Skimm'd after hanging out with Katie Couric

"There is no need to call law enforcement" – A Minnesota police department wants people to stop bothering them with reports of drunk birds. There's no such thing as a DUFly.

VOTING TIME

The Story

Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation saga might be coming to an end.

10 second recap.

Trump nominated Kavanaugh to fill the empty Supreme Court seat. He had his confirmation hearings, the GOP liked him. It was all going smoothly. Then Christine Blasey Ford, Deborah Ramirez, Julie Swetnick, and a fourth unidentified person accused Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct. Kavanaugh denies all allegations. He and Ford testified publicly. And the Senate Judiciary Committee cleared him for the next stage of the confirmation process – but gave the FBI a week to do some more digging on all this. Now, we're here.

So what's the latest?

Today, the Senate is holding a cloture vote.

What even is that?

Think of it as a pre-vote vote. If there are 51 votes for it, senators have tops 30 hours to debate. Basically it makes it so a party can't pull off a filibuster and delay things indefinitely. If they get cloture, the vote to confirm Kavanaugh could happen tomorrow. But one Republican senator can't make it – he has a thing.

So...are there even enough votes for this?

Unclear. Eyes are on a few senators who are still maybes – like Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) who's up for re-election in a red state. And Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) – who sometimes switch it up and vote with the Dems. Plus Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ), who's retiring and has a little more flexibility to do what he wants. He's also the one who called for the FBI investigation.

Yeah, how'd that go?

We don't know, because this was an FBI background check and it's illegal to share that info with the public. That's why senators were going into the Chamber of Secrets all day yesterday to read the literal one copy of it.

Ok, but reactions?

Flake and Collins called the report "thorough," hinting they might be ready to vote yes. Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND) – who used to be a 'maybe' – came out against him. But it's because she thinks he showed questionable "temperament, honesty, and impartiality" at last week's hearing. Other Dem senators said the report seemed "incomplete" and "smacks of a whitewash." Ford's attorneys said, 'um...forgetting someone?'

You mentioned temperament...

Yup – Kavanaugh was visibly angry during last week's testimony. Democrats, more than 2,400 law professors, and retired Justice John Paul Stevens have called Kavanaugh out for his heated exchanges with Dems last week and questioned whether he was fit to be an impartial judge on the court. Yesterday, Kavanaugh came out with an op-ed saying 'I hear you, I got a little heated, but I'll be a fair judge.'

What happens if Kavanaugh gets confirmed?

Get ready for his name to have the word "Justice" in front of it.

What happens if he doesn't?

Back to the drawing board. President Trump nominates someone new – or he could re-nominate Kavanaugh. And this whole process starts again.

theSkimm

This has been a heavy couple of weeks for Americans on both sides of the aisle. And has only widened the partisan divide. The decision that senators make this weekend could affect the country for generations to come.

PS: In case you haven't been keeping close tabs on this story, we got you. Get caught up here.

REPEAT AFTER ME...

What to say when your co-worker won't let you borrow their phone charger...

How about sharing? Today, Denis Mukwege and Nadia Murad both won the Nobel Peace Prize for their work to end sexual violence as a weapon of war. Mukwege's a Congolese gynecologist whose hospital has treated thousands of sexual assault victims in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Murad's an Iraqi human rights activist who was forced into sex slavery after being captured by ISIS in 2014. She's also apparently the second youngest prize winner at age 25. They beat out more than 300 nominees, including Pope Francis, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in, and President Trump. The awards committee says Mukwege and Murad have helped give "greater visibility" to an important issue.

What to say when you get an ad for something you talked about…

Who's listening? Yesterday, a report dropped alleging that China's been spying on Amazon, Apple, and other tech companies through its servers. And that the US gov has been looking into this since 2015. Here's what happened: China's gov has allegedly been gathering details on US companies' IP and trade secrets by slipping microchips into their 'Assembled in China' servers. Sneaky, sneaky. The US companies are saying 'whoa, whoa, whoa this never happened.' In other news of things acting kinda shady, Russia. Yesterday, the DOJ indicted seven Russian officers for their involvement in cyberattacks. Think: allegedly trying to hack a nuclear energy company in PA, and hacking Olympic athletes' medical records. Other Western allies also had a bone to pick with the Kremlin. Keep your friends close and your cyber data closer.

Who people are talking about…

Marion "Suge" Knight. Yesterday, the former rap mogul – behind albums from Dr Dre, Snoop Dogg and Tupac – was sentenced to 28 years in prison for a deadly hit-and-run.

What to say when you hear about the latest salmonella recall…

Where's the beef? Hey, Yankees and Red Sox.

SKIMM READS

"The Bucket List" by Georgia Clark

You've heard of a bucket list. Now, meet the boob bucket list. This one's about a 25-year-old woman who finds out she has a breast cancer gene mutation and struggles with the decision of whether or not to get a double mastectomy. In the meantime, she makes a "boob bucket list." Read to find out how she lives her breast life.

PS: Take a look at all our Skimm Reads here. Happy weekend.

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