Good morning, you're reading the Up First newsletter. subscribe It will be delivered to your inbox, listen Listen to the Up First podcast for all the news you need to start your day.
Today's Top News
Former President Donald Trump has sought to distance himself from Project 2025. This is a controversial plan created by the ultra-conservative Heritage Foundation to reform the American government. Trump wrote on his social media website that he knows “nothing” about the plan and thinks what they're proposing is “ridiculous.” Meanwhile, Biden's team is doing everything they can to highlight Trump's connection to this plan to expand presidential powers. What exactly is Project 2025, and why is Trump distancing himself from it?
Republican presidential candidate and former president Donald Trump gestures to the crowd during a campaign rally on Saturday, March 16, in Vandalia, Ohio.
Jeff Dean/AP
Hide caption
Toggle caption
Jeff Dean/AP
Republican presidential candidate and former president Donald Trump gestures to the crowd during a campaign rally on Saturday, March 16, in Vandalia, Ohio.
Jeff Dean/AP
- 🎧 This isn't strictly Trump's plan. But that's the plan for Trump talks to NPR's Franco Ordoñez. At firstHe explains that in many ways, the plan takes some of President Trump's biggest policy goals and lays out a plan for how to carry them out. The project outlines a legal framework for reforming the federal workforce and proposes mass deportation of millions of illegal immigrants, in line with President Trump and the Republican National Committee's platform.
Democrats' private misgivings about President Biden are becoming public. Last night, Senator Peter Welch became the first Democratic senator to call on Biden to drop his candidacy. The Washington Post Welsh wrote in his op-ed that Biden should step aside for the “national interest.” The scrutiny of Biden has drawn attention to another figure: Vice President Kamala Harris. Welsh called Harris one of the Democratic Party's leading candidates to succeed him, calling her a “capable and proven leader.”
- 🎧 NPR's Asma Khalid says Harris is one of Biden's key supporters.. She has defended him and shifted the focus to Trump, and one of her strategies has been to associate Trump with overturning the Constitutional Amendment. Roe v. Wade“Democrats view abortion as one of the most important policies they can win, and Harris is their main communicator,” Khalid explains.
- 🎧 Biden will face another high-profile national test. We'll find out today whether he's ready for a second term. He'll hold a solo press conference at 5:30pm to answer questions from reporters. You can watch the press conference here.
Public discontent continues to grow after Hurricane Beryl hit Houston, Texas. Nearly a million people remain without power and air conditioning as scorching heat continues across the region, and some residents are using generators in their homes while they wait for answers, leading to reports of carbon monoxide poisoning.
- 🎧 “It's caused a bit of a stir in the newsroom here.” “The region's main power company, CenterPoint Energy, has released a map showing areas that need access and repairs, but has not released a timeline for when the repairs will be made,” said Lucio Vazquez of Houston Public Media. “Of the 2 million people without power, half still don't know anything,” he said.
Listen today
Displaced Palestinians check out tents destroyed by Israeli bombings at a UNRWA compound in the west of Rafah city, Gaza Strip, Tuesday, May 28, 2024. (Photo by AP/Jehad Al-Shrafi)
Jehad Alshrafi/AP
Hide caption
Toggle caption
Jehad Alshrafi/AP
Howard Tobocnik never imagined he'd become a soldier. The American immigrated to Israel and enlisted in the military before October 7. He spoke twice this year with NPR's Aya Batrawi, who has covered the death and destruction caused by Israel's attacks on Gaza since the start of the war.
- 🎧 Tobochnik reflects on the war and his role in it. With the death toll in Gaza soaring and Israel's war objectives still unfulfilled, he wonders how much he can help. Listen to the full conversation here.
Life Advice
Don Emmert/AFP via Getty Images
Don Emmert/AFP via Getty Images
Companies have figured out how to squeeze more money out of consumers through shrinkflation. This is a form of inflation where companies reduce the amount of product in a package rather than simply raising prices. The price per item goes up, and you get less product for your money. Don't worry, you can fight back. The tips below will help you see through the fog of packaging gimmicks and find the best deals.
- 💸 Please check the unit price. It's a standardized unit of measurement that tells you the cost per unit of weight or volume of a product, making it easier to shop for the best deal.
- 💸 Please have your calculator ready. Some stores don't display the price per unit. Only nine states require stores by law to display the price per unit. If that's the case, do a little math: divide the total price of the item by the amount of item in the package to find the unit price.
- 💸 Do you hate math? Talk to your elected representatives about enacting a policy requiring stores to post unit prices.
The Omega Centauri cluster contains millions of stars, and the motions of some of them suggest that there is a medium-sized black hole at its center.
NASA/ESA/STScI/AURA
Hide caption
Toggle caption
NASA/ESA/STScI/AURA
Three things to know before you go
- The Hubble Space Telescope has helped astronomers They have found evidence of an elusive black hole with a mass about 8,000 times that of the Sun. Finding a black hole of this size could help scientists understand the different processes by which black holes form and grow.
- The United States Soccer Federation has fired Gregg Berhalter, head coach of the U.S. men's national soccer team.Following the team's disappointing showing in the Copa America, Canada's final major international tournament before the FIFA World Cup, which it will co-host with Canada and Mexico in 2026.
- A man was arrested for attempting to smuggle He brought over 100 live snakes into China from Hong Kong with him in his trousers.
This newsletter is Suzanne Nuyen.
