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CNN By Alexandra Banner, CNN The nation will pause today to honor and remember the legacy of civil rights leader Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. It’s a federal holiday, which means most post offices, banks and government agencies will be closed. Here’s what else you need to know to get up to speed and on with your day. 1⃣ Greenland tensions The US and Europe are at odds over President Donald Trump’s demand to take over Greenland. Over the weekend, Trump threatened to impose a 10% tariff on “any and all goods” from several key European allies that oppose the move. Trump’s threat sparked a flurry of activity across the continent: Protests erupted across multiple countries, and European Union ambassadors held an emergency meeting on Sunday to coordinate a response to the tariffs, set to take effect on February 1. Trump said the 10% tariff would rise to 25% on June 1 unless an agreement is reached to purchase Greenland, which he claims the US needs for national security reasons. 2⃣ Minneapolis protests The Pentagon has ordered about 1,500 active-duty soldiers to prepare for a possible deployment to Minnesota as anti-ICE protesters and law enforcement clash in Minneapolis. The demonstrations persisted through the weekend in response to thousands of federal officers who have been conducting immigration raids throughout the city. Military officials tell CNN they have options ready should President Trump decide to send troops into the city. News of the soldiers on standby sparked backlash from local officials, including Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, who said the plan is “designed to intimidate” residents and is “completely unconstitutional.” 3⃣ Spain train derailment At least 39 people were killed and dozens more injured in a high-speed train collision in Spain on Sunday. Officials said a train traveling from Malaga to Madrid with 371 people onboard derailed near Adamuz, with its rear three carriages crashing into two carriages of another high-speed train traveling in the opposite direction. The impact caused both trains to overturn, sending several carriages plunging down an embankment. The disaster sparked nationwide grief, with Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez calling it a “night of deep pain” for the country. Investigators are examining the cause of the crash — one of the country’s deadliest rail accidents in more than a decade. 4⃣ Gaza reconstruction Members of President Trump’s “Board of Peace” for rebuilding Gaza will receive permanent membership if they pay $1 billion, according to a US official. All funds raised will go toward rebuilding Gaza, the official said, which was ravaged by two years of war between Israel and Hamas. Trump said he will serve as chair, calling it “the greatest and most prestigious board ever assembled.” Russian President Vladimir Putin has been invited to join the board and is reviewing the invitation, his spokesman said today. Other members include former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. 5⃣ Moon mission NASA’s 10-day Artemis II mission will lift off as soon as February 6, taking astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and the Canadian Space Agency’s Jeremy Hansen to the vicinity of the moon for the first time since Apollo 17 in 1972. The spacecraft carrying the four people will not land on the lunar surface because it lacks the capability to do so, a NASA spokesperson explained. However, the crew will aim to reach beyond the far side of the moon, potentially setting a new record for the farthest distance humans have ever traveled from Earth, currently held by Apollo 13. It will also make history as the first trip beyond low-Earth orbit for a person of color, a woman and a Canadian astronaut. Breakfast browse NFL’s final four is set Sunday’s playoff games delivered excitement and upsets, and now the NFL’s final four is locked in. See which teams will battle for a trip to the Super Bowl. Here’s how AI data centers affect…

By John King, CNN Kellerton, Iowa (CNN) — Shanen Ebersole is smiling, keeping an eye on her cows as they graze. Calving season is soon, so election season will have to wait. “We’ll walk them the mile and a half home in a month or so,” Ebersole tells a visitor. “Then they will calve in a pasture just like this. So, these are all our old mama girls.” As we walk, the cows give an occasional gaze but mostly go about their business — calmly, with occasional bursts of playfulness. “I wish Washington could get along like cows,” Ebersole said. “They need to find a way to get along for us, because that’s what we the taxpayers pay them to do.” Ebersole was a Nikki Haley supporter when we first met early in the 2024 election cycle. She voted for Donald Trump in the end, believing his policies were better for her family farm. Now, though, there are signs of Trump exhaustion as she begins to think about 2026 races. “We have choices,” Ebersole said. “We can say calm down. We can say talk nice.” Trump has been back in the White House for a year now, and his standing — more than anything else — will define the mood and the direction of the midterm campaign. Ebersole scores his performance at a 3 out of 5. The economy feels a little better to her, and illegal border crossings