There is no legal difference between these terms and I no longer care to argue about the nomenclature."
The clerk is reporting the numbers on the official vote tally:
24 yes and 17 nos. The resolution is agreed to. The markup is adjourned, and the House Judiciary Committee has now voted to hear future proceedings about launching an impeachment of Donald Trump.
It's interesting the explosive Politico report about Donald Trump's alleged declining to do anything about the spying devices planted near the White House was published the same day the president retweeted something like this. A coincidence, almost certainly, but no less a sign of where the president's sentiments stand when it comes to Israel:
The Democratic-controlled House Judiciary Committee has successfully passed a vote to establish rules for hearings on impeaching Donald Trump in a move seen as a major step forward in the panel’s investigations into the president.
The resolution passed on Thursday is a technical step, and the committee would still have to introduce impeachment articles against Mr Trump and win approval from the House to bring charges against him. It’s unclear if that will ever happen, as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has urged caution on the issue, saying the public still isn’t yet supportive of taking those steps.
And yet the House Judiciary Committee pressed forward, with Chairman Jerrold Nadler saying: “We have a constitutional, historical, and moral obligation to fully investigate these matters.”
“Let us take the next step in that work without delay,” he said just before the vote. “I urge my colleagues to adopt this resolution, and I yield back."
However, even if the House does recommend impeachment charges against the president, the Republican-led Senate is unlikely to convict him and remove him from office.
While most North Carolinians were remembering the lives lost on September 11, 2001, the Republican leaders in the General Assembly took advantage of a half-empty House and voted to override the governor's budget veto Wednesday morning.
"Republicans called a deceptive surprise override of my budget veto," Mr Cooper said. "Unfortunately, it's the people of North Carolina who lose."
House Minority Leader Darren Jackson, a Democrat, said he told his caucus members that they did not need to be in attendance and that David Lewis, a Republican, chairman of the Rules, Calendar and Operations Committee, gave Mr Jackson his word that there would be no votes, according to the News and Observer.
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