Amita Kelly

Updated at 12:24 p.m. ET Thursday

Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders shared a tense moment after Tuesday night's Democratic debate. Warren appeared to shun Sanders' attempt to shake her hand, and they exchanged words that were inaudible on the broadcast. Then, Sanders turned and walked away.

As the House of Representatives moves toward impeachment, President Trump penned a six-page letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, blasting her and other Democrats for what he calls "an unprecedented and unconstitutional abuse of power ... unequaled in nearly two and a half centuries of American legislative history."

The House begins debate on Wednesday, when lawmakers are expected to approve two articles of impeachment against the president.

Updated at 12:12 p.m. ET

The House Judiciary Committee on Friday approved two articles of impeachment against President Trump, making him the fourth president in American history to face impeachment.

In contrast to Thursday's contentious back-and-forth between the two parties, Friday's session was devoid of rancor, or even any debate. Immediately after calling the session to order, Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., ordered two votes, one for each article. Both were approved 23-17 along party lines.

Updated at 8:50 p.m. ET

House Democrats unveiled two articles of impeachment against President Trump on Tuesday morning, charging him with abuse of power in the Ukraine affair and obstruction of Congress.

Read the articles of impeachment here.

Former Vice President Joe Biden is defending himself against criticism over a heated town hall earlier this week in which he called a voter a "damn liar" and challenged him to a pushup contest and IQ test. The voter, an 83-year-old retired farmer, asked about Biden's and his son Hunter's work in Ukraine, making some false accusations about it. He also said Biden was too old to run for president.

In his testimony in the House impeachment inquiry Tuesday, Lt. Col. Alexander S. Vindman, the top Ukraine expert on the National Security Council, is expected to describe his concerns with how the Trump administration handled Ukraine policy and with a July call between President Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

The Trump campaign and the Republican National Committee took in a huge haul in the third quarter, which ended Monday — a combined $125 million.

This means that this year alone, they've raised more than $300 million — double the total that then-President Obama and the Democratic Party had raised at this point in 2011 on Obama's way to a successful reelection bid.

Updated at 11:20 p.m. ET

President Trump has released a transcript of his July call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

Updated at 9:50 p.m. ET

Democratic presidential candidate Jay Inslee announced Wednesday that he is withdrawing from the race.

"It's become clear that I'm not going be carrying the ball, I'm not going to be the president, so I'm withdrawing tonight from the race," the Washington governor said on MSNBC's The Rachel Maddow Show.

Former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper dropped his bid for president Thursday.

"Today, I'm ending my campaign for president. But I will never stop believing that America can only move forward when we work together," Hickenlooper tweeted.

He had been urged to run for Senate in Colorado, challenging Sen. Cory Gardner. In a video attached to his tweet, he said he would give that "serious thought" but made no announcement.

Updated 1:40 p.m. ET

Matthew Shepard, the young gay man brutally killed on a chilly night in Wyoming 20 years ago this month, was finally laid to rest at Washington National Cathedral on Friday. A reflective, music-filled service offered stark contrast to the anti-gay protests that marred his funeral two decades ago.

Updated at 4:30 p.m. ET

More than 100 people were waiting to be rescued from homes and vehicles Friday morning in New Bern, N.C., after Hurricane Florence brought severe flooding to the area. Officials say more than 100 people have already been rescued in the area overnight.

Six swift water rescue teams have been working since Thursday afternoon to evacuate individuals and families, in some cases, from the roofs of their homes, the New Bern Public Information Officer Colleen Roberts said Friday afternoon.

L.L. Bean's outdoor gear — including its signature Bean Boots prized by campers and hipsters alike — is no longer guaranteed for life.

In a letter to customers Friday morning, the company said it has updated its return policy to give customers one year to return purchases, with a receipt. The previous lifetime guarantee, which enabled customers to return products years — or even decades — after purchase, has long been a selling point for the company.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange lost an attempt Tuesday to have his U.K. arrest warrant dropped. He could still be arrested for leaving Ecuador's embassy in London, where he has lived for years.

