THE BIG STORY
There won't be a woman president for at least four more years
“Every time I get introduced as the most powerful woman, I almost cry, because I wish that were not true,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said after Elizabeth Warren ended her presidential campaign yesterday. “I so wish that we had a woman president of the United States, and we came so close to doing that. I do think there’s a certain element of misogyny.”
The Democratic primary race began with six women contenders, and one by one they dropped out, struggling to find support. Kirsten Gillibrand. Kamala Harris. Amy Klobuchar. Tulsi Gabbard is still technically in it, but with Warren gone, the race is now between two white men in their seventies.
So what happened? Molly Hensley-Clancy, who covered the Warren campaign, took a deep dive into the rise and fall of the women of 2020. “If you say, ‘Yeah, there was sexism in this race,’ everyone says, ‘Whiner!’” Warren said yesterday. “And if you say ‘No, there was no sexism,’ about a bazillion women think, What planet do you live on?”
STAYING ON TOP OF THIS Attorney General William Barr is in trouble over the Mueller report
On Thursday a federal judge responded to a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit by BuzzFeed News and the Electronic Privacy Information Center seeking the unredacted sections of Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian election interference in 2016. And he had harsh words for Attorney General William Barr.
Barr’s summary of the report, made public before the release of a redacted version, “failed to provide a thorough representation of the findings,” wrote US District Court Judge Reggie Walton. That led him “to question whether Attorney General Barr’s intent was to create a one-sided narrative about the Mueller Report — a narrative that is clearly in some respects substantively at odds with the redacted version of the Mueller Report.”
In previous hearings, the judge has suggested he may personally review an unredacted copy of the report and decide what should and should not be made public.
SNAPSHOTS Aaron Schock, the former Republican congressman, has come out as gay. In his six years representing Illinois, he opposed a number of pro-LGBTQ policies, including the repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell.”
A swarm of New York City police were filmed violently arresting a young black man. They say he was spotted smoking weed in a park; somehow this led to seven police officers tackling him to the ground.
A group of Amazon warehouse workers is demanding the company offer them paid sick leave. Not offering the benefit violates a local law in Illinois, they say.
Harry and Meghan made one of their final appearances together as royals in the UK. “Many of you have told me tonight that you have my back,” Prince Harry told the armed services personnel and veterans in the room. “Well, I’m also going to tell you that I will always have yours.”
Harry and Meghan, looking magical on Thursday. Samir Hussein / WireImage CORONAVIRUS UPDATE Do you have questions about the COVID-19 outbreak? We're happy to answer them, and we’re trying out a new way of keeping in touch with our readers: you can sign up here to send and receive text messages with BuzzFeed News editors: joinsubtext.com/buzzfeednews We reached a milestone today: more than 100,000 confirmed coronavirus cases worldwide.
Nurses are warning that their hospitals are not prepared for major outbreaks. Of the 6,500 who took a survey by the National Nurses United union, only 30% said their employer has sufficient protective equipment.
San Francisco announced its first two coronavirus cases, and said the virus appears to be spreading locally there, not being brought in by travelers. Tennessee and Nevada also announced their first confirmed cases.
Chinese internet trolls are spreading disinformation about the coronavirus in Taiwan. “In five years of looking at troubling disinfo every day, I'm not sure I've ever seen anything quite this malicious,” one expert said.
Congress passed an $8.3 billion spending bill to fight the outbreak and treat patients. The amount is more than triple what was requested by President Trump last week.
We've launched a daily coronavirus newsletter that brings you everything you need to know about the outbreak. No panic, no fear mongering, just the facts. You can sign up here. For important information and updates, check the CDC’s dedicated coronavirus site CATFISHED BY SHERRY PIE A contestant on RuPaul’s Drag Race confessed to doing “truly cruel” things to a number of aspiring young actors. Five young actors told BuzzFeed News yesterday that Joey Gugliemelli, who performs as Sherry Pie, pretended to be a casting director via multiple emails and had them submit embarrassing and degrading audition tapes. One man said he agreed to masturbate on camera for a supposed audition.
“Everyone does bad stuff but he never apologized,” said David Newman, one of the actors targeted by Gugliemelli. “He has a national audience watching him now and people have to know what he did. He did it to a lot of people.”
Gugliemelli made a statement on Facebook immediately after our story was published. “I know that the pain and hurt that I have caused will never go away and I know that what I did was wrong and truly cruel,” he said.
WELCOME HOME, KASHMIRIS Please welcome our friends in Kashmir back to the internet
In August, 2019, more than seven million people lost access to the internet, when the Indian government shut down virtually all communications services in Jammu and Kashmir, the region on the border of India and Pakistan.
The blackout, which came after India revoked an article of its constitution giving the region some autonomy, was, depending on who you ask, either an attempt to prevent militancy and disinformation, or part of a wider plan to crush dissent and political organizing during a crackdown.
Phone lines eventually returned, but for most people, the internet stayed off ever since. Until Wednesday. So, welcome back to the place we call home, Kashmiris. And if you want to share your stories of life without sweet, sweet internet, we’d love to hear from you.
Don’t take the internet for granted today, Tom BuzzFeed, Inc.
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