Texas wrong-way crash kills 6 and low carb foods to slow weight gain: Morning Rundown

Where the cases against Donald Trump stand heading into 2024. A wrong-way crash kills six people in Texas. And a new study suggests the best foods to slow weight gain.

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What to expect from Trump’s legal cases in 2024

Donald Trump faces a busy legal year ahead: the former president is facing up to five separate trials and verdicts in two civil cases that could cost him and his business hundreds of millions of dollars. In four criminal cases, he faces 91 felony counts, some of which carry a maximum prison term of 20 years.

That said, only one trial date seems set in stone.

On Jan. 16, the day after the Iowa caucuses, the civil damages trial in a defamation case brought by writer E. Jean Carroll is scheduled to start.

Trump’s next trial, for the federal election interference case against him, is officially scheduled for March 4. However, Trump has appealed, saying his actions were an appropriate use of presidential power. Special counsel Jack Smith wanted the Supreme Court to hear the appeal, but his request was declined last week without comment, leaving the trial date for this case in flux.

And his three other criminal cases are similarly uncertain, thanks to appeals and efforts to delay them until after the presidential election.

Catch up on the status of the cases against Trump heading into 2024, from the high-stakes New York civil fraud trial to the classified documents case, and more.

Wrong-way teen driver kills 6 people in Texas

Six people, including two children, were killed this week when a teen driver of a pickup truck went into oncoming traffic and struck a minivan head-on, the Texas Department of Public Safety said. The crash happened Tuesday afternoon in Johnson County, which is south of Fort Worth. According to the department, a 17-year-old driver and a passenger traveling south entered the northbound lane in a “no passing” zone.

A family friend said the six victims were family members. The sole surviving passenger in the minivan, a 43-year-old man, suffered critical injuries. The driver and the passenger of the pickup truck also suffered critical injuries. Here’s what else we know.

House GOP escalates Biden impeachment probe

The Republican-led House Oversight and Judiciary committees are seeking any communications between the White House and Hunter Biden’s lawyers about efforts to depose the president’s son as part of their impeachment inquiry. House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer and Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan said in yesterday’s letter that they are trying to determine whether President Joe Biden was involved in his son’s decision not to comply with a congressional subpoena earlier this month. Instead of attending the closed-door deposition, Hunter Biden held a news conference outside the U.S. Capitol, repeating his offer to testify in a public hearing.

Republican lawmakers indicated they’re not aware if any such communications between the president and his son exist. But “the fact that the President had advanced awareness that Mr. Biden would defy the Committees’ subpoenas raises a troubling new question that we must examine,” Comer and Jordan wrote.

Inside the largest Hamas tunnel the IDF has found so far

About a quarter-mile from the Erez border crossing between Israel and Gaza, which Hamas breached on Oct. 7, is the entrance of the largest tunnel discovered since Israel’s war with Hamas began, the Israeli Defense Forces claim. The roughly 2.5-mile tunnel extends all the way to Gaza City, the enclave’s urban center, and is connected to a sprawling network of offshoot passageways, the IDF said.

NBC News’ Josh Lederman was invited to take a look inside the tunnel. Here’s what he observed.

Also: Benny Gantz, a former military chief and current member of Israel's War Cabinet, warned yesterday that his country could increase military activity against the Hezbollah militant group, which has been firing into Israel from Lebanon’s southern border. Follow live updates here. 

Today’s Talker: To help slow weight gain, a new study suggests…

… eating whole grains, fats from vegetable oils, plant proteins (think beans, nuts and soy), fruits, vegetables. According to an analysis of nearly 125,000 healthy adults, eating more of those foods and fewer refined carbs lessened the amount of weight people gained over a four-year period. The study was published this week — just in time for New Year’s resolutions.

Politics in Brief

Haley’s Civil War response: Republican presidential candidate and former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley declined to say slavery was a cause of the Civil War during a town hall event last night. Instead, she argued that it came down to “the role of government.”

Colorado politics: Rep. Lauren Boebert announced she’ll be seeking the GOP nomination next year in a neighboring congressional district that is solidly Republican.

2023 in Review: The states where anti-LGBTQ bills became law

This year, 75 anti-LGBTQ bills were enacted that put restrictions on gender-affirming care for transgender youth, school instruction, sports participation and drag shows. Find out which states enacted anti-LGBTQ laws.

In Case You Missed It

• Jodi Hildebrandt, the business partner of former family vlogger Ruby Franke, pleaded guilty to four felony counts of second-degree aggravated child abuse.

• A pregnant teen and her boyfriend, whose bodies were found this week in a car in San Antonio, had each sustained a gunshot wound, police said.

• A California couple lost “generations” of heirloom jewels after two men followed them 16 miles home from a jewelry store.

• Tom Smothers, half of the Smothers Brothers comedy music duo that fought racism, the Vietnam War and TV censors, has died at the age of 86.

• Missouri authorities recovered human remains believed to belong to a man who has been missing for a decade, after a local YouTuber led them to the area.

Select: Online Shopping, Simplified

The numbers are in. NBC Select readers made tech accessories and organizers a shopping focal point this year. Here is a list of the top 23 tech products that readers purchased this year, from oral hygiene products to beauty and wellness staples.

Sign up to The Selection newsletter for exclusive reviews and shopping content from NBC Select.

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This article was originally published on NBCNews.com