News
Updated timeline for attempted Trump assassination; crypto’s impact on the election
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Today’s top stories
The FBI will interview Former President Donald Trump as part of its investigation into the assassination attempt against him. The bureau says it wants to get Trump’s perspective and learn what he observed that day. At this point, the FBI has interviewed more than 450 people, including people who knew the shooter, Thomas Crooks.
Former President Trump pumps his fist as he is rushed offstage during a rally on July 13, 2024, in Butler, Pa.
Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
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Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
- 🎧 NPR’s Ryan Lucas tells Up First that the FBI still hasn’t determined a motive in the case, but has provided a more detailed timeline of events. It’s believed that Crooks planned carefully ahead of the rally and tried to hide his activities. He used aliases to buy guns and explosives online, and his online search history included information on mass shootings and the attempted assassination of Slovakia’s prime minister. Investigators believe Crooks was able to get on the roof by climbing piping on the side of the building. A police officer was lifted to the roof but dropped back to the ground after Crooks pointed a gun at him. Just 25-30 seconds later, Crooks fired eight rounds before the Secret Service killed him.
Several Republican donors are closely watching a Democratic U.S. House race in today’s primary election in the swing state of Arizona. Some have even donated to the primary. The reason: cryptocurrency and its possible influence on the congressional race. The top contenders, former Arizona legislator Raquel Terán and ex-city council member Yassamin Ansari are vying to make history with their personal backgrounds. For donors with an interest in crypto, Ansari has become the favored candidate.
- 🎧 “Crypto could make its biggest mark on this election cycle,” NPR’s Claudia Grisales says. Ansari tells Grisales that she’s likely drawn the support because she’s pushed ideas on how to innovate the digital asset industry. Terán says she is having to face off against Republicans and crypto donors supporting her opponent. The GOP-based crypto group Protect Progress PAC has given more than $1.3 million to support Ansari’s campaign. Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, largely known as Republican donors, additionally gave the maximum allowed. Ansari says she has no connection to the Winklevoss twins.
President Biden called for term limits and an enforceable ethics code for Supreme Court justices yesterday. The White House said that the proposal would appoint a justice every two years to spend 18 years in active service to the Supreme Court. He also called on Congress to pass binding, enforceable conduct and ethics rules that require high court justices to disclose gifts, refrain from public political activity and remove themselves from cases if they or their spouses have financial or other conflicts of interest. The president also called for a constitutional amendment that would limit the broad immunity presidents now enjoy due to a recent Supreme Court decision.
Life Advice
Air quality in Denver was badly affected by wildfire smoke from blazes in Oregon and provinces of western Canada on July 24, 2024.
David Zalubowski/AP
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David Zalubowski/AP
Wildfire season is here… again. With the flames comes smoke, which research shows can be as deadly as the fire itself. Scientists recently researched the long-term outcomes of smoke exposure from California wildfires between 2008 and 2018. They found that an estimated 55,170 premature deaths were connected to tiny particles called PM2.5 found in wildfire smoke. As climate change makes large fires more frequent, everyone needs to be prepared to protect themselves. Here’s what to know:
- 🔥 Check the Air Quality Index. If it’s above 100, avoid outdoor exercise. If it’s over 150, wear a tight-fitting N95 mask when outside. Run your air conditioner with a high-efficiency filter installed.
- 🔥 People in high-risk groups, including children and pregnant women should consider additional steps like designating a “clean room,” with few windows and doors and its own portable HEPA air cleaner. Avoid things that could add to indoor air pollution, like vacuuming and lighting candles.
- 🔥 PM2.5 exposure while pregnant has been associated with higher odds of giving birth prematurely.
- 🔥 If your child has asthma, make sure to have medication on hand.
- 🔥 Bad air quality can also be dangerous for puppies and kittens, senior pets and those with heart and lung problems. If the AQI is over 150, keep them inside apart from quick bathroom breaks. If they have trouble breathing and their eyes are red and watery, call a vet.
- 🔥 The CDC suggests all employers relocate or reschedule work tasks for employees working outside to less smoky areas or times of the day. Frequent breaks are also encouraged.
Picture show
Residents and community organizers take the street in the La Vega neighborhood of Caracas, Venezuela, on Wednesday morning to show support for opposition candidate Edmundo Gónzalez, going door to door to explain the ballot.
Lexi Parra for NPR
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Lexi Parra for NPR
Venezuelans awoke yesterday morning to a tense election outcome: Both President Nicolás Maduro and his chief opponents claimed victory. Nearly a decade of socio-political crisis that included hyperinflation, repression and violence, has led to an exodus of over 7 million citizens. During that time, the country has experienced national protest movements, assassination attempts, and an opposition effort to form an internationally recognized parallel government outside the Maduro administration.
- 📷 See photos from both campaigns in the days leading up to this historic presidential election.
