By John Fritze, CNN

(CNN) — Like all good lawyers, Supreme Court justices can argue over anything — including, it turns out, how best to argue.

Quiet grumbling for years over how the court conducts its oral argument sessions has increasingly slipped into public view during a series of appearances by some of the justices.

“Way too long,” Chief Justice John Roberts complained recently to a conference of judges and lawyers in Pennsylvania, vowing to “look into it” over the summer.

“Too much speechifying,” Justice Samuel Alito piled on in Texas days later, according to SCOTUSblog, adding that he felt there was “too little asking real questions.”

The Supreme Court’s oral arguments, which begin each term in October and run through April, have long been understood by legal experts as only marginally important to determining the outcome of any given case. But the sessions nevertheless allow justices to test one another’s theories and, because of that, the arguments can influence the reach of a decision.

And for the public, the debates — which have been livestreamed only since the pandemic — offer a glimpse into how nine of the most powerful people in Washington are thinking about various appeals that often have national implications.

“It’s very important for the court’s legitimacy,” said Tonja Jacobi, a law professor at Emory University who has extensively studied arguments. “It can help reassure people that at least some of this is law.”

The impact of shortening the sessions could fall heaviest on the court’s liberal wing, if only because in recent terms, those three justices tend to speak the most on average.

During the pandemic, when the court switched to virtual arguments, the justices would ask questions in order of seniority rather than the free-form, “hot bench” style used for decades. When the justices returned to the physical courtroom in 2021, some wanted to retain seniority-based questioning while others pushed for a return to the faster-paced pre-pandemic system.

A compromise was struck that has been in place ever since: First free-form, then a round of “seriatim” questioning. But the format has made it harder to keep advocates and justices on the clock.

The Supreme Court schedules 60-minute argument sessions in most cases. But the justices in recent years have often blown past that timetable, a break from the days when former Chief Justice William Rehnquist would keep such a rigid approach to time that he would sometimes cut advocates off midsentence.

The average length of arguments in the current term clocked in at just under 90 minutes, according to a CNN analysis. That’s up nearly 10 minutes from the term that began in 2020, when the court heard arguments remotely because of the pandemic.

The longest argument of the term, at nearly three hours, was the case involving President Donald Trump’s sweeping global tariffs, which the court ultimately struck down.

That argument, which technically involved two appeals, was scheduled for 80 minutes.

Thomas doesn’t object

Criticism of the current approach isn’t universal. Many Supreme Court attorneys — who are alerted to the clock by white and red lights on their podium — have said they appreciate the extra time, and the ability to talk one-on-one with justices in the “seriatim” round of questioning without inte

Análisis por Zachary Wolf, CNN

La Casa Blanca se ha retirado intencionalmente de su enfoque de deportaciones agresivas después de que estallaran enfrentamientos entre funcionarios federales y estatales en varios estados, cuando un video de agentes enmascarados matando a manifestantes en Minneapolis a principios de este año provocó indignación y protestas.

Los funcionarios, además de Trump, más asociados con esas tácticas ya no están. El funcionario de la Patrulla Fronteriza de EE.UU., Greg Bovino, se ha retirado. La secretaria del Departamento de Seguridad Nacional, Kristi Noem, fue despedida.

Acudí a Priscilla Alvarez de CNN, quien ha cubierto temas de inmigración durante años, para entender qué ha cambiado y qué no en los esfuerzos de la administración Trump.

WOLF: En los meses desde Minneapolis, parece que ha habido un cambio real en la forma en que la administración está llevando a cabo su política de deportaciones masivas. ¿Qué ha sucedido?

ALVAREZ: Para responder mejor a tu pregunta, creo que es bueno volver a Minneapolis por una razón en particular, que es la llegada de Tom Homan.

Recuerda que después de la muerte de los dos ciudadanos estadounidenses a manos de agentes federales, el presidente envió a Tom Homan, su zar de la frontera, a Minneapolis para corregir el rumbo. Cuando Homan llegó, hubo un cambio notable en la forma en que se llevaban a cabo las operaciones de control migratorio. Mientras que antes estaba Gregory Bovino, entonces alto funcionario de la Patrulla Fronteriza con su enfoque agresivo en la aplicación de la ley, también estaba la secretaria de Seguridad Nacional, Kristi Noem, quien en última instancia fue quien respaldó y aprobó el estilo de Bovino; todo era bastante llamativo y directo.

