Friday, Dec 6, 2019 | View in browser

Good morning.

We’re covering Pete Buttigieg’s work with the consulting company McKinsey, a rush-hour shootout in South Florida, and a scandal involving Spain’s version of “Big Brother.”

By Chris Stanford

Speaker Nancy Pelosi addressed reporters on Thursday after announcing that the House would begin drafting impeachment articles against President Trump. Alyssa Schukar for The New York Times

Nancy Pelosi’s evolution on impeachment

Having said nine months ago that she opposed the “divisive” idea of impeaching President Trump, the speaker has announced a timetable that could lead to a vote in the House before Christmas.

She was swayed, our congressional correspondent writes, by the news of Mr. Trump’s pressure on Ukraine to investigate his political rivals. Her shift was “in part the story of her sense of timing, her methodical approach to decision making and her ability to read the sensibilities and political needs of her fractious and often unruly caucus.”

After her address on Thursday, Ms. Pelosi warned a reporter who asked whether she hated Mr. Trump: “Don’t mess with me.”

What’s next: The White House faces a deadline today to notify the House Judiciary Committee whether it intends to present a defense or put forward witnesses. The panel has scheduled its next impeachment hearing for Monday.

Another angle: Administration officials disputed details in the House Intelligence Committee’s report about calls between Rudy Giuliani, Mr. Trump’s personal lawyer, and White House aides.

Closer look: Some congressional aides who have appeared in the background of photographs during the impeachment hearings have found momentary fame.

Pete Buttigieg’s rise as a McKinsey ‘whiz kid’

Before becoming mayor of South Bend, Ind., Mr. Buttigieg spent nearly three years working at McKinsey & Company, the prestigious management consultancy.

The Democratic presidential candidate hasn’t much discussed his time with the company, citing a nondisclosure agreement. But The Times spoke to six people who were involved in projects he worked on, including in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Another angle: After starting out with a diverse field of presidential candidates, the Democratic Party risks presenting an all-white lineup at its debate this month.

Yesterday: Joe Biden received the endorsement of former Secretary of State John Kerry. Mr. Biden also called a voter in Iowa who questioned his son’s business dealings a “damn liar.”

The Daily: Today’s episode includes an interview with Senator Bernie Sanders.

Protesters tried to build a barricade in Paris on Thursday. Bulent Kilic/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

A day of upheaval in France

Nationwide strikes are expected to continue in France today after mass demonstrations on Thursday against the government’s plan to overhaul the country’s generous pension system.

The protests are partly a response to President Emmanuel Macron, a former investment banker whose sometimes imperious style has made him broadly unpopular.

The details: Mr. Macron isn’t proposing to spend less on pensions or to make people retire later, but his efforts to combine 42 pension schemes have raised fears that he will reshuffle the system’s winners and losers.

Go deeper: Unlike last year’s “Yellow Vest” demonstrations, which were led by the marginally employed, this strike includes many unionized workers such as teachers, hospital workers and some civil servants.

If you have time this weekend, this is worth it

The champion who picked a date to die

Lynsey Addario for The New York Times

Belgium, where more than 2,300 patients died by euthanasia last year, has liberal laws for doctor-assisted death.

But when Marieke Vervoort, above, a champion Paralympian, obtained preliminary approval to end her life, her parents were uncomfortable with the idea. Even her doctor said that Ms. Vervoort didn’t seem ready to follow through — and she agreed.

Two Times journalists spent three years reporting on Ms. Vervoort as she wrestled with an agonizing decision. “We cry a lot,” she said of her family. “It’s not natural for parents to give their daughter away first.”

Here’s what else is happening

South Florida shootout: Four people were killed in a police chase involving a stolen U.P.S. truck outside Miami.

Uber’s safety record: The company said it had reports of 3,045 sexual assaults during its 1.3 billion rides in the U.S. last year, with nine people murdered and 58 killed in crashes.

Erasing a donor’s name: Tufts University said that it would remove the Sacklers’ name from facilities because of the family’s role in the opioid crisis, but that it would not return their donations.

Spain’s “Big Brother” scandal: A former contestant said the staff of “Gran Hermano” had recorded her being sexually assaulted and then her emotional reaction as she watched the video.

This is real news: An image of a black hole and a treatment for peanut allergies are among 22 things that happened for the first time in 2019. The list is part of a special report from our Opinion section about what critical moments this year might mean for 2020.

Victoria Jones/Press Association, via Associated Press

Snapshot: Above, a sad-looking Christmas tree in London’s Trafalgar Square. The 79-foot fir, a gift from Norway, is the talk of the town — and not in a good way.

News quiz: Did you follow the headlines this week? Test yourself.

Modern Love: In this week’s column, a woman writes about celebrating her 52nd wedding anniversary and then filing for divorce.

Late-night comedy: James Corden asked: “The House will now file articles of impeachment, then it will go to a full vote, then it could go to the Senate. I mean, how many steps are there in this? Are we impeaching a president or assembling a futon from Ikea?”

What we’re looking at: These novel gingerbread houses collected by Dwell. “They’re real architectural lookers,” writes Lynda Richardson, a Travel editor, “from midcentury modern creations and an Airstream to Philip Johnson’s Glass House.”

Now, a break from the news

Con Poulos for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Susan Spungen. Prop Stylist: Paige Hicks.

Cook: We have 12 stunning cookie recipes for Christmas, including these peppermint stripes. (If you’re as enchanted by the videos as we are, read about how they came together. It involved five months of work and the “Babe Ruth of cookies.”)

Go: “Jagged Little Pill,” the Broadway musical based on Alanis Morissette’s 1995 megahit album, is “rousing and real,” our critic writes. It’s at the Broadhurst Theater in Manhattan.

Read: Spiritually minded books are among the 11 titles we recommend this week.

Smarter Living: One thing you can do for the environment is to use smarter holiday lights.

And now for the Back Story on …

Jerusalem’s status

The Trump administration recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital two years ago today. We asked our Jerusalem bureau chief, David M. Halbfinger, how that has played out.

Little has changed as a direct result; other countries have hardly lined up to follow suit. But the announcement now almost seems quaint.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, left, and David Friedman, the U.S. ambassador to Israel, at the American Embassy in Jerusalem in March. Jim Young/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

What was a shock at the time was followed by many more such administration moves: shifting the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv; downgrading the diplomatic mission to the Palestinians; wholesale aid cuts; attacks on the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees; the closing of the P.L.O. office in Washington; ceasing to use the term “occupied territory”; openness to Israeli annexation of West Bank land; and, most recently, repudiation of a decades-old State Department opinion that the settlements are illegitimate.

The Palestinians now will have nothing to do with the Trump administration as a mediator. But their reasons for that could take up another book of the Bible.

That’s it for this briefing. See you next time.

— Chris

Thank you
Mark Josephson and Eleanor Stanford provided the break from the news. You can reach the team at briefing@nytimes.com.

P.S.
• We’re listening to “The Daily.” Today’s episode includes an interview with Bernie Sanders.
• Here’s today’s Mini Crossword, and a clue: Replies to an invite (five letters). You can find all our puzzles here.
• “Smarter Living,” a book based on the popular Times section, is now available for purchase.