It’s going to be a good ol’ southern showdown in Atlanta during tonight’s college football national championship game. Brush up with AJ’s hilarious preview of the game. 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. Golden Globes
The winners were almost an afterthought at the Golden Globes last night, the first major awards show held since the #MeToo movement took hold in Hollywood. Celebs wore black to show support for Time’s Up, the anti-sexual harassment initiative. Host Seth Meyers balanced cracking jokes with being respectful. And the highlight of the night belonged to Oprah. She lifted the crowd to its feet during her emotional speech accepting a lifetime achievement award. “A new day is on the horizon,” she said. “For too long, women have not been heard or believed if they dared to speak their truth to the power of those men.” The rousing speech is sparking a new round of speculation that the media mogul might run for president in 2020. (Here’s the transcript.)
The feminist theme reflected in the awards themselves, with shows “The Handmaid’s Tale,” “Big Little Lies” and “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” all winning big. But it was also a night of several firsts. You can check out the complete list of winners here.
2. Politics
The “Fire and Fury” weekend of the Trump presidency had a little bit of everything: The President bragged he’s a very stable genius and, like, really smart. White House adviser Stephen Miller tried to drive home the point in an interview/battle royale with CNN’s Jake Tapper. CIA Director Mike Pompeo felt the need to tell anyone who’d listen that no, the President’s not cracking up. UN Ambassador Nikki Haley got in on the action by defending Trump’s tweeting habit. Even the banished Steve Bannon walked back the “treasonous” comments attributed to him in Michael Wolff’s controversial book. But as Team Trump circles the wagons around him, there are new revelations, like how the President’s workday doesn’t begin until almost noon.
3. North and South Korea
For the first time in two years, the North and the South will sit down for high-level talks. They’ll meet tomorrow at the Peace House in the Demilitarized Zone. Topic No. 1: Getting North Korean athletes in next month’s Winter Olympics in South Korea. But of course the two sides will also talk about the North and its nuclear ambitions.
4. Las Vegas shooting
Stephen Paddock didn’t just hole up in his room for days on end before he killed 58 people in the Las Vegas massacre. Staff at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino staff interacted with him more than 10 times in the days leading up to the shooting. Questions arose over how Paddock had not raised the suspicions of hotel staff, and many of the victims of the shooting have filed lawsuits, questioning how the hotel staff didn’t notice anything unusual about Paddock’s behavior. But housekeepers “saw no signs of anything” suspicious in the suite.
5. Weather
People in the eastern half of the US: We know you’ve been living in an icebox for weeks. But hold on, warmer weather is on the way. About a quarter of Americans are under winter weather advisories this morning. And Sunday set 39 low temperature records across the eastern US. But starting this week, a slow but steady thaw begins that’ll actually have temperatures about 10 to 20 degrees above normal by the middle of the month.
BREAKFAST BROWSE
People are talking about these. Read up. Join in.
Codename Zuma
No, it’s not Marvel’s latest superhero movie. It’s the name of the super-secret spacecraft that SpaceX is putting into space for the US government.
Amazing astronaut
John Young did it all. He was one of only 12 people to walk on the moon, and he commanded the first space shuttle flight. He died at age 87.
Saudi sit-in
It’s tough being a prince in Saudi Arabia these days. Eleven of them were arrested after staging a sit-in to protest a cut in their perks.
RIP, Jerry
His big brother Dick had a bigger career, but Jerry Van Dyke carved out some stardom for himself on the sitcom “Coach.” The comedian died at age 86.
WHAT’S FOR LUNCH
Deadline day
Today is Homeland Security’s deadline for deciding whether some 250,000 nationals of El Salvador currently in the US will lose their protected status. If the protected status program is ended, most of these Salvadorans, some who’ve lived and worked in the US for decades, will be forced to leave the country.
NUMBERS OF THE DAY
$559.7 million
That’s how much somebody in New Hampshire won in the Powerball drawing. Someone in Florida nabbed the $450 million Mega Millions jackpot too.
32
The number of sailors missing after an oil tanker and freight ship collided off the east coast of China over the weekend
Here ya go
It’s the first full work week of 2018. Hopefully a horse gleefully playing with a stuffed toy duck in the snow helps ease you into it. (Click to view)