Good morning, NBC News readers.
President Donald Trump has lashed out on Twitter about the impeachment impasse, Democratic candidates are targeting minority voters in Iowa and what happens when a small town loses its hospital?
Here's what we're watching this morning.
Trump lashes out at Democrats over impeachment impasse
In a stream of post-Christmas tweets, President Donald Trump attacked Democrats, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her congressional district in San Francisco.
As the impeachment impasse continued, Trump called Democrats “vicious,” branded Pelosi “crazy” and her congressional district “filthy dirty.”
The president then lamented how "much more difficult" it is "to deal with foreign leaders (and others)" amid impeachment. "Bad for USA!" he wrote.
Later the president joked about the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation editing out his cameo in "Home Alone 2: Lost in New York."
"I guess Justin T doesn't much like my making him pay up on NATO or Trade," he tweeted, referring to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, before adding: "The movie will never be the same! (just kidding)."
A CBC spokesman said the scene had been edited out before Trump was a presidential candidate.
In heavily white Iowa, Democratic candidates focus on minority communities
Iowa is more than 90 percent white, a fact which has prompted some to criticize its status as first in the presidential selection process.
But while the state lacks diversity, the support of minority groups could be key in what looks set to be a tight contest.
Campaigns are working to harness their potential.
As a result, Democratic candidates have been participating in calls with black leaders, building connections in the Latino community and participating in block party-style events.
“We make sure the presidential candidates know about our issues and they know about who we are," Wayne Ford, the co-chair of the Brown & Black Forums for presidential candidates and the longest-serving African American state legislator in Iowa's history, told NBC News.
"Do we make a difference? Yes, we do!"
What happens when a rural town loses its hospital?
After the Mercy Hospital closed in Fort Scott, Kansas, a year ago, the small town’s anger and fear evolved into grief and nervousness.
But most of the handful of physicians in town stayed, taking jobs at a regional federally qualified health care center that took over much of the clinic work, meeting most of the needs for the town’s 7,800 residents.
If not a hospital to care for rural communities like Fort Scott, what is needed? The answers to that question play out every day there and could hold lessons for the rest of the country.
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Plus
- At least 15 people are dead after a plane crashed at Almaty International Airport in Kazakhstan.
- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shored up his base with a landslide primary victory.
- 'Star Wars' fans are upset that Kelly Marie Tran's Rose Tico doesn't get much screen time.
- A British lawyer's tweet about killing a fox with baseball bat has provoked outrage.
- A judge has tossed out part of a lawsuit filed by a man against actor Alec Baldwin.
Think about it
If it's true that no Democratic candidate can win the presidential nomination in 2020 without significant support from African American and Latino voters, then South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg might as well stop. Julio Ricardo Varela writes in an opinion piece.
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One fun thing
A decade can revolutionize culture, and the 2010s changed the internet in ways that seemed unimaginable at the time.
As 2019 comes to a close, NBC News spoke with some of the people who helped shape the digital space as we know it, including meme makers, YouTube stars, viral celebrities and internet critics.
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Thanks,
Henry Austin
