KnowThis: Trump 'Meltdown,' #MeToo, & More

“Dude gotta go.” —Sen. Kamala Harris on President Trump at the Democratic debate last night.

Courtesy of Getty Images
Courtesy of Getty Images

Democratic Leaders Say President Trump Had A “Meltdown”

President Donald Trump had a “very serious meltdown” at the White House today, according to Democratic leaders who couldn’t finish a meeting with him because he was “just not relating to the reality” of the discussion. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer spoke to reporters afterward, baffled at Trump’s accusations that Democrats might like ISIS because some of them are communists. (Literally, what? Watch here.) Schumer also said Trump went on a “nasty diatribe” and called Pelosi a “third-rate politician.” The White House said later that Trump was “measured, factual and decisive.” Regardless, it’s a worrying turn of events as the president feels increasingly victimized with all the scandals swirling around him.

Here are some other developments from the last 24 hours:

  • Another one of Giuliani’s associates, David Correia, was arrested at JFK Airport. The FBI has been looking for him since issuing a campaign finance fraud indictment last week. BuzzFeed News found a deleted tweet from Correia just two days after President Trump was inaugurated in January 2017 where he brings up “Biden and Ukraine.”
  • A new report claims Giuliani pressured Trump to extradite a Turkish cleric living as a U.S. resident because he’s a political opponent of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s. Giuliani was lobbying for a shadow foreign policy for we don’t know how many countries, all based on payments and personal favors.


Know This: A new Gallup poll shows that 52% of Americans support the impeachment of Trump and his removal from office. That’s a significant milestone and a new high. The Washington Post pointed out that there has only been one poll by Gallup in which there was higher than 52% for removing a sitting president, and “four days after that poll, Nixon resigned.”

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Here Are The Must-See Moments From The Dem Debate (And About That Final Question… )

Speaking of impeachment — all 12 Democratic presidential candidates at the CNN/New York Times debate last night were clear about their support for it, calling Trump a “criminal” and extremely corrupt. There were lighter moments, too, like when Sen. Bernie Sanders acknowledged his recent heart attack and thanked everyone for their support in his recovery (Cory Booker took the opportunity to joke about Sanders’ support for medical marijuana, to which Sanders quipped, “I’m not on it tonight.”) While some important topics were discussed, like income inequality, the situation in Syria, and women’s reproductive rights, other issues were noticeably missing, like immigration, LGBTQ+ rights, and racial justice. Most shockingly, the moderators spent 22 minutes with candidates talking about their “unlikely friendships” based on a final question about the Ellen DeGeneres-George W. Bush controversy — but there wasn’t a single question asked about the climate crisis. 

Know This: Other candidates acknowledged Elizabeth Warren’s new front-runner status by spending much of the night attacking her, which hadn’t happened before. But Sanders might have had the biggest night of all, as reports emerged that Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is planning to endorse him at his comeback rally this Saturday. Rep. Ilhan Omar also announced her endorsement of Sanders last night, and Rep. Rashida Tlaib is expecting to, meaning Sanders has 3/4 of #TheSquad on his side in the primary.

Courtesy of Reuters

Barack Obama Endorses Justin Trudeau in Upcoming Election

Meanwhile, over in Canada and in a seemingly alternate universe, former President Barack Obama endorsed Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for re-election, just days ahead of the October 21 election. In a tweet, Obama said, “I was proud to work with Justin Trudeau as President. He's a hard-working, effective leader who takes on big issues like climate change. The world needs his progressive leadership now, and I hope our neighbors to the north support him for another term.” It’s notable because Obama has only occasionally spoken about current politics in his post-presidency life. Trudeau, the leader of the Canadian Liberal Party, is running against Conservative Party Leader Andrew Scheer and New Democratic Party Leader Jagmeet Singh (get to know Singh here).

Know This: Scholars and reporters are using this opportunity to draw a distinction between what counts as foreign interference in elections and what doesn’t. The free expression on social media of a former president that was not bought or paid for is not interference; actual interference would have to be “covert, coercive or corrupt.”

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The Future Of #MeToo: Our Exclusive Video Sit-Down With The Founders

Two years after launching a nationwide awareness campaign of sexual harassment and assault, some of the leading women behind #MeToo are launching a new social media campaign. #MeTooVoter is a movement to demand politicians implement policies to stop sexual violence. Activists Tarana Burke, Ai-jen Poo, Mónica Ramírez, and Fatima Goss Graves spoke to NowThis in this exclusive video interview about the need to enact preventative and post-trauma measures like sex education, resources for survivors on college campuses, and revised protections in the workplace for all industries. As Graves, the president and CEO of the National Women’s Law Center, put it, “The issue of sexual violence isn’t one that began with the Harvey Weinstein stories. And it won’t end with the next election. But we have a tremendous opportunity now to meet the cultural moment and drive this sort of change that is lasting.”

Know This: The #MeToo anniversary and new campaign comes the same week that investigative journalist Ronan Farrow published his new book, “Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators.” Farrow details allegations of rape against Matt Lauer and describes how NBC leadership allegedly tried to cover it up. In this clip from last night, MSNBC anchor Chris Hayes had no problem blasting his own network for their role in trying to suppress Farrow’s reporting.

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 It’s (Finally) Time For The All-Women Spacewalk

The long-awaited all-women spacewalk at the International Space Station has been moved up to this week — possibly even tomorrow — because of a power system failure at the station. NASA astronauts Christina Koch and Jessica Meir were originally going out to replace batteries, but are now tasked with fixing a battery charger that failed recently (that’s why the mission got moved up). This will be the first women-only spacewalk to take place, ever. Koch has done three spacewalks at the ISS already, but this will be Meir’s first. NASA will have live-stream coverage that you can watch here.

Know This: If the idea of an all-women spacewalk sounds familiar, that’s probably because it was originally supposed to happen last spring — but NASA canceled it because it didn’t have enough suits to fit the women. Koch herself helped assemble a new suit this summer, as if being an astronaut isn’t badass enough.
 

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