Times pushed ahead to avoid being scooped on Mamdani Columbia story  —  The Scoop  —  The afternoon before a long holiday weekend isn't always the best time to drop a major scoop.  But the New York Times did not want to wait to publish its story about Zohran Mamdani's application …

Trump gutted the weather service.  Then Texas flooded.  —  🗣️ Paid subscribers make Public Notice possible.  If you appreciate our fiercely independent coverage of American politics, please support us.  👇  —  Over the weekend, torrential rains struck central Texas …

Exclusive: DOJ, FBI conclude Epstein had no “client list,” committed suicide … - The administration is releasing a video — in both raw and “enhanced” versions — that it says indicates no one entered the area of the Manhattan prison where Epstein was held the night he died in 2019.

Transcript: Trump's Use of Secret Police Takes “Shocking” Darker Turn  —  The following is a lightly edited transcript of the July 7 episode of the Daily Blast podcast.  Listen to it here.  —  Editor's note: Later in this discussion guest Simon Rosenberg makes a critical point that we want to highlight …

U.S. measles cases reach 33-year record high as outbreaks spread  —  Johns Hopkins University data reflects the public health reversal in defeating the vaccine-preventable disease since measles was officially eliminated from the U.S. in 2000.  —  Summary564

Tesla shares drop 7% in premarket trading after Elon Musk says he is launching a political party … Tesla shares fell in premarket trade on Monday after CEO Elon Musk announced plans to form a new political party.  —  The stock was down 7.13% by 4:27 a.m. E.T.

Trump's ominous ICE security state  —  The nation of immigrants' shift to mass deportation is among the most shocking turns in US history  —  They say the cruelty is the point.  —  Inspecting cages that would spark outrage were zoos to put apes in them, Donald Trump last week expressed delight with Florida's new deportee camp.

From Food Aid to Dog Chow?  How Trump's Cuts Hurt Kansas Farmers. … Wheat grows so prodigiously here on the Kansas high plains that in 1953 the surplus birthed one of the Cold War's big ideas: Food for Peace, a federal government program that delivered the excess bounty to a hungry postwar world.

Trump Keeps Foreign Countries on Edge as Tariff Deadline Nears  —  The president is again threatening higher tariff rates on a dozen foreign nations, as a deadline elapses this week for making trade deals.  —  President Trump is set to rekindle economic pressure on America's trading partners this week …

Real Men Burn Stuff  —  The manosphere and the war on renewable energy  —  “We wanted flying cars, instead we got 140 characters.”  That famous 2011 quip from the venture capitalist Peter Thiel still resonates, even though Thiel himself has become a deeply malignant force in American politics.

Trump's $5 million ‘gold card’ visa might never happen  —  The president and his aides have exaggerated the likelihood that such a program can be legally implemented and have made no effort to introduce legislation that would be needed.  —  Summary0  —  Over the past four months …

Playbook: Why Biden wanted the CNN debate  —  With help from Eli Okun, Bethany Irvine and Ali Bianco  —  Good Monday morning.  This is Jack Blanchard.  —  FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Biden bombshell: Here's one for the history books.  This morning, Playbook readers can read the actual six-page memo …

Trump bill's health effects won't be felt until after midterms  —  President Trump's tax and spending bill sets in motion nearly $1 trillion in cuts to Medicaid and other health policy changes that could loom over the midterm elections.  — But the real effects likely won't be felt until well after the ballots are cast.

The Trump Administration Wants to Close Down Key Weather Labs Across the Country  —  The National Severe Storms Laboratory sits on a campus of radar equipment and office buildings at the University of Oklahoma, off a state highway in Norman.  It's responsible for radar breakthroughs …

The FBI's Dangerous Failure to Adapt to the Digital Age  —  U.S. adversaries are exploiting technology to expose FBI operations, revealing the Bureau's failure to respond to a networked world.  —  Meet The Authors … In 2011 Hezbollah apprehended a group of CIA informants based in Beirut.

Potential 2028 GOP contenders already making moves … Now several ambitious Republicans are signaling they see an opening to offer themselves to primary voters as the future of the party.  — “Everyone knows Trump has one term left, and I would say its a wide-open opportunity,” …

It's long past time to retire the idea that there are Republican ‘moderates’ in Congress  —  The Freedom Caucus was humiliated last week, but at least the faction still exists — which is more than we can say about the GOP's alleged “moderate” wing.  —  About a month ago …