Daily Briefing: NYC braces for Trump's arraignment

New York City is ramping up security Tuesday when former President Donald Trump is expected to be booked and arraigned on charges arising from hush money payments during his 2016 campaign. Also in the news: Finland is set to become the 31st member of NATO and Connecticut men's basketball has scored the NCAA national title.

🙋🏼‍♀️ I'm Nicole Fallert, Daily Briefing author. Ready for spring break? Grab a buddy and fly for free.

Now, here we go with Tuesday's top headlines.

New York adds police presence, steel barriers ahead of Trump arraignment

New York City is bracing for Donald Trump's Tuesday arraignment with a massive police presence as the eyes of the world focus on a Manhattan courthouse.

Trump is the first current or former U.S. president to ever be criminally charged, and his supporters have tried to delegitimize the process and promised protests.

• A Manhattan grand jury indicted Trump on nearly 30 unspecified charges on April 30, following an investigation by District Attorney Alvin Bragg into hush money payments made to two women who said Trump had sex with them.

• The indictments are sealed, but the Associated Press reported they contain at least one felony.

• Legal analysts expect defense attorneys to act quickly – and loudly – in pursuing a wave of legal challenges.

• A #MeToo ripple effect: The indictment is the most tangible accountability Trump has faced so far related to his relationships with women, even if the charges experts have been expecting will be related to finance and accounting.

Keep reading: Trump announced he will speak Tuesday evening from Mar-a-Lago.

Midwest, South brace for more tornadoes

Almost 50 million Americans are at risk of being affected by severe storms and potential tornadoes Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service's Storm Prediction Center. Cities such as Chicago; Kansas City, Missouri; Tulsa, Oklahoma; St. Louis, Missouri and Des Moines, Iowa, are all in the risk area. The prediction center also said "dangerous nighttime tornadoes" are possible Tuesday evening into Wednesday morning. Nighttime tornadoes are twice as likely to be deadly as daytime tornadoes. Many cities and towns are still recovering from a surge of severe storms that resulted in dozens of confirmed or suspected tornadoes in at least eight states and 32 deaths. Read more

More news to know now

• Tennessee GOP filed resolutions to expel three Democrats who led gun reform chants.

• A first-grade Virginia teacher shot by a 6-year-old student filed a $40 million lawsuit.

• Seven CDC workers fell ill investigating the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio.

• A local prosecutor in Virginia will ask for federal involvement in the case of the killing of Irvo Otieno.

• Two young men of color vanished three months apart on the same road nearly two decades ago. On today's 5 Things podcast, host of "The Last Ride" podcast Janine Zeitlin explains how her team explored the case.

What's the weather today? Check your local forecast here.

Finland to join NATO

Finland will become the 31st member of the world's largest military alliance on Tuesday, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg announced Monday. At a news conference in Brussels, Stoltenberg reiterated NATO's position that eventually "Ukraine will become a member of the alliance." Turkey, the last country to ratify Finland’s membership, will hand over official documents to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday, Stoltenberg said, adding that he expects Sweden will also win approval in the coming weeks. Both nations sought expedited membership after Russia invaded Ukraine more than a year ago. Read more

• WSJ ''demands'' release of Evan Gershkovich after arrest by Russia for espionage.

• A Chinese spy balloon gathered information from multiple military sites despite attempts to block it, a report says.

Florida's 6-week abortion ban isn't law — yet

Florida House Republicans and Gov. Ron DeSantis are expected to approve a bill that bans most abortions after six weeks of pregnancy, a measure that has faced sharp criticism and protests. But even with the governor's signature, the ban has another hurdle to clear. It all depends on how the Florida Supreme Court rules in a lawsuit challenging last year's 15-week ban and whether the court will overturn decades of precedent that a right to privacy in the state constitution applies to abortion. That decision isn't expected until after the lawmaking session ends in May. Read more

• Women account for two-thirds of the country's student loan debt.

• DeSantis quietly signed a permitless carry gun bill within hours of it landing on his desk.

• Trump or DeSantis for president? Maybe neither, New Hampshire voters say.

Just for subscribers:

• Eight photos show Fort Myers Beach's wounded landscape six months after Hurricane Ian.

• Opinion: California forces parents to choose between kids' needs and faith. Families shouldn't have to.

• Column: Country's superstars should be chasing Kenny Rogers' 1983 pop culture success.

• Here's what you didn't see on TV at the 2023 CMT Music Awards.

These articles are for USA TODAY subscribers. You can sign up here. 

Connecticut completes historic NCAA tournament run

A suffocating defense and another big game from forward Adama Sanogo lifted No. 4 Connecticut past No. 5 San Diego State 76-59 Monday night to win the fifth national championship in its program history. The victory in Houston completes an epic and historic run through this NCAA men’s basketball tournament and supports the Huskies’ case for being viewed as the most successful Division I program of the past 25 years. Read more

• Miss the game? Here's our recap from the fight for the men's national title.

• LSU-Iowa women's college basketball national championship game drew record ratings.

• Reaction to Angel Reese taunting Caitlin Clark shows the double standard for Black athletes.

One more thing

• What was thought to be a mineral actually may be the first known dinosaur egg.

• Brooke Shields says she ''never'' reconnected with ex Andre Agassi.

• Can you use ChatGPT as a travel agent? Here's what I learned about AI vacation planning.

• ''Air'' review: It's all about the shoes and the A-list cast in Ben Affleck's slam-dunk drama.

• Ready to make a splash this summer? Shop the 10 best bathing suit sales today.

Photo of the day: Montana freight train derailment dumps cases of Coors Light and Blue Moon beer

A freight train carrying beer derailed in Montana, officials said, the latest of a string of rail accidents in the United States. Officials said about 25 cars derailed and there was no threat to the public and no hazardous material was released. Sunday's crash is one of a number of incidents over the past two months since a fiery Ohio derailment on Feb. 3. Read more and click here for more photos from the scene.

Nicole Fallert is a newsletter writer at USA TODAY, sign up for the email here. Want to send Nicole a note? Shoot her an email at NFallert@usatoday.com or follow along with her musings on Twitter. Support journalism like this – subscribe to USA TODAY here.

Associated Press contributed reporting.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump, tornadoes, NATO, abortion, DeSantis, NCAA: Daily Briefing