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| A secret mission to save "dinosaur" trees in Australia. Trump's impeachment trial kicks off. And a worrisome flu season is upon us. |
| It's Ashley with the news to know Thursday. |
| But first, when was the last time you cleaned your coffee maker? We talked to germ experts about coffee makers – and the results are gross. Most are crawling with germs and growing mold. 😰 |
| The Short List newsletter is a snappy USA TODAY news roundup. Subscribe here! |
It's official: Trump's Senate impeachment trial has begun |
| The third impeachment trial of a U.S. president kicked off Thursday in Washington, and President Donald Trump is the defendant. Seven House lawmakers who will prosecute the case against Trump carried the articles of impeachment to the Senate and read the charges aloud to formally begin the trial. As the historic trial begins, here are some answers to questions you may have: |
| • | Let's back it up. How did we get here? The Constitution stipulates that if any federal official commits "high crimes or misdemeanors," the House of Representatives is empowered to impeach – formally charge – that official. The articles of impeachment against Trump accuse him of pressuring Ukraine to investigate one of his political rivals, Joe Biden, while withholding a valuable White House meeting and $391 million in military aid. | | • | How long will this impeachment trial last? The trial will really get underway Tuesday. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he wants to wrap it up in about two weeks, but the length of the trial will depend on how many witnesses, if any, are called. | | • | Who's running the show? Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts was sworn in Thursday to preside over the trial, meaning he's in charge. The hitch is that the Senate can overrule him, so his role could end up being mostly ceremonial. | | • | Is Trump going to show up? Probably not, although Trump said in November he would "strongly consider" facing his accusers. | |
 | | Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), Rep. Val Demings (D-FL), Rep. Jason Crow (D-CO) and Rep. Sylvia Garcia (D-TX) walk through the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol on their way to the U.S. Senate January 16, 2020 in Washington, DC. The members of Congress were appointed as managers of the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump, which is expected to begin in earnest early next week. | | Chip Somodevilla, Getty Images | |
A secret mission to save the last prehistoric 'dinosaur' trees |
| Special Australian firefighters on a secret operation saved the last wild stand of prehistoric trees, which were threatened by the country's wildfires. The highly endangered Wollemi Pines, aka "dinosaur trees," date back more than 200 million years, and they were thought long extinct before the stand was found in 1994. "These pines outlived the dinosaurs," New South Wales Environment and Energy Minister Matt Kean told the Sydney Morning Herald. "We had to do everything we could to save them." Kean said the fire moved through the area, but the operation – kept secret to avoid revealing the exact location of the trees – protected the stand from destruction. He said two plants were lost to the blaze. |
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 | | In this photo taken early Jan. 2020, and provided Thursday, Jan. 16, 2020, by the New South Wales National Parks and Wildlife Service, NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service personnel use fire hoses to dampen the forest floor near Wollemi pine trees in the Wollemi National Park, New South Wales, Australia. Specialist firefighters have saved the world's last remaining wild stand of a prehistoric tree from wildfires that razed forests west of Sydney. | | NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service via AP | |
What everyone's talking about |
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Attention parents: Kids are at a higher risk this flu season |
| The rare prevalence of the B virus – which is more likely to affect children – makes this an unusual and worrisome flu season. When outbreaks of the flu began earlier than usual in the fall, experts noticed a leading cause was a virus that doesn't typically emerge until the end of the season: influenza B, which hasn't dominated the flu season so early in 27 years. A significant difference this time is its ability to affect children and young adults. That makes it imperative for parents to make sure their kids get a flu shot, even at this point in the season, the CDC says. For the season, the agency has tallied at least 9.7 million cases of the flu, 87,000 hospitalizations and 4,800 deaths. |
The Senate passed a revamped Mexico, Canada trade deal |
| A revamped trade agreement with Mexico and Canada designed to create hundreds of thousands of U.S. jobs is headed to President Donald Trump for his signature after the Senate passed the deal Thursday. The United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, known as USMCA, will replace rules for moving products among the three countries crafted under the North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA, which essentially eliminated tariffs on most goods traded between the countries. Trump and the leaders of both parties strongly support the measure, proving that Congress can unite when it wants to … even during the bitter partisan division over impeachment. |
Real quick |
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MLB cheating scandal: Another one bites the dust |
| The Carlos Beltran era is over before it even began for the New York Mets. After their new manager got caught up in the Houston Astros' sign-stealing scandal, the club decided to mutually part ways with Beltran, the Mets announced Thursday. Beltran is the third manager to be ousted in the wake of Major League Baseball's investigation into the Astros. |
A break from the news |
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| This is a compilation of stories from across the USA TODAY Network. |
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