Thursday morning news - January 14, 2020

House impeaches Trump for second time » The House of Representatives has impeached President Trump for a second time. 

AUDIO: Article 1 – incitement of insurrection

That charge stemming from last week’s deadly mob siege of the Capitol. 

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi read the final tally. 

PELOSI: On this vote the ayes are 232, the nays are 197. The resolution is adopted. Without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid upon the table. 

Many Republicans, like House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, did not defend President Trump…

MCCARTHY: The president bears responsibility for Wednesday’s attack on Congress by mob rioters. He should have immediately denounced the mob when he saw what was unfolding. 

But McCarthy and most other GOP members argued that impeaching Trump again, a week before he leaves office, would only further divide the country. 

However, it was not a straight partyline vote. Ten Republicans crossed the aisle, voting “yes”—including the No. 3 GOP House leader, Liz Cheney. 

She said Trump—quote—“assembled the mob, and lit the flame of this attack.” She added “Everything that followed was his doing.”

If a two-thirds majority in the Senate convicts Trump, it could then bar him from ever running again. But a Senate trial will not take place until after President-Elect Joe Biden is sworn in on Wednesday. 

YouTube suspends President Trump’s account » Another online platform is locking the president’s account. WORLD’s Paul Butler  reports. 

PAUL BUTLER, REPORTER: YouTube has suspended President Trump’s channel for at least a week. 

The Google-owned platform said it’s freezing the account due to—quote—“ongoing potential for violence.”

And the company said it removed uploaded content to Trump’s channel on January 12th for inciting violence. It did not provide any further explanation. 

The platform is not removing his channel, but under the suspension, Trump is blocked from uploading new videos for at least seven days. YouTube is also disabling comments on his videos indefinitely. 

Facebook and its subsidiary, Instagram, have also suspended Trump’s accounts, while Twitter and Snapchat have permanently banned him.

Critics call the moves a troubling encroachment on freedom of speech. 

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Paul Butler. 

De Blasio: NYC will terminate business with Trump organization » Meantime, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio says his city is terminating all contracts with President Trump’s business enterprise.

DE BLASIO: It’s just really clear, this president has committed an unlawful act. He has disgraced himself. He will no longer profit from his relationship with New York City. We will not allow it.

De Blasio said the Trump Organization earns about $17 million a year in profits from its contracts. It runs two ice skating rinks and a carousel in Central Park as well as a golf course in the Bronx.

The mayor said the city can legally terminate a contract if the leadership of a company is engaged in criminal activity. 

And de Blasio said—quoting here—“Inciting an insurrection against the United States government clearly constitutes criminal activity.”

A Trump Organization spokesperson responded, saying “This is nothing more than political discrimination, an attempt to infringe on the First Amendment and we plan to fight vigorously.”

U.S. eclipses single-day record for COVID-19 deaths » Coronavirus deaths in the United States have set another single-day record. WORLD’s Kristen Flavin has more. 

KRISTEN FLAVIN, REPORTER: More than 4,300 died in the United States Tuesday from the illness, with Arizona and California among the hardest-hit states.

More than 380,000 Americans have died during the pandemic—a total that is now closing in fast on the U.S. death toll from World War II. Just over 400,000 Americans died in the war.  

Deaths have been rising sharply in the past 2 and 1/2 months. And the country is in the most lethal phase of the outbreak yet, even as the vaccine is rolled out. New cases are running at nearly a quarter-million per day on average. 

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Kristen Flavin. 

Ontario announces lockdown, UK restrictions to stay in place » Canada’s most crowded province has ordered a new lockdown as coronavirus cases surge. 

Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced the stay-at-home order that takes effect today. The order does grant exemptions for essential workers and activities like seeking health care and grocery shopping. But police will enforce violations. 

Meantime across the Atlantic, British Health Secretary Matt Hancock said his country’s lockdown will remain in place as long as necessary, but he said he’s optimistic.  

HANCOCK: We’re on track to deliver the vaccination program to the four groups who are most vulnerable to COVID by the 15th of February. That’s really good news. 

The British government imposed restrictions around the first of the year in hopes of lifting them in mid-February. But Hancock said the government won’t ease the lockdown before delivering vaccines to the highest priority groups. 

The U.K. is the epicenter of a new more contagious variant of the coronavirus.

(AP Photo/Alex Brandon) House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of Calif., signs the article of impeachment against President Donald Trump in an engrossment ceremony before transmission to the Senate for trial on Capitol Hill, in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2021. 

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