On today’s NOTICE News Daily: Former President Donald Trump pleaded not guilty to 34 felony criminal charges Tuesday afternoon. Angie has the very latest. Plus: Meet the American astronauts headed back to the moon.
CLARIFICATION: In the segment on former President Trump’s arraignment, we said that if Trump is convicted, he faces a maximum four-year prison sentence. He faces a maximum four-year sentence for each count, not the total.
Discussion Questions
- How are felony crimes different from misdemeanor crimes, and how does that impact this case against former President Trump?
- How is the history of prosecuting former presidents different in the United States from other countries? What does that larger context show about the potential for national leaders to face criminal charges?
- Why might Trump’s former Vice President Mike Pence have called this “political prosecution”?
- Why would it be significant for a woman and a person of color to be part of the next moon mission?
- Why would NASA pursue the Artemis 2 mission to do a flyby around the moon before landing on its surface with the Artemis 3 mission?
Writing Prompts
- There has been a lot of criticism about the charges against former President Trump in New York being politically charged, but how might the fact that all 34 charges are felonies rather than misdemeanors affect those criticisms? Might the fact that all the charges are felonies change anyone’s minds about the case at hand, and why or why not?
- Why might there be such a renewed interest in space exploration? What impact could it be having that both NASA, funded by the government, and private companies are putting forth their own space missions simultaneously?