Bill Cosby was released from prison after his sexual assault conviction was overturned. Rescue workers, battling weather and time, recovered more bodies from the rubble of a collapsed Florida condo. And former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld died at 88.
👋 It’s Laura. I’ve got Wednesday’s news, with a side of futuristic flying cars.
But first, the future is here. 🛸 Flying cars are officially real. One just completed a 35-minute test flight. And they look really cool.
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Bill Cosby released from jail
After two years in prison, Pennsylvania’s highest court overturned Bill Cosby’s sex assault conviction Wednesday, and Cosby was released from a state prison hours later. The stunning reversal of fortune for the 83-year-old Cosby, once beloved as “America’s Dad,” happened after the court found an agreement with a previous prosecutor prevented him from being charged in the case. It also shut down the possibility of a third trial in the case, according to prosecutors. Cosby was convicted in 2018 of drugging and molesting Temple University employee Andrea Constand at his suburban Philadelphia estate in 2004. He was charged in late 2015 when a prosecutor armed with newly unsealed evidence — Cosby’s damaging deposition from her lawsuit — arrested him days before the 12-year statute of limitations expired.
Death toll in condo collapse rises to 16
Emergency crews aren’t just battling summer weather, smoldering fire and dangerous debris in their race to find unaccounted-for victims. They’re fighting time, heat, water and other factors that will make it harder to identify the dead. A week after a 12-story condo building outside Miami collapsed, officials vowed to press on with the rescue effort around the clock. Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said that four additional victims had been identified, bringing the total to 16 people dead and 147 still missing. As families cling to fading hope, Surfside Mayor Charles Burkett said Wednesday that many have asked him when efforts will turn from a rescue to a recovery mission and wondered how long a person could survive under the heaps of rubble. Authorities reiterated that work at the site was a search-and-rescue effort, and workers would continue sifting through the rubble, listening and looking for signs of life. “We’re not leaving anybody behind,” Burkett said. “This is going to go until we pull everyone out of there.”
What everyone’s talking about
- Historians rank Trump near the bottom of U.S. presidents as Obama rises to the top 10.
- ‘Smallville’ actress Allison Mack gets 3 years in prison in NXIVM cult case.
- Miss Nevada USA title won by transgender woman, Kataluna Enriquez, for first time.
- A conservative group wants to ban transgender girls from sports. Its evidence is shaky.
Donald Rumsfeld dies at 88
Donald Rumsfeld — Republican powerbroker, controversial Defense secretary and architect of the Iraq War — died Tuesday, days before his 89th birthday, his family said Wednesday. “It is with deep sadness that we share the news of the passing of Donald Rumsfeld, an American statesman and devoted husband, father, grandfather and great grandfather. At 88, he was surrounded by family in his beloved Taos, New Mexico,” the family said in a statement. Rumsfeld served twice as Defense secretary, for Gerald Ford and George W. Bush. After the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, Rumsfeld led the Pentagon’s attacks on al-Qaida in Afghanistan. Bush fired Rumsfeld in 2006, with the United States mired in grinding insurgencies that killed and maimed thousands of U.S. troops, and thousands more combatants and civilians in Iraq and Afghanistan.
House creates Capitol riot committee
In a 222-190 vote, the House on Wednesday approved the creation of a bipartisan committee to investigate the Jan. 6 Capitol riot and make recommendations about how to avoid another attack. The move came after the Senate last month blocked the creation of a commission approved by the full Congress. No Senate vote is needed to create a House committee. Most Republicans opposed creating a commission or special committee, arguing it would be used as a political weapon in next year’s election. “It will find the truth, which clearly the Republicans fear,” said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. “It does not appear at this time that we can have a bipartisan commission. Hopefully, that could still happen. But in the meantime, we will have a select committee.”
Real quick
To mask or not to mask?
Good question. After the mask issue got confusing again, the head of the CDC made the rounds on various networks Wednesday, reaffirming fully vaccinated Americans still don’t need to wear COVID-19 face masks in most situations, but acknowledging local officials may implement stricter policies. “Here in the United States, we’re fortunate. We have two-thirds of the adult population that is fully vaccinated and really quite protected from the variants that we have circulating here,” CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said. There was confusion this week after the World Health Organization recommended even vaccinated people continue to wear masks, and Los Angeles health officials recommended all people wear them indoors because of concerns about the delta variant.
- Mask guidelines are confusing if you’re vaccinated against COVID-19. Experts break down the details.
- An Illinois summer camp didn’t require masks indoors. Over 80 teens, staff got COVID-19.
A break from the news
- 🚗 Traveling for the Fourth of July? Here are the worst times to hit the road.
- 🙅♀️ Stop just saying ‘I’m sorry.’ Here’s how to actually apologize — and mean it.
- 📺 The 50 best TV shows to watch on Hulu right now, from ‘Twin Peaks’ to ‘Pen15.’
👋 Hey! Before you go … we’re raising money for charity and just one space fan will own this out-of-this-world tribute. Check it out here. Want the Backstory? Our editor wrote all about it here.
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