10 things you need to know today: November 21, 2019

1. Sondland says Trump ordered him to work with Giuliani pressuring Ukraine

Gordon Sondland, President Trump's ambassador to the European Union, testified in the House impeachment inquiry on Wednesday that he pressured Ukraine to investigate Democrats on Trump's orders. Sondland, a central figure in the administration's pressure on Ukraine, said he worked with Rudy Giuliani, Trump's personal attorney, at the "express direction" to carry out the president's orders. "Giuliani's requests were a quid pro quo for arranging a White House visit for President [Volodymyr] Zelensky," he said. "We knew that these investigations were important to the president." Sondland also implicated Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Vice President Mike Pence, saying "everyone was in the loop."

The New York Times

2. Democrats unite on need to beat Trump, split on health policy

The 10 leading Democratic presidential candidates expressed unity on their shared goal of beating President Trump in 2020, with each claiming to be in the strongest position to win. "What we need on the stage in November is someone who has the ability to win," said Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.). Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) argued that her wealth-tax plan was one of the "things that unite us." With just 75 days to go before the Iowa caucuses, the Democrats faced questions on everything from health care to paid family leave. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said he would quickly introduce a Medicare-for-all bill, but former Vice President Joe Biden said there isn't enough support from Democrats for it to pass in the House or Senate.

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The Washington Post

3. Pentagon official says Ukraine knew about withheld security aid in July

Defense Department official Laura Cooper testified in the House impeachment inquiry Wednesday that Ukrainian officials started asking about withheld security aid on July 25, the day President Trump asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to do him a "favor" by investigating Democrats. Cooper made the statement to revise closed-door testimony in which she said the first time Ukrainian officials asked about the aid was Sept. 5. Cooper said after her deposition a member of her staff showed her a July 25 email in which a Ukrainian contact asked, "What is going on with Ukrainian security assistance?" If that timing is correct, it contradicts White House assertions that Trump was not imposing inappropriate pressure on Zelensky because the Ukrainians didn't even know the military aid was being held up at that point.

CNN

4. Gantz falls short in bid to form Israeli government

Benny Gantz, the head of Israel's center-left Blue and White Party, failed to form an Israeli government at the end of the month-long period he was given to complete the task. Gantz was unable to convince Yisrael Beiteinu leader Avigdor Lieberman, considered Israel's kingmaker, to come over to his side just hours before the deadline. Gantz got his shot after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his conservative Likud party also fell short in an effort to pull together a ruling coalition. The country will now enter a three-week period in which Parliament aims to construct a majority government. If that doesn't work, Israel is likely headed toward a third election, possibly in March 2020. Netanyahu will continue as caretaker prime minister for now.

The Wall Street Journal The Washington Post

5. Senate confirms judge to give federal appeals court conservative majority

The Senate on Wednesday confirmed President Trump's latest appointee to the 11th U.S. Circuit of Appeals in Atlanta, marking Trump's latest win in his push to make the federal bench more conservative. The 80-15 vote puts Trump appointee Barbara Lagoa in a seat being vacated by Judge Stanley Marcus, who was appointed by Democratic President Bill Clinton in 1997. The confirmation gave the 11th Circuit its fifth Trump appointee and a 7-5 majority of Republican appointees. The court had a majority of Democratic appointees when Trump took office in 2017. The 11th Circuit is the third of the nation's 13 federal appeals courts that has flipped ideologically under Trump. When he took office, four of the 13 had Republican-appointed majorities. Now seven do.

Reuters

6. Congress approves Hong Kong Human Rights bill

The House on Wednesday passed a bill seeking to support anti-government protesters in Chinese-ruled Hong Kong. The House also passed a measure to block sales of some munitions to police in the semi-autonomous city, a former British colony. The Senate unanimously passed both bills, sending them to President Trump's desk at an awkward time, as his administration tries to negotiate a deal to end a trade war with China in time to tout the accomplishment on the 2020 campaign trail. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said Beijing "condemns and firmly opposes" the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act, which supports the protesters.

CNBC

7. Prince Andrew halts royal family duties over Epstein scandal

Prince Andrew said Wednesday that he is stepping back from his public duties as a member of the British royal family. The decision by the Duke of York came after he gave a widely-panned interview about his former association with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The queen's second son said in a statement released by Buckingham Palace that the matter "has become a major disruption to my family's work" and charities he supports. He said he had asked the queen for permission to stop his public duties, "and she has given her permission." Virginia Roberts Giuffre has alleged she was trafficked by Epstein and forced to have sex with Prince Andrew when she was 17, which he denied "categorically."

USA Today CNN

8. Former Baltimore mayor charged in alleged book-fraud scheme

Federal prosecutors released an indictment on Wednesday charging former Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh with 11 counts of fraud, tax evasion, and other charges. Prosecutors say Pugh defrauded businesses and charities, enriching herself and illegally funding her mayoral campaign through nearly $800,000 in sales of her Healthy Holly books. The indictment said many of the books were double sold, or simply not delivered. Pugh, a Democrat and former state senator, took office as mayor in 2016 but took a medical leave of absence from office after the The Baltimore Sun uncovered the book deals in March. If convicted, she could face decades in prison.

The Baltimore Sun

9. UAW president resigns after union accuses him of embezzlement

Gary Jones resigned as president of the United Auto Workers on Wednesday after the union moved to oust him under the cloud of a broadening federal corruption investigation. The resignation came two months after The Detroit News linked Jones to a federal investigation into an alleged conspiracy to embezzle more than $1 million in union dues to spend on personal luxuries. Jones has not been charged with any crime. Jones' lawyer, Bruce Maffeo, said Jones made the decision to step down after "much discussion with family and friends," because he believed that staying "will only distract the union from its core mission to improve the lives of its members and their families." Maffeo said Jones decided to go before learning the union had filed internal charges accusing him of falsifying expense records.

The Detroit News

10. Susan Choi, Sarah M. Broom win National Book Awards

Susan Choi won the 2019 National Book Award for fiction Wednesday for her novel Trust Exercise. Sarah M. Broom won the prize for nonfiction for her memoir The Yellow House. Trust Exercise, Choi's fifth book, is set in a 1980s competitive performing arts school, and touches on sexual consent. The judges called the story "timely, mesmerizing, and in the end, unsettling." The Yellow House centers around Broom's home in New Orleans, and how Hurricane Katrina forced her large family to split up. Established in 1950, the National Book Award is one of the country's most prestigious literary prizes. This year's ceremony was hosted by actor and longtime Reading Rainbow host LeVar Burton.

The New York Times