Hurricane Beryl makes landfall on the Gulf Coast of Texas. More Democratic lawmakers call for President Biden to drop his re-election bid. And Alec Baldwin’s criminal trial begins this week.
Here’s what to know today.
Biden’s big week: Unite allies behind Ukraine — and Democrats behind him
The NATO summit kicks off in Washington, D.C., this week, hosted by President Joe Biden. On the international stage, he wants to make a case for preserving global alliances in an era when many populist and nationalist leaders are looking inward, his advisers say.
The president has invested vast amounts of political capital in helping Ukraine beat back Russia’s invasion, and the summit will show how the pro-Ukraine coalition he helped forge remains largely intact. But on the domestic front, Biden will need to plow through three days of meetings, speeches and dinners with the vigor and focus that were noticeably absent during his debate with former President Donald Trump.
The summit should be a friendly forum for Biden,, who is trying to stave off mounting calls from fellow Democrats to drop out of the presidential race. “He’ll be on an international stage,” said William Daley, a White House chief of staff for then-President Barack Obama. “This is the first big stage for the president to have since the debate.”
The scrutiny on Biden’s performance this week comes as four more Democratic lawmakers, all of whom hold top positions in key committees, told colleagues during a phone call yesterday that they believe the president should step aside, according to multiple people on the call and familiar with the discussion.
Read more:
- On “Meet the Press” yesterday, Rep. Adam Schiff said Vice President Kamala Harris could “overwhelmingly” win against Trump, saying of Biden, “Either he has to win overwhelmingly or he has to pass the torch to someone who can.”
- The Republican chair of the House Oversight Committee requested Biden’s physician appear for a transcribed interview about the president’s medical evaluation.
- Two radio hosts said that Biden campaign aides provided questions for them to ask him in recent interviews.
Hurricane Beryl makes landfall on Gulf Coast of Texas as a Category 1 storm
Hurricane Beryl struck the Texas coast early this morning after regaining strength over the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico overnight, with forecasters warning that dangerous storm surges and flash flooding were expected.
The eye of the storm reached the coast at Matagorda Bay, which is about halfway between Corpus Christi and Galveston, the National Hurricane Center said. Beryl’s renewed force included sustained winds of 80 mph and an expected storm surge that forecasters warned would threaten human life, the agency said. A hurricane warning is in place across the Matagorda Bay, from Mesquite Bay to Port Bolivar.
The storm is forecast to quickly weaken and become a tropical storm as it moves north through eastern Texas over the next 12 hours. Follow live updates here.
France’s leftist coalition pulls off an upset against the far right
France’s “firewall” against the far right held on in the second round of parliamentary elections. In a surprising upset, a bloc of left-wing parties is projected to finish first, while President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist alliance is predicted to finish second.
The far-right National Rally is set to come in third, according to exit polls, despite having swept to victory after the first round of voting last weekend and polling highest among the parties.
After that first round, the left joined forces with Macron’s coalition and hundreds of third-place candidates dropped out. But cracks were exposed in that firewall, illuminating some of the same dynamics that have buoyed right-wing parties elsewhere in Europe.
No party will have a majority in Parliament, complicating prospects for governing and thrusting France into an unprecedented period of political uncertainty just before it hosts the Olympics.
Boeing to plead guilty to a criminal fraud charge
The Justice Department announced late Sunday that Boeing will plead guilty to a criminal fraud charge tied to fatal 737 Max crashes, months after prosecutors said the aerospace giant violated a 2021 settlement that shielded it from prosecution.
Under the plea deal, which requires the approval of a federal judge, Boeing would pay a $243.6 million fine, an independent compliance monitor would be installed at Boeing for three years and the company would have to invest at least $455 million in compliance and safety programs.
The plea would brand Boeing a felon and could complicate its ability to sell to the U.S. government.
Alec Baldwin’s manslaughter trial set to begin in New Mexico
Almost three years after the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the New Mexico film set of “Rust,” actor Alec Baldwin is set to stand trial. Baldwin is charged with involuntary manslaughter for his role in the deadly incident that also injured the film’s director, Joel Souza.
Jury selection for Baldwin’s criminal trial begins tomorrow. It’s unclear if the actor will take the stand to testify. Here’s what else to know about the legal twists and turns that led to this point.
Born to run: Weini Kelati is finally living her Olympic dreams
Weini Kelati was born in a small village in Eritrea. She sought asylum in the U.S. and became a citizen three years ago. Now, she’s representing the U.S. at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.
Growing up, Kelati said, kids in her village had to walk four to five hours to get to school every day — or to run, if they were tardy. When she ran at school, though, she uncovered a hidden talent, outrunning her classmates and even older kids.
She stayed in the U.S. after her skills took her to the World Junior Championships in Eugene, Oregon, 10 years ago, and Kelati finally cemented her Olympic dreams with a first place finish at team trials in June.
“I just want to race hard and have the best results in my life,” she said. “I wanted to be one of the runners that I used to watch in TV, you know?”
Politics in Brief
Trump veepstakes: Sen. JD Vance, who is on Trump’s short list of potential running mates, told “Meet the Press” that the former president has not spoken to him about joining him on the ticket.
Supreme Court fallout: U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon granted Trump’s request for further briefing on the issue of presidential immunity in the Mar-a-Lago classified documents case and delayed certain guidelines, the latest fallout from the Supreme Court’s decision last week.
✦ WANT MORE POLITICS NEWS?
Sign up for From the Politics Desk to get exclusive reporting and analysis delivered to your inbox every weekday evening. Subscribe here.
Staff Pick: To escape scorching heat, vacationers are heading to... Florida?
Climate change is shifting where and when we vacation, sometimes in surprising ways. As Harriet Baskas reports, one boutique hotel in Florida expected a slow off-season but, instead, saw a surge of last-minute guests from New York and Texas fleeing a brutal heat wave for someplace that at least offers more ocean breezes and pools. It’s not just in the U.S. where travelers are chasing more comfortable destinations, and travel agents say some resorts are extending their operations to capture off-peak demand. — Rich Bellis, senior business editor
In Case You Missed It
- A motorcyclist died of suspected heat exposure at Death Valley National Park in California, where temperatures reached a new high of 128 degrees, park officials said. Another was hospitalized for severe heat illness and four others were treated for “heat stress.”
- LeBron James signed an extension to remain with the Los Angeles Lakers, leading to a potential NBA first of father-son teammates after the Lakers drafted his son Bronny.
- California, working towards an ambitious clean energy vision, faces an almost counterintuitive challenge: the state is, at times, generating more solar energy than it can handle.
- Meet the teen that has made tens of thousands of dollars by giving Instagram advice to fans.
NBC Select: Online Shopping, Simplified
Mark your calendar for these big summer sales:
Target Circle Week is happening now. Here’s everything you need to know, including how to get a membership.
Walmart Deals starts this afternoon. The sale is open to everyone, but Walmart+ members will get early access and other benefits.
And don’t forget Amazon Prime Day, which starts on July 16 and offers Prime Members some of the biggest discounts all year.
Sign up to The Selection newsletter for hands-on product reviews, expert shopping tips and a look at the best deals and sales each week.
Thanks for reading the Morning Rundown. Today’s newsletter was curated for you by Josh Feldman. If you’re a fan, please forward it to your family and friends. They can sign up here.