3 things to know before you go
Rasha Kowalewski and her mom.
Rasha Kowalewski
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Rasha Kowalewski
- Rasha Kowalewski’s mom Cheryl Suzanne Stephens was diagnosed with kidney cancer in 2013. In 2016, she was admitted to the hospital after it spread. While Stephens was unconscious, a nurse and unsung hero’s extra care and tenderness for her brought Kowalewski comfort during one of the hardest times of her life.
- A Maryland school system will be the first in the U.S. to offer pickleball as a varsity sport this fall.
- Novo Nordisk, an Ozempic manufacturer, is powering Denmark’s economy. In 2023, it became the largest company in Europe. Nearly 1 in 5 Danish jobs created last year were at the pharmaceutical company.
This newsletter was edited by Suzanne Nuyen.
News
Bill Clinton to testify before House committee investigating Epstein links
Former president Bill Clinton is scheduled to give deposition Friday to a congressional committee investigating his links to Jeffrey Epstein, one day after Hillary Clinton testified before the committee and called the proceedings “partisan political theatre” and “an insult to the American people”.
During remarks before the House oversight committee, Hillary Clinton, the former secretary of state, insisted on Thursday that she had never met Epstein.
The former Democratic president, however, flew on Epstein’s private jet several times in the early 2000s but said he never visited his island.
Clinton, who engaged in an extramarital affair while president and has been accused of sexual misconduct by three women, also appears in a photo from the recently released files, in a hot tub with Epstein and a woman whose identity is redacted.
Clinton has denied the sexual misconduct claims and was not charged with any crimes. He also has not been accused of any wrongdoing connected to Epstein.
Epstein visited the White House at least 17 times during the early years of Clinton’s presidency, according to White House visitor records cited in news reports. Clinton said he cut ties with him around 2005, before the disgraced financier, who died from suicide in 2019, pleaded guilty to solicitation of a minor in Florida.
The House committee subpoenaed the Clintons in August. They initially refused to testify but agreed after Republicans threatened to hold them in contempt.
The Clintons asked for their depositions to be held publicly, with the former president stating that to do so behind closed doors would amount to a “kangaroo court”.
“Let’s stop the games + do this the right way: in a public hearing,” Clinton said on X earlier this month.
The committee’s chair, James Comer, did not grant their request, and the proceedings will be conducted behind closed doors with video to be released later.
On Thursday, Hillary Clinton’s proceedings were briefly halted after representative Lauren Boebert leaked an image of Clinton testifying.
During the full day deposition, Clinton said she had no information about Epstein and did not recall ever meeting him.
Before the deposition, Comer said it would be a long interview and that one with Bill Clinton would be “even longer”.
News
Read Judge Schiltz’s Order
CASE 0:26-cv-00107-PJS-DLM
Doc. 12-1 Filed 02/26/26
Page 5 of 17
and to file a status update by 11:00 am on January 20. ECF No. 5. Respondents never provided a bond hearing and did not release Petitioner until January 21, ECF Nos. 10, 12, after failing to file an update, ECF No. 9. Further, Respondents released Petitioner subject to conditions despite the Court’s release order not providing for conditions. ECF Nos. 5, 12–13.
Abdi W. v. Trump, et al., Case No. 26-CV-00208 (KMM/SGE)
On January 21, 2026, the Court ordered Respondents, within 3 days, to either (a) complete Petitioner’s inspection and examination and file a notice confirming completion, or (b) release Petitioner immediately in Minnesota and confirm the date, time, and location of release. ECF No. 7. No notice was ever filed. The Court emailed counsel on January 27, 2026, at 10:39 am. No response was provided.
Adriana M.Y.M. v. David Easterwood, et al., Case No. 26-CV-213 (JWB/JFD)
On January 24, 2026, the Court ordered immediate release in Minnesota and ordered Respondents to confirm the time, date, and location of release, or anticipated release, within 48 hours. ECF No. 12. Respondent was not released until January 30, and Respondents never disclosed the time of release, instead describing it as “early this morning.” ECF No. 16.
Estefany J.S. v. Bondi, Case No. 26-CV-216 (JWB/SGE)
On January 13, 2026, at 10:59 am, the Court ordered Respondents to file a letter by 4:00 pm confirming Petitioner’s current location. ECF No. 8. After receiving no response, the Court ordered Respondents, at 5:11 pm, to immediately confirm Petitioner’s location and, by noon on January 14, file a memorandum explaining their failure to comply with the initial order. ECF No. 9. Respondents did not file the memorandum, requiring the Court to issue another order. ECF No. 12. On January 15, the Court ordered immediate release in Minnesota and required Respondents to confirm the time, date, and location of release within 48 hours. ECF No. 18. On January 20, having received no confirmation, the Court ordered Respondents to comply immediately. ECF No. 21. Respondents informed the Court that Petitioner was released in Minnesota on January 17, but did not specify the time. ECF No. 22.
