Daily Briefing: Your grocery store in court

After nearly two years of fierce debate, review and litigation, the proposed Kroger-Albertsons merger is headed for a decisive stage. This hurricane season has been unseasonably quiet in the Atlantic Ocean. Tuesday is the NFL's roster cut deadline.

🙋🏼‍♀️ I'm Nicole Fallert, Daily Briefing author. These dinosaurs left their mark.

Kroger merger with Albertsons faces key court hearing

Kroger will face off with regulators this week in the U.S. District Court in Portland, Oregon, for a critical legal hearing in its proposed $25 billion takeover of Albertsons.

The background: Regulators with the Federal Trade Commission have sued to stop the merger and have asked a federal judge to grant a preliminary injunction to block the deal. The court order would halt the deal while regulators pursue their case to kill it.

• Your grocery bill at the center: After more than a year of investigation, the FTC argued combining two large competitors in the market will reduce competition and lead to higher prices.
• How does Kroger respond? Kroger pledged the deal will allow it to lower prices, that store workers won’t lose jobs and that it will be a better competitor against supercenter operator Walmart, online giant Amazon and wholesale warehouse operator Costco, which have emerged as big players in supplying food.
• At the end of the day, Americans are worried about high food costs. Whether a merger would solve the woes of the everyday consumer isn't assured, but Kroger promised it would invest $1 billion to lower Albertsons' prices if the merger were approved.

Where are all the Atlantic hurricanes?

The 2024 hurricane season is not going as predicted – yet. So far this year, including the three that are spinning, there have been more storms in the Pacific than the Atlantic, and that's a bit of a surprise, forecasters say. It's been eerily calm in the Atlantic over the past week or so as we approach what's traditionally the busiest time of the season. Read more

Tuesday's news to know

• American soldier Travis King is in U.S. custody after a North Korea expulsion.
• Trump questioned whether he'll participate in the Sept. 10 debate.
• These proud conservatives love wind turbines and solar power.
• A West Virginia middle school student died during a football practice.

What's the weather today? Check your local forecast here.

More than 200 Bush, McCain, Romney alums endorse Harris

More than 200 Republicans who previously worked for either former President George W. Bush; the late Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., or Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris for president in an open letter Monday obtained exclusively by Paste BN. The Harris campaign has worked to highlight its backing from Republicans who oppose Trump, launching a "Republicans for Harris" group this month and featuring Republican speakers at last week's Democratic National Convention. Read more

Will protests tied to Israel-Hamas war return to campuses?

Some college students spent the summer speaking out alongside members of Congress and attending protests, mostly recently during the Democratic National Convention in Chicago and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s controversial visit to Washington. Although many are facing disciplinary hearings for their involvement in pro-Palestine encampments last spring, some say they won’t be deterred from protesting in some form as classes resume in coming weeks. Read more

Keep scrolling

• Boeing Starliner astronauts are "stuck" aboard the space station until February.
• Mariah Carey says her mother and sister died on the same day.
• Are cell phones in school a distraction or necessary tool?
• Chuck Bass is married!
• Get a first look at Beth and Rip in "Yellowstone" Season 5 part two.

Who gets cut from the NFL?

All 32 teams are embarking on the painful process of paring their 90-man rosters – which are permissible in the offseason − down to the 53-man squads they will carry into the regular season. The deadline to be roster compliant is 4 p.m. ET on Tuesday – which means a flurry of players will be released, traded, placed on injured reserve or subject to other mechanisms as depth charts are finalized (for now). Read more

Photo of the day: Why are spotted lanternflies a problem?

Get ready to see more of the invasive lanternfly in coming days and get ready to take action.

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.