TOP STORIES

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Tuesday, January 21

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MCCONNELL GEARS UP FOR WHITEWASH Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has begun circulating proposed rules for President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial that would give each side just 24 hours over two days to present their arguments and wouldn’t guarantee any witnesses. Famed Watergate reporter Carl Bernstein tagged McConnell with the nickname "Midnight Mitch" because some proceedings would be in the middle of the night. [HuffPost]

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FBI: SAUDI ARABIA HELPS VIOLENT FUGITIVES FLEE U.S. JUSTICE

Saudi Arabia helps U.S.-based Saudi citizens flee the U.S. to avoid criminal prosecution, according to a recently declassified FBI memo. The heavily redacted bulletin, dated Aug. 29, 2019, was obtained and shared by Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.). [HuffPost]

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THOUSANDS OF PRO-GUN ACTIVISTS SWARM RICHMOND  Thousands of pro-gun protesters, along with extremist factions from all over the country, crowded around Richmond's Capitol Square for a pro-gun rally that for weeks has stoked fears of violence that reached the highest levels of Virginia government. [HuffPost]

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AT LEAST 6 DEAD IN CHINA AS 'VIRUS CAN SPREAD WITH HUMAN CONTACT' A new coronavirus strain that has sickened hundreds and killed at least six people, according to CNN, can be transmitted by human-to-human contact, prompting concerns that it could begin spreading quickly as hundreds of millions of people in China prepare to travel this week for Lunar New Year. [HuffPost]

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3 HORSES DIE IN 3 DAYS AT NOTORIOUS RACETRACK Three horses died over the weekend at Santa Anita Park, a racetrack in Southern California where dozens of horses have been injured and subsequently euthanized in recent years. [HuffPost]

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2 MORE PUERTO RICO OFFICIALS FIRED Gov. Wanda Vázquez fired the heads of Puerto Rico’s housing and family departments as fallout continued over the discovery of a warehouse filled with emergency supplies dating from Hurricane Maria. This came a day after the governor fired the director of Puerto Rico’s emergency management agency. [AP]

WHAT'S BREWING

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TRUMP HEADS TO DAVOS AS TRIAL GETS UNDERWAY Trump is on a mission to sell the United States to global plutocrats as his historic impeachment trial gets underway. When the trial reconvenes Tuesday afternoon in Washington, Trump will be trying to charm global CEOs at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland and accepting their economic flattery. [AP]

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MIGRANTS TRAVELING TO U.S. CLASH WITH MEXICAN FORCES  Hundreds of Central American migrants waded across the Suchiate River into southern Mexico. Some scuffled with national guardsmen on the riverbank while others slipped through Mexican lines and trudged off on a rural highway in small groups. Immigration authorities nabbed more there and chased others into the brush. [AP]

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MAJOR DOCTOR GROUP ENDORSES NATIONAL HEALTH INSURANCE The American College of Physicians, which represents 159,000 doctors with training in internal medicine, said the federal government should assert more control over national health spending and guarantee insurance for all Americans, either by covering everybody directly, or by creating a new public program that can compete with private plans. [HuffPost]

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FIRST FEMALE, OPENLY GAY COACH IN SUPER BOWL The San Francisco 49ers' victory over the Green Bay Packers on Sunday means offensive assistant coach Katie Sowers, who has worked for the Niners since 2017, will become the first female assistant on an NFL coaching staff to work in a Super Bowl. Sowers, 33, is also the NFL’s only openly LGBTQ coach, making her role in the Feb. 2 championship game doubly historic. [HuffPost]

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UNDER-THE-RADAR CASE COULD OBLITERATE LINE BETWEEN CHURCH AND STATE Nearly a third of the schools that participated in a Montana education tax credit program at the center of a controversial Supreme Court case maintain explicitly anti-LGBTQ policies, according to a HuffPost analysis. [HuffPost]

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SANDERS CALLED DEMS 'INTELLECTUALLY BANKRUPT' Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) once told a fellow left-wing activist that the Democratic Party was too “intellectually bankrupt” to allow the progressive movement to flourish within it. In a 1985 letter newly obtained by HuffPost in which Sanders debated running for governor, he also wrote: “Whether I run for governor or not is really not important." [HuffPost]

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