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• Headlines: Tuesday, April 23, 9:55 AM

• President Joe Biden will travel to Florida on Tuesday afternoon to discuss abortion rights in the state. Biden will speak at Hillsborough Community College in Tampa during an invitation-only event where he is expected to highlight Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signing a six-week abortion ban into place this month and a ballot initiative enshrining Floridians to an abortion. He will also aim to tie President Donald Trump to abortion bans with the Biden campaign noting he approved three conservative justices who went on to vote in favor of overturning federal abortion protections established by Roe vs. Wade. "Trump will do everything he can to ban abortion nationwide," Biden's spokesperson Michael Tyler said on a call with reporters. "Whenever Trump has power, he's used it to take away rights from women." The law, set to take effect on May 1, bans abortion after the gestational age of the fetus reaches more than six weeks, a period before most women even know they are pregnant. It includes exceptions for cases in which a pregnancy resulted from rape, incest or human trafficking but requires a physician to report the crime to the central abuse hotline. While in Florida, Biden will instead aim to promote a state referendum to enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution. Trump and Republicans have dominated statewide Florida politics for the past two presidential cycles, with the former president winning the Sunshine State twice. Republicans also control the governor's office, secretary of state, attorney general and both chambers of the state legislature as well as both U.S. Senate seats and 20 of the states 28 seats in the U.S. House. Tyler said, though, that the Democrats are convinced the abortion issue could swing the state back toward the Democrats. "The idea that Donald Trump has the state in the bag could not be further from the truth," said. "He owns not only the state of abortion rights across the country but he owns the restrictions that we're seeing play out in Florida. "And so, yes, that means that there's an opportunity for us, and we're taking it very seriously."
• Sebastian Aho and Jordan Martinook each beat goalie Semyon Varlamov for third-period scores within a nine-second span, helping the Carolina Hurricanes rally past the New York Islanders in Game 2 of their playoff series. The Hurricanes, who outshot the Islanders 39-12, trailed 3-0 in the second period of the 5-3 victory Monday at PNC Arena in Raleigh, N.C. They then scored five unanswered to steal back momentum in the best-of-seven game series. "The momentum of us tying the game and the energy it sent, I don't really know how to describe it," Martinook told reporters. "You get juice that hits you." Seth Jarvis registered a goal and two assists. Fellow Hurricanes forward Jake Guentzel and Aho each logged one goal and one assist in the comeback win. Forward Teuvo Teravainen also scored for the Hurricanes. "It was just wave after wave," Martinook said. "We were coming at them. We didn't give them anything, which was key. If you push that hard, you are going to hopefully get a couple, and we did." Kyle Palmieri and Bo Horvat lit the lamp for the Islanders in the second half of the first period. Fellow forward Andres Lee pushed the lead to three with a power-play score 3:54 into the second. The Hurricanes started their rally a little more than 9 minutes later, with Teravainen scoring off a power play. They trailed 3-1 to start the final period. Neither team scored through the first half of the third period. Defenseman Brady Skjei and forward Jordan Staal then found Jarvis, who skated into the left circle before roping a wrist shot over Varlamov's right shoulder with 9:17 remaining. Aho leveled the score about 7 minutes later. That sequence started with a face-off inside the right circle. Jarvis followed by firing in a pass from the right corner, back to forward Andrei Svechnikov, who ripped a one-timer. Aho then used his stick to tip in the flying puck, slipping it just inside the right post with 2:15 remaining. Martinook netted the go-ahead score 9 seconds later. Forward Jack Drury skated up the right flank at the start of that play. He then fired the puck deep behind the right side of the net. Martinook raced into the area and gained control of the puck. He then wrapped his stick around the right post, beating Varlamov from behind with 2:06 remaining. Aho and Svechnikov assisted Guentzel for the final goal of the night with 56 seconds remaining, sealing the Game 2 triumph. "It was an unreal comeback," Aho said. "I don't think we started that bad, but obviously they did a really good job using their chances and kinda kept us from getting scoring chances. "That's how it goes sometimes. That's hockey. But the way we responded and came back shows a lot of our character and tells a lot about this team." The Islanders (0-2) will host the Hurricanes (2-0) in Game 3 at 7:30 p.m. EDT Thursday at UBS Arena in Elmont, N.Y. The winner of the series will face the New York Rangers or Washington Capitals in the Eastern Conference semifinals. The Rangers beat the Capitals in Game 1 of that first-round series on Sunday in New York. Game 2 will be at 7 p.m. Tuesday in New York.
