'This national tragedy'  This morning, we learned that Trump's impeachment defense team will include Kenneth Starr and Alan Dershowitz, via Darren Samuelsohn at Politico. Kyle Cheney wrote, “Trump's floor team will also include Pam Bondi and Jane Raskin.” Jacob Heilbrunn said, “A new Starr appears.” Amr Khalifa deemed it, “Cynical choices by a criminal President. Yet another sad day in this national tragedy.” Pekka Mykkänen called the choices a “time machine.”
NPR announced that reporters are battling new restrictions in trying to cover the Senate impeachment trial. Rebecca Shabad said, “I can confirm that these restrictions are making it much more challenging to interview senators.” For some insight into how the Trump administration ended up at an impeachment trial, read the Trump hotel’s mix of GOP insiders and hangers-on helped give rise to the impeachment episodes from the Washington Post’s David Fahrenthold, Josh Dawsey, and Jonathan O'Connell. Their headline includes the quote: “It was like a breeding ground.” “Every month, GOP pays for a $3,000 dinner at the Trump Hotel for party & White House aides, lobbyists, and others to dine and plot. Rudy & Lev were always there. Rudy sometimes didn’t pay,” Dawsey tweeted. In the rest of the country, Black Americans are deeply pessimistic about a country under Trump, whom more than 8 in 10 describe as “a racist,” according to a Washington Post-Ipsos poll written up by Cleve R. Wootson Jr., Vanessa Williams, Dan Balz, and Scott Clement. “More than 8 in 10 black Americans say they believe Trump is a racist and that he has made racism a bigger problem in the country. Nine in 10 disapprove of his job performance overall,” Jenna Johnson said. A very stable genius  The Washington Post got an excerpt from Carol Leonnig and Philip Rucker’s new book about the Trump administration’s first term: ‘You’re a bunch of dopes and babies’: Inside Trump’s stunning tirade against generals.
Leonnig tweeted: “Shocking new details from our book: Trump snarled at his generals, a female officer began to cry, and the supreme insult that many vowed never to discuss in public.” Greg Sargent added, “Trump to his generals: The Afghan war is a ‘loser war.’ ‘You're all losers. You don't know how to win anymore.’”
In his review of the book for the New York Times, Dwight Garner said the Meticulous Account of Trump’s Tenure Reads Like a Comic Horror Story. John Williams highlighted this quote from Garner's review: "It reads like a horror story, an almost comic immorality tale. It’s as if the president, as patient zero, had bitten an aide and slowly, bite by bite, an entire nation had lost its wits and its compass." Joumana Khatib admitted that it’s “hard to pick just one quote from this review” before settling on this one: "'It’s just so unfair that American companies aren’t allowed to pay bribes to get business overseas,' Trump whines to a group of aides. Nearly every line from Trump, in 'A Very Stable Genius,' is this venal." Update on Iran Defense One’s Kevin Baron broke the news yesterday that Eleven US Troops Were Injured in the January 8 Iran Missile Strike. Later in the day, Kyle Feldscher tweeted: “@jaketapper, @rabrowne75, and @barbarastarrcnn confirm @DefenseOne report that 11 US service members were injured in the Iranian attack on an Iraqi airbase housing US troops.”
Kathryn Watson pointed out that the “Pentagon initially [said] there were no casualties.” Alan Sipress added, “11 U.S. troops were badly enough injured in the Iranian missile strike that they have now been evacuated from Iraq.” Election 2020  “We got our hands on private memos circulating among investors about what an [Elizabeth Warren] administration would mean for Wall Street. Turns out, concerns about what might happen to big business and the rich run deeper than we thought,” Kara Voght tweeted. You can read the resulting piece — Private documents reveal what Wall Street really thinks about Elizabeth Warren — which Voght wrote alongside Sam Van Pykeren for Mother Jones.
If you’re wondering why financial businesses might be less than keen to have Warren as president, perhaps it’s because a Trump Tax Cut Handed a $32 Billion Windfall to America’s Top Banks, according to Yalman Onaran’s latest Bloomberg News piece. Evelyn Yang revealed she was sexually assaulted by her OB-GYN while pregnant in an exclusive interview with ABC News’ Dana Bash, Bridget Nolan, Nelli Black, and Patricia DiCarlo. Evelyn is the wife of presidential candidate Andrew Yang. Dan Berman urged you to “READ THIS.” Kyle Feldscher praised, “Evelyn Yang is a very brave woman for talking about her experience and telling us her story.” Joe Biden sat down for an interview with the New York Times Opinion section in which he channeled Aaliyah and told them that Age Is Just a Number: “I ain’t dead. And I’m not going to die.” Laura Barron-Lopez wrote, “@JoeBiden tells NYT editorial: ‘I do support reparations for black Americans’ but adds ‘I think that the reparations argument and debate is worth people investigating it. But how do you make that judgment?’” “If you don’t understand why Biden is the Democratic front runner, scroll down and read the answer to the last extended question,” Richard Tofel added. ABC News set out to explain How Frank Biden leveraged his famous name for business gain. For those of you who didn’t know, Frank is Joe Biden's younger brother. ‘It’s about self-agency’  The Root got an exclusive from Rep. Ayanna Pressley, who Reveals Beautiful Bald Head and Discusses Alopecia for the First Time in a video for the site.
Meghan Kelly tweeted: “This video of @AyannaPressley revealing her alopecia is stunning and deeply moving.” Christina Prignano quoted Pressley saying: “It’s about self-agency. It’s about power. It’s about acceptance.” And Tonja Stidhum admitted, “I am tearing up. Big kudos to the video team @JessicaMoulite @Its_Velez for this major moment. I've respected @AyannaPressley for some time now, and this has added more of it.”
A few more The Justice Dept. is Investigating Years-Old Leaks and Appears Focused on Former FBI Director James Comey, according to New York Times’ Adam Goldman, who also tweeted: “The case is the second time the Justice Department has investigated leaks potentially involving Mr. Comey, a frequent target of President Trump, who has repeatedly called him a ‘leaker.’” Speaking of the FBI, They’ve Arrested Suspected Members of a Neo-Nazi Group Before a Virginia Gun Rally, a piece that was also written by Adam Goldman at the New York Times. Scott Dodd added the 3 arrested men “had weapons and discussed attending a pro-gun rally next week in Richmond, Va., in anticipation of a possible race war.” Across the pond, Greenpeace has been included on the UK’s counter-terror list with neo-Nazis, according to The Guardian’s Vikram Dodd and Jamie Grierson.  The BBC reported that Derek Fowlds, the “Yes Minister” and “Heartbeat” actor died at age 82. Daniel Bowen shared this “Yes Minister” quote in memoriam: "’Under consideration’ means ‘we've lost the file’; ‘under active consideration’ means ‘we're trying to find it.’”
And HBO won't pursue a second season of “Watchmen” because creator Damon Lindelof isn't interested in doing it, according to Gary Levin at USA Today. Alan Zilberman thinks, “This is terrific news. Any more Watchmen would be pointless.” Sam Adams agreed: “Hooray for Watchmen ending well and staying that way, but also still baffled there are people who read the last shot as a cliffhanger.” | 
On Wednesday, we asked: As part of its “America the Beautiful Quarters Program,” the U.S. Mint is releasing the National Park of American Samoa quarter next month, which features what on it?
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