• I recently flew four hours from New York to Texas on a Delta Air Lines Airbus A220 in economy.
• The smaller aircraft has Delta's usual seatback screens, power, and WiFi but fewer middle seats.
• My flight was comfortable and on time, and I finally saw the A220's funky lavatory window.

Delta Air Lines has always been my go-to carrier.

I regularly flew the airline to and from Atlanta growing up, and now take advantage of its huge hubs at my nearby New York City area airports.

Other airlines are starting to grow on me, but my dozens of Delta flights over the years have been on time, and I appreciate its large network and consistency in terms of product and customer service.

To add a little excitement to a recent domestic flight from New York to Dallas/Fort Worth, I specifically booked Delta's Airbus A220.

Although the jet is smaller than a typical mainline plane, it's just as comfortable — and you might actually want to visit the lavatory on this one.

My Delta flight left out of Terminal 4 at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport.

The giant hub has been renovated with a spacious check-in area, and new SkyClub lounges have been added for business, first-class passengers, and other eligible customers.

Delta is expanding its lounge collection in June 2024 by opening its first "premium lounge" at New York-JFK — a 38,000-square-foot space complete with a year-round terrace.

The airport was packed, and the Delta counters and kiosks had lines of people waiting. Luckily, I only had a carry-on, so I went straight to security.

I rarely check a bag and avoid the airport crowds by checking in on the mobile app and saving my boarding pass to my phone.

If you are flying this summer — especially out of giant hubs like New York-JFK — I recommend budgeting extra time to account for the busy peak season crowds.

I used TSA PreCheck to speed through security, but Delta also has a special facial-recognition line for eligible SkyMiles members.

The biometrics digital ID program lets eligible travelers expedite bag drop and security, according to Delta.

To use the program, customers must upload their Known Traveler Number and passport information to their free SkyMiles account and have the Delta Fly Mobile app.

I used PreCheck out of habit but later realized the shorter Delta digital ID line would have been a few minutes faster — maybe next time.

After a quick stop at the newly opened Chase Sapphire Lounge, I boarded Delta's A220-100 at Gate B30.

As a regular economy flyer, I rely on my Priority Pass membership for lounge access. I get the perk through my Chase Sapphire Reserve credit card.

It was small but had comfortable seating, an a-la-carte menu with items like eggs benedict, a buffet, and a bar.

Only a few other US airlines fly an A220 variant, including JetBlue Airways and Breeze Airways.

Delta started flying the modern jet in February 2019 and is the only mainline operator with the plane, flying both the A220-100 and A220-300 models.

The aircraft was previously known as the Bombardier CSeries before Airbus took over the program.

Smaller than mainline narrowbodies, the A220 family has middle seats on only one side of the cabin.

The A220-100 aircraft I flew on offers 12 first-class seats in a 2×2 layout at the front of the jet, followed by 15 comfort+ seats and 82 regular economy seats in a 2×3 layout, according to Delta.

The right side of the jet has middle seats, meaning customers who don't pre-pay for seats have a better shot at getting a random window or aisle.

I took my chances with a random assignment and ended up in 22D — a middle seat. It was still plenty spacious despite the smaller plane.

My regular economy A220-100 seat offered 18.6 inches of width and 30 inches of pitch. Some coach seats have up to 32 inches of pitch, while Comfort+ seats offer 34 inches.

First class are larger loungers with 37 inches of pitch and more than 20 inches of width.

At only 5'3" tall, I had enough legroom for the four-hour flight. However, the 30 inches of pitch could be cramped for taller travelers.

Delta's 30 inches of pitch is not uncommon, with American Airlines and United Airlines offering similar legroom onboard their narrowbody airplanes.

Though, it still doesn't beat the industry-leading legroom on JetBlue's A220, which is 32 inches.

While the pitch is not as generous as competitors, Delta's cabin is consistent — complete with TVs, WiFi, power, and headrests.

According to Delta, it has more than 161,000 seatback screens across 850 aircraft, with TVs being added to Airbus A319s, Airbus A320s, and Boeing 737-800s by the end of this summer.