• Prosecutors on Tuesday will try to convince the judge in Donald Trump's hush-money trial that the former president should be held in contempt for multiple alleged breaches of a gag order imposed on him in the case. Lawyers for the State of New York claim Trump has "wilfully" breached the gag order barring him from making public statements attacking witnesses, jurors and additional parties related to the case, 10 times and want him fined $1,000 on each count. "We think that it is important for the court to remind Mr. Trump that he is a criminal defendant, and like all criminal defendants, he is subject to court supervision and, in particular, this court's obligation to preserve the integrity of the Criminal Justice System," said prosecutor Christopher Conroy. Judge Juan Merchan's options, should he find Trump has violated the March 26 order, range from a stern rebuke to banning him from social media for the rest of the trial to a fine or up to 30 days behind bars. Merchan issued his four-page gag order on grounds Trump had used his high-profile position to make "threatening, inflammatory, denigrating," statements directed at "local and federal officials, court staff, prosecutors and staff assigned to the cases, and private individuals including grand jurors performing their civic duty." "Given that the eve of trial is upon us, it is without question that the imminency of the risk of harm is now paramount," read the order that lead prosecutor Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg had been pushing for since February. Merchan subsequently clarified that it extended to family members, including his own, after Trump launched attacks on Merchan and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg whom he had called "an animal" -- but significantly Merchan and Bragg are not themselves included. The hearing will take place away from the jury before testimony resumes in the hush-money trial. Trump's trial on 34 counts of falsifying business records, allegedly to disguise a $130,000 hush-money payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels to cover up an affair that might negatively impact his prospects in the 2016 presidential election, kicked off Monday. Former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker is due to retake the stand with further details about an alleged "catch and kill" deal under which he was to buy off people with potentially negative stories about Trump to prevent the information becoming public.
• Reigning MVP Joel Embiid buried his head in his hand before guaranteeing that his Philadelphia 76ers will overcome an 0-2 series deficit and beat the New York Knicks in the first round of the NBA playoffs. Embiid, who missed a game-tying 3-point attempt at the buzzer, scored 34 points in the 76ers' 104-101 Game 2 loss Monday at Madison Square Garden in New York. The 76ers outshot their foes 42.9% to 40.7% and led by as many as 10 points, but could not hold on to tie the series. They led by five with 47 seconds remaining. The Knicks then scored eight unanswered to end the game. The best-of-seven series will now head to Philadelphia for Game 3 and Game 4, on Thursday and Sunday, respectively. "We're good," Embiid told reporters. "We're going to win this series. We are going to win this. We know what we gotta fix. We did a better job [Monday], so we are going to fix it. "We are the better team and we are going to keep fighting." Embiid scored 12 points over the first 12 minutes to help the 76ers take a 25-18 lead into the second quarter. Knicks forward Josh Hart answered with a dozen points over the next 12 minutes. The Knicks outscored the 76ers 31-28 in the second, but still trailed 53-49 at the break. Embiid scored 13 in the third, but the Knicks outscored the 76ers 30-21 in the quarter to take a 79-74 lead into the fourth. They ended the quarter on a 9-2 run and kept momentum until the 76ers used a 12-2 run to take a 101-96 lead with 46 seconds remaining in regulation. Knicks guard Jalen Brunson hit the rim and got a friendly bounce on a pull-up 3-pointer on the next possession, cutting the deficit to two points. Hart then stole the ball from 76ers guard Tyrese Maxey. Knicks guard Donte DiVencenzo drained another 3-pointer at the top of the arc about four seconds later for a 102-101 lead with 13 seconds remaining. Maxey missed on a go-ahead layup attempt on the next possession. Knicks big man OG Anunoby then made two free throws to push the lead to three. Maxey passed off to Embiid on the right side on the game's final possession. The star center launched his long 3-pointer at the buzzer, but the shot hit the back of the rim, resulting in a Game 2 loss and 0-2 series deficit. "There have been some pretty wild finishes, but that was right up there with the best of them," Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said. "That shows you what the playoffs are all about. Oftentimes, it's