5 things to know for May 17: Trump trial, Southern storms, Middle East, Immigration, Marijuana
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A giant planet as fluffy as cotton candy has been spotted about 1,200 light-years from Earth. Astronomers say it’s the second-lightest planet ever found and will be key to research investigating atypical planetary formation. Here’s what else you need to know to Get Up to Speed and On with Your Day. Former President Donald Trump’s lawyer spent hours Thursday tediously moving through inconsistent statements that Michael Cohen has made over the years to knock his credibility. Cohen is the prosecution’s key witness in Trump’s criminal hush money trial, which centers on allegations that Trump broke the law by falsifying business records to conceal a hush money payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election. In the heated questioning, Trump’s attorney cast doubt on Cohen’s memory of interactions with Trump in 2016 and portrayed him as a liar out for revenge. Court is off today so Trump can attend the high school graduation of his son, Barron. But summations may begin Tuesday — meaning the jury could have the case as early as next week. A dangerous, life-threatening storm system is unfolding in the South as torrential rain pummels Texas and Louisiana. The storms have killed at least four people in Houston and left more than 1 million homes and businesses without power, officials said. The wind was so strong Thursday that it blew out the windows of buildings in downtown Houston, littering the area with glass as traffic lights went dark. Forecasts show the storms will shift east today and target more of the Gulf Coast with heavy downpours. Around 14 million people are at risk of severe weather in the region, with swaths of Mississippi and Alabama under the moderate, Level 3 of 4, risk of excessive rainfall. Trucks carrying humanitarian aid into Gaza are now moving ashore after arriving through the floating pier built by the US military. The pier was anchored to a beach in Gaza on Thursday and will be used to funnel aid from various countries into the besieged enclave as all other border crossings remain closed. Also on Thursday, the US House voted to prevent President Joe Biden from withholding weapons to Israel as Republicans criticize his handling of the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. The bill is unlikely to be taken up in the Democratic-led Senate and the White House has said that Biden would veto the bill if Congress passed it. The Department of Homeland Security and the Justice Department have announced new plans targeting migrants who have unlawfully crossed the US southern border. Some migrants will be placed on a new court docket and will have their cases resolved within 180 days — cutting the process down by months if not years. The docket applies to single adults who are released from government custody and headed to one of five destination cities: Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles and New York City. This comes as the immigration court backlog exceeds 3 million pending cases, according to an analysis of immigration court data.
Some Medicare enrollees may soon be able to access super-popular drugs for obesity under a voluntary model program, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced Tuesday. Eligible beneficiaries will only have to pay $50 a month.
The Justice Department’s leadership asked career prosecutors in Florida Tuesday to volunteer over the “next several days” to help to redact the Epstein files, in the latest internal Trump administrationpush toward releasing the hundreds of thousands of photos, internal memos and other evidence around the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The US State Department on Tuesday imposed visa sanctions on a former top European Union official and employees of organizations that combat disinformation for alleged censorship – sharply ratcheting up the Trump administration’s fight against European regulations that have impacted digital platforms, far-right politicians and Trump allies, including Elon Musk.
A Delaware state trooper was killed along with the suspected gunman Tuesday during a shooting at a motor vehicle agency near Wilmington, authorities said.
Wyoming’s lone U.S. representative is running for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Cynthia Lummis, who isn’t seeking re-election.
A new lawsuit filed in Washington, DC’s federal court Monday challenges the Kennedy Center board of trustees’ move to add President Donald Trump’s name to the cultural institution.
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Some staff at the Department of Veterans Affairs are finding little to be merry about after the agency said it would eliminate tens of thousands of open, unfilled positions across the country as it looks to streamline its staffing.
Former Republican Sen. Ben Sasse announced Tuesday that he’s been diagnosed with “metastasized, stage 4 pancreatic cancer, and am gonna die.”
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Political opposites are closing 2025 as they did 2024: on each side of America’s Donald Trump divide. But CNN’s “All Over the Map” survey did provide several interesting takeaways. Some may be instructive about the midterm election climate, at least at this beginning stage.
A 2-year-old child is among at least five people who were killed when a Mexican Navy plane carrying medical patients crashed into the waters of Galveston Bay in Texas on Monday afternoon, US Coast Guard officials say.
The Trump administration is suing the local government of Washington, DC, over its gun laws, alleging that restrictions on certain semiautomatic weapons run afoul of Second Amendment rights.