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The midwestern state is the first to vote in the presidential primary race. So what are caucuses, and how do they work? Here’s your guide to the night
The Iowa caucuses take place on Monday 3 February, kicking off the long process of nominating a Democratic presidential candidate who will eventually take on Donald Trump in November’s US election.
The primary race is made up of a series of contests called primaries and caucuses that take place in all 50 states plus Washington DC and outlying territories, by which the parties select their presidential nominee from the candidates who are running.
Hundreds of thousands of Iowans are barred from the Iowa caucus because of physical and legal barriers
As Democratic candidatesbegan a last minute blitz across Iowa on Friday evening, nearly a dozen men gathered in a cavernous YMCA meeting room in downtown Des Moines to have a conversation that felt a universe removed from the 2020 race.
They were part of one of the largest groups shut out of Monday’s caucus: people with felony convictions. Iowans are barred from voting for life once they commit a felony, and people can’t vote even if they committed a crime decades ago. The state’s policy, one of the strictest in the country, means more than 42,000 Iowans out of prison won’t have a say in choosing a presidential candidate. Almost 10% of the black voting age population can’t vote because of a felony conviction.
Polling shows no clear frontrunner in tight race as four Democratic candidates are knotted together at the top
After more than a year of ideological clashes and policy debates, voters in the midwestern state of Iowa are set to have their say on which Democratic presidential candidate they believe is best positioned to defeat Donald Trump in November’s election.
Michael Bloomberg traded insults with Donald Trump on Sunday, calling the president “a pathological liar who lies about everything: his fake hair, his obesity and his spray-on tan”.
As a growing number of Republican senators confirmed they will vote to acquit Donald Trump at the conclusion of his impeachment trial on Wednesday, the saga threatened to overshadow the first contest of the Democratic primary season in Iowa on Monday.
Outraged by what they see as a coverup in the impeachment trial of Donald Trump, grassroots activists are planning a massive “payback project” designed to punish Republican senators at the ballot box.
Trump has handed his ultra-loyal evangelical base policy victories and in return they turn a blind eye to his scandals
Joanne Craig, a lifelong evangelical Republican and resident of Sioux City, Iowa, couldn’t be more satisfied with the first three years of Donald Trump’s presidency.
Donning a large, blue “Christians for Trump” button on a blue pantsuit, the 80-year-old Craig emerged from the Country Celebrations Event Center in this small Iowa city satisfied to have heard Mike Pence and a cadre of Baptist pastors coo about the president’s policy victories.
Lisa Murkowski says she will vote against calling witnesses
Book says Trump told Bolton to help pressure Ukraine
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The impeachment trial has resumed, and Trump’s legal team will now have two hours to address the debate over calling witnesses to testify in the trial.
Deputy White House counsel Patrick Philbin has taken the podium to argue against witnesses, claiming the senators have heard enough testimony from the officials who participated in the public hearings of the House impeachment inquiry.
Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell was hosting some of his Republican colleagues in his office during the break, likely working through the logistics of the trial’s conclusion, but he is now headed back to the chamber.
So far senators Thune, Tillis, Romney, Alexander and Murkowski have emerged from McConnell's office. I frankly have no idea whether they want to push this through late tonight or punt it to next week.
Aaaand McConnell just emerged to head back to the Senate floor
Republicans seem increasingly confident they can block witnesses
John Roberts insists he will not say alleged whistleblower’s name
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The Senate is back in session, and House managers and Trump lawyers are back to fielding questions.
GOP Senators found a new way to raise the topic of the Bidens and Burisma: “Do you agree with John Kerry’s stepson that Hunter Biden working with Burisma was unacceptable?”
When then-Vice President Joe Biden’s son joined the board of an obscure Ukrainian gas company half a decade ago, it was a stunning coup for its owner, a former Ukrainian minister working to remake the company’s image as he faced a money-laundering investigation.
