Plus: Why NYC's Mayoral Primary Election Matters and The State Of Abortion In The U.S. Three Years After Dobbs

Good evening,

We’re just 4 days into summer here in the Northern Hemisphere and a record-breaking heat wave is already sweeping across much of the U.S. and Canada.

Nearly 245 million people — around three-quarters of the U.S. population — endured temperatures of 90°F or higher on Monday. Before today is done, nearly 10% of the country could face temperatures as high as 100°F.
Some cities throughout the Northeast haven’t experienced triple-digit temperatures in about 14 years. New York hasn’t hit 100°F since 2011, and Philadelphia hasn’t reached that milestone since 2012.
The heat wave, which extends throughout the Eastern half of the country, may be part of a broader warming trend. According to NOAA, U.S. summers are now 2.4 degrees hotter than they were 50 years ago.

As someone who burns just by looking at the sun, I’m doubling down on sunscreen during this sweltering heat. Stay hydrated and stay cool! 😎

Juliet
Mo News Intern

🚨 ONE IMPORTANT THING

Ceasefire Whiplash: Fragile Iran-Israel Deal Appears To Hold — For Now

The fragile ceasefire between Israel and Iran appears to be holding — at least for now. After the deal was announced Monday, it appeared to be on the verge of collapse with Israel launching a heavy bombardment of Tehran and Iran responded by firing missiles at Israel, killing several civilians.

President Trump lashed out early Tuesday at Iran and Israel as the deal looked like it was on the brink of collapse. On the White House lawn, he said, “Israel, as soon as we made the deal, they came out and they dropped a load of bombs, the likes of which I’ve never seen before, the biggest load that we’ve seen. I’m not happy with Israel.”

Trump called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to call-off its final attack — a conversation where Trump was reportedly “exceptionally firm.”
- Trump posted on Truth Social: “ISRAEL is not going to attack Iran. All planes will turn around and head home, while doing a friendly “Plane Wave” to Iran. Nobody will be hurt, the Ceasefire is in effect!”
Hours later, Trump was back to praising the deal:

Despite Trump’s claims that “All Nuclear facilities & capability” in Iran are destroyed, initial reports from the U.S. and Israel say otherwise. The reports have differing assessments about how badly Iran’s nuclear capabilities were actually damaged.

Israel claims its 12 days of strikes set Iran back by several years, while preliminary U.S. assessments say dropping bunker-busting bombs on Iran’s sites only delayed the nuclear program by a matter of months.
Trump has previously asserted that Iran’s nuclear enrichment sites were "totally obliterated."
It will likely take weeks/months for Israeli and US intelligence to get a real assessment of how much damage was done to the program.

Iran said Tuesday that it is prepared to resume its nuclear program and uranium enrichment without interruption.

STATE OF PLAY
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu released a video stating that "Operation Rising Lion" was a "historic victory" that “sent Iran’s nuclear program down the drain.”

The 12-day war killed 29 civilians in Israel and hospitalized over 3,000. In Iran, local authorities say 610 people were killed and nearly 5,000 injured, though some estimates by human rights watchers say the Iranian death toll could be higher than 800.

Trump appeared Tuesday to walk back earlier comments suggesting support for regime change in Iran.

"No, I don’t want it. I’d like to see everything calm down as quickly as possible. Regime change makes chaos," he said aboard Air Force One headed to the NATO summit in the Netherlands.
- Just Sunday in a Truth Social post, Trump appeared to float the idea of regime change. He posted: “If the current Iranian Regime is unable to MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN, why wouldn’t there be a Regime change??? MIGA!!!”

The Senate will hold a delayed classified briefing on Thursday with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.

Rep. Al Green (D-TX) forced a vote on impeaching Trump for unilaterally striking Iran without congressional approval. The House overwhelmingly voted to table the motion, with 344 representatives voting in favor and 79 voting against it.

🚨 ONE THING WE’RE WATCHING

NYC Voters Head To Polls In Closely-Watched Democratic Mayoral Primary

Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani continues to gain ground on former Governor Andrew Cuomo in New York City’s mayoral race as Democratic primary voters head Tuesday to the polls amid sweltering heat 🥵.

Across polling averages, Cuomo leads by about 7 percentage points with about 35% support, followed by Mamdani at 32%.

The election is being closely watched for a couple of reasons.

The obvious reason is that New York City’s population is larger than that of nearly 40 states and the city is an economic and cultural hub in the U.S.
The less obvious reason is that Democrats are deeply divided about the way forward for their party after Vice President Kamala Harris’ bruising defeat to President Trump in last year’s presidential election.
- Mayoral candidates Cuomo and Mamdani are seen as reflecting that divide. Should Democrats stay the course with establishment candidates like Cuomo who can appeal to the vanishing middle ground in the U.S.? Or should they stake their future on more progressive candidates like Mamdani who is so far left, he actually identifies as a Socialist?