5
News
Chicagoans pay respects to Jesse Jackson as cross-country memorial services begin
James Hickman holds a photo montage of the late Rev. Jesse Jackson before a public visitation at Rainbow/PUSH Coalition in Chicago on Thursday.
Nam Y. Huh/AP
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Nam Y. Huh/AP
CHICAGO — A line of mourners streamed through a Chicago auditorium Thursday to pay final respects to the Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. as cross-country memorial services began in the city the late civil rights leader called home.
The protege of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and two-time presidential candidate will lie in repose for two days at the headquarters of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition before events in Washington, D.C., and South Carolina, where he was born.
Family members wiped away tears as the casket was brought into the stately brick building. Flowers lined the sidewalks where people waiting to enter watched a large screen playing video excerpts of Jackson’s notable speeches. Some raised their fists in solidarity.
The casket with the Rev. Jesse Jackson arrives before a public visitation at Rainbow/PUSH Coalition in Chicago on Thursday.
Nam Y. Huh/AP
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Nam Y. Huh/AP
Inside, Jackson’s children, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and the Rev. Al Sharpton were among those who stood by the open casket to shake hands and hug those coming to view the body of Jackson, dressed in a suit and blue shirt and tie.
“The challenge for us is that we’ve got to make sure that all he lived for was not in vain,” Sharpton told reporters. “Dr. King’s dream and Jesse Jackson’s mission now falls on our shoulders. We’ve got to stand up and keep it going.”
The Rev. Al Sharpton speaks as Jesse Jackson Jr. listens after the public visitation for the Rev. Jesse Jackson at Rainbow/PUSH Coalition in Chicago on Thursday.
Nam Y. Huh/AP
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Nam Y. Huh/AP
Jackson died last week at age 84 after battling a rare neurological disorder that affected his mobility and ability to speak in his later years.
Remembrances have already poured in from around the globe, and several U.S. states, including Minnesota, Iowa and North Carolina, are flying flags at half-staff in his honor.
But perhaps nowhere has his death been felt as strongly as in the nation’s third-largest city, where Jackson lived for decades and raised his six children, including a son who is a congressman.
Bouquets have been left outside the family’s Tudor-style home on the city’s South Side for days. Public schools have offered condolences, and city trains have used digital screens to display Jackson’s portrait and his well-known mantra, “I am Somebody!”
People wait to enter the security checkpoint for the public visitation for the Rev. Jesse Jackson at Rainbow/PUSH Coalition in Chicago on Thursday.
Nam Y. Huh/AP
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Nam Y. Huh/AP
His causes, both in the United States and abroad, were countless: Advocating for the poor and underrepresented on issues including voting rights, job opportunities, education and health care. He scored diplomatic victories with world leaders, and through his Rainbow PUSH Coalition, he channeled cries for Black pride and self-determination into corporate boardrooms, pressuring executives to make America a more open and equitable society.


“We honor him, and his hard-earned legacy as a freedom fighter, philosopher, and faithful shepherd of his family and community here in Chicago,” the mayor said in a statement.
Next week, Jackson will lie in honor at the South Carolina Statehouse, followed by public services. According to Rainbow PUSH’s agenda, Gov. Henry McMaster is expected to deliver remarks; however, the governor’s office said Thursday that his participation wasn’t yet confirmed. Jackson spent his childhood and started his activism in South Carolina.
Details on services in Washington have not yet been made public. However, he will not lie in honor at the United States Capitol rotunda after a request for the commemoration was denied by the House Speaker Mike Johnson’s office.
The two weeks of events will wrap up next week with a large celebration of life gathering at a Chicago megachurch and finally, homegoing services at the headquarters of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition.
Family members said the services will be open to all.
“Our family is overwhelmed and overjoyed by the amazing amount of support being offered by common, ordinary people who our father’s life has come into contact with,” his eldest son, Jesse Jackson Jr., said before the services began. “This is a unique opportunity to lay down some of the political rhetoric and to lay down some of the division that deeply divides our country and to reflect upon a man who brought people together.”
The family of the Rev. Jesse Jackson arrives as Yusep Jackson wipes his eyes before public visitation at Rainbow/PUSH Coalition in Chicago on Thursday.
Nam Y. Huh/AP
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Nam Y. Huh/AP
The services included prayers from some of the city’s most well-known religious leaders, including Chicago Cardinal Blase Cupich. Mourners of all ages — from toddlers in strollers to elderly people in wheelchairs — came to pay respects.
Video clips of his appearances at news conferences, the campaign trail and even “Sesame Street” also played inside the auditorium.
Claudette Redic, a retiree who lives in Chicago, said her family has respected Jackson, from backing his presidential ambitions to her son getting a scholarship from a program Jackson championed.
“We have generations of support,” she said. “I’m hoping we continue.”
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