For Hunter Biden, the job came with risks: Ukraine was in the throes of political upheaval, and there was building scrutiny of former government officials profiting in the lucrative gas industry. His father was the face of the Obama administration’s effort to get Ukraine to crack down on corruption.
Before the break, House manager Adam Schiff even more directly reassured senators concerned about “endless delays”, once again suggesting a one-week period for deposition and “limited” time for witnesses. Chief Justice John Roberts could quickly resolve disputes, he said.
Lawmakers and journalists have been speculating all day about how the upcoming votes on witnesses could fall. Republican Senators Lamar Alexander and Lisa Murkowski were spotted together during the dinner break. Both are potential swing votes, and have told reporters they remain undecided.
Key swing vote Sen. Lamar Alexander told me he's going to announce his decision on witnesses TONIGHT, a decision that will make clear whether the Senate trial will come to a swift conclusion or if it will lead to a new phase over witnesses and documents.
White House sends letter saying book cannot be published
Today is first of two days of question-and-answer sessions at trial
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The impeachment managers have repeatedly used their answers to make an argument for calling witnesses, specifically John Bolton.
We are 17 questions in, with the witness issue emerging frequently. Dems using some questions to argue that Bolton could answer outstanding issues. WH team saying that if Bolton were called, many other witnesses would be, too, and proceedings would drag on for months.
Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY): “The Senate in its history has had 15 different impeachment trials. In every single trial there were witnesses. Every single trial. Why should this president be treated differently...” https://t.co/up2CQNLRW8pic.twitter.com/8CoK6RvYZg
Democratic senators were visibly stunned when Alan Dershowitz made his argument that Trump was acting in the public interest by pushing for investigations of Democrats because the president considers his reelection to be in the public interest.
Dems' reaction to Dershowitz's case just now would've been great TV:
- When Dersh suggested reelection concerns fit in national interest, Bernie turned to Schatz, who mouthed either "WHA" or "WOW"
- Gillibrand and Merkley made frustrated hand motions
Republican Collins: ‘There’s some gaps that need to be cleared up’
White House counsel to senators: reject articles of impeachment
Schiff says Trump’s lawyers ‘cannot defend president on facts’
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Though Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell has reportedly told senators privately that he doesn’t have votes to block new witnesses in the impeachment trial, per multiple reports, there are still several days till senators would vote on the matter.
Senate Republicans may still block witnesses, and some GOP lawmakers are confident they’ll be able to do so, according to CNN.
While the votes aren't secured yet, GOP leaders are growing confident they can defeat a vote on witnesses following the initial alarm the Bolton book caused among Senate Rs. Many Rs amenable to argument that witnesses would drag it out with no clear end https://t.co/LKsAaRHEaS
Lev Parnas’ lawyer is expected to attend the Senate trial tomorrow.
Joseph Bondy asked Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer for gallery tickets, according to The Daily Beast, which first reported the news. Bondy’s co-counsel Stephanie Schuman is also expected to appear. Parnas himself may not be able to, as he wears an ankle monitor and electronics are banned in the trial chamber.
Lev Parnas attorney on attending Senate trial: “We are attending the trial w/ or w/o Mr. Parnas bc we believe our presence is important in reminding senators that indeed there should be witnesses heard and evidence taken and that anything short of that would not be a fair trial”
Des Moines Register: Warren is ‘the president this nation needs’
Sanders emerges as frontrunner in Iowa and New Hampshire
Bernie Sanders emerged as the frontrunner in the two earliest Democratic 2020 nomination voting states this weekend, Iowa and New Hampshire, according to the latest polls – but Elizabeth Warren received a powerful boost with an endorsement from the Des Moines Register newspaper in what is still considered an open race.
Warren had been slipping behind in Iowa, which holds the first vote in the nation with its caucuses just a week a way on 3 February, but the Register this weekend named her “the president this nation needs”.
White House counsel says prosecution aims to pull off ‘the most massive interference in an election in American history’
Welcome to Day One of the Trump Show.
