These are the headlines you Need 2 Know for Wednesday, November 20, 2019:
  • DEBATE TONIGHT: Ten Democratic presidential candidates will be on stage for the fifth primary debate tonight. Since the last time they met, Beto O’Rourke dropped out, Julian Castro failed to qualify for this round, and Pete Buttigieg is now the frontrunner in Iowa. Look for Mayor Pete to be the focus of more attacks from the rest of the field. The debate starts at 9 p.m. ET and is being carried on MSNBC. For only the third time ever, all the moderators will be women. Preview
  • IMPEACHMENT: THE LATEST: Lt. Col Alexander Vindman and Jennifer Williams, two current White House officials, testified that President Trump’s request of the Ukranian president was “unusual” and “inappropriate.” The White House issued statements questioning the credibility of both witnesses in what may be the first time ever that an administration has openly attacked its own employees. NY Times
  • IMPEACHMENT: WHAT’S NEXT: Gordon Sondland, the ambassador to the EU, testifies this morning and is one of the most-anticipated witnesses of the inquiry. Sondland is a former Trump donor who has been described as a key part of the administration’s pressure campaign to influence Ukraine. After he wraps up, two more State Dept. officials will testify in the afternoon. Washington Post
  • EPSTEIN INVESTIGATION: Two jail guards who were supposed to be keeping watch over Jeffrey Epstein are now facing federal charges, accused of falsifying records to show that they were following protocol, when instead were allegedly sleeping and surfing the internet. Tova Noel and Michael Thomas were supposed to be checking on the prisoners every half hour but prosecutors say they didn’t check in on Epstein for almost eight hours the night he committed suicide. The indictment also reveals that surveillance video shows no one entered Epstein’s cell the night he died. The guards pleaded not guilty. AP
  • NY VS. JUUL: New York state is suing e-cig company Juul, accusing it of marketing its products toward teens. AG Letitia James, referencing statistics on an increase in teen vaping, said “there is no doubt” that Juul “has caused this addiction.” Juul says it “does not intend to attract underage users.” CNBC
  • ROBERTS AS TUBMAN? Julia Roberts is said to have once been a studio head’s choice to play Harriet Tubman. Harriet screenwriter Gregory Allen Howard said in a recent Q & A that in 1994, when the movie was first ideated, he was told that a Hollywood executive wanted Roberts to be cast as the historic abolitionist. Howard says when someone argued Roberts couldn’t be Tubman (who is now played by Cynthia Erivo) because she was black and Roberts is white, the exec said: “It was so long ago. No one is going to know the difference.” Read the Q&A
Cheddar's Hena Doba and Jill Wagner get into the latest.
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