(NEW YORK) — Here are today’s In Crisis headlines:
House will vote today to impeach President Trump
The U.S. House of Representatives this morning began formal debate on the single article of impeachment against President Donald Trump, charging him with “incitement of insurrection” related to last week’s storming of Capitol Hill by thousands of Trump supporters, resulting in the deaths of five people. At last word, at least five House Republican lawmakers — including Rep. Liz Cheney, the number-three Republican in the House and highest-ranking woman in the Republican Party — have declared their intention to join 218 Democrats to vote for impeachment, though Democrats have enough votes in their own ranks to pass the article. The vote will make Donald Trump the only president in U.S. history to be impeached twice.
The vote comes after House Democrats on Tuesday gave Vice President Mike Pence and the Trump Cabinet 24 hours to invoke the 25th Amendment of the Constitution to declare President Trump unable to discharge his duties as president, and so remove him from office. In response, Pence declined to do, instead urging Congress in a letter to focus on the Biden transition and avoid impeachment.
After impeachment passes in the House, it then goes to the Republican-majority Senate for trial. If the Senate convicts the president, he will be removed from office. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has privately acknowledged that he believes President Trump committed impeachable offenses and that he’s pleased Democrats are moving to impeach him, believing it will make it easier for the Republican Party to be rid of Trump, a source confirmed to ABC News. Speaker Pelosi plans to send the article of impeachment to the Senate next week, sources further tell ABC News. This would leave the Senate no choice but to immediately move toward a trial, the exact timing will depend on whether Sen. McConnell decides to call the Senate back into session early, which he’s said he wouldn’t do. Under Senate rules, the Senate cannot officially receive any message or bill or resolution from the House unless the Senate is in session, and the chamber is not scheduled to be back until January 19, the day before Inauguration Day.
COVID-19 numbers
Here’s the latest data on COVID-19 coronavirus infections and deaths.
Latest reported numbers globally per Johns Hopkins University
Global diagnosed cases: 91,717,877
Global deaths: 1,965,030. The United States has the most deaths of any single country, with 380,821.
Number of countries/regions: at least 191
Total patients recovered globally: 50,751,265
Latest reported numbers in the United States per Johns Hopkins University
There are at least 22,849,333 reported cases in 50 states + the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and Guam. This is more than in any other country.
U.S. deaths: at least 380,821. New York State has the greatest number of reported deaths in the U.S., with 40,020.
U.S. total people tested: 269,334,131
The greatest number of reported COVID-19 cases in the U.S. is in California, with 2,804,663 confirmed cases out of a total state population of 39.51 million. This ranks first in the world. England is second in the world, with 2,747,085 cases. Texas is third, with 2,015,274 confirmed cases out of a total state population of 29 million.
Record 4,327 COVID-19 deaths Tuesday; more deaths last week than last flu season
There were a record 4,327 new deaths from COVID-19 reported in the United States Tuesday, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. That tops the previous record daily fatality number of 4,194 deaths on January 7. An additional 215,805 new cases of COVID-19 were also confirmed nationwide on Tuesday, though that falls short of the peak of 302,506 confirmed infections on January 2. Tuesday was the eighth consecutive day that the country has reported more than 200,000 new COVID-19 cases, according to Johns Hopkins data. Overall, more people died in the U.S. of COVID-19 in the past week than died of the flu in the entire 2019-2020 flu season. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, an estimated 22,000 people died of the flu during that time. By contrast, there were 23,119 new COVID-19 deaths reported between January 6-12, according to the COVID Tracking Project.
U.S. COVID-19 deaths topped 380,000 early Wednesday, with a total 380,821 reported by Johns Hopkins University. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is currently forecasting a total of 405,000 to 438,000 reported COVID-19 fatalities by the week ending January 30. The U.S. continues to lead the world in the total number of COVID-19 cases and deaths, with 24.9% and 19.3% of global totals, respectively.
Texas surpasses two million COVID-19 cases
Texas now has the third-highest number of reported COVID-19 cases than any state or region in the world, with 2,015,274 confirmed cases out of a total state population of 29 million as of Wednesday morning, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. California has the most reported COVID-19 cases than any state or region, with 2,804,663, followed by England, with 2,747,085. Texas also is third in the nation in COVID-19 fatalities, with 30,895 reported, trailing only New York, which has the most deaths, and second-place California. Texas and California are the only two U.S. states with more than two million reported cases. Florida is next-highest in the U.S. after Texas, with 1,503,482 cases.
Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.