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Tuesday, April 4, 2023

4/4 Wake-Up Call: NYC Mayor Warns 'Rabble-Rousers'


Donald Trump, the ex-president and frontrunner for the Republican 2024 nomination, flew into New York City on Monday for an historic court appearance to face charges stemming from a probe into hush money paid to a porn star.

With New York taking security precautions and the mayor telling potential "rabble-rousers" to behave, Trump was due to surrender at the Manhattan District Attorney's Office on Tuesday and will likely be fingerprinted prior to appearing before a judge for an arraignment where he will plead not guilty.

Trump, 76, is the first former or sitting U.S. president to face criminal charges. Yahoo News late on Monday said Trump would face 34 felony counts for falsification of business records. Citing a single source briefed on Tuesday's arraignment procedures, Yahoo said none of the charges against Trump were misdemeanors.

➤JUDGE RULES OUT BROADCAST RECORDING EQUIPMENT: The judge presiding over Donald Trump’s criminal case isn’t allowing journalists to use broadcast recording equipment or any electronic devices in the courtroom during the former president’s first hearing set for Tuesday in Manhattan state court. While laptops and cell phones won’t be permitted inside the courtroom, there will be an overflow room for the public and press to watch the proceedings through closed-circuit television, and news photographers will be able to take still photos in court before the hearing starts and in the hallway, according to the order issued late Monday by New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan in response to a petition by news organizations.

➤INDICTMENT 'HORRIBLE' FOR THE COUNTRY: Megyn Kelly has called Donald Trump's upcoming indictment 'horrible for the country' suggesting it's a double standard compared to Hillary Clinton and Hunter Biden. On her podcast, Kelly expressed her thoughts about Trump's upcoming arraignment, stating how it helps Trump politically but that it was terrible for the country. She clarified how if Trump committed a crime, he should be punished but believes there is hypocrisy compared to alleged behaviors of Clinton and Joe Biden's son, Hunter.

➤WILL THERE BE A TRUMP MUG? Former President Donald Trump will be the first former U.S. president to face criminal charges when he is arraigned, fingerprinted and photographed at the Manhattan courthouse on Tuesday. From Jane Fonda and OJ Simpson to Hugh Grant to former U.S. senator John Edwards, mugshots chronicle the arrests of the world's biggest stars and influential figures throughout the years. Will Trump be next? As a businessman, celebrity and former 45th President of the United States, Trump has been photographed countless times. But his mugshot could become one of the most defining images of the 21st century. Trump is expected to arrive in New York City this afternoon and will be arraigned on Tuesday morning.

➤NASHVILLE SHOOTING PLANNED FOR MONTHS: As students across Nashville walked out of class on Monday to protest gun violence at the Tennessee Capitol following a school shooting last week, police said the person who killed six people, including three 9-year-old children, had been planning the massacre for months. Police have not established a motive for the shootings at The Covenant School, a small Christian elementary school where the 28-year-old shooter was once a student, according to a Monday news release from the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department. 

Both Nashville police and FBI agents continue to review writings left behind by Audrey Hale, both in Hale’s vehicle and home, police said. “It is known that Hale considered the actions of other mass murderers,” police said. The three children who were killed in the shooting were Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs and William Kinney. The three adults were Katherine Koonce, 60, the head of the school, custodian Mike Hill, 61, and 61-year-old substitute teacher Cynthia Peak.

➤DeSANTIS SIGNS CONCEALED CARRY BILL INTO LAW: The White House on Monday denounced Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida for signing a bill that allows the carrying of a concealed weapon without a permit. Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, on Twitter, called his decision “shameful so soon after another tragic school shooting.” DeSantis, a likely candidate for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, has made easing restrictions on firearms ownership a centerpiece of his legislative agenda. A week ago, three children and three adults were fatally shot at a private elementary school in Nashville. The suspect, who was killed by the police, was armed with two assault-type rifles and a pistol, according to the authorities. President Joe Biden said he intended to “expose” politicians standing in the way of new firearms laws. DeSantis signed the legislation on Monday without issui

➤BATTLE FOR BAKHMUT CONTINUES: Fighting raged in and around Bakhmut as Ukraine mocked Russian claims to have captured the administrative center of the eastern Ukrainian city, saying Russian forces had raised a victory flag over "some kind of toilet". Russia, which launched its invasion of its neighbor on Feb. 24 last year partly in response to what it said was NATO's aggressive expansion, will on Tuesday see Finland, with which it shares a 1,300-km (810-mile) border, joining the alliance. The battle for the mining city and logistics hub of Bakhmut has been one of the bloodiest of the conflict with heavy casualties on both sides and the city largely destroyed.

Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the Wagner mercenary force spearheading the siege, said on Sunday his troops had raised a Russian flag on the city-centre administrative building even though Ukrainian soldiers still held some western positions. The total collapse and break-up of Vladimir Putin 's Russia has begun and the West must be prepared to deal with the potentially catastrophic aftermath, a top official in Volodymyr Zelensky's Government has warned. Oleksiy Danilov, the secretary of Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council, said the West must be on high alert, having in the past failed to be ready for the collapse of the Soviet Union. He said Kyiv that believed Russia was about to fall apart in 'spectacular' fashion within the next few years. But he warned that China currently holds the upper hand over the Kremlin's imminent capitulation. He said if the West allowed China to take territory in Russia, a new grave problem would be created.

