Daily Skimm: All's fair in love and basketball

Skimm'd while getting in on this movement

"THIS IS A TEST" – The test alert cellphones all over the US received from the president yesterday. Because all-caps aren't just for Twitter.

TICK TOCK

The Story

Senators are reading the FBI report on Brett Kavanaugh any minute now.

Yes, I've been hearing about this. A lot.

Then you know the basics: CA professor Christine Blasey Ford says Kavanaugh sexual assaulted her in the '80s. Kavanaugh denies the allegation. Last week, both Ford and Kavanaugh testified in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee. The committee voted to move his confirmation process along. But first Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) said 'put the FBI on the case' before the full Senate votes.

So, what happened?

The FBI already did a background check on Kavanaugh to clear him for the nom process. Now, it's updating its files. The new report includes interviews with people in Ford and Kavanaugh's lives from back in the day who may have more info on what happened (think: "PJ" and "Squi"). The FBI also interviewed Deborah Ramirez – the second woman to come forward with a sexual misconduct allegation against Kavanaugh.

Who wasn't interviewed?

Ford, Kavanaugh, and apparently more than 40 others.

So what kind of investigation is this then?

Not a criminal one. The report includes summaries of the bureau's interviews. There's no conclusion on whether it thinks the allegations are accurate.

Where's the report?

The White House already looked at it and said 'no problems here.' Lawmakers plan to start reading it early today. Just one copy will be available and the two parties will take turns in alternating one-hour shifts.

Then what?

Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) wants to put a vote on the books ASAP. He set the stage for a procedural vote tomorrow, and for a possible full Senate vote on the confirmation the next day.

How's that expected to go?

Unclear. If all Dems vote 'nay,' then Kavanaugh can only afford to lose one Republican vote. Here's who to watch out for.

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The White House has made it clear that it's unfazed by the report. The future of the Supreme Court is in the hands of 100 men and women elected to the Senate. So yes, your vote matters.

REPEAT AFTER ME...

What to say after a breakup...

Everything you own in the box to the left. The US is saying 'same' to Iran. Back in the '50s, the US helped launch a coup to set up a US-friendly gov in Iran. It worked. And the two govs were so close, they signed a friendship treaty. Fast forward past a few key hurdles (think: a revolution, regime change, hostage crisis, nuclear threat, and sanctions) and that friendship is long gone. This year, the Trump admin dropped out of the Obama-era Iran nuclear deal and brought back sanctions. Iran said 'friendship pact: violated.' Yesterday, the UN's top court agreed, ordering the Trump admin to lift some of the sanctions set to go into effect next month. That's when the US said 'eff that' and ended the treaty, saying its friendship with Iran "was already over, it's still over." The move doesn't really change anything since Iran and the US haven't had diplomatic ties for decades. But the US wasn't done. It also had words for the UN's top court, calling it "politicized" and dropping out of another UN protocol it said wasn't doing the US any favors. Ouch.

What people are talking about...

Temporary protected status (TPS.) Yesterday, a federal judge in San Francisco blocked the Trump admin from going forward with ending protections for immigrants coming from Sudan, El Salvador, Haiti, and Nicaragua – affecting over 300,000 people. TPS allowed immigrants from these countries to stay and work legally in the US, after they faced war or national disasters. The Trump administration has been moving to end these protections. Now, it looks like immigrants from these countries may be able to stay protected in the US.

What to say to your friend wearing pink this month…

Australia's also got women's health on the brain. A new study says that Australia is on track to become the first country to eliminate cervical cancer. For more than ten years, Australia's had a national program to give girls free HPV vaccines. Boys have since joined the program. Now, researchers say the country down under is on track to basically eliminate the cancer by 2028.

What to say when your friend and their SO get a dog...

Taking your relationship to the next level – just like Honda and General Motors.

What to say when you remember that 'ohana' means family...

Take me back to my childhood...and bring Aslan.

SKIMM MORE

You know the midterms are a big deal. What are you going to do about it? We wanted to see how many millennial women are actually planning on heading to the polls, and how they're feeling about the candidates and issues at stake. So we ran the numbers with Vanity Fair's the Hive and SurveyMonkey. Here's what we found.

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