Delta offers complimentary and paid inflight WiFi options, including free sessions to SkyMiles members and eligible T-Mobile customers on more than 650 domestic narrowbody planes.

I like knowing what to expect when flying on Delta's mainline planes.

Delta's consistent mainline cabin means I can almost always rely on its in-flight entertainment in case I forget mine, and I'll have access to power and WiFi for working.

JetBlue has a similar consistency, while both American and United have been growing familiarity across their narrowbodies

Unique to Delta's A220, however, is a surprise window in the aft lavatory — which is why I wanted to fly on this specific jet.

The full-size lavatory window is a design unique to Delta; neither JetBlue nor Breeze installed the window.

It may sound silly, but we aviation enthusiasts love little details that give us a random "loo with a view."

The best part is the window-equipped lavatory is in the back of the aircraft — meaning it isn't reserved for just first-class flyers.

This is debatably the best "window seat" flying.

The Dallas/Fort Worth-bound flight was overall comfortable and on time — though I did have issues with the WiFi.

Delta's WiFi is typically fast and reliable over the US, but I still find it susceptible to disruptions at times.

Airline WiFi relies on satellites, which can be impacted by natural events like solar storms. The time it takes for signals to travel between satellites and planes can also lag the internet.

Moreover, turbulence can physically shake a WiFi antenna attached outside the aircraft, causing it to cut out. Flying over water can also cause internet issues.

And I'll admit that I prefer American's tablet holder over Delta's TV screen.

American's narrowbody planes have a tablet holder in lieu of a seatback screen for holding electronics, such as tablets and phones. I've also seen it used for a Nintendo Switch.

Although not a popular opinion, I prefer this set-up because I like to binge my own shows on flights, and the angle is better than watching from the tray table.

Still, I like Delta's consistent comfort and reliability. And it A220 is worth purposefully flying if you want a funky inflight experience.

Delta's recent lounge upgrades, improved cabins, beefed-up route network, and overhauled loyalty program indicate the airline's focus on developing its "premium" product to attract more high-paying flyers.

Personally, I have had very few bad experiences with Delta, and its customer service is typically helpful.

However, its SkyMiles changes make it harder to earn status, and the "premium" aspect that is at times boosting fares is less important to me. I'd likely book a competitor if the price and timing were right — especially as American, in particular, climbs in my rankings.

• A man waged a revenge campaign against a cop for a $196 jaywalking ticket, according to a lawsuit.
• The officer and his family are suing for $16.5 million, citing distress and privacy invasion.
• The man told police that he was behind the harassment, which included filing false police reports.

A Fresno police officer issued a California man with a ticket for jaywalking in 2019.

But instead of taking the fine on the chin, John Christopher Spatafore launched a campaign of revenge against the cop, which included filing false police reports about him, according to a civil lawsuit.

The cop, identified only as John Doe, is seeking $16.5 million in damages for himself and his family.

The Fresno Bee was the first to report on the lawsuit, which is expected to go to trial later this year.

According to the local outlet, the officer's lawyer, Brian Whelan, described the lawsuit as addressing a "cyber campaign of hate and revenge" waged against the policeman and his family.

A complaint filed by the officer, his wife, and his daughter in 2021, said the officer witnessed Spatafore jaywalking near Fresno City Hall and along railroad tracks on October 25, 2019.

The officer issued Spatafore with a ticket for violating a section of California's vehicle code. Under the code, jaywalking carries a fine of up to $196, plus court administrative fees and assessments.

Spatafore was "visibly upset" while being detained, according to the lawsuit, and asked "strange personal and vaguely threatening questions" about the officer's address and whether he had kids.

Four days later, according to the lawsuit, the officer started receiving password reset codes, which suggested attempts were being made to hack into his personal email account.

The lawsuit said that this was followed by a tirade of texts, calls, and emails from car dealerships "responding" to information requests about purchasing cars that the officer had never made.

It said that on November 6, 2019, the officer had more than 100 texts to his personal phone concerning inquiries he had never initiated.

According to the lawsuit, Spatafore then filed two false police reports against the officer.

In the first, he accused him of being involved in a hit-and-run incident. An investigation by Fresno police found that this wasn't true, according to the Fresno Bee.

