'Start Here': Trump rails against Mueller report at Michigan rally and Sacklers sued over opioid crisis
Here's what you need to know to start your day.
It's It's Friday, March 29, 2019. Let's start here.
1. Trump takes the podium
Within minutes of taking the stage, President Donald Trump celebrated the attorney general's summary of the special counsel’s investigation with his supporters during a rally in Michigan.
“The special counsel completed its report and found no collusion and no obstruction. I could have told you that two and a half years ago very easily,” Trump said.
ABC News Senior National correspondent Terry Moran tells “Start Here” that “the president was not just amped up, he was angry” at his rally in Michigan Thursday night.
2. More Facebook problems
The federal government charged Facebook Thursday with allowing its massive trove of personal demographic data to enable housing discrimination, an allegation the company fiercely denied.
ABC News’ Anne Flaherty tells the “Start Here” podcast that this could go further than Facebook: “We just got some reporting that the government has also sent letters of inquiry to Twitter and to Google to ask them some similar questions.”
3. OxyContin makers under fire
New York state is suing the family behind the company that makes OxyContin, expanding an already existing lawsuit against other opioid manufacturers and distributors. The Sackler family, which owns Purdue Pharma, is coming under increasing scrutiny over their legacy of producing the highly addictive painkiller.
ABC News’ Soo Youn says some of the most prestigious museums in the world are telling the Sacklers, “We don’t want your money anymore.”
"Start Here" is the flagship daily news podcast from ABC News -- 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. On Amazon Echo, ask Alexa to "Play 'Start Here'" or add the "Start Here" skill to your Flash Briefing. Follow @StartHereABC on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram for exclusive content, show updates and more.
Elsewhere:
'Now we face a system-wide meltdown': Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen has asked for immediate action from Congress to address a “dire situation” at the border, including new authority to immediately deport unaccompanied minors back to their home countries.
'Firefighters found the structure burned to the ground': A Florida couple's death was ruled a homicide on Thursday, nearly eight months after firefighters discovered their remains at the scene of their burned-out mobile home, authorities said.
'Chicago Police Department take[s] seriously those who make false statements': The city of Chicago is seeking more than $130,000 from "Empire" actor Jussie Smollett to pay for the cost of the investigation in which he "falsely claimed" that two men attacked him.
'It really boosted my confidence': At a time when a massive college admissions scandal is causing many to lose faith in the idea that hard work gets you ahead, a Georgia teen was accepted into more than 50 schools and awarded over $1 million in scholarship funding.
From our friends at FiveThirtyEight:
The NCAA Tournament Has Turned Into A Dunk Contest: Nobody this season dunked on Mike Krzyzewski’s squad more than Tacko Fall and the UCF Knights. But the Blue Devils, which ultimately moved on with a win, are even more dunk crazy.
Doff your cap:
Over 40 years ago, the world's first "test tube baby" was born. Louise Joy Brown's conception via in vitro fertilization and the resulting birth ushered in a new age in modern parenthood. The idea of a baby being conceived outside of the human body was mind-blowing in 1978, but since then more than 8 million babies around the world have been born through IVF, according to International Committee Monitoring Assisted Reproductive Technologies.
IVF, originally created to fight infertility, has expanded to allow people to think beyond the traditional family and carve a new path to parenthood.
"I chose this field for the science and for the medicine and for the drama and for the excitement and for the amazing things that we can do for people," says Dr. Richard Grazi, founder of Genesis Fertility & Reproductive Medicine in Brooklyn, New York.
ABC News spent more than a year following three families on their unique IVF journeys. As different as these families are, there is one common theme: There are no guarantees on the road to parenthood.
Part 1:
Part 2:
James, a 34-year-old who works as a rideshare driver, at first struggled with the notion of using IVF. James and LaTanya both turned to their faith to guide them through difficult times and were unsure about the science behind IVF.
"It almost seemed like this was kind of a shortcut or a substitute. So it didn't really feel like it was my seed," James said. "It took so long for me to get that out of my head, the stigma of it."
Watch a preview of the ABC News documentary, "Modern Baby," in the video clips above.
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