It was, admittedly, an inauspicious start to what was teased as a “trailer” for the rollicking show to come next week in the historic impeachment trial of Donald Trump.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s aid of Bernie Sanders’ campaign is raising talk of the possibility she might run for the White House herself
It was billed as a rally for Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign. But the only aging white man on the platform was the film-maker Michael Moore, and attendee Brittany Springmeier wasn’t there to see him.
She was in Iowa City for real star of the show, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
London Breed, San Francisco’s first black female mayor, joins campaign following support from Stockton and San Jose mayors
There’s nothing surprising about a billionaire winning the support of the mayor of San Francisco, a city flush with tech wealth and new money.
But when the billionaire is Mike Bloomberg – and the endorsement is the latest from a string of California mayors he mentored and supported – the vow of support raises some eyebrows.
On recording Trump calls for ousting of Marie Yovanovitch
Impeachment managers will finish presenting opening arguments today
Next Trump’s lawyers will be given up to 24 hours to begin their defense
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“Give America a fair trial,” impeachment manager Adam Schiff said, wrapping up the Democrats’ opening statements. “She’s worth it.”
And just like that, Senate has adjourned for the night. The impeachment trial continues tomorrow morning.
As impeachment manager Adam Schiff continues to talk, Donald Trump has gone on a retweeting frenzy. He reposted a tweet of his from earlier today, as well as one from the Senate Republicans account, and one each from Republican senators John Barrasso and Marsha Blackburn.
This obsession with impeachment* is out of hand.
Tennesseans have their priorities straight: trade, border security, and creating jobs. pic.twitter.com/vNFjPBA2MQ
Democrats continue prosecution on third day of trial
Jerry Nadler says Trump’s conduct ‘puts even Nixon to shame’
Democrats criticize Republicans, who claim house managers are repeating themselves, for not allowing new evidence
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A few more scenes from the trial chamber:
Senators and 2020 Democratic presidential candidates Bernie Sanders and Amy Klobuchar reportedly shared a laugh.
On the floor, Bernie Sanders looked quite tired, ultimately got up, walked to the back of the chamber - and chatted briefly with Amy Klobuchar. She pointed to something in her binder. They both shared a laugh and Sanders retreated to the cloak room.
Sen. Tillis is not in his seat at the moment. He’s sitting watching from above in the visitor gallery, for some reason
Emphasizing that nearly $400m in congressionally-appropriated military aid to Ukraine was held up for no good reason, the impeachment manager Zoe Lofgren, with the Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, sitting nearby, pointed out: “Even Senator McConnell has said ‘I was not given an explanation’ for the hold.”
The evidence is clear that Donald Trump “knowingly, willfully violated the law when he withheld the aid to Ukraine”, Lofgren said. “It shows the great lengths the president was willing to go to in order to pressure Ukraine to do his dirty work.”
First day of trial sees hours of debate over procedure
House manager Adam Schiff calls process ‘ass-backwards’
Senate votes down amendments brought by Democrats
After 13 hours of debate, Republican senators pushed through the organizing resolution for the impeachment proposed by Mitch McConnell, without any of the 11 amendments proposed by Democrats.
The trial is now adjourned until 1pm ET on Wednesday.
The final amendment proposed by minority leader Chuck Schumer would allow Chief Justice John Roberts — as a neutral party — to decide whether to allow motions to subpoena witnesses or documents.
Finally, the senators are voting on the organizing resolution for the impeachment trial, as proposed by Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell.
Hillary Clinton has criticized Bernie Sanders, insisting “nobody likes” and “nobody wants to work with” him. Clinton, the 2016 Democratic presidential nominee, also refused to commit to endorsing Sanders should he win the primary this year.
Marshalltown has been transformed by migrants – and locals want candidates to make the positive case for immigration
Customers entering Zamora Fresh Market are greeted by Spanish-language music and the colorful sight of papel picado hanging from the ceiling of a small dine-in section. Employees chat in Spanish to each other and people buying tortas, lengua de res and containers of arroz y frijoles.