Top Eight

Your Tuesday night briefing from the staff of Courthouse News

Top eight CNS stories for today including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell backed away from his initial effort to preserve a road map that might not allow any evidence to enter the record in President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial; A new poll shows a steep partisan divide on whether America has taken adequate steps to ensure the 2020 presidential election is safe and secure; President Trump called climate activists “prophets of doom” at a gathering of world leaders to discuss solutions to save the planet from climate catastrophe, and more.

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National

1.) As President Donald Trump’s historic impeachment trial kicked off on Tuesday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell backed away from his initial effort to preserve a road map that might not allow any evidence to enter the record.

2.) Less than two weeks before the Iowa caucuses, a new poll released Tuesday shows a steep partisan divide on whether America has taken adequate steps to ensure the 2020 presidential election is safe and secure.

3.) The Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected a plea by the House of Representatives and a coalition of mostly Democrat-led states to expedite review of Texas’ lawsuit seeking to invalidate the Affordable Care Act.

4.) The Supreme Court on Tuesday denied Facebook’s last-ditch effort to derail a $35 billion class action claiming the company harvested millions of users’ facial data without consent.

5.) Probing the gun-possession conviction of a Florida felon, the Supreme Court wrestled Tuesday with a law that toughens prison time for people with specific criminal records.

International

6.) As President Donald Trump strode from the helicopter through a snow-covered field surrounded by the towering Alps, reporters were less interested in his imminent speech to global leaders at the World Economic Forum and more interested in getting his thoughts on the impeachment trial.

7.) At a gathering of world leaders to discuss solutions to save the planet from climate catastrophe, President Trump said nothing about global warming and called climate activists “prophets of doom.”

8.) The European Union’s highest court wrapped up two days of hearings Tuesday on controversial changes to Romania’s justice system that some say undermine the rule of law.

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