Tuesday Morning Scoop: Trouble Brewing for Starbucks

Welcome to the Morning Scoop for April 17, 2018. Trouble is brewing at Starbucks over race relations (yeah, again), there’s so much drama around President Trump (should it even be called drama anymore?) and if you need to file taxes, it’s deadline day. 

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Starbucks in Hot Water (Again) Over Racism Accusations 

Protesters outside a Philadelphia Starbucks yesterday (Image: Twitter)

Starbucks is trying to control a growing public relations storm that has arisen in the wake of the arrest of two black men at one of its Philadelphia stores last week. The incident is bringing back painful memories of the company’s awkward race-relations past: In 2015, the coffee giant’s efforts to start a national conversation on race relations by having their workers write “Race Together” on cups backfired in spectacular fashion.

About two-dozen protesters showed up at the Philly store where two black men were arrested over the weekend, allegedly for refusing to leave the shop after being told they couldn’t use the restroom because they hadn’t purchased anything. The incident was captured on video and angry protesters chanted, “A whole lot of racism, a whole lot of crap, Starbucks coffee is anti-black!” according to the Associated Press.

Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson publicly apologized for the incident, calling the arrests “reprehensible,” and traveled to Philly in the hopes of meeting with the two men, who have not been publicly identified.


Trump Overrules Advisers, Cancels New Russia Sanctions

Donald Trump rejected a new round of sanctions against Russia on Monday, a move that goes against what Trump’s advisers had announced.

The New York Times reports, “The president’s ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki R. Haley, had announced on Sunday that the administration would place sanctions on Russian companies found to be assisting Syria’s chemical weapons program.”

The sanctions were being considered as retaliation in addition to an American-led airstrikes in Syria after suspected gas attacks that killed dozens last week.

Rachel Blandau rounded up all last week’s White House drama for CMN. 


ICYMI: Marking 11 Years Since the Virginia Tech Shooting

CMN’s Senior Correspondent Erin Whitten rounded up some of the reactions to the events of April 16, 2007, when a Virginia Tech student gunned down 32 people, many of them his classmates.

At the time, the event was the deadliest shooting carried out by a single gunman in U.S. history. See the poignant reactions here. 


Today in a Tweet 

The last day to file your taxes has become a marketing gimmick, but you’re a college student and what you really care about is free food, so…

Last But Not Least: Beyonce is Donating $100,000 to Four HBCU students

Proving once again she’s the most amazing person on the planet, Queen Bey announced yesterday that her BeyGOOD initiative will give $25,000 each to one student from Tuskegee University, Bethune-Cookman University, Xavier University and Wilberforce University.

The scholarship effort, dubbed the Homecoming Scholars Award Program, will be good for the 2018-19 academic year. The announcement followed her blazing set at Coachellawhich Quartz called “a two-hour tribute to historically black colleges (HBCUs), black Greek life, and a proud history of black educational excellence.”


The Tuesday Morning Scoop was compiled from contributions by Natalia KolenkoErin Whitten and the CMN Staff, who have transit system cards from every city. Except Cleveland.