Friday Scoop: Women’s March

The big story…

Controversy Surrounds the Saturday Women’s March

The Women’s March movement that started with a Facebook post, will celebrate its second anniversary and third march this Saturday. Although there are dozens of smaller marches taking place across the country, hundreds of thousands of people will be showing up in Washington, D.C. to participate in the main march in the nation’s capital. 

However, it’s TBD whether the march will have as many attendees as it has in the past, as the leadership in the organization has faced controversy and allegations of anti-semitism throughout the year. 

In national news…

Three Chicago Police Officers Acquitted in Shooting of Laquan McDonald

Three police officers who lied to cover up the shooting of Laquan McDonald, a black teenager in Chicago who was shot 16 times by a white officer in 2014, have been acquitted.

In global news…

Car Bomb Kills 21 in Bagotá, Colombia

At least 21 have been killed and 68 injured in a truck bombing in Bagotá, Colombia. Officials are not sure who planted the bomb but they believe that the device was meant to target the police. The defense ministry has labeled this an act of terrorism. It is also the worst attack in the city in 16 years.

In politics…

Trump Cancels Pelosi’s Trip Abroad in Response to State of the Union Delay

It’s day 28 of the longest government shutdown ever and tensions are running high. After Pelosi served Trump with a letter basically disinviting him from his own State of the Union address, Trump served Pelosi with a letter canceling her trip abroad, saying that she needs to stay in D.C. to negotiate the shutdown — or she can fly commercial. 

Yesterday was also a big day for non-shutdown politics. Michael Cohen admitted to rigging an online poll and lying to Congress about the Moscow Trump Tower for Trump. Plus, the country learned that thousands more children were separated from their families at the border last year, even under Trump’s zero tolerance policy.

In TV…

Netflix Refuses to Remove Footage of Train Crash from ‘Bird Box’

The Netflix blockbuster Bird Box, starring Sandra Bullock, is under fire for using footage of a real-life train derailment that killed 47 people in Lac-Mégantic in Quebec, Canada. The streaming service announced that it will not be removing the scene as the footage was legally licensed through a third party company.

In tech…

Elon Musk to Fire Over 3,000 Employees Due to ‘Tiny’ Profits

Tesla is laying off more than 3,000 employees (or 7%), citing “tiny” profits and production challenges.

Trending today…

Harvard Cat

Last but not least…

Meet the Artist: Jet Black Alley Cat

Five years ago, a few guys who had met in college discovered they had the same love for creating music. They began playing acoustic songs and now play shows across the country as a band called Jet Black Alley Cat (JBAC). Read more in Autumn Miller’s report for CMN.

Today’s Morning Scoop was made possible by Autumn Miller and the CMN Staff. Happy Friday! And don’t miss this weekend’s Super Blood Wolf Moon. P.S. Was this newsletter forwarded by a friend? Subscribe here to get the Morning Scoop straight to your inbox every day.