Monday morning news: November 4, 2019

White House whistleblower offers to answer questions from Republicans » A lawyer for the White House whistleblower … says his client is willing to answer written questions from House Republicans.

Attorney Mark Zaid tweeted that the whistleblower would answer questions directly from GOP members “in writing, under oath & penalty of perjury.” And he added, “we will ensure timely answers.”

He added that he and his client extended their offer to the Ranking Member of the Intelligence Committee, Devin Nunes. 

That came as President Trump continued to rail against the unnamed person who sounded alarms about his dealings with Ukraine. He told reporters on Sunday…

TRUMP: The whistleblower gave a false report, and because of that false report, people thought bad things were done. 

Trump again asserted that the whistleblower was politically motivated. 

But Zaid tweeted—quote—“Being a whistleblower is not a partisan job nor is impeachment an objective. That is not our role.”

HHS proposes rule to protect conscience rights » The Trump administration has proposed a rule to protect the conscience rights … of faith-based foster care and adoption agencies. 

The proposal would remove the threat of an agency losing federal funding … if it does not place children in LGBT households based on the agency’s religious beliefs. 

The new rule from the Department of Health and Human Services would apply to a broad range of organizations. But the focus from supporters and detractors has been on foster care and adoption services.

The change would require groups that receive federal support to follow anti-discrimination laws passed by Congress. But it would undo an Obama-era rule that included sexual orientation as a protected class under those laws. 

Democratic presidential candidates converge in Iowa » With just three months left until the Democratic Iowa caucuses … White House hopefuls flocked to the Hawkeye State over the weekend. 

WARREN: I have a plan to put $50 billion dollars into new schools, into upgrading our schools and new school facilities.

Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren was one of eight candidates who spoke at an event in Cedar Rapids on Saturday. 

And 11 Democrats gathered in Des Moine for the NAACP’S presidential forum … including Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar.  

KLOBUCHAR: I am a big believer in changing our laws, not just state by state, but federally – to say that when someone has served their sentence, that they’re out of prison, that they should be able to vote. 

An average of national polls suggests that she and most other Democrats have their work cut out for them in Iowa. The only candidates currently polling in double digits there are Joe Biden, Senator Warren, and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders.

Former Texas Congressman Beto O’Rourke was not among the candidates stumping in Iowa. With polling and fundraising lagging, he announced on Friday that he was ending his White House bid. 

Saudi Arabia’s state-run oil giant set for IPO » The most profitable company on the planet is set to make its first public offering by year’s end … and it might be the biggest IPO ever. 

Saudi Arabia said Sunday that its state-run oil company Saudi Aramco … will begin offering shares next month. 

Details are still sketchy. The Saudis did not give a price range for the shares. They also did not say how much of the firm it will offer to investors … on Riyadh’s Tadawul (tad-owl) stock exchange.

Analysts say the kingdom is optimistic that local investors will push its share prices toward the hoped-for $2 trillion valuation.

Terminator: Dark Fate tops the box office » At the weekend box office, the Terminator … is back. 

SOUND (Terminator Dark Fate trailer): August 29th, 1997 was supposed to be judgement day, but I changed the future [under and slowly out]

Terminator: Dark Fate debuted in the top spot. The R-rated franchise reboot hauled in $29 million over the weekend. 

Joker finished second with another $14 million. Gobally, the DC Comics villain flick is just $65 million away from crossing the $1 billion mark.

You can find WORLD’s reviews of current films—along with ratings and content information—at WNG.org/movies.

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren arrives to speak at a fund-raising fish fry at Hawkeye Downs Expo Center in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

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