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The Guardian - US
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Sam Levin in Los Angeles (now) and Joan E Greve in Washington (earlier)

Supreme court allows Trump to use $2.5bn in Pentagon funds on border wall – as it happened

Workers build a portion of the US-Mexico border fence on private property in Texas.
Workers build a portion of the US-Mexico border fence on private property in Texas. Photograph: Hérika Martínez/AFP/Getty Images

Summary

That’s all for our live coverage today - thank you for following along! Some key links and events from today in politics:

  • The Supreme Court has said the Trump administration can spend $2.5bn in Pentagon funds on the border wall.
  • Trump announced Friday that Guatemala was signing an agreement to restrict asylum applications to the US, a move that immigrant rights advocates said was cruel and unlawful.
  • A photo of a mother begging an armed Mexican guard to let her and her son cross the border went viral and became a symbol of migrants’ struggles.
  • The House judiciary committee is filing an application to seek access to grand jury evidence from the Mueller investigation, which lawmakers said they need to determine whether to begin impeachment proceedings.
  • The justice department decided a major merger between T-Mobile and Sprint can move forward. Critics of the merger fear it could lead to higher prices for consumers and less innovation among wireless carriers.
  • Four Democratic congress members have just published an op-ed explaining “why we’re moving forward with impeachment”.
  • Nancy Pelosi said she met with representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to “clear the air”.
  • US economic growth slowed to 2.1% in the second quarter of 2019, a mediocre showing that Trump blamed on the Federal Reserve. The central bank is meeting next week and is widely expected to cut rates.

Updated

Here are some more reactions to Trump’s announcement today that Guatemala was signing an agreement to restrict asylum applications to the US.

Amnesty International said that “any attempts to force families and individuals fleeing their home countries to seek safety in Guatemala are outrageous”, with Charanya Krishnaswami, the group’s advocacy director for the Americas, adding:

The Trump administration must abandon this cruel and illegal plan to shut doors to families and individuals trying to rebuild their lives in safety.”

From Racies, Texas-based group that provides legal services to refugee families:

Congressman Eliot Engel, the chairman of the House committee on foreign affairs, said Trump’s decision to sign the agreement was “immoral” and “illegal”, adding:

Simply put, Guatemala is not a safe country for refugees and asylum seekers, as the law requires.”

Congresswoman Norma Torres:

Read our full story here:

Four Democratic congress members have just published an op-ed explaining “why we’re moving forward with impeachment”:

Here’s an excerpt from the piece, co-authored by Mary Gay Scanlon, vice chair of the house judiciary committee; David Cicilline, representative from Rhode Island; Pramila Jayapal, representative from Washington; and Veronica Escobar, representative from Texas:

Congress has patiently tried to work within traditional means to get to the bottom of this extraordinary situation. Committees have called witnesses and requested evidence, only to be stonewalled by Trump and his associates. The president’s refusal to comply with the Constitution, statutes, and established congressional oversight defies the rule of law.

Mueller’s testimony before the House Judiciary and Intelligence Committees was a watershed moment. At this point, it is up to Congress to act on the evidence of multiple counts of obstruction of justice committed by the president, and to continue our investigation into whether he has committed other high crimes and misdemeanors.

Despite assertions to the contrary by the president and his allies, the special counsel’s report and testimony are not the end of our investigations. We have now filed a petition in court to obtain the grand-jury documents referenced in the special counsel’s report. In that filing, we have made clear that we will utilize our Article I powers to obtain the additional underlying evidence, as well as enforce subpoenas for key witness testimony, and broaden our investigations to include conflicts of interest and financial misconduct.

While many people believe that beginning an impeachment investigation can begin only with a vote of the full House of Representatives, this is not true. Article I authorizes the House Judiciary Committee to begin this process.

