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| Happy Thursday, Daily Briefing readers! In the news, the investigation into a Texas van crash that killed at least 10 migrants is expected to go on. Out west, red flag warnings have prompted more wildfire fears. On the lighter side, the highly anticipated "The Suicide Squad" premieres in theaters and on HBO Max tonight. |
| Steve is here with Thursday's news. |
| 🌎 New this morning: President Joe Biden will sign an executive order targeting half of all vehicles sold in U.S. to be zero-emissions by 2030. |
| ⚖ Nasty memes, misinformation, politics drive waning days in battle to confirm Biden's pick for ATF: David Chipman, President Joe Biden's pick to lead ATF, hangs by a thread after a barrage of lobbying and misinformation from gun rights advocates. |
| ⚖ 'Not likely to pass constitutional muster': A group of real estate entities are seeking to block enforcement of the Biden administration's new eviction moratorium, reigniting a battle that appears destined to end up back before the Supreme Court. |
| 🦠'I'm standing for the people of Florida': Gov. Ron DeSantis openly defied President Joe Biden on Wednesday, saying he would "stand in the way" of any federal COVID-19 restrictions that would take away Floridians' rights to choose. |
| 🎤 'Hello Tylenol, my new best friend!': Comedian Kathy Griffin, 60, who recently revealed her lung cancer diagnosis, also said she struggled with drug addiction and suicidal thoughts in recent years. That is why she won't take narcotic pain killers during her surgery recovery. |
| 🎧 On today's 5 Things podcast, hear how migrant detentions under the Biden administration are on the rise. You can listen to the podcast every day on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or on your smart speaker. |
| What else is happening today: |
Investigation into deadly Texas van crash expected to continue |
| At least 10 people were killed and 20 more were injured when an overloaded van crashed Wednesday in Encino, Texas, a town about 100 miles south of Corpus Christi, authorities said. Brooks County Sheriff Urbino Martinez said the van, designed to hold 15 passengers, was top-heavy and tipped over when the driver lost control on a curve. The van held 29 suspected undocumented migrants, he said. Additional details about the crash are expected to come Thursday or in the coming days. The identities of the 30 in the van were being withheld until relatives can be notified, an official with the Texas Department of Public Safety said. No information about the van, including where it was registered or who owned it, was immediately released. A surge in migrants crossing the border illegally has brought about an uptick in the number of crashes involving vehicles jammed with migrants who pay large amounts to be smuggled into the country. |
Updates from the Tokyo Olympics |
| 🔴 Legends may have left with a bang: Megan Rapinoe scored twice – including the rare olimpico – and Carli Lloyd set the U.S. women's record for most career Olympic goals as the U.S. women beat Australia 4-3 Thursday to win the bronze medal. |
| 🔴 Overcoming another early deficit: The U.S. men's basketball team was down by as many as 15 points in the first half of their semifinal matchup against Australia Thursday before storming back with a 48-14 run between the second and third quarters to put the game away. After its 97-78 victory, Team USA will face the France-Slovenia winner for the gold medal. |
| 🔴 Olympic shot put record broken three times in one day: Ryan Crouser looked impressive in winning the gold medal in the shot put Thursday. Crouser became the first U.S. male to win a track and field gold medal in Tokyo and is also the first American to win back-to-back Olympic golds in the event since Parry O'Brien did it in 1952 and 1956. |
| 🔴 A 'clown show': Carl Lewis, the winner of nine gold medals in four Olympic Games, watched the U.S. men's 4x100-relay team melt down at the Tokyo Olympics and he simply could not contain his frustration. |
 | | Olympic medalist Carl Lewis | | USA TODAY Sports photo and graphic | |
Red flag warnings prompt more wildfire fears across the West |
| Firefighters battling dozens of blazes across the West braced for more hot, dry weather as dangerous conditions threatened to spark new wildfires in multiple states. The National Weather Service issued red flag warnings for parts of California, Nevada and Oregon until Thursday evening, expecting gusty winds and low humidity that could cause the dry vegetation to burn rapidly. There are 27 active large wildfires in those three states, and across 14 states, 96 large wildfires have burned more than 2,900 square miles, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. In Northern California, the Dixie Fire remains the largest blaze in the state as conditions stoke the flames. The Dixie Fire blazed through Greenville, California, leaving behind only a few structures. The fire primarily burned through most of the downtown area and some surrounding homes in the small mountain community. |
What else people are reading: |
| 🔵 'I failed big': 'The Suicide Squad' star and WWE legend John Cena is making the most of his 'second chance' in Hollywood. |
| 🔵 'Suddenly now we can see things that we couldn't see before': Remastered Apollo 15 photos reveal new details, just in time for mission's 50th anniversary. |
