Tuesday, January 19 top news briefs
It is Tuesday, January 19. Here are today’s top news briefs.
Today Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky) said on the Senate floor that President Trump and other powerful people inspired the mob who stormed the U.S. Capitol who tried to stop Congress from doing its job. McConnell said the mob was “fed lies.”
Here is a video clip.
McConnell said tomorrow President-Elect Biden and Vice President-Elect Harris will be sworn in as the people’s choice for their 46th president, that we’ll have a safe and successful inaugural right here at the west front of the Capitol, and that we’ll move forward.
Axios reported that McConnell has a higher than 50% chance of voting to convict Trump during the Senate impeachment trial whenever that day comes. If he does this, there is likely to be multiple Republican Senators who will move to convict Trump as well. A conviction requires two-thirds of a Senate vote, or at least 67 Senators. There are already 50 Democratic Senators who are likely to vote for conviction, but are there 17 Republicans who would vote with them?
The House has already impeached, or charged, Trump with incitement of insurrection. It has not yet transmitted the article of impeachment to the Senate. The trial will begin the day after the transmission.
McConnell and House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy (Calif) plan to skip President Trump’s departure ceremony tomorrow morning at an air base in Maryland and instead attend a mass with President-elect Biden at St. Matthew’s church in downtown D.C.
Trump is expected to have a military ceremony and then use Air Force One to go to Florida, skipping an American tradition to attend the inauguration of his presidential successor.
[Sponsored Video from Sorenson: www.sorenson.com]
A woman named Riley June Williams was arrested and accused of stealing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s laptop during the Capitol riots. She was suspected of trying to sell the laptop to Russia. She was arrested on Monday after her former partner was among those who sent in tips to the FBI. She is from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
News reports said two U.S. Army National Guard members were removed from the group of thousands of troops tasked with protecting President-elect Biden during the inauguration because they were found to have ties with far-right militias. However there was no plot against Biden, they were removed because of their association with the militias. Additional news reports from this afternoon said the total number removed was up to 12, due to questionable behavior in text messages or on social media.
A member of the Biden Inaugural Committee showed images of the National Mall between the U.S. Capitol and the Washington Monument covered with 200,000 flags to represent people around the world who would have attended the inauguration but couldn’t due to the coronavirus or heightened security. During the nighttime, there were 56 pillars of light that represented America’s 50 states and six territories.
On Monday, the Trump administration moved in an executive order to end coronavirus-related travel restrictions against European countries and Brazil, to be effective on January 26. However, the incoming Biden administration said they would block it and keep the restrictions in place. The incoming White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki tweeted that with the pandemic worsening and more contagious variants emerging around the world, now is not the time to be lifting restrictions on international travel. It is important to note that the C.D.C. has already issued a requirement for a negative Covid-19 test from all air passengers entering the U.S. within three days before their departure flight.
In inspiring news, fans of NFL’s Buffalo Bills, who call themselves the “Bills Mafia,” has banded together to donate over $360,000 towards one of Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson’s favorite charities. Both teams played against each other in a playoff game over the weekend, in which Jackson had to exit in the third quarter due to a concussion. The Bills won the game 17-3 and then fans on social media decided to direct over 13,000 individual donations towards the Louisville chapter of the charity “Blessings in a Backpack,” which supports elementary school children with meals over the weekends to make sure they don’t go hungry. Jackson said on Twitter, “Appreciate that #BillsMafia. Means a lot not to only me but those kids as well”
That is all the top news briefs for today. Tomorrow will be a historic day with Biden’s inauguration. I’ll watch it and provide a recap tomorrow night. Check out our Deaf News videos. See you tomorrow and stay with the light.
https://www.axios.com/mcconnell-capitol-riots-trump-impeachment-7129d841-f306-4f3a-8f58-3b97f05670c5.html
https://www.c-span.org/video/?c4938965/mob-attacked-capitol-provoked-president-senator-mcconnell
https://www.axios.com/republican-leaders-biden-church-skip-trump-departure-75c20557-3968-4815-8f0c-e6d1ff46704e.html
https://www.bostonherald.com/2021/01/18/fbi-tip-line-for-capitol-attacks-woman-stole-laptop-from-nancy-pelosis-office-tried-to-send-it-to-russia/
https://www.politico.com/news/2021/01/19/national-guardsmen-axed-inauguration-460366
https://twitter.com/Bran_InTheArena/status/1351357350423105536
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/534738-200k-flags-placed-on-the-national-mall-representing-americans-who
https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/18/politics/trump-covid-travel-restrictions/index.html
https://twitter.com/jrpsaki/status/1351322381118271497
https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/18/politics/trump-covid-travel-restrictions/index.html
https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/30738114/baltimore-ravens-lamar-jackson-shouts-bills-mafia-donating-360000-charity