Good morning. It's Tuesday, Feb. 9, and Washington, DC, will be fixated on the impeachment trial of former President Trump for the next week or so. Have feedback? Let us know at [email protected].

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NEED TO KNOW

Impeachment Trial Begins

The second impeachment trial of former President Trump begins in earnest today over charges he incited the Jan. 6 storming of the US Capitol. It marks the first time a president has been impeached after leaving office.

The trial is scheduled to open with debates over whether a post-presidency impeachment is constitutional. The Constitution does not provide a clear answer, though many experts have noted it is not expressly forbidden and would apply to future attempts to hold public office. Regardless, 45 of 50 Republican Senators previously supported a symbolic declaration in January calling the trial unconstitutional. 

Unlike a standard trial, Senators act as both judge and jury, with no uniform burden of proof required. A conviction would require at least 17 Republican senators to side with all 50 Democrats to reach a two-thirds majority. The former president is not currently expected to testify.

Beginning Wednesday, each side will have up to 16 hours to present their case. The framework allows for the possibility of a vote to call witnesses—though many Democrats have expressed a desire for a swift trial. 

Patrick Leahy (D-VT), the Senate's oldest serving Democrat, will oversee the trial instead of Chief Justice John Roberts. The Supreme Court chief justice is only required to preside if the defendant is the sitting president. 

The trial is expected to last a week. Read the Trump team's legal brief—which, among other defenses, asserts the crowd acted on its own Jan. 6—filed yesterday.

In related news, the Georgia secretary of state's office opened a probe into potential election interference by the former president, prompted by complaints from a George Washington University professor over a Jan. 2 call between Trump and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger. 

Rep. Ron Wright Dies

Rep. Ron Wright (R, TX-6) passed away from complications linked to COVID-19, his family revealed yesterday. The 67-year-old lawmaker had also been battling lung cancer for two years, following a 2019 diagnosis. Wright becomes the first sitting federal elected official to pass away from the illness—Congressman-elect Luke Letlow (R, LA-5) died from the disease after being elected in November but before being seated in January.

New York City said it would begin reopening ($$, NYT) its middle schools Feb. 25, a move that would increase the number of children attending in-person classes to 250,000 by the end of the month. 

Facebook announced four-point guidelines shifting its stance on misinformation around vaccines, most notably modifying its algorithm to return information from credible sources for vaccine-related keywords.   

The US has reported 465,072 total COVID-19 deaths, with just over 1,500 reported yesterday; see rolling averages here. More than 42 million vaccine doses have been administered, with 9.5 million people receiving their second dose.

Separately, see the argument for investing in the search for variant-proof vaccines.  

Kobe Bryant Crash

Federal safety inspectors are expected to announce today the long-awaited results of an investigation into the cause of the helicopter crash that killed NBA legend Kobe Bryant, his 13-year-old daughter Gianna, and seven others last January.

The crash occurred north of Los Angeles in foggy conditions (see map), as Bryant and guests were headed to his Mamba Sports Academy. Officials from the National Transportation Safety Board previously revealed the aircraft was not outfitted with flight data or cockpit voice recorders, and the recovered engine showed no signs of catastrophic failure. Experts have speculated the pilot, Ara Zobayan, became spatially disoriented in the low visibility conditions—a physiological phenomenon responsible for 5%-10% of all aviation crashes.

A preliminary report found the aircraft lacked a terrain warning system, and that Zobayan likely violated visual flight rules by trying to rise through the clouds just before the crash. 

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IN THE KNOW

Sports, Entertainment, & Culture

> TikTok and Universal Music Group announce global agreement that provides TikTok users access to UMG's full catalog of music (More)

> The 2021 Australian Open begins in Melbourne with tennis fans courtside amid COVID-19 concerns (More) | Longtime ESPN baseball reporter Pedro Gomez dies unexpectedly at 58 (More)

> Netflix tops all studios with 46 nominations at the Critics Choice Awards (March 7, 7pm ET, CW) including 12 for “Mank”; the late Chadwick Boseman receiving four nods (More)

Science & Technology

> Entrepreneur Mark Cuban to co-launch Fireside, a podcasting app that allows hosts to interact with listeners live and monetize conversations (More)

> Genetic analysis of fossilized fecal samples reveals Neanderthals shared many gut microbiome species with modern-day humans (More)

> Researchers pinpoint membrane-puncturing protein actively involved in many types of cell deaths; cell rupture was previously thought to be a passive event (More) 

Business & Markets

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> US stock markets up (S&P 500 +0.8%, Dow +0.8%, Nasdaq +1.0%) to fresh record highs as stimulus optimism grows (More)

> Tesla purchases $1.5B of Bitcoin, plans to accept it as a payment method in the future; Bitcoin surges to more than $46K (More) | Shares of Hyundai and Kia slide after reports say companies are no longer in discussions with Apple regarding its electric car (More)

> Social media platform Reddit raises $250M funding at a $6B valuation (More) | Japanese tech giant SoftBank earnings rise as Vision Fund sees best quarter in its history  (More)

From our partners: Welcome; here's $250. This card offers a $250 welcome bonus when you spend $1,000 or more in the first six months. On top of that, enjoy a cash back rate six times that of most cards, for maximum spending power. Check it out. 

Politics & World Affairs

> Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pleads not guilty to corruption charges; trial resumes five weeks ahead of national elections (More)

> Congressional Budget Office estimates a proposal to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 would eliminate 1.4 million jobs, but would lift 900,000 people out of poverty while raising wages for 27 million workers (More)

> Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL) will not seek reelection in 2022; the 86-year-old lawmaker is the top Republican on the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee (More)

IN-DEPTH

The Story of Nance Legins-Costley

USA Today | Phil Luciano. She was the first Black person freed by Abraham Lincoln—decades before the Civil War—but her civil rights efforts have gone largely unknown. (Read)

The Ample Hills Meltdown

Marker/Medium | Courtney Rubin. Once Brooklyn's hottest ice creamery, Ample Hills was forced into bankruptcy due to inflated egos and financial mismanagement. (Read)

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ETCETERA

A pair of sharks top the year's best underwater photos.

Americans have a dim view of US democracy.

Fascinating tree-like lake patterns top the month's best science images.

Amateur treasure hunter finds the centerpiece to Henry VIII's crown.

A stunningly eerie underwater art exhibit.

The US just saw its deadliest week for avalanches in a century.

Rejected names for Space Force members.

When you're out of hairspray so you use Gorilla Glue.

Clickbait: How to tell if your dog is actually smart.

Historybook: President William Henry Harrison born (1773); RIP poet and playwright Paul Laurence Dunbar (1906); "The Color Purple" author Alice Walker born (1944); Record 73 million watch The Beatles on "The Ed Sullivan Show" (1964); Halley’s comet makes latest appearance, will return in 2061 (1986).

"It is a little dark still, but there are warnings of the day and somewhere out of the darkness a bird is singing to the Dawn."

- Excerpt from Representative American Negroes, an essay by Paul Laurence Dunbar

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