While you were sleeping, we compiled the biggest stories of the day in one place. Each story has a quick and easy summary, so you're prepared for whatever the day brings. Just click on the links if you want to know more! You can watch the latest LIVE on WPTV here from 4:30 a.m. to 7 a.m.
Remember, you can join Mike Trim and Ashleigh Walters every weekday on WPTV NewsChannel 5 beginning at 4:30 a.m.
1. Police: 15-year-old boys with AK-47 in backpack illegally entered Mar-a-Lago property
There have been many tresspassing stories at Mar-a-Lago the past few years like the opera singer charged with using an SUV to blast through barricades or the Chinese woman arrested for allegedly taking pictures of the resort. This is very different.
Three 15-year-old boys are in custody after police said they illegally entered the grounds of President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago Club while armed with an AK-47 in a backpack.
When the teens were asked where they got the AK-47 from, one of them said he had "found it."
2. In other Trump news: More trouble on social media and in NYC
Donald Trump’s official campaign account was briefly blocked from posting on Twitter on Wednesday. Twitter claimed that a post by the campaign was misleading and violated its service terms.
Facebook has deleted a post by Trump claiming children were immune to the coronavirus.
3. Florida passes 500,000 coronavirus cases and leads the nation again
Florida's new coronavirus deaths surged again to 225, as total cases passed 500,000, including an additional 5,409, figures that were second highest in the nation Wednesday.
The daily positive rate declined from 14.17 to 13.96.
New hospitalizations rose by 621 compared with 586 the day before.
4. Chad Daybell headed for trial, but not charged with the deaths of his step-children
A judge ruled Tuesday there’s enough evidence for a man to go to trial after the bodies of his new wife’s two children were found buried on his Idaho property. The bizarre case involving doomsday beliefs and the deaths of several people linked to the couple has attracted national headlines.
Chad Daybell has pleaded not guilty to charges related to hiding the remains of his step-children, 7-year-old Joshua “JJ” Vallow and 17-year-old Tylee Ryan.
Daybell is not charged with their murders. He's charged with two felony counts of Destruction, Alteration or Concealment of Evidence, and two felony counts of Conspiracy Destruction, Alteration, or Concealment of Evidence.
5. The Dakota Access pipeline is back open, but still in court
A federal appeals court on Wednesday reversed a judge's order that shut down the Dakota Access pipeline pending a full environmental review.
But the appellate court declined to grant Energy Transfer's motion to block the review, saying the company had "failed to make a strong showing of likely success."
The appeals court said it expects the parties to "clarify their positions" in the lower court.
FILE - In this Oct. 5, 2016, file photo, heavy equipment is seen at a site where sections of the Dakota Access Pipeline were being buried near the town of St. Anthony in Morton County, N.D. The Army has notified Congress Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2017, that it will allow the $3.8 billion Dakota Access pipeline to cross under a Missouri River reservoir in North Dakota, completing the four-state project to move North Dakota oil to Illinois. The Army intends to allow the crossing under Lake Oahe as early as Wednesday, Feb. 8. The crossing is the final big chunk of work on the pipeline.
Today's Forecast
Hot and humid with some morning coastal rain and some inland strong afternoon storms.
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On This Day In History
On August 6, 1945, the United States becomes the first and only nation to use atomic weaponry during wartime when it drops an atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. Approximately 80,000 people are killed as a direct result of the blast, and another 35,000 are injured. At least another 60,000 would be dead by the end of the year from the effects of the fallout.