| 🔵 'It's clearly relevant': The jury in the R. Kelly trial will hear at his sex-trafficking trial how he illegally wed an underage Aaliyah. |
| 🔵 'Everyone is very upset': In Indiana, a woman passed out after drinking. A man dumped her in the cold to die, court docs say. |
| 🔵 Keep Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom where he is, or kick him out of office? This is what you should know about the upcoming California recall election. |
Spirit Airlines bedlam goes on: Hundreds of Thursday flights already canceled |
| Spirit Airlines, which has canceled more than 1,300 flights and stranded passengers since Sunday as it grapples with a series of issues, said Wednesday cancellations should ease in the days to come as it reboots its operation. However, that day doesn't appear to be Thursday. The carrier has already canceled 349 of its Thursday flights or 45% of its scheduled flights, as of 6 a.m. EDT, according to flight tracker FlightAware. It will be the fifth consecutive day of frustration for passengers on the budget airline and comes as a busy summer travel weekend looms. The carrier canceled more than 400 flights per day, or a whopping 60% percent of its operation, on both Tuesday and Wednesday alone. The airline apologized to passengers and employees in a statement issued Wednesday and continued to attribute the massive woes to "overlapping operational challenges," including weather, technology system outages and staffing shortages. |
Newsmakers in their own words: Candid COVID talk with Jennifer Aniston |
 | | Jennifer Aniston, star of "Friends" and "The Morning Show" | | Getty Images photo; USA TODAY Life graphic | |
| During a recent interview with InStyle, former "Friends" star Jennifer Aniston revealed her decision to limit her social circle based on COVID-19 vaccination status, lamenting that "it's a real shame" there are groups of people who are "anti-vaxxers" and "just don't listen to the facts." |
| While Aniston said "everyone is entitled to their own opinion," she noted "it's tricky" as "a lot of opinions don't feel based in anything except fear or propaganda,." |
James Gunn brings 'The Suicide Squad' back to the big screen |
| The body count is high and chaos reigns in writer/director James Gunn's absurdly delightful and indubitably not-for-kids "The Suicide Squad," writes USA TODAY movie critic Brian Truitt. The film, out in theaters and streaming on HBO Max Thursday evening , is a soft reboot of 2016's "Suicide Squad." Margot Robbie's Harley Quinn returns and Idris Elba and John Cena will debut new characters. Viola Davis returns as Amanda Waller, who runs survive-or-else missions out of outlaw-filled Belle Reve prison with members of Task Force X. Their newest assignment: venturing to the fictional South American island of Corto Maltese, where the Squad traverses jungles, fights enemy guerrillas, goes disco dancing at a nightclub, and has to infiltrate an old Nazi stronghold from World War II that's been housing a monstrous experiment. Before tackling this DC project, Gunn was firmly entrenched in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, as he directed the two "Guardians of the Galaxy" movies. |
ICYMI: Some of our top stories published Wednesday |
| 🌎 From USA TODAY Opinion contributor Michael Shank: White extremism is winning in my Vermont town. I'm selling my animal sanctuary and moving. |
| 🦠 COVID-19 surge is 'straining our system': The delta variant is 'ripping through the unvaccinated' and crowding hospitals in Florida and Texas. |
| 🎶 Lollapalooza a 'recipe for disaster,' experts warn: Should more music festivals be canceled amid COVID-19? |
Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett to perform together 'One Last Time' |
| Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett will reunite Thursday at New York's Radio City Music Hall for the second of two farewell concerts celebrating Bennett's 95th birthday. The longtime friends and collaborators are playing "One Last Time" shows in the leadup to their second joint album, "Love for Sale," out Oct. 1. Bennett, who turned 95 on Tuesday, was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in 2016. But the music legend was as spry and charismatic as ever in a roughly half-hour solo set in Tuesday's sold-out show. "He's my friend. He's my musical companion. He's the greatest singer in the whole world," said Lady Gaga during her rendition of "New York, New York." |
📸 Photo of the day: Olympic skateboarder hits a cameraman 📸 |
 | | Kieran Woolley of Team Australia crashes into a TV Cameraman during the Men's Skateboarding Park Preliminary Heat 3 on day thirteen of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. Australia's Kieran Woolley was finishing a big run when he went to ride a rail atop the bowl. | | Jamie Squire, Getty Images | |
| Australia's Kieran Woolley was finishing a run in the park skateboarding competition at the Tokyo Olympics when he went to ride a rail atop the bowl. It's not clear how he meant to come out of it, because he collided with a cameraman from the Olympic Broadcasting Services. Thankfully, both appeared to be unharmed after the collision. |
| Head here to see more photos from the incident between Woolley and the cameraman and tap here to see the images that have defined the Tokyo Olympics. |
| Contributing: The Associated Press |
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