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As it happenedended

Democratic debate: Protesters interrupt Joe Biden during his closing segment

10 presidential hopefuls took to the stage in Houston

Andrew Buncombe
Houston, Texas
,Clark Mindock
Thursday 12 September 2019 22:25 EDT
Comments
The Democratic debate: a wrap-up video

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The leading 10 candidates for the Democratic presidential nomination took to the debating stage, bringing heavyweights in the field Elizabeth Warren, Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders all on to the same stage for the first time.

The presidential hopefuls tackled healthcare, gun control, education and more, with several heated clashes between the rivals.

In the last section of the debate, former Vice President Biden was interrupted when he went to answer a question about his “most significant professional setback”.

Although it was unclear what the protest was about, people in the hall have said the demonstrators chanted: “We are DACA recipients. Our lives are at risk.”

Earlier in the debate Mr Biden had been questioned about deportations under the Barack Obama administration, a question which he deftly dodged.

He came under particular fire from Julian Castro, both over who could claim the mantle of being the true successor to Barack Obama and, controversially, over Mr Biden's memory.

Beto O'Rourke focused on gun violence and said he would institute a mandatory buyback scheme for assault rifles, saying: "Hell yes, we are going to take your AR-15s."

Tonight’s candidates were: Mr Biden, Ms Warren, Mr Sanders Cory Booker, Pete Buttigieg, Julian Castro, Kamala Harris, Amy Klobuchar, Beto O’Rourke, and Andrew Yang.

Catch-up on events as they happened below.

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Here's my latest on what just happened in the House Judiciary Committee, and what it means going forward towards Donald Trump's possible impeachment -

Chris Riotta12 September 2019 16:18

The Independent's Andrew Buncombe wrote the following dispatch near the US-Mexico border on the plight of migrants seeking entry to the United States as Donald Trump continues his hard-line agenda on immigration: 

Chris Riotta12 September 2019 16:38

The president responded on Twitter with a quote he attributed to Al Green, one of the first Democrats to call for an impeachment vote on: “We can’t beat him, so let’s impeach him!’ Democrat Rep. Al Green,” Mer Trump wrote. 

It was not immediately clear whether the congressman had in fact said that exact quote, though in a TV interview in May he said: “"I'm concerned that if we don't impeach the president, he will get re-elected."

Chris Riotta12 September 2019 17:00

Donald Trump did not take action against Israel after it was accused of planting spying devices found near the White House in a move that has shocked former intelligence officials, according to a new report. 

The devices are called “Stingrays” and can extract identifying information from cell phones, including their geolocation. They were found near the White House and across Washington in “sensitive locations,” former officials told Politico, adding that the US government determined Israel was “most likely” behind their placement. 

Officials said the devices were likely planted in order to spy on Donald Trump and his inner circle. But the president declined to take action after his government determined within the last two years that Israel was most likely the foreign entity behind the apparent espionage attempts, three former senior US officials told the news outlet. 

Story incoming...

Chris Riotta12 September 2019 17:28

It appears Donald Trump's former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski has agreed to the House Judiciary Committee's plans to meet with him on 17 September. The meeting will discuss in part allegations the president asked him to deliver a message seeking to curtail Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election -

Chris Riotta12 September 2019 17:50

2020 candidate Bernie Sanders is hitting out at Donald Trump on his so-called "booming" economy, while dropping some facts the president seemingly fails to mention while taking credit for the gains under his administration:

Chris Riotta12 September 2019 18:10

This video below shows the moment Democrats successfully passed a key vote this morning establishing guidelines in their inquiry to launch potential impeachment proceedings against Donald Trump:

Chris Riotta12 September 2019 18:30

Al Green, a Texas Democrat and one of the first and most vocal supporters of impeachment against Donald Trump, delivered a fiery rebuke of his presidency in a speech that called on the president to be removed from office:

Chris Riotta12 September 2019 18:50

Donald Trump is now claiming John Bolton was "holding me back" while suggesting he was actually more hawk-ish towards Venezuela and Cuba than his now ex-national security adviser:

Chris Riotta12 September 2019 19:04

Former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe faces the prospect of an indictment after his attorneys were unable to persuade senior Justice Department officials not to pursue charges.

Two people familiar with the matter say the deputy attorney general declined an appeal from McCabe’s lawyers aimed at preventing a prosecution. The attorneys have argued that McCabe, a frequent target of Donald Trump’s wrath, shouldn’t face charges on accusations he lied during an internal investigation.

The people weren’t authorized to discuss the issue by name and spoke on condition of anonymity.

AP

Chris Riotta12 September 2019 19:11

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