Wednesday Morning Scoop: Syria Showdown
Welcome to the Morning Scoop for Wednesday, April 11. Something is brewing in Syria that might lead to a serious escalation between Russia and the U.S. and something is already brewing with someone called Aunt Mary Pat. It’s a Philly thing, apparently.
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Trump Indicates Syria Military Action is Coming, Tells Russia to ‘Get Ready’
President Trump took his preferred presidential podium — aka Twitter — to respond to a claim from Russia that they would shoot down any U.S. missiles that are fired in response to an alleged Syrian chemical weapons attack.
“Russia vows to shoot down any and all missiles fired at Syria. Get ready Russia, because they will be coming, nice and new and “smart!” You shouldn’t be partners with a Gas Killing Animal who kills his people and enjoys it!” Trump tweeted this morning.
He seemed to back off that hardline stance with another tweet this morning: “Our relationship with Russia is worse now than it has ever been, and that includes the Cold War. There is no reason for this. Russia needs us to help with their economy, something that would be very easy to do, and we need all nations to work together. Stop the arms race?”
Both Syrian and Russian officials deny the chemical weapons attack took place. What happens next seems about as predictable as Trump’s next tweet.
Zuckerberg Faced an Angry Senate
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg had his first public Senate hearing yesterday, and lawmakers reprimand him and his social media site for allowing London-based voter analytics group Cambridge Analytica to compromise information of 87 million Facebook users.
The Washington Post reports, “Zuckerberg’s five-hour grilling by 44 lawmakers confirmed Facebook is in for a prolonged period of government scrutiny, but also highlighted how unprepared Congress is to impose game-changing rules on the world’s biggest social network.”
While the Senate was able to get Zuckerberg under oath to answer how Facebook was tied to the 2016 election and its relaxed privacy protections, they were unable to explain how Facebook should be changed. Mark faces more questions on Capitol Hill today.
Drake University Professor Running For Iowa House of Representatives
An assistant journalism professor at Drake University is ready to take on the world of politics with a seat in the Iowa House of Representatives. Jennifer Konfrst, an Iowa native, is running on a platform of educational rights, jobs with good benefits, affordable healthcare and a sustainable environment.
With these issues that she wants to tackle in mind, one that stands out to Konfrst is accessible mental healthcare. This is one problem the professor has witnessed during her time in the educational field.
has more details in her report for CMN.
Today in a Tweet
Warning: Twitter will be extra filled with adorable pets today
Last But Not Least: Aunt Mary Pat Is Taking The Internet — and Philadelphia — By Storm
“Hey, youse guys! Aunt Mary Pat here.”
Some may have heard this quote from a video that began circulating only hours after the Philadelphia Eagles won the Super Bowl. A hilarious celebratory video was posted on Facebook from the perspective of a “typical Delaware County (Delco) mom.”
Who posted the video? That’s the brilliant part.
This mid-week Morning Scoop was compiled from contributions from Natalia Kolenko, Lindsay Wigo, Caitlyn Morral, and the CMN Staff. We can almost see the weekend from here.
