'Start Here': Robert Mueller set to testify on Capitol Hill and Brexit champion Boris Johnson takes office
Here's what you need to know to start your day.
It's Wednesday, July 24, 2019. Let's start here.
1. Mueller's moment
Former special counsel Robert Mueller is set to testify on Capitol Hill today in back-to-back hearings reviewing his findings from the Russia investigation.
Some members of the House Judiciary and Intelligence committees have spent hours preparing for his appearance with mock hearings and prep sessions, including how to frame questions for expected "yes" or "no" answers from Mueller, who said in May, "The report is my testimony."
Since many Americans have never read the report, Democrats are hoping Mueller's testimony could help "weave together a story about what happened," ABC News Chief Legal Analyst Dan Abrams tells "Start Here" today. "Mueller can almost restate what is in the report, but you want to put it together in a way so that it becomes even more linear than you see it in the report."
Republicans are looking to "cross-examine" Mueller, according to ABC News' Katherine Faulders, and to potentially elevate concerns about the origins of the investigation into the Trump campaign during the 2016 election.
2. Boris' Brexit problems
Brexit champion Boris Johnson will officially take office as the new British prime minister today as he faces a key decision: Will the U.K. will leave the European Union with or without a deal on Oct. 31?
"It's one of those things, be careful what you wish for," ABC News Senior Foreign Correspondent Ian Pannell says. "He gets the job, he gets the house, he gets the title, however, he also gets exactly the same problems that brought down Theresa May and it's very simply one word: Brexit."
Johnson already has one big supporter across the pond, President Donald Trump, who has compared himself to the controversial and divisive politician. He told reporters last week, "I like Boris Johnson. I always have. He's a different kind of a guy, but they say I'm a different kind of a guy, too. We get along well. I think we'll have a very good relationship."
3. Expedited deportations
A new Department of Homeland Security policy change will expedite deportations for people who cannot prove they've lived in the U.S. for more than two years, impacting nearly 300,000 unauthorized immigrants.
"Unlike previous deportations, these expedited removals are not required to go through a judge," ABC News' Serena Marshall tells the podcast. "So you have these immigrant activist groups saying they have less due process than somebody going through traffic court."
The formalized change comes as the head of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced on Tuesday that the president's promise to deport "millions" in sweeping raids weeks ago led to 35 arrests, about half of which were families
4. 'Soho scammer'
Anna Delvey talked her way into exclusive New York parties, extended luxury hotel stays and even rode on a private jet, under the guise that she was a German heiress with a $67 million trust fund.
But the so-called "Soho scammer" was really Anna Sorokin, the Russian-born daughter of middle class parents, who faked financial records and wrote bad checks, defrauding companies out of more than a quarter-million dollars, according to prosecutors.
Rachel Williams, a former friend of Sorokin, learned the truth about her the hard way -- being left to foot a $62,000 bill for a villa in Morocco. She recounts how she helped law enforcement take down Sorokin in an interview with ABC News' Deborah Roberts and in her new book, "My Friend Anna: The True Story of a Fake Heiress."
"She owed me more money than I made in a year," Williams says in the exclusive interview.
"Start Here," ABC News' flagship podcast, offers a straightforward look at the day's top stories in 20 minutes. Listen for free every weekday on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, iHeartRadio, Spotify, Stitcher, TuneIn or the ABC News app. Follow @StartHereABC on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram for exclusive content and show updates.
Elsewhere:
'I thought it could be a really interesting, rewarding experience': ABC News gets an exclusive, rare look at life in North Korea from an interview with Alek Sigley, an Australian who studied in the hermit country before being arrested as a spy.
'We’re going to do it the hard way, or the easy way': A father was dragged out his car after ICE agents smashed a window while he was taking his 7-month-old daughter to the hospital.
Horrifying animal charge: A young girl was tossed 10 feet in the air by a bison in a frightening attack caught on video at Yellowstone National Park.
From our friends at FiveThirtyEight:
White Americans Say They’re Less Prejudiced: Has Trump’s behavior in recent years has led to an increase in racism in the U.S.? It's not as obvious an answer as you may think.
Doff your cap:
Just so we're clear, meth gators are not real ... at least not "at this time." That's according to the Tennessee police department that sparked a social media frenzy with a warning that was meant to prevent people from flushing their drugs down the toilet.
On July 13, the Loretto Police Department asked people in possession of drugs -- both illegal and legal prescription drugs -- to refrain from flushing the substances down sewage pipes, for fear that it could end up in retention ponds and be ingested by ducks, geese and even alligators.
After the initial post was picked up by media outlets around the world, police felt the need to make clear that meth-gators are not "real."
"We’ve had to explain that to our cousins across the pond twice," the post read.
Loretto Police Chief Bobby Joe Killen told ABC News last week that there have been no reports of wild animals affected by drugs in the area.
"As far as I know, there's no methed-up gators being sighted anywhere," Killen said. "It's just a joke to let people know they don't need to be flushing their drugs of any kind down the sewer system. They need to dispose of it in a proper manner."
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