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Derek Chauvin

Embattled Rep. Matt Gaetz set to speak at Trump property

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USA TODAY

Hooray, Friday! We made it through another work week, Daily Briefing readers!  Embattled Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz is scheduled to speak at a summit being held at a property owned by former President Donald Trump, organized by the same group that paid for the federal permit for the Jan. 6 "Save America" rally that ended with the storming the U.S. Capitol. And in Taylor Swift news, "Fearless (Taylor’s Version)," a newly-recorded rendition of the singer's second studio album, is now available!

Steve and Jane are here with Friday's news.

And being Friday, you know what that means? It’s time for the USA TODAY news quiz! How closely have you been following this week's events? Test your knowledge here.

Let's get started with some news items that people are talking about this morning. 

⚖ The sister of Phillip Adams, a former NFL player suspected of gunning down five people before killing himself in South Carolina, said her brother's behavior had shifted dramatically over the past couple of years.

⛳ Tiger Woods mistakenly thought he was in Florida when he was interviewed at a California hospital after he crashed his vehicle in February, according to a 22-page collision report that reveals several new details.

🌎 New early Friday: An American Airlines flight from Australia to Los Angeles was canceled after a flight crew member tested positive for COVID-19.

⚖ Women lawmakers in Louisiana have been holding hearings into Louisiana State University's systemic mishandling of sexual misconduct and violence complaints, as first reported by USA TODAY.

👟 Nike and product studio MSCHF have reached a settlement in the legal battle over Lil Nas X's incendiary Satan Shoes. MSCHF's attorney said the company "already achieved its artistic purpose" with the footwear. 

😊 Your morning smile: 😊 Boston Red Sox pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez and Baltimore Orioles first baseman and outfielder Trey Mancini both took the field in an MLB game for the first time since 2019 after battling serious illnesses. Rodriguez's Red Sox beat Mancini's Orioles 7-3 in Baltimore.

🎧 On today's 5 Things podcast, senior data reporter Aleszu Bajak explains how local health officials have pulled off the COVID-19 vaccine rollout. You can listen to the podcast every day on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or on your smart speaker.

Here's what's happening today:

Embattled Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz to speak at Trump resort

Rep. Matt Gaetz will be at Trump National Doral Miami on Friday as a featured speaker at a summit put together by the same group that organized the now infamous Jan. 6 "Save America" rally that ended with the storming of the U.S. Capitol. The Republican congressman form Florida is under investigation over allegations he had a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old girl and that he paid for sex with other women. His scheduled appearance Friday is believed to be the first time he'll speak before a live audience since news of the probe became public. Prosecutors and a defense attorney told a judge in federal court Thursday they are working on a plea deal with Joel Greenberg, the ex-Seminole County tax collector who is an associate of Gaetz. Speaking to the media after the hearing, Greenberg's attorney, Fritz Scheller, was asked if Gaetz should be concerned about what happened in court. "I'm sure Matt Gaetz is not feeling very comfortable today," Scheller said.

Key medical expert witness expected to testify at Chauvin trial

Hennepin County Medical Examiner Dr. Andrew Baker is expected to take the stand Friday, as Week 2 in the murder trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin comes to a close. Baker ruled George Floyd's death a homicide in his 2020 autopsy. He said Floyd's heart and lungs stopped amid "law enforcement subdual, restraint and neck compression." Here is some of what happened in Chauvin's trial on Thursday:

  • Dr. Bill Smock, a police surgeon with a specialty in forensics, testified that he concluded George Floyd died of positional asphyxia, "which is a fancy way of saying he had no oxygen in his body." Smock also ruled out a Fentanyl overdose as a potential cause of death.
  • Daniel Isenschmid, a forensic toxicologist who analyzed Floyd's blood and urine, told jurors the amount of meth in Floyd's system was consistent with a prescribed dose – a "very low" amount.
  • Expert witness Sgt. Jody Stiger of the Los Angeles Police Department told jurors Chauvin used "deadly" force on Floyd and kept his knee on his neck for more than nine minutes.

Chauvin is charged with second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in Floyd's death. 

Page on Pelosi: The life of the most powerful woman in US political history

Take a sneak peek into USA TODAY Washington Bureau Chief Susan Page's latest book, "Madam Speaker: Nancy Pelosi and the Lessons of Power," which will be published April 20 by Twelve Books. Page conducted 10 interviews with House Speaker Pelosi and interviewed more than 150 friends, family members, political allies and adversaries for this biography.

