USA Today - 05.11.2019

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Workplace

boundaries

U.S. workers say they’re

uncomfortable when

their colleagues

Gossip too much: 53%

Talk about politics: 39%

Talk about romantic

relationships: 32%

Use too much

profanity: 31%

©

SOURCE Udemy survey
AMY BARNETTE, DAVID ANESTA/USA TODAY

11.05.

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Lamar Jackson’s

‘MVP-like’ play

turning heads

In his second season,

Ravens’ QB shows

swagger as he befuddles

Patriots’ top-ranked

defense. In Sports

TOMMY GILLIGAN/USA TODAY SPORTS

Trump’s tax

fight heads for

a last stand

Supreme Court may

weigh in after president’s

struggle to shield his

returns fails on appeal

in New York. In News

ST. LOUIS – As millions of Americans

start shopping for individual health in-

surance for 2020, they will see federal

ratings comparing the quality of health

plans on the Affordable Care Act’s insur-

ance marketplaces.

But Christina Rinehart of Moberly,

Missouri, who has bought coverage on

the federal insurance exchange for

several years, won’t be swayed by the

new five-star rating system.

That’s because only one insurer

sells on the exchange where the 50-

year-old former public school kitchen

manager lives in central Missouri. An-

them Blue Cross Blue Shield in Mis-

souri was not ranked by the Centers for

Medicare & Medicaid Services.

“I’m pleased with the service I get

with that and the coverage I have,” she

Obamacare ratings

have their limits

Lauren Weber and Phil Galewitz

Kaiser Health News

Holes in the

new nationwide

five-star system

could make

quality of care

irrelevant to

many consumers

See RATINGS, Page 8A

WASHINGTON – The committees overseeing the

impeachment investigation of President Donald

Trump released hundreds of pages of testimony

Monday from the former Ukraine ambassador, Marie

Yovanovitch, and a former State Department adviser,

Michael McKinley.

Separately, four White House officials scheduled

to testify before the House Oversight, Intelligence

and Foreign Affairs commit-

tees did not appear.

Testimony by Yovano-

vitch and McKinley were the

first in a series of transcripts

to be released from closed-

door depositions in the in-

vestigation.

Yovanovitch is quoted as

saying she was pulled out of

her job after hearing that

Trump’s personal lawyer,

Rudy Giuliani, had been

criticizing her. She de-

scribed “nervousness” at the

State Department and the

White House about her role.

Yovanovitch said she re-

ceived a call in April from

Carol Perez, director general

of the Foreign Service, offer-

ing a “heads-up, that things

were going wrong.”

Later that night, in anoth-

er call, Yovanovitch said Pe-

rez told her she needed to be

on the next plane to Wash-

ington.

Before her ouster, Yova-

novitch said she was at-

tacked by conservative

media, Donald Trump Jr.

and others.

She testified that she

reached out to Gordon Son-

dland, the U.S. ambassador

to the European Union and a

close Trump ally who had

been asked by the president

to help with Ukraine policy.

Sondland’s advice: Tweet

2 envoys

in inquiry

describe

pressure

Released transcripts

first of series in inquiry

Christal Hayes and Bart Jansen

USA TODAY

Week 7 slate

of witnesses

Tuesday: Wells

Griffith, special

assistant to Trump

and senior director

at the National

Security Council;

Michael Duffey,

associate director

at the White House

Office of Manage-

ment and Budget.

Duffey isn’t expect-

ed to cooperate.

Wednesday: Energy

Secretary Rick

Perry, acting OMB

Director Russ

Vought,State De-

partment counselor

Ulrich Brechbuhl

and Undersecretary

of State David Hale.

Perry isn’t expected

to cooperate.

Thursday:John

Bolton, former

national security

adviser

See TRANSCRIPTS, Page 3A

In her Netflix film “American Son,” she explores

hard questions about race, police and parenting

IN LIFE

ROBERT DEUTSCH/USA TODAY

Kerry Washington gets

a difficult dialogue going

Experts offer tips to manage payments, not be

overwhelmed by what is meant to be “good debt”

IN MONEY

How to battle the bulge

of rising student loan debt

WASHINGTON – Today’s off-year elections are state and local affairs,

but they will tell us something about the national political scene one

year before the 2020 election.

How much redder is rural America
growing as the blueness of cities
spreads to the suburbs?
Will the races for governor in Ken-
tucky, Mississippi and later this month
in Louisiana be more evidence that
voters are increasingly unwilling to vote
one way for federal office and another
for state leaders?
And then there’s what the elections
could say about the popularity of Presi-
dent Donald Trump.
The president tried to push GOP gu-
bernatorial candidates over the finish
line while staying clear of Republicans’

efforts to hold on to their narrow ma-

jority in the Virginia Legislature – all

while fighting a growing impeachment

inquiry in Washington, D.C.

“There is no getting away from what

is happening nationally, even in these

off-year elections,” said Page Gardner,

president of the Voter Participation

Center, which works to increase en-

gagement among unmarried women,

young people and people of color.

“At the end of the day, whatever you

say, you’re running in an operating

environment that is being defined by

his presidency.”

ELECTION DAY 2019

Spectators make their way to see President Trump lead a rally at Rupp Arena in Lexington, Ky., where
Republican Gov. Matt Bevin was locked in a fierce battle to keep his seat. MATT STONE/USA TODAY NETWORK

Today’s battlegrounds

could help define 2020

Key races

to watch

Governors

Kentucky

Mississippi

Louisiana

State legislature

Virginia

Your guide to

Election 2019

USA TODAY has got

you covered from local

races to national

trends. Visit usatoday

.com, your destination

for results, photos,

videos and real-time

campaign analysis.

Trump has a major stake in state, local contests

Maureen GroppeUSA TODAY

A LOOK AT WHAT TO WATCH FOR WHEN THE RESULTS COME IN. PAGE 2A