Daily Briefing: Why Jack Smith didn't convict Trump

Special counsel Jack Smith says in a final report that he could have convicted President-elect Donald Trump. A TikTok ban may be days away. Infants' immune systems can handle multiple childhood vaccines at once.

🙋🏼‍♀️ I'm Nicole Fallert, Daily Briefing author. Move over, BRAT. "Body Language" is the song of 2025.

Jack Smith delivers final report on Trump election case

Special counsel Jack Smith's 174-page report provides the fullest description yet about the investigation that led to two federal indictments against Donald Trump before both cases were dismissed. In the bombshell final report released early Tuesday, Smith says he believed his team had amassed enough evidence to convict Trump if the case went to trial.

Why didn't the case go to trial? Trump's election to a second term in November made it impossible for the case to go forward. Smith requested to dismiss the case following Trump's election based on Justice Department policy that prohibits prosecuting a sitting president.

• Trump and his legal team had fought to prevent the release of the report on various grounds. But late Monday night, Judge Aileen Cannon in Florida denied Trump's emergency motion to prevent its release.
• Read what the report says: Smith also said his team considered bringing an even more serious criminal charge against Trump – a violation of the Insurrection Act – after concluding there were "reasonable arguments that it might apply."
• Even though he didn't get to trial, Smith says this report sends a message: The release of the report caps an extraordinary legal saga pitting the Justice Department – and later the special counsel’s office after Trump declared his candidacy – against the former president.

Woman sues utility company for starting California wildfire inferno

“They knew like everyone else did of the severe weather warnings, dry weather, high wind gusts, they had tools they could have used to mitigate the wildfire risk. They have choices when they face these moments and obviously they made the wrong one.”

~The attorney for Evangeline Iglesias, a Los Angeles-area woman who sued a local utility company, alleging that its negligence caused the wildfire - the Eaton fire - that consumed her home.

Read more about the Los Angeles wildfires from Paste BN:

• Follow Tuesday's live updates: Officials are "grid searching" for fire victims.
• Wildfires have ravaged the Los Angeles area for days. Is an end in sight?
• The Palisades fire damaged a high school. Now students need a place to learn.
• Sit inside the cockpit: Watch from within a National Guard plane combatting fire.
• "'You're alive!": One wildfire victim's emotional reunion with his dog.

More news to know now

• Pete Hegseth faces a make-or-break Senate hearing on Tuesday.
• Some Republicans are calling for conditions to any federal aid that goes to California.
• President Joe Biden defended the Afghanistan withdrawal in his last address on foreign policy.
• Who leads the Democrats?

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

A TikTok ban could be less than a week away

The Supreme Court heard arguments for two-and-a-half hours on Friday over whether TikTok can be banned in the United States in less than one week. By the end, the justices appeared ready to allow the U.S. government to force TikTok's Chinese parent company to sell the company or go dark. If SCOTUS upholds the legislation, ByteDance will have until Sunday to divest the U.S. operation of TikTok. And to add further complexity, President-elect Donald Trump is scheduled to be sworn into office on Jan. 20 - just one day after the ban could be implemented. Here's what to know if you're a TikTok user.

Gaza war talks on cusp of cease-fire, hostage deal

A round of Gaza cease-fire talks will be held in Doha, Qatar, on Tuesday morning to finalise remaining details related to the deal, an official briefed on the negotiations told Reuters on Monday. A deal to end the war is “closer than it’s ever been", the official said, adding that President-elect Donald Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, outgoing Biden administration envoy Brett McGurk and Israel's Mossad chief David Barnea and Shin Bet head Ronen Bar were expected to attend. Sign up for Paste BN's Israel-Hamas War newsletter to get the latest updates.

Today's talkers

• Deion Sanders responded to Dallas Cowboys coaching rumors.
• Who will replace Hoda Kotb?
• Here's how the Rams cruised to win over the Vikings in an unprecedented NFC wild card game.
• Oscar nominations were delayed amid the LA fires. When will nominees be announced?
• Mac Miller's posthumous album of unreleased music is coming.

Should you space out childhood vaccines?

Parents may be tempted to delay or spread early childhood shots but multiple health experts told Paste BN that they wouldn’t recommend veering away from the recommended childhood vaccination schedule. Many childhood vaccines result in immunity that lasts for decades so it’s important to ensure that protection upfront early in life, experts say. Spreading out vaccines could easily lead to more visits to the doctor and more shots to achieve optimal protection. Life may also get in the way, further delaying the additional doctor’s appointments needed or skipping them altogether. And no, vaccines don't overload a baby's immune system.

Photo of the day: What's that red stuff?

Authorities battling a series of large wildfires in the Los Angeles area have employed a bright red fire retardant to tamp the flames, leading to dramatic images of the material blanketing scores of homes, cars and residential streets.

Nicole Fallert is a newsletter writer at Paste BN, sign up for the email here. Want to send Nicole a note? Shoot her an email at NFallert@usatoday.com.