Harvey Weinstein reportedly used Matt Lauer allegations as leverage to stop NBC's investigation into him
Pro-gun rally in Virginia draws thousands
Trump's legal team calls on Senate to dismiss impeachment charges
The images of Australia's storms are downright apocalyptic
Reports of China's coronavirus jumped over the weekend, and scientists are worried
Gun-rights advocates head to Virginia for major rally
Chiefs, 49ers advance to Super Bowl
Trump to unveil his defense against impeachment charges
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catch and kill
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Harvey Weinstein pressured NBC News into killing an investigation into his alleged sexual abuse using dirt on Matt Lauer, Ronan Farrow alleges in his new book.
Farrow in October 2017 published allegations of sexual abuse against Weinstein, but his New Yorker exposé was originally intended to be published by NBC News. In his new book Catch and Kill, Farrow alleges that prior to NBC's decision not to run his story, Weinstein "made it known to the network that he was aware of Lauer's behavior and capable of revealing it," The Hollywood Reporter writes. Farrow reports Weinstein used dirt about Lauer, who was then host of Today, obtained by the National Enquirer to pressure NBC into killing the investigation, citing anonymous sources at NBC and AMI, the Enquirer's publisher. This reportedly occurred after Weinstein strategized with AMI's chief content officer, Dylan Howard.
NBC has denied Farrow's claim, saying it was never "made aware in any way of any threats." The network has said it was not aware of alleged misconduct by Lauer until firing him in November 2017, and NBC News Chair Andy Lack in 2018 said Farrow's reporting wasn't run because it wasn't "yet fit to broadcast."
Weinstein reportedly felt, though, that he had successfully pressured NBC into spiking the story, with Farrow reporting Weinstein bragged in his office, "If I can get a network to kill a story, how hard can a newspaper be?" He was referring to The New York Times, which in October 2017 broke the story about the misconduct allegations against him.
Sometime after Weinstein was informed Farrow wasn't working on the story for NBC, Farrow reports NBC News President Noah Oppenheim engaged with Weinstein in a friendly email about Megyn Kelly's debut in which Oppenheim wrote, "Thanks Harvey, appreciate the well-wishes," per the Reporter. Weinstein reportedly then sent him a bottle of vodka. Brendan Morrow
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Authorities estimate 22,000 gun-rights advocates attended a rally in Richmond, Virginia, on Monday, to protest proposed gun control legislation.
Ahead of the event, Gov. Ralph Northam (D) declared a state of emergency and temporarily banned people from carrying weapons at the state capitol, citing "credible intelligence" from law enforcement that white supremacists groups would attend the rally and incite violence. Some extremist groups did attend, but the rally was mostly peaceful and there were no reports of violence.
Democrats now control the Statehouse, and have pushing for new gun regulations, including universal background checks and a ban on military-style rifles. Protesters chanted "We will not comply" and "USA!" and several spoke to reporters about why they feel so strongly about the matter. "So many people are misinformed and think you are safer because you take my guns away," participant Jay Lowe told NBC News. "My guns have never killed anybody. And I carry a lot." Catherine Garcia
senate impeachment trial
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President Trump's lawyers filed a brief on Monday urging the Senate to dismiss the impeachment charges against him and calling the House's impeachment process a "perversion" of the Constitution, The Associated Press reports.
The 110-page brief calls the House's impeachment case "flimsy," insists Trump did "absolutely nothing wrong," and says he has "been the victim of an illegitimate partisan effort to take him down," The New York Times reports. The House filed two impeachment articles against Trump — abuse of power for withholding aid to Ukraine in order to pressure that country to investigate his political rivals, and obstruction of Congress for blocking the House's impeachment inquiry.
The brief "does not deny that Mr. Trump pressured Ukraine to open investigations into Democrats," the Times writes. Instead it argues that this was within Trump's rights as president. As to the obstruction of Congress article, the lawyers say the president has a right to confidential deliberations.
The Senate trial on Trump's impeachment begins Tuesday. He is just the third sitting president to face such a trial. The Republican-controlled chamber is unlikely to convict him. Jessica Hullinger
meanwhile in Australia
Australia just can't catch a break. As wildfires continued to devastate parts of the country, a miles-long dust storm rolled across New South Wales Sunday, blotting out the sun. As CNN reports, the area has been experiencing drought since 2017, so dirt is loose and easily kicked up by high winds.
