Subject: Daily Skimm: Ground Control to Major Tom
From: "theSkimm" <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 06 Feb 2019 06:43:00 -0500 (EST)

<=m>Skimm'd while debating whether to get pizza or Chipotle

=tr>

FEBRUA=Y 6, 2019

REA= IN BROWSER

Skimm'd while debating whether to get pizza or Chi=otle

QUOTE O= THE DAY

"We're exploring and testing potential solutions" �=80� Ikea is testing out=leasing its furniture. So if you could just put that dresser together and =hen give it back, that'd be great...

HI, IT’S ME. THE =RESIDENT.

The Story

Last night, President Trump filled us in on how the country's doing.

I watched most of it. Highlights please.

The theme of his second State of the Union address wa= unity. He called for compromise and bipartisanship. He said that the coun=ry should govern "not as two parties, but as one nation." And asked lawmak=rs to choose "greatness."

Love that. What else?

There's a lot he's happy about. Like...

The economy..=so hot right now. He says wages are rising, jobs are up, and the new tax p=an is doing wonders for working families and businesses.

The First Step Act...th= bipartisan legislation that was a major update to criminal justice reform=that Trump signed late last year. Trump invited Matthew Charles – =ho he says is the first person released from jail as a result of the legis=ation. And Alice Johnson, whose sentence he commuted last year before sign=ng the bill.

New trade deals�=A6he said he's working on a new deal with Chinese President Xi Jinping, bu= it has to reduce the deficit and protect US jobs. He's also pretty please= to have kicked "the catastrophe known as NAFTA" to the curb.

Women…the momen= that sparked joy. He said there are more women in the workforce than ever= And gave the new women in Congress a shoutout. They approved. And showed =t with a standing ovation, chanting "USA."

What's he not happy about?

Investigations, or as he calls it "ridiculous partisa= investigations." (See: Russi=. His inaugural committ=e. His foundation.) =h and socialism. He hates soc=alism.

What's on his to-do list?

The b=rder…he's still trying to get that funding. He made his pitch by calling illegal imm=gration a threat to national security and the economy. He said we need to =rotect women who get sexually assaulted during the trek to the border. He =ays ICE isn't going away. And he invited a woman whose parents were killed=by an undocumented immigrant to bring his point home.

Health care...he's read= to take on everything from lowering prescription drug prices to ending th= HIV epidemic. He's also asking Congress to protect patients with pre-exis=ing conditions, tackle childhood cancer, and ban late-term abortions. His =omments on abortion were some of the most polarizing statements he made al= night. And were followed by a sharp transition to...military spending.

Infrastructure...he say= it needed to be fixed yesterday. And wants lawmakers to put money towards=investments in "cutting edge industries of the future." Specifics for a la=er date. Probably.

North Korea...paging Ch=is Harrison. Trump and NK leader Kim Jong Un are having their second one-o=-one in Vietnam on Feb 27 and 28. He also said that we should all be thank=ng him because if anyone else was prez, we'd be at war right now.

Cool. Cool. Will send a thank you note. Now, why was =veryone wearing white?

To represent the women's suffrage movement.

What were those papers Nancy Pelosi kept looking at?<=b>

They seemed to be a copy of Trump's speech. Unclear i= it included the introduction she was supposed to give.

Speaking of Nancy, did Dems chime in at all?

Yup. Sta=ey Abrams – the first black woman to deliver a SOTU rebuttal =E2�� said she doesn't always agree with Trump, but she doesn't want hi= to fail. She brought up a personal story about her dad to highlight the n=ed for lowering health care costs. She challenged Republicans on abortion =nd LGBTQ rights. And called for a realistic talk about racism in the count=y.

theSkimm

Last night, the president gave his pitch for unity di=ectly to the American people. The first test will be whether lawmakers in = divided Congress can come to a funding agreement to keep the gov open pas= Feb 15. The second will be whether Trump takes his own advice.

REPEAT AFTER ME...

What is in the spotlight...

