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.)
Megyn Kelly Is Reportedly Out As NBC’s “Today” Show Host
Megyn Kelly will reportedly no longer be hosting NBC’s morning “Today” show host, NPR reported, citing sources with knowledge of the situation.
The news of Kelly leaving from the “Today” show comes just days after the host came under fire for defending Halloween costumes involving blackface. Reports from Daily Mail, TMZ and US Weekly on Thursday indicated that Kelly was out at NBC altogether, but the reports have not been confirmed.
Kelly, a former Fox News host, draw criticism on Tuesday when she suggested on her morning show that it wasn’t racist for white individuals to darken their skin for Halloween costumes.
“When I was a kid, that was OK, so long as you were dressing up as a character,” Kelly said Tuesday to an all-white panel during her show. “I can’t keep up with the number of people we’re offending just by being normal people.”
Kelly apologized later that day to fellow NBC staff in an internal email, writing that she had reconsidered her views after “listening carefully” to her friends and colleagues.
“I realize now that such behavior is indeed wrong, and I am sorry,” she wrote in the email to her coworkers. “The history of blackface in our culture is abhorrent; the wounds too deep.”
She delivered an on-air apology Wednesday, followed with a discussion on race in the U.S. Kelly did not appear on the show on Thursday morning, and the network said it is airing reruns for the rest of the week.
According to The Huffington Post, Kelly had supposedly met with NBC News chairman Andy Lack to end her morning show prior to the blackface controversy, citing an interest in covering more news and politics.
Lack said he condemned Kelly’s comments to NBC employees during a town hall on Wednesday.
“There is no other way to put this but I condemn those remarks, there is no place on our air or in this workplace for them. Very unfortunate,” Lack said. “As we go forward, my highest priority remains, and as we sort through this with Megyn, let there be no doubt that this is a workplace in which you need to be proud and in which we respect each other in all the ways we know is foundational to who we are.”
Grassley Refers Kavanaugh Accusers to the DOJ for Criminal Probe
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley referred attorney Michael Avenatti and his client, Julie Swetnick, to the Justice Department on Thursday for a criminal investigation into whether the two made false statements during the sexual misconduct scandal that nearly derailed Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation.
In a 12-page letter requesting the DOJ and FBI to investigate, the senator outlined claims made by Avenatti and Swetnick, who signed an affidavit of allegations concerning Kavanaugh’s drinking and partying as a young man, Politico reports. Swetnick also claimed Kavanaugh was present at parties where girls were assaulted.
Grassley’s referral cites failed attempts to obtain corroborating evidence from both, as well as statements that Swetnick made during a television interview that appear to contradict her story, and cites potential conspiracy, obstruction of Congress and false statements, Politico reports.
“When charlatans make false claims to the Committee — claims that may earn them short-term media exposure and financial gain, but which hinder the Committee’s ability to do its job — there should be consequences,” Grassley wrote to Attorney General Jeff Sessions and FBI Director Christopher Wray. “These laws exist to ensure there are.”
In response to the senator’s referral, Avenatti tweeted that it was “ironic” that Grassley wanted to investigate now.
It is ironic that Senator Grassley now is interested in investigations. He didn’t care when it came to putting a man on the SCOTUS for life. We welcome the investigation as now we can finally get to the bottom of Judge Kavanaugh’s lies and conduct. Let the truth be known.
— Michael Avenatti (@MichaelAvenatti) October 25, 2018
“It is ironic that Senator Grassley now is interested in investigations. He didn’t care when it came to putting a man on the SCOTUS for life,” Avenatti wrote. “We welcome the investigation as now we can finally get to the bottom of Judge Kavanaugh’s lies and conduct.”
Avenatti later tweeted that he would make Swetnick available to Grassley to interview, adding that the senator could “make Judge Kavanaugh available for a sworn interview. We also have 9 other witnesses we want interviewed and specific documents we want requested. Let’s go.”
Chelsea Clinton Says She Wouldn’t Rule Out a Run for Office
Chelsea Clinton, daughter of former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, said ahead of an appearance to promote her new children’s book that she wouldn’t rule out a run for office.
“I think if someone were to step down or retire and I thought I could do a good job and it matched my talents, I’d have to think if it’s the right choice for me,” Clinton told The (Westchester County, N.Y.) Journal News.
According to USA Today, when asked why she hasn’t run for political office given all of the women that were motivated by her mother’s run for president in 2016 and decided to run for office themselves, Clinton said she didn’t “have any plans to run for office, but it is something I think about as I hope every young person thinks about it.”
“If you care about what’s happening in the world, you have to care about running for and holding elected office. I hope it’s a question that we ask ourselves,” Clinton said.
“For me, I live in a neighborhood in the city and in a state where I feel my family, and what I hope for the world, is well represented,” Clinton continued. “It’s at the national level where I disagree deeply with President Trump on, l think, everything practically.”
“But I like my City Councilwoman Carlina Rivera, I like my senators and I love my public advocate Letitia James who I hope is the next attorney general,” Clinton added. “For now, I am really focused on trying to make the change I want to see in the world through my work in the foundation, my writing and my teaching.”
When asked if her mother would run for the presidency in 2020, Clinton said her mother not spoken with her about a repeat presidential run.
“I know she’s really excited about working with Steven Spielberg to turn Elaine Weiss’ book, The Women’s Hour, into a movie; and we are doing some work together to help save the elephants (fighting to end elephant poaching), so I know her head is very much on projects that she’s committed to now,” Clinton said. “I support my mom in whatever she wants to do, but she’s never once mentioned that (a presidential run) to me.”
What to look out for…
Starbucks dropped a purple “Witch’s Brew” Halloween Frappuccino, and it sounds wickedly awesome.