Biden hits the road to tout his accomplishments

President Joe Biden will travel to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to discuss “strengthening the nation’s supply chains, revitalizing American manufacturing, creating good-paying, union jobs, and building a better America, including through the bipartisan infrastructure law,” according to the White House. But several outlets, including the Associated Press, note two of the three leading Democrats on Pennsylvania’s statewide ballot this spring who were invited to appear with Biden will not attend. Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, a leading Senate candidate, and state Attorney General Josh Shapiro, the likely Democratic nominee in the race for governor, will be absent because of scheduling conflicts. Another top Senate candidate, Rep. Conor Lamb, a longtime Biden supporter based in Pittsburgh, will attend, his office confirmed. The absences come as Democrats in other states have begun taking modest steps to distance themselves from Biden, whose approval ratings have fallen sharply in recent months.

• Recap: Biden promises Black woman nominee to SCOTUS as Justice Breyer announces retirement
• Moving on: Biden scraps vaccine requirement for businesses, weighs options after Supreme Court defeat
• What we know: Pentagon puts 8,500 troops on alert as Biden consults with European allies on Ukraine

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New York City gives final salute to slain NYPD officer Jason Rivera

New York police officers will give a final salute Friday to Jason Rivera, a rookie colleague who was shot and killed with his partner a week ago. A morning funeral Mass is planned at St. Patrick’s Cathedral for Rivera, 22, who was recently married and barely into his second year of service on the force. Roman Catholic Cardinal Timothy Dolan will preside over the service and many of the city’s top leaders are expected to attend. Rivera and his partner, 27-year-old Officer Wilbert Mora, were fatally shot Jan. 21 by a gunman who ambushed them in a hallway as they responded to a family dispute. Mora’s funeral is being held next week, also at St. Patrick’s. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said flags at state buildings would fly at half-staff from sunrise of the day of Rivera’s funeral until sunset the day of Mora’s funeral, Feb. 2.

• No ‘surrender’: New York Mayor Eric Adams lays out gun violence plan after officer killed

Jury selection begins in trial of ex-cop charged in Breonna Taylor shooting

Jury selection in the trial of former Louisville Metro Police detective Brett Hankison begins Friday when about 250 potential jurors will be summoned. Hankison faces three counts of first-degree wanton endangerment, a class D felony, for the shooting at Breonna Taylor’s apartment early on March 13, 2020. However, the charges aren’t for endangering Taylor but rather three of her neighbors in an adjacent unit pierced by some of his 10 rounds. The ex-detective has pleaded not guilty. In a notable development Thursday, Hankison’s effort to keep the public and news media from watching juror questioning in his criminal case was denied. Circuit Judge Ann Bailey Smith ordered that individual jury questioning will remain open, but no one watching proceedings can take photos or videos inside the courtroom. Taylor, a 26-year-old Black woman, was fatally shot by Louisville officers as they attempted to execute a search warrant looking for drugs and cash at her apartment. 

• Breonna Taylor and hundreds of Black women have died at the hands of police. The movement to say their names is growing.
• ‘You need to be reminded of Breonna’: How a tiny city park became the heart of a movement

‘Tiger King’ star Joe Exotic set to appear in court

“Tiger King” star Joe Exotic is set to be re-sentenced Friday in Oklahoma City federal court in his murder-for-hire case. A federal appeals court in July ruled that Joe Exotic, whose real name is Joseph Maldonado-Passage, should get a shorter sentence. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit in Denver determined the trial court wrongly treated two murder-for-hire convictions separately in calculating his prison term. The judge originally sentenced Joe Exotic to 22 years in federal prison for hiring hitmen to kill Carole Baskin. The “Tiger King” star also was sentenced for killing five tigers, selling tiger cubs and falsifying wildlife records. 

• Joe Exotic delays prostate cancer treatment for resentencing
• Carole Baskin is back: ‘Tiger King 2’ is out on Netflix
• What happened this week? Test your knowledge on this week’s news with our quiz. 

New ‘Janet Jackson’ documentary gives insight into the enigmatic singer’s life

Nearly 50 years into her career, Janet Jackson is still exhibiting the “Control” that turned her into a cultural icon. Viewers will get an insight into the famously private and enigmatic singer’s life in the two-night, four-part documentary, “Janet Jackson,” which premieres Friday and continues Saturday (8 p.m. EST/PST, Lifetime and A&E). The opening scene sees Jackson, 55, being driven through her hometown of Gary, Indiana, when she notices a mural of five of her brothers on a neighborhood wall and starts to cry. The grabby headlines are tackled early, says USA TODAY music writer Melissa Ruggieri: the stern guidance of family patriarch Joseph; Jackson’s elopement with R&B singer James DeBarge and their alleged secret child. The second part of the series will dip into child molestation allegations against brother Michael ; the scandalous Super Bowl halftime show in 2004 with Justin Timberlake; her late-in-life motherhood; and Michael’s death.

• ‘Guilty by association’: Janet Jackson talks Michael Jackson allegations in documentary trailer

Contributing: The Associated Press