The Daily Moth 11-21-19

0:12 - Impeachment hearing: testimony from Fiona Hill and David Holmes

4:28 - 10-year-old boy dies after being shot during high school football game

7:55 - Keystone oil pipeline spills 383,000 gallons in North Dakota

11:36 - World News: Deadly protests over petrol prices in Iran; Israel’s PM Netanyahu indicted with corruption charges

14:13 - Deaf drone pilot films “Burning Man” festival

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[TheDailyMoth]

[Transcript] Hello, welcome to The Daily Moth! It is Thursday, November 21. Ready for news?


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Impeachment hearing: testimony from Fiona Hill and David Holmes


Here are updates of today’s impeachment hearing. Two people testified — Fiona Hill, who is President Trump’s former adviser on Russia, and David Holmes, who is a U.S. official who works in the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine.


Hill said that the idea that Ukraine, not Russia, tried to interfere with U.S. elections is false. She emphasized that Russia is the one who attacked our “democratic institutions in 2016.” She said that Russia is succeeding in tearing apart our nation and in distracting President Trump. Hill said that Ukraine still needs our support to counter Russian aggression.


She said that she and the former National Security Adviser John Bolton was out of the loop on discussions of an agreement that there would be an investigation on the company Burisma in exchange for a White House meeting. She said when she eventually found out and informed Bolton of the deal, Bolton called it a “drug deal.”


Holmes testified that his work in the embassy was “overshadowed” by a political agenda that came from Rudy Giuliani and others who had a “direct channel to the White House.”


Holmes said that the day after the July 25 phone call between Trump and the Ukrainian president Zelensky, the day after, he met with a few Zelensky aides and Gordon Sondland at a restaurant in Kiev, Ukraine. He said he overheard a phone call between President Trump and Sondland in which Sondland said Zelensky would open the investigations and do anything that Trump asks him to do. He said he remembered that Trump’s voice on the phone was very loud and that Sondland had to hold the phone away from his ear.


President Trump tweeted that it was impossible to watch a person make a phone call and hear or understand a conversation.


The White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham said today’s witnesses relied heavily on their own assumptions and opinions and that they have no personal or direct knowledge on why U.S. aid to Ukraine was temporarily withheld. Grisham said Democrats are motivated by a sick hatred for President Trump and a rabid desire to overturn the 2016 election.






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10-year-old boy dies after being shot during high school football game


On November 15, there was a shooting at a high school football playoff game in Pleasantville, New Jersey.


A 31-year-old man, who was with four other men, is accused by police of trying to gun down another man in the stands. Witnesses said they heard at least six gunshots.


A 10-year-old boy, Micah “Dew” Tennant, was hit in the neck by a bullet and died yesterday after being in a hospital in critical condition.


A 15-year-old boy was grazed by a bullet but will recover.


A 27-year-old man, who was the intended target, was injured and is still in a hospital in stable condition. Police said he will be charged with unlawful possession of a handgun.


The game on Friday night was suspended in the third quarter because of the shooting. The NFL team Philadelphia Eagles welcomed the teams to finish out the game at Lincoln Financial Field on Wednesday (yesterday).


Before the game and the national anthem, it was announced that Micah died of his injuries. There was a moment of silence. Players on both teams were joined arm in arm and some displayed the number 10 on their uniforms or wrote “Micah” on their helmets to honor him.


The Philadelphia Eagles tweeted pictures and videos of the game with the words, “Some things are bigger than football.”


The suspected gunman, Alvin Wyatt, will be charged with murder and already has two counts of attempted murder. The four other men will get various weapons charges.


The high schools were the Camden and Pleasantville high schools.


There is a GoFundMe for Micah that has raised over $28, 000.








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Keystone oil pipeline spills 383, 000 gallons in North Dakota


The Keystone oil pipeline in North Dakota had a leak a few weeks ago that spilled 383, 000 gallons in the northeastern part of the state. This is the third spill in three years.


Now three top Democratic House Representatives have officially asked for a federal review of the pipeline’s owner, TC Energy, which is based in Calgary, Alberta.


TC Energy said the pipeline is back in service as of November 10 after their repair and restart plan was approved by federal authorities.


It is not known what caused the leak. Media reports say cleanup work continues.


The pipeline became operational in 2011 and can carry 23 million gallons of crude oil daily from Canada down to Illinois and Oklahoma.


The U.S. representatives said the spills threaten the public’s health and security and are concerned about the proposed Keystone XL pipeline, which is a $8 billion project that would create a pipeline from western Canada to Nebraska.


Oil pipelines became a very hot issue two years ago when thousands of indigenous peoples from Standing Rock reservation and their supporters mobilized to protect, protest, and disrupt crews installing the Dakota Access pipeline in the Dakotas.


More recently, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to advance the construction of the Dakota and Keystone XL pipelines four days after he was inaugurated in 2017.


The Dakota Access Pipeline is currently in operation and carries oil from North Dakota to central Illinois. The Keystone XL pipeline has been delayed due to battles in federal court, but is expected to start construction in 2020.








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World News: Deadly protests over petrol prices in Iran; Israel’s PM Netanyahu indicted with corruption charges


Here are two world news briefs.


The first — there were massive protests in Iran by people who were angry with the government after they announced on November 15 that gasoline prices would go up at least 50%. A human rights organization, Amnesty International, said over 100 protesters were killed by security forces who fired live rounds from rooftops and helicopters. Many businesses, banks, and government buildings were burned. The Iranian government shut down access to the internet for several days. Iranian officials said there is now calm and internet is being restored. They also denied that 100 people died.


The second news — Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was indicted with bribery, breach of trust, and fraud charges. This is the first time a sitting Israeli PM has been indicted. Netanyahu said he did nothing wrong. He does not have to resign. He was indicted by Israel’s attorney general after police recommended the charges that after doing three investigations. Israel is currently in a “post-election deadlock” after recent elections failed to give either the parties of Netanyahu or his rival, Benny Gantz, a large enough majority to form a government. There may be a third election in a year.