Axios

I'm thankful for:

• My Mom, my three siblings and their 11 amazing kids, who encouraged my all-consuming life as a young reporter — which must have seemed mysterious and a bit batty. But it led to Axios, and the privilege of visiting with you each morning.

During NBC's live coverage, Paul Butler, a Georgetown Law scholar of race and criminal justice, had this insight on the murder conviction of three white men for the killing of Ahmaud Arbery near Brunswick, Ga.:

• The tape that the jurors wanted to hear today is the 911 call to the dispatcher: "What's your emergency?" The answer was: "There's a Black man running down the street." Lester [Holt], there's a lot of historical resonance in those words.

The Biden administration approved Wednesday plans for a major offshore wind farm to supply power to New York.

Why it matters: The approval for the installation of a dozen turbines near Rhode Island marks a major step in the administration's goal of reaching 30 gigawatts of offshore wind-generating capacity in U.S. waters by 2030, powering more than 10 million homes.

The British and French governments have pledged to increase joint efforts to stop migrant crossings after at least 27 migrants died when their U.K.-bound inflatable boat capsized in the English Channel Wednesday, per Euronews.

The big picture: French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin told reporters five women and a girl were among the dead in what's one of the worst migrant boat tragedies to occur on the busy shipping route between the U.K. and France. Four people were missing, presumed drowned.

President Biden had a polyp removed that was a "benign, slow-growing, but thought to be precancerous lesion" after having a routine colonoscopy last week, the White House physician said in a memorandum released Wednesday.

Driving the news: Testing identified it "as a tubular adenoma," which was "similar to the polyp which he had removed in 2008," according to physician Kevin O'Connor's memo, dated Tuesday.

The Biden administration will begin requiring essential travelers crossing U.S. borders to be fully vaccinated starting Jan. 22, a White House spokesperson told Axios Wednesday.

Why it matters: The move comes after the U.S. opened land borders with Canada and Mexico to non-essential travel in November, but only to those fully vaccinated against the coronavirus.

The Justice Department directed U.S. attorneys on Wednesday to prioritize the prosecution of airline passengers who have committed federal crimes aboard aircraft.

Why it matters: The department's statement comes amid a surge in unruly passengers incidents, with the Federal Aviation Administration reporting more than 5,000 occurrences this year.

The first woman to serve as Sweden's prime minister on Wednesday resigned hours after she was appointed, after the Swedish parliament failed to pass the budget proposed by the government's minority coalition.

Why it matters: Social Democrat Magdalena Andersson announced her intent to depart following the Green Party's move to quit their two-party coalition. Her decision is based on a constitutional practice that says a prime minister should resign if a party leaves the governing coalition.

A Pew survey late last week found that 44% of Americans between 18 and 49 who aren't parents say it is not too likely or not at all likely that they will have children — an increase of 7 percentage points from 2018.

Why it matters: The shift could lead to smaller family Thanksgiving dinners and major social and economic changes, as children become rarer in many parts of the country and more American adults reach old age with little to no family to support them.

Five Democratic senators have told the White House they won't support Saule Omarova to head the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, effectively killing her nomination for the powerful bank-regulator position.

Why it matters: The defiant opposition from a broad coalition of senators reflects the real policy concerns they had with Omarova, a Cornell University law professor who's attracted controversy for her academic writings about hemming in big banks.

President Biden will start turning asylum seekers back to Mexico as soon as next week under a reinstated Trump-era "Remain in Mexico" program — but will offer them the option to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, Axios has learned.

Why it matters: Under court orders, the president will officially undo a key immigration promise, which will force asylum-seekers to wait months in Mexico ahead of their immigration court hearings in the U.S. — as long as Mexico accepts them.

President Biden commended the guilty verdicts in the trial for the murder of Ahmaud Arbery Wednesday, adding that his murder demonstrated "how far we have to go in the fight for racial justice in this country."

What he's saying: "Mr. Arbery should be here today, celebrating the holidays with his mother, Wanda Cooper Jones, and his father, Marcus Arbery," Biden said in a statement.

Ahmaud Arbery’s parents, Marcus Arbery and Wanda Cooper-Jones, reacted on Wednesday to the guilty verdict for all three of their son’s killers.

What they're saying: "We conquered that lynch mob. We got that lynch mob," Marcus Arbery said. "We don’t want to see nobody go through this. I wouldn’t want to see no daddy watch their kid get lynched and shot down like that."

Politicians and prominent activists on Wednesday praised the guilty verdict in the trial for the murder of Ahmaud Arbery, but said more needed to be done to fix the nation's judicial system.

Driving the news: All three suspects, who are white, were found guilty in the murder of Arbery, a 25-year-old Black man who was chased and shot while running in February 2020.

