5 things for May 2: Trump, Arizona teachers, migrants, Armenia, air pollution

CNN/Stylemagazine.com Newswire | 5/2/2018, 7:05 a.m.
Not content with pretty much taking over every aspect of your life, Facebook now wants to help you get a …
Donald Trump

By Doug Criss, CNN

(CNN) -- Not content with pretty much taking over every aspect of your life, Facebook now wants to help you get a date. Here's what else you need to know to Get Up to Speed and Out the Door.

1. President Trump

President Trump and special counsel Robert Mueller might be headed for a showdown for the ages. Trump's lawyers are prepping for the possibility Mueller could subpoena the President, sources tell CNN. That would set up a dramatic collision that could start a long court fight and test the legal limits of the President's power all the way up to the Supreme Court. Mueller's team may do this if Trump refuses to give a voluntary interview. Many legal observers believe the courts would order the President to comply with a subpoena because the Supreme Court has repeatedly ordered just that.

Meanwhile, remember that letter from Trump's doctor during that 2016 campaign -- the one that declared Trump would be "the healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency"? Turns out Dr. Harold Bornstein didn't write it at all. (Spoiler alert!) Trump did. "He dictated that whole letter. I didn't write that letter," Bornstein told CNN. "I just made it up as I went along."

2. Arizona teacher walkout

Teachers in Arizona say they'll end their walkout -- the first in state history -- if the state legislature OKs a budget. If that happens, teachers could be back in classrooms as early as Thursday, a week after they walked out in the latest episode in a recent national wave of teacher actions. Gov. Doug Ducey said the state's close to passing a budget deal that raises teacher pay by 20% over two years. Teachers had wanted a 20% raise by next school year and yearly raises after that to reach the national average, plus education funding restored to 2008 levels. "The war is not over," one organizer said.

3. Armenia

Anti-government protests have rocked Armenia for weeks. And they may get worse now that the leader of the country's protest movement was blocked from a chance at being prime minister. Nikol Pashinyan was the only candidate for the position during the vote in parliament, but Armenia's ruling party refused to back him. So, Pashinyan told his supporters to hit the streets today: "We block all the streets, communications, subway and the airports ... Our struggle cannot end in a failure." The protests started after what many considered to be an attempt at an unconstitutional power grab by former President Serzh Sargsyan.

4. Migrant caravan

A few members of that caravan of Central American migrants have started to plead their cases to US border patrol officials, asking for asylum (including a pregnant mom of two whom the other migrants picked to go first). About two dozen migrants have been processed; another 125 or so are still waiting in tents in Tijuana outside the customs center, just feet from San Diego. It's the start of a long, complicated process that involves lots of paperwork and several interviews. And final decisions could take months.

5. Air pollution

If you live on this planet, you're probably breathing some bad air. A new study from the World Health Organization says nine out of 10 people on Earth breathe highly polluted air. And all that pollution has deadly consequences. The study -- in which the WHO collected data from more than 4,300 cities and 108 countries -- estimates the dirty air kills 7 million people each year. More than 90% of those deaths are in Asia and Africa, but the rest of the world isn't off the hook. Cities in the Americas, Europe and the Eastern Mediterranean also have air pollution levels beyond what the WHO considers healthy.

BREAKFAST BROWSE

Unattended baggage

Border patrol agents are used to seeing strange things on the US-Mexico border, but a live tiger in a duffel bag is (probably) a first.

The robots are coming

The next wave in the looming robot apocalypse is their invasion of the Smithsonian museums. Twenty-five robots started "working" there this week.

Problem solver

Want to fix the problem with Apu? The producer of a Netflix show is holding a screenwriting contest to rewrite the problematic "Simpsons" character.

Fashion police

A Catholic high school in Michigan thought these "modesty ponchos" were just the thing for this year's prom. How wrong they were.

TODAY'S QUOTE

"When you hear about slavery for 400 years ... for 400 years? That sounds like a choice."

Rapper and professional provocateur Kanye West, ruminating on one of the bleakest chapters in American history while visiting TMZ's headquarters. A TMZ employee, and pretty much all of Twitter, took him to task for this one.

TODAY'S NUMBER

$100 million

That's how much debt iconic guitar manufacturer Gibson has (though it could be as much as $500 million). So, the company has filed for bankruptcy while it reorganizes.

AND FINALLY

Take your time

It's time for more slow-motion fun, but this time it's not the Slo Mo guys. It's the theatrics of a young baseball player soaking in ALL the glory while "running" to home plate.

YouTube

Little Kid Runs in Slow Motion During Baseball Game - 988585

This little kid was playing baseball when his coach told him to run towards home base. However, instead of getting there as fast as he could, he opted to bask in the moment by running in slow motion.