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The Daily Briefing

YOUR MORNING NEWS ROUNDUP

Wed May 29 2024

Nicole Fallert | Newsletter Writer

@nicolefallert

A New York judge will provide jurors with instructions Wednesday morning in former President Donald Trump's New York criminal trial. Why this spring has had so many tornadoes and how small city life is attracting Americans.

🙋🏼‍♀️ I'm Nicole Fallert, Daily Briefing author. Maybe don't run through a plane naked?

Jury deliberations begin in Trump criminal trial

The twelve jurors in former President Donald Trump's hush money trial commute home like any other New Yorker. As the the judge has decided not to sequester them, these individuals have lived life as normally as possible over the past six weeks while listening to high-profile testimony and reviewing evidence in a historic first criminal trial of a former U.S. president.

Now is their big moment as deliberations begin Wednesday after instructions from Judge Juan Merchan.

•	The anonymous jurors include engineers, lawyers, and a teacher, among others. They each answered more than 40 questions to determine whether they could be fair and impartial in deciding the verdict.
•	It's in the hands of these individuals to decide whether Trump allegedly covered up hush money payments to a porn star to hide another crime.
•	The forthcoming verdict – a conviction on all or some of 34 counts of falsifying business records, an acquittal, or a deadlocked jury – could have a major impact on Trump's campaign against President Joe Biden.

Does Israel's deadly strike cross Biden's 'red line'?

The Biden administration reiterated its support for Israel after the country's deadly operation that killed at least 45 people in the Gaza Strip over the weekend. Officials mourned the loss of life but said the attack didn't constitute a major ground incursion that crosses any U.S. red lines. The attack has spurred global outcry after Israeli actions took place in the Tel Al-Sultan neighborhood, where thousands of Palestinians were sheltering. More than half of those killed were women, children, and elderly people, according to the Hamas-run Gazan Health Ministry. Read more

More news to know now

•	A judge in Trump's classified documents case rejected a gag request from prosecutors.
•	North Korea dropped trash-filled balloons on South Korea.
•	Why are so many private jets headed to Milwaukee?
•	Some pro-Palestinian groups on Facebook have become a hotbed of antisemitism.
•	On today's The Excerpt podcast, the latest on PFAS chemicals and efforts by some utilities to get them out of the water supply. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your smart speaker.

What's the weather today? Check your local forecast here.

A virtual session to get Biden on Ohio's ballot

Democrats will virtually choose President Joe Biden as their nominee after Ohio lawmakers dragged their feet in changing a state deadline that clashed with the party's convention. The move comes after the inaction at the Ohio state legislature to get Biden on the ballot, prompting a frustrated Gov. Mike DeWine to order lawmakers to return this week for a special session to address a ballot fix and foreign campaign spending. But Democrats opted to pursue their own path in case lawmakers fail to reach a deal. Read more

There's been a lot of tornadoes this spring

If you think there have been a lot of tornadoes this year, you're right: With at least 850 confirmed tornadoes so far and several major tornado outbreaks, it ranks among the busiest years in recorded history. That number is likely to rise as the National Weather Service continues surveying and confirming damages from the April and May tornado reports, which were up significantly over previous years. Even some of the most veteran storm chasers have been astounded by tornado activity so far this year.

Keep scrolling

•	Equestrian star Georgie Campbell died after a fall during a competition.
•	Eating peanuts can help little kids avoid allergies later in life.
•	A billionaire will attempt to take a submersible to the Titanic.
•	Cicada map 2024: See where to find Broods XIII and XIX.
•	Is "color analysis" real?

Americans continue to flee big cities

In 2022, places like Manhattan and Atlanta that had become ghost towns during the pandemic began seeing more people moving back than leaving, raising hopes for a resurgence of the nations' largest cities. But the latest U.S. Census Bureau figures show the revival was short-lived. Americans have continued to flee large metro areas in massive numbers as the remote work shift sparked by COVID becomes entrenched and the allure of more affordable midsize cities and smaller towns grows. Read more

Photo of the day: Another habitable planet?

NASA announced the discovery of a planet 40 light years from Earth that orbits every 12.8 days and is possibly even habitable.

Pictured is the Super-Earth exoplanet, Gliese 12 b, and the red dwarf star, Gliese 12, it orbits.

Courtesy of NASA

Nicole Fallert is a newsletter writer at USA TODAY, sign up for the email here. Want to send Nicole a note? Shoot her an email at NFallert@usatoday.com.