10 things you need to know today: October 25, 2019

1. Lindsey Graham unveils resolution to condemn House impeachment inquiry

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Thursday introduced a resolution seeking to condemn House Democrats for their impeachment inquiry into President Trump. Graham, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said the investigation was "inconsistent with due process as we know it." He called for House Democrats to hold a formal vote to open the inquiry and give the "same rights to Trump as Clinton and Nixon" had when they faced impeachment inquiries. Graham argued that Democrats should stop holding closed-door hearings concealing testimony on Trump's potential wrongdoing in pushing Ukraine to investigate his political opponents. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) told Republicans to go after facts "rather than stomp feet in a fit of staged political theater."

USA Today

2. Rep. Elijah Cummings lies in state at U.S. Capitol

The late Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) was honored in the U.S. Capitol on Thursday. Cummings, who died Oct. 17 at age 68, became the first African-American to lie in state on Capitol Hill. Hundreds of lawmakers filled the hall as the casket was carried in. Thousands of people then filed past to pay their respects to Cummings, the son of sharecroppers who rose to become chairman of the powerful House Oversight Committee. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said in her remarks that Cummings was "a master of the House." Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Cummings did not just represent his home city, Baltimore, "he embodied it." The civil rights icon will be honored again in a Friday funeral in Baltimore, where he will be eulogized by former Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton, as well as Pelosi and Hillary Clinton.

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Politico USA Today

3. Report: White House delayed Ukraine trade privileges

The White House delayed a decision on restoring some of Ukraine's trade privileges in August, at the same time it was withholding $391 million in military aid and security assistance, The Washington Post reported Thursday, citing people briefed on the matter. Then-National Security Adviser John Bolton reportedly told White House Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer that President Trump would oppose any trade decision that would benefit Kyiv, so Lighthizer withdrew the recommendation to make the move. "It was pulled back shortly before it was going to POTUS' desk," one administration official said. "Bolton intervened with Lighthizer to block it." A House impeachment inquiry is investigating whether Trump's administration wrongfully pressured Ukraine to investigate Trump's political rivals. Bolton and the White House declined to comment.

The Washington Post

4. Boris Johnson drops insistence on October Brexit, calls for early election

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Thursday dropped his vow to lead the U.K. out of the European Union at the end of October with or without an approved Brexit deal, two days after Parliament rejected his call to fast-track approval of his new Brexit deal. Johnson instead called for an early election in December, saying it was now the only way to break the impasse over Brexit. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said that as long as the EU signs off on the latest Brexit delay and Johnson agrees to rule out a potentially disastrous no-deal Brexit, "we absolutely support a general election."

The Associated Press BBC News

5. Barr's review of Russia inquiry becomes a criminal investigation

Attorney General William Barr's administrative review of the origins of the Russia election-meddling inquiry has developed into a criminal investigation, The New York Times reported Thursday, citing two people familiar with the matter. The change will give the prosecutor in charge of the review, John Durham, the authority to subpoena witnesses and documents. He also will be able to convene a grand jury and file criminal charges, the Times reported. Democrats and some former law enforcement officials have accused Barr of using the Justice Department to benefit President Trump politically. The attorney general's reliance on Durham, a respected veteran prosecutor, could insulate Barr against those allegations.

The New York Times Reuters

6. Twitter shares dive after disappointing earnings report

Twitter shares plunged by nearly 21 percent on Thursday after the microblogging site posted third quarter revenue and profit that fell short of expectations. Revenue climbed to $824 million, a 9 percent increase from a year earlier but below the $874 million analysts expected, according to Refinitiv. Profit plummeted by 95 percent to 5 cents a share, down from $1.02 a year earlier. Twitter chalked up the disappointing quarter to low summer ad demand, product glitches, and other advertising problems. "Unfortunately we had some missteps," Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey said during a call with analysts. He said, however, that the advertising problems had been pinpointed and fixed, as have other issues that dogged the company in recent years. "We have a lot more agility," Dorsey said.

The New York Times The Wall Street Journal

7. Government separated more migrant children from parents than first reported

The Trump administration told a federal court on Thursday that it separated 1,556 more migrant children from their parents than previously reported. In response to the American Civil Liberties Union's court-approved demand for more information, the federal government told the U.S. district court in San Diego that the additional families were forcibly separated before the full implementation of the Trump administration's "zero tolerance" border policy. The new figure brings the total number of family separations to at least 4,300 before a judge ordered the practice halted. Previous administrations only separated migrant children from their parents in cases where their safety was at risk.

CBS News

8. Tim Ryan drops out of 2020 race

Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio) announced Thursday that he was dropping out of the race for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination. "After seven long months of hard work, I'll be returning home to my family and friends and community in Ohio to run for reelection for my congressional seat," he said. He will be trying for a ninth term in the House. Ryan tried to sell himself as the best Democrat to woo working class and Rust Belt voters away from President Trump. His campaign didn't pick up any momentum, however, and he failed to qualify for the party's third and fourth debates. With Ryan out, there are 17 candidates left in the Democratic primary field.

The Washington Post NPR

9. High winds fuel fires in California

Wildfires erupted in Northern California wine country and in other parts of the state on Thursday. The Kincade fire, fueled by wind gusts exceeding 70 miles per hour, quickly burned more than 16,000 acres in northern Sonoma County, racing through oaks and vineyards. Firefighters scrambled to contain the blaze as hot, windy, dry conditions threatened to fuel it this weekend. Pacific Gas & Electric Co. has cut power to hundreds of thousands of Californians to prevent electrical lines hit by high winds from starting more fires. It was not immediately clear whether electrical lines contributed to the Sonoma County fire, although PG&E told state regulators that transmission-tower equipment broke near the point where the fire started, near Geyserville in northeastern Sonoma County.

Los Angeles Times San Francisco Chronicle

10. Indonesia releases final report on Boeing 737 Max crash

Indonesian investigators said Friday in a final report that design flaws, pilot handling of new systems, and regulatory failings contributed to the October 2018 crash of a Lion Air Boeing 737 Max jet that killed 181 people. Indonesia's transportation-safety regulator cited nine factors in the crash. "If one of them was not occurring on that day, the accident may not have happened," said Nurcahyo Utomo, an investigator at the National Transportation Safety Committee. Investigators focused on a flight-control feature designed to prevent the aircraft from stalling. A faulty censor caused the feature to mistakenly point the jet's nose down, a problem also blamed for the crash of an Ethiopian Airlines plane in March of this year. Boeing made software changes to the new jets to fix the problem, but they remain grounded.

The Washington Post