Nov 17, 2019 - Politics & Policy

"SNL" cold open reimagines impeachment hearings as a soap opera

A screenshot of Jon Hamm as Bill Taylor and Kate McKinnon as Rudy Giuliani on "Saturday Night Live." Photo: "SNL"/NBC

"Saturday Night Live" parodied the Trump impeachment hearings as a "Days of Our Lives"-inspired reimagination — dubbed the "Days of Our Impeachment" — in its latest cold open, with Jon Hamm starring as diplomat Bill Taylor.

The big picture: Other highlights included Cecily Strong as Marie Yovanovitch, the former Ukraine ambassador targeted by President Trump's tweets as she testified Friday. And Kate McKinnon was back as Trump's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, declaring: "Mercury’s in retrograde, so my powers are at an all-time high."

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Axios
Updated 53 mins ago - Politics & Policy

Supreme Court clears way for first federal execution since 2003

Lethal injection facility in San Quentin, California. Photo: California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation via Getty Images

The Supreme Court ruled early Tuesday that federal executions can resume, reversing a lower court decision and paving the way for the first lethal injection since 2003 to take place at a federal prison in Indiana, AP reports.

The big picture: A lower court had delayed the execution, saying inmates had provided evidence the government's plan to carry out executions using lethal injections "poses an unconstitutionally significant risk of serious pain."

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Sam Baker
2 hours ago - Health

More Republicans say they're wearing masks

Data: Axios/Ipsos poll; Chart: Andrew Witherspoon/Axios

Nearly two-thirds of Americans — and a noticeably increasing number of Republicans — say they’re wearing a face mask whenever they leave the house, according to the latest installment of the Axios-Ipsos Coronavirus Index.

Why it matters: A weakening partisan divide over masks, and a broad-based increase in the number of people wearing them, would be a welcome development as most of the country tries to beat back a rapidly growing outbreak.

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Joann Muller
2 hours ago - Economy & Business

Buildings are getting tested for coronavirus, too

Illustration: Eniola Odetunde/Axios

Testing buildings — not just people — could be an important way to stop the spread of the coronavirus.

Why it matters: People won't feel safe returning to schools, offices, bars and restaurants unless they can be assured they won't be infected by coronavirus particles lingering in the air — or being pumped through the buildings' air ducts. One day, even office furniture lined with plants could be used to clean air in cubicles.

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