Today we’re covering Trump’s legal strategy, some GOOD news in the fight against climate change, and highlighting a few notable commencement speeches. First time reading the Mo Newsletter? Subscribe now.

Good morning,

It’s never too late to find love, even for the world’s oldest bird. This 72-year-old Laysan albatross named Wisdom lost her long-time mate, Akeakamai, a couple nesting seasons ago.

But this spring she was spotted courting new suitors. Go girl!

It has us singing, “Come on, let me see you shake your tail feather!” Have a good one!

Mosheh, Jill, & Lauren

PS: Don’t forget to refer friends & family to the Mo Newsletter. You can win free Mo News merch and other perks— details here!

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📌 TRUMP LEGAL STRATEGY TO DELAY TRIALS IS WORKING

Former President Donald Trump got some legal wins in several of his criminal cases in the last week. It creates an ideal legal situation for him with less than six months until the presidential election. It now appears his fate in 2024 will not be decided in court, but at the ballot box.

TRUMP DRAWING A LEGAL “INSIDE STRAIGHT”
Trump started this year potentially facing four criminal trials (90+ criminal counts) as he runs for president. If found guilty, prison time was possible. His strategy all along has been delay, delay, delay, at least until after this year’s election. And, that plan appears to be working.

• It’s likely Trump will face just the one criminal trial—the one in NYC over hush money payments. The jury is expected to reach a verdict in June.

  • Several legal scholars consider it the weakest of the four Trump criminal cases, and even some Democrats have said they don’t think the case should have moved forward.

• So what’s up with the other 3 criminal cases? Not much, for now. Here’s a status update:

GEORGIA ON MY MIND
A Georgia appeals court agreed Wednesday to review Trump’s appeal to boot Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis from prosecuting him in the Georgia election interference case.

In March, Fulton Judge Scott McAfee allowed Willis to remain on the case despite the revelation that she had a romantic relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade. He resigned from the case, so McAfee ruled Willis could stay.

• Trump and other defendants appealed the decision to the Georgia Court of Appeals. They argued that the romantic relationship created a conflict of interest and there are further ethical concerns about Willis.

• Time check: The Appeals Court has until November to decide if Willis can stay. For Trump, this means the case will likely be unresolved before the November elections.

DOWN TO FLORIDA
The federal classified records trial— arguably his most serious— is indefinitely postponed due to process rulings and motions related to the top secret documents.

• REMINDER: Trump was indicted on charges that he hoarded hundreds of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago after his presidency. He’s accused of hiding them and obstructing justice, to the point that the FBI had to conduct a raid to get them back.

• US District Judge Aileen Cannon— a Trump appointee— said that the complicated legal rules and deadlines over how classified evidence can be used in public criminal trials need to be squared away before a new court date is set.

  • AT ISSUE: Classified documents are complicated and Cannon has no experience with these type of cases.

• Special Counsel Jack Smith had urged for the trial to start in July. Now, a new trial date for later this year or next year won’t even be set until late July.

FINALLY, THE FEDERAL ELECTION CASE
Special Counsel Jack Smith says Trump tried to subvert the 2020 election. This case is waiting for the Supreme Court to rule on Trump’s argument about presidents having lifetime executive immunity. The court’s decision this summer will determine whether the case can move forward, but may also lead to further cases in lower courts.

• Bottom line: If Trump wins come November, he can kill both this federal election interference and federal classified documents cases by appointing an attorney general who is willing to do so. The Georgia case may also not proceed if he is the sitting president again.

☀️ WORLD CROSSES CLEAN ENERGY MILESTONE

Some good news in the fight against CO2 emissions: The world is getting closer to meeting renewable electricity goals. With help from solar and wind power, just over 30% of the world’s electricity was produced by renewables last year — a record. When nuclear energy is included, that goes up to 40% of the global energy mix.

The new data is from climate think tank Ember’s Global Electricity Review, and shows that the world is moving toward reaching the UN’s COP28 climate agreement’s 60% renewable electricity by 2030. Over 100 countries signed onto it late last year.

GOING UP
Renewable energy made up less than 19% of the global energy back in 2000.

• China led the pack, with over half of the global additions in solar and wind capacity coming from the country last year.

  

  Top countries generating solar. Via: CNN

  

• Industry experts say connection grids and getting permits for new projects are hurdles that need to be addressed to meet that 60% goal.

