10 things you need to know today: May 24, 2016

Bernie Sanders speaks at a campaign rally

(Image credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

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1. Sanders warns Democratic convention could get 'messy'
2. Baltimore officer acquitted in Freddie Gray case
3. Greece begins moving migrants from Idomeni camp
4. TSA replaces security chief as anger grows over long lines
5. Supreme Court finds bias in selection of all-white jury in death penalty case
6. Van der Bellen wins Austrian election, blocking far-right candidate from presidency
7. Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe under investigation for possible campaign violations
8. Obama nudges Vietnam on human rights
9. Five die in crash of skydiving plane in Hawaii
10. Report: NFL officials tried to influence brain research

published 24 May 2016

1. Sanders warns Democratic convention could get 'messy'

Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders told The Associated Press on Monday that the Democratic National Convention in July could get "messy" if the party makes it more inclusive, as he has asked, but that's OK. "So what? Democracy is messy," Sanders said. The comments came as Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton's campaign declined an invitation to a Fox News debate with Sanders ahead of California's June 7 primary, saying her "time is best spent campaigning."

A judge on Monday acquitted Baltimore police officer Edward Nero on charges of second-degree assault, misconduct, and reckless endangerment in connection with the death of Freddie Gray, a black man who suffered a fatal spinal injury in police custody last April. The judge said there was no credible evidence that Nero, who played a minor role in Gray's detention, intended for any crime to be committed. Six officers have been charged in the case, which touched off citywide protests last year.

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Greece on Tuesday began evacuating hundreds of people from the Idomeni refugee camp near the Macedonian border, where thousands of people have been stranded since countries to the north began blocking migrants from traveling deeper into Europe. Macedonia closed its border in February. Police vehicles and buses are moving migrants to better equipped facilities to the south, near the city of Thessaloniki. Riot police were sent to the scene, but the relocations began smoothly.

The Transportation Security Administration has replaced its top security official, Kelly Hoggan, in a shake-up as it faces a backlash over long lines at airport checkpoints. Hoggan received $90,000 in bonuses over 13 months starting in late 2013 even though a report said auditors were able to get fake weapons past screeners 95 percent of the time in covert tests. As part of the shake-up, the TSA will also add new leaders in Chicago to improve screening at O'Hare Airport, where travelers have spent hours in lines.

The Supreme Court ruled Monday that Georgia prosecutors improperly kept African-Americans off the jury that convicted a black Georgia death row inmate, Timothy Tyrone Foster, for the murder of an elderly white woman. Foster's lawyers used Georgia's public records law to obtain the prosecutors' notes, and found that black potential jurors had been marked with a "B" and highlighted in green. The 7-to-1 ruling clears the way for a likely new trial. Justice Clarence Thomas, the court's only African-American, was the lone dissenter.

Green Party-backed independent candidate Alexander Van der Bellen was declared the winner of Austria's presidential runoff election on Monday. The weekend vote was too close to call until the last ballots were counted. Van der Bellen's victory blocked the Freedom Party's Norbert Hofer from becoming the European Union's first far-right leader. Hofer's anti-immigrant rhetoric fueled his popularity but prompted comparisons with the rise of the Nazis, which Hofer said was "completely absurd."

The FBI is investigating whether Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, a Democrat, accepted illegal contributions to his 2013 campaign. McAuliffe was the chairman of the Democratic National Committee from 2000 to 2005. He also co-chaired Hillary Clinton's 2008 presidential campaign, and once served on the board of the Clinton Global Initiative. Federal officials are looking at overlapping donors to the foundation and McAuliffe's campaign, including those by Chinese politician Wang Wenliang.

President Obama on Tuesday urged Vietnam to give its people more freedom after critics of the communist government were prevented from meeting him in Hanoi. The friction came on a trip — Obama's first to the country — otherwise marked by signs of improving relations between the U.S. and Vietnam, former enemies. A day earlier, Obama announced he was lifting a ban on arms sales to Vietnam in what was seen as a bid to counter China's buildup in the contested South China Sea.

Five people were killed Monday when a skydiving plane crashed on the Hawaiian island of Kauai. The pilot, two instructors, and two tandem jumpers were believed to have been on the plane. Four people were pronounced dead at the scene of the crash, and the fifth was pronounced dead after he was rushed to a hospital. The plane, a single-engine Cessna, caught fire after hitting the ground. National Transportation Safety Administration investigators are trying to determine what caused the crash.

NFL officials "improperly attempted to influence" a federal government study on brain disease in football players, according to a congressional report released Monday. In 2012, the NFL pledged $30 million to the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health for unconditional use toward research on medical conditions in athletes. The report says the NFL tried to pressure the NIH to transfer a $16 million study on football and brain disease from league critic Robert Stern to more NFL-friendly researchers.

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Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.