![5 things to know for July 3: Presidential race, Hurricane Beryl, India crowd crush, Alzheimer’s treatment, Ukraine aid](https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/240702151440-biden-dc-070224.jpg?c=16x9&q=w_800,c_fill)
5 things to know for July 3: Presidential race, Hurricane Beryl, India crowd crush, Alzheimer’s treatment, Ukraine aid
CNN
CNN’s 5 Things brings you the news you need to know every morning.
Grills won’t be the only thing sizzling this Fourth of July. Temperatures are set to climb to triple digits across the West and southern US on Independence Day, with millions under heat alerts. Make sure to stay cool and hydrated — we’ll be back in your inbox on Monday after you enjoy the extended holiday weekend! Here’s what else you need to know to Get Up to Speed and On with Your Day. President Joe Biden is expected to meet with Democratic governors and congressional leaders today as pressure builds to defend his mental fitness for office. The White House on Tuesday sought to assuage concerns following Biden’s poor performance in last week’s debate, saying his focus is going to be on continuing “to deliver for the American people on the issues that they care about.” Meanwhile, a Manhattan judge has postponed former President Donald Trump’s sentencing in his hush money case until September. The move underscores the far-reaching implications of Monday’s Supreme Court immunity ruling — and likely means Trump will escape any concrete punishment for his felony conviction during the summer. Hurricane Beryl is hurtling toward Jamaica and the Cayman Islands and is expected to generate dangerous winds and life-threatening storm surge. At least seven people have died in the storm, according to authorities. It is now a very strong Category 4, with sustained winds of 150 mph and was the earliest Category 5 on record in the Atlantic. Beryl made landfall as a Category 4 on Monday on Grenada’s Carriacou island, which was “flattened” in half an hour, Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell said. Meteorologists have issued warnings about a hyperactive hurricane season this year due to a warming climate caused by fossil fuel pollution. View CNN’s storm tracker to see Beryl’s projected path. For the latest forecast and weather news from CNN’s team of meteorologists, click here. A crowd crush at a religious gathering in northern India killed more than 120 people and injured dozens of others on Tuesday. The disaster is one of the deadliest such incidents the country has seen in recent years. Many of the scores killed had fallen into an open sewer near a large prayer meeting, known as a satsang, in Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populous state. Police are investigating the organizers, saying a quarter of a million people arrived at the venue — more than three times the number expected. Crowd crushes at religious gatherings in India are not uncommon and deadly incidents have made headlines in the past, highlighting the lack of adequate crowd control and safety measures in the region.
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Paul Whelan calls on Biden to treat his case as ‘he would do if his own son were being held hostage’
Paul Whelan on Thursday called for President Joe Biden to handle his case as “he would do if his own son were being held hostage” as he marked another holiday in Russian detention.
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If there’s one thing that American voters overwhelmingly agree on, it’s that this year’s presidential election presents a stark choice. In the latest CNN poll by SSRS, 91% of registered voters say they see important differences between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, dwarfing even the 77% of voters who said last fall that there were significant divides between the Democratic and Republican parties. Even among the so-called “double haters” – those with unfavorable views of both Biden and Trump – only 20% say that the two candidates are pretty much the same.
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The largest public school district in Kansas has agreed to revise its disciplinary practices as part of a settlement with the US Justice Department, resolving a federal civil rights investigation that determined its educators engaged in a pattern of discrimination against Black and disabled students.