Golden Globes 2025; January 6, 2021; CNN Trial: NPR

Good morning. You are reading the Up First newsletter. Subscribe here to receive it in your inbox, and listen to the Up First podcast for all the news you need to start your day.

Today’s best stories

Today is January 6, the day Congress must certify President-elect Donald Trump’s victory in the Electoral College. The atmosphere is expected to be very different from four years ago, when a mob of Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol. Around 140 police officers were injured. While the FBI called the attack an act of domestic terrorism, Trump called it a “day of love.” He also promised to pardon those accused of their involvement in the attack.

• 🎧 When Trump ran for president again, he embraced the idea that the violence of January 6, 2021, was exaggerated. and said there were no weapons. NPR’s Tom Dresibach reports First that this statement is false. Trump also said his supporters had at most “gone a little out of control” — a narrative that judges who heard the more than 1,500 cases dispelled. Trump promised pardons on his first day in office but remained vague about who would receive them. Aquilino Gonell, who was a Capitol Police sergeant during the attack and whose injuries forced him to retire, says he feels betrayed by the election. “Why did I risk my life?” Gonell said.
• ➡️ Some of the people who stormed the Capitol believed in the QAnon conspiracy theory which claims that Trump is involved in a secret battle against evil members of the so-called deep state. After the attack, several social media platforms pushed to ban QAnon content. Here’s why it hasn’t gone away.
• ➡️ There are subtle differences in this year’s certification process starting in 2021 due to new rules being adopted by Congress. These are some of the key changes.

CNN is pursuing a defamation lawsuit in court today. After the Taliban took control of Afghanistan in 2021, CNN reported, as part of its investigation into allegations of “black market bailouts,” that a security consultant was among those offering evacuate people desperate to flee the country – for a price. When the story aired, a photo was shown of Zachary Young, a security contractor who had offered to evacuate people from Afghanistan. Young says he sued CNN to clear his name.

• 🎧 Young’s lawyers say his character was slandered and that he was doing it not for individuals but for organizations with deeper pockets like American and European non-governmental organizations. His lawyers say he lost millions of dollars over the story, according to NPR’s David Folkenflik. CNN apologized a few months after the article first appeared, saying it should not have applied the “black market” label to Young. The network’s lawyers took a more aggressive tone, saying Young had lied to CNN reporters and that the network could not confirm that he had evacuated anyone as he claimed. Behind the scenes, some CNN editors expressed doubts about the reporting.

The 82nd Golden Globe Awards took place last night in Beverly Hills. Comedian Nikki Glaser hosted. The queer musical thriller Emilie Pérez won the Move Movie Awards, including Best Musical or Comedy Film. On the television side, the FX Shogun led victories and won awards in every category he was nominated for. Here is the full list of winners from last night.

• 🎧 However Emilie Pérez‘s big wins weren’t a surprisesaid NPR’s Mandalit del Barco, who was in the ballroom of the Beverly Hilton Hotel last night, there were some surprising moments. The musical comedy of the film Wicked only scored one win for its box office success. In 2022, the Globes were criticized after the Los Angeles Times reported that there were no black members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which gave out these awards. The organization has since been bought out and officially disbanded. The number and types of voting members have expanded to include more than 300 entertainment journalists from around the world.

Listening of the day

The Arab and Hebrew musical landscape was turned upside down by the war between Israel and Hamas. NPR’s Daniel Estrin says he didn’t listen to music for a long time after the Oct. 7 attacks because he simply couldn’t stand it. The music scene also reflects this. First there was shock, then silence, because many musicians did not write. Now there is an explosion of new music. Estrin spoke with Israeli music critic Einav Schiff and Palestinian musician Tamer Nafar about some of the songs on their playlists and reflected on more than a year of war.

Image exhibition

Brothers Andrés and Eddie Lucero founded the South Bronx-based motorcycle club Aztec Rebels in 2016. after learning about the culture and politics of another Bronx-based motorcycle club. They dreamed of developing a space where they could hear their own music, speak their language and be understood. They started with five founding members. Since then, they now have more than 20 full members. “People are always looking for a family, and that’s why they sometimes join gangs. We want to be that place where Mexicans can come and live in a safe environment, without violence, but with a family,” Eddie says.

3 things to know before you leave

1. Researchers have discovered footprints around 166 million years old in a limestone quarry in southeast England.providing information on the size and speed of certain dinosaurs. Five tracks were discovered: four are suspected to be the giant 60-foot, 2-ton cetiosaur and the fifth a megalosaur.
2. Congestion pricing was introduced yesterday in central New York City. The measure, which charges many drivers $9 to enter Manhattan during rush hour, was enforced despite a late attempt by New Jersey to block it in court.
3. A Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist has resigned from the Washington Post after the editorial page editor rejected his cartoon depicting media and tech giants submitting to President-elect Donald Trump.

This newsletter was published by Suzanne Nuyen.