By Alexandra Banner

China launched a new aircraft carrier that's one of its most advanced to date. It marks a significant step forward for Beijing as it seeks to catch up with the US on naval supremacy.

Here's what else you need to know to get up to speed and on with your day.

Travelers wait in line at a security checkpoint at George Bush Intercontinental Airport on Thursday in Houston, Texas. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

Flight cancellations

Americans are bracing for chaos at major US airports today, with more flights set to be canceled in the coming hours due to the government shutdown. The Trump administration has directed airlines to reduce their flights by 4% amid a nationwide shortage of air traffic controllers. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the flight cuts are necessary, warning that the stress on the national airspace system has reached a point where it's no longer safe to operate at full capacity. Beginning today, American Airlines and United Airlines said they will each cancel more than 200 flights per day, while Delta Air Lines plans to cancel around 170 and Southwest Airlines roughly 120. The reductions will impact 40 of the country's busiest airports, including Atlanta, New York, and Los Angeles. The cuts could increase to 10% by next Friday if the government remains shut down.

Obesity drugs

Certain obesity drugs will cost as little as $149 per month and Medicare will start covering them under two deals announced Thursday by the Trump administration. The arrangements with drugmakers Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk are the latest in the Trump administration's efforts to lower the prices of popular prescription drugs, including Ozempic and Wegovy. The companies will also offer primary care medicines directly to consumers at discounted prices as part of the deal. In exchange, the drugmakers are getting breaks on tariffs on imported pharmaceutical products and a dramatically expedited regulatory review for certain medicines.

Boat strikes

The US military carried out another strike on alleged drug smugglers in the Caribbean on Thursday, killing three people, according to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. "The vessel was trafficking narcotics in the Caribbean and was struck in international waters," Hegseth said in a statement. The military has killed 70 people in 17 boat strikes since the start of September as part of what President Trump describes as his "war on drugs." The Trump administration has defended the strikes to Congress, arguing that the US is now engaged in an "armed conflict" against drug cartels. However, some lawmakers, as well as human rights groups, have criticized the operations, saying that the alleged traffickers should be prosecuted instead of being targeted with lethal strikes.

Same-sex marriage

The Supreme Court will meet behind closed doors today to consider a long shot bid to overturn its decade-old same-sex marriage precedent, an appeal that is churning fear among some LGBTQ advocates even though the justices themselves have repeatedly signaled little appetite for reopening the landmark decision. The pending appeal comes from Kim Davis, a former county clerk from Kentucky who refused to issue marriage licenses after the Supreme Court's blockbuster 2015 decision, Obergefell v. Hodges, allowed same-sex couples to legally marry. The Davis appeal is one of dozens of cases the justices will consider in that private meeting, and the court could announce as soon as Monday what it will do with the case.

Elon Musk

Tesla shareholders voted to give CEO Elon Musk a potential $1 trillion pay package. That's equivalent to $275 million a day over the next 10 years, dwarfing any other executive pay package in history. It would make Musk, already the world's richest person, the world's first trillionaire. The approved package comes in the form of Tesla stock that would give Musk as many as 423.7 million additional shares over the next decade. Those shares could be worth about $1 trillion, assuming Tesla reaches the $8.5 trillion market cap needed for Musk to qualify for the full payout. Tesla also said it needs to hit certain operational and financial milestones for him to get all of the shares.

WATCH: Crowd erupts in cheers at Tesla shareholder meeting after Musk's pay package was approved.

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5 Things AM is edited by CNN’s Andrew Torgan.

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