Cuando llegó Homan, el cambio notable fue que, de repente, la aplicación de la ley migratoria, aunque seguía ocurriendo, se realizaba de manera mucho más discreta. Lo que ocurrió allí ahora está sucediendo en todo el país.

Bovino dejó la Patrulla Fronteriza de EE.UU., y en el DHS, la secretaria Kristi Noem fue despedida por el presidente Donald Trump, lo que llevó a Markwayne Mullin a ocupar ese puesto.

La esencia de las políticas no ha cambiado. Siguen siendo agresivos en la detención de inmigrantes indocumentados en todo el país, pero la forma en que se hace y la manera en que lo muestran ha cambiado. Antes, había videos muy llamativos y directos en todas las redes sociales sobre estas operaciones. Ahora, no necesariamente es así. Es mucho más discreto, como lo describe el secretario Mullin.

¿Quién está estableciendo la agenda migratoria de la administración Trump en este momento?

WOLF: ¿Homan está estableciendo efectivamente la política, o Mullin ha dejado su propia huella?

ALVAREZ: La manera de pensar en esto es, primero que nada, que Tom Homan es un funcionario veterano de las fuerzas del orden. Trabajó en el Servicio de Inmigración y Control de Aduanas durante muchos, muchos años, tanto para administraciones republicanas como demócratas. Ahora, está en esta posición única de zar de la frontera de la Casa Blanca. Bajo la secretaria Noem, ellos dos no se hablaban. Tenían una relación bastante tensa. Con el secretario Markwayne Mullin, Homan sí habla con él. De hecho, suelen decir públicamente con qué frecuencia se comunican.

Lo que estamos viendo ahora es el enfoque característico de Tom Homan en la aplicación de las leyes migratorias. Él lo llama un enfoque dirigido; es decir, enfocado en personas con antecedentes penales, pero sin descartar que, si se encuentran con otros inmigrantes indocumentados que quizás no tengan antecedentes penales, ellos también puedan ser detenidos en esas operaciones.

Pero cuando hablamos en términos generales; es decir, de la agenda migratoria de la administración o del presidente, esa también está dictada por Stephen Miller, el secretario general adjun

By Eryn Mathewson, CNN

(CNN) — Sometimes the hardest news comes at the end of the day.

Late afternoon on May 12, NBA commissioner Adam Silver announced that former NBA player and LGBTQ advocate Jason Collins had died. The 47-year-old had been battling stage 4 glioblastoma, an aggressive and often terminal form of brain cancer, for eight months.

In December, Collins opened up about his treatment and the support he received from his husband, Brunson Green and his family on Instagram.

Collins made history when he came out in 2013, becoming the first active player in the NBA – and in any of the four major men’s professional sports leagues in the US – to come out as gay.

Since his death, tributes have poured in from league executives, activists and athletes across professional sports.

Major League Soccer player Collin Martin called Collins a trailblazer and told USA Today that “without him, I don’t know if the rest of us that came out after him, if it would have been as easy.”

Chris Mosier, an eight-time Team USA competitor and the first known transgender man to represent the United States in international competition, described Collins as “a big brother.”

“Beyond being a great athlete and a ‘first,’ he was a dear friend, husband, brother and son,” Mosier wrote on Instagram. “His smile not only lit up a room, it stayed with your soul long after you left his presence.”

But more than a decade after this groundbreaking announcement, he remains the only active NBA player to say publicly that he is gay.

In 2026, the sports world is grappling with how and whether to support LGBTQ athletes — especially those who compete in men’s sports or athletes who are transgender.

The Door He Opened

The night after Collins died, Charles Barkley reflected on Collins’ decision to come out and the broader culture surrounding LGBTQ athletes.

“Anybody who thinks we ain’t got a bunch of gay players in all sports, they’re just stupid,” Barkley said. “But there is such animosity toward the gay community, and that’s what’s really unfortunate.”

The comments resonated with Hudson Taylor, a former collegiate wrestler and founder of Athlete Ally, a nonprofit working to make sports more inclusive for LGBTQ athletes.

Taylor worked with Collins on several of the NBA’s LGBTQ inclusion efforts, including encouraging player participation in Pride Nights. They led trainings for incoming NBA players and were part of conversations that helped push the league to move the 2017 All-Star Game out of North Carolina because of the state’s controversial, anti-trans HB2 “bathroom bill.”

“For a closeted athlete, there is a calculation going on between the risk of coming out and the reward of being your authentic self,” Taylor told CNN. “The risk is maybe I won’t get my contract renewed. Maybe I’ll get fewer sponsorships. Maybe my family is kind of homophobic, and they won’t love me as much.”