In the second, Spatafore alleged that the officer's wife was a victim of domestic violence, according to the lawsuit. The police also found this report to be false, the Fresno Bee reported.

According to the lawsuit, the officer and his wife also received a message claiming that their computer camera had been hacked and compromising videos of them would be released unless they met certain demands.

Spatafore also tried to get the officer's water and trash services turned off on Thanksgiving Day, the Fresno Bee reported.

Spatafore was arrested on November 21, 2019, nearly a month after the harassment campaign began.

He was pulled over within a mile of the officer's home with a loaded .38 caliber revolver that was not registered, and for which he did not have a license to carry, according to the Fresno Bee.

The local outlet said the hospital he worked at fired him that same day after finding that he had used his work laptop to carry out the revenge campaign.

The officer is now seeking $5.5 million each for himself, his wife, and his daughter, accusing Spatafore and the hospital of invasion of privacy, negligent infliction of emotional distress, and intentional infliction of emotional distress, among other claims.

Spatafore admitted to harassing the officer online during an interview with police, adding that he used Facebook, not hospital records, to find information on him, according to the Fresno Bee.

He was charged with two counts of unauthorized use of personal identifying information and one count of having a concealed firearm, alongside misdemeanor charges, but the criminal case was suspended after his lawyer got him into a mental health diversion program.

Spatafore's lawyer, the lawyer for the officer, and the hospital did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Business Insider.

• The evolution of tech and media is creating opportunities for innovation in sports.
• Sports betting has also added new facets to the industry in the US.
• Here are pitch decks that 17 sports startups used to raise millions in Series A and seed rounds.

The sports industry has exploded in recent years as technology and consumer habits change.

The expansion of legal sports betting in the US ushered in one of the biggest transformations. It's opened up a new market not only for sportsbooks like DraftKings, but for the ancillary businesses that support betting — be it platform providers, data companies, media partners, geolocation and compliance suppliers, or others.

Venture capital poured about $330 million into early-stage US sports betting and online gambling companies last year, despite the current macroeconomic struggles, according to PitchBook. That was down from the previous year but more than the year before.

In college sports, student-athletes are finally allowed to profit from their name, image, and likeness, after a 2021 rule change. Student-athletes have since become one of the most engaging influencer groups, earning anywhere from a few hundred dollars to six figures from brand deals. This has opened the opportunity for startups to build marketplaces or creator tools to help student-athlete creators. 

Technology has also changed the way leagues and teams operate and how fans consume sports. Uplift Labs has partnered with leagues like the NBA for its technology that analyzes player movement through smartphone cameras.

Stadium Live, which has raised $13 million in funding since 2020, created a fan-engagement app for Gen-Z audiences, who founder Kevin Kim said are paying less attention to TV screens during live sports. Kim said investors even chased him down on platforms like Twitter and Discord, gaining interest in Stadium Live's unique position in sports media.

"Every time an investor or potential people would look at [Stadium Live], they were like, 'Oh, this has a unique vibe that we have not seen before in any other apps,'" Kim told Business Insider.

Whether in sports tech, betting, or consumer products, the sports space has become a world of opportunity for startups to create the next big company.

BI spoke with 17 sports companies that have pitched investors about their process. They broke down the pitch decks they used to secure millions of dollars in funding. 

Read the pitch decks that helped 17 sports-focused startups raise millions of dollars (in alphabetical order):

• Ballislife, a basketball media brand: $2.7 million (12 pages)
• BeyondPlay, a mobile gaming and online-gambling app: $1.7 million (90-second video)
• Brag House, an esports social platform for college gamers: $5 million Series A round (24 pages)
• Champions Round, a social-gaming startup catering to Gen-Z audiences who want shorter, faster play: $7 million Series A (13 pages)
• Compliable, a tech company helping with the sports-gambling licensing process: $3.6 million seed round (4 pages)
• Curastory, a video-making startup for sports creators: $2 million seed round (27 pages)
  
