Everyone’s basking in Oscar’s golden glow. It’s Monday (Leap Day!), and here are the five things you need to know to Get Up to Speed and Out the Door.
OSCARS
Finally!: That’s what all of America yelled last night as Leo DiCaprio claimed his best actor prize and at long last joined the ranks of Oscar greats. It was one of many dynamic moments from the show: Chris Rock’s on-point monologue, a surprise best picture winner in “Spotlight,” Lady Gaga’s emotional musical statement and Stacey Dash’s aaaawkward moment. Read all about it down in the Breakfast Browse.
CAMPAIGN 2016
Up and down: It was a tale of two front runners yesterday on the campaign trail. Hillary Clinton basked in the glow of her mega-beatdown of Bernie Sanders in South Carolina. Everyone knew she was going to win, but, wow, she even did better with black voters than Barack Obama did in the state in 2008. Meanwhile, Donald Trump had a little rougher Sunday morning, after he inexplicably failed to denounce remarks of support from ex-KKK grand wizard David Duke. Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio and pretty much the whole world pounced with criticism. Trump later cleaned it all up with a tweet from a news conference last week where he did disavow Duke.
NORTH KOREA DETAINEE
Korean confession?: Two months after his arrest, we’ve finally gotten a glimpse of Otto Frederick Warmbier, an American student at the University of Virginia, who’s being held in North Korea. He’s accused of trying to steal a North Korean banner from his hotel. Even for the North that’s an odd charge. Warmbier spoke this morning at a press conference where he “confessed” and tearfully apologized. Is he being forced to say all this? Probably, but no one knows for sure. And the State Department will only say that it knows a U.S. citizen is being detained there.
POLICE OFFICER KILLED
Simply sad: It’s always distressing when a police officer is killed in the line of duty. But for an officer to be killed on the first day on the job? Heartbreaking. Such was the fate of Officer Ashley Guindon, 28, of the Prince William County Police Department, who was fatally shot Saturday while responding to a domestic disturbance. She had just taken the oath of office the day before. Her police chief said Guindon “had a passion to serve others that went beyond herself.”
IRAN ELECTIONS
Dawn of a new day?: It’s looking pretty good for Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and his fellow reformers, at least that’s the word on early election results out of Tehran this morning. Official results may not come until tomorrow, but the early indicators suggest a sweeping victory for the reformers. Rouhani signed last year’s nuke deal with the West, which brought sanctions relief to Iran. The country’s hardliners grumbled (sound familiar?), but apparently that wasn’t enough to stop voters from backing Rouhani at the polls.
BREAKFAST BROWSE
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Quote of the day:
“I’m here at the Academy Awards, otherwise known as the White People’s Choice Awards”
Host Chris Rock, chastising the Oscars’ diversity woes at the start of the show
#OscarsSoWhite
It didn’t end with Rock’s monologue. The lack of nomination color was a running gag, including a sketch of black actors being inserted into nominated films.
Today in facepalm
A health and beauty blog called @TotalBeauty can’t tell the difference between Whoopi Goldberg and Oprah Winfrey. They quickly apologized.
Jack and Rose, reunited
Before rejoicing over his Oscar win, the world reveled in DiCaprio’s “Titanic” reunion with Kate Winslet on the red carpet.
Girls Scouts cookies sale
When the audience is full of millionaires, it’s the perfect time to hawk Thin Mints and Samoas.
Touching tune
Lady Gaga provided the night’s emotional apex, with an impassioned performance of “Til It Happens to You,” her song about sexual assault. At the end she was joined on stage by dozens of survivors.