➤U-S HEDGED ON CHINA BALLOON: The alleged Chinese spy balloon that crossed the US in late January and February managed to gather intelligence from military sites, but the US was able to limit what it collected, according to a Pentagon spokeswoman. The military knew that the balloon could be maneuvered to “hover” over sensitive sights and responded by taking actions that ensured China gained little “additive value” from it, Sabrina Singh said Monday. She was responding to a report by NBC News, which said China was able to transmit the information it collected in real time and that intelligence collected was mostly from electronic signals rather than images. 

The network cited two current senior US officials and one former senior administration official that it didn’t identify. Singh didn’t respond when asked about those details, saying the FBI is still conducting an analysis of the balloon and what was transmitted to Beijing. But a US intelligence official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the analysis so far indicates that its flight over the country didn’t appear to have provided China with critical new insights.  Singh reaffirmed the US conclusion that “the intent of this balloon was surveillance” despite repeated denials by China.

⛽GAS PRICES EXPECTED TO SPIKE: The surprise OPEC+ production cut will undoubtedly bring higher gasoline bills to US drivers as energy markets climb on tighter supplies.  For pump prices, the move could add more than 50 cents a gallon to the US average, said Kevin Book, managing director of ClearView Energy Partners. The national average is now at about $3.50.  A rally now would come just ahead of the busy summer driving season, when demand typically peaks. What’s more: There’s “room to run on the upside, because second-half oil balances were already poised to tighten considerably,” Book said. 

➤DISTRACTION, SPEEDING, ALCOHOL DRIVE UP 2021 TRAFFIC DEATHS: The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported an increase of over 10% in deaths of United States citizens over the course of 2020. The recently published report revealed the largest jump in death percentages since 1975. The sharp increase in fatal car crashes stemming from distracted and alcohol-impaired driving prompted the agency to launch a $5 million advertising campaign to curb traffic-related deaths.

➤1ST MOON CREW IN 50 YEARS INCLUDES WOMAN, BLACK ASTRONAUT: The next four astronauts that will venture around the moon for NASA are making history. The crew includes the first woman and African American person to ever take on a moon mission. “This is humanity’s crew,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson.

➤CAUSE OF McVIE'S DEATH RELEASED: Fleetwood Mac legend Christine McVie died aged 79 after suffering a stroke as she battled against cancer, it has emerged. The pop star, who penned some of the band's biggest hits including Don't Stop, Little Lies, Say You Love Me, You Make Loving Fun and Songbird, passed away in November last year in hospital.  Her genius and warm, soulful vocals helped to turn the one-time blues band into one of the most successful rock groups of all time, with more than 100million record sold worldwide.


🏀UCONN ARE CHAMPS: Connecticut came into Monday night’s NCAA men’s championship team riding a run of blowout wins through March Madness, never having to sweat its survival. San Diego State entered with a penchant for last-second comebacks. Then they played a title game that seemed to offer both outcomes.  UConn jumped out to a 12-point first-half lead that it could never quite nail into place after the break, then watched the Aztecs claw their way back as this defensive-minded team seemed unwilling to play the fated role of double-digit loser. But in the end, the Huskies’ knack for pushing the pace and scoring in transition were too much for this physical San Diego State team that does best when it baits opponents into driving in the paint. In front of 70,000-strong at NRG Stadium, the No. 4 seeded Huskies pulled away from five-seed San Diego State 76-59, to deliver UConn its fifth championship in the last 25 years, the most of any Division I program.


🏀LEBRON JAMES DEFENDS ANGEL REESE AMID BACKLASH AGAINST LSU STAR: LeBron James stuck up for Angel Reese, a college basketball powerhouse from LSU, after her sportsmanship was under attack after the team won a national title. In a series of retweets, stars like James, David Aldridge, and Ryan Clark communicated the double-standard that women are faced with for being “competitive, fiery, and passionate,” in comparison to male athletes when the competition gets hot.


➤CALI SNOWPACK REPORTEDLY THE LARGEST EVER: California's wet and wintry start to the year has resulted in perhaps the deepest snowpack recorded in more than 70 years, officials said Monday. The snowpack is so deep that it currently contains roughly 30 million acre-feet of water — or more water than Lake Mead, the nation's largest reservoir, according to a Times analysis of snow sensor data. But though the bounty has eased drought conditions, experts warn that the dense Sierra Nevada snowpack will soon melt, potentially unleashing torrents of water and creating considerable concern about spring flooding in valleys, foothills and communities below. "All of that water is going to have to come downhill sooner rather than later," said Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at UCLA. Incoming warmer weather is "good news for a lot of folks who need it, but it does mean that the 'big melt' is on the way."

➤MAJOR STORMS ARE RLENTLESS: Forecasters warned Monday of the nation's biggest potential snowstorm of the year across a wide swath of the northern U.S., while parts of the Midwest and South are bracing for another round of damaging tornadoes. Almost 50 million Americans are already at risk for severe storms and potential tornadoes Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service's Storm Prediction Center. 

Cities such as Chicago, Kansas City, Missouri, Tulsa, Oklahoma, St. Louis and Des Moines, Iowa, are all in the risk area. The storms "could pose a risk for a few strong tornadoes, large hail and damaging wind gusts," the prediction center said.  The prediction center also said "dangerous nighttime tornadoes" are possible Tuesday evening into Wednesday morning. Nighttime tornadoes are twice as likely to be deadly as daytime tornadoes. Many cities and towns are recovering from a surge of severe storms that resulted in dozens of confirmed or suspected tornadoes in at least eight states and 32 deaths.

 Meanwhile, Colorado, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah and Wyoming are among the states that will face the brunt of a winter storm brewing from Monday to Wednesday that could break April snow records, the National Weather Service warned. Up to 30 inches of snow was possible in portions of South Dakota, the weather service in Rapid City said. 



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