Have a great 4th! Five Things is off tomorrow, but when we get back, the world will be waiting for the Trump-Putin meeting at the G20 summit in Germany. Until then, here are the 5 things you need to know to Get Up to Speed and Out the Door. (You can also get “5 Things You Need to Know Today” delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up here.)
1. Twitter
The President was at it again this weekend, dragging CNN and MSNBC with colorful and somewhat violent GIFs and insults. Even Twitter weighed in, saying they reviewed one of Trump’s tweets showing himself “beating up” a WWE wrestler depicted in the GIF as CNN, and found it didn’t violate the site’s rules. Even so, leaders on both sides of the aisle have been urging Trump to focus on more important things. So let’s take their advice and move on …
2. Senate recess
The Senate has a looong to-do list, and not least among the tasks is ironing out the GOP health care bill. Things have stalled so much on that end that a group of GOP senators are asking Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to cancel or shorten the customary August recess in order to get stuff done. The main priorities, according to the group, are fixing health care, funding the government, dealing with the debt ceiling, passing a budget resolution and improving the tax code.
Speaking of health care news, Republicans seem to be repealing and replacing that old “repeal and replace” line. Now, some GOP leaders and even Trump himself are floating a possible “repeal now, replace later” approach.
3. Iraq
At least 14 people were killed, among them four children and a captain in the Iraqi police, when a suicide bomber detonated a device in a camp for internally displaced people in the Iraqi province of Anbar on Sunday. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack and said they were targeting members of the Iraqi military. The attack comes as Iraqi forces push ISIS elements out of their last major Iraqi stronghold, the northern city of Mosul. The city is expected to be fully liberated soon.
4. Arkansas shooting
Twenty-eight people were wounded early Saturday in a shooting at a nightclub in Little Rock, Arkansas. In addition to 25 people who were shot, three people were injured in the ensuing chaos. Police believe the incident may be gang-related and likely happened after “some sort of dispute.”
To add to the confusion, an underground rapper was arrested shortly after the shooting, and a US Marshal initially said the arrest was connected with Saturday morning’s incident. It wasn’t. So far, no arrests have been made in connection with the shooting.
5. Bernie Sanders
Sen. Bernie Sanders on Sunday denied an allegation that his office might have pressured a Vermont bank to speed up the loan process for a real estate acquisition his wife Jane orchestrated for Burlington College while president of the school. Sanders’ latest remarks come amid reports the FBI might be looking into the land deal. A vice chair of Vermont’s Republican Party, who was also involved in the Trump campaign, brought the accusations to the table last year and called for a federal investigation of Jill Sanders.
BREAKFAST BROWSE
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Maine declares a government shutdown over budget standoff
Oh, and essentially the same thing happened in New Jersey too
Which, curiously, left Gov. Chris Christie with a beach all to himself.
Canadian PM forgets Alberta while naming the provinces and territories
Albertans were CANADIAN MAD, which is like mildly peeved anywhere else.
Crayola is holding a naming contest for a new shade of blue crayon
Crayon naming! The nostalgia is almost too much to handle.
Mayor of Mexican town ‘weds’ crocodile for good luck
We were gonna make a wedding dress joke but lo and behold there literally was a wedding dress involved.
AND FINALLY …
Watch a fireworks show … from above
If you thought fireworks were kinda magical, you should see what they look like from a drone’s perspective. (Click to view)