An Ignoble Experiment: The 7: Your neighborhood’s snow forecast; Elon Musk officially joins Trump’s team; a game changer for lost luggage; and more

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Good morning. It's Wednesday, Nov. 13, and this is an amazing stat — just two counties have picked the winning president in every election since 2000. Now let's get to the news.

Donald Trump tapped Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy for key jobs.

What will they do? Push for "drastic" changes to the U.S. government. Meanwhile, Trump chose Fox News host Pete Hegseth as defense secretary — see all of his picks here.
What else to know: Trump plans to carry out mass deportations, but Mexico isn't ready. And he wants to get rid of the Education Department — that's an idea from Project 2025.
Today: Trump is in D.C. for an extraordinary meeting with President Joe Biden.

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Democrats are racing to confirm judges before Trump returns.

What's happening? Senate Democrats face a shrinking timeline to confirm more than two dozen of Biden's judicial nominees. Trump has urged Republicans to block the efforts.
In related news: Republicans are two seats away from House control — find the latest results here. And fresh data indicate Trump had the narrowest winning margin since 2000.

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The U.S. said it would not withhold military aid to Israel despite a missed deadline.

A reminder: The Biden administration said last month that Israel must increase aid to Gaza by yesterday. Israel has largely not complied, but U.S. arms transfers will continue.
What else to know: Trump selected Mike Huckabee to be ambassador to Israel. That, and Trump's other foreign policy picks, could boost hard-liners in Israel's government.

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Jack Teixeira was sentenced yesterday to 15 years for sharing U.S. secrets.

Who is he? A former Massachusetts Air National Guardsman who leaked troves of classified national documents onto the Discord messaging platform. He pleaded guilty in March.
Why it matters: Teixeira's case rocked the national security establishment, revealing the speed and ease with which top-secret materials can spread online.

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A Canadian teenager is in critical condition with bird flu.

What's happening? The teen is having difficulty breathing, officials said yesterday. It's the country's first case of a locally acquired infection of H5N1.
How did they catch it? We don't how the teen was exposed — it may have been from an animal. Experts are concerned about the possibility of the virus evolving.

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Most of the country can expect less snow than usual this winter.

Winter snowfall forecast. Note: Hawaii and unshaded areas are omitted because they experience less than three inches of annual snowfall. State averages do not include areas with insufficient snowfall data. (The Washington Post)

Why? It's a continuation of a decades-long trend — as the world has warmed, most places have had less snow. Today's children won't remember winter the way their parents do.
Will you get any where you live? Search here to find out. The forecast should be quite reliable — definitely more so than when people used to try to predict snowfall with acorns.

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You'll soon be able to share AirTag locations with airlines.

How? Apple announced a new feature this week to allow users to communicate their AirTag's location to third parties. It will be rolled out in an upcoming iOS update.
Hope for lost luggage: The feature could change how missing items are found, retrieved and returned by airlines globally, including Delta and United.

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