a hustle play here, a hustle play there, just finding a way to win." Embiid made 12 of 29 shots and collected 10 rebounds and six assists for the 76ers. Maxey totaled a game-high 35 points, with 10 assists and nine rebounds. Brunson totaled 24 points, eight rebounds and six assists for the Knicks. Hart logged 21 points and 15 rebounds in the victory. "We played really well, did a lot of great things and did better in a bunch of areas," 76ers coach Nick Nurse said. "It's obviously difficult when it's so close and you kind of give it away at the end. It's obviously difficult in these circumstances. "This makes the series a little longer." The No. 2 Knicks will face the No. 7 76ers in Game 3 at 7:30 p.m. EDT Thursday in Philadelphia. The winner of the Knicks-76ers series will meet No. 3 Milwaukee Bucks or No. 6 Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference semifinals. The Bucks beat the Pacers 109-94 on Sunday to take a 1-0 lead in the series. They will host Game 2 at 8:30 p.m. Tuesday in Milwaukee.
• Pennsylvanians are voting in Republican and Democratic primaries on Tuesday with 17 House seats up for election in November. The nominees for the presidential race are already set but there are several more races to watch in the state. Seventeen U.S. House seats will be on the ballot in November and U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, a Democrat, is running for re-election against Republican David McCormick. Casey and McCormick are running unopposed in their respective primaries. Polls opened at 7 a.m. EDT and will remain open until 8 p.m. EDT. Nominees for state offices will be determined by Tuesday's primaries, including nominees for what will be an open attorney general's office. Current Attorney General Michelle Henry, a Democrat, is not running for re-election. There are five candidates running for the Democratic nomination and two for the Republican nomination. Henry was appointed to office in 2023 after former attorney general Josh Shapiro was elected governor. Two Democrats are running for the nomination to challenge Republican State Treasurer Stacy Garrity: Ryan Bizzarro, a former state legislator, and Erin McClelland, a government consultant and behavioral health worker. According to the Pennsylvania Department of State voter registration records from September, there are more than 8.7 million registered voters in Pennsylvania. Democrats represent a small majority of registered voters with more than 3.8 million. There are more than 3.4 million registered Republicans and about 1.2 million unaffiliated or "other" voters. The Senate and House races across the country will be critical as Republicans and Democrats vie for control in Congress. Democrats currently hold a narrow majority in the Senate. Likewise, Republicans have a slim majority in the House which has created challenges for passing legislation in the past year. The Keystone State was one of the crucial swing states won by President Joe Biden in 2020. Biden was born in Scranton, Pa.
• German authorities on Tuesday said they arrested an employee of a European Parliament member on suspicion of spying for China. German prosecutors said the man -- identified as Jian G., a German national -- was arrested by the State Criminal Police Office of Saxony in Dresden and accused of acting as an agent for a foreign secret service. "Since 2019 he has been working for a German member of the European Parliament," German prosecutors said in a statement. "In January 2024, the accused repeatedly passed on information about negotiations and decisions in the European Parliament to its intelligence client." He was also accused of spying on Chinese opposition members in Germany. Prosecutors said his apartment was searched and he would appear before a judge who would decide on whether he would face pre-trial detention. Maximilian Krah a member of European Parliament from the far-right Alternative for Germany Party identified the suspect as his aide Jian Guo, adding that he learned of the arrest from the press and did not have prior knowledge of the alleged spying. "Spying for a foreign state is a serious accusation," said Krah. "If the allegations prove true, this would result in the immediate termination of his employment." An AfP spokesperson said the allegations against Jian G. were "very worrying" but the party will wait for additional information to come out from the investigation. German prosecutors arrested three people on Monday for sharing "innovative technologies" with Chinese intelligence. In that case, authorities accused German nationals Herwig F., Ina F. and Thomas R. with working for Chinese intelligence at the time. The information in question dealt with machine parts important to operating strong combat ship engines. Prosecutors said the three were in negotiations on projects that could benefit China's maritime fighting fleet at the time of their arrests.
