Thursday Scoop: Bye-Bye, Donnie

Welcome to the Morning Scoop for Thursday, August 30, 2018. There goes yet another member of the Trump administration, setting records for the highest turnover rate in presidential history. As DJ Khaled would say, “Another one.”

We’ve got something really cool happening next week, and we want you to be a part of it; we’re beginning our first session of the CMN music journalism course. Check it out here. 

White House Counsel McGahn to Leave Trump Administration in the Fall

Here he’s thinking, “has it really been 19 months already?” (image: Flickr)

President Trump announced yesterday that his top lawyer, Don McGahn, will be leaving the White House in the fall. According to the AP, this departure is unlike others that the president has experienced, as the relationship between Trump and McGahn remains amicable and professional.

McGahn’s position, while not attracting the limelight, has been influential in the Trump administration. As top counsel, McGahn has been in charge of handling Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation, and has given important input into policy and national security. He will remain with the White House until after the Senate confirmation of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.

McGahn has been with the Trump White House for 19 months.

Officer Who Killed Unarmed Black Teen Will Serve Fifteen Years

Former Texas police officer Roy Oliver was sentenced to serve fifteen years in prison and pay a $10,000 fine after shooting a killing an unarmed black teenager in 2017. The sentencing follows Oliver’s murder conviction, which came earlier this week.The family of fifteen-year-old Jordan Edwards has made it clear that they feel this sentence is too light, and had hoped that Oliver would serve at least 25 to 30 years. Oliver is also eligible for parole after seven and a half years.

Oliver’s attorney cited many mistakes during the trial, and indicated that they will file an appeal.

California Will Eliminate Its Cash Bail System to Reform Criminal Justice

California will become the first state in the country to officially end its cash bail system as part of the effort to reform its criminal justice system. On Tuesday, Democratic Governor Jerry Brown signed the ratified bill from the Democratic majority state legislature in the state capital city of Sacramento into law after a more than 40-year fight to reform and eventually end the system under Brown’s previous term during the 1970’s. This new law comes as a result of a state appellate decision in 2017 that declared the state’s cash bail system unconstitutional.

The law will go into effect in October 2019. To find out what this means, check out Duane Murphy’s report here. 

Today in a Tweet: End of Summer

We’d like to remind everyone that it’s National Beach Day, just to rub it in that summer is over. 

Last But Not Least: Want to Make $300? Try Eating Avocados

In a collaborative study, Loma Linda University, Penn State University, Tufts University and the University of California, Los Angeles, are inviting 250 participants each to eat avocados over the span of six months to see if the fatty fruit actually promotes weight loss and reduces belly fat. The control group can only eat as many as two avocados per month, but will receive 24 avocados when they successfully complete the study. The test group, on the other hand, will be given 16 avocados every two weeks, and are expected to eat one a day. All participants are required to see a dietitian on a monthly basis, and also get a free health screening and MRI from an LLU technician.

Read more about the study in Kayleigh Shultis’ report here.

Thursday’s Morning Scoop was made possible by Kayleigh Shultis, Duane Murphy, and the CMN Staff. We’ve always wanted to talk like DJ Khaled, and we’ve never been able to pull it off. That’s for cool people only.