Harris attacks Biden’s record on race in Democratic debate’s key moment

California senator’s experience of school integration overshadows expected face-off between ex-vice-president and Bernie Sanders

Ten more Democratic presidential candidates clashed in Miami on Thursday night over the best approach to remove Donald Trump from office in 2020, in a contentious debate featuring an explosive challenge from senator Kamala Harris on race that left former vice president Joe Biden rattled.

On a stage divided along generational and ideological lines, the debate – the second over two days to accommodate the huge field of candidates vying for the Democratic nomination – saw Biden, who has dominated the early stages of the race, face off against Vermont senator Bernie Sanders.

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The planet’s heating up but candidates’ climate crisis response remains tepid

The 10 candidates on stage in Miami accurately conveyed the urgency of global heating but missed chances to show how it underlies all key political issues

Thursday’s Democratic debate demonstrated just how far the the US is from contemplating the climate crisis as a threat that will touch almost all areas of American life and policymaking.

Once again, debate moderators waited until nearly 80 minutes into the debate to pose questions on the climate emergency.

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Supreme court gerrymandering decision raises alarm as Kagan issues searing dissent – live

Justice says move ‘imperils system of government’ as court blocks 2020 census citizenship question for now in blow to Trump

The big question around the citizenship/census ruling: will the Trump administration have the time / organization to mount a new effort to put the question in place before 2020 Census season (and it’s unclear just when the cutoff here is)?:

This seems like the same “unring the bell” logic of the Muslim ban decision. “Come back and lie to us about your motives more convincingly, please.” https://t.co/LjgGeyc6Xx

More reactions:

This ruling on gerrymandering is exactly why it is not enough to just win the next election. The Supreme Court is helping Republicans *rig* the elections. Democrats need a *proactive* plan to confront the partisan capture of the Court.

On the census, the Trump administration’s lies went so far that even this Supreme Court had to say no. If this leads to a result with no citizenship question, that would be a very welcome outcome, and it would also preserve the status quo. This should have been an easy case, and in the end, it was.

But Chief Justice Roberts’ ruling that no federal court can ever consider claims of extreme and unconstitutional partisan gerrymandering is truly appalling for the long term health of our democracy. It’s a judicial green light for egregious partisanship, a permission slip for politicians to entrench themselves without fear of judicial intervention.

This is a victory for all New Yorkers who refuse to be undercounted, discriminated against, or driven into the shadows. The Trump administration must not be allowed to weaponize the census in its war on immigrants, people of color, and the poor. From the very beginning, the administration has hoped to add a citizenship question in order to undercount, marginalize, and limit the political power of immigrant communities. The justices saw through the Trump administration’s absurd excuses for the addition of the question. We will do everything we can with our partners to ensure that all New Yorkers are counted.”

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Democratic candidates fail to challenge opponents or convey scope of climate crisis in debate

Presidential hopefuls mostly reiterated campaign talking points and policy proposals during seven minutes on climate discussion

The first Democratic presidential debate on Wednesday night spent around seven minutes on a discussion around climate change, exceeding the total time spent on the crisis during all of the 2016 general election debates.

Climate change is expected to feature more in the 2020 election than ever before, as experts offer unsparing warnings that the escalating crisis will deprive the poor of basic human rights. Still, it is not being discussed by most as a top-tier political issue.

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‘Warren’s to lose’: who won the first Democratic debate? | Panelists

Bold ideas on the debate stage in Miami – and an unexpected breakout star. Here’s the verdict from our panelists

Generously speaking, Democratic presidential candidates tonight spent a little less than 10 minutes after nearly an hour and a half had gone by answering a handful of direct questions about a climate crisis that could make large swathes of the planet horrifically uninhabitable by the end of this century. (NBC’s technical difficulties took nearly as long.) The best you can say is that tonight’s climate bit was still longer than the time spent on climate during the entirety of the 2016 debates.