• Jamal Murray stepped back, flicked up a shot and fell to the ground as he watched the ball slip down the net at the buzzer, leading the Denver Nuggets over the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 2 of their playoff series. The Nuggets guard, who missed 13 of his first 16 shots, scored 14 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter of the 101-99 triumph Monday at Ball Arena in Denver. His buzzer-beating jumper resulted in a 2-0 series lead for the defending champions. "I told my teammates when I was struggling, 'I'm gonna look for y'all,' and every single one of them told me to keep shooting," Murray told reporters. The Nuggets trailed by as many as 20 points in the second half before Murray spearheaded their dramatic rally. "I don't have a 20-point play," Nuggets coach Mike Malone said of the comeback victory. "You've got to just keep chipping away." The Nuggets took the lead twice through the first two minutes of Game 2. The Lakers then went on a 10-2 first-quarter run and held the lead until their were just 75 seconds remaining in the game. Murray went on to score the Nuggets' final six points, including his 16-foot fadeaway jumper for the win. "Twenty-point leads in this league are not safe, especially against a defending champion," Lakers forward LeBron James said. "We've gotta do better with that. But we had our chances." The Lakers outshot the Nuggets 48.7% to 44.3%. They also outshot the Nuggets 43.3% to 23.5% from 3-point range. The Nuggets held a 45-38 edge in rebounding and 54-38 advantage in points in the paint. Star star center Nikola Jokic registered 10 points and 10 rebounds through the first 12 minutes of the game, but the Nuggets still trailed 28-24 to start the second quarter. Lakers center Anthony Davis poured in 14 points over the next 12 minutes to give his team a 59-44 lead at halftime. The Nuggets outscored the Lakers 25-20 in the third to cut into the deficit, but still trailed 79-69 to start the fourth. Murray, who was 3 of 16 through the first three quarters, then caught fire late, making six of his final eight shots. The Nuggets used a 10-1 run to cut the deficit to 83-81 midway through the fourth quarter. James answered with two consecutive 3-pointers to snatch back momentum for the Lakers. Nuggets forward Michael Porter Jr. then capped off an 8-1 run with a game-tying 3-pointer with 1:15 remaining. Lakers guard D'Angelo Russell answered with a go-ahead layup. Murray then sank two free throws. James hit another go-ahead layup 10 seconds later, but Murray responded with a jumper to tie the game for the final time with 30 seconds remaining. James calmly took a go-ahead 3-point attempt on the next possession, but the shot clanked off the back of the rim. Murray proceeded to dribble up the left flank toward half court. He then used a series of screens to get away from James and drew Davis as a defender on the right side. Murray initially used a hesitation move to get Davis off balance. He then flew toward the rim, before stepping back and releasing his game-winning shot. Jokic recorded a 27-point, 20-rebound, 10-assist triple-double for the Nuggets. Porter chipped in 22 points and nine rebounds in the victory. James logged 26 points, 12 assists and eight rebounds for the Lakers. Davis totaled 32 points and 11 rebounds in the loss. The No. 7 Lakers (0-2) will host the No. 2 Nuggets (2-0) in Game 3 of the best-of-seven series at 10 p.m. EDT Thursday in Los Angeles. Game 4 will be Saturday in Los Angeles. The winner of the series will meet the No. 3 Minnesota Timberwolves or No. 6 Phoenix Suns in the Western Conference semifinals. The Timberwolves beat the Suns 120-95 in Game 1 of their first-round series Saturday in Minneapolis. Game 2 will be at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday in Minneapolis.
