USA Gymnastics CEO Quits After Four Days

Chris Rock’s 'Bring The Pain' still brings the laughs. [NPR] by Korva Coleman and Jill Hudson Heads Up Here’s some of the news we’re watching today. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is in Ankara today and has met with Turkey’s leaders to discuss [the diplomatic crisis]( over the disappearance of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. It now seems increasingly likely that Khashoggi was killed, but the resulting geopolitical and diplomatic reverberations of his disappearance are raising even more questions. [U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo shakes hands with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu before their official talks in Ankara, Turkey, on Wednesday.]( Gilbert Carrasquillo/FilmMagic Well, that didn’t last long. USA Gymnastics hired Mary Bono as interim president and CEO last Friday. Four days later, [Bono resigned after many of the sport’s biggest stars objected]( to her former law firm's ties to Larry Nassar, the former USA Gymnastics doctor who is now serving an effective life sentence for child pornography and sexual abuse convictions. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is searching for clues in [the appearance of a mysterious illness]( that has been confirmed in 62 children so far this year. The rare condition causes weakness in the arms or legs — and sometimes paralysis. Hundreds of Florida Panhandle residents have been rescued after Hurricane Michael, but many remain missing. Are you still searching for a friend or loved one, or do you know someone who is? You can [contact NPR to share your story](. --------------------------------------------------------------- The Daily Good Chris Rock’s Bring The Pain still brings the laughs. [Chris Rock's 1996 HBO special helped him become a major star.]( Gilbert Carrasquillo/FilmMagic Back in the early 1990s, Rock was known mostly as a protege of Eddie Murphy who got fired from Saturday Night Live. Another brother who almost made it. Then came Bring the Pain, [Rock’s seminal 1996 HBO stand-up comedy special]( that turned him into a major star. NPR’s Eric Deggans reviews the new A&E documentary, Chris Rock's Bring the Pain, directed by Emmy-winning TV host and stand-up comic W. Kamau Bell. The insightful doc tells the story of how a young, black comic — who looked like he had missed out on the 1990s-era black comedy renaissance embodied by In Living Color and Def Comedy Jam — put his finger right on the pulse of what everyone was feeling at the time, especially in black America. --------------------------------------------------------------- Digging Deeper Cities made millions selling taxi medallions. Now drivers are paying the price. [Taxi drivers in big cities have to purchase a license]( — or medallion — to drive a cab. Medallions can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, but the popularity of ride-hailing services has undercut their value. In New York, the price has gone from $1.3 million to about $160,000, but taxi drivers who took out huge loans to get medallions are still paying lenders back and have lost hundreds of thousands of dollars in equity. Now drivers are asking the city to buy back their medallions. What to know about affirmative action as the Harvard trial begins. The Supreme Court says [colleges may use race as one factor in their admissions process]( but they must consider other race-neutral factors first, such as grades and test scores. If that's not enough, then admissions officers can consider race. The plaintiffs in this case allege Harvard is using an illegal tactic called "racial balancing," in which Asian American students rank lower on intangible traits such as kindness and leadership. Harvard says that allegation is false and adds that 23 percent of this year's admitted freshmen are Asian-American. --------------------------------------------------------------- Today's Listen Skateboarding is life. Or, the world according to Jonah Hill. [Jonah Hill (right) talks through a scene with Lucas Hedges (left) and Sunny Suljic. Many of the teenagers he cast were first-time actors.]( NPR It wasn’t cool to care in the mid-90s, especially if you were a teenager. Especially a male teenager. If you cared, you were mocked endlessly and told you weren’t masculine. Actor Jonah Hill's first film as a director, Mid90s, follows a group of friends in Los Angeles who live for skateboarding. The boys’ friendship is "the kind of closeness you can see from 10,000 miles away," Hill tells NPR’s Rachel Martin. "It's sort of a[n] idiosyncratic, perverse closeness, layered with a lot of toxic masculinity and on-the-surface cruelty, but such a deep connection and family situation." (Listening time, 7:14) [▶ LISTEN]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Tiny Desk Concert Florence + The Machine NPR Florence Welch was palpably nervous. She opened her Tiny Desk set with the song, “June,” from Florence + The Machine’s 2018 album High as Hope, and performed in front of the rapturous crowd with her eyes closed. “I’m sorry I’m shy,” Welch told the crowd. “If this was a big gig, I’d probably be climbing all over here and running around.” [▶ LISTEN]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Before You Go - [Last night’s debut of The Conners]( solved the question of how to do Roseanne without Roseanne (spoiler alert: She died of an opioid overdose). - A big moment for pot: Recreational [marijuana has gotten the green light]( in Canada. - New York City had its [first weekend without a shooting]( in 25 years. The city also has created [a gender-neutral designation]( on birth certificates. - Nevada state assembly candidate and brothel owner, [Dennis Hof]( died suddenly on Tuesday. At one of his brothels. - This year's [Man Booker Prize]( winner was Anna Burns, the first writer from Northern Ireland to nab the award. --------------------------------------------------------------- You received this message because you're subscribed to our Daily News emails. | [Unsubscribe]( | [Privacy Policy]( | NPR 1111 N. CAPITOL ST. NE WASHINGTON DC 20002 [NPR]