It’s been a week marked by unlikely bipartisanship, but also tragedy. Here’s what you need to know:
College Admissions Scandal
Fifty people — including rich parents, famous actresses, college prep officials, and coaches — are accused of participating in a massive scheme to get students into elite universities. Most notably are actresses Lori Loughlin and Felicity Huffman. Since the investigation became public, multiple companies have cut ties with both parents and children involved.
According to the indictment, parents paid a college prep organization to either take tests on student’s behalf or to correct their answers after the test was completed. The organization also bribed college coaches to list the students as recruited athletes in order to gain acceptance, even if they didn’t play sports. Some parents spent more money getting their child into college in the first place than they would have in tuition.
Boeing
157 people were killed Sunday when an Ethiopian Airlines plane crashed, leaving no survivors. That marked the second time in five months that a Boeing aircraft crashed minutes into a flight. In October, the same model crashed and killed 189 people.
Multiple countries, including all of the EU, grounded the model earlier in the week. The US was hesitant to join, but President Trump announced his decision to join these countries on Wednesday. Southwest has the most of these 737 MAX 8s in their fleets at 34. This has led to confusion for flyers and airlines have been left scrambling to rebook passengers and assign planes.
Beto O’Rourke Joins the Presidential Race
Beto O’Rourke announced his 2020 campaign on Thursday morning. His announcement video focused upon Americans looking at their past differences in order to confront the challenges facing the country today. O’Rourke was widely unknown until the 2018 congressional elections, in which he took on Ted Cruz and lost by less than 3 percentage points — much closer than any other Democrat has come against a Republican in a GOP stronghold state. In an ever-growing field of accomplished Democrats running, he will have to rely on his first-hand experiences with the Mexican border and success in grassroot campaigning to stand out from the rest.
Congress
The Senate voted on Thursday to block the President’s emergency declaration regarding the border. 12 Republicans ended up joining all 47 Democrats in voting against Trump. This is the first time Congress has ever blocked a Presidential emergency declaration. The President later tweeted a one word response: “VETO!”
Earlier in the day, the House voted 420-0 to demand the public release of Special Counsel Mueller’s report into Russia’s interference in the 2016 election and the possible involvement of President Trump’s campaign. The resolution is not binding, Democrats are simply trying to build public pressure on the Attorney General before the investigation is completed.
These mark two instances of bipartisanship…something we haven’t seen in years.
New Zealand Attacks
New Zealand, a usually peaceful nation, was shaken Friday after a gunman opened fire on two mosques. At least 49 people were killed and 20 injured, including children. Three men and one woman have been arrested in relation to the attack. One of the men has been charged with murder.
One attacker reportedly livestreamed the massacre in a graphic, 17-minute post on Facebook. It was soon pulled down from the social media platform. An 87-page manifesto filled with anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim rhetoric has also emerged. New Zealand’s prime minister called the attack an “unprecedented act of violence” and “one of New Zealand’s darkest days.”