Within the hallways of the U.S. Capitol, there is growing confidence by GOP Senators that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell can whip his caucus to block a vote on witnesses Friday.
While returning to the chamber after a short break Thursday, Senator Tim Scott (R-S.C.) told Cheddar he's "feeling good" about tomorrow's expected vote.
Senator John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) told reporters during the break that Republicans have the "momentum" to move to end the trial tomorrow without witnesses. "If we're able to say no [to witnesses] and go right to final judgment, we'd move in that direction and stay here until that work is decided and completed Friday evening. That's where all the momentum is now."
Still up for debate is what, exactly, happens, if the Republicans vote to end the debate on witnesses quickly.
Meanwhile, back in the chamber, lead impeachment manager Adam Schiff said witness depositions could be limited to just one week and said that the trial should not be rushed just because the State of the Union is Tuesday.
After the break, Senators asked two bipartisan questions, both of which were from senators who may still be undecided on the issue of whether to allow witnesses. First, Senators Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) asked the defense team if the president would assure them that private citizens would not be directed to conduct foreign policy unless formally designated by the president and the State Department.
Murkowski and Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) submitted the second bipartisan question, asking if any action a president takes is inherently political and where the line is between permissible political actions and impeachable political actions.
In President Bill Clinton's impeachment trial, there was only one bipartisan question asked, which Sen. Collins had signed onto at the time.
Christine Hallquist, the first transgender gubernatorial candidate to be nominated by a major party, faces an uphill battle in Vermont, where she is trying to unseat the popular Republican governor.
Cannabis represents a fourth pillar of Constellation Brands' beer, wine, and spirits strategy, says the CEO Rob Sands. The company, which makes Corona beer, Svedka vodka, and Robert Mondavi wine invested $4 billion in the Canadian marijuana company Canopy Growth ー the largest weed deal by a major publicly traded company.
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Constellation Brands, the alcoholic beverage giant, is making a big bet that marijuana will be legalized in the United States by upping its investment in the Canadian cannabis company Canopy Growth. With legal marijuana coming to Canada in the fall, investors are preparing for a potential legal U.S. market to open up soon.
Rep. Tom Reed says he plans to propose a ban on House members serving on corporate boards, a bipartisan proposal designed to eliminate "potential conflict and the appearance of impropriety." The move comes a week after his New York Republican colleague Rep. Chris Collins was indicted on insider trading charges.
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A year after the white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, the country continues to see an upsurge in racism, says Patrisse Cullors, a co-founder of Black Lives Matter. But Cullors also says she sees more people "joining together in this moment to stand up for our rights."
Marc Lotter, former press secretary to Vice President Mike Pence, says Omarosa Manigault Newman's decision to record a conversation with White House Chief of Staff John Kelly in the Situation Room was a violation "of every protocol
[and] procedure." He also says allegations in Manigault Newman's book contradict the former "Apprentice" contestant's previous statements about President Trump.
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Spike Lee's "BlacKkKlansman" opened nationwide on Friday, on the eve of the anniversary of the Charlottesville riots ー and that's no coincidence. The movie recalls the true story of Ron Stallworth, a black Colorado Springs police officer who infiltrated the Ku Klux Klan in the 1970s.
