Daily Briefing: Heated debates and heat
Democrats on Capitol Hill didn’t make much movement Tuesday in settling an intra-party debate over whether President Joe Biden should stay in the 2024 presidential election. Alec Baldwin's trial in the "Rust" shooting case begins on Wednesday. New York City has its latest rat-fighting weapon.
🙋🏼♀️ I'm Nicole Fallert, Daily Briefing author. "Shrek 5" is in the works. This is not a drill.
Democrats sound like they're going to back Joe Biden
The House and Senate held their typical weekly meetings on Tuesday. But the topic on everyone's tongues made these conversations remarkable: "Should President Joe Biden still be the 2024 candidate?"
The background: A handful of House Democrats have called on Biden to pass the torch ahead of November's election after a disastrous debate against GOP frontrunner (and convicted felon) Donald Trump last month.
- No Democratic senators have gone as far as to call for Biden's exit. Senate lawmakers were tightlipped on the outcome of their discussion, some said the consensus that came out of the meeting was that Democrats need to pivot their focus back to defeating Trump.
- Talking about Biden means not talking about Trump. Every day the media focus remains on Biden, Democrats said they're losing the chance to talk up the threat Trump poses to America's security.
- Meanwhile, Trump amped up supporters at a Miami rally on Tuesday, using dehumanizing language about undocumented immigrants as he laid out his border priorities for a second term.
It is way too hot.
Americans across much of the country are thinking the same thing as temperatures keep breaking records and heat indexes soar into the triple digits: It is really, really hot. Millions of Americans have experienced some kind of excessive heat alert this week, with above-average temperatures slated across virtually all of Washington, Oregon, California, Nevada and western Arizona. It's so hot that record high and overnight low temperatures are being broken, rescue helicopters have been grounded and infrastructure has been rendered inoperable. Read more
More news to know now
- A trans teen's killing in Pennsylvania shocks the LGBTQ+ community.
- A person in Colorado is infected with bubonic plague.
- Iran is targeting Americans amid Gaza war protests.
- Feds shut down a Russian "bot farm" that spread AI-created lies for Putin.
- On today's The Excerpt podcast, social conservatives rattle Trump on abortion ahead of the Republican convention. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your smart speaker.
What's the weather today? Check your local forecast here.
Biden, Trump fears loom over NATO summit
Hanging over the three-day NATO summit this week in Washington is a major concern that’s not on the official agenda: the U.S. presidential election. Fueling the fears are Donald Trump’s dismissive attitude toward NATO. He has mocked its defense pact as “obsolete” and threatened to let Russia “do whatever” it wants to member nations that do not carry their weight. The threats have left European governments scrambling to determine whether the U.S. could be counted on to defend them if they were to come under attack. Biden’s shaky performance during the debate also alarmed European officials. Read more
Why it's a big deal the Supreme Court curbed federal oversight of schools
For years, the U.S. Department of Education was able to intervene to some degree to help everyday people, whether to keep LGBTQ+ students safe, textbook costs down and student loan debt under control. But a Supreme Court decision last week has reined in the department's ability to help people, dramatically recasting the balance of government power away from the executive branch. The news came as important deadlines loom for schools to implement key regulations, many of which now stand on shakier legal ground. Now educators are worried.
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Alec Baldwin's 'Rust' trial is underway
Nearly three years after the shooting death of "Rust" cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, Alec Baldwin is heading to trial on Wednesday for his alleged involvement in the movie-set tragedy. A 12-person jury in New Mexico is hearing arguments for and against the actor, who is accused of bearing some responsibility for the death of his film's 42-year-old cinematographer in an on-set incident in 2021. Baldwin has pleaded not guilty to the charge and remains free on his own recognizance. The actor faces up to 18 months in prison if convicted. Read more
Photo of the day: NYC's anti-rat weapon
New York City Mayor Eric Adams on Monday wheeled out the metropolis's latest weapon in its war against rats: A plastic trash bin. “Starting November 12th, buildings with one to nine residential units will be required to put their trash into wheelie bins like this one here," Adams said, demonstrating how the bin works.
Nicole Fallert is a newsletter writer at Paste BN, sign up for the email here. Want to send Nicole a note? Shoot her an email at NFallert@usatoday.com.