Viewership for the second night of Democratic debates far exceeded the first, with Thursday's event setting a new ratings record.

Overnight ratings released on Friday indicated a 15 to 20 percent increase for Thursday night's debate compared to Wednesday night's; the second night scored a 14.1 household rating, while the first got a 12.3, CNN reports.

These figures come from Nielsen, which later in the day will release final numbers showing exactly how many millions of people tuned in. But based on these overnight ratings, it may be close to 17 million viewers or more compared to 15.3 million for Wednesday night, CNN reports, also noting that Thursday's debate is now the highest-rated Democratic primary debate Nielson has measured.

The previous ratings record was held by the first Democratic primary debate of the 2016 election cycle, which former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) participated in and which drew 15.5 million viewers. These viewership numbers don't factor in those who streamed the debate online.

This year's first night of debates was missing key front-runners in the race like Sanders, former Vice President Joe Biden, and Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.). Still, the first face-off, which featured Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and former congressman Beto O'Rourke among others, performed much better in the ratings than NBC was reportedly expecting. Both nights of debates were carried across three channels: NBC, MSNBC, and Telemundo.

It seems neither night, however, will compare to the first Republican primary debate of the 2016 cycle, in which President Trump made his debate debut and 24 million people tuned in. Still, The Hollywood Reporter notes that even Wednesday night's debate scored better ratings than every single primary debate in 2008 and 2012. Brendan Morrow

South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg and Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) are still going after Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) in a continuation of the most recent Democratic presidential debate.

Both candidates appeared on CNN's State of the Union on Sunday, where they maintained their support for a public option in their health care plans. Neither were satisfied with the Warren campaign's response efforts to clarify how the senator plans to pay for Medicare-for-All, either. Both Buttigieg and Klobuchar reiterated they are wary of any plan that would kick people off their private insurance.

Klobuchar, for her part, also said her plan, which also includes a non-profit public option, would "build" rather than "trash" ObamaCare. Tim O'Donnell

Is President Trump still in the hospitality business or is he the President of the United States? Acting White House Chief of Staff says it's a bit of both.

While Mulvaney on Sunday was not indicating that Trump was looking to profit off the 2020 Group of Seven Summit by hosting it at the Trump National Doral Miami resort near Miami, Florida, he did tell host Chris Wallace during an appearance on Fox News Sunday that Trump wanted to put on the "absolute best show" he could for other world leaders because he "still considers himself to be in the hospitality business."

That comment gave Wallace pause since he, like most people, thought Trump was now in the business of running the U.S. government's executive branch. Mulvaney elaborated, explaining that it's a holdover from Trump's pre-Oval Office life, implying that the original choice was a natural reaction, rather than an an actual business opportunity.

After receiving intense backlash from across the political spectrum, Trump announced he's no longer planning to hold the event there, though he wasn't happy about. Mulvaney said he believed it was the right decision to find another site, in the end. Tim O'Donnell

We're almost at the midway point for the NFL season. Here are four games to watch for Week 7:

Indianapolis Colts vs. Houston Texans, 1 p.m. E.T. on CBS — The Texans are playing at a high level behind quarterback DeShaun Watson. They're coming off a victory last week in Kansas City, which may be one of the biggest wins of the entire season. Watson and company face another big test this week in Indianapolis, and this time the stake are even higher as the two teams race for the AFC South title.

Chicago Bears vs. New Orleans Saints, 4:25 p.m. E.T. on Fox — Bears quarterback Mitchell Trubisky will reportedly return to action this week as Chicago looks to stay afloat in the competitive NFC North. The Saints, who are already without quarterback Drew Brees, will be without their versatile star running back, Alvin Kamara, and tight end Jared Cook. But the 5-1 Saints have shown a lot of resilience so far this year, so don't expect them to fold.

Seattle Seahawks vs. Baltimore Ravens, 4:25 p.m. E.T. on Fox — Any game with Russell Wilson is worth watching right now. The Seahawks quarterback has been one of the best players in the league all season, and he'll look to keep Seattle rolling along against a talented, but inconsistent Ravens team. Ravens safety Earl Thomas will make his return to Seattle, where he starred for several years as the centerpiece of one of the most dominant secondaries in NFL history.

