Good morning. It’s Tuesday, Aug. 11, and we fully support the policy at this chic New York nightclub to let guests skip the line if they have their moms with them. Let’s get to the news.
President Donald Trump took a secret flight after an assassination threat from Iran.
A catering truck parked beside Air Force One before departure from Ankara Esenboga Airport in Turkey on July 8. (Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images)
An elaborate ruse: Trump boarded Air Force One when leaving Turkey last month. Then he was shuttled to a smaller plane in an airport catering truck — see an annotated video here.
Even some White House staffers were unaware: The clandestine operation effectively made Air Force One a “decoy,” with some staff and journalists left aboard, one U.S. official said.
Trump demanded major changes yesterday to childhood vaccine recommendations.
In a new executive order: Trump called for cutting the number of recommended childhood vaccines, among other changes. He cited largely debunked research during a signing ceremony.
In other Trump news: The president has been making it clear in the past few weeks that he will not take Supreme Court decisions as the final word on some of his top political priorities.
Two Republican senators released a trove of texts from Anthony Fauci’s phone.
Why? Sens. Ron Johnson and Rand Paul lead panels investigating Fauci. They have accused him of not being sufficiently truthful in past testimony about the pandemic, which Fauci denies.
What do the texts say? Read the key messages here. They include a discussion between Fauci and health officials on whether the coronavirus vaccine posed a risk to pregnant women.
A powerful earthquake killed at least 150 people in Colombia yesterday.
A tower at the cathedral in Manizales, west of Bogotá, was left leaning by the quake. (John Jairo Bonilla/AP)
What happened? A 7.4-magnitude quake struck the west of the country, causing dozens of buildings to collapse. It was the strongest quake to hit Colombia in a decade.
Rescue efforts are ongoing: Workers are searching for survivors in the rubble of fallen buildings in several cities. More than 2,700 people were reported missing.
The year’s best meteor shower peaks this week, coinciding with a solar eclipse.
Look up: The Perseid meteor shower will be most active today through Thursday, with more than 75 meteors per hour visible under clear, dark skies. Find tips for viewing it here.
The peak is tomorrow night: That’s the same time a total solar eclipse will be visible in parts of Spain, Iceland and Greenland. Scientists will be watching this mysterious phenomenon.
Dogs can tell when you’re happy, sad or frustrated, a new study found.
A dog in an MRI machine during the experiment. (Laura V. Cuaya)
Caring canines: Researchers put dogs in MRI scanners to analyze their brain activity as they looked at images of human facial expressions. The dogs were awake and unrestrained.
The results: The dogs seemed able to distinguish between nuanced emotions, such as fear and sadness. But there are still unanswered questions about how our pups perceive us.
Some families are paying thousands: The companies promise to save students valuable time, and reassure parents who are anxious about their kids leaving home.
Listen to this briefing