The Catholic Church. Yesterday, Pope Francis publicly admitted that priests an= bishops in the church have been sexually abusing nuns. Yes, somehow the C=tholic Church's sexual abuse scandal gets worse. The Vatican had gotten re=orts about this issue at least since the '90s, but has been pretty mum abo=t it. Nuns have accused clergy members of abuse in places like India and C=ile. Then this month's issue of the Vatican's women's magazine went into h=w bad the problem is. One example: some nuns felt forced to have abortions=or potentially risk having a child that wouldn't be recognized by priests.=Yesterday, Pope Francis addressed the issue, saying more action was needed=to fix it. And pointed out that former Pope Benedict XVI had to dissolve a=congregation of nuns in France because it got to a point of "sexual slaver=." This comes weeks before a =orldwide conference about sexual abuse and protecting children.

What to say when you get called for jury duty...<=h3>

See you in court. Civil rights groups are suing Texas over what they say is an=attempt at voter suppression. The state is looking into the voter roll and=listed about 95,000 people that were flagged as potentially illegally regi=tered to vote. Those people are supposed to get letters asking them to pro=e their citizenship and respond within 30 days. Supporters of this list (l=ke President Trump and the state's attorney general) say this is about put=ing an end to voter fraud. Critics (like civil rights advocates) say this =s an attempt to intimidate minority voters. Now, the issue is headed to co=rt. Texas isn't the only state pulling out a legal handbook. A lawmaker in=Hawaii wants to raise the=minimum age to buy cigarettes in the state from 21 to 100. Tobacco use kil=s more than 1,000 Hawaiians – and hundreds of thousands of America=s overall – a year. Now, this lawmaker is intro'ing a bill to say =enough is enough.' And would effectively ban cigarettes in the state by 20=4.

Who people are talking about…

The officer who killed Emantic "EJ" Bradford Jr. Yest=rday, Alabama's AG said the officer won't face charges for fatally shooting the legally-armed black =an. Late last year, the cop mistakenly thought Bradford was a gunman at a =all, and fatally shot him. Now, the AG says his actions were justified �=80� even if it was a mistake – so he won't be charged. Bradford'= family is calling all this a .

What to say when you hear a new conspiracy theory�=80�

I'm listening. A new CNN report says that people close to the singer James Brow= (think: his manager and his son) want an investigation into his death. Br=wn died in 2006 from cong=stive heart failure. But the doctor who signed his death certificate said =e had some concerns about how quickly Brown's health deteriorated. An auto=sy was apparently never done. Some people close to him think he may have b=en murdered and want investigators to look into it.

What to say when the Oscars won't have a host this year…

Guess Billy Eichner's too busy with his new movie.

What to say when you hear Katniss Everdeen is engaged...

She's not the only one living in a fantasy (modeling) world.

<=mg src="https://media-cdn.theskimm.com/dailyskimm/social-icons/Twitter_v=.png" width="35" height="35" style="margin-left:12px;margin-right:12=x;" border="0">

THING TO KNOW

=eople of means

What former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz wants you to call his financial status= Because he doesn't like being called a billionaire. BRB, pulling out the =orld's smallest violin.

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SKIMM'RS

Spotlight on…Cherisa F (MA). She just =ame back from being stationed in Antarctica for a whole year, serving as s=ation chief of the NOAA's Atmospheric Research Observatory there. She was =art of the first all-female team to run the observatory. So much yes.

R=und of applause for…J Adams (TX), who's going to preliminary a=ditions for "Shark Tank" today. And to Amy A (CA), who just publish=d a book with her husband.

(=ome) Birthdays…Rohini Menezes (NY), Johanna Silbersack (NC), R=bert Baker (CT), Abby Regan (MA), Amber L. Carter (OR), Andrea Meislin (CA=, Billy Wallace (CO), BJ Scanlon (NY), Brittany Donowho (DC), Calvin Bliss=tt (NY), Edie Surratt (NC), Tara Nehme (LBN), Victoria Allen (TN), Noah B=um (LA), Oren Friedman (ISR)

*=elcome to a new section we're testing with members of theSkimm. Want to ta=e it to the next level? Reach out here for a chance to be featur=d.

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