• Grandstand, a sports creator economy startup: $2.75 million (15 pages)
• Huupe, an interactive smart basketball hoop: $8 million seed round (5 pages)
• Kero Sports, a startup that powers free-to-play games in sports apps: $1 million seed round (6 key pages)
• LoopGolf, an on-course betting app that lets golfers wager with their friends: $2 million (9 pages)
• Mojo, a sports-betting app where bettors can invest in the careers of athletes (11 pages)
• Overtime, a social media outlet target ting the Gen-Z market that has launched a basketball league (33 pages)
• Pro League Network develops "made-for-wagering" sports like CarJitsu and slapfighting: $2.2 million (20 pages)
• The Seattle Storm, a WNBA team: $21 million (14 pages)
• SoBet, a sports startup for bettors and creators: $3.7 million seed round (10 pages)
• Stix, a golf startup aiming to make quality equipment more affordable: $10 million Series A (14 pages)
• Uplift, a sports tech startup using biomechanics to improve performance and physical health: $5.5 million seed round (14 pages)

This story has been updated with additional details.

• In closings Tuesday, defense lawyer Todd Blanche tried the classic "but if he did do it" defense.
• If Trump did falsify documents, he didn't do it with the required criminal intent, Blanche argued.
• He then showed jurors 3 prosecution exhibits where Trump admits to the hush-money reimbursement. 

It's the classic defense closing argument: My client didn't do it, ladies and gentlemen — but if he did do it, it wasn't intentional.

This is the argument that Donald Trump's lawyer, Todd Blanche, tried out on the hush-money jury in Manhattan on Tuesday.

Yes, Blanche spent the bulk of his arguments denying that Trump committed the charges he's on trial for.

Prosecutors say Trump falsified 34 business records to hide a year's worth of reimbursement payments to his then-attorney, Michael Cohen, who had fronted a $130,000 hush-money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels.

Trump was not involved with any such conspiracy to influence the 2016 election, Blanche told jurors in great detail on Tuesday — during a three-hour summation where he walked them through a more than 180-part slideshow presentation before they begin deliberating Wednesday.

But if he was involved, there was no intent to commit fraud, Blanche argued. How could there be, he asked, when Trump freely and repeatedly admitted to reimbursing Cohen?

Blanche then showed the jury three exhibits from the prosecution's own case.

Each exhibit — showing a tax form, a tweet, and a government ethics form — was shown on the courtroom's display screens.

Each bolsters the prosecution's case: that Trump knew full well that the $130,000 he paid Cohen in installments throughout 2017 was for reimbursement, not legal fees as his business-record entries falsely claimed.

"The government has to prove to you that President Trump caused these entries — even if they were false — with an intent to defraud," Blanche told jurors.

"Where is the intent to defraud on the part of President Trump?" the lawyer asked the jury.

Prosecutors must demonstrate Trump had an intent to defraud in order to prove first-degree falsifying business records, the state charge that Trump allegedly violated 34 times throughout 2017, including when he personally signed nine of Cohen's reimbursement checks.

In his own closing argument, Assistant District Attorney Joshua Steinglass said Trump had to have approved the reimbursement scheme.

Cohen would never have fronted the $130,000 in Daniels hush-money without his micromanaging boss's pre-approval and guarantee of repayment, Steinglass argued.

"Michael Cohen had 130,000 reasons to get Mr. Trump's sign-off," th prosecutor told jurors.

During his closing argument, Blanche angered the judge by telling jurors that "you cannot send somebody to prison based on what Michael Cohen is saying."

Jurors are supposed to weigh only the facts in their deliberations — not the potential punishment.

"That was outrageous, Mr. Blanche," state Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan told Blanche after jurors were dismissed for lunch.

"Someone who's been a prosecutor as long as you have, and a defense lawyer as long as you have, knows it's highly inappropriate," the judge said.

"It's simply not allowed. Period," the judge added. He gave a curative instruction to the jury, explaining that Blanche's comment was "improper" and that if Trump is convicted, "a prison sentence is not required." Falsifying business records carries a sentence of anywhere from zero jail to four years prison.

Here are the three exhibits that Blanche displayed in court for jurors as "proof" that Trump had nothing to hide and, therefore, could not have intended to defraud anyone.

