Dems, Lewandowski clash at heated Trump impeachment hearing; Netanyahu's future in doubt after election

Corey Lewandowski, former campaign manager for President Donald Trump, arrives to testify to the House Judiciary Committee Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2019, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

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Democrats, Lewandowski clash in House committee's first impeachment hearing; Lewandowski slams Dems for 'disservice to the American people' 
The House Judiciary Committee's first hearing as part of its Trump impeachment investigation descended into chaos Tuesday as Democrats clashed with a combative Corey Lewandowski as he refused to answer many of their questions. In an interview with Fox News' Martha MacCallum on "The Story," the former Trump campaign manager slammed the hearing as a "disservice to the American people." "What we know is that the far-left wing of the Democratic Party has to have these hearings to protect themselves in their congressional districts from further left progressives who want to take them out in their primary races," he said. "This is all politics."

After five hours of testimony before lawmakers, Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y. and chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, told Lewandowski his “behavior in this hearing room has been completely unacceptable,” and said holding him "in contempt" is "certainly under consideration." Click here to read more about our top story.

Israel's two main parties deadlocked after election, Netanyahu's future in doubt
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's political future was in doubt Wednesday, as Israel's two main political parties were deadlocked after an unprecedented repeat election. The election's seeming political kingmaker, Avigdor Lieberman, said he'll insist upon a secular unity government between Netanyahu's Likud and Benny Gantz's Blue and White parties, who, based on partial results, are currently tied at 32 seats each out of the 120 in parliament. The 69-year-old Netanyahu, the longest-serving leader in Israeli history, was seeking a fifth term in office but faced a stiff challenge from Gantz. Official results were not expected until sometime Wednesday and the race was still too close to call.

Democratic megadonor arrested, charged with running drug den after third man reportedly overdoses at his home
Ed Buck, the California Democratic megadonor, was arrested Tuesday and charged with operating a drug house after a third man reportedly suffered an overdose inside his West Hollywood home last week and survived. Buck was charged with three counts of battery and is accused of injecting the alleged third victim with methamphetamine on Sept. 11, the Los Angeles Times reported. He has faced public scrutiny after two black men died from overdoses 18 months apart inside his home. Buck was not charged in those cases.

Trump goes on $15M fundraising blitz in California, irritating liberals and Hollywood elites
President Trump sent liberal California activists into a tizzy on Tuesday, as he executed a lunch-dinner-breakfast-lunch fundraising blitz expected to scoop up $15 million from wealthy Republicans in the state in the span of just two days.

The president's undeterred push westward came a day after he headlined a fiery rally in New Mexico, long a reliably liberal state that the Trump campaign has hoped to turn red in 2020. Trump has been looking to find the next Wisconsin or Michigan — states that Democrats generally have won in presidential elections but that could surprise under certain conditions, as they did in 2016. Also on the Trump team's shortlist in the new strategy: Nevada, New Hampshire and Minnesota.

Trump's West Coast fundraising efforts come as the Republican National Committee (RNC) is expected to announce this week that it raised a record-setting $23.5 million in August and had $53.8 million cash on hand as of the end of that month -- signaling growing GOP momentum heading into the 2020 elections.

FILE - The number and rate of abortions across the United States have plunged to their lowest levels since the procedure became legal nationwide in 1973, according to new figures released Wednesday, Sept. 18. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)

Number of abortions in US falls to lowest level since 1973
The number and rate of abortions across the United States have dropped to their lowest levels since the procedure became legal nationwide in 1973, according to figures released Wednesday. The report from the Guttmacher Institute, a research group that supports abortion rights, counted 862,000 abortions in the U.S. in 2017. That's down from 926,000 tallied in the group's previous report for 2014, and from just over 1 million counted for 2011. The new report illustrates that abortions are decreasing in all parts of the country, whether in Republican-controlled states seeking to restrict abortion access or in Democratic-run states protecting abortion rights. Between 2011 and 2017, abortion rates increased in only five states and the District of Columbia. - The Associated Press

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SOME PARTING WORDS

Brit Hume, Fox News senior political analyst, says the New York Times' supposed bombshell story on Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh "should never have gotten anywhere near print."

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