Nightly Brief

Top CNS stories for today including the leaders of the House Intelligence Committee kicked off the long-awaited open hearings in President Donald Trump’s impeachment inquiry with the stark message that democracy hangs in its balance; Two nominees to the federal bench in California received a warm welcome in the Senate Judiciary Committee; The U.K. Parliament race is being defined by tactical voting and electoral pacts over Brexit, and more.

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National

The Capitol is seen as the House is set to begin public impeachment inquiry hearings as lawmakers debate whether to remove President Donald Trump from office, in Washington, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2019. At left is the Peace Monument. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

1.) The leaders of the House Intelligence Committee kicked off the long-awaited open hearings in President Donald Trump’s impeachment inquiry on Wednesday with the stark message that democracy hangs in its balance.

President Donald Trump speaks in the East Room of the White House about his judicial appointments, Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2019, in Washington. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

2.) With the state facing a nation-high number of judicial emergencies on its district courts, two nominees to the federal bench in California received a warm welcome in the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday morning.

Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., sits beside House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff of Calif., left, on Nov. 13, 2019, in the first public impeachment hearing of President Donald Trump's efforts to tie U.S. aid for Ukraine to investigations of his political opponents. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

3.) As open hearings in President Donald Trump’s impeachment inquiry began on Capitol Hill, a poll released Wednesday finds that most voters have already made up their minds and are unlikely to change their opinion about impeachment.

Former Vice President Joe Biden speaks during an Oct. 23, 2019, campaign event in Scranton, Pa. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

4.) President Donald Trump has fallen behind the top five Democratic presidential candidates in a new survey of registered voters in Georgia.

Regional

The federal courthouse in New York, Monday, Nov. 27, 2017. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

5.) Lawmakers, judges, lawyers and litigants agree: New York state has one of the largest court systems in the world but one of the most complex and cumbersome trial procedures in the country.

University of California employees with the AFSCME-3299 union at UCLA joined other members across the state on Wednesday as part of a statewide strike over outsourcing and stalled contract negotiations. (Nathan Solis / CNS)

6.) Thousands of members with the largest union of university employees in California went on statewide strike Wednesday to bring attention to job outsourcing and stalled contract negotiations.

International

Britain' Prime Minister Boris Johnson raises a pint of beer, as he meets with military veterans at the Lych Gate Tavern in Wolverhampton, England, Monday, Nov. 11, 2019 as part of the General Election campaign trail. Britain goes to the polls on Dec. 12. (Ben Stansall/Pool Photo via AP)

7.) With the United Kingdom set to vote for a new Parliament in a month, the race is being defined by tactical voting and electoral pacts over Brexit, the question mark looming over the election.

Podemos party leader Pablo Iglesias speaks as Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez looks on after signing an agreement at the parliament in Madrid on Nov. 12, 2019. (AP Photo/Paul White)

8.) Faced with a surge in support in Sunday elections for the far-right nationalist Vox party, Spain’s Socialist party will try to form a coalition government with a smaller far-left party it had previously rejected as a partner.

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