The president is celebrating the supreme court’s decision to allow him to spend $2.5bn on the border wall:

Immigrant rights’ groups had argued that the spending would be unlawful, cruel and a waste of money:

The American Civil Liberties Union had argued in court that the Trump administration “lacks authority to spend taxpayer funds on a wall that Congress considered and denied”.

Judge Haywood S Gilliam Jr of US district court in Oakland had previously blocked the effort. Gilliam wrote:

The case is not about whether the challenged border barrier construction plan is wise or unwise. It is not about whether the plan is the right or wrong policy response to existing conditions at the southern border of the United States. Instead, this case presents strict legal questions regarding whether the proposed plan for funding border barrier construction exceeds the executive branch’s lawful authority.”

Some more background on the case and Trump’s funding proposal, via the AP:

The case the Supreme Court ruled on began after the 35-day partial government shutdown that started in December of last year. Trump ended the shutdown in February after Congress gave him approximately $1.4 billion in border wall funding. But the amount was far less than the $5.7 billion he was seeking, and Trump then declared a national emergency to take cash from other government accounts to use to construct sections of wall.

The money Trump identified includes $3.6 billion from military construction funds, $2.5 billion in Defense Department money and $600 million from the Treasury Department’s asset forfeiture fund.

The case before the Supreme Court involved just the $2.5 billion in Defense Department funds, which the administration says will be used to construct more than 100 miles of fencing. One project would replace 46 miles of barrier in New Mexico for $789 million. Another would replace 63 miles in Arizona for $646 million. The other two projects in California and Arizona are smaller.

Supreme court allows Trump border wall spending

The Supreme Court has said the Trump administration can spend $2.5bn in Pentagon funds on the border wall:

It was a divided decision, saying the White House could begin using some of the federal funds for border wall construction that had previously been contested:

Some more breakdown of the justices’ positions:

Here is some additional impeachment commentary from Democratic representatives on the judiciary committee. Veronica Escobar said:

Yes, we’re crossing a threshold with this filing. And we are now officially entering into an examination of whether or not to recommend the articles of impeachment.”

Jamie Raskin:

From my personal point of view, we are in an impeachment inquiry.

Eric Swalwell:

This is an impeachment investigation.

More here:

Donald Trump is now blaming Barack Obama for the air conditioning system in the West Wing, which he said is either “freezing or hot”:

Hello and happy Friday! Sam Levin in Los Angeles here, taking over our coverage for the rest of the day. The president is continuing to threaten to tax French wines, noting that he thinks American wines look better:

I’ve always liked American wines better than French wines. Even though I don’t drink wine. I just like the way they look.

A reminder about what the Trump Winery brand has to offer:

That’s it from me this week. Sam Levin will be taking things over on the West Coast for the next few hours.

Here’s where things stand so far today.

  • House Democrats took a step closer to impeachment by filing a petition to gain access to the underlying grand jury material from special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation. Democrats on the judiciary committee said in their request that they needed the information to determine whether to recommend filing articles of impeachment against Donald Trump.
  • But Nancy Pelosi said in her press conference today that Democrats would only launch impeachment proceedings “when we have the best possible case.” The House speaker emphasized that she was “not trying to run out the clock” on impeachment, but she added, “We will proceed when we have what we need to proceed. Not one day sooner.”
  • The White House announced Guatemala has signed on to the so-called safe third country agreement that could limit asylum applications to the US. Earlier this week, Trump threatened the country with tariffs and a “BAN” if it didn’t agree to the deal.
  • US economic growth slowed to 2.1% in the second quarter of 2019, a mediocre showing that Trump blamed on the Federal Reserve. The central bank is meeting next week and is widely expected to cut rates.
  • The justice department decided a major merger between T-Mobile and Sprint can move forward. Critics of the merger fear it could lead to higher prices for consumers and less innovation among wireless carriers.

Thanks for following our coverage this week and have a great weekend.

Updated

Trump said he hoped the asylum agreement with Guatemala would “end widespread abuse of the system and the crippling crisis on our border”, according to the pool report.

