Reuters US Domestic News Summary

The House of Representatives' Democrats prosecuting Trump in his second impeachment trial on Wednesday leaned heavily on the threat posed to Republicans, including then-Vice President Mike Pence, by hundreds of Trump supporters attempting to stop Congress from certifying his election defeat.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs. Graphic riot videos not enough to convict Trump, some Republican senators say

Multiple Republican senators found graphic videos of the deadly Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol upsetting but suggested they would not lead them to convict former President Donald Trump of inciting insurrection. The House of Representatives' Democrats prosecuting Trump in his second impeachment trial on Wednesday leaned heavily on the threat posed to Republicans, including then-Vice President Mike Pence, by hundreds of Trump supporters attempting to stop Congress from certifying his election defeat. Poll finds 47% of Americans favor Trump conviction in impeachment trial

Just under half of Americans think former U.S. President Donald Trump should be convicted in his Senate impeachment trial after the first day of the historic proceedings, according to an Ipsos poll conducted for Reuters released on Wednesday, with opinions split along party lines. Most respondents in the national online poll - 79% - said they had already made up their minds about conviction before this week, with the rest doing so this week. Democrats to focus on "terrible toll" of riot as Trump impeachment trial continues

Democrats making the case that Donald Trump should be convicted of inciting the siege at the U.S. Capitol will focus on Thursday on the damage wrought by the riot and the former president's role in inflaming the rampage. The House of Representatives has charged Trump, a Republican, with inciting an insurrection by exhorting thousands of supporters to march on the Capitol on Jan. 6, the day Congress gathered to certify Democrat Joe Biden's election win. Georgia prosecutors launch criminal probe into Trump efforts to influence election

Prosecutors in Georgia's biggest county have opened a criminal investigation into former U.S. President Donald Trump's attempts to influence the state's 2020 election results, ordering government officials to preserve documents in the second known criminal probe facing Trump. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis sent letters to state officials, including Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and Governor Brian Kemp, both Republicans, notifying them of the investigation and seeking to preserve "all records potentially related to the administration" of the state's Nov. 3 election. Vaccinated people need not quarantine post COVID-19 exposure, CDC says

People who have received the full course of COVID-19 vaccines can skip the standard 14-day quarantine after exposure to someone with the infection as long as they remain asymptomatic, U.S. public health officials advised. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on Wednesday the vaccines have been shown to prevent symptomatic COVID-19, thought to play a greater role in the transmission of the virus than asymptomatic disease. Five storms in 10 days loom amid bitter cold in north United States

Icy blasts pummeled parts of the U.S. Midwest on Wednesday, the first of five storms threatening a blitz of snow and sleet from Washington state to Washington, D.C., and as far south as Louisiana and Mississippi. Frigid temperatures as low as minus 36 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 38 degrees Celsius) in Cut Bank, Montana, on Wednesday were blamed on a polar vortex threatening to move south as it hovers at the Canadian border, said meteorologist Dan Petersen at the National Weather Service's Weather Prediction Center in College Park, Maryland. Instagram bans Robert F. Kennedy Jr. over COVID-19 vaccine misinformation: WSJ

Photosharing platform Instagram, owned by Facebook Inc, has removed the account of vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for posting misleading information about COVID-19, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday. Kennedy, the nephew of late President John F. Kennedy, and his representatives could not immediately be reached for a comment. Facebook and Instagram did not respond to a request for comment. Exclusive: Dozens of former Republican officials in talks to form anti-Trump third party

Dozens of former Republican officials, who view the party as unwilling to stand up to former President Donald Trump and his attempts to undermine U.S. democracy, are in talks to form a center-right breakaway party, four people involved in the discussions told Reuters. The early stage discussions include former elected Republicans, former officials in the Republican administrations of Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush and Trump, ex-Republican ambassadors and Republican strategists, the people involved say. U.S. government partnering with Texas to build three mass vaccination sites

The federal government is partnering with the state of Texas to build three mass vaccination sites, following last week's announcement that it would build such sites in California, federal health officials said during a Wednesday media briefing. Each site will be able to administer 10,000 shots per day, according to Jeffrey Zients, the White House's COVID-19 response coordinator, and should begin giving the shots by Feb. 22. Tragedy, loss and hope: Overseeing New York hospitals during a pandemic

No matter who you are, it is a safe bet that this past year has been challenging and traumatic. Now imagine that you faced a pandemic while in charge of a New York City hospital that is one of the largest in the nation.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)