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Democratic debates get underway as 2020 candidates go head to head – live

Ten Democrats begin debating each other tonight – will they attack the party’s frontrunner, Joe Biden, or sell their own vision for the future?

We’re less than ten minutes away! Here’s some things to know:

Related: Where do the 2020 Democratic candidates stand on the key issues?

Tonight, the first batch of 2020 presidential candidates will likely face questions about gun control. It’s an issue that many of them have been putting front and center.

So far, some gun violence prevention experts say, New Jersey senator Cory Booker has produced the most ambitious and comprehensive plan, including funding for local gun violence prevention strategies in communities burdened with daily gun violence, and endorsing federal licensing for gun ownership, a policy that Obama labeled out of the question just three years ago.

“The person that has had the most thoughtful approach, as well as the most robust approach, is Cory Booker,” said Dakota Jablon, director of federal affairs at the Coalition to Stop Violence, a gun violence prevention group.

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Democratic debates 2019: everything you need to know

20 presidential hopefuls go head-to-head in Miami on 26-27 June – but what will they discuss, and who needs it the most?

The Republican primary debates in 2015 featured 17 candidates – a number interpreted as unwieldy at best and, at worst, a bit ridiculous.

Well step aside, Republicans, because this year Democrats have gone one better. Or three better: over the evenings of 26th and 27th June, 20 presidential hopefuls will have it out on stage, as they attempt to sell themselves as the one Democratic candidate to take on Donald Trump in the 2020 US presidential election.

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Democratic 2020 candidates clash on healthcare, immigration and economy in first debate

Ten candidates took the stage for the first of back-to-back debates, and cast themselves in sharp contrast with Trump

Ten Democratic presidential candidates cast themselves in sharp contrast to Donald Trump in the first primary debate of the 2020 election on Wednesday night, even as they disagreed on how far left the next US president should lean.

The Democratic hopefuls took to the stage at the Adrienne Arsht Center in Miami for the first of back-to-back debates over two nights, which see the 2020 race kick-off in earnest and give the 20 candidates who qualified for the events a national platform that could help to clarify the leaders in the enormous and unsettled field.

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Disney and Soros among super-rich urging US government: tax us more

  • Billionaires call for tax on extreme wealth to combat inequality
  • ‘America has a moral responsibility to tax our wealth more’

More than a dozen prominent US billionaires are calling for a new government tax on extreme wealth to help combat income inequality, provide funding for climate change initiatives and range of public health issues.

Related: Bernie Sanders confronts Walmart bosses and urges $15 an hour minimum wage

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Promises, promises: has Donald Trump kept his word in office?

In 2016, the insurgent Republican hammered home his message on jobs, judges, immigration and more. Has he delivered?

Verdict: Failure. As of last month, no new wall had been erected in places where there was not already a barrier at the border. Trump has awarded contracts for 247 miles of wall construction but this has been challenged in court. Even if he prevails, all but 17 miles would merely be replacement for existing barriers, not new construction. Expect to hear a lot more about the wall in 2020.

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Roy Moore: Republican accused of sexual misconduct to run for Senate

Moore was accused of pursuing relationships with women as young as 14 when he was in his 30s during his failed 2017 Senate bid

Disgraced Alabama Republican Roy Moore has announced he is running for US Senate again in 2020 after failing to win the seat two years ago amid sexual misconduct accusations.

Moore is defying his party with his return to the political stage, and faces a crowded Republican primary field as he aims for an eventual rematch against the Democratic senator Doug Jones, who won against him in the 2017 special election to fill the seat previously held by former US attorney general Jeff Sessions.

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Cory Booker attacks Biden for ‘civil’ relationship with segregationist lawmakers – as it happened

After the Senate majority leader dismissed the idea of reparations, Coates testified before Congress about ‘campaign of terror’ against black Americans

Closing out live coverage this evening, with an updated summary of today’s news from Amanda Holpuch and me:

Watch some of the key moments from today’s Congressional debate over reparations:

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Trump sets stage for 2020 fight with false claims and recycled attacks

President kicked off his bid with lies, attacks on the press and claims a Democrat president would ‘shut down your free speech’

Donald Trump has set the stage for the nastiest US presidential race in modern times with a campaign rally that recycled old themes and stoked resentment towards Democrats and the media.

