The Pour Over Today - Trump Trial Closing Arguments, Airstrikes in Gaza, & More | 05.29.24

Episode Date: May 29, 2024

Today, we’re talking about closing arguments in the Trump hush-money trial, recent civilian deaths in Gaza, a weekend of tornadoes, and other top news for Wednesday, May 29th. Stay informed while remaining focused on Christ with The Pour Over Today. Please support our TPO sponsors! Cru: give.cru.org/tpo Compassion International: compassion.com/TPO Men's Daily Bible: https://links.thepourover.org/MensDailyBiblePod Upside: https://links.thepourover.org/Upside Every Woman's Bible: everywomansbible.com

Today, we're talking about closing arguments in the Trump-Hush money trial, recent civilian deaths in Gaza, a weekend of tornadoes, and other top news for Wednesday, May 29th. Stay informed while remaining focused on Christ with the CORE-OVER today. Here's the quote of the day. There are three great truths. First, that there is a God. Second, that He has spoken to us in the day. There are three great truths. First, that there is a God. Second, that he has spoken to us in the Bible. And third, that he means what he says. Hudson Taylor. Let's get started with some espresso shots.

Now it's in the jury's hands. Yesterday, lawyers in President Trump's hush money trial gave their closing arguments. The defense went first, offering a three-hour summation centering on the credibility of the prosecution's key witness, Michael Cohen, who they called the greatest liar of all time. The defense urged the jury to come to a very quick and easy not guilty verdict. The prosecution began after lunch, recapping their 20 witnesses through an hours-long chronological narrative. They urged jurors to trust the paper trail

and to believe Cohen, who testified that Trump was informed about the hush money arrangement and repayment scheme at every turn. Jury deliberation begins today and could last hours, days, or even weeks. The decision to acquit or convict must be unanimous for each of the 34 charges. A major way we can reflect the peace and hope of Christ is by dwelling less on certain topics

than the rest of the world. This trial is not unimportant, but neither is it all-important, and we should not let it consume our attention or steal our focus from God's call on our lives. Colossians 3, 2-4 says, Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. Global outcry is growing as Israel's three-week-old offensive in Ra'afah presses on. Tuesday, Israeli tanks closed in on the center of Gaza's largest southern city, where about 500,000 Palestinians remain.

Troops are engaged in close-quarter combat, seeking to locate terrorist infrastructure and dismantle Hamas's smuggling operation along the Egyptian border. Meanwhile, aerial bombardment continues. Sunday, Palestinian officials said an airstrike in a Gaza humanitarian zone caused a fire that killed over 40 civilians. Israel said the strike killed two senior Hamas operatives, citing the civilian deaths a tragic mishap.

Another strike Tuesday killed 21 in a civilian-designated area. Israel says it is investigating Sunday's fire, along with 70 other possible violations of the laws of war. The U.S. is watching investigations closely, while adding to the increasing international calls for Israel to protect civilians. The darkness of death weighs heavily on our hearts and our world. But believers have hope because Immanuel is present with us in the darkness, and our living God has removed the sting of death so that it's powerless against those who love him.

1 Corinthians 15, 54-58 says, Death has been swallowed up in victory. Where death is your victory, where death is your sting. The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the Lord's work. Deadly storms swept away Memorial Day plans across much of the country.

Over the weekend, tornadoes killed at least 25 people and destroyed buildings across Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Kentucky. After a below-average March, storm chasers more than caught up, recording nearly 400 tornadoes in April, the second most tornadic April on record, and almost 500 in May, more than double the three-year average. Storms knocked power out for over 400,000 people in the eastern United States on Monday, and Texas caught a double whammy when additional storms and baseball-sized hail yesterday left about 800,000 without electricity as the state baked in triple-digit heat indexes

thanks to a lingering heat dome. Meanwhile, Pakistan's southern Sindh province hit 52 degrees Celsius, which for us Fahrenheiters is a toasty 126 degrees Fahrenheit, just shy of the country's all-time high of 54 degrees Celsius, or 129.2 degrees Fahrenheit. Here's a verse to consider when your neighbor is mourning. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort. He comforts us in all our affliction so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any kind of affliction through the comfort we ourselves receive from God. 2 Corinthians 1, 3, and 4.

Hey there, it's Steph, a writer at the pour-over. Wish you could get that, I just found a dollar on the ground rush every time you go to the gas station. With the cash back app Upside, you can. Gas stations pay Upside to be recommended, so there's no sneaky data sales involved. You just download the app, claim the offer at your gas station, and pay as usual.

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Musk hopes to beef up XAI's chatbot Grok with a gigafactory of compute powered by 100,000 NVIDIA H100 GPUs. Is the country looking a bit more magenta? T-Mobile is set to acquire most of U.S. cellular, including its stores, customers, and some of its wireless spectrum, in a $4.4 billion deal. The news follows T-Mobile's $1.35 billion acquisition of Mint Mobile. T-Mobile says the purchase will provide better 5G connectivity to underserved rural areas.

How did you spend Memorial Day weekend? Probably not at the movies. U.S. box offices saw the worst Memorial Day weekend in nearly three decades, excluding 2020. During the anticlimactic four-day stretch, Furiosa, $32 million, narrowly beat the Garfield movie, $31.1 million. Theater turnout was down by nearly 36% compared to 2023's holiday weekend. Uncle Sam's non-allies have been busy. North Korea's attempt to put a second spy satellite into orbit failed when its rocket

exploded shortly after takeoff Monday. The hermit kingdom says satellites will bolster its nuclear deterrence capabilities. Speaking of, Iran has reportedly upped its stockpile of enriched uranium near weapons grade level and continues to block UN inspections. NBA Hall of Famer Bill Walton, 71, died Monday from colon cancer. Known as much for his eclectic broadcasting style as his exceptional playing career, Walton won four championships, two with UCLA and two in the NBA. He still holds the record for the most points scored in an NCAA championship from his 44-point and 21-for-22 game in 1973.

And that's all we have for today. Thanks so much for listening. If you're listening on the Apple Podcasts app, give us a five-star rating and drop a review. If you're listening on the Apple Podcasts app, give us a 5-star rating and drop a review. If you're listening on Spotify, give us a follow and hit the notification bell to never miss a new episode. We appreciate your support and hope you have a great day. We'll see you on Friday.