🔴 Donald Trump upended Nancy Pelosi's plans in 2016. Then she returned the favor and went on to unravel his.

🔴 This is how Ted Kennedy and Nancy Pelosi pushed Barack Obama to go big on health care.

What else people are reading:

🔵 Ronnie Long was wrongfully imprisoned for 44 years on a rape conviction in North Carolina. But the state is only compensating him for 15 of those years. He says he deserves more, but there's a reason why he's going to have fight for it. 

🔵 A Colorado vaccination site shut down after 11 people suffered "adverse reactions" – including nausea and dizziness – after receiving the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine. Read the latest coronavirus news here. 

🔵 Empty cruise ships were scheduled to arrive Friday at the Caribbean island of St. Vincent to help transport thousands of people who evacuated their homes under the fiery glow of the La Soufriere volcano, which officials say could erupt at any moment.

🔵 At least one person was killed and five others injured on Thursday during a shooting inside a cabinet-making business in Bryan, Texas, police said. The suspected shooter was arrested and charged with murder.

🔵 Dates have been announced for the next round of "Jeopardy!" guest hosts. CNN anchor Anderson Cooper will pick up the quiz show baton from current host, Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, hosting April 19-30. Bill Whitaker of "60 Minutes" will follow Cooper and "Call Me Kat" star Mayim Bialik comes after Whitaker.

Amazon union vote to continue Friday, but organizers already feel deflated

Amazon is heading into the final stretch of a union push in Bessemer, Alabama, with a sizeable lead over labor organizers. With nearly half the ballots counted Thursday night, 1,100 warehouse workers had rejected the union while 463 voted in favor of it. The count will resume Friday morning where agents for the National Labor Relations Board are counting each vote by hand. The side that secures the most votes will be declared the winner. The Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, which is organizing the Bessemer workers, said 3,215 votes were sent in — about 55% of the nearly 6,000 workers who were eligible to vote. The vote has garnered national attention, with professional athletes, Hollywood stars and even President Joe Biden weighing in on the side of the union. But Bessemer was always seen as a long shot since it pitted the country's second-largest employer against warehouse workers in a state where laws don't favor unions.

Newsmakers in their own words: Khloe Kardashian responds to viral photo

"The photo that was posted this week is beautiful. But as someone who has struggled with body image her whole life, when someone takes a photo of you that isn't flattering in bad lighting or doesn't capture your body the way it is after working so hard to get it to this point – and then shares it to the world – you should have every right to ask for it to not be shared – regardless of who you are."

–Khloe Kardashian released a statement after a photo taken of her that wasn't edited or filtered was quickly deleted from social media. Also in the statement, the "Keeping Up with the Kardashians" star acknowledged her body-image struggle – part of which stemmed from having "every single flaw and imperfection" analyzed by the public "and made fun of."  

Kardashian isn't alone in feeling the pressure to meet beauty standards. "Although there has recently been a lot of talk about body positivity, the dominant narrative is to hide all imperfections at any cost," said Naomi Torres-Mackie, PhD, head of research at the Mental Health Coalition. 

Struggling with body image is a common. Here are a few ways to combat the pressure we put on ourselves to be perfect.

Taylor Swift's rerecorded version of album 'Fearless' released

Taylor Swift’s first re-recorded album is here. The singer-songwriter on Friday dropped "Fearless (Taylor’s Version)," a newly-recorded version of her second studio album, originally released when she was 19. This one includes a total of 27 songs, including six previously unheard tracks from the "vault." "Everyone will be able to hear not only the songs that made the album, but the songs that almost made it – the full picture," Swift wrote in a February announcement. Swift had vowed to re-record her first five studio albums following a public battle with music exec Scooter Braun, whose purchase of her masters she said was her "worst case scenario." 

Disneyland reservation calendar opens up

Ahead of its reopening on April 30, guests will be able to view a calendar on the Disneyland Parks site showing available reservation dates on Friday. Later, on April 12 after 8 a.m. PT, the reservation system will launch for people who had purchased tickets for Disneyland visits prior to the pandemic shutdown. Finally, on April 15, tickets and reservations will be open to other California residents after 8 a.m. PT, in Disneyland's first reopening after more than a year of being shut due to the COVID-19 pandemic and California's stringent reopening rules.

ICYMI: Some of our other top stories published Thursday

Contributing: The Associated Press

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