Former VP Pence would consider testifying; CDC director announces shake-up | Hot off the Wire podcast

Former Vice President Mike Pence said he’d give “due consideration” if asked to testify before the House committee investigating the riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

“It would be unprecedented in history for a vice president to be summoned to testify on Capitol Hill, but as I said, I don’t want to prejudge,” he said. “If ever any formal invitation was rendered to us, we’d give it due consideration.”

R. Kelly’s federal trial on allegations that he rigged his 2008 state child pornography trial and enticed girls for sex is about the R&B singer’s “dark” and “hidden” side, a prosecutor told jurors Wednesday. Kelly’s attorney said not to accept the portrayal of her client as “a monster.”

The head of the nation’s top public health agency is shaking up the organization with the goal of making it more nimble. The planned changes at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention come after amid criticism of the agency’s response to COVID-19, monkeypox and other public health threats.

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Two former Pennsylvania judges who orchestrated a scheme to send children to for-profit jails in exchange for kickbacks have been ordered to pay more than $200 million to hundreds of people they victimized in one of the worst judicial scandals in U.S. history.

Lightning within hurricanes is rare but this week’s Across the Sky weather podcast guest talks about the activity he saw inside Hurricane Rita.

Bank of America says the revenue it gets from overdrafts has dropped 90% from a year ago, after the bank reduced overdraft fees to $10 from $35 and eliminated fees for bounced checks.

NASA’s new moon rocket has arrived at the launch pad for its first test flight. The 322-foot rocket emerged Tuesday night from its mammoth hangar at Florida’s Kennedy Space Center.

The nation’s leading abortion rights advocacy organization, Planned Parenthood, plans to spend a record $50 million ahead of November’s midterm elections. It’s pouring money into contests where access to abortion will be on the ballot.

Target has reported solid sales for the fiscal second quarter but its profits plunged nearly 90% because it slashed prices to clear unwanted inventories of clothing, home goods and other discretionary items.

American Airlines says it has agreed to buy up to 20 supersonic jets that are still on the drawing board and years away from flying. American announced the deal Tuesday with Boom Supersonic.

A Pulitzer Prize-winning scholar provides insight into the Pope’s actions during World War II.

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