“Not endorsed, produced or approved by Fisher-Price” - The toymaker’s reaction to a fake ‘Happy Hour Playset’ that showed up online last week. It apparently comes with plastic beer bottles and a bar. Poppin’ bottles (of milk).

RUSSIAN INTO PROBLEMS

THE STORY

President-elect Donald Trump and the CIA are not seeing eye to eye right now.

WHAT’S GOING ON?

Last Friday, the CIA released a report saying that Russia intervened in the US presidential election to help Trump win. Reminder: during the presidential campaign, the US intelligence community accused Russia of trying to influence the election - even though it wasn’t clear what the goal was. See: hacking the DNC, sending hacked Clinton campaign emails to WikiLeaks. Officials have also said that there’s no evidence that results on Election Day were manipulated. But they’ve been looking into what happened ever since. Now, the CIA has released this report based on what it says is a lot of circumstantial evidence, including that both the DNC and RNC networks were hacked...but only the DNC emails were leaked.

WHAT ARE PEOPLE SAYING?

Trump isn’t having it. He says the CIA’s conclusion is “ridiculous” and that he ‘doesn’t believe it.’ The RNC isn’t having it. They say the FBI told them they were never hacked. A group of Senators from both sides of the aisle say the CIA report “should alarm every American” and that they’ll do their own investigation. President Obama has asked the Intelligence Community to do a “full review” of Russia’s interference in this election and previous elections before he leaves office.

ANYTHING ELSE?

Yup. ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson might be named Secretary of State. Tillerson has a lot of experience making deals around the world - including a high-profile partnership with a Russian oil company. And a few years ago, Russian President Vladimir Putin gave Tillerson the country’s friendship award. Yes, that’s a thing. So Tillerson’s possible new role is raising some eyebrows.

theSKIMM

Not only did the CIA just conclude that a foreign government may have tried to influence the election, it’s also now in open conflict with the president-elect. Problem, since it’s kinda important for those two to be on the same team.

REPEAT AFTER ME...

WHAT PEOPLE ARE WATCHING...

Istanbul. Over the weekend, two bombs went off near a soccer stadium in the city. 38 people - mostly police officers - were killed and at least 155 people were injured. One of the blasts came from a car bomb and the other was caused by a suicide bomber. Officials say the attacks targeted police. A Kurdish militant group later took responsibility. For decades, some Turkish Kurds (hint: semi-autonomous ethnic group) have been fighting to be more independent from the country. An attempt at peace talks broke down last year. And Kurdish militant groups, which Turkey and the US consider terrorists, have claimed responsibility for multiple attacks in Turkey in recent years. This all comes as Turkey’s going through a not-so-stable time, after parts of the military tried (and failed) to overthrow the government earlier this year. Not gravy.

WHAT TO SAY TO YOUR FRIEND WHO’S COUNTING DOWN TO THE NEXT SEASON OF “GAME OF THRONES”...

Winter isn’t coming. It’s here. Over the weekend, a huge snowstorm hit the US Midwest, including Minnesota, Iowa, and Michigan. Yesterday, more than 1,000 flights were canceled at Chicago’s and Detroit’s airports. And it’s not over yet. The storm is heading east and could hit parts of Pennsylvania and NYC today. Winter wonder-headache.

WHAT TO SAY WHEN YOUR FRIEND FINDS A HOLE IN HER NEW SWEATER...

Take it back. That’s what ISIS just did to Palmyra. Over the weekend, the terrorist group re-took the ancient Syrian city, just months after being pushed out by Syrian gov forces. ICYMI, Syria’s been going through a civil war for years. And while Syrian gov forces and rebel groups have been distracted by the fighting, ISIS has used it as an opportunity to take control of other parts of the country. Palmyra is located in central Syria, and could open up paths for the group to move into other areas. Earlier this year, Syrian gov forces kicked ISIS out of the city. That didn’t last long. Meanwhile, the US gov has said it’ll send another 200 US troops to help Kurdish and Arab forces take back the Syrian city of - ISIS HQ in Syria and one of its last main strongholds.

WHAT TO SAY TO YOUR FRIEND WHO LOST IT AFTER ARMY BEAT NAVY...

Heisman winner Lamar Jackson knows the feeling.

THING TO KNOW

Panic drink: That feeling when the bartender finally gets to you…and you don’t know what you want. So you go with your default drink. Vodka soda, gin and tonic, whiskey with a dash of buyer’s remorse.

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