10 things you need to know today: April 28, 2023

1. Russia hits Kyiv with missiles for 1st time since early March

Ukrainian authorities said Friday that the capital, Kyiv, had been hit in the first Russian missile and drone attack since early March. Russian forces also launched strikes against other cities around Ukraine, killing at least 12 people. Most of the deaths occurred in central Uman, where a Russian strike hit an apartment building, killing 10 people and injuring 17. In the United States, the Biden administration imposed sanctions on Russia's Federal Security Service and several other entities for "their role in the 'wrongful detention' of Americans," The Washington Post reported. Meanwhile, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle called on President Biden to speed up delivery of much-needed tanks and other weapons Ukraine needs to turn the tide.

The Washington Post Politico

2. Pence testifies before Jan. 6 grand jury

Former Vice President Mike Pence appeared before a grand jury reviewing the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack and efforts by then-President Donald Trump and his allies to reverse his loss to President Biden in the 2020 election, The Washington Post reported Thursday. Pence testified after a federal appeals court on Wednesday rejected Trump's request to prevent Pence from discussing any potentially illegal acts. The three-judge appeals panel declined to postpone a lower court ruling requiring Pence to testify as Trump pursues his claim to executive privilege. Special Counsel Jack Smith subpoenaed Pence in early February to answer questions about Trump's effort to pressure him into refusing to certify Biden's victory.

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The New York Times The Associated Press

3. Economic growth slowed in 1st quarter

Economic growth slowed to a 1.1 percent annualized pace in the first quarter of 2023 from a 2.6 percent increase in the fourth quarter last year, the Commerce Department reported Thursday. The slowdown came as many economists warn the United States could slip into a recession as the Federal Reserve aggressively raises interest rates to cool the economy and bring down inflation. A Census Bureau analysis published Thursday said the end of extra pandemic-era food subsidies on March 1 also contributed to the slowdown by reducing consumption. About one in four households who received the benefits, or about eight million Americans, say they "sometimes" or "often" don't have enough to eat now that the program has been lifted in 32 states.

Bloomberg

4. Carolyn Bryant Donham, whose claim led to Emmett Till lynching, dies at 88

Carolyn Bryant Donham, the white Mississippi store owner whose claim Black teen Emmett Till whistled at her resulted in his brutal murder, has died, according to a coroner's office in Louisiana. She was 88. Donham, then 21, said during the 1955 trial of her husband and his half brother that Till, 14, grabbed her and made a wolf whistle. More than half a century later, she reportedly told historian Timothy Tyson she lied under oath when she helped get the suspects acquitted. "The physical assault on her, or anything menacing or sexual, that part isn't true," Tyson told CBS This Morning in 2017. Till's lynching and the widely disseminated photo of his open casket galvanized the modern civil rights movement.

The New York Times The Associated Press

5. Prosecutors argue against bail for accused Discord leaker

Jack Teixeira, the 21-year-old airman accused of leaking classified documents to an online community, posted about wanting to kill "a ton of people" to cull "the weak minded," prosecutors said Thursday as they argued that Teixeira posed a flight risk and shouldn't be released on bail. Prosecutors said he posted repeatedly about building an "assassination van" and committing a mass shooting in a "crowded urban or suburban environment," and had "a virtual arsenal of weapons" in his home. Teixeira faces charges under the Espionage Act for sharing the documents on the Discord messaging platform popular with gamers. Lawyers for the Massachusetts Air National Guard member argued that he should be released to the custody of his father, a former correctional officer.

BBC News CNN

6. Trump lawyer aggressively cross-examines E. Jean Carroll

E. Jean Carroll faced tense cross-examination Thursday by the lawyer defending former President Trump against her lawsuit accusing Trump of raping her in the mid-1990s and defaming her by calling her story a lie when she wrote about it 20 years later. Trump attorney Joe Tacopina repeatedly asked Carroll, a former Elle advice columnist, why she didn't scream during the alleged attack in a dressing room of the Manhattan Bergdorf Goodman department store. "I was too much in panic to scream," Carroll said. "I'm telling you, he raped me whether I screamed or not." Judge Lewis Kaplan scolded Tacopina several times for being "argumentative," and said, "Look, you get to make a closing argument, and this isn't the time for it."

CNN The New York Times

7. Abortion restrictions fail in conservative South Carolina and Nebraska

Proposed abortion restrictions failed to advance in South Carolina and Nebraska's Republican-dominated legislatures on Thursday. South Carolina's near-total abortion ban fell short in a 22-21 vote in the state Senate, after a two-day filibuster led by the chamber's five women. State Sen. Penry Gustafson (R) said she was "pro-life," but saw "no room for empathy, reality or graciousness" in the legislation. Nebraska's proposed six-week abortion ban died in a 32-15 filibuster-ending cloture vote, one vote short of the 33 votes needed to advance. State Sen. Merv Riepe (R) unsuccessfully proposed amending the bill to allow abortion up to 12 weeks of pregnancy, because many women don't know they're pregnant at six weeks. Both states currently allow abortion up to 22 weeks.

Axios Omaha World-Herald

8. Eli Lilly says study shows diabetes drug Mounjaro effective for weight loss

Eli Lilly on Thursday released data from a second large study that found its drug Mounjaro, now used to treat diabetes, helps people lose weight. The study found that participants with diabetes lost nearly 16 percent of their weight during the 18-month trial, USA Today reported. Typically that amounted to a loss of more than 34 pounds. The drug-maker previously released data indicating that the drug, marketed under the generic name tirzepatide, helped people with obesity but not diabetes lose up to 20 percent of their weight. The drug has not been approved for weight loss yet, but Eli Lilly plans to ask for approval later this year, potentially disrupting the weight loss market. So far Eli Lilly has only released the findings in a press release, but it plans to present the full results at the American Diabetes Association's annual meeting in June.

USA Today Financial Times

9. U.S. adult smoking rate hits all-time low

The U.S. cigarette smoking rate fell to a record low last year, according to preliminary findings released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In a survey of more than 27,000 adults, about 11 percent said they were current smokers, down from 12.5 percent in 2020 and 2021. The rate has been dropping for decades due to publicity about the dangers of smoking, cigarette taxes and prices, public smoking bans, and shifting attitudes. In the mid-1960s, 42 percent of U.S. adults smoked. Electronic cigarette use rose last year, with about 1 in 17 adults saying they vaped.

The Associated Press

10. Controversial talk show host Jerry Springer dies at 79

Jerry Springer, best known for his often outrageous tabloid-style talk show, died Thursday at his suburban Chicago home after a brief illness. He was 79. Springer started his show in his hometown of Cincinnati, where he served two years as mayor in the 1970s, and went on to host it for 27 seasons, from 1991-2018. "Jerry's ability to connect with people was at the heart of his success in everything he tried, whether that was politics, broadcasting or just joking with people on the street who wanted a photo or a word," lifelong friend and family spokesperson Jene Galvin said. Not everyone was a fan of the absurd stunts his raucous show was known for. TV Guide in 2002 called it the "worst show in the history of television," USA Today reported.

USA Today