He was also optimistic that his administration would be able to sign more third country agreements, which he said would help to put “coyotes and the smugglers out of business. These are bad people.”

The president added that the agreement would send a message to smugglers: “your day is over.”

Updated

The House judiciary committee has officially filed its petition seeking the underlying grand jury material from special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation.

The committee’s chairman, Democrat Jerry Nadler, said at a press conference earlier today that the panel needed the information to reach a decision on whether to recommend impeachment.

“The House must have access to all the relevant facts and consider whether to exercise its full … powers, including a constitutional power of the utmost gravity: recommendation of articles of impeachment,” Nadler said, reading from the court petition.

But the top Republican on the panel, Doug Collins, has slammed the move. “Judiciary Democrats are suing for grand jury material to which they have no right,” Collins said in a statement. “Chairman Nadler’s legal action here is sure to fail, weakening Congress’s ability to conduct oversight now and into the future.“

US and Guatemala reach deal on asylum applications

The White House announced that the US and Guatemala have reached an agreement on limiting asylum applications. The news came three days after Trump threatened Guatemala with tariffs, among other sanctions, if it did not sign on to the so-called safe third country agreement.

Reuters reports:

Speaking to reporters at the White House during a signing ceremony, Trump said the agreement would allow easier access to farmer workers for U.S. farms and ranches.

Guatemala’s President Jimmy Morales was due to sign a deal with Trump last week that would have made the country act as an asylum buffer zone to reduce immigration to the United States.

But the country’s Constitutional Court ruled he could not sign such an agreement without prior approval from Congress, which is on a summer recess.

In response, Trump threatened Guatemala in a tweet on Tuesday. ‘Now we are looking at the ‘BAN,’ Tariffs, Remittance Fees, or all of the above. Guatemala has not been good,’ Trump wrote.

Two Democratic presidential candidates are going after each other on Twitter using ... penguin gifs?

It all started when tech entrepreneur Andrew Yang said he would attack Michael Bennet at the next debate for reasons ... that are not entirely clear.

The Colorado senator responded by suggesting that Yang’s ire may stem from a poor grade in high school math:

It then escalated to the penguin gifs:

In any event, the CNN moderators at next week’s debate in Detroit probably won’t pay too much attention to the potential drama, given that both Yang and Bennet are polling between about 1 and 3 percent.

Trump has been hitting on the Federal Reserve again. After today’s meh report on the US economy Trump has called the Fed an “anchor wrapped around our neck,” on Twitter.

The Fed meets next week and is widely expected to cut rates, just as Trump has repeatedly asked it to do. But if the now 10-year long economic recovery does start to slow, as it appears to be doing, you can expect yet more attacks on the central bank in the months to come.

The creator of that fake presidential seal has a message for the Turning Point USA staffer who caused it to appear behind Trump onstage during the conservative group’s event: “I love them”.

Trump makes remarks at Turning Point USA’s Teen Student Action Summit.
Trump makes remarks at Turning Point USA’s Teen Student Action Summit. Photograph: REX/Shutterstock

Charles Leazott, a former Republican and graphic designer, said whoever chose the doctored seal resembling the Russian coat of arms was “either wildly incompetent or the best troll ever. Either way, I love them.”

But Leazott, who voted for George W Bush twice, said he didn’t believe Turning Point USA’s claim that the error was the result of an audiovisual aide’s rushed Google search. “You have to look for this,” Leazott told the Washington Post of the seal, which he created as a form of comic protest. “There’s no way this was an accident, is all I’m saying.”

Trump is pressing the World Trade Organization to change how it defines developing countries, claiming that the current classification gives China an unfair advantage.

The president signed a memo today urging his administration to find ways to force the WTO to reconsider its view, the Wall Street Journal reports.

“When the wealthiest economies claim developing-country status, they harm not only other developed economies but also economies that truly require special and differential treatment,” the memo reads. “China most dramatically illustrates the point.”