• British lawmakers passed legislation early Tuesday allowing the government to deport asylum seekers who arrive without permission to Rwanda. After three months of so-called parliamentary ping-pong in which the bill was sent back and forth between the lower and upper houses of parliament with neither side willing to compromise the House of Lords yielded to the primacy of the Commons, allowing it to pass unopposed a few minutes after midnight. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak hailed the passage of what he said was the "toughest piece of legislation ever introduced to tackle illegal immigration." "Start the flights. Stop the boats. That's what this bill delivers," he wrote in a post on X of the law declaring Rwanda to be a "safe" country to which asylum seekers can now legally be sent. The breakthrough came after the government provided last minute assurances that Afghans who fought alongside British forces in Afghanistan and are already in Britain would be allowed to remain no matter how they got there. The government is now expected to put into motion plans to identify which asylum seekers to deport with the first flights taking off for Kigali in 10 to 12 weeks. But the move drew fierce criticism from opposition Labor, which vowed to repeal the legislation if it wins an election due to be held by the end of the year, along with charities and human rights groups that allege it breaches international law. Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper in an interview Tuesday morning called the plan "an extortionately expensive gimmick rather than a serious plan to tackle dangerous boat crossings," pledging that no asylum seekers would be sent to Rwanda under a Labor government. It may also face further legal challenges -- both to the law itself and from individuals who may be able to oppose deportation orders in court on the basis of their personal history and circumstances. Care4Calais recently announced it would try to pre-empt government ID'ing of people for deportation and offer them legal assistance upfront to fight to remain in Britain. The Rwanda bill is enabling legislation for the government's Illegal Migration Bill, passed in April 2023, which requires the Home Office to detain and remove people who arrive in Britain without advance permission and then claim asylum to their own country, or a third country, but only if it was "safe" to do so. However, the legislation could not be enforced until now because there was nowhere the government could legally deport people to. Sunak is banking the prospect of being sent to Rwanda will deter migrants and asylum seekers from coming to Britain enabling him to deliver on his "Stop the Boats" pledge, one of five key promises he made in January 2023, shortly after coming into office. Only hours after the bill passed the French coastguard reported that five migrants, including a 4-year-old girl, had died in the English Channel trying to make it to Britain in a small boat. A major rescue operation was launched after the boat began taking on water off the small resort town of Wimereux, just north of Boulogne on the northern coast of France at around 5:30 a.m. local time. Emergency services spent an extensive period on the beach attempting to resuscitate the child who was traveling with her father, said Wimereux mayor Jean-Luc Dubaele, confirming her death. The father was among the survivors. Wimereux was the scene of a similar tragedy in January when five Syrians died after their boat capsized in icy waters just off the town. They were among a group of about 70 people attempting to get off on boats from the town's beach in the early hours of Jan. 14.
• The United Methodist Church is opening its General Conference, on Tuesday in North Carolina, to reshape the country's largest Protestant denomination in the hopes of slowing historic splintering over LGBTQ+ rights. The United Methodist General Conference, which meets every four years, will start seeking some big solutions to bridge the regional and ideological divisions within the church. Over the last four years, a quarter of U.S.-based United Methodist churches have left the denomination or have disaffiliated over disagreements involving church policy and LGBTQ+ rights. In November, the North Georgia Conference of the United Methodist Church approved the departure of 261 congregations that chose to leave over the ongoing conflict. "Our deepest desire is to foster greater unity in the Church while recognizing our denomination's diverse theological, social and contextual viewpoints," United Methodist Church U.S. delegates wrote in a statement ahead of the conference. "We find ourselves at a seminal moment in the life of this denomination. It's a marker point, a shift, a pivot from what was to what can be," said Council of Bishops President Thomas Bickerton, who sees the potential for big change at the General Conference. Three major proposals will go before 862 voting delegates at the conference which runs through May 3 in Charlotte, including worldwide regionalization that would amend the denomination's constitution to allow seven church regions in Africa, Europe and the Philippines, as well as the United States, to have equal authority when it comes to adapting parts of the Book of Discipline to their missional context. "The goal of contextualization is to allow for laws of a certain area and not allow decisions from one region to influence or dominate the other," said Judi Kenaston, chief