Start your week smart: Heat dome, Alex Jones bankruptcy, Merrick Garland, FAA investigation, Princess of Wales

By CNN Newsource

Published June 16, 2024 7:01 AM

By Andrew Torgan and Daniel Wine, CNN

(CNN) — Happy Father’s Day to all the dads out there! While you’re sipping coffee from a new mug and reading homemade construction paper cards, consider this: Fatherhood can be good for men, psychologically speaking, and can act as an antidote to toxic masculinity.

Here’s what else you need to know to Start Your Week Smart.

The weekend that was

• The year’s first significant heat wave is expected to roast a large portion of the United States with potentially record-breaking high temperatures, four days away from summer’s official start. The National Weather Service issued warnings for people in the South and Midwest.
• A Texas bankruptcy judge rejected a proposed liquidation of conspiracy theorist Alex Jones’ company, saying it was in the best interest of the creditors. But the judge approved a separate liquidation of Jones’ personal assets.
• House Speaker Mike Johnson said he will move in federal court to enforce a subpoena against Attorney General Merrick Garland to obtain audio recordings of President Joe Biden, after the Justice Department declined to act on the House’s contempt referral.
• A federal investigation is underway after a Southwest Airlines flight plunged toward the ocean off the coast of a Hawaiian island. Bloomberg reported that the airline sent a memo to pilots indicating a “newer” first officer was flying at the time and inadvertently pushed forward on the control column.
• Catherine, Princess of Wales joined other British royals on the balcony of Buckingham Palace for the King’s official birthday, capping her first public appearance since being diagnosed with cancer.

The week ahead

Monday
April 15 may be far in the rearview mirror for most Americans, but others are facing a crucial deadline today. June 17 is when US citizens living and working abroad must file their annual tax returns. It’s also the day that taxpayers whose income is not subject to withholding need to make their second quarter estimated tax payment. Finally, for taxpayers living in areas impacted by severe storms and natural disasters, such as certain counties in California, Michigan and Tennessee, it’s time to file. The IRS has set deadlines beyond June 17 for parts of several other states hit by disasters in March and April. Click here for the full list.

Tuesday
Departing Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun is set to testify before a Senate panel, two months after a whistleblower alleged during a hearing that the aircraft maker was “putting out defective airplanes.” Boeing had been under intense scrutiny following two fatal crashes of its 737 Max in 2018 and 2019 that killed 346 people, and a door plug that blew out of the side of an Alaska Airlines 737 Max in January. An audit of Boeing procedures by the FAA in the wake of the Alaska Airlines incident found numerous “non-compliance issues.” Calhoun has said he intends to leave the beleaguered company by the end of the year. Boeing made headlines again last week when the FAA announced it’s investigating why a 737 Max 8 experienced a rare, unsafe back-and-forth roll during a flight in May.

Wednesday
June 19 is Juneteenth, a federal holiday commemorating the end of slavery in the US. Financial markets, post offices and most banks will be closed.

Thursday
Summer arrives in the Northern Hemisphere!

Saturday
Boeing and NASA have delayed the return of the first crewed Starliner mission that carried astronauts to the International Space Station to no earlier than June 22. This is the second delay in Starliner’s scheduled return date and follows several scrubbed launches. Additionally, the spacecraft experienced helium leaks and a temporary loss of thrusters en route to the space station.

One Thing: The detained children of ISIS
In today’s “One Thing” podcast, CNN’s Clarissa Ward takes us inside Syrian detention facilities that human rights groups describe as “legal black holes.” Listen here.

Photos of the week

Check out more images from the week that was, curated by CNN Photos.

What’s happening in entertainment

TV and streaming
The 77th annual Tony Awards air live tonight at 8 p.m. on CBS and Paramount+. Alicia Keys’ ambitious musical “Hell’s Kitchen” and “Stereophonic,” a play set in the ’70s about a fictional band, lead the pack with 13 nods each. “The Outsiders,” a musical based on the S.E. Hinton novel, scored 12 nominations, followed by the Eddie Redmayne-led “Cabaret” revival with nine.

The second season of HBO’s “House of the Dragon” burns its way onto Max at 9 p.m. tonight. CNN’s Brian Lowry writes that while “House of the Dragon” is not the series “Game of Thrones” was, the prequel “now mirrors its barbaric take on palace intrigue well enough to have become bloody good.” (HBO, like CNN, is a unit of Warner Bros. Discovery.)

CNN will air “Juneteenth: Celebrating Freedom and Legacy,” its third annual star-studded event celebrating the holiday, with musical performances by John Legend, Patti LaBelle and others. The special airs Wednesday at 10 p.m. ET/PT and will be simulcast on OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network.

On the big screen
“The Bikeriders” is neither a sequel to 1979’s “Breaking Away” nor a Tour de France documentary. This film about a Midwestern motorcycle club in the 1960s features Jodie Comer as Kathy, Austin Butler as Benny, and Tom Hardy as Johnny — the leader of a pack aptly named “The Vandals.” If you’re expecting the story to follow the age-old “boy joins gang, boy meets girl, boy must choose between gang and girl…” plotline, you are correct.

“The Exorcism,” likewise, is not a sequel to “The Exorcist.” Instead, it’s about an actor, played by Russell Crowe, who begins to unravel while shooting a supernatural horror film. Also, do not confuse the “The Exorcism” with “The Pope’s Exorcist,” starring Russell Crowe as an exorcist …

What’s happening in sports

At a glance …
In the NBA Finals, the Dallas Mavericks crushed the Boston Celtics `122-84 in Game 4 to stay alive in their series. Game 5 will be Monday with the Celtics trying to win their 18th championship.

In the Stanley Cup Final, the Edmonton Oilers dominated the Florida Panthers 8-1 to extend their series. Game 5 is set for Tuesday as the Panthers have a chance to claim their first title.

The final round of the US Open tees off at Pinehurst No. 2 in North Carolina. Bryson DeChambeau has a three-stroke lead heading into play today. The secret to his success might surprise you. Tiger Woods and several other big names missed the cut.

For more of your favorite sports, head on over to CNN Sports as well as Bleacher Report, which — like CNN — is owned by Warner Bros. Discovery.

Quiz time!

Looking for a challenge to start your week? Take CNN’s news quiz to see how much you remember from the week that was! So far, 73% of fellow quiz fans have gotten eight or more questions right. How will you fare?

Play me off …

‘Dancing in the Dark’
Do you remember when you first saw this video? If you do, you probably believed the story that The Boss plucked that woman at random from the audience during a concert. Ah, if only that were true. It turns out that a then-unknown actor named Courteney Cox was selected during a casting call to play the starstruck fan. That was 40 years ago, and this was last week!

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