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.)
#TakeAKnee Hits City Council
During a City Council meeting in Ann Arbor, Mich., four of the 11 elected members knelt down during the Pledge of Allegiance. The officials are not the only City Council members to do so—16 New York City council members knelt in front of City Hall in September, while more than a dozen knelt during the Pledge in a San Diego council meeting earlier this month.
“For me it is a position of great respect,” said kneeling official Chuck Warpehoski. “Taking a knee today was a chance to give attention and hope and prayer that the words of our Pledge of Allegiance ‘liberty and justice for all’ would be fulfilled.”
Four Ann Arbor City Council members take a knee during a council meeting to protest inequality https://t.co/glTIcFEp4M pic.twitter.com/2Sn27y5DCc
— CNN (@CNN) October 19, 2017
John Kelly Defends Trump’s Call to a Soldier’s Widow
In response to the controversy surrounding claims of what President Trump said to a fallen soldier’s widow, White House Chief of Staff John Kelly defended the president’s call in a briefing room appearance on Thursday. He chastised Democratic Congresswoman Frederica Wilson for listening into friend and military widow Myeshia Johnson’s call with the president, saying, “It stuns me that a member of Congress would have listened in on that conversation…And I thought at least that was sacred.” He compared Wilson’s actions to a nationwide loss of respect towards women, life and religion.
Kelly is particularly tied to this upset because he lost his own son in battle in 2010. Seemingly in response to Trump allegedly telling Johnson that her husband “knew what he signed up for,” Kelly shared his personal experience of losing a family member active in the military, saying, “He knew what he was getting into by joining that one percent. He knew what the possibilities were because we were at war.”
John Kelly slams Rep. Frederica Wilson, says he was “stunned” and “broken-hearted” by her criticism of the call https://t.co/56WEVcUfx7
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) October 19, 2017
This Year’s Starbucks Holiday Cup Design May Have Accidentally Been Revealed
Thanks to a Reddit user sharing a photo of a festive-looking cup recently received in a Starbucks order, we have a potential spoiler about what 2017’s holiday cups look like. Anyone who considers themselves a coffee drinker probably understands how seriously some people take the annual design, which has changed around in recent years, but this artwork definitely looks like it could win over any critics! Whether or not this is the actual design, the holiday cups are due to come out in early November.
Meme of the day
Morgan wants to wish you a happy Friday!