5 things to know for April 29: Presidential race, Severe weather, Middle East, College protests, Kenya
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A billionaire is building Titanic II — a replica of the ill-fated ship that sank in 1912. Early designs reveal the boat will accommodate around 2,300 passengers on trips reminiscent of the original Titanic, without the tragic ending, that is. Here’s what else you need to know to Get Up to Speed and On with Your Day. Former President Donald Trump continues to hold an advantage over President Joe Biden as their campaigns — and Trump’s criminal trial — move forward, according to a new CNN poll. Trump’s support in the poll among registered voters holds steady at 49% compared to Biden at 43%. The poll, which was conducted among 1,200 random adults, also revealed most respondents felt Trump’s term as president was a success, while a broad majority says Biden’s has so far been a failure. In an effort to reach potential voters, Biden poked fun at his own age Saturday at the annual White House Correspondents’ Dinner and took jabs at his predecessor. Biden last week also offered his most robust commitment to the general election debates, saying in an interview that he would be “happy to” debate Trump. Millions of people in the central US are under severe weather alerts today as storms threaten tornadoes, heavy rain and large hail across several states. The same weather system has killed at least four people, including an infant, following a devastating tornado outbreak in Oklahoma. Forecasts show that unsettled weather is expected to continue across the midsection of the country through the week. Cities including Dallas and Austin in Texas, Oklahoma City and Tulsa in Oklahoma, Wichita and Topeka in Kansas and the Kansas City metropolitan area are under severe weather watches as storms push eastward across the southern Plains. President Joe Biden spoke to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by phone on Sunday to discuss the release of hostages in Gaza. Biden reiterated his “clear position” on a potential Israeli invasion of Rafah, where more than 1 million displaced Palestinians are sheltering, a source told CNN. The Biden administration has told its Israeli counterparts that it wants to see a clear and actionable plan on how they would protect civilians in the region. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will also visit the Middle East this week to discuss with leaders the ceasefire and hostage talks between Israel and Hamas that remain stalled despite months of mediation by Qatar and Egypt. US colleges have been using law enforcement — along with academic suspensions and, for at least one school, expulsion — to warn against participating in violent pro-Palestinian demonstrations. A central demand of many protests is that the universities divest their funds from Israel-linked companies and support a ceasefire in Gaza. So far, many universities have refused to budge, and some experts doubt the effectiveness of such a campaign. Also over the weekend, students and children staged a display of solidarity at a demonstration in southern Gaza to express gratitude for the support seen on US college campuses in recent weeks.
Speaker Mike Johnson is a political survivor, weathering crisis after crisis since his unlikely ascent two years ago.
Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Elena Kagan are well matched, rhetorically forceful opposites. And they have been clashing for more than a decade over an increasingly relevant question of presidential power: How easy should it be for the president to fire the heads of independent agencies?
The Army gynecologist described in a recent lawsuit as a “predator in uniform” is now being held in the Bell County Jail in Texas, “after apparently violating conditions of liberty imposed by his commander,” according to an Army spokesperson.
Brian Walshe on Thursday came face-to-face for the first time with the man who had been having an affair with his wife before her death, as he took the stand to testify in Walshe’s murder trial.
The Supreme Court on Thursday allowed Texas to use a congressional map that will boost President Donald Trump’s effort to keep Republicans in control of Congress, blocking a lower court decision that found the new boundaries were likely unconstitutional because they were drawn based on race.
The US military carried out a strike Thursday on a suspected drug boat in the Eastern Pacific, killing four people on board, according to a social media post from US Southern Command.
A grand jury voted against indicting New York Attorney General Letitia James after being asked to look at the mortgage fraud case against her a second time, according to multiple people familiar with the development Thursday.
National Guard troops deployed to Washington, DC, can remain there for now, after a federal appeals court on Thursday temporarily froze a judge’s ruling that would have soon required them to leave the city’s streets.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s bad week just got worse. That’s after the long-awaited release Thursday of an inspector general’s report on his sharing of highly sensitive military attack plans on the unclassified app Signal earlier this year.
President Donald Trump has hired a new architect for the White House ballroom amid disputes between the president and his architect originally contracted to complete the project, several sources have told CNN.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth risked compromising sensitive military information that could have endangered US troops through his use of Signal to discuss attack plans, a Pentagon watchdog said in an unclassified report released Thursday. It also details how Hegseth declined to cooperate with the probe.
If nothing else, the controversy over the Trump administration’s second strike on an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean has surfaced a long-overdue debate about its already legally dubious first strikes.
Two top House lawmakers emerged divided along party lines after a private briefing with the military official who oversaw September’s attack on an alleged drug vessel that included a so-called double-tap strike that killed surviving crew members, with a top Democrat calling video of the incident that was shared as part of the briefing “one of the most troubling things” he has seen as a lawmaker.