Skimm This

 Russia targeted U.S voting systems. Right, we’ve heard that before. From Robert Mueller, for example. He really wanted to talk about Russian interference during his testimony on Capitol Hill this week. But yesterday a new report dropped details about just how extensive it was. Spoiler: it was in all 50 states. That was 2016 - but they’re still at it - and other countries are getting in on the gam...

North Korea is playing with fire – literally. Just a couple weeks after President Trump visited Kim Jong Un in North Korea and agreed to resume denuclearization talks, North Korea tested two missiles this morning. Back in the US, Attorney General Bill Barr is resuming the death penalty, but he’s making some changes to how it’s implemented. Also on today’s show: Europeans and A/V guys everywhere ar...

Today, Democrats and Republicans told former special counsel Robert Mueller: ‘have a seat - actually, have two.’ Mueller said he was done talking about his report -- but lawmakers have more questions. We’ll tell you why, and what happened during today’s hearings. Meanwhile, Facebook has to pay $5 billion and change up its privacy rules after an investigation by the Federal Trade Commission. We’ll...

The UK has a new prime minister. Between dealing with Brexit and tensions with Iran, Boris Johnson has a long ‘to do’ list to tackle. And he doesn’t even have a full cabinet yet. We’ll explain what lies ahead for Johnson and the UK. Meanwhile, a proposed Trump admin rule could cut millions of people off from food stamp benefits. We’ll break down why the admin wants this rule, and who it affects. A...

Today, Iranian officials announced that they’ve broken up a CIA spy ring and that they’ve arrested 17 suspected spies. Iran’s claimed this kind of thing before -- and President Trump says reports of arrests aren’t true. But there’s a history here that’ll help you decode today’s headlines. Meanwhile, anywhere from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets in Puerto Ri...

Tomorrow is the 50th anniversary of the “giant leap for mankind.” You may have heard of it. On today’s episode, we break down the Apollo 11 mission: what it took to prepare for the mission, and what actually happened over the course of the eight-day-long journey to the moon and back. There was a lot that could have gone wrong. But it was a complete success. And NASA kept returning to the moon. Ast...

Turkey just ordered a new missile defense system from Russia. And now the US is telling Turkey: no F-35 fighter jets for you. Basically, the US is worried selling Turkey the F-35s means giving Russia access to top secret tech. We’ll tell you why that’s a concern for the US, and how it affects the relationship with Turkey, a key NATO ally. Meanwhile, another Russian invention is causing people’s ha...

Today, the head of Facebook’s global cryptocurrency project got a bipartisan grilling from the House Financial Services Committee. Lawmakers have been raising concerns about the crypto, called ‘Libra’: over who will regulate it, how Facebook will handle people’s private financial data, and whether their approach could break antitrust laws. We’ll break it down. Meanwhile, the president of Planned P...

The Trump administration has issued a new rule that’ll mean most migrants heading to the US-Mexico border likely won’t be eligible for asylum. The admin says asylum seekers will have to ask other countries first. And those other countries are saying: who, us? Legal experts say this new rule could violate domestic and international law. We’ll explain why. Meanwhile, soon-to-be former German defense...

Over the past few days, President Trump’s sent out a series of tweets about a group of “‘Progressive’ Democrat Congresswomen.” He suggested they should “go back” to the countries they came from. Today, he doubled down. We’ll tell you who President Trump’s talking about and why -- and how people are reacting. Meanwhile, Puerto Rico is having a bad case of the Mondays. Hundreds of pages of chats bet...

President Donald Trump has dropped the idea of adding a citizenship question to the 2020 census. But he says he has a back-up plan to get the data anyway. Which could affect elections across the country. We’ll explain. Meanwhile, Republicans and Dems in Congress are visiting detention camps along the Mexican border - but are coming back with different stories. Today’s hearing comes right before pl...

Today, the White House hosted a social media summit. None of the big players (think: Facebook, Twitter) were reportedly on the guest list. President Donald Trump and his guests have claimed those companies have an anti-conservative bias. We’ll explain what this summit is all about, and why this is a love/hate relationship for the President. Meanwhile, one of the country’s biggest teachers unions i...