Taylor said the NBA has been consistent in both its public support for the LGBTQ

By Asim Khan in Quetta, and Sophie Tanno, CNN

(CNN) — At least 23 people have been killed and 71 injured after a suicide bomb attack near a railway station in the southwestern Pakistani city of Quetta on Sunday as a train was passing through.

The militant organization Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), which demands independence from Pakistan’s central government, has claimed responsibility for the attack.

Preliminary findings suggest the explosion was a suicide blast, police said.

Rescue and evacuation operations are still ongoing at the site, according to one emergency worker, Muhammad Zeeshan. Authorities have cordoned off the area while security forces and bomb disposal teams investigate the nature of the explosion.

At least 23 bodies have been recovered from the scene and 71 injured passengers have been transferred to hospitals, rescue officials said. An emergency has been declared in hospitals of Quetta.

Deputy Superintendent Police (City) Qadir Qambrani said that the number of casualties may rise further, adding that more than 100 people are believed to be either dead or injured, though figures are still being verified as rescue operations continue at the derailment site.

Pakistan’s Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi visited Quetta in the wake of the attack on Sunday and chaired a meeting alongside the chief minister of Balochistan province, of which Quetta is the capital. During the meeting, Naqvi expressed solidarity with the people, saying that “beasts targeted innocent people with extreme brutality.”

Pakistan’s oil- and mineral-rich Balochistan province has long seen bouts of violence from separatist groups. The BLA have previously claimed responsibility for large-scale bombings and suicide operations in the region.

In February, the BLA claimed responsibility for suicide and gun attacks in Balochistan, which Pakistan’s military said killed at least 33 people.

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By Nina Giraldo, Taylor Romine, Emma Tucker, CNN

(CNN) — As officials in Southern California race to cool down a massive tank filled with a toxic chemical at risk of explosion, tens of thousands of nearby residents have been forced to leave their homes due to health concerns and the risk of catastrophic damage if there is a blast.

About 50,000 people in Orange County have been told to evacuate, with many spending the Memorial Day weekend in shelters, hotels or with friends and family outside the danger zone. Busy tourist destinations like Disneyland and Knott’s Berry Farm are nearby, but not included in the evacuation zone.

The chemical inside the tank, methyl methacrylate, or MMA, can cause respiratory issues and irritation to the skin and eyes upon exposure, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

Here’s what we know about the tank and what authorities are doing to prevent a potential disaster:

Tank began to overheat Thursday

Authorities first responded to GKN Aerospace in Garden Grove Thursday for a vapor release from the tank, Orange County Fire Authority Interim Fire Chief TJ McGovern said Friday. One of the tanks at the facility had overheated and activated a relief valve and sprinklers to cool the tank, he said.

But the valves on the tank were “gummed up” and the temperature inside has continued to rise, reaching as high as 90 degrees, officials have said. Methyl methacrylate’s “happy place” is 50 degrees, Orange County Fire Authority Division Chief and Unified Incident Commander Craig Covey said Friday, noting the increase in temperature could lead to a leak or explosion.

Authorities are now attempting to solidify the chemical inside the tank from the outside inward – a process Orange County Fire Authority Captain Steve Concialdi likened to an ice cube freezing.

“It basically gets hard from the outside first, and inside there is still liquid in there until it completely ices over, and that’s what we’re hoping will happen,” Concialdi said, but he warned the process may not succeed.

“A couple things could happen. … The tank could crack and start spilling out all that 7,000 gallons of chemical, or there could be a catastrophic explosion,” Concialdi told CNN Saturday, noting they are “unsure” of the exact temperature at which the tank could ignite or explode.

“Letting this thing just fail and blow up is unacceptable to us. Our goal is to find something and not allow that happen, not to let it damage our community, not let it damage our environment,” Covey has said.

GKN apologized to evacuated residents and businesses in a statement Saturday and said it is working with emergency services and hazardous materials teams “to ensure the safety of the local community, our employees and everyone else involved.”

“We are working tirelessly with all relevant experts to resolve this situation as safety as possible and in a timely mannger and are deeply grateful for the continued skill and dedication of the Orange County emergency services,” the statement continued.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency in Orange County, saying the safety of its residents is the top priority.

“We are mobilizing every state resource available to support local responders and make sure the community has what they need to stay safe,” Newsom said in a statement.

Some residents reporting symptoms

Exposure to MMA can cause nausea dizziness and “significant irritation” to the lungs and nasal passages, Orange