The Pentagon said on Tuesday that it would establish a new group to investigate reports of unidentified aerial phenomena, sometimes referred to as UFOs, in restricted airspace.

The big picture: The announcement follows a widely anticipated report released in June that found 143 sightings of unexplained objects.

A jury on Wednesday found all three suspects guilty in the murder of Ahmaud Arbery, a 25-year-old Black man who was chased and shot while running in February 2020.

The big picture: Prosecutors only pursued the case after a video of the killing went viral in May 2020 sparking a national outrage. The case preceded the murder of George Floyd but Arbery's name, along with those of Floyd and Breonna Taylor, were at the center of last year's nationwide racial justice protests.

The South Dakota Supreme Court Wednesday upheld a lower court's nullification of a voter-approved amendment to the state's constitution that would have legalized recreational marijuana use.

Why it matters: The ruling is a major setback for legalization advocates and a victory for Gov. Kristi Noem (R), who strongly opposes recreational marijuana use in the state.

The Christmas parade tragedy in Waukesha, Wisconsin that left 6 dead and more than 60 people injured has prompted state Republican lawmakers to introduce new legislation that would change how bail is set.

Why it matters: Darrell Brooks, the alleged driver of an SUV that plowed into a crowd, had an extensive criminal record. Prior to the accident, Brooks was released from jail after posting a $1,000 bail.

The Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed to hear a case on whether Republican lawmakers in North Carolina have the right to defend the state's photo identification voter law.

State of play: The North Carolina state legislature had submitted a request to have the court review a decision from the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals that said lawmakers could not intervene in a lawsuit brought by the NAACP against the state's voter ID law.

President Biden on Wednesday nominated Shalanda Young to head the Office of Management and Budget permanently. She has served as acting director since March.

Why it matters: If confirmed by the Senate, Young would be the first Black woman to permanently lead the office, which has gone without a confirmed director for months after Biden's first nominee, Neera Tanden, withdrew her nomination because of opposition from several senators from both parties.

Former President Trump told Fox News' Sean Hannity on Tuesday that Kyle Rittenhouse visited him at Mar-A-Lago after he was found not guilty in the fatal shooting of two men during racial justice protests in Kenosha, Wisconsin, in 2020.

What they're saying: "He's a really good young guy … just left Mar-a-Lago a little while ago, and he should never have been put through that. That was prosecutorial misconduct, and it's happening all over the United States right now with the Democrats," Trump said.

About 20 thieves used a sledgehammer and e-bike on Monday night to smash windows, then steal and wreck merchandise at the Nordstrom in The Grove, a luxury mall in Los Angeles, AP reports.

Driving the news: Over the weekend, groups of thieves — some carrying crowbars and hammers — smashed glass cases and window displays and ransacked high-end stores throughout the Bay Area just as the holiday shopping season began.

Relatives of American hostages and political prisoners held overseas are increasingly impatient for a meeting with President Biden.

Driving the news: Last week's release of a U.S. journalist held in Myanmar has elevated some expectations. So, too, did four years of Donald Trump's unusually public enthusiasm for and prioritization of hostage negotiations — with some notable successes.

A Broadway actor was charged Tuesday for allegedly joining the Oath Keepers in breaching the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6 insurrection, according to a Department of Justice statement.

Why it matters: The arrest of James Beeks, who's currently playing Judas in a traveling "Jesus Christ Superstar" production under the stage name James T. Justis and is also a Michael Jackson impersonator, adds "an odd twist in [a] sprawling case" against the far-right group, per Politico, which first reported the news.

E-cigarette giant Juul Labs will pay Arizona $14.5 million as part of a settlement for a lawsuit alleging it illegally targeted young people in its marketing.

Why it matters: The company faces over 2,000 lawsuits related to its marketing practices, which included fruit-flavored liquid pods and ad buys on youth websites like Cartoon Network, per Reuters. State and local governments have said it fueled a vaping epidemic among teens.

The White House distanced itself from a proposal endorsed by Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) that calls for closing federal prisons.

• "The president does not support abolishing prisons," White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said at a Tuesday briefing.

Why it matters: Psaki's remarks come amid a broader discussion on prison reform and after Tlaib was challenged on her stance by Axios' Jonathan Swan in an "Axios on HBO" interview.

Democrats got a hopeful sign from the Senate rules referee Tuesday in their effort to include provisions for undocumented immigrants in the $1.75 trillion "human" infrastructure bill they hope to pass through the partisan reconciliation process.

Driving the news: The Senate parliamentarian met with Democratic staff about the immigration provisions and did not rule out their inclusion in President Biden's Build Back Better agenda, sources familiar with the meeting told Axios.