OTHER HOPEFUL CLIMATE NEWS
This year: Green electricity is anticipated to drop global fossil fuel generation by 2%, according to Ember.

• In the latest ‘Mo News: The Interview’ podcast with CNN’s Climate Correspondent Bill Weir, we discuss how Texas actually produces the most green energy in the US. Why? It’s now cheaper to produce than oil, coal or natural gas.

  • 🎧 This episode is a rare discussion about climate that WILL NOT give you additional anxiety. Apple | Spotify 🎧

• Bottom line: Fossil fuel still powers global transportation and many other industries. These renewable energy advances can only go so far without other systems changing.

🎤 IT’S COMMENCEMENT SEASON — MO NEWS TALKS TO THE OSU SPEAKER WHO WENT VIRAL

Ohio State’s commencement speaker made headlines for his non-traditional approach to the speech. People have some strong opinions about it, so we spoke to Chris Pan Wednesday.

THE SPEECH
Entrepreneur and OSU alum Chris Pan posted on LinkedIn days before the speech, “Got some help from AI (Ayahuasca Intelligence) this week to write my commencement speech.” Ayahuasca is a psychedelic, hallucinogenic tea from South America made by boiling a mixture of plants.

• His roughly 17-minute speech began with 90s song “What’s Up” by 4 Non Blondes, an intention-setting exercise and included his recommendations on Bitcoin.

• Oh, and OSU president, Ted Carter, was pulled on stage to assist in a cryptocurrency magic trick. Here’s the full speech.

Mosh went live with Pan on Instagram to discuss the address— check out that chat HERE.

• Key takeaways: The speech did NOT really change pre-and-post ayahuasca, it just gave him more “conviction” and “courage.”

  • OSU officials DID see the speech before he delivered it. Pan said he wanted to take out the Bitcoin portion of the speech days before, but was told by that school that it was too late.

  • His goal was to share what he has dedicated the last decade+ of his life to: helping others find emotional and spiritual freedom. His company MyIntent is part of that work.

Mo News Podcast: A daily conversation about the news that matters.

⏳ SPEED READ

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🚨NATION

📌 RFK Jr. says worm ‘got into my brain and ate a portion of it’ (CNN)

📌 Court rules North Carolina catholic school could fire gay teacher who announced his wedding online (ABC NEWS)

📌 Haley won 1 in 5 Indiana Republican voters in the presidential primary despite leaving the race in March (AP)

📌 Public school district leaders face questions from Congress on antisemitism school policies (CBS NEWS)

🌎 AROUND THE WORLD

📌 US soldier detained in Russia broken Army rules, traveled via China to see girlfriend (RFE)

📌 US paused the delivery of 2,000-pound bombs to Israel ahead of a possible Rafah attack (AP)

📌 Brazil floods leave 150,000 homeless, scores dead or missing (MO NEWS)

📌 France says it built the Olympics safely, amid concerns about migrant workers (NYT)

📱BUSINESS, SCIENCE & TECH

📌 AstraZeneca withdraws Covid-19 vaccine, citing low demand (CNN)

📌 FDA chief says bird flu risk to humans is low, but agency is still preparing (THE HILL)

📌 Failed crypto giant FTX has recovered billions more than it needs to pay back bankruptcy victims (NY POST)

📌 Study raises concern over exposure to flame retardant chemicals used in some car seats (CBS NEWS)

🎬 SPORTS & ENTERTAINMENT

📌 Summer box office bust? This season’s movie slate could put up the lowest haul in decades (CNBC)

📌 Andy Cohen breaks silence on 'hurtful' claims of Bravo exploitation: 'it's no fun to be a target’ (PEOPLE)

📌 Travis Kelce lines up another TV job and joins FX’s ‘Grotesquerie’ from Ryan Murphy (AP)

📌 ‘The Office’ spinoff is happening! Here’s everything we know, from the premise to the cast members (TODAY)

The news never stops, and neither do we. Support Mo News and help us keep our coverage going and growing.

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🗓 ON THIS DAY: MAY 9

• 1960: The FDA approved the first birth control pill.

• 1974: The US House Judiciary Committee began impeachment hearings in the investigation of President Richard Nixon.

• 1994: Nelson Mandela was chosen by South Africa’s newly elected parliament to be the country’s first Black president.

• MUSIC RELEASES: 1989: Madonna’s ‘Express Yourself;’ 2006: Plain White T’s ‘Hey There Delilah.’