| Wednesday, Nov 27, 2019 | | | | We’re covering weather woes for Thanksgiving travelers, President Trump’s plan to label Mexican drug cartels terrorists, and a major upset in college basketball. | |  By Chris Stanford | | | In Boulder, Colo., on Tuesday, when parts of the state received as much as 30 inches of snow. Chet Strange for The New York Times | | | Powerful winds are expected today in the Northwest, along with blizzard conditions in the Midwest and rain in the Northeast, after foul weather disrupted plans during one of the busiest travel weeks of the year. | | | Hundreds of flights were canceled and parts of interstate highways were closed on Tuesday because of unsafe conditions. | | | Quiz: How much do you know about turkey pardons, football and the dangers of deep-frying? Test yourself. | | | A transcript of the testimony by the official, Mark Sandy, was released on Tuesday. He didn’t identify either colleague, and it was unclear how directly their resignations were tied to their concerns over the aid. | | | The issue is at the heart of the impeachment inquiry. The president has said he never pressured Ukraine for investigations of his political rivals or tied the aid to them. | | | The Daily: Today’s episode is about how the Biden family was drawn into the Ukraine affair. | | | What’s next: The House Judiciary Committee will hold hearings as part of the inquiry next week. | | | A protest in Philadelphia in May highlighted drug overdoses, one of the leading killers of middle-aged Americans. Matt Rourke/Associated Press | | | According to a study published on Tuesday, death rates for people aged 25 to 64 increased in nearly every state from 2010 to 2017. | | | Quotable: “The whole country is at a health disadvantage compared to other wealthy nations,” the study’s lead author said. “We are losing people in the most productive period of their lives.” | | | Related: The country’s fertility rate fell in 2018 for the fourth straight year, the federal government said today. There were 59.1 births for every 1,000 women of childbearing age in the U.S. last year, a record low. | | | FEMA officials say much of the problem lies with a system in which local governments or charities pay to begin recovery efforts and are later reimbursed by the federal government. But the islands have seen a sluggish economic recovery, complicated by corruption and, islanders say, questions of race. | | | Why it matters: The disparity in the response shows how Washington has treated citizens on the mainland, with voting representatives in Congress and a say in presidential elections, compared with citizens on the islands. | | | Response: “Comparing disasters misleads the American people,” Jeffrey Byard, an official with FEMA’s Office of Response and Recovery, said. “Each event has a unique set of circumstances, and numbers alone cannot and do not provide a complete picture of what is needed to help communities recover.” | | | In 1964, a TV crew followed a group of 7-year-olds from various socioeconomic backgrounds in Britain to explore the subject of class. | | | The director Michael Apted returned to interview them every seven years, creating what has arguably become the most profound documentary series in the history of cinema. The Times Magazine explores the “Up” series as the project nears its conclusion. | | | PAID POST: A MESSAGE FROM EMMA | | Here's one free month to see how email marketing can work for you. | | At Emma, we're email people, not math people. But $44 ROI for each $1 spent is something we can get on board with. You too? That's the magic of an email marketing platform that gives you all the tools you need to really connect with your subscribers at the right time, resulting in increased clicks, higher engagement, and more sales. | | | Get a free month | | | | Earthquake’s aftermath: The death toll in Albania rose to at least 24 today after one of the strongest tremors to hit the country in decades. | | | Sebastian Modak/The New York Times | | | College basketball shocker: The unranked Stephen F. Austin men’s team beat top-ranked Duke in overtime, ending the Blue Devils’ 150-game home winning streak against nonconference opponents. | | | Late-night comedy: President Trump pardoned two turkeys, named Bread and Butter, as part of the annual White House Thanksgiving tradition. Jimmy Fallon said, “I saw that you could actually go online and vote for which turkey got the official pardon, which is why Butter’s lawyer got caught in Ukraine trying to find dirt on Bread.” | | | What we’re reading: This piece from Politico, by Ryan Lizza. Bill Wasik, the deputy editor of The Times Magazine, calls it a “truly unmissable piece of reporting and synthesis about Barack Obama’s mind-set toward the 2020 primary.” | | | Johnny Miller for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Rebecca Jurkevich. | | | Watch: In “The Two Popes,” Jonathan Pryce (as the future Pope Francis) and Anthony Hopkins (as Pope Benedict XVI) star in a study of faith, friendship and power. | | | Celery — the subject of at least three food fads over the last 150 years — may finally be ready for a permanent starring role. | | | The vegetable, grown for centuries in the Mediterranean, became wildly popular in the late 19th century. Raw stalks were arranged in crystal vases on dinner tables created to show off the era’s “It” ingredient. | | | Linda Xiao for The New York Times | | | In the U.S., Dutch immigrants started growing the vegetable as early as 1874 near Kalamazoo, Mich., which was subsequently nicknamed Celery City. The seeds were disseminated across the country, and another celery craze ensued. | | | Fast-forward to 2018: “Last year, we had a huge spike in consumption because a Kardashian started juicing it and put it on her Instagram,” said Jake Willbrandt, a fifth-generation celery farmer in Decatur, Mich. (Dietitians say the juice is good for you, but is not a cure-all.) | | | That’s it for this briefing. | | | We’re off tomorrow for Thanksgiving, but we’ll return on Friday. | | Thank you
Mark Josephson and Eleanor Stanford provided the break from the news. Today’s Back Story was based on reporting by Alexa Weibel. You can reach the team at briefing@nytimes.com. | | | Were you sent this briefing by a friend? Sign up here to get the Morning Briefing. | | |
