5 things to know for April 19: Fox News, Abortion, Kansas City, Taxes, Air quality
By Alexandra Meeks, CNN
A toddler crawled through a White House fence on Tuesday, prompting a swift Secret Service response. Photos of the breach show the tiny intruder being caught by officers before being quickly reunited with his parents. While security alerts were rapidly lifted, it remains unclear if the infiltration resulted in a timeout.
Here’s what else you need to know to Get Up to Speed and On with Your Day.
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1. Fox News settlement
Fox News will pay more than $787 million to Dominion Voting Systems after the two sides agreed to a last-minute settlement Tuesday in the explosive defamation case brought against the right-wing network. Dominion, which sells election technology, said Fox destroyed its reputation by knowingly broadcasting lies that the company rigged the 2020 presidential election. Fox on Tuesday acknowledged the court’s rulings “finding certain claims about Dominion to be false.” However, Fox won’t have to admit on-air that it spread election lies, a Dominion representative told CNN. By settling, Fox will avoid a painful six-week trial that would have required some of the network’s top executives and prominent on-air personalities to testify about their misleading election coverage. The $787.5 million payout marks the largest publicly known defamation settlement in US history involving a media company.
2. Abortion
The Supreme Court is expected to make a decision today regarding the legal battle over the drug mifepristone, the first pill given in a medical abortion. Nearly two weeks ago, a federal judge in Texas said mifepristone should not have been approved in 2000 and ruled to halt access to the drug nationwide. Last week, Justice Samuel Alito granted a request of the Biden administration to put a temporary hold on the decision to give the justices more time to review the case. Alito asked to hear from a group of doctors opposed to abortion and said the court would make its final determination by 11:59 p.m. ET today. According to a Tuesday filing, the anti-abortion doctors urged the Supreme Court to keep mifepristone restrictions in place, stating concerns about the safety of the drug. However, mifepristone has been approved by the FDA for more than 20 years and is safer than some common prescription drugs, data analyzed by CNN shows.
3. Kansas City shooting
A Black teenager who authorities say was shot by an 84-year-old White homeowner after going to the wrong Kansas City address has received a positive prognosis but still faces a long road to recovery as his family fights for justice in his case, according to his attorneys. “Thursday night, doctors were scraping off bullet fragments off his brain. Saturday, he was released from the hospital,” Yarl family attorney Lee Merritt told CNN, calling Ralph’s recovery a miracle. The 16-year-old rang a doorbell on April 13 and was shot in the head and arm by the homeowner, who opened fire through a locked glass door without any words exchanged, according to documents obtained by CNN. The homeowner, who faces two felony charges, turned himself in at a detention center Tuesday, then hours later was released on $200,000 bond. He is expected to be arraigned later today.
4. Taxes
With tax season coming to a close for many Americans this week, the Treasury Department will soon know the amount of tax revenue it has received for 2022 and for the first estimated payment of this year. That cash is crucial now because the US hit its debt ceiling in January and can’t continue to borrow to meet its obligations unless Congress raises or suspends that ceiling. While it’s difficult to forecast tax collections, some analysts say it’s unlikely they’ll come in higher than expected as they did during the last filing season. The full tally won’t be known for a few more weeks. Separately, tax returns for President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden show they made $579,514 in 2022, slightly lower than their previous year’s earnings. Returns released Tuesday by the White House also showed the first couple paid $169,820 in combined federal, Delaware, and Virginia income taxes last year.
5. Air quality
About 1 in 4 people in the US — more than 119 million residents — live with air pollution that can hurt their health, according to a new report from the American Lung Association. People of color are disproportionately affected, as are residents of Western cities. California had 10 of the 25 most ozone-polluted cities. New York, Chicago and Hartford, Connecticut, were the only three on that list east of the Mississippi River, according to the report. On the positive side, 17.6 million fewer people were breathing unhealthy air than in last year’s report, due largely to falling levels of ozone in some regions. Emission controls have helped, an author of the report said, as has the country’s continuing move away from its reliance on coal for its energy needs.
BREAKFAST BROWSE
How to view the rare hybrid eclipse today
A hybrid solar eclipse — the first of its kind in nearly 10 years — will be on display for a few hours today. Here’s how you can watch the celestial event.
Damar Hamlin cleared to resume football activities after cardiac arrest
The Buffalo Bills safety is gearing up for a return to the field after suffering a medical emergency in January, the team’s general manager said.
Netflix is winding down its DVD business after 25 years
Later this year, Netflix will officially say goodbye to its DVD rental service and all of those red envelopes that made it possible.
Blackpink makes history at Coachella
The K-Pop girl group became the first Asian act to headline the music festival. They also used the ground-breaking moment to pay homage to Korean heritage by arriving onstage in hanboks, a traditional type of dress.
Alec Baldwin to resume ‘Rust’ production this week
Production on the Western film came to a halt in 2021 when cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was fatally shot by a prop gun Baldwin was holding. The movie is set to be completed with Matthew Hutchins, her widower, serving as an executive producer.
TODAY’S NUMBER
50
That’s the percentage of hospitals in Sudan’s capital that are “out of action” due to intensifying clashes between the country’s army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, according to a leading aid organization. Many people are injured and remain in dire need of medical attention but medical staffers do not feel safe reporting to hospitals amid the intense shelling and bombings.
TODAY’S QUOTE
“An investigation into how this happened is underway. We will get answers.”
— New York City Mayor Eric Adams, after a parking garage collapsed in lower Manhattan on Tuesday, killing one person and injuring five others.
TODAY’S WEATHER
Check your local forecast here>>>
AND FINALLY
Scientists’ hilarious reaction to bizarre deep-sea fish
This mysterious creature was found off the coast of Hawaii nearly a mile beneath the surface. Listen to scientists react to the discovery in real time. (Click here to view)
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