theNewsWorthy: Friday, February 15th, 2019

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All the news stories mentioned in today's episode are listed with links below, so you can spend as much -- or as little -- time as you want perusing the latest happenings...

National Emergency:  President Trump is expected to declare a "national emergency" this morning in an effort to secure more funding for a wall at the U.S.-Mexico border, but Democrats may file a legal challenge if he does. Critics worry that allowing the declaration would set a dangerous precedent for future presidents. Trump is also expected to sign legislation Congress passed last night. That is the spending bill to avert another government shutdown and provide $1.4 billion for some fencing at the southern border.
Read more: AP, NBC News, CNN, CBS News

New Attorney General: William Barr was confirmed and sworn in as the new U.S. Attorney General. He’ll oversee the Department of Justice, including the ongoing Russia investigation. Barr will be the one to decide if Mueller’s final report goes public. Barr served as Attorney General under President George H. W. Bush in the 1990s.
Read more: NYT, NBC News, WP

McCabe Interview:  President Trump called his former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe “a disgrace” following McCabe’s remarks during a 60 Minutes interview that will air this Sunday on CBS. In a preview, McCabe said, in part, top officials considered trying to remove Trump from office after he fired former FBI Director James Comey in 2017. The White House questioned McCabe’s credibility.
Read more: CBS News, The Hill

CA Mudslides:  Heavy rain has caused flash flooding and mudslides in California, and the risk for mudslides continues today. A debris flow already took out two homes and several cars in a northern California neighborhood. Dozens of people have had to evacuate.
Read more: SF Gate/AP, AccuWeather

Amazon Cancels HQ Plans:  Amazon has decided to scrap the plan to build part of its second headquarters in New York City. Amazon’s HQ2 could have created 25,000 jobs in New York, but local lawmakers and unions weren’t thrilled about offering $3 billion in tax incentives to one of the world’s richest companies. Amazon will move ahead with plans to build in northern Virginia.
General Electric also reversed plans for its new headquarters this week in Boston. GE will sell the property and give back $87 million in incentives it got from the state.
Read more (Amazon): Reuters, WSJ, Amazon
Read more (GE): Boston Globe
 
J. P. Morgan Cryptocurrency:  J.P. Morgan is launching its own cryptocurrency: JPM Coin. Each JPM Coin has a fixed value of $1. The company's CEO once called cryptocurrency a fraud, but now he says he supports it.
Read more: NYT, CNN
 
Payless Bankruptcy: Payless is planning to go out of business. The shoe store plans to file for bankruptcy next month and possibly close all 2,000+ stores. Speaking of shopping: a new report from the National Retail Federation said the latest holiday sales were disappointing.
Read more (Payless Bankruptcy): Reuters, Bloomberg
Read more (Holiday Sales Down): CNBC, MarketWatch
 
Airbus A380 Retires: Airbus will retire its A380 double-decker airplanes in 2021. It's the world’s largest passenger plane and holds more than 500 passengers. Airlines now prefer smaller, more efficient airplanes.
Read more: TIME, Bloomberg
 
MLB’s “Walking Miracle”: Yankees pitcher Danny Farquhar is being called a “walking miracle” after recovering from a brain hemorrhage he had in the dugout during an MLB game last year. After 20 days in intensive care, Farquar is back on the field at spring training this week.
Read more: GMA
 
Breaking Bad Movie:  Breaking Bad is coming back as a movie. The film will be a sequel to the popular series and is expected to air on Netflix before heading to AMC.
Read more: THR

Nickelodeon Revivals: Nickelodeon is bringing back some old favorites in hopes of keeping kids watching. Get ready for revivals of the 90s hits All That and Are You Afraid of the Dark? Spinoffs of SpongeBob and Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader are also in the works.
Read more: E! News, Variety