Republicans prepare to move the goalposts on impeachment. Your Monday morning must-read news roundup from UtahPolicy.com

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Situational awareness - November 4, 2019

Good Monday morning from Salt Lake City

The 2020 presidential election is one year away

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Here are the stories you need to pay attention to this morning:

Trivia

Several readers knew that Utah's iconic Delicate Arch was previously known as Landscape Arch.

From guest quizmaster Stan Rasmussen.

"In the early 1900s, the publisher of a western travel guide inadvertently placed the caption 'Landscape Arch' adjacent a photo of what until then was known as Delicate Arch and similarly mislabeled as 'Delicate Arch' the sandstone structure that up to that point had been referred to as Landscape Arch. Because the publication was quite widely read and referenced, the decision eventually was made simply to change the names of the arches to how they were captioned in the travel guide. Over the years, rumors about a possible cartographer's (mapmaker's) error, or mistaken signage have been refuted. Whether the tale of a publisher's mistake is true or mere legend, it's not difficult to see how the original Delicate Arch (known today as Landscape Arch) initially could have been so named."

Congratulations to subscriber David Damschen for being the first with the correct answer. He gets to ask the next trivia question on Friday.

TICK TOCK

The 2019 Utah municipal elections are tomorrow (11/5/2019)

Days to the first day of the 2020 Utah Legislature: 84 (1/27/2020)

Days to the Utah presidential primaries: 120 (3/3/2020)

Days to the 2020 Utah primary elections: 239 (6/23/2020)

Days to the 2020 election: 365 (11/3/2020)

Today At Utah Policy

OTHER UTAH HEADLINES

Deseret News

Salt Lake Tribune

Other

NATIONAL HEADLINES

Impeachment

Several Senate Republicans are ready to acknowledge there was a quid pro quo when President Donald Trump withheld military aid to Ukraine to force an investigation into Joe Biden and his son. Still, they will argue that it was not an abuse of presidential power [Washington Post].

President Trump is refusing to guarantee he won't shut down the government later this month in retaliation for the impeachment inquiry launched by Democrats [Huffington Post].

Several Trump administration staffers intend to defy Congressional subpoenas in the impeachment inquiry in the coming days [Washington Post].

Energy Secretary Rick Perry will not testify before House investigators' impeachment inquiry into President Trump [Politico].

President Donald Trump is inching closer to revealing the identity of the anonymous whistleblower who raised concerns about his interactions with the president of Ukraine [Politico].

The lawyer for the anonymous whistleblower says they are willing to answer written questions from Congressional Republicans under oath [CNN].

There could be as many as seven whistleblowers who are willing to give or have already provided information about President Trump's dealings with foreign governments [Spectator USA].

Fox News poll: 49% of Americans favor impeaching Trump.

NBC/WSJ poll: 49% now back Trump's impeachment and removal.

Microsoft poll: 52% support impeaching and removing Trump from office.

The wall

Smugglers are using inexpensive power tools to saw through sections of President Trump's border wall [Washington Post].

Media watch

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff says Fox News viewers live in an "alternate fact world." Schiff also said if the conservative outlet had existed during the Nixon administration, he would not have been forced out of office [Daily Caller].

Republican presidential candidate Joe Walsh says Fox News and conservative talk radio are lying to Americans [CNN].

Despite banning the New York Times and Washington Post from the White House, President Trump still accesses the news outlets on his iPhone [Axios].

Mueller investigation still making news

Newly released interview notes from Robert Mueller's investigation show Trump campaign officials were focused on gaining access to stolen Democratic emails possessed by WikiLeaks [CNN].

Trump booed again

President Trump was greeted by boos and cheers at Madison Square Garden Saturday night when he attended a UFC event [AP].

2020

Beto O'Rourke dropped out of the race for the Democratic nomination [New York Times].

A new poll shows President Trump trails Joe Biden in several key battleground states, but leads Elizabeth Warren [New York Times].

Joe Biden's campaign is downplaying the importance of the Iowa Caucuses, saying they do not need to win the first Democratic nominating contest [Wall Street Journal].

President Trump again threatened to pull federal aid for California wildfires [Los Angeles Times].

BUSINESS HEADLINES

Policy News

More National Headlines

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

1922 - British archaeologist Howard Carter discovered the tomb of Tutankhamen.

1924 - Nellie Tayloe Ross of Wyoming is elected the first female governor in the United States.

1939 - The United States modified its neutrality stance in World War II to allow "cash and carry" purchases of arms by belligerents, a policy favoring Britain and France.

2008 - Democrat Barack Obama was elected the first black president of the United States.

2008 - California voters approved Proposition 8, a constitutional amendment outlawing same-sex marriage.

Wise Words

"Failures, repeated failures, are finger posts on the road to achievement. One fails forward toward success."C. S. Lewis

Lighter Side

"Minutes after the House voted to start the investigation, the White House denounced the process as, 'a blatantly partisan attempt to destroy the president.' And then Democrats were like, 'Yeah, pretty much.'"- JAMES CORDEN

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