But the memo names other countries that Trump thinks should be reevaluated – including Turkey, Mexico and Qatar.

Another House Republican, Martha Roby of Alabama, has decided to retire from the chamber.

The news comes on the heels of two other Republicans – Pete Olson of Texas and Paul Mitchell of Michigan – announcing their own retirements this week.

The string of announcements has been music to the ears of Democratic strategists, who say they show that Republicans are fearful of losing their seats next year. Olson’s district has particularly caught the attention of national Democrats, given that he won last year by just 4 points.

And Roby’s departure also means the House Republican caucus’ number of women members will sink even lower, as a National Journal editor noted:

The conservative youth organization Turning Point USA apologized to Trump for having him appear at the group’s event this week in front of a doctored presidential seal.

During the group’s Teen Student Action Summit, Trump stood on stage in front of a presidential seal that had been altered to resemble the Russian coat of arms, with a two-headed eagle clutching a set of golf clubs in its talons.

The group has reportedly fired the audiovisual aide responsible for the mistake, which was blamed on a haphazard Google search.

Joe Biden’s campaign ribbed Trump after the president complained about a poll showing him losing in a potential match-up against the former vice president.

Trump initially slammed Fox News for even discussing the network’s latest poll, which found Biden leading Trump by 10 points, 49 percent to 39 percent, in a hypothetical face-off.

And a Twitter account for Biden’s campaign quickly jumped to action to throw salt in the wound:

The Commerce Department released data today robbing Trump of one of his favorite talking points on the economy.

The department revised data on US gross domestic production (GDP) back to 2014. According to the newly released data, economic growth last year was 2.5 percent. But Trump has frequently bragged about the economy growing 3 percent last year.

The data also showed that US economic growth slowed to 2.1 percent in the second quarter of 2019, a decline that Trump unsurprisingly blamed on the Federal Reserve.

But the revised 2018 data is likely connected to the news about slowing growth, economists noted. “That’s half a percentage point less momentum in the economy than we thought before,” Ben Herzon, an economist for the firm Macroeconomic Advisers, told the New York Times. “We had been expecting Q2 to be the beginning of the downshift, but it looks like it started before.”

Updated

Trump weighed in on tech again Friday morning, in a series of tweets that touched on some of the major issues confronting the industry today: trade, taxes and national security.

The first statement was an apparent reference to Facebook investor Peter Thiel’s recent allegation – for which he provided zero evidence – that Google has been “infiltrated” by Chinese intelligence agents. Steven Mnuchin, the US treasury security, rejected the allegation on Thursday, telling CNBC that he and the president “did diligence on this issue” and found no basis for concern. But Trump, who has frequently used Google as a political punching back, walked that statement back this morning.

Google has denied working with the Chinese military.

Next in Trump’s crosshairs was Apple, which is reportedly planning to move production of its new Mac Pro computer to China, according to the Wall Street Journal.

And then there was … France? The European nation’s plan to take a bite out of tech giants’ profits with a digital services tax has touched off a war of words between the two allies, with the US threatening legal action and now, it appears possible, “substantial reciprocal action” against French wine imports.

Presidential candidate Tom Steyer is pitching a “justice-centered climate plan” as one of his first policy rollouts.

Steyer, Democratic megadonor and philanthropist from California, would aim for net-zero warming pollution by 2045, five years earlier than most other Democratic candidates who have outlined plans. He envisions creating 1 million jobs through a civilian climate corps. And he would helps fossil fuel communities transition to new economies, investing $50 billion in them. He would also dedicate $2 trillion in federal funding over ten years to infrastructure.

Other Democrats have proposed higher levels of spending. Many say they would fight environmental racism. New Jersey senator Cory Booker’s environment plan is largely justice-focused.

Steyer was campaigning for Trump’s impeachment before he entered the race.

