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The Latest: George H.W. and Barbara Bush improving

HOUSTON (AP) - The Latest on the hospitalization of George H.W. Bush and wife Barbara Bush (all times local):

12:50 p.m.

A spokesman for former President George H.W. Bush says doctors have removed Bush's breathing tube and that he's breathing well on his own at a Houston hospital.

The tube was inserted Wednesday while the 92-year-old former president was being treated for pneumonia. Family spokesman Jim McGrath says the tube was removed Friday morning at Houston Methodist Hospital.

McGrath says the nation's 41st president remains in intensive care but is comfortable and using minimal supplemental oxygen.

He says Bush has been watching television coverage of Donald Trump's inauguration with his wife, Barbara, and their son Neil and daughter-in-law Maria.

McGrath says former first lady Barbara Bush also remains hospitalized for treatment of bronchitis, but that she's feeling better and "focusing on spending time with her husband." She's expected to remain in the hospital over the weekend.

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10:30 a.m.

Former President George H.W. Bush and his wife, Barbara, have spent another night hospitalized in Houston.

Family spokesman Jim McGrath says the 92-year-old former president remained in intensive care Friday while being treated for breathing difficulties stemming from pneumonia.

The nation's 41st president was admitted to Houston Methodist Hospital last weekend for shortness of breath. He was moved to intensive care on Wednesday when physicians put in a breathing tube.

Barbara Bush spent her second night at the hospital after checking in Wednesday for treatment of bronchitis. The 91-year-old former first lady reported feeling much better Thursday after receiving medication.

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12 a.m.

Doctors treating former President George H.W. Bush for pneumonia are considering whether to take out a breathing tube inserted to clear his airway.

His wife, Barbara, diagnosed with bronchitis, was feeling "1,000 percent better" on Thursday after antibiotics and rest.

The 92-year-old former president and the 91-year-old former first lady both had been admitted to Houston Methodist Hospital. He was admitted on Saturday with difficulty breathing. She was hospitalized Wednesday after feeling fatigued and coughing for weeks.

Family spokesman Jim McGrath said the 41st president remained in stable condition. Bush has been in the intensive care since Wednesday, relying on a ventilator to breathe. Removing the tube - a procedure known as extubation - would allow Bush to breathe on his own.

FILE - In this April 2, 2016, file photo, former President George H. W. Bush waves as he arrives at NRG Stadium before the NCAA Final Four tournament college basketball semifinal game between Villanova and Oklahoma in Houston. Houston-area media are quoting former President George H.W. Bush's chief of staff as saying that Bush has been hospitalized in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip, File) The Associated Press
FILE - In this Nov. 11, 2014, file photo, former President George H.W. Bush acknowledges the crowd at his presidential library before his son former President George W. Bush discusses his new book "41: A Portrait of My Father" in College Station, Texas. Former President George H.W. Bush, who has been admitted to a Houston hospital with pneumonia, has used a motorized scooter or a wheelchair in recent years because of vascular parkinsonism, a rare syndrome that mimics Parkinson’s disease. The condition is undergoing a reappraisal as some experts challenge conventional thinking about its causes. (Bob Daemmrich/Texas Tribune via AP, Pool, File) The Associated Press
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