Related: Trump's 2020 campaign launch: the key takeaways

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Trump’s 2020 campaign launch: the key takeaways

After two and a half years in office, Trump remains fixated on the same grievances – and successes

Donald Trump launched his 2016 presidential campaign on 16 June 2015, by descending an escalator in front of a small crowd in Trump Tower. Four years on, he launched his 2020 pitch to be re-elected to the White House to 20,000 people at Orlando’s Amway Center on a humid, rainy Florida night.

Related: Trump 2020 launch: Bernie Sanders attacks president's 'lies' and 'distortions' – live

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Trump announces departure of acting defense secretary Patrick Shanahan – live

WaPo’s Josh Rogin tweets:

Officials confirm to me Patrick Shanahan is not only withdrawing from consideration, he is resigning his current Pentagon post. Last day unclear. https://t.co/zufBzZ9nmz

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Pete Buttigieg wants to start a family with his husband, Chasten

  • Democrat hopeful says they could have children in White House
  • Buttigieg is first openly gay major party presidential candidate

The Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg wants to start a family with his husband, Chasten, and says that could happen if he makes it to the White House.

“I don’t see why not,” the mayor of South Bend, Indiana, said in a Father’s Day television interview that also marked his first wedding anniversary.

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Democratic candidates debate: Sanders, Harris and Biden will spar in two-night event

NBC announces pairings for debates later this month, the first of the 2020 presidential campaign season

The first 2020 presidential debate will be divided into two nights later this month, with senators Elizabeth Warren and Cory Booker going up against the former congressman Beto O’Rourke in the first session. The former vice-president, Joe Biden, will face off with South Bend’s mayor, Pete Buttigieg, and senators Kamala Harris and Bernie Sanders on the second evening.

NBC announced the lineup on Friday for its two-night debate, which will begin 26 June in Miami, and is set to be the first direct showdown between the Democrats vying to take on Donald Trump.

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Biden, Sanders and Harris to face off as Democratic debate lineups set – live

Trio drawn together for split NBC debate on 26-27 June, while Cory Booker, Elizabeth Warren and Beto O’Rourke to meet in other group

The Wall Street Journal has an interesting read about how after launching an atypical presidential election bid, Donald Trump’s 2020 campaign team is taking a more traditional path:

The campaign aims to build a political infrastructure that can operate regardless of what Mr. Trump says on stage or on social media. Mr. Trump’s Twitter feed is spoken of as his own brand, separate from the campaign.

Sarah Huckabee Sanders has only a few weeks left of her tenure as White House press secretary and the rumor mill is churning with possible replacements.

Four possible replacements, according to Reuters, are: Stephanie Grisham, Melania Trump’s communications director; Heather Nauert, the former State Department spokeswoman; Tony Sayegh, the outgoing Treasury department spokesman and Hogan Gidley, deputy White House secretary.

Once, after watching Gidley on his screen in the residence, the President walked over to the communications office to tell the staff he thought they were handling the shutdown well.

In the days afterward, Trump confused several officials when he directed them to, “Get me Tidley.”

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‘Squash Amash’: how a Republican congressman drew the ire of his party

Justin Amash is the lone GOP congressman to call for Trump’s impeachment, and his career – at least in his party – is in question

The hundreds of Republicans who gathered for the “squash Amash” rally outside the Michigan congressman Justin Amash’s downtown Grand Rapids office on Friday left nothing in doubt as they spoke about the man they feel betrayed their party by calling for Donald Trump to be impeached.

“Pathetic”, “lightweight loser”, “a joke” and the phrase uttered with perhaps the most derision: Rino, or “Republican In Name Only”.

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