As the fate of his presidency hangs in the balance, Trump is focusing on an issue that keeps many Americans up at night: the alleged inferiority of French wine.

With that, at least one reporter selflessly offered to fact-check Trump’s claims about American wine versus French wine.

I’m sure the president will appreciate the help given that he doesn’t drink – raising doubts about his expertise on the matter.

Several Capitol Hill reporters note that House judiciary committee chairman Jerry Nadler seemed to be arguing that his panel has effectively already launched an impeachment inquiry.

From a New York Times reporter:

And when another New York Times reporter raised this issue during Nadler’s press conference, Democratic representative Steve Cohen of Tennessee appeared to agree with him:

But a HuffPost reporter strongly pushed back against that notion:

Updated

It’s worth noting that House judiciary committee Democrats said Nancy Pelosi has approved the language about impeachment in the new lawsuit seeking grand jury material from Robert Mueller’s investigation.

That request makes clear that the committee is considering articles of impeachment against Trump and that the grand jury information will help them reach a decision on the matter.

House judiciary committee chairman Jerry Nadler quoted the new petition as telling a federal judge, “Because Department of Justice policies will not allow prosecution of a sitting president, the United States House of Representatives is the only institution of the federal government that can now hold President Trump accountable for these actions.”

Specifically referencing the part of the Constitution giving Congress the power to impeach a president, the request reads, “To do so, the House must have access to all the relevant facts and consider whether to exercise all its full Article I powers, including a constitutional power of the utmost gravity — recommendation of articles of impeachment.”

Updated

It’s already 1 p.m. in Washington. Here’s where things stand today.

  • Nancy Pelosi said she was “not trying to run out the clock” on impeaching Trump. “We will proceed when we have what we need to proceed. Not one day sooner,” the House speaker said at her press conference.
  • But, but, but: House judiciary committee Jerry Nadler said his panel is filing a new lawsuit to gain access to the grand jury information underlying special counsel Robert Mueller’s report. And that request argues the committee needs the information to render a judgement on whether to recommend articles of impeachment.
  • Despite that request, Nadler declined to publicly endorse an impeachment inquiry, even though many reports indicate he has done so privately.
  • US economic growth slowed in the second quarter of 2019, but the decline was less than many economists expected.

There is sure to be more fallout this afternoon from Pelosi and Nadler’s comments on impeachment. Stay tuned.

The House judiciary committee’s new lawsuit to get the grand jury information from Robert Mueller’s investigation argues that the panel needs the information to make a determination on recommending articles of impeachment against Trump.

A CNN reporter noted the lawsuit’s language specifically invokes the impeachment question. “We are not running away from articles of impeachment,” representative Sheila Jackson Lee said.

Chairman Jerry Nadler also noted that the panel expected to file another lawsuit to enforce its subpoena of former White House counsel Don McGahn.

Nadler declines to publicly endorse impeachment

Some had expected House judiciary committee chairman Jerry Nadler to use today’s press conference to come out in favor of launching an impeachment inquiry against Trump.

Many reports have indicated that Nadler has privately voiced support for launching an inquiry, but he has declined to do so publicly.

When asked by a CNN reporter why he has chosen not to do so, Nadler notably paused before dodging the question. One of the panel’s other members, representative Mary Gay Scanlon, then took the microphone to argue that impeachment “isn’t a binary thing that you either are or you aren’t”.

Asked about divisions between his panel and Nancy Pelosi, Nadler downplayed any conflict between the committee and the House speaker. “I don’t know that there are real divisions with the speaker,” Nadler said, pointing to Pelosi’s comments during her press conference that Democrats “will proceed when we have what we need to proceed.”

Updated

House judiciary committee to request grand jury material underlying the Mueller report

House judiciary committee chairman Jerry Nadler announced his panel would file an application today seeking the grand jury material underlying special counsel Robert Mueller’s report.

Updated

Another House Democrat, Annie Kuster of New Hampshire, has announced her support of launching an impeachment inquiry.