ON THE GROUND
Cuomo is polling strongest among Black and Latino voters and union members, and is running as a practical, experienced leader who can take on Trump. Cuomo has gotten backing from many in the Democratic establishment.

Mamdani is performing best among younger, white, college-educated voters, and more male voters. He says his campaign has 46,000 unpaid volunteers who have knocked on 1.3 million doors across the five boroughs.

What people are talking about: Mamdani is a Socialist. Cuomo resigned from New York’s governor’s office in 2021 following multiple sexual harassment allegations.

UP NEXT
If elected, Mamdani would be New York’s youngest mayor in over a century. He supports raising taxes on businesses and the wealthy to fund free buses, child care, and a rent freeze for rent-stabilized units. Cuomo argues Mamdani’s proposals would drive away business and the wealthy.

Since 2021, New York has used ranked choice voting. Polls close at 9 p.m. ET, but a winner is unlikely to be declared Tuesday night. If no candidate wins a majority of first-choice votes, additional rounds will redistribute votes based on second-to-fifth preferences. That count would take place July 1.

Regardless of the outcome, Cuomo said he will continue to run as an independent in November — joining current mayor Eric Adams, a registered Democrat, who is also running as an independent. Adams lost support within the Democratic party after he was indictment on bribery charges. The Trump Justice Department later dropped the charges. If Mamdani loses, he could run as part of the progressive Working Families Party.

🚨 ONE THING THAT’S CHANGED

The State Of Abortion In The U.S. Three Years After Dobbs

On June 24, 2022, the Supreme Court upheld a Mississippi law banning most abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy in Dobbs v Jackson's Women's Health Organization. The ruling overturned Roe v. Wade: the landmark 1973 ruling enshrining abortion as a constitutional right.

In the three years since, 19 states have essentially banned abortion, while 10 states have passed measures protecting abortion access.

While President Trump took credit for overturning Roe — having appointed three justices critical to the ruling — he has implied that abortion should be left up to individual states and has expressed no interest in passing a national ban. Since returning to office in January, he signed an executive order ending taxpayer funding for elective abortions (which was already not allowed) and revoked Biden-era medical guidance requiring hospitals to provide abortions in emergency situations.

Meanwhile, in 2024, abortions continued to rise, driven by expanded tele-health access to medication abortion.

Abortions have risen since Dobbs, driven by expanded telehealth access to medication abortion. Via: Axios

THE SPEED READ

🚨NATION

Health insurers pledge to cut ‘prior authorizations’ red tape (MO NEWS)
CDC vaccine advisory meeting should be postponed amid bias concerns, senator says (CNN)
Trump administration accuses judge of 'unprecedented defiance' of Supreme Court in immigration dispute (NBC)
Trump administration plans to rescind rule blocking logging on national forest lands (AP)

🌎 AROUND THE WORLD

Trump heads to NATO summit as Europe agrees to heed his defense spending demands (FOX)
Russian attacks on Ukraine kill 14 civilians as Zelenskyy travels to UK (AP)
Thailand’s army closes Cambodia border crossings as territorial tensions escalate (GUARDIAN)
Glass bridge inspired by Queen Elizabeth II's wedding tiara among plans for national memorial (SKY NEWS)

📱BUSINESS, SCIENCE & TECH

Home price hikes are slowing more than expected (CNBC)
Oil is falling so much that it’s now cheaper than it was before the Iran-Israel conflict (CNN)
Study says weight loss drugs like Ozempic may prevent dementia (NY POST)
Forecasts show 12 states could see the Northern Lights this week (USA TODAY)

🎬 SPORTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Bobby Sherman, teen idol in the 1960s and ‘70s and later a CPR teacher, dies at 81 (AP)
Portrait in Florence museum allegedly damaged by visitor taking selfie (BBC)
Steelers' Aaron Rodgers 'pretty sure' this will be final season (ESPN)
NBA star James Harden accused of negligence in sexual assault lawsuit against his nephew (NBC)

ICYMI FROM THE 📲

In case you missed it… Jeff Bezos is set to marry his fiancée, Lauren Sánchez, in a lavish, multi-million-dollar wedding in Venice later this week.

Ahead of the extravagant day, Bezos and Sánchez were photographed in their bathing suits having a 'foam party' aboard Bezos's $500 million yacht on the waters just off Croatia on Sunday. They were allegedly celebrating Sánchez's son, Evan's 19th birthday, which was that day.