Trump in contempt: Donald Trump has been held in contempt of court by Judge Juan Merchan and fined $9,000 for violating the gag order that was imposed to stop him from intimidating witnesses and jurors. Trump was threatened with jail if he violates the gag order again. Trump’s hush money trial in Manhattan resumed today with banker Gary Farro being called back onto the witness stand. Farro helped Michael Cohen, Trump’s attorney and fixer, open a number of bank accounts. Cohen arranged for Daniels to receive $130,000 as a payoff for her to keep quiet about her sexual encounter with Trump. The head of the New York Young Republicans sent out an email blast urging Republicans to rally at the courthouse at 8 a.m. today to show support for Trump but only a handful of people showed up.
Campus protests: Pro-Palestinian protesters at Columbia University in Manhattan stepped up their protest by occupying Hamilton Hall, one of the more heavily used buildings on the campus. They broke in and then put up barricades. The college administration did not immediately move to have them thrown out and instead urged people to avoid coming onto the campus today. Protests have erupted on numerous other campuses in the U.S., spreading to Tulane, Virginia Tech and Portland State in Oregon among others.
Charlotte shooting: Eight law enforcement officers were shot and four of them died in Charlotte, North Carolina. U.S. Marshals were serving a warrant on a felon for possessing a weapon when the individual opened fire. H was shot and killed and then, as local police arrived on-scene and rushed the house, a second person started shooting. Police used armored vehicles to open holes in the house and took two women into custody.
Walmart Health: Walmart announced this morning that it is closing Walmart Health and Walmart Health Virtual Care. In 2019, Walmart started opening its health centers and moved into offering virtual health services. Walmart said its decision to close all 51 health centers across five states and shut down the virtual care offering was not easy. Profits have not been as anticipated. Walmart said it will continue to operate nearly 4,600 pharmacies and more than 3,000 Vision Centers at its stores.
Missiles: Russia said today it has shot down six U.S. missiles but did not specify where they were shot down other than indicating that at least some of the missiles were brought down in Crimea, the territory that Russia had invaded and continues to control. Russia identified the missiles as U.S. Army Tactical Missile System rockets.
McDonald’s financials: McDonald’s today released first quarter 2024 financial results. Global revenues were $6.1 billion compared with $5.8 billion for the first quarter of 2023. Profits were $1.9 billion compared with $1.8 billion in last year’s first quarter. The company said the unrest in the Middle East had a 0.2% negative impact on sales, but U.S. sales were up by 2.5% and globally sales were up 2.7%. This marks 13 consecutive quarters of sales growth for McDonald’s with 30% growth in the last four years.
