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[h=4]5 things you need to know Friday[/h]The biggest and most buzzworthy news to start your morning.
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Traffic clogs Interstate 15 in Salt Lake City on May 23, 2014, ahead of the Memorial Day weekend.(Photo: Rick Bowmer, AP)
1. In the air and on the road, prepare for sluggish travel
If you're heading out, bring some patience with you. Memorial Day weekend travel is historically a bear. Airlines are expecting the busiest summer in the history of U.S. air travel, and that kicks off with the Friday before Memorial Day (the third-busiest day of the year for air travel). On the roads, AAA expects 33 million people will drive this weekend. That's a 10-year high. Though Friday seems like it would be the worst day to hit the road, you might be OK. Thursday's drive, with both commuters and vacationers, is actually worse.
Passengers arrive for flights at O'Hare International Airport on May 23, 2014, in Chicago.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>(Photo: Scott Olson, Getty Images)
2. Fate of the Patriot Act rests in the Senate's hands
The Patriot Act, first passed in the wake the 9/11 attacks to expand the government's counterterrorism abilities, could come to end without Senate action Friday. The House passed the USA Freedom Act, which extends certain provisions of the Patriot Act but drops the controversial Section 215 that the National Security Agency used to collect the phone data of millions of Americans, but that bill doesn't appear to have the 60 Senate votes needed for passage. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has introduced legislation to renew the Patriot Act without any changes through 2020, and a backup bill that would enact a two-month extension of the law to allow more time to reach an agreement, but it's not clear either of those options has the needed votes either. The law expires June 1, but with Congress heading into a week-long Memorial Day recess, the Senate has to act Friday, or cut into their vacation time, to keep the Patriot Act from coming to an end.
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Rand Paul is filibustering a vote to renew parts of Patriot Act, but it's not the first time he's used the filibuster as a way to generate publicity.
Video provided by Newsy Newslook
3. Ireland may be first country to pass gay-marriage vote
Ireland, long considered a bastion of social and religious conservatism, is poised to become the first country to approve same-sex marriage by a national referendum on Friday. Ahead of the vote, polls showed a sizable majority support amending Ireland's constitution to give same-sex couples the same marriage rights as opposite-sex couples. The Catholic Church — in a country where roughly 85% are Catholic — is spearheading an uphill battle to defeat the referendum.
Banners encouraging voters to support the Yes and the No campaigns in the Irish same-sex marriage referendum are seen in Dublin on May 13.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>(Photo: AFP)
4. Memorial service held for B.B. King
The public gets a chance to say goodbye to the King of Blues on Friday with a memorial service held in Las Vegas. Music great B.B. King died last week after a series of strokes. A private memorial service is set for Saturday. King will be buried at a later date in Mississippi, his home state, at the B.B. King Museum in Indianola. King's attorney, Arthur Williams Jr., told the Associated Press that the musician wanted his funeral to be held in Indianola, in a church near the site where he picked cotton as a boy.
Legendary bluesmaster B.B. King, left, plays his guitar "Lucille" during a live, digital jam session Tuesday, Feb. 4, 1997, at Microsoft in Redmond, Wash., with audio manager Steve Boyce, as audio engineer Steve Ball looks on at right. King improvised blues riffs that will eventually allow an online audience to "jam" with him on the web show Rifff, a virtual music studio on The Microsoft Network that allows users to digitally interact with the music. King's segment on the show is scheduled to air in May. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)<span style="color: Red;">*</span>(Photo: ELAINE THOMPSON, ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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5. Disney pulls an all-nighter, celebrates 60 years
It was 60 years ago this July that Walt Disney opened his beloved park by declaring, "To all who come to this happy place, welcome. Disneyland is your land." To mark the occasion, the California grand dame will offer a Diamond Celebration that will feature three new nighttime presentations, beginning Friday. The glitzy shows will include a revamped "World of Color" at Disney California Adventure as well as a new parade and fireworks display at the original Disneyland Park. But not to leave out Disney fans in Florida, both Disneyland Resort and Walt Disney World will pull an all-nighter Friday into Saturday to kick off the summer season. It will be a non-stop happiness bender, Disney style.
And, the essentials:
Weather: Friday will be rainy again in the southern Plains but quite nice in the eastern half of the nation.
Stocks: U.S. stock futures were mixed Friday.
TV Tonight: Wondering what to watch this weekend? TV critic Robert Bianco looks at Texas Rising and the National Memorial Day Concert.
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