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Today’s Top Stories from NBC News

THURSDAY, JANUARY 27, 2022

Good morning, NBC News readers.

Today we look at how the retirement of a Supreme Court Justice has — yet again — changed politics in an election year. We also have the latest from the tense Russia-Ukraine standoff, and on Holocaust Memorial Day we share the story of a heroic housekeeper.

Here's what we're watching this Thursday morning.

A Supreme Court vacancy upends politics for fourth election in a row

Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer’s impending retirement upended the country’s political landscape Wednesday, once again entangling the supposedly nonpolitical judiciary in the partisan fervor of an election year.

“We are going to go straight to the politics of the Supreme Court in a way that has the potential to fundamentally change the midterms,” Jim Messina, who managed President Barack Obama’s re-election campaign, said on MSNBC.

“We were talking about the economy, we were talking about inflation — now we're going to be talking about the Supreme Court.”

This year's elections will now be the fourth in a row colored by a fight over a Supreme Court vacancy, from Obama's pick of Merrick Garland in 2016 to then-President Donald Trump's selections of Brett Kavanaugh in 2018 and Amy Coney Barrett in 2020, all of which produced some of the ugliest moments of partisan rancor in recent memory.

Read the full story here.

Also on this story, Jonathan Allen writes in this analysis that President Joe Biden should be able to win a Supreme Court fight.

Thursday's Top Stories

Russia pessimistic after U.S., NATO respond to Putin's demands over Ukraine

With the ball now back in the Kremlin’s court, the West was given little immediate sign that Moscow would seek to de-escalate tensions and allay fears of a deadly new conflict.

A hero of the Holocaust: How a Polish housekeeper saved 12 Jews

“Without her, I wouldn’t be alive,” said Roman Haller, who was conceived while his parents were in hiding.

Spotify agrees to remove Neil Young's music over Joe Rogan dispute

Spotify said Wednesday that the streaming service regrets Young’s decision but hopes “to welcome him back soon.”

OPINION

Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer to retire, avoiding Ruth Bader Ginsburg's mistake

Breyer is preventing another gridlocked crisis between a Democratic president and a Republican Senate that erodes the court's legitimacy.

Also in the News

Worker at Amy’s Kitchen files official complaint over working conditions

Ukrainian soldier detained after five shot dead at military plant

Statue of Kobe and Gigi Bryant placed at crash site on anniversary

Nasty nor'easter could slam the Northeast & New England this weekend with as much as 20 inches of snow

How metabolism slows down when you try to lose weight

Las Vegas man arrested in attack on Asian American business owner, police say

Editor's Pick

Spoiler alert: 'Fight Club' gets a new ending in China — and the police win

“This is SUPER wonderful! Everyone gets a happy ending in China!,” Chuck Palahniuk, who wrote the book on which the movie is based, said on Twitter.

Select

Whether you’re a fervent jogger or a casual walker, a folding treadmill can help you get your workouts in without taking up too much space in your home.

One Fun Thing

Amy Schneider's historic 'Jeopardy!' win streak comes to an end at 40

Long-running “Jeopardy!” champion Amy Schneider lost in an episode that aired Wednesday, ending the second-longest winning streak in the quiz show's history.

Schneider, an engineering manager from Oakland, California, was defeated by Rhone Talsma, a librarian from Chicago, who raked in $29,600 in the latest game, besting Schneider, at $19,600.

She left the show with nearly $1.4 million in winnings and had no regrets about the streak's end.

"I got about $1.2 million more than my best case scenario in my imagination," a smiling Schneider said moments after the stunning defeat.