Kuster was first elected in 2012 and is, according to a Politico reporter, the 100th lawmaker to support an impeachment inquiry.

Migrants at the southern border are expressing fear to immigration judges about being forced to return to Mexico as their asylum claims are processed.

Guatemalan migrant embraces her son while asking a member of the Mexican National Guard to let them cross into the United States.
Guatemalan migrant embraces her son while asking a member of the Mexican National Guard to let them cross into the United States. Photograph: José Luis González/Reuters

Our colleague Adam Gabbatt reports from El Paso, Texas:

Judge Sunita Mahtabfar, presiding over the El Paso immigration court in south-west Texas, kicked off the hearing by asking the 16 asylum seekers a question.

‘Is anyone here afraid to return to Mexico?’ she said.

There was a chorus of ‘Sí’, at least from the adults. Three of the four children in court dozed, slumped against their parents on the unforgiving wooden benches. They had been up for hours, having been summoned to a meeting point in Juárez at 4.30am. ...

Most of the 16 people in court had made the long, frequently dangerous, journey from their homes in Central America, hoping to live in the United States.

But upon arriving at the US-Mexico border, and attempting to apply for asylum, they had instead been ordered back across the Rio Grande River that forms the border here, to Juárez – one of the most dangerous cities in the world.

Pelosi says she met with Ocasio-Cortez to "clear the air"

Nancy Pelosi recapped her meeting with representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez while downplaying any differences between her and the progressive congresswoman.

When asked whether the meeting helped the pair bury the hatchet, the House speaker replied, “I would never even say that it was a hatchet.”

Noting that Ocasio-Cortez is “a very gracious member of Congress,” Pelosi said the two of them had “a very positive conversation about our districts and how we represent them.”

“It’s like you’re in a family,” Pelosi said. “In a family, you have your differences, but you’re still a family.”

When a reporter noted that sometimes her family has meetings to “clear the air,” Pelosi laughed along with the other journalists. “We just had a meeting to clear the air,” the speaker said.

The meeting between Pelosi and Ocasio-Cortez came after weeks of escalating tensions between the moderate and progressive wings of the House Democratic caucus. At one point, Ocasio-Cortez said the “singling out” of her and three other minority congresswomen, known as “the Squad,” was “outright disrespectful.”

Pelosi: I’m 'not trying to run out the clock' on impeachment

Nancy Pelosi denied during her press conference that she was tying to run out the clock on impeachment, as some pro-impeachment Democrats have privately implied.

“Let’s get sophisticated about this, okay?” Pelosi told reporters. “We will proceed when we have what we need to proceed. Not one day sooner.”

The House speaker emphasized that she was committed to moving forward with investigating Trump in a “determined, positive way”.

“Their advocacy for impeachment only gives me leverage,” Pelosi said of the members of her caucus advocating for launching an inquiry.

She argued that Robert Mueller’s testimony had “confirmed in the public mind that the president has obstructed justice”. But given that Mueller was unable to investigate certain elements of the case, including Trump’s finances, the speaker said she was committed to continuing their investigations of the president. “And that is what we are doing in the courts.”

She added she would reconsider proceeding with an impeachment inquiry “when we have the best possible case”.

Updated

Pelosi hammers Republicans for inaction on election security

Nancy Pelosi opened her press conference by lauding the budget deal the House passed yesterday and then slamming Senate Republicans for refusing to take up bills aimed at strengthening US election security.

Pelosi repeated special counsel Robert Mueller’s testimony that Russian election interference continues “as we sit here”. She then accused Republicans of turning a blind eye to election security deficiencies.

She said Republicans were communicating there was “no need to protect” American democracy. But she pledged that Democrats would continue to “legislate, investigate and litigate” on election security, as well as “other issues that Mr. Mueller testified to.”

