5 things to know for June 21: Heat wave, Supreme Court, Middle East, TikTok ban, Southwest Airlines
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Former President Donald Trump will get the final word at the CNN debate next week after a coin flip determined the podium placement and the order of closing statements. Remember to mark your calendars for the historic Biden-Trump showdown set for Thursday at 9 p.m. ET. Here’s what else you need to know to Get Up to Speed and On with Your Day. Dangerously hot temperatures are scorching the US, the result of a record-breaking heat wave that is shifting to New York and the I-95 corridor. More than 100 million Americans are under heat advisories, watches and warnings through the weekend across the Northeast and Southwest. Widespread upper 90s and even triple digits will be possible around Washington, DC. If the nation’s capital reaches the 100-degree mark, it will be the first time since August 2016. Scientists have warned that heat waves will become more frequent and severe as the climate crisis intensifies. Nighttime temperatures are also becoming unbearable in some of the most densely populated areas of the world where many communities lack access to air conditioning. The Supreme Court is turning toward the final, frenzied weeks of its term, readying potential blockbuster decisions on abortion, guns and former President Donald Trump’s claims of absolute immunity. The court’s most closely watched dispute this year is a case questioning whether Trump may claim immunity from federal election subversion charges. Trump’s team says there should be a distinction between official acts by Trump pursuant to his presidential duties and his private conduct. In another closely watched case, the justices will decide what happens when pregnant women show up to the hospital with medical emergencies in states that have strict bans on abortion. The Supreme Court’s decisions are expected by the end of the month. Israel’s top military spokesman has said Hamas cannot be destroyed, casting doubt about whether the government’s war aim of defeating the militant group can be achieved. The comments drew a sharp rebuke from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and showed the deepening rift between the Israeli government and its military. Netanyahu has come under increasing pressure from members of his government and Israel’s allies, including the US, to devise a strategy for the post-war governance of Gaza after Israel’s devastating bombardment in the region. The death toll in Gaza has surpassed 35,000 since the Israel-Hamas war began in October, according to the health ministry in the besieged enclave. TikTok ramped up its attacks on the Biden administration Thursday over a law that could ban the popular app from the United States, arguing in a court filing that US TikTok users could be forced to live on an “island” of content disconnected from the rest of the world if the platform is forced to find a new owner. Under what is now US law, TikTok is forced to find a new owner by January 2025 or be banned from the US entirely. TikTok has insisted it is not possible for its Chinese parent ByteDance to divest from the app — “not possible technologically, commercially, or legally” — and not by the deadline laid out by President Biden. The Justice Department declined to comment
Former Republican Sen. Ben Sasse announced Tuesday that he’s been diagnosed with “metastasized, stage 4 pancreatic cancer, and am gonna die.”
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Political opposites are closing 2025 as they did 2024: on each side of America’s Donald Trump divide. But CNN’s “All Over the Map” survey did provide several interesting takeaways. Some may be instructive about the midterm election climate, at least at this beginning stage.
A 2-year-old child is among at least five people who were killed when a Mexican Navy plane carrying medical patients crashed into the waters of Galveston Bay in Texas on Monday afternoon, US Coast Guard officials say.
The Trump administration is suing the local government of Washington, DC, over its gun laws, alleging that restrictions on certain semiautomatic weapons run afoul of Second Amendment rights.
Vince Zampella, one of the creators behind best-selling video games such as “Call of Duty,” has died. He was 55.
President Donald Trump said Monday the US remains in active pursuit of an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela, more than 24 hours after the chase began, while repeating his threats against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
Vice President JD Vance has never looked more like the presumptive 2028 Republican presidential nominee.
A man is facing murder, weapons, and arson charges after authorities say he killed another man with an arrow, then barricaded himself in his home, where several fires were set.
An apparently frustrated federal judge pressed the Trump administration Monday to share what it was going to do next in the fast-moving saga over Kilmar Abrego Garcia days after she found he was being unlawfully held in immigration custody.
The Justice Department’s release of thousands of documents and pictures related to investigations into Jeffrey Epstein on Friday was highly anticipated and provided a glimpse into the life of the late sex offender and his associations with some of the richest and most powerful people in the world.
Jeffrey Epstein survivors are slamming the Justice Department’s partial release of the Epstein files that began last Friday, contending that contrary to what is mandated by law, the department’s disclosures so far have been incomplete and improperly redacted — and challenging for the survivors to navigate as they search for information about their own cases.
President Donald Trump is expected to make an announcement about shipbuilding alongside his Pentagon chief and Navy secretary on Monday, according to a person familiar with the plans.