British Judge Emma Arbuthnot said she was "not persuaded" the warrant should be withdrawn, according to The Associated Press.

Leaders in Washington continue negotiations to end a partial government shutdown, and they're getting their own messages out about how we got here. As NPR's Ron Elving writes, each party is accusing the other of being out of touch with Americans — and they're both probably right.

So we asked you what you want them to know.

Joe Arpaio, the controversial former sheriff from Arizona, announced this week that he will run for the U.S. Senate to help advance President Trump's agenda.

But he is breaking from the president on the future of people who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children.

"Deport them," Arpaio told NPR Morning Edition's Rachel Martin in an interview that aired Thursday morning.

Dispatch audio from the New York Police Department recorded as Tuesday's attack unfolded in the city reveals a dramatic — and often tense — response. At least eight were killed and more than a dozen were injured.

Listen to six moments from the first 10 minutes after reports of pedestrians hit and shots fired came in:

(NPR obtained this audio via Broadcastify)

Walking through mobile homes ravaged by Hurricane Irma in Naples, Fla., President Trump praised first responders and residents for doing an "incredible" job on rescue and recovery. Earlier in his one-day visit to Florida, Trump also lauded state and federal officials for their preparation and response to the hurricane.

"We love the people of Florida and they went through something that, I guess, the likes of which we could really say nobody's ever seen before," Trump said in Naples.

Updated at 7:30 p.m. ET

More than 6.5 million Florida homes and businesses are now without power after Hurricane Irma moved through the state, according to the state's emergency management division. That's 64 percent of the state's power customers, and there are several counties where 80-90 percent of customers are without power.

Like many Texans, Chiwoniso Luzolo is desperate to be rescued from her home — as she has been since Sunday afternoon. Her deck, backyard and front yard in Cypress, Texas, outside Houston are flooded, made worse by water released from nearby dams.

The house and deck are on 12-foot stilts, and when the water reached the deck, she knew it was bad.

President Trump has pardoned controversial former Sheriff Joe Arpaio for a misdemeanor criminal contempt conviction.

A statement issued by the White House Friday night said, "Today, President Donald J. Trump granted a Presidential pardon to Joe Arpaio, former Sheriff of Maricopa County, Arizona."

Known as "America's Toughest Sheriff," Arpaio gained a reputation for his harsh — his critics would say cruel — treatment of immigrants in the country illegally.

At the center of Charlottesville's violent white nationalist rally was a long-simmering controversy over the removal of a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee.

President Trump's senior policy adviser Stephen Miller had a tense exchange with reporters at Wednesday's press briefing as he defended the administration's new proposal to dramatically curtail legal immigration. The plan prioritizes highly skilled workers over family members for green cards.

A 12-year veteran of the New York Police Department, Miosotis Familia, was shot and killed early Wednesday in the Bronx.

As WNYC reports, the 48-year old officer was in her patrol car in the Bronx when a man suddenly started shooting.

NYPD Commissioner James O'Neill tweeted that Familia was "assassinated in an unprovoked attack on cops assigned to keep NYers safe."

Updated at 7:40 p.m. ET

President Trump says he is "sending in Federal help" to Chicago to help curb gun violence.

The president tweeted early Friday that crime in Chicago has reached "epidemic proportions," referencing the nearly 2,000 shootings in the city so far this year.

The tweet came ahead of a press conference announcing a new 'Strike Force' — a collaboration between the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives bureau and the Chicago Police Department.

The Texas Supreme Court on Friday sided with same-sex marriage opponents who argued that the city of Houston should not have extended its benefits policy to married same-sex couples. The court threw out a lower court ruling that had favored the benefits and sent the case back to a lower court.

The benefits policy was enacted by Houston's former, and first openly gay, mayor, Annise Parker, in 2013.