Free elections don't always lead to a vibrant democracy — the world is filled with too many examples to list, though let's pick on Egypt anyway — but they're a prerequisite. And an estimated 7 million to 7.5 million Afghan voters made a promising down payment this weekend, defying Taliban death threats to vote in the country's first democratic transfer of power. There were a few Taliban attacks on Saturday, but they didn't deter voters from turning out in much higher numbers than expected.

There will be some amount of fraud discovered, but if voter turnout was really 60 percent, as unidentified Independent Election Commission officials tell The New York Times, that's a victory in itself. We won't know who will replace President Hamid Karzai for weeks, but it appears that the Taliban lost this election pretty badly. For those understandably jaded about the state of democracy in the world, that's at least a glimmer of hope to start out the week. Peter Weber

Citing concerns about "the ongoing potential for violence," YouTube suspended President Trump's channel for a minimum of seven days.

A video that "incited violence" was removed from his channel, YouTube told CNN Business on Tuesday night, and the account will not be able to upload any new content until the suspension is lifted. Additionally, YouTube said it will disable comments under videos on Trump's channel, "as we've done to other channels where there are safety concerns found in the comments section."

After a pro-Trump mob stormed the Capitol last week, Twitter permanently banned Trump from the platform, and Facebook suspended his account "indefinitely." In a statement, YouTube said Trump's channel received a strike for violating policies on inciting violence, which triggered the suspension. If the channel gets a second strike, it will be suspended for at least two weeks, with a third strike resulting in a permanent ban. Catherine Garcia

The House passed a resolution Tuesday night calling on Vice President Mike Pence to remove President Trump from office by invoking the 25th Amendment. Pence informed House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) Tuesday evening that he has no intention to do that, making the nonbinding House measure mostly a symbolic prelude to Wednesday's impeachment hearing. One Republican, Rep. Adam Kinzinger (Ill.), voted with 222 Democrats to approve the 25th Amendment measure, while 205 Republicans voted against it.

Kinzinger is one of at least five House Republicans who have said they will vote to impeach Trump, though the final number is expected to grow as high as 12. Peter Weber

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is taking the idea of an impeachment trial seriously, and there is "a better than 50-50 chance" he would vote to convict President Trump, Axios reported Tuesday night.

One high-ranking Republican close to McConnell said the "Senate institutional loyalists are fomenting a counterrevolution to Trump," and one way to keep him from running for president again would be to convict him in a Senate trial.

Earlier Tuesday, The New York Times reported that McConnell believes Trump did commit impeachable offenses when he incited supporters to storm the Capitol last week, and thinks an impeachment would push the president out of the GOP. Fox News later confirmed the report, saying McConnell has finally decided to break from Trump and is "done" with him. McConnell has yet to publicly call on Trump to resign or say he is in favor of impeachment. Catherine Garcia

To get to the floor of the House, members of Congress now have to go through metal detectors, and this was too much for some Republican lawmakers to handle.

The metal detectors were set up by Capitol Police on Tuesday, nearly a week after the Capitol riot, and all House members, staffers, and aides must walk through them. In a memo, Acting House Sergeant-at-Arms Timothy Blodgett said the metal detectors were installed to ensure everyone is in compliance with regulations banning guns and incendiary devices from the chamber, CNN reports.

"There have been increasing tensions with certain incoming freshmen for months, who have been insistent on bringing firearms in violation of law and guidelines," one House Democrat told CNN, referring to Republican Reps. Lauren Boebert (Colo.) and Madison Cawthorn (N.C.). Last week, Cawthorn told a news outlet that when a pro-Trump mob stormed the Capitol, he was armed, while Boebert has been boasting for weeks that she would carry her handgun at all times.

On Tuesday, Boebert set off a metal detector, then refused to show Capitol Police officers what was in her bag; after a brief standoff, she was let through. Boebert wasn't the only one to cause a scene:

Rep. Debbie Lesko (R-Ariz.) immediately fired off an angry tweet, saying lawmakers are "being wanded like criminals! We now live in [House Speaker Nancy] Pelosi's communist America!" Lesko and the rest of the anti-metal detector crowd got no sympathy from Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), who said they now know how high school students in her district feel. "Suck it up buttercups," she added. "Y'all brought this on yourselves." Catherine Garcia

In a letter sent to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Tuesday night, Vice President Mike Pence rejected calls to remove President Trump from office via the 25th Amendment.

Leading up to the certification of the Electoral College votes, Trump pressured Pence to overturn the results. Pence wrote in the letter that he did not "exert power beyond my constitutional authority to determine the outcome of the election, and I will not now yield to efforts in the House of Representatives to play political games at a time so serious in the life of our nation."

Pence said removing Trump would set "a terrible precedent," and he urged Pelosi "and every member of Congress to avoid actions that would further divide and inflame the passions of the moment." While Pence might not be interested in removing Trump from office, the House will still go ahead and vote on an article of impeachment Wednesday, accusing Trump of inciting an insurrection. Three Republicans — Reps. Liz Cheney (Wyo.), John Katko (N.Y.), and Adam Kinzinger (Ill.) — said on Tuesday they will vote to impeach. Catherine Garcia

The Trump Organization has contracts to operate skating rinks, a carousel, and a golf course for New York City — but lawyers are now investigating whether the city can cut ties, Mayor Bill de Blasio said Tuesday.

"We are looking at that very, very carefully and very quickly," he told reporters during a press conference. "The president incited a rebellion against the United States government — clearly an unconstitutional act and people died. That's unforgivable."

The Trump Organization runs Trump Golf Links at Ferry Point, a public golf course in the Bronx, as well as Central Park's carousel and two skating rinks. Every year, the Trump Organization makes $17 million in revenue from those businesses, The Washington Post reports.

City Councilman Mark Levine, a Democrat, told The New York Times he believes the contracts could be terminated because they are "at will" agreements. Levine has been vocal about ending the contracts with Trump, saying it's "been a no-brainer for years, but it would be beyond outrageous if, even now, we allow him to continue to profit off those businesses, which are on public property that is our sacred public green space."

The golf course, rinks, and carousel have all been "underperforming, so the city is getting a worse and worse deal out of it," Levine added. "People are avoiding these places because of the Trump name." The agreements for the Central Park ice rinks and carousel are set to expire in April, while the golf course contract ends in April 2032. Catherine Garcia