Friday, Sep 27, 2019 | View in browser

Good morning.

It was another heavy news day that was dominated by President Trump’s impeachment inquiry. Here’s the latest.

By Alisha Haridasani Gupta

Whistle-blower complaint says Trump sought election interference

An explosive whistle-blower complaint at the center of President Trump’s impeachment inquiry was released Thursday morning, stirring further uproar in the U.S.

“In the course of my duties, I have received information from multiple U.S. government officials that the President of the United States is using the power of his office to solicit interference from a foreign country in the 2020 U.S. election,” the declassified complaint states.

The complaint also states that senior White House officials tried to “lock down” records of the call, especially the word-for-word transcript. Nancy Pelosi said the administration’s reported efforts to conceal the call amounted to a “cover-up.”

Read the full complaint here. And we put together a broader list of takeaways.

Who is the whistle-blower? Three people familiar with his identity told The Times that he is a C.I.A. officer who was detailed to work at the White House on the National Security Council and has now returned to the C.I.A. Little else is known about him.

Crucial testimony: The acting director of national intelligence, Joseph Maguire, testified before a House committee on Thursday. “I think the whistle-blower did the right thing,” he said. “I think he followed the law.”

Mr. Maguire faced repeated questions from Democrats about his decision to consult with the White House and Department of Justice — especially since the president and attorney general were the subjects of the complaint — before bringing the matter to Congress. He responded that he acted as he did because the situation was “totally unprecedented.”

Reaction: Mr. Trump told U.S. diplomats that whoever gave the whistle-blower information was “close to a spy” and alluded to the punishment for treason.

Most Republicans weren’t moved by the complaint and said that they believed Mr. Trump didn’t do anything wrong. But a handful of Republicans, including Senator Mitt Romney of Utah, said they were troubled by the recent revelations.

If you have 6 minutes, this is worth it

Taking on the role of a legend

Ryan Pfluger for The New York Times

The Oscar winner Renée Zellweger took a six-year hiatus from acting and returned with “Bridget Jones’s Baby” in 2016. Now she’s back onscreen, playing Judy Garland.

She spoke to The Times about her return to the spotlight and what it’s like to reach “a certain place where you just don’t know if your skin is thick enough, and then having to go anyway.”

Here’s what else is happening

Japan: The investor Masayoshi Son was hailed as ambitious and innovative for his big bets on disruptive start-ups like Uber and WeWork. But as Wall Street runs away from those companies, his grand ideas have collided with reality.

Boeing: After a monthslong investigation, the National Transportation Safety Board concluded that the aircraft manufacturer had underestimated the cockpit chaos that could be unleashed by new automated software in the 737 Max aircraft, which contributed to two crashes. The agency called on the company to revamp the way it assesses the risk of key aviation systems.

Hong Kong: At a heavily guarded stadium, the territory’s leader, Carrie Lam, was confronted by fury and frustration during her first community talk, which she undertook to try to quell unrest. The semiautonomous city is braced for more clashes in the coming week, including on Tuesday, China’s National Day holiday.

Indonesia: At least 20 people were killed after a 6.5-magnitude earthquake struck the remote Maluku Islands in the eastern part of the country.

Disinformation: The number of countries with political disinformation campaigns more than doubled, to 70, in the past two years, according to a new report.

Murdoch: Kathryn Murdoch married into the billionaire family, which controls influential news organizations on three continents that have stoked partisan rancor and tried to muddy the scientific consensus on climate change. Now, she is going public on 13 years of behind-the-scenes climate activism.

Climate change: The United Nations announced that more than 60 countries, including Britain, France and Germany, said this week that they would try to reduce their net carbon emissions to zero. But the world’s largest emitters — China, the U.S. and India — weren’t on the list.

Heidi Levine for The New York Times

Snapshot: Above, Nana Estate Winery in southern Israel. Several vineyards have sprouted up around the Negev Desert to study how grapes can grow in a world with more frequent droughts and heat waves.

France: Former President Jacques Chirac, who was best remembered for his opposition to the U.S.-led war in Iraq and as a vocal advocate of European unity, died Thursday at 86.

Overlooked no more: The blues musician Robert Johnson gained little notice during his life, but his scarce recordings helped ignite rock ’n’ roll and his songs were quoted by the Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton and Led Zeppelin. He never received an obituary in The Times, until now.

Cats: Despite their aloof reputation, cats are just as sociable as dogs, a new study found.

Dogs: The man who developed the labradoodle, the mopheaded designer dog, called the mixed breed one of his life’s regrets.

McDonald’s: The fast-food giant will offer plant-based burgers — known as the “P.L.T.” (plant, lettuce and tomato) — at 28 locations in Canada for 12 weeks starting on Monday, marking the company’s first foray into the growing market for meat alternatives.

What we’re watching: This video of kid chess players from The Atlantic. “It’s cute cubed, plus thought-provoking,” says Andrea Kannapell, the briefings editor.

Now, a break from the news

Julia Gartland for The New York Times

Cook: A batch of kitchen sink cookies will use up any extra baking chocolate, pretzels, chips or candy you might have.

Watch: Netflix’s “The Politician” is very different from Ben Platt’s star-making turn in the Broadway musical “Dear Evan Hansen,” which is exactly what he was looking for.

Read: “Permanent Record,” a memoir by Edward Snowden, is new this week on our hardcover nonfiction and combined print and e-book nonfiction best-seller lists.

Smarter Living: Apple’s iOS 13, the most recent software for iPhones, offers many new tools that help safeguard our digital privacy. Our tech columnist walks through how to make the most of them, including an option to silence robocallers and a feature that allows you to sign into apps without handing over your email address.

And from Wirecutter, here are five cheap(ish) things to help keep your information out of the hands of hackers.

And now for the Back Story on …

Blowing the whistle

The term “whistle-blower” owes its existence to a 19th-century English toolmaker named Joseph Hudson, the inventor of referee and police whistles.

The first whistle used in a soccer match was probably an early model made by Mr. Hudson in 1878, and he invented an even more piercing whistle for Scotland Yard in the early 1880s. Soon after, in both sports and on the streets, blowing a whistle became a signal that a situation needed urgent attention.

Two young boys showing their whistles to a police officer in London in 1968.

“Whistle-blowing” as a metaphor sporadically appeared in literature in the 20th century, including in works by P.G. Wodehouse and Raymond Chandler.

While whistle-blowers have existed in the U.S. from its founding, the term itself is relatively new to the political lexicon, appearing to enter the mainstream around 1970.

Soon, the consumer rights advocate Ralph Nader put a more positive spin on the term with the phrase “responsible whistle-blower,” which eventually led to the passage of the U.S. Whistleblower Protection Act — a piece of legislation that’s playing a role in the impeachment inquiry against President Trump.

That’s it for this briefing. We hope you have a restful weekend. See you next time.

— Alisha

Thank you
To Mark Josephson and Eleanor Stanford for the break from the news. Will Dudding, an assistant in the Standards Department, wrote today’s Back Story. You can reach the team at briefing@nytimes.com.

P.S.
• We’re listening to “The Daily.” Our latest episode is about President Trump’s call with Ukraine’s leader.
• Here’s our Mini Crossword, and a clue: Double-reed instrument (four letters). You can find all our puzzles here.
• The Chicago public school system said that it would use The 1619 Project from The Times as a classroom resource.