Morning! While you were sleeping (or staying up to binge-watch Friends for the tenth time, or pulling an all nighter in the library), a few things went down that you’ll probably want to know about. So grab a cup of coffee, settle in, and get scrolling.
What in the World
Icelandic budget carrier WOW Air suddenly unexpectedly collapsed, ceasing operations and cancelling its flights. Passengers on both sides of the Atlantic were stranded, and demanded refunds for the thousands of dollars they had spent on plane tickets.
“WOW AIR has ceased operation,” the airline said in a statement on its website after declaring bankruptcy. “All WOW AIR flights have been cancelled.”
Wow Air abruptly ceased its operations, leaving passengers stranded and confused as their trans-Atlantic flights were canceled https://t.co/HANTlTZH6j pic.twitter.com/eff2QZgxgp
— CNN (@CNN) March 28, 2019
The airline encouraged passengers to book new flights on other airlines and said some passengers would be eligible for refunds. WOW Air CEO Skúli Mogensen told Icelandic state broadcaster RUV that negotiations to save the airline went on through the early morning in Iceland, CNN reports.
“As is normal, people believed we would get the investment,” Mogensen told RUV. “We have been very transparent, but it didn’t happen.”
While Mogensen didn’t know the exact number of tickets that had been sold, he did say that more than 1,000 passengers had been affected.
“I’m very sorry about this as these are people who have supported us,” Mogensen said. “I’m disappointed not to honor our commitments.”
According to the Wall Street Journal, WOW Air, which was founded in 2011, sold some of its planes last year to try to raise money and had been trying to secure long-term funding for months.
Passengers were shocked by the news and criticized the airline on social media for the lack of communication. The company even had reportedly been emailing customers promotional offers to upgrade their flights on the day the airline went under.
“Just found out about this news,” passenger Jonathan Koo tweeted after being stuck at Newark Liberty Airport. “They didn’t even notify any of us directly, had to find out from twitter and reddit.”
Passenger Marc Solari told BuzzFeed News he was due to fly to Iceland on Wednesday evening, but ended up being stuck at the Boston airport. Attempting to reach the airline’s support line, he gave up after being on hold for more than 40 minutes.
“The most annoying thing for me at this point is the amount of dishonesty from WOW yesterday to not only their customers but also their employees who are then forced to deal with an angry mob of people throughout the entire night,” Solari said.
Passengers tweeted photos of crowds as they and other passengers tried to figure out what to do.
For now, WOW Air’s website advises customers to contact their credit card companies and travel agents to try to get refunds for their tickets.
News You Can Eat
Now that spring has officially sprung, it’s time for all of our favorite spring treats, like marshmallow Peeps. Now, if Peeps make your heart go pitter-patter, it’s time to hop on over to Dunkin’ Donuts, because Dunkin’ Peeps coffee and donuts are coming on down the bunny trail next week.
Starting April 1st, Dunkin’ will be celebrating spring with Peeps donuts and Peeps-flavored coffee and espresso drinks, Hello Giggles reports. And you can get your Peeps-flavored coffee hot, iced, or frozen. So basically, sign us up for one of each, please.
Dunkin’ is welcoming spring with new Peeps doughnuts and marshmallow-flavored coffee https://t.co/gR4lMCACTg
— INSIDER (@thisisinsider) March 27, 2019
The vanilla Peeps donut looks deliciously adorable, complete with white frosting, sprinkles, and a cute yellow Peep on top.
But Dunkin’ will also be adding other treats to their spring lineup. Coffee enthusiasts can add a little spring to their step with the new Chocolate Cherry Cold Brew, and for a more refreshing beverage, Dunkin’ is offering Iced Tea Lemonade and Frozen Lemonade, PEOPLE reports. As for food items, the Sweet Sriracha Bacon Breakfast Sandwich will be making a debut on the menu.
And if you can’t get enough Peeps, the candy company has released seven new flavors, including cotton candy, pancakes & syrup, orange sherbet dipped in crème flavored fudge, root beer float, vanilla crème, chocolate caramel swirl, and blue raspberry.
So the countdown is on. April 1st can’t get here soon enough.
Then This Happened
In a committee hearing Thursday, all nine Republican members of the House Intelligence Committee called on Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) to resign from his chairmanship over his public comments about the Russia investigation and accused him of promoting a “false narrative” of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia in the leadup to the release of the Mueller report.
In their letter Thursday, the Republican committee members accused Schiff of being “at the center of a well-orchestrated media campaign” about possible Trump-Russia collusion, even going as far as to link Schiff to leaked information about the Russia investigation, The Huffington Post reports.
“Your willingness to continue to promote a demonstrably false narrative is alarming,” they said.
The GOP members’ letter concluded, “Your actions both past and present are incompatible with your duty as Chairman of this Committee, which alone in the House of Representatives has the obligation and authority to provide effective oversight of the U.S. intelligence community.”
Schiff launched into an aggressive defense following the criticism from his colleagues on the committee, listing several controversial instances where Trump campaign figures and Russia-linked individuals interacted, including the infamous Trump Tower meeting, ABC News reports.
I say this to the President, and his defenders in Congress:
You may think it’s okay how Trump and his associates interacted with Russians during the campaign.
I don’t.
I think it’s immoral. I think it’s unethical. I think it’s unpatriotic. And yes, I think it’s corrupt. pic.twitter.com/nTdgRVfssQ
— Adam Schiff (@RepAdamSchiff) March 28, 2019
“I think it’s immoral. I think it’s unethical. I think it’s unpatriotic. And yes, I think it’s corrupt and evidence of collusion,” he said. “I have always said that the question of whether this amounts to proof of conspiracy was another matter.”
While special counsel Robert Mueller’s report has been tightly guarded, Attorney General William Barr has released his four-page summation of the report, in which he says Mueller did not find that the Trump campaign or anyone associated with it conspired or coordinated with Russia.
Schiff has said that while he accepts Mueller’s conclusions on criminality, he still wants to see the full Mueller report, particularly parts related to counterintelligence, ABC News reports.
President Donald Trump himself called on Schiff to resign in an early morning tweet Thursday, accusing him of “unlawfully lying and leaking” information, and even adding that he should be “forced to resign from Congress.”
“They’re afraid of the truth. They’re afraid of a leader who is recognized in our country for being calm, professional, patriotic,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said of the attack on Schiff. “I think they’re just scaredy cats, they don’t know what to do so they have to make an attack. They did the wrong thing, the American people know that.”