are down. But she recoiled at Trump’s plan to increase low-tariff beef imports from Argentina, finding it to be anything but “America First.” Now, the president’s talk of somehow taking control of Greenland feels like another detour from his campaign agenda. “I don’t agree with that in any way, shape or form,” Ebersole said. “We need to take care of the 50 states that we have.” The Ebersole Cattle Farm is in Kellerton, a rural Iowa town close to the Missouri border. Ringgold County is ruby-red when you look at election results here the past few decades; it’s a place Republicans count on especially in big years like this. Iowa will pick a new governor in 2026, plus a new US senator. And Kellerton sits in Iowa’s 3rd Congressional District, a Democratic target as the party tries to capture the House majority in this year’s midterm elections. Ebersole has a dim view of Washington. She favors term limits and says that in her view, members of Congress are obsessed with fundraising and power and forget family farmers like her; forget trying to find compromise on issues such as health care. She includes her own representative, two-term GOP Rep. Zach Nunn, in that critique. “We want change,” she said. “We need more freshness.” Ebersole, of course, is just one voter. But her sentiment is potentially instructive. Democrats would have to flip just a few seats to take the House majority, but they would need gains in red states such as Iowa to build a bit of a cushion. To get there would likely require winning over a fair amount of reluctant Trump 2024 voters who see divided government as a way to check the Trump traits they don’t like. “I think you have to vote for the person who best meets your goals,” Ebersole said. “Every time we are met with a new election cycle, I am open-minded.” Recent history here favors the GOP. Trump carried Iowa in all three of his White House runs, with a bigger margin each time. The last Democratic governor finished his term in January 2011. The last Democratic US senator left office in January 2015. All four House seats are now held by Republicans, but at least two are potentially competitive. The 2024 GOP margin in the 3rd Congressional Districts was just shy of 16,000 votes; in the 1st Congressional District, the Republican incumbent won by just 799 votes. A Trump convert says, ‘I got what I voted for’ Betsy Sarcone lives 70 miles north of the Ebersole farm, in the fast-growing Des Moines suburbs. This is our sixth visit, dating to August 2023 when we began our “All Over the Map” project to track campaigns and big policy debates through the eyes and experiences of everyday voters. “I’m happy” is Sarcone’s take on Trump’s first year back in power. “I…

By Dana O’Neil, CNN Miami (CNN) — Back in 2023, Jase Richardson sought a more rigorous athletic and academic high school program for his senior year. His younger brother, Jaxon, was attending a Team USA Under 16 training camp out, competing alongside Cameron and Cayden Boozer. They suggested their spot: Christopher Columbus High School. Together, they’d already led Columbus to one 7A state title. Selfishly, they knew Jase would help his team, but they also thought Columbus would help Jase. He did some quick Googling. He screwed up his nose at first when he saw that it was an all-boys school but did a little more searching anyway. He liked what he saw, so Jase and his family relocated from Las Vegas to Miami. On the first day of school, Jase sat down in his honors calculus class and introduced himself to the kid sitting next to him. Alberto Mendoza said hello. The two became friends, Alberto filling in Jase on what a great spot Columbus had been for him as well as his big brother, Fernando. And now a pause to recap the players involved. Jase Richardson, who spent just one year at Michigan State, was selected in the first round of the NBA draft by the Orlando Magic. Cayden Boozer averages 6.4 points and 3.2 assists for No. 6 Duke and is on more than a few NBA draft boards. His twin brother, Cam, leads the Blue Devils in scoring and rebounding and, come this June, will be a first-round pick and possibly the top overall player elected. And Alberto Mendoza is the backup quarterback for Indiana, which will play for the national championship against Miami on Monday. His big brother, Fernando won the Heisman and more than likely will be the top draft pick in the NFL draft. One high school, two sports, four draft picks in two years. And we’re only getting started. Denver Broncos All-Pro quarterback Brian Griese went to Columbus and so did Alonzo Highsmith, the third overall NFL pick in 1987. Baseball star Alex Rodriguez spent a year there and University of Miami football coach Mario Cristobal is an alum. “I think year in and year out, what you see come out of Columbus High School is not only elite talent but elite human beings that are driven, hungry, humble, and understand the importance of impacting others in a positive way,’’ said the Hurricanes head coach. He graduated from Columbus in 1988. So did his big brother, Lou. And Mendoza’s father, Fernando Sr. and Miami defensive back Bryce Fitzgerald and offensive lineman Ryan Rodriguez and backup quarterback Vinny Gonzalez. In an added twist, Mendoza’s father went to the school that is now trying to keep his son from winning a national title and played alongside Mario Cristobal. It’s an absurdity of riches that is hardly news to people who live in the city. “It’s been this way since the very beginning,’’ says John Lynskey, the school’s ambassador of alumni relations. “It becomes part of your DNA and I think that is passed on from generation to generation.’’ Started in 1958 by the Diocese of Miami and run since 1959 by the Marist Brothers, a religious order that was founded for education, Columbus was established as the secondary education continuation for kids at St. Theresa in nearby Coral Gables. That’s how the Cristobals ended up there. Lou needed a little structure, so his parents yanked him from public school and put him in St. Theresa. When he finished there, he naturally matriculated to Columbus and little brother Mario followed the same path. Mendoza didn’t immediately follow in his father’s footsteps. He first went to Miami Belen Jesuit but transferred to Columbus seeking, like Jase Richardson, the football competition. Alberto followed Fernando and just last week little brother, Max, learned he’d been accepted, too. “Columbus took a chance with me as a quarterback,’’ Mendoza said. “The development I got football-wise from Dave Dunn and all the other fantastic coaching and also the kind of tough personality coaching that I got from (the teachers) really helped me grow into…

CNN By Dana O’Neil, CNN Miami (CNN) — Back in 2023, Jase Richardson sought a more rigorous athletic and academic high school program for his senior year. His younger brother, Jaxon, was attending a Team USA Under 16 training camp out, competing alongside Cameron and Cayden Boozer. They suggested their spot: Christopher Columbus High School. Together, they’d already led Columbus to one 7A state title. Selfishly, they knew Jase would help his team, but they also thought Columbus would help Jase. He did some quick Googling. He screwed up his nose at first when he saw that it was an all-boys school but did a little more searching anyway. He liked what he saw, so Jase and his family relocated from Las Vegas to Miami. On the first day of school, Jase sat down in his honors calculus class and introduced himself to the kid sitting next to him. Alberto Mendoza said hello. The two became friends, Alberto filling in Jase on what a great spot Columbus had been for him as well as his big brother, Fernando. And now a pause to recap the players involved. Jase Richardson, who spent just one year at Michigan State, was selected in the first round of the NBA draft by the Orlando Magic. Cayden Boozer averages 6.4 points and 3.2 assists for No. 6 Duke and is on more than a few NBA draft boards. His twin brother, Cam, leads the Blue Devils in scoring and rebounding and, come this June, will be a first-round pick and possibly the top overall player elected. And Alberto Mendoza is the backup quarterback for Indiana, which will play for the national championship against Miami on Monday. His big brother, Fernando won the Heisman and more than likely will be the top draft pick in the NFL draft. One high school, two sports, four draft picks in two years. And we’re only getting started. Denver Broncos All-Pro quarterback Brian Griese went to Columbus and so did Alonzo Highsmith, the third overall NFL pick in 1987. Baseball star Alex Rodriguez spent a year there and University of Miami football coach Mario Cristobal is an alum. “I think year in and year out, what you see come out of Columbus High School is not only elite talent but elite human beings that are driven, hungry, humble, and understand the importance of impacting others in a positive way,’’ said the Hurricanes head coach. He graduated from Columbus in 1988. So did his big brother, Lou. And Mendoza’s father, Fernando Sr. and Miami defensive back Bryce Fitzgerald and offensive lineman Ryan Rodriguez and backup quarterback Vinny Gonzalez. In an added twist, Mendoza’s father went to the school that is now trying to keep his son from winning a national title and played alongside Mario Cristobal. It’s an absurdity of riches that is hardly news to people who live in the city. “It’s been this way since the very beginning,’’ says John Lynskey, the school’s ambassador of alumni relations. “It becomes part of your DNA and I think that is passed on from generation to generation.’’ Started in 1958 by the Diocese of Miami and run since 1959 by the Marist Brothers, a religious order that was founded for education, Columbus was established as the secondary education continuation for kids at St. Theresa in nearby Coral Gables. That’s how the Cristobals ended up there. Lou needed a little structure, so his parents yanked him from public school and put him in St. Theresa. When he finished there, he naturally matriculated to Columbus and little brother Mario followed the same path. Mendoza didn’t immediately follow in his father’s footsteps. He first went to Miami Belen Jesuit but transferred to Columbus seeking, like Jase Richardson, the football competition. Alberto followed Fernando and just last week little brother, Max, learned he’d been accepted, too. “Columbus took a chance with me as a quarterback,’’ Mendoza said. “The development I got football-wise from Dave Dunn and all the other fantastic coaching and also the kind of tough personality coaching that I got from (the teachers) really helped me grow…