But each is highly incriminating of Trump, prosecutors have argued.

1. A 1099 tax form from 2017

The Trump Organization — and Trump as an individual — reported that they'd paid Michael Cohen a total of $420,000 in income in 2017.

Prosecutors say this is the sum Trump's then CFO, Allen Weisselberg, calculated would be reimbursed for Cohen's hush-money outlay, plus taxes and other money Trump owed him.

Why would Trump announce to the IRS "if there was some deep-rooted intent to defraud on the part of President Trump," Blanche asked jurors.

But the 1099s are "false," Steinglass, the prosecutor, told jurors in his own closing arguments, which went on for five hours, ending at 8 p.m.

The 1099s demonstrate that Trump "filled out phony forms," reporting income for Cohen that did not exist, Steinglass said — "because it wasn't income. It was reimbursement."

2. A 2018 tweet

On May 3, 2018, Trump posted a somewhat garbled tweet that conceded the payments he'd made to Cohen throughout 2017 were, in his word, "reimbursement."

This tweet was made just five months after signing the last of nine $35,000 checks to Cohen. Each check was labeled "RETAINER."

3. A government ethics form

Finally, during closing arguments, Blanche showed jurors what's called an "Executive Branch Personnel Public Financial Disclosure Report" for the year 2017. This was the then-president's mandatory disclosure of his assets and liabilities.

Under "Liablities" — which is the section where Trump must list the money he's borrowed — Trump certified that in 2017, he "fully reimbursed" Cohen an interest-free sum of between $100,000 and $250,000.

"President Trump tweeted what happened when it came out," and then signed a government ethics form that also admitted to the reimbursement, Blanche told jurors Tuesday.

"That's not evidence of any intent to defraud," Blanche said.

But prosecutors have argued this form shows Trump knew the money he paid Cohen was reimbursement for money lent — the Daniels hush money.

Cohen the GLOAT

Blanche spent most of his summation impugning the credibility of Cohen, whose testimony is key to the prosecution case.

Cohen is "literally like an MVP of liars," the defense lawyer told jurors. Two jurors — a woman in the front row and a man in the back row, smiled when Blanche went on to call Cohen "The 'GLOAT'" — for Greatest Liar of All Time."

The DA's reliance on Cohen's testimony demonstrates the weakness in the prosecution's case, Blanche said. He said that Cohen committed "per-ju-ry" — stressing every syllable — on the witness stand and was "the human embodiment of reasonable doubt."

"You should want and expect more than the testimony of Michael Cohen," he said.

Blanche sidestepped the most pivotal documents in the case, handwritten notes from Weisselberg and company comptroller Jeffrey McConney that appear to explain how Cohen would be repaid for hush money in $35,000 payments, including a "gross up" to cover taxes.

Blanche claimed that if the document was truly proof of an illegal conspiracy, the Trump Organization would have destroyed it instead of keeping it in a filing cabinet — where they were ultimately turned over to prosecutors.

Steinglass countered that it must have been hard for Blanche to make that argument "with a straight face," saying the illegal conspiracy was laid out "in the document itself."

"These documents are so damning that you almost have to laugh," he said.

At the beginning of the prosecution's closing argument on Tuesday afternoon, Steinglass said that while Cohen may have a track record of dishonesty, he has come clean and has "been consistently explaining the facts of this case for six years."

"We didn't choose Michael Cohen. We didn't pick him up at the witness store," Steinglass said. "The defendant chose Michael Cohen because of his willingness to lie."

Blanche had also also criticized prosecutors for spending time teasing out testimony from Daniels, which he said wasn't critical to the criminal charges, related to falsified documents. Prosecutors, the defense lawyer said, just wanted to "embarrass" Trump.

Daniels's vivid and "cringeworthy" details "ring true" and were "uncomfortable," which is why they were so important, Steinglass said. Trump wanted to cover up her story to influence the election, he said.

"That's kind of the point," Steinglass said. "That's the display the defendant didn't want the American people to see."

Trump didn't pay $130,000 to cover up a photo of him and Daniels on a golf course — but to cover up a scandal, Steinglass said.

"Stormy Daniels is the motive," he said.