| By Dan Donahue, NBC Nightly News |
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| Good Thursday afternoon. The U.S. has declared monkeypox a public health emergency, WNBA star Brittney Griner learned her fate today in her drug trial in Russia, and four officers involved in the botched Breonna Taylor raid now face federal charges. |
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| Here is what’s in our Nightly Rundown. |
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U.S. declares monkeypox a public health emergency |
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| The federal declaration could open up access to emergency funds, boost vaccine distribution, and make it easier for doctors to prescribe treatment. |
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Brittney Griner sentenced to 9 years on drug charges in Russia |
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| WNBA star Brittney Griner was found guilty at her drug trial in Moscow today and sentenced to nine years in prison, in a case that’s further inflamed tensions between the U.S. and Russia. |
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| Griner was detained at a Moscow airport in February after authorities said they found vape canisters with cannabis oil in her luggage. |
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| Griner told the court today she had “no intent” to break Russian laws, and said she made “an honest mistake” by packing the cartridges while she was in a rush. |
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| Russia has been accused of using Griner as a political pawn. Today’s sentencing adds new urgency to a proposed prisoner swap involving Griner and Paul Whelan, a fellow American detained in Russia, in exchange for a Russian arms dealer. |
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| A U.S. official told NBC News that Russia has not responded substantively to the prisoner swap offer since it was made in June. |
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| President Joe Biden, in a statement, denounced Griner’s sentence as “unacceptable,” and called on Russia to “release her immediately.” |
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| Brittney Griner sentenced to nine years in Russian prison on drug charges |
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Four police officers face federal charges in Breonna Taylor raid |
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| Four current and former Louisville police officers have been federally charged with violating Breonna Taylor’s civil rights, federal officials announced today. |
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| The charges stem from the 2020 nighttime raid on Taylor’s apartment. Officers serving a search warrant exchanged gunfire with Taylor’s boyfriend. Taylor, a 26-year-old Black woman, was fatally shot. |
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| The Justice Department alleges that members of a special investigations unit within the Louisville police department falsified an affidavit to obtain the search warrant, violating federal civil rights laws which “resulted in Ms. Taylor’s death.” |
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| NBC News has reached out to the officers’ legal representatives for comment. |
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| Justice Department charges four Louisville officers over Breonna Taylor's death |
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Extreme heat expected to shatter records |
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| Al Roker is tracking the dangerously hot conditions putting at least 73 million people on alert across several regions of the country. |
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| A number of record-high temperatures are expected in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic, according to the National Weather Service. |
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| Record highs are possible today in Philadelphia; Newark, New Jersey; Hartford, Connecticut; Boston; and Albany, New York. |
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| In the south, dangerous drought conditions persist. As of Wednesday, Dallas had experienced 61 straight days with no rain, the second-longest streak on record. |
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What else we’re watching: |
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| Donald Trump Jr. and Ivanka Trump have now testified in the New York Attorney General’s civil tax fraud probe into the Trump Organization, two sources close to the investigation told NBC News on Thursday.Jurors in the Parkland shooter’s sentencing trial were taken to the school where the 2018 massacre unfolded.China fired missiles near Taiwan as part of its military exercises, in response to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s controversial visit to the island.President Biden tested positive for a sixth straight day for a case of Covid rebound, and has a “very occasional cough,” his physician said in a letter.The James Webb Space Telescope captured a stunning image of the Cartwheel Galaxy about 500 million light-years from Earth. |
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| Watch us this evening at 6:30 p.m. ET / 5:30 p.m. CT on NBC, or check your local NBC station listing. After the broadcast, access Nightly News video on NBCNightlyNews.com or the NBC News app. |
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