US News Roundup: Pelosi stirs up impeachment comparison; PG&E's power cuts and more

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

Democratic presidential candidates court labor support in Nevada

Retired letter carrier Leslie Maxwell Burton has a message for Democratic presidential contenders campaigning in the early voting state of Nevada this weekend: She will not vote for anyone who tries to take away her hard-won union health plan. Labor's concerns about healthcare and other issues were in the spotlight in Nevada as most of the 18 candidates seeking the party's 2020 nomination crisscrossed the area around Las Vegas in a whirlwind of campaigning culminating with the state party's annual fundraising reception on Sunday night.

In Trump-Nixon impeachment comparison, Pelosi raises specter of resignation

U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is amplifying her unfavorable comparison of President Donald Trump to fellow Republican Richard Nixon, saying that disgraced president at least cared enough about the country to leave office before his impeachment. The top Democrat in Congress told reporters last week that Trump's pressure on Ukraine to investigate one of his potential opponents in the 2020 election "makes what Nixon did look almost small."

Thousands could be impacted by PG&E's upcoming potential power cuts

About 180,000 customers in California could find themselves in the dark as Pacific Gas & Electric warned that an upcoming "strong offshore wind event" could prompt the bankrupt power producer to yet again shut off power in some areas. "The forecast remains uncertain, but there is a possibility that the weather could prompt a Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS) for some customers in the Sierra Foothills, North Valley and North Bay", the company said on Sunday, adding that it was monitoring for adverse weather on Wednesday.

How the path to the Democratic presidential nomination is different in 2020

The Democratic Party will officially nominate a 2020 presidential candidate at its convention next July, but not before a long primary season that kicks off with the Iowa caucuses in February and ends with the Puerto Rican primary in June. The goal for candidates: Amass on a state-by-state basis the 1,885 delegates needed to be nominated on the first ballot at the convention in Milwaukee. A candidate must get at least 15% of the vote statewide or in an individual congressional district to be awarded delegates.

Buttigieg surges ahead of Democratic rivals in Iowa: poll

South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg holds a clear lead among Democratic presidential candidates in Iowa, the state that will hold the first nominating contest in February, a new Des Moines Register/CNN/Mediacom opinion poll showed on Saturday. Buttigieg's support climbed to 25%, a 16-point increase since the previous survey in September, CNN reported.

Pence aide said Trump's Ukraine phone call was 'unusual and inappropriate'

The phone call between U.S. President Donald Trump and his Ukrainian counterpart at the center of Congress' impeachment investigation was "inappropriate," an aide to Vice President Mike Pence told lawmakers, according to a transcript released on Saturday. Jennifer Williams, a foreign policy aide to Pence who was listening to the call on July 25, testified that Trump's insistence that Ukraine carry out politically sensitive investigations "struck me as unusual and inappropriate."

Gunman opens fire at California backyard party, four killed: police

Police in the California city of Fresno were investigating a mass shooting at a football game party on Sunday in which at least 10 people were shot, killing four, with five others left in critical condition and another wounded, police said. Three men died at the scene and another died at a hospital, Fresno Deputy Police Chief Michael Reed said in a late night news conference. Six more were hospitalized, he said.

Louisiana's Democratic governor wins re-election in Republican-leaning state

Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards, a conservative Democrat, won a second term in office on Saturday, defeating a Republican opponent who had closely aligned himself with U.S. President Donald Trump. The outcome is widely seen as the latest barometer on the value of Trump's endorsement for Republican candidates ahead the 2020 elections.