J.J. Watt of the Houston Texans just set a new fund-raising goal — $1.5 million — to help survivors of Harvey. Here’s what else you need to know 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. Hurricane Harvey
THE LATEST: Four people have died in the slow-motion disaster that is Harvey, but that number could rise as flooding continues to worsen in Houston and throughout southeast Texas. Harvey, which has barely moved since slamming Texas on Saturday as a Category 4 hurricane, is still a tropical storm. It’s slipped back into the Gulf, and the National Weather Service predicts it will make landfall again midday Wednesday near the Texas-Louisiana border. Houston’s already gotten 25 inches of rain in two days. Another 25 inches could fall by the weekend. Swollen rivers and creeks in east Texas won’t crest until later this week.
THE RESCUES: Thousands of people have been rescued from flooded homes and vehicles, but thousands of others still need help. The Coast Guard is getting 1,000 calls per hour for rescue. It’s not just a government rescue effort either. A host of volunteers has hopped in boats and saved people. That includes the famed Cajun Navy, the Louisiana-based rescue force that gained fame during Hurricane Katrina — which made landfall 12 years ago today. Texas has activated its entire National Guard.
THE IMPACT: The nation’s fourth-largest city sits under water and will remain that way for a while. An estimated 30,000 people will need shelter. Some will stay in Houston’s convention center; others will go to Dallas, where its convention center is being turned into a mega-shelter.
WHAT’S NEXT: Louisiana is prepping for Harvey’s unyielding rains. New Orleans has closed schools and city facilities as the city expects to get 4 to 8 inches of rain over the next couple of days. And President Trump and first lady Melania Trump will visit Texas today to check on relief efforts.
2. North Korea
North Korea took its missile tests to a whole new level early this morning when it fired one over Japan. The unidentified missile flew over the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido and broke into pieces over the Pacific. The launch set off warnings in the northern part of Japan, and people were urged to seek shelter. South Korea responded with a bombing drill to test its ability to “destroy the North Korean leadership.” Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and President Trump talked about it on the phone and agreed the UN Security Council needs to get involved.
3. President Trump
President Donald Trump’s attorney reached out to the Kremlin for assistance in building a Trump Tower in Moscow well into the business mogul’s presidential campaign, the attorney said, adding that he discussed the project with Trump three times. The attorney, Michael Cohen, denied that the project was related “in any way” to Trump’s campaign, though the developments appear to contradict Trump’s vehement denials of any such business connections to Russia in the past. Previous reports have indicated that efforts to build a Trump Tower in Moscow were underway during the presidential campaign in 2015, but it had not been reported that those efforts continued into 2016.
4. Military gear ban
President Trump continues his drive to be the “law-and-order” President. He’s lifted a ban on military gear for local police. It was President Obama who stopped police from getting military equipment like armored vehicles, grenade launchers and camouflage uniforms in 2015 over concerns about the “militarization” of the police response to unrest in Ferguson, Missouri.
The President also defended his controversial pardon of Joe Arpaio, saying the ex-sheriff was treated “unfairly” and had been “very strong” on fighting illegal immigration.
5. Killer nurse
He may be one of Germany’s worst serial killers. Niels Hoegel is already serving a life sentence after he was convicted of killing six people while working as a nurse. Now, authorities think Hoegel may have killed 84 other people. As part of the investigation, they exhumed the bodies of former patients at clinics where Hoegel worked in northwest Germany. Hoegel, 40, has admitted to injecting patients with a drug that stopped their hearts so he could get a euphoric feeling from reviving them.
BREAKFAST BROWSE
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Washing his hand of it
A white actor set to appear in the next “Hellboy” movie quits after he finds out he would be whitewashing an Asian character.
Welcome back
Maria Sharapova’s been away from tennis for 15 months, but you wouldn’t know it by the way she kicked butt at the US Open.
So sweet
A photographer gives us a different view of the burqa, with the help of licorice, cotton candy and gummy bears.
This old house
The house the Ohio couple bought had everything, including a 19th-century log cabin hidden in the walls.
Road trippin’
Travel from the US to North Korea will soon be banned (for obvious reasons), so why are so many Americans rushing to vacation there?
TODAY’S BIG READ
This personal question ticks people off
“But where are you really from?” It’s a question many people get asked — and annoyed by — every day. Some 2,000 Americans shared their responses with CNN.
NUMBER OF THE DAY
$89 million
That’s the value of CEO Tim Cook’s stock payout from Apple
AND FINALLY …
Take your time
The Slo Mo Guys are back! This time it’s paintballs colliding (oh … so … slowly …) in midair, because that’s what the Internet’s for. (Click to view)