Dallas Cowboys vs. Philadelphia Eagles, 8:20 p.m. E.T. on NBC — It's been a weird season for these longtime rivals, who will face off during primetime Sunday evening. Dallas got off to a hot start against bad competition, but has now lost three in a row, while the Eagles have been up and down all season en route to their own 3-3 record. The winner should emerge as the favorite in a weak NFC East. Tim O'Donnell

Democrats may be playing it too safe when it comes to political advertising, The New York Times reports.

Laura Edelson, a researcher at New York University who tracks political advertising on Facebook compared President Trump's re-election camapign to a "supercar" and the Democrats to a "little Volkswagen Bug," which is particularly harsh considering Volkswagen discontinued production its famous Beetle model in July. While the Trump campaign has been aggressive in rolling out ads, testing content, and selling merchandise, experts say many Democratic campaigns are trying to sway moderates and offend as few people as possible.

"We see much less of that kind of experimentation with the Democratic candidates," Edelson said.

Part of the problem, the Times reports, may be generational. Some digital operatives say the aging professional political class is too timid and less open to new ideas. The digital director of a prominent Democratic presidential candidate was reportedly once shut down by an older consultant when trying to implement "shorter, pithier" ads that would get more internet traffic. "We don't need any of your cinéma vérité clickbait," the consultant reportedly said to director.

That apparently wasn't a one-off example, either — several campaigns reportedly have dealt with similar disagreements over tone. "It's true that anodyne messaging doesn't turn anyone off," said Elizabeth Spiers, who runs the Insurrection, a progressive digital strategy and polling firm. "But it doesn't turn them on either." Read more at The New York Times. Tim O'Donnell

It appears U.S. troops leaving Syria won't be coming home — at least not yet — as President Trump had indicated last week, and reiterated today.

Instead, defense Secretary Mark Esper said Saturday that all U.S. troops leaving northern Syria will be re-stationed in western Iraq where they will reportedly defend the country and continue to conduct preventative operations against the Islamic State, as the cease-fire brokered with Turkey in northern Syria mostly seems to be holding. Esper also did not rule out counterterrorism missions from Iraq into Syria.

The plan calls for about 1,000 troops to head to Iraq, adding to the more than 5,000 troops currently in the country. "Things could change between now and whenever we complete the withdrawal, but that's the game plan right now," Esper said. The secretary added that he will talk with U.S. allies at a NATO meeting next week to discuss how to handle military operations to block any resurgence from ISIS.

But Trump still maintained that troops were coming home in a Sunday morning tweet, in which he also called Esper the wrong name.

Read more at NBC News and The Associated Press.

Update: Trump has since removed the original tweet and posted another in which he referred to Esper by his correct name, and said the U.S. is "ending endless wars" rather than "bringing soldiers home." Tim O'Donnell

There's probably an easy cliché somewhere here about how the smallest guy on the field came up with the biggest hit of the series, but Houston Astros second baseman José Altuve is more than his 5 foot 6 inch frame — he's simply one of the best players in Major League Baseball. And he proved it again Saturday evening.

The Astros are returning to the World Series for the second time in three seasons after defeating the New York Yankees, 6-4, in Game 6 of the American League Championship Series. It was a hard fought game, as both teams utilized their bullpens to the max. Houston jumped out to an early 3-0 lead, but the Yankees clawed their way back in eventually tying the game in the top of the 9th inning behind a two-run home run from first baseman D.J. LeMahieu.

But Altuve launched a two-run walkoff homer in the bottom half of the inning off Yankees closer Aroldis Chapman to seal the series victory, winning ALCS Most Valuable Player in the process. Watch the moment below, with calls in English, Spanish, and even Russian.

Houston will host the National League Champion Washington Nationals in the World Series, which begins Tuesday. Read more at ESPN and MLB.com. Tim O'Donnell