Here’s what you need to know to Get Up to Speed and Out the Door. You can also get “5 Things You Need to Know Today” delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up here.
1. National security adviser
Sometimes the second time’s the charm. President Trump picked Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster to be his national security adviser. Trump needed a new one after the whole Michael Flynn fiasco. Republican foreign policy heavyweights hailed the McMaster pick as a home run. CNN’s Peter Bergen, our very own national security analyst, called the choice brilliant. McMaster’s a fighter and a thinker. He’s served in Germany, Southwest Asia and Iraq and holds a Ph.D. in military history.
2. Travel ban
Maybe a do-over will help the President’s travel ban too. A new executive order temporarily barring foreign nationals from seven mainly Muslim countries as well as refugees is expected this week, after the last one got shot down in the courts. But what will be different about the rewritten ban? Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly offered up some hints. He says there will be a longer phase-in period, so people won’t be surprised when they step off planes. And legal permanent residents or green card holders will almost certainly be exempt.
3. Jewish Community Center threats
The White House slammed a string of threats made against Jewish Community Centers across the country. This is significant because President Trump’s been accused of not forcefully denouncing acts of anti-Semitism that have occurred since his election. Ivanka Trump, who is Jewish, spoke out too, tweeting that “we must protect our houses of worship & religious centers.” Eleven bomb threats against centers were reported on Monday alone.
4. South Sudan
This is just heartbreaking. More than 40% of the population in South Sudan — that’s almost 5 million people — is in urgent need of help as famine grips the country. About 100,000 people are on the verge of starvation and many have already died of hunger. “Our worst fears have been realized” is how one aid worker described it. Nearly non-stop war, a refugee crisis and economic woes are the main causes for the famine in South Sudan, which gained its independence just six years ago.
5. Milo Yiannopoulos
Breibart News editor Milo Yiannopoulos had a really bad case of the Mondays. He was set to speak at this week’s Conservative Political Action Conference. Then video clips surfaced in which he appeared to be speaking in favor of pedophilia and joking about his own sexual encounter with a Catholic priest when he was younger. Goodbye CPAC speaking invite and goodbye book deal from Simon & Schuster. Yiannopoulos said he was “guilty of imprecise language.” But many didn’t want him speaking at CPAC anyway, because they consider him to be part of the alt-right and not a mainstream conservative.
BREAKFAST BROWSE
People are talking about these. Read up. Join in.
About last night
Sweden’s given us many things: Ikea, ABBA, supermodels. Now it’s sharing its humor as it roasts President Trump over his “terrorism” comments.
Twistin’ and turnin’
Shape shifting isn’t just for sci-fi movies. It’s for architecture too, as the world’s first rotating skyscraper is planned for Dubai.
Merry mix-up
Chefs strive for years to get a star in the Michelin Guide. A little bar and bistro in France got one by mistake, but it’s OK because it’s getting great reviews.
Superbad
An antibiotic-resistant superbug is floating around the International Space Station, but this isn’t a horror movie come to life. Just a chance to study it.
Private battle becomes public
Let’s send up some prayers for David Cassidy. The 1970s teen heartthrob — who is now 66 — says he’s suffering from dementia.
NUMBER OF THE DAY
$243,000
How much a phone used by Adolf Hitler sold for at an auction. It was dubbed by the auction house the “most destructive ‘weapon’ of all time” because Hitler used it to send millions of people to their deaths.