Today, the Federal Reserve’s top guy Jerome Powell spoke. He doesn’t do that much. But when he does - it’s important. Especially when it comes to interest rates. We’ll tell you what you – and your wallet – need to know. Meanwhile, there is drama going down across the pond. (Again.) Some comments the UK ambassador to the US made about President Trump leaked. Now, the ambassador is saying ‘cheerio’...

In a new study, researchers at Georgetown University say FBI and ICE agents are giving millions of people ID checks. Their focus: your photo. Congress never gave the OK on this. And now lawmakers from both sides of the aisle are saying ‘cut it out.’ We’ll explain why. Meanwhile, the Trump administration announced a new rule that would make drug companies advertise their prices in TV ads. This rule...

Jeffrey Epstein, a multimillionaire money manager, was in a New York federal court today to face sex trafficking charges. The indictment comes a decade after he served a light sentence in a Florida plea deal related to similar charges. Meanwhile down in DC, a court battle over the 2020 Census rages on. The Trump administration still wants to add a question about citizenship to the questionnaire, a...

‘Tis the season where all the 2020 candidates are letting us know what their campaign bank accounts look like. Some have a lot to brag about. But it isn’t all about the amount of cash – it’s also about who’s ponying up. We’ll break it down. Meanwhile, a federal judge says that migrants who illegally crossed the border seeking asylum can’t be held in detention centers indefinitely. Detention center...

About a dozen lawmakers took a field trip to Texas yesterday. To visit two border facilities where migrants are being held. And some lawmakers did not like what they saw. Now there are protests being held around the country to close some migrant detention centers. We’ll break down what’s been happening on the border. Meanwhile, protesters in Hong Kong stormed the city’s Legislative Council and occ...

This weekend, President Trump became the first sitting US president to set foot in North Korea. This was Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s first meeting since February, when a summit about nuclear weapons and sanctions fell apart. But now the two say: talks are back on. What next? We’ll get into it. Meanwhile, members of OPEC are at the table in Vienna. To talk oil production. And tensio...

Senator Kamala Harris is getting a lot of attention today after last night’s democratic primary debate. She called out former VP Joe Biden over his record on race. And: busing. There’s a lot of history here -- and for Harris, it’s personal. We’ll break it down. Meanwhile, President Trump is talking trade with world leaders at the G20 Summit in Osaka, Japan. We’ll tell you how those chats are going...

Today, the Supremes dropped the mic on two big issues: partisan gerrymandering and a citizenship question on the census. These rulings really came down to the wire. But they weren’t a simple “yea” or “nay.” We’ll break down what they mean. Meanwhile, we’re halfway through the first 2020 Democratic primary debate. Last night’s candidates covered a lot issues (think: health care and immigration) and...

The first 2020 Democratic primary debate begins tonight in Miami. But don’t forget: this is a two-night event. Featuring a total of 20 candidates. Some you may have already heard of. Others could be trying to make a good first impression. We’ll tell you what to look out for. Meanwhile, former special counsel Robert Mueller is making a comeback. Because Congress. Mueller dropped the mic a few weeks...

The Trump administration is sanctioning top Iranian officials, including Iran’s Supreme Leader. The US has been sanctioning Iran for a while already, to get them to change course on nukes – but do sanctions ever actually work? We’ll get into it. Meanwhile, writer E. Jean Carroll has accused President Donald Trump of sexually assaulting her back in the mid ‘90s. Her allegation is getting a lot of a...

Immigration and Customs Enforcement was scheduled to target 2,000 families in raids across the country this weekend. But with hours to spare before the raids: President Trump called them off. For now. This is all happening amid renewed focus on conditions for migrants - especially kids - being housed at the border. We’ll break it down. Meanwhile, the US is giving peace in the Middle East another g...

President Trump says he approved military strikes on Iran planned for last night – but that he called them off with ten minutes to spare. This is the latest move in the rocky relationship between the US and Iran, and it has the world’s attention. We’ll explain the complexities here. Meanwhile, dozens of police officers in Philadelphia have been put on desk duty after a group uncovered public socia...

Today, China’s President Xi Jinping and North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un kicked off a two-day summit with the red-carpet treatment. This is the first time in almost 15 years that a Chinese leader has visited North Korea. And some are saying this is China playing mediator between North Korea and the US. We’ll explain why that’s a big deal. Meanwhile, it’s off to the races for the next UK prime mini...