In his last rally before the trial, Trump attacked the judge and prosecutors

New York City jury selection for Donald Trump’s hush money trial in the rematch between Donald Trump and Mitt Romney in a swing state

For the first time in American history, a former president is going on trial as a criminal defendant. Jury selection starts today in New York City for Donald Trump’s hush money trial. At the center of the trial are payments Trump’s then-attorney, Michael Cohen, made in 2016 to adult film star Stormy Daniels to prevent her from speaking about an alleged affair with Trump. Cohen paid Daniels $130,000 out of his own pocket. The criminal charges against the former president are related to his reimbursement of Cohen. Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 felony charges and says he’ll take the stand.

“I will be forced to sit fully gagged. I’m not allowed to talk. They want to take away my constitutional right to talk,” said Trump, who has been barred from publicly discussing potential witnesses and jurors but not the judge or prosecutors.

Trump spoke as Israel was fighting off a retaliatory drone attack from Iran that threatened to tip into a regional war in the Middle East. Trump claimed that the attack wouldn’t have happened if he were president but he continued to bash his legal troubles.

He called Judge Juan M. Merchan a corrupt judge and said that he was a victim of Democrats who wanted to block his return to the White House.

A former U.S. president is going to be prosecuted for the first time. It will limit Trump’s availability on the campaign trail while he is expected to speak to the media after court frequently, and because he’s been campaigning on felony charges for months.

Jury selection starts Monday in New York in his trial where he is charged with seeking during his 2016 campaign to bury stories about extramarital affairs by arranging hush money payments.

A long line of people lined up three hours before Trump was due to speak at the fire hall. It was Trump’s third visit this year to the vital swing state, one that could decide who wins this year’s presidential race. He also plans to attend a fundraiser in nearby Bucks County before the event.

Pennsylvania is a critical battleground in the rematch between Trump and Biden, with both candidates expected to visit the state frequently through November. Biden, who was born in the city of Scranton, lost the state four years after Trump took it from the Republican column. Biden plans to deliver a major address Tuesday in Scranton on tax fairness.

The 2020 Democratic Presidential Campaign: The Case for a Proposed Solution to the Israeli–Iraq Security and Security Problems in the Middle East

Bob Dippel retired as a CFO for several small businesses. He said he didn’t think the upcoming trial “would matter too much” to independent voters because “people are starting to see the mockery being made” of the legal system.

In regards to the 2020 election Biden argued that Trump’s lies were detrimental to the country. Biden has said that Trump is a threat to democracy and the U.S. alliances abroad.

“Joe Biden is a tyrant and we’re the ones who are fighting to save our democracy, so we’re going to win the election in the biggest landslide in history,” Trump said.

Iran’s attack on Israel, in apparent retaliation for a strike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus that killed 12 people, may once again push foreign policy and the Middle East into the center of the presidential campaign.

Trump has warned the country is losing its PR war as images of mass destruction mount, and recently said Israel needs to “finish up” its offensive in Gaza. Israeli forces are going after Hamas after militants staged an Oct. 7 attack in which they killed an estimated 1,200 people and took 250 hostages.

Trump recently said that any Democratic-leaning voters who support Israel should back him instead, as Biden has criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s actions in his war against Hamas. The Republican said that Jewish people who vote for a Democrat or for Biden should have their heads examined.

During his presidency, he moved the American embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and facilitated the normalization of relations between Israel and several Arab states through a series of agreements known as the Abraham Accords. Israel welcomed the decision to pull out of the Iran nuclear deal.

The deal lifted sanctions on Iran, which agreed in exchange to limit its nuclear program and allow inspections. Trump said it was too generous to Iran, while supporters of a deal said it was the best option to forestall a nuclear-armed Iran.

What to know about Iran’s strike on Israel; Jury selection begins for Trump trial: Up First Newsletter (January 12, 2017) – The Story of the Americas

Good morning. You are reading the newsletter. Subscribe here to get it delivered to your inbox, and listen to the Up First podcast for all the news you need to start your day.

Iran sent missiles to Israel on Saturday. Nearly all of them were intercepted by Israel and its allies, including the U.S., the U.K. and France. Iran says the strikes were in response to a suspected Israeli airstrike that killed top Iranian officers. There have been no deaths reported. Iran’s unprecedented attack, here’s what to know.

I’ve been doing this work for a long time now and it’s very rare to see anyone cry during an interview or to have to compose themselves. This happened back in the year after Puerto Rico was hit by a devastating storm, when we took a team to do a report on how the territory was doing.

It happened again a few weeks ago when we were traveling around Pennsylvania reporting on how gun violence is affecting people’s lives and also our political conversations in this election year.

We went to a bunch of places: Philadelphia, Lancaster, Harrisburg. We talked to a lot of people. Once again, you’d be talking to someone –a political leader, a teacher, a filmmaker, a mom, a dad, a coach—and they’d say, oh, yeah, my oldest daughter, my best friend, my son, my nephew, my neighbor, my cousin—was shot, was murdered, was hit in a drive by, took his own life – with a gun.

Guns are part of American life. They are woven into the fabric of American death. We have a snapshot of how people are thinking about that in a big and consequential state that has played an outsized role in our nation’s politics and may do so again. Through tears.

Source: What to know about Iran’s strike on Israel; Jury selection begins for Trump trial

The Great Salt Lake isn’t just a lake, but a bird’s paradise – drought, climate change and biologists have fought tirelessly

The peak water levels of the Great Salt Lake in Utah were in the 1980s. Since then, it has steadily dried up to an alarming level — a process accelerated by megadrought and climate change. The lake is home to migratory birds. A team of biologists has been tracking these contradictions as state leaders start paying attention and taking action.