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D.C. Plane Crash: Blame Game Begins

Your unbiased daily news brief

Author

James Kratch
January 31, 2025

Good Friday morning. A Los Angeles firefighter saved several homes from burning with some beer and milk. Have a great weekend. 

In Today’s Brief

  • Handguns: Ban overturned

  • Norway: Coalition collapse

  • Cabinet: Confirmation hearings

  • Costco: Wage hikes

  • Grammy Awards: Sunday night

... and more

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Top Tips

1) The day after

President Donald Trump blasted Democrats and diversity initiatives while alarming details emerged about Wednesday's fatal incident above Reagan National Airport.

  • Recovery mission: Officials do not believe anyone survived the collision between an American Airlines regional jet and an Army Blackhawk helicopter that sent both aircraft into the Potomac River. Sixty-seven crew members and passengers are presumed dead, making it the deadliest U.S. air disaster since 2001. The black boxes for both aircraft have been found. 

  • Taking aim: The president held a press conference yesterday where he railed against former Presidents Joe Biden and Barack Obama and ex-Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. He claimed -- without evidence -- that diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives for federal air traffic controllers contributed to the tragedy.

  • Shorthanded safety: Investigations by the FAA and Pentagon could take months. However, air traffic control staffing at DCA was reportedly "not normal," and one person was doing the job of two staffers overseeing air traffic during the incident. Other reports contradicted the claims.

2) A potential bombshell

The NBA may be on the verge of a colossal crisis.

  • The news: Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier is the subject of a federal sports betting probe. The news was first reported by the Wall Street Journal. The NBA said it is cooperating with the Department of Justice and its investigation found no evidence of wrongdoing.

  • At issue: Investigators are examining whether Rozier manipulated his participation in a 2023 game while playing for the New Orleans Pelicans. An unusually high number of wagers were placed on Rozier failing to reach specific statistics for the contest. Rozier then left that game early with a sore foot.

  • Catch up: Former NBA player Jontay Porter received a lifetime ban and pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit federal wire fraud last year. He admitted in court to purposely leaving two Toronto Raptors games early to help co-conspirators win large wagers and pay down his gambling debts. The Rozier investigation reportedly centers around the same ring of bettors.

  • Big picture: Porter was a journeyman who only played in 37 career games. Rozier is a former first-round pick who has been a starter for several seasons. If there is validity to the claims, it could become the first major scandal of the legalized sports betting era.

3) Don’t look up

It could be the end of the world as we know it. Well, probably not.

  • The news: NASA said there is a slightly more than a 1% chance a massive asteroid will hit Earth in 2032. The space rock is about the width of a regulation soccer pitch and was first detected last month.

  • Don't panic: Officials said that while the asteroid currently appears to be on track to hit the planet, that could change. Further study could reveal a different trajectory. And past exercises and research suggest crashing a spacecraft into a major asteroid would alter its path just enough to cause a near-miss. No, they won't need a nuclear bomb.

  • Big picture: Asteroids this size hit the Earth every few thousand years. And if this one did hit, it would likely cause significant damage in the impact zone (but not global devastation). But scientists still expect the asteroid will pass harmlessly by.

Quick Tips

U.S. News

  • Banning people ages 18-20 from buying handguns is unconstitutional, according to the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals. The gun control regulation has been in place since 1968; the court said it violates the Second Amendment (More)

  • The U.S. Copyright Office set its policy for artwork generated with artificial intelligence. Any AI art must have a human contributor to be protected by copyright laws (More)

  • A Michigan priest was defrocked after mimicking billionaire Elon Musk's controversial inaugural gesture, which many construed as a Nazi salute. Calvin Robinson had his license revoked by the Anglican Catholic Church following his actions at a pro-life event (More)

World News

  • Norway's governing coalition collapsed after a spat over adopting European Union energy directives. The center-left Labour Party will remain in power atop the non-EU nation, but it has not governed on its own for 25 years (More)

  • Secretary of State Marco Rubio said President Trump is not joking about buying Greenland. Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino said he will not discuss the Panama Canal with Rubio during a meeting this weekend (More | More)

  • An Iraqi refugee on trial for burning Qurans in Sweden was murdered during a life TikTok stream. Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said a "foreign power" may be responsible for the killing (More)

Political News

  • Former North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgun was confirmed as Interior Secretary. Ex-Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard's nomination for National Intelligence Director may be in trouble after a rocky confirmation hearing; Robert F. Kennedy Jr. continued to struggle in Health and Human Services hearings (More | More)

  • New York City Mayor Eric Adams rejected resignation rumors, calling them "stupid." The embattled Democrat was ill in recent days, fueling speculation amid his federal criminal corruption case (More)

  • The Democratic Party's Senate campaign arm plans to intervene in next year's primary races. Party leaders are reportedly worried about preferred candidates losing to general election underdogs, especially in competitive states (More)

Business & Markets

  • Major indexes closed higher yesterday. President Trump reiterated plans to hit Canada and Mexico with 25% tariffs tomorrow (Dow +0.38%, Nasdaq +0.25%, S&P 500 +0.53% | More).

  • Costco will increase pay for most hourly U.S. employees to over $30. The warehouse retail chain is hiking wages after unionized workers authorized a strike ahead of today's deadline to reach a new contract (More)

  • Hewlett Packard's $14B takeover bid for Juniper Networks will face federal scrutiny. The Justice Department has sued to block the tech merger, arguing it will reduce competition and harm consumers (More)

Entertainment & Sports

  • The 67th Grammy Awards are this Sunday in Los Angeles (8 p.m. ET, CBS). Taylor Swift will bid to become the first artist to win Album of the Year five times and the third to win in back-to-back years (More | More)

  • Dick Button died at 95. The two-time Olympic champion was the first American to win a gold medal in figure skating; he later became an acclaimed analyst and commentator for the sport (More)

  • The Six Nations tournament kicks off this weekend. France, which hosts Wales tonight, and Ireland are the favorites to win the annual European rugby union round-robin competition (More)

Quick Hitters

  • Fun Stuff: Over 1.5K dolphins appeared together off the coast of California in a rare "super-pod." The group was 50x bigger than most typical pods; experts are not sure exactly what drives the creatures to congregate en masse.

  • Take Note: Almost all hotel room windows do not open. There are numerous reasons why.

  • Stars Align: A British man bought a cell phone in 1998 and began sending text messages to random numbers. Only one person responded -- his future wife.

  • New Idea: Scientists have developed patches that can help patients experiencing heart failure. The implants are composed of actual heart muscle and can stabilize and strengthen the organ.

  • Life Hack: It happens to many of us (ourselves included). Lean on this simple formula when someone asks you what you do and the answer is not straightforward.

Check out colorized footage of a snowball fight in Lyon, France, in 1897.

Looking Ahead …

A half marathon competition will pit human runners against humanoid robots in China later this year. The April event in Beijing will allow the machines to swap out batteries mid-race, but they cannot use wheels.

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