The Daily Moth 11-13-19
Public impeachment hearings begins with two witnesses | Hong Kong protests reach college campuses | Severe flooding overwhelms Venice, Italy | Disney+ brings in 10 million subscribers after launching | Colin Kaepernick to meet with NFL team reps for workout and interview
[Transcript] Hello, welcome to The Daily Moth! It is Wednesday, November 13. Ready for news?
———
Public impeachment hearings begins with two witnesses
The first day of the public portion of the House impeachment hearings started this morning with testimony by William Taylor, the top U.S. diplomat in Ukraine, and George Kent, a top official in the State Department.
The main question is if President Trump withheld $400 million in military aid to Ukraine to pressure Ukraine’s new president Zelensky to announce in public that the country would open an investigation on Joe Biden’s son, Hunter, and other investigations that would politically benefit Trump.
Taylor said withholding aid to Ukraine was harmful because it sends a signal to Russia that U.S. support is weakened. There is a war zone in eastern Ukraine that has been going on since Russia annexed Crimea in 2014.
Kent said it was not true that Ukraine interfered in the 2016 election, but that it was Russia who did. He also said there is no “factual basis” that Biden, when he was vice president, acted improperly when he called on Ukraine to fire a prosecutor.
Taylor said that the U.S. ambassador to the EU, George Sondland, told one of his staff that Trump cared more about “the investigations of Biden” than Ukraine.
Kent said he was alarmed by how Trump’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani became involved in official government business by pushing to remove an U.S. ambassador to Ukraine and to push for politically motivated investigations.
Top House Republican Steve Scalise (LA) tweeted that this was a “public show” but that the facts haven’t changed — that Zelensky said there was no pressure, that Ukraine did get the aid, and that there were no impeachable offenses. President Trump retweeted this.
President Trump posted a video on The White House’s Twitter account in which he said, “They are trying to stop me, because I’m fighting for you. And I’ll never let that happen.”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the impeachment inquiry is a serious event in our country and that Trump is not above the law.
President Trump invited Turkey’s President Erdogan to the Oval Office today. Trump said he was too busy to watch the hearings and that it is a hoax.
Joe Biden’s campaign spokesperson said he is not watching the hearings.
The hearings are still going on at the time I’m signing this news, so if there are major updates, I’ll be sharing them tomorrow.
https://www.axios.com/impeachment-hearing-bill-taylor-george-kent-ukraine-trump-18d0529a-70ae-4956-b29d-76a8cebfb2f5.html
https://www.axios.com/george-kent-opening-statement-impeachment-hearing-beff71d3-ea62-41df-b23c-87d610d107c5.html
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump
https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/impeachment-hearing-11-13-19/index.html
———
Hong Kong protests reach college campuses
The protests in Hong Kong has continued to worsen. News reports say that students on university grounds are throwing gasoline bombs, bricks, and launched flaming arrows at riot police who responded with tear gas and rubber bullets.
More than 100 students were injured and brought to a makeshift first-aid clinic in a gym.
It is the first time the clashes have happened on a college campus, which is considered the last refuge of protesters. Over 140 people were arrested.
Hong Kong government officials said protesters were turning an university into a manufacturing base for petrol bombs and giving refuge to rioters and criminals.
News reports say that many young protesters have built barricades and stockpiled food and homemade weapons in many areas.
Some universities have suspended classes or closed early. Primary and secondary school classes will be suspended on Thursday.
Hong Kong police said the violence has reached a very dangerous and deadly level.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/13/world/asia/hong-kong-protests-students.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/nov/13/hong-kong-student-protesters-bows-arrows-petrol-bombs-universities
https://apnews.com/49be203fca1f441e8652ea8f877c60eb
———
Severe flooding overwhelms Venice, Italy
The mayor of Venice, Italy declared a state of emergency over severe flooding that has hit the city.
News videos and pictures show the city’s historic basilica flooded under several feet of water. Some boats were pushed onshore. St. Mark’s Square was submerged by over three feet of water.
The tide in the lagoon is at 187 cm (six feet two inches), which is the highest level since the area’s record of 194 cm in 1966.
The basilica was flooded for the sixth time in 1,200 years, but this is the fourth time in the last 20 years.
The mayor said the damage to Venice would be into hundreds of millions of euros and that the flooding is a result of climate change.
One man on a nearby island died when he was electrocuted while trying to pump water out of his house.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-italy-weather-venice/climate-change-blamed-as-floods-overwhelm-venice-swamping-basilica-and-squares-idUSKBN1XM2Y5
———
Disney+ brings in 10 million subscribers after launching
Walt Disney Co announced that 10 million people signed up for their new Disney+ streaming service that they launched yesterday. This is for a seven-day trial and users will have to decide if they want to continue their subscription.
The service costs $6.99 a month and offers content from Disney’s own movies and TV shows, as well as content from Pixar, Star Wars, Marvel, and National Geographic.
Fox News reported that Disney has added warnings to some of their older movies to say that they may have “outdated cultural depictions” that may be based on ethnic or racial stereotypes.
Disney is now a big player in the “Streaming Wars” where they compete with Netflix, AT&T’s upcoming HBO Max, NBCUniversal’s upcoming “Peacock” service, and Apple TV Plus.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/tv/ct-ent-disney-plus-total-sign-ups-20191113-3xfhfyy3cbdrlgp2ksumrt3j3y-story.html
https://heavy.com/streaming/2019/11/order-disney-plus/
https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/disney-plus-content-warning-outdated-cultural-depictions-classic-animated-movies
https://wccftech.com/streaming-wars-gain-renewed-vigor-as-disney-officially-enters-the-fray/
———
Colin Kaepernick to meet with NFL team reps for workout and interview
Former NFL starring quarterback Colin Kaepernick announced that he would meet with NFL head coaches and GMs for a workout in Atlanta on Saturday.
This is a big step for him, as he has not played in a NFL game after he kneeled in protest against police brutality and racial injustice during pregame national anthems when he was a member of the San Francisco 49ers in 2016. He opted out of his contract with the 49ers in 2017 and was not signed by another team. He and a former 49ers teammate, Eric Reid, filed a grievance against the NFL that alleged there was collusion among NFL team owners to block him from playing. He reached a settlement with the NFL in February.
ESPN reported that the workout on Saturday will include on-the-field work and an interview. ESPN said Kaepernick and his representatives were surprised by the proposed workout and tried to move the date to a Tuesday, which is a typical date for a workout, because Saturday is an extremely busy day for most NFL teams as they are preparing for their Sunday matches.
There is a bit of a controversy on if this is a genuine effort by the NFL to see if they want to sign Kaepernick or if this is just a PR stunt.
So far, ESPN is reporting that the Dallas Cowboys, the Miami Dolphins, the Detroit Lions, and the Atlanta Falcons would send representatives to the workout, which will be at the Atlanta Falcons’ facility.
Kaepernick is 32 years old and his representative said he has been working out five days a week for three years in preparation to play again.
https://twitter.com/Kaepernick7/status/1194415935890894848
https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/28067012/nfl-invites-teams-colin-kaepernick-workout-saturday
———
That is all for today. See you tomorrow and stay with the light!
———
Supported by:
Convo [https://convo.click/2mVhM8h]
Gallaudet University: [gallaudet.edu]