connectional ministries officer at United Methodist Connectional Table. The second proposal calls for a revision of the church's Social Principles to become more globally relevant and to eliminate the wording, some of which has been around since 1972, that states "the practice of homosexuality ... is incompatible with Christian teaching." The third proposal would remove exclusionary policies against LGBTQ people, including bans on same-sex weddings and "self-avowed practicing" gay clergy. For the first time, there will be a caucus of LGBTQ delegates at the conference. The 58 delegates are hoping to see votes for full inclusivity in the denomination. The Queer Delegate Caucus will be a "powerful presence," said Jorge Lockward, a delegate in the caucus and minister of worship arts at the Church of the Village in New York, who stressed regardless of what happens "we are not going back." "Until we get on the floor and people start pressing those voting buttons, we really don't know what's going to happen -- no matter how much preparation and conversation and strategizing has gone ahead of the game," said Helen Ryde, a lay delegate from the Western North Carolina Conference and a member of the new United Methodist Queer Delegate Caucus. United Methodist delegates from Alabama, who will be attending the conference, say their top priorities are to remove harmful language regarding homosexuality, allow more self-governing in different parts of the world and revise the Social Principles. "I feel very hopeful about General Conference this time," said the Rev. Kelly Clem, a retired minister for the North Alabama Conference and one of 862 voting delegates. "I think there's a lot of unity and hopefulness about our moving forward as the United Methodist Church, as a denomination. The temperature has been significantly lowered." "The ones who wanted to leave, who felt so strongly, especially about human sexuality issues, they've gone. We're going to move forward. There's just a real rallying of those who want to help the church move forward with its mission and stop getting bogged down in some of these controversial matters and just move forward. There will be dissent. I just think there will be a much more positive vibe," Clem added. Reserve delegate Lisa Keys-Mathews disagreed. "There are some super negative voices coming out that are still part of the United Methodist Church," Keys-Mathews said. "I find that sad and hurtful." Delegates at the conference will examine 1,099 legislative petitions to shape the future of the church, while balancing a changing stance on LGBTQ+ rights within the U.S. church with the cultural conservatism of United Methodists in other parts of the world. "We have engaged in ongoing conversations and reflection with United Methodists from around the world to discern what changes we might make as a General Conference that might strengthen unity amidst diversity and allow enough flexibility for our various geographical regions to thrive," a coalition of centrist and progressive UMC leaders said in a statement to counter traditionalist advocacy groups that have sought to preserve anti-LGBTQ+ restrictions for decades. "Personally, I don't want to go back to mediocrity and old habits. I don't want to go back to racist behaviors, gender bias or models that exclude rather than welcome," said Bickerton. "This is a moment for us to get a new wind and a new sense of purpose."
• The city of Baltimore is blaming the the owner and manager of a merchant vessel that crashed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge late last month of negligence. In a filing in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, Northern Division, the city of Baltimore and its council said Grace Ocean Private and Synergy Marine "were grossly and potentially criminally negligent" in their operations of the Dali container ship. The 985-foot Dali container ship is owned by Grace Ocean Private and it is managed by Synergy Marine. Early March 26, the vessel lost power shortly after leaving the Port of Baltimore and crashed into the bridge, causing it to immediately collapse. Six people were killed and nearly all commercial transit to the Port of Baltimore, one of the busiest in the United States, has since come to halt. The filing on Monday is in response the companies asking the court to limit their potential liability payouts to $43.6 million. The city is asking the court to deny the firms' request. "For more than four decades, cargo ships made thousands of trips every year under the Key Bridge without incident. There was noting about March 26, 2024, that should have changed that," the city said in its legal filing. The city argues that Dali was operated despite being "a clearly unseaworthy vessel." It said hours before departing, alarms had been going off on Dali showing that it had been experiencing an inconsistent power supply, which was either not investigated or investigated but not fixed. "The allision was a direct and proximate result of petitioners' carelessness, negligence, gross negligence and recklessness and as a result of the unseaworthiness of the vessel," the city said. The city accuses the companies of committing 23 acts and omissions related to their alleged negligence, from providing the vessel with an incompetent crew to failing to properly maintain and operate the ship's engine and propulsion system. The Federal Bureau of Investigation has also opened a criminal investigation into the collapse of the bridge.