Good morning Her Campus! With a break-neck news cycle, there is no possible way for you to stay on top of every story that comes across your feeds—we’re all only human, after all.
But, life comes at you fast. So grab a cup of coffee and settle in for this quick and dirty guide to stories you might’ve been sleeping on (like, literally. It’s early.)
Senator Says That Jared Kushner “Has to Go” if He Shaped Foreign Policy to Benefit His Family
Sen. Chris Murphy, during an interview on Sunday on ABC News’ “This Week with George Stephanopoulos,” said that if President Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, had any part in turning United States’ foreign policy against Qatar due to dealings with his family business, he “has to go,” The Huffington Post reports.
“If it’s true, it’s damning. If it’s true, Jared Kushner has to go,” Murphy said.
According to HuffPost, The Intercept reported on Friday that representatives from Kushner Companies, including Kushner’s father, met with Qatari Finance Minister Ali Sharif Al Emadi in New York regarding potential Qatari financing for its property at 666 5th Avenue. Despite a follow-up meeting, a deal was never reached. Then, in June of last year, a group of countries, including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, severed ties with Qatar, and many were surprised when Trump sided with them, HuffPost reports.
“We could not understand why the Trump administration was so firmly taking the Saudis’ side in this dispute between the Saudis, the Emiratis and Qatar, because the United States has very important interests in Qatar,” Murphy said. Qatar, according to HuffPost, houses a key strategic base for the U.S. military.
“To so firmly take the side of the Saudis against the Qataris that could potentially result in the downward spiral of the Qatari economy put thousands of Americans at risk,” Murphy added.
Considering the failed deal for Qatari funding for Kushner’s family-owned property, it left many concerned that Kushner could have potentially persuaded the president to side against Qatar.
“If the reason this administration put U.S. troops at risk in Qatar was to protect the Kushners’ financial interests, then that’s all the evidence you need to make some big changes in the White House,” Murphy said.
News regarding the possible deal between the Kushners and Qatar comes just after Kushner was downgraded from his top-secret security clearance at the White House to only secret, HuffPost reports.
Philando Castile Charity Pays Off the Lunch Debt for Entire School District
Philando Castile, who was fatally shot by an officer while in his own vehicle in 2016, always cared for the students that he served at J.J. Hill Montessori Magnet School. Whenever a child could not afford their school lunch, he would use pay for that student’s lunch. And, according to NBC News, a charity founded in Castile’s honor, is carrying on this tradition of helping students make sure they receive lunch.
The charity, Philando Feeds the Children, just paid off students’ lunch accounts for all 56 schools within the Saint Paul Public Schools district in Minnesota where Castile worked, NBC News reports.
“That means that no parent of the 37,000 kids who eat meals at school need worry about how to pay that overdue debt,” an update from the charity website read. “Philando is still reaching into his pocket, and helping a kid out. One by one. With your help.”
Stacey Koppen, who is Director of Nutrition Services at Saint Paul Public Schools and worked with Castile, said, “This fundraiser honoring him and his memory couldn’t be more perfect. This is what he did. He did so without question or praise.”
According to NBC News, the charity started out as a college class project by Metropolitan State University students, and has raised $130,000 to help feed the children in St. Paul.
Now that Philando Feeds the Children has paid off all the lunch debt for students in the school district, the remainder of the money will be used to help more students in the future.
This Little Girl is in Love With Michelle Obama’s Official Portrait & Thinks She’s a Queen
Adorable two-year-old Parker Curry got to see former First Lady Michelle Obama’s official portrait and was in awestruck, CNN reports.
“Parker was in front on the portrait, and I really wanted her to turn around so I could get a picture with her, and she genuinely, honestly would not turn around,” Parker’s mother, Jessica Curry told CNN. “She was uncooperative with me because she was just so focused on the portrait and studying it, and she was just so fascinated.”
The photo of Parker staring in awe at Mrs. Obama was captured by Ben Hines, who was visiting the National Portrait Gallery with his mother, CNN reports. When he posted the photo to his social media account, it quickly went viral, and it’s easy to see why.
Amy Sherald, who painted Mrs. Obama’s official portrait, shared the picture on her Instagram account, and the former First Lady saw the photo and responded just as we all would have: with three heart-eye emojis.
“In further discussion with [Parker] yesterday and today, I realized that she believes Michelle Obama is a queen, and she wants to be a queen as well …,” Curry said. “As a female and as a girl of color, It’s really important that I show her people who look like her that are doing amazing things and are making history so that she knows she can do it.”
At the unveiling of the official portrait, Mrs. Obama said, “[Girls and girls of color] will see an image of someone who looks like them hanging on the walls of this great American institution. … And I know the kind of impact that will have on their lives because I was one of those girls,” CNN reports.
Parker is just too adorable, and we know that she is going to be a total queen when she grows up, just like Mrs. Obama.
What to look out for…
Did you see what was in the unofficial Oscars swag bags for the top nominees? It’s insane, and I want one.