A senior Border Patrol official claimed during a House judiciary committee hearing yesterday that Francisco Erwin Galicia, a Dallas-born US citizen who was detained by immigration officers for more than three weeks, never presented himself as an American citizen.

But that claim from Brian Hastings contradicts the Department of Homeland Security’s own records about Galicia’s case.

Francisco Galicia embraces his mother Sanjuana Galicia after wrongfully being detained for more than three weeks.(Delcia Lopez/The Monitor via AP)
Francisco Galicia embraces his mother Sanjuana Galicia after wrongfully being detained for more than three weeks.(Delcia Lopez/The Monitor via AP) Photograph: Delcia Lopez/AP

The Dallas Morning News, whose reporting helped secure Galicia’s release, has more:

Galicia is a Dallas-born U.S. citizen who lives in Edinburg in Texas’ Rio Grande Valley. He also says he has dual citizenship in Mexico. The story of his 26 days in detention after being picked up by the Border Patrol in Falfurrias garnered widespread national attention after The Dallas Morning News first reported it on Monday. ... Galicia was released less than 24 hours after The News broke the story.

[Representative Ted] Lieu, citing The News’ reporting in which Galicia said that he lost 26 pounds in 23 days and wasn’t allowed a shower during that time, asked Hastings if he could explain why Galicia was detained.

Hastings replied that at the Falfurrias checkpoint where Galicia and his younger brother Marlon Galicia were taken into custody, Francisco ‘claimed to be a Mexican National who was born in Reynosa, Mexico.’ ...

But Claudia Galan, Galicia’s attorney, produced for The News a notice to appear that DHS issued to Francisco that reads:

‘On or about June 27, 2019, you were found at the Falfurrias, Texas, Border Patrol Checkpoint, a distance of more than 25 miles from the United States border with Mexico ... You did not receive the permission of an immigration officer to proceed beyond that 25 mile limit ... At that time, you falsely represented yourself to be a citizen of the United States for the purpose of furthering your entry into the United States.’

Galan said Galicia told authorities that he is a U.S. citizen from the moment he was detained at the Falfurrias checkpoint.

Updated

Elizabeth Warren announced that her presidential campaign has received its one millionth donation.

The Massachusetts Democrat posted a video of her calling Caitlyn, the person whose contribution pushed the campaign across the threshold.

In the video, Caitlyn describes her job teaching English as a second language and how that work has made her very passionate about immigration and education reform. “All those things are close to my heart,” Warren tells Caitlyn. “And these are all the thing we’ve got to work on.”

Watch the video below.

Updated

It’s either feast or famine with climate change forums for the Democratic presidential primary.

After the Democratic National Committee refused to hold a climate-specific debate, two separate events will now be held for the 2020 Democrats to discuss the issue.

Our colleague Maanvi Singh reported for yesterday’s live blog:

A Climate Forum on September 19 and 20 will be open to 2020 presidential candidates from both parties. The event will be hosted by Georgetown University’s Institute of Politics and Public Service, in partnership with MSNBC and environmental news outlet Our Daily Planet.

CNN will also be holding a Democratic town hall focused on the climate crisis a few days earlier, on September 4. ...

DNC Chair Tom Perez has forbidden an official debate centered on climate change (though ‘forums’ or a ‘town halls’ are be allowed), arguing that such a debate would favor candidates like Washington governor Jay Inslee, whose entire campaign is built around environmental issues.

MSNBC host Ali Velshi announced this morning that he and Chris Hayes would moderate the two-day forum. But CNN is enforcing a polling requirement for its town hall, and so far, some candidates who have released climate plans (including Inslee and Kirsten Gillibrand) have not met the threshold.

Menawhile, environmental activists are encouraging the networks to examine the ways in which climate change disproportionately affects marginalized communities. A former longtime official at the Environmental Protection Agency tweeted this about CNN’s town hall:

US economic growth slows

The Commerce Department announced that US economic growth slowed in the second quarter of 2019.

