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| Happy Tuesday, Daily Briefing readers! After months of wrangling, the $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill is poised for a final vote in the Senate. |
| It's Steve and Jane with Tuesday's news. |
| 💸Salaries withheld: Florida "could" defund the salaries of district superintendents and county school board members who mandate mask wearing in schools, according to Gov. Ron DeSantis' office. |
| 🙅♂️Childhood promise: Quentin Tarantino says he hasn't given a penny of his fortune to his mom — because of a harsh comment she made to him when he was a kid. |
| 🚨"She just got married five hours ago": A Utah woman was killed on her way back from her wedding reception after a vehicle going the wrong way struck her car, authorities said. |
| 🎧On today's 5 Things podcast, hear how more and more employers are requiring COVID-19 vaccinations. You can listen to the podcast every day on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or on your smart speaker. |
| Here's what's happening today: |
Senate to hold final vote on infrastructure bill |
| The $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill is poised for a final vote in the Senate Tuesday, after it was pushed closer to passage late Sunday. Final Senate votes are expected around 11 a.m. ET. The Senate cleared several hurdles towards passage during a second consecutive weekend session, including a 60-vote threshold to end debate on the bill. If the bill passes — as expected — it will move onto the House, where a bipartisan group of lawmakers has already pledged its own support. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act would provide what Biden has called a "historic investment" in public works programs, and promises to distribute billions of dollars to upgrade roads, bridges, broadband internet, water pipes and other public works systems supporting the nation. |
What else people are reading: |
| 🔵 "Both the music industry, and the world has lost a titan": Carl "Chucky" Thompson, a producer who helmed hits for Notorious B.I.G., Mary J. Blige and others has died. He was 53. |
| 🔴 "I keep hearing the n-word": Despite an investigation from the Colorado Rockies and Major League Baseball to the contrary, Miami Marlins outfielder Lewis Brinson can't unhear the racial slur he believes he heard. |
| 🔵 "I was saving it for the one": On the finale of "The Bachelorette," fans saw Katie Thurston get engaged in the aftermath of losing two frontrunners. |
| 🔵 Move here and get paid: Small towns across the country are offering up to $20,000 just to get you to live there and work remotely. |
| 🔵 Haven't done your routine dusting? Dust buildup can cause serious health problems, including serious lung infections and in rare cases, even death. |
Bigger blazes feared as high winds and heat return to West |
| Scores of wildfires racing across much of the Northwest could be energized this week by a resurgence of high winds and heat, forecasters warn . That's especially bad news for the more than 20,000 firefighters battling the blazes in 15 Western states, and the thousands of structures threatened by the wildfires. California's fire season is on pace to surpass last year's, which was the worst in recent recorded state history. Since the start of 2021, more than 6,000 blazes have destroyed more than 1,260 square miles of land. The Dixie Fire, the largest blaze in California history, has grown more than 750 square miles — an area larger than the city of Los Angeles. |
Newsmakers in their own words: Gore's blunt statement after release of UN report |
 | | Former Vice President Al Gore, founder of the Climate Reality Project, speaks with youth climate activists in Atlanta in March 2019. | | Associated Press photo; USA TODAY graphic | |
| Hundreds of top scientists released a devastating report Monday on the danger that human-caused climate change poses to the world. Calling it "code red for humanity," the landmark report was released in Geneva by the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). |
| Former Vice President Al Gore, who has been a tireless environmental activist for decades, aggressively responded to the findings in a Twitter thread Monday. He was one of many officials, along with climate scientists and the report's co-authors, to strongly react to the report. |
USA TODAY Sports college football preseason poll to be unveiled |
| With the college football season set to kick off in less than a month, the USA TODAY Sports AFCA Coaches Preseason Poll will be released Tuesday afternoon. In the lead up to the poll's release, much of the discussion at the top begins with the team that finished there last season: Alabama. Fresh off of another national championship, the Crimson Tide are tasked with replacing Heisman Trophy finalists Mac Jones and DeVonta Smith, with the latter winning the award. And a favorite for this year's Heisman, Oklahoma quarterback Spencer Rattler leads a team that is expected to join Alabama towards the top of the preseason poll. |
Fact check: Let's tackle a few lingering issues |
| ✔ The claim: Employees who are fired for refusing a vaccine are eligible for unemployment benefits. Our ruling: That is partly false. |
| ✔ The claim: "It's not unusual for hospitals to sit at max or near max capacity on any given day." Our ruling: Based on our research, that is missing context. |
| ✔ The claim: Officer Michael Fanone of the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department is the man who carried a Confederate flag during the Capitol riot. Our rating: That is false. |
 | | Washington Metropolitan Police Department officer Michael Fanone appears before the House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol on July 27, 2021. | | Pool photo by Andrew Harnik; USA TODAY graphic | |
Judge to continue screening for potential jurors in R. Kelly trial |
| United States District Judge Ann Donnelly will continue screening potential jurors for the sex trafficking trial of R&B artist R. Kelly Tuesday. Donnelly asked candidates Monday whether they can keep an open mind about Kelly two years after he was charged with abusing women and girls for nearly two decades. Kelly's trial has already been pushed to nearly two years after charges were levied against him, largely due to the COVID-19 pandemic and a shakeup of his defense team. The 54-year-old singer has been in prison since he was indicted, mostly in a federal jail in Chicago. He was moved last month to the federal Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn to face trial. |
HBO's 'Hard Knocks' set to feature Dallas Cowboys in its return |
| The Dallas Cowboys will be featured for the third time on the NFL training camp documentary series "Hard Knocks" when it premieres Tuesday on HBO (10 p.m. ET) and HBO Max (streaming). The Cowboys are the first team to make three appearances and will feature in five hour-long episodes leading up to the opening week of the NFL season. They also appeared in 2002 and in 2008. As USA TODAY's Nate Davis writes, the selection of "America's Team" by HBO and NFL Films was unsurprising, but also "wholly justifiable." For starters, plenty of metrics suggest the Cowboys are America's most popular – and maybe least popular – sports team. |
 | | Expect Dak Prescott's recovery from a season-ending injury to be one of the many storylines explored on HBO's "Hard Knocks." | | Jason Parkhurst, USA TODAY Sports | |
ICYMI: Some of our top stories Monday |
| 🛂Longer wait times: Vaccinated Americans got the green light to cross Canada's borders – but the process won't be as simple as it was before the pandemic. |
| 🍃Poison hemlock: A toxic invasive species that can be deadly if eaten is spreading, wrecking havoc across parks, flower beds and backyard gardens. |
| 💉The Backstory: My brother is one of millions who won't get the COVID-19 vaccine. I asked why. Here are his reasons, my responses. |
📸 Photo of the day: Canada welcomes back vaccinated Americans 📸 |
 | | A line of vehicles wait to enter Canada at the Peace Arch border crossing in view of a Canadian flag made of flowers Monday, Aug. 9, 2021, in Blaine, Wash. | | Elaine Thompson, AP | |
| Canada opened its borders to fully vaccinated U.S. citizens and permanent residents early Monday. The moment couldn't have arrived any sooner for loved ones who've been apart for more than a year. Many Canadian business owners are excited for vaccinated American visitors. |
| Head here for more photos of Americans making the trek north at different border spots across the country. |
| The Daily Briefing is free, but several stories we link to in this edition are subscriber-only. Please support our journalism and become a USA TODAY digital subscriber today. |
| Contributing: The Associated Press |
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