In Australia, people have been filming rolling clouds of dust sweeping across New South Wales.
The massive dust storms blanketed entire towns and blacked out the sun over the weekend. https://t.co/59EwemGKFX pic.twitter.com/RA7nMgMsjN
— CNN (@CNN) January 20, 2020
In other parts of the southeast, thunderstorms over the past two days brought hail stones the size of baseballs, bringing down trees, battering cars and buildings, and leaving thousands of people without electricity, according to The New York Times. There's also been flash flooding. And the Bureau of Meteorology says the storms could continue for another few days. Jessica Hullinger
Parts of eastern Australia has been pelted by golf-ball sized hail - the storms have helped to fight some bushfires, but many continue to burnhttps://t.co/aaGqbxlEIa pic.twitter.com/VVuWXINivH
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) January 20, 2020
NOEL CELIS/AFP via Getty Images
The number of reported cases of a pneumonia virus spreading through China jumped over the weekend, CNN reports, bringing the total to 201. On Friday, there were 62 reported cases of the illness in China. By Monday, another 139 cases had been reported, and three people had died. The virus, which originated in a wildlife market in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, has also spread to other countries, including South Korea, Thailand, and Japan, CNN reports.
Health authorities say the pathogen is a new strain of coronavirus, which CNN explains is "in the same family of the deadly severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)." Its symptoms include fever and shortness of breath, QZ reports.
The outbreak comes as China prepares to celebrate the Lunar New Year. Last year, CNN estimates 7 million people traveled outside the country for the occasion. South Korea has been screening travelers arriving from Wuhan for fever at Seoul's Incheon International Airport. Some airports in the U.S. are doing the same. However, CNN points out that "a new study by Imperial College London suggests the number of infections in Wuhan is likely to have been grossly underestimated."
"The detection of three cases outside China is worrying," Neil Ferguson, a disease outbreak scientist at Imperial College London, said. "We calculate, based on flight and population data, that there is only a 1 in 574 chance that a person infected in Wuhan would travel overseas before they sought medical care. This implies there might have been over 1,700 cases in Wuhan so far." Jessica Hullinger
happening in virginia
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Virginia officials braced for possible violence as buses packed with gun-rights advocates began arriving in the capital city of Richmond for a large Monday rally where authorities fear an outburst of violence by white supremacists, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reports. Gov. Ralph Northam (D) last week declared a state of emergency in Richmond, and temporarily barred people from carrying firearms on the grounds of the state capitol. Gun-rights advocates, who are planning a peaceful rally, challenged the ban in court, but lost. "Virginians have the right to assemble. And I believe in the right to bear arms. But what we have seen and heard in recent weeks has the potential to go far beyond these constitutionally protected rights," Northam said last week. "We are seeing threats of violence." Organizers said Monday's protests against possible new gun-control legislation could draw 50,000 people, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reports. Harold Maass
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The Kansas City Chiefs beat the Tennessee Titans 35-24 to win the AFC Championship game on Sunday, earning the team its first spot in the Super Bowl in half a century, NPR noted. The Chiefs will play the San Francisco 49ers, who defeated the Green Bay Packers 37-20 in the NFC Championship game. The Chiefs came back from a 17-7 deficit in the first half. Kansas City was led by star quarterback Patrick Mahomes. He threw for three touchdowns and a total of 294 yards, including a 60-yard completion to wide receiver Sammy Watkins in the fourth quarter that helped seal the victory. "We're not done yet," Mahomes said. The 49ers earned their trip to professional football's Feb. 2 championship game with help from running back Raheem Mostert, who scored three touchdowns in the first half. Harold Maass
on the defensive
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President Trump has a noon deadline on Monday to submit his written defense against impeachment charges before his Senate trial gets fully underway on Tuesday, Reuters reports. Trump, only the third U.S. president to face such a trial, refused to cooperate with the impeachment inquiry in the Democratic-controlled House, so the document will amount to his first comprehensive defense against the charges that he abused his power by pressuring Ukraine to investigate Democrats, and tried to obstruct the House investigation.
On Saturday, Trump's defense team called the impeachment process "a brazen and unlawful attempt to overturn the results of the 2016 election and interfere with the 2020 election." House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) called the Trump legal team's response "errant nonsense," CBS News reports. Harold Maass