Using FEMA money to fund ICE, Missouri abortion ban blocked, Leslie Jones leaving SNL
THE BIG STORY
The Trump administration is taking millions out of FEMA to fund immigration courts and ICE jails
The Department of Homeland Security will transfer more than $200 million to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which will pay for a massive increase in detention beds and temporary courts at the US border.
Where is the money coming from? $155 million will be diverted from FEMA's disaster relief fund, which pays for the federal response to catastrophic events, like hurricanes or wildfires.
Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard, who chairs the House DHS Appropriations Subcommittee, said in a letter to Acting DHS Secretary Kevin McAleenan that she was worried about the money being diverted from FEMA.
The transfer of the funds comes as hurricane season ramps up and Tropical Storm Dorian takes aim at Puerto Rico this week.
STAYING ON TOP OF THIS Brazil said it would reject the G7's $22 million aid package to fight the Amazon fires
At the end of the G7 summit in Biarritz, France, world leaders pledged $22 million worth of aid to fight the fires that have ravaged the Amazon rainforest. The bulk of the money was to be for firefighting planes.
But Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro's chief of staff said that the money would be "put to better use reforesting Europe."
After France president Emmanuel Macron said "The Amazon forest is a subject for the whole planet...we cannot allow you to destroy everything," Bolsonaro accused France and other European nations of treating Brazil like a colony.
Bolsonaro later said Brazil could accept the aid funds if Macron withdraws his "insults."
More than 80,000 fires have broken out in the Amazon this year, leaving a trail of ash and devastation. We put together a collection of photos that shows the damage.
Carl De Souza / AFP / Getty Images THE STAKES 2020 Tomorrow's Thursday, which means there will be a new edition of The Stakes 2020, editor-in-chief Ben Smith's weekly newsletter about what really matters in the election. Each edition features an uncut interview with politicians via text message, and so far we've had: Sign up right here, and have it waiting for you in your inbox tomorrow. SNAPSHOTS A judge blocked Missouri's 8-week abortion ban a day before it was going to take effect. The judge wrote that Missouri's effort to ban abortions was clearly contrary to US Supreme Court precedent. Officials in states that have pushed for similar bans have openly acknowledged that they're likely to lose in lower courts, but want to force the issue of abortion rights back before the Supreme Court with its conservative majority.
23 women stood in court and said Jeffrey Epstein abused them. One by one, with many in tears, the women described how Epstein manipulated, coerced, threatened, and sexually abused them when they were just teens. Here are their most powerful quotes.
A DC woman is divorcing her husband after he left her for Rep. Ilhan Omar. Dr. Beth Mynett said in a divorce filing that her political consultant husband, Tim Mynett, is in love with the Minnesota congresswoman. Mynett criticized her husband's ability to care for the couple's 13-year-old son, owing partly to his alleged affair with Omar.
Pete Davidson lost his temper at University of Central Florida students during a comedy set and now the college is mad. The college is hitting back after footage of Davidson found its way online. In the footage he calls students "privileged little assholes," and at one point uses the word "retarded" as an insult.
Leslie Jones is leaving Saturday Night Live. Just ahead of the show's 45th season premiere, the actor, comedian, and writer is leaving Saturday Night Live, where she's worked since 2014. Jones began on the show as a writer before becoming one of its featured players.
 FUNDING UNDER THREAT Funders have given Facebook a deadline to share data with researchers or they're pulling out
In April 2018, Facebook said it would share data with academics so they can better understand the effects of social media on democracy.
Last week, we reported that funders and researchers were beginning to lose patience with the company because it had not yet provided all of the necessary data, and had said it would not provide some of the data it initially promised.
The latest development on this: a consortium of funders will stop supporting the project if Facebook doesn't provide the data to researchers by Sept. 30.
Those funders — including the Democracy Fund, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the Charles Koch Foundation, and Omidyar Network — provided support for grants to be made to researchers. Now, they've sent a letter to the Social Science Research Council recommending "winding down the project" unless Facebook can provide the data.
SWAGGER LIKE US Everyone is in love with these fashionable women on TikTok
In one of those you-love-to-see-it turns, the internet has actually picked something good to collectively swoon over: a mysterious Chinese woman on TikTok with an unearthly amount of swagger.
The account belongs to "Loora8888," and her TikToks feature two very fashionable young women being generally sassy and adorable.
Because we all know there's nothing like a collective internet crush, I'll let you enjoy this. The umbrella TikTok is my favorite of the bunch.
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