Daily Briefing: Fuel for Biden's critics

Nicole Fallert, USA TODAY

February 9, 2024 at 6:23 a.m.·5 min read

A special counsel report on the handling of classified documents honed in on President Joe Biden's age and mental strength, fueling critics. Updates from yesterday's news: Five U.S. Marines who were aboard a military helicopter that went down in the mountains near San Diego were confirmed dead and former President Donald Trump won Nevada's GOP primary.

🙋🏼‍♀️ I'm Nicole Fallert, Daily Briefing author. It's the Year of the Dragon. Here's your guide to the Lunar New Year.

Here is the news to know Friday.

Biden will not face criminal charges for handling of classified documents

President Joe Biden won't face legal consequences for his dealing with classified documents, but he also won't walk away from the special counsel investigation unscathed. Details in the Department of Justice special counsel report pose such enormous problems politically for Biden that he delivered a previously unannounced primetime address, rejecting concerns about his mental fitness and insisting his memory is fine. The probe portrayed Biden as an elderly man with "diminished capacities" including memory loss, handing his critics fresh evidence to argue the 81-year-old president isn't up to serving a second term. Read more

The Senate advanced $95 billion in aid to Ukraine and Israel after rejecting a border deal.

President Joe Biden criticized a claim in a special counsel's report that he forgot when his son, Beau, died.

Deadly military helicopter crash among many aviation disasters in Southern California

The military helicopter crash in Southern California that left five Marines dead this week joins a long list aviation tragedies and near-disasters in the region, a busy hub for military and small aircraft. In June 2022, three military aircraft crashes occurred in Southern California within a week. Last month, a Navy helicopter crashed off the coast of Coronado, California and all six people on board survived, military officials said. Experts said that while the region's mountainous terrain and weather events like the atmospheric river pose a challenge for pilots, the high air traffic likely contributes to the number of accidents. Read more

More news to know now

Two Kentucky women say they were drugged and raped by Bahamas resort staffers.
Is Israel willing to let Hamas leaders walk in exchange for hostages?
A Utah school board member is facing calls to resign for questioning a student's gender.
There's more issues with the Boeing 737 Max.
In Tucker Carlson interview, Putin's plans for Ukraine appear to echo Trump's.
On today's The Excerpt podcast, advocates go hyper-local with the abortion rights fight. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your smart speaker.

What's the weather today? Check your local forecast here.

What does El Niño mean for our weather?

The current El Niño climate pattern has now attained "historically strong" status, federal scientists say. They also predict that its counterpart La Niña will develop in its place later this year. As the transition to La Niña occurs, El Niño will weaken, but its impacts on U.S. weather are expected to persist through April, the Climate Prediction Center said in a statement. This usually translates into more storminess for the southern tier of the nation, all the way from California to Florida. It also means warmer-than-average temperatures for much of the USA's northern tier. Read more

Nevada holds a primary, a caucus and a Super Bowl in the same week

In the least surprising political development of the year, Donald Trump overwhelmingly won the Nevada caucuses Thursday and took all 26 of the Silver State's convention delegates.

But Trump wasn't against former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley: His last remaining opponent opted to participate in Nevada's Republican primary earlier this week, where she faced an embarrassing result.

Trump's supporters in Nevada organized the caucuses, despite a new state law requiring the parties to hold presidential primaries. Nevada's GOP responded by holding a non-binding primary and keeping its caucuses. That was a benefit to Trump, given his support among the state's Republican leadership.
While Donald Trump hasn't officially won the 2024 Republican nomination, he still looked to the general election after winning Nevada's caucus. The former president thanked Nevadans for showing up, but he warned the state’s voters they are essential to his chances of winning the general election in November.
Now Trump and Haley get ready for South Carolina. Haley is setting her sights on her home state with renewed vigor after finishing behind a disembodied “none of these candidates” option in the Nevada primary.

Republican presidential candidate former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley speaks at a campaign event in Spartanburg, S.C., Monday, Feb. 5, 2024.

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Our Taylor Swift reporter is in Japan tracking Taylor Swift's secret songs.

The game. The red lipstick. The ads. We're all excited for Super Bowl 58

The 2024 Super Bowl is set to kick off Sunday at 6:30 p.m. ET, which means the time is now to start planning where and how you will see the San Francisco 49ers take on the Kansas City Chiefs. With the 49ers boasting a roster of superstars and the Chiefs coming into town with the likes of Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce, the world will pause for a few hours to watch the best of the best. And millions of Americans will have something to be excited about, even before weighing the influence of a certain popstar named Taylor Swift. Read more

Usher promises to bring his "best" to the halftime show.
Here's how Taylor Swift is making the NFL's big night even bigger.
What does the Las Vegas location of the Super Bowl mean for gambling addicts?
Not sure my cookies will top this Nashville baker's NFL-inspired desserts.

Kansas City Chiefs defensive tackle Mike Pennel Jr. (69) and Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce (87) stretch during practice for Super Bowl 58 Thursday, Feb. 8, 2024 in Henderson, Nevada.

Photo of the day: Mark Ruffalo and Jennifer Garner make us feel 13 again

As Mark Ruffalo received his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Thursday, he and Jennifer Garner had a sweet way of honoring "13 Going on 30" as the rom-com's 20th anniversary approaches.

Mark Ruffalo (L) and Jennifer Garner attend a ceremony honoring Ruffalo with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Feb. 8, 2024, in Los Angeles.

Nicole Fallert is a newsletter writer at USA TODAY, sign up for the email here. Want to send Nicole a note? Shoot her an email at NFallert@usatoday.com or follow along with her musings on Twitter. Support journalism like this – subscribe to USA TODAY here.

Associated Press contributed reporting.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Biden classified documents, Israel-Hamas, El Niño, Nevada primary, Super Bowl 58, Taylor Swift: Daily Briefing

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