The shooting at a congressional baseball practice reminds us of something we too often forget: We are one country, and we’re all in this together. Here’s what you need to know to Get Up to Speed and Out the Door. You can also get “5 Things You Need to Know Today” delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up here.
1. Congressional shooting
The Trump legal team is getting trimmed and polished as the Russia story continues to crowd the top of the political docket. Marc Kasowitz, Trump’s longtime personal attorney who has been the lead lawyer on the Russia probe, will see his role recede. Instead, John Dowd, along with Jay Sekulow, will be the President’s primary personal attorneys for the investigation, while attorney Ty Cobb takes the leads from inside the White House. Also, Mark Corallo has resigned as spokesman and communications strategist for the legal team.
President Donald Trump dictated a misleading statement for his son in response to a news report that Donald Trump Jr. had met with a Russian lawyer during the campaign, the Washington Post reported. Team Trump’s original plan was to issue a truthful statement, but then Trump personally decided to have the statement say Trump Jr. had met with the lawyer, Natalia Veselnitskaya, to discuss the adoption of Russian children by Americans.
2. White House
O.J. Simpson could be a free man soon. He was granted parole Thursday after serving nearly nine years in prison for a 2007 armed robbery in Las Vegas. He could be released as soon as October, and then … what? What’s next for one of the most infamous figures in American criminal justice history? There are some options, the most likely being a life of memorabilia sales, autograph signings, and navigating public curiosity – and public scorn.
The general is in – and the Mooch is out. And so goes another zany day at the White House. Trump’s new chief of staff, John Kelly, was sworn in Monday, and the retired US Marine Corps general made it clear by tossing out Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci that he wants to run a tighter ship. Scaramucci blazed quite a trail during his 10 days on the job, engineering the ouster of former Chief of Staff Reince Priebus (whom he accused of leaking) and crudely taking on presidential advisor Steve Bannon in one of the most colorful interviews in White House history. Scaramucci leaves behind a small treasure trove of memorable lines (late night talk show hosts are devastated), but in the end, sources say, his profile was just getting too big for the Trump White House.
3. The Weinstein effect
Back to Robert Mueller. There are reports the Trump team is actively trying to undercut the special prosecutor and his investigation into Russian election hacking. The Washington Post reports Trump’s legal team was trying to amass allegations of conflicts of interest against Mueller and was exploring how Trump can use his pardon powers. The Post also reports Trump has inquired as to whether he can pardon himself. (A source disputed these claims to CNN, saying the White House wants to cooperate fully.)
5. Fried potatoes study
Citizens are pouring into streets across Poland, protesting what some lament as the impending death of democracy in the country. The protests come before a Friday vote on a bill by the country’s ruling party, the Law and Justice Party or PiS, that would allow Parliament to appoint Supreme Court judges. Under the Polish Constitution, only the president can appoint high court judges and only with the opinion of a constitutional body designed to maintain impartiality. The European Union is watching all this very closely.
Two studies say the Earth is going to warm 2 degrees Celsius by the end of the century. If the studies’ grim predictions are correct, we might not even recognize this planet by 2100. Rising sea levels, super droughts, mass extinctions, extreme weather and the melting of the Arctic would mean life as we know it would change dramatically. Researchers say the best way to avoid all of that is for governments to enact changes in public policy that lead to a serious reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.
5. Trump in Asia
The GOP effort to kill Obamacare may be over, but there’s still a desire to make improvements to our health care system. So lawmakers are looking at possible fixes to the health care law, and this time it’s a bipartisan effort. About 40 House Republicans and Democrats – who go by the very catchy name of the Problem Solvers Caucus – have endorsed an outline of ideas aimed at making urgent fixes to Obamacare. Their ideas include mandatory funding for cost-sharing reduction payments, creating a stability fund, repealing the medical device tax and tweaking the employer mandate. None of this has been put into any bills yet, but it’s a start.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“I want to heal, I want to feel, like I’m close to something real. I want to find something I’ve wanted all along. Somewhere I belong.”
Linkin Park, “Somewhere I Belong”
Chester Bennington, the iconic rock band’s frontman, died Thursday in a suspected suicide. He was 41.
“If it was a guy from South Texas, I might ask him to step outside and settle this Aaron Burr-style.”
BREAKFAST BROWSE
People are talking about these. Read up. Join in.
‘I Want to Quit ISIS.’ Ha!
Stand-up comedians are using their craft to fight the terror group.
The cosmic epic ‘Valerian’ opens this weekend
But be warned: Critics think it’s a shiny heap of space garbage.
Elon Musk MAY be building a New York-DC hyperloop
Who knows? Rich people say the darndest things.
A security robot drowned in a fountain, and people laughed and laughed
The robots are here, but they’re not … all here.
Cyber attackers hacked a casino fish tank to try to steal data
Is it less weird if we mention the tank was connected to the internet? No?
EGADS! Someone touched the Queen!
Welcome back
AND FINALLY …
Cotton candy or magic?
Not falling for it