Our colleague Dominic Rushe reports:

But the decline was less than expected – thanks to a consumer spending spree – and the report showed signs that there is continuing momentum in the US’s decade-long economic expansion.

US gross domestic production (GDP) – the broadest measure of the economy’s health – grew at an annual rate of 2.1% in the second quarter, the three-month period between April and June.

The figure is a marked slowdown in the 3.1% growth that the US achieved in the first three months of the year and comes as other major economies have warned that their growth is slowing, too.

But economists had been expecting economic activity to have slowed to below 2% over the last quarter as the US’s ongoing trade disputes with its largest trading partners took their toll and businesses cut back on investments.

Five more House Democrats have announced their support of launching impeachment proceedings against Trump since Robert Mueller testified.

Perhaps most notably, representative Katherine Clark of Massachusetts joined the effort yesterday. The announcement makes Clark, the vice chair of the House Democratic Caucus, the highest-ranking Democrat to support impeachment.

But pro-impeachment Democrats had hoped that Mueller’s appearance on Capitol Hill would spark a stampede of support for their cause. That has not materialized, perhaps to the relief of Nancy Pelosi.

The House speaker has not come around to the idea of impeachment, instead encouraging her caucus to continue investigating Trump and see where the evidence leads.

With the House now adjourned for a historically long recess, pro-impeachment Democrats worry about losing momentum for their cause. But the six weeks they spend back in their home districts could give them a sense of where their constituents stand on impeachment. They’ll likely either come back deflated or energized.

Updated

Good morning, live blog readers – and happy Friday!

Senate Republicans’ refusal to consider bills aimed at improving US election security is looking worse by the minute. Since special counsel Robert Mueller testified that Russian election interference is happening “as we sit here”, Mitch McConnell and members of his caucus have twice rejected legislation to beef up election security.

And now the first volume of a report from the Senate intelligence committee has documented, in detail, how Russia coordinated “an unprecedented level of activity against state election infrastructure” during the 2016 election. According to the report, Russian cyberactors targeted all 50 US states and “were in a position to delete or change voter data” in Illinois’ voter database, although the committee found no evidence that they did so.

The damning findings could put more pressure on McConnell to advance one of the several bills Democrats have proposed. But even if Congress could pass a bill, many are skeptical that Donald Trump would sign it – after he has spent nearly three years downplaying the effect of Russian interference. He could view the legislation as a swipe at the legitimacy of his 2016 election victory.

But the writing is on the wall: this will happen again in 2020. The only question is whether America will be prepared for it.

House Democrats mark the first 200 days of the 116th Congress.
House Democrats mark the first 200 days of the 116th Congress. Photograph: Michael Brochstein/SOPA Images/REX/Shutterstock

Here are some other things the blog is keeping its eye on:

  • Nancy Pelosi will hold a press conference at 10.45am EDT. She will almost certainly be asked about where her caucus stands on impeachment, as roughly 100 Democrats have come out in favor of launching an inquiry.
  • Pelosi will also meet with representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez after weeks of sparring between the moderate and progressive wings of the House Democratic caucus.
  • The House has adjourned for a historically long recess after passing the budget deal negotiated between Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. The chamber will not return until 9 September.

That’s all still to come on this beautiful Friday in Washington. Stay tuned.

Updated

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Keith Urban is reportedly furious over a perceived 'villain narrative' around his split from Nicole Kidman, after she omitted him from a recent interview and left him feeling erased.
International Business Times UK
International Business Times UK
Former WWE Superstar Braun Strowman Takes Down 7,300 Calories A Day, But It's His Grocery Bill That Has Me Sweating
And it's not just the meat sweats...
Cinemablend
Cinemablend
Black Comedian Faces Backlash After Donning “White Face” To Mock Erika Kirk
The skit features Druski with his face painted white, wearing a blonde wig, heavy makeup, and bright blue contact lenses.
Bored Panda
Bored Panda
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