Start your week smart: Heat and flooding, Supreme Court gun ruling, Arkansas shooting, Paul Whelan, Washington Post turmoil

By CNN Newsource

Published June 23, 2024 7:01 AM

By Andrew Torgan and Daniel Wine, CNN

(CNN) — The birth of the American mall in the 1950s ushered in a new era of shopping. But have you ever wondered why malls don’t have windows? It’s all part of a carefully constructed strategy to get people to stay longer and spend more.

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

The weekend that was

• Millions of people across the US are still trudging through a record-setting heat wave that is shifting to the Mid-Atlantic, while many Americans – including in New Mexico, Iowa, Minnesota and South Dakota – contend with “catastrophic” flash flooding this weekend.
• The Supreme Court upheld a federal law that bars guns for domestic abusers, rejecting an argument pressed by gun rights groups that the prohibition violated the Second Amendment. The 8-1 decision limited the scope of a blockbuster ruling the justices handed down just two years ago.
• A fourth victim died following a shooting at a grocery store in Arkansas, authorities said, as police continued to investigate the attack. A man opened fire at the Mad Butcher in Fordyce, killing four people and wounding nine others.
• Detained American Paul Whelan marked another grim milestone this week as he surpassed 2,000 days in Russian custody and urged the Biden administration to take “decisive action” to bring him and American journalist Evan Gershkovich home.
• The Washington Post said that Robert Winnett, the British journalist who had been slated to take over as the newspaper’s top editor, will no longer join the publication that has been ensnared in a weekslong crisis over ethics questions.

The week ahead

Monday
June 24 marks two years since the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision that overturned Roe v. Wade, ending the constitutional right to an abortion and setting off a fierce fight for reproductive rights at the state level. Here’s what has happened since then.

Tuesday
Four states will hold nonpresidential primaries: Colorado, New York, South Carolina (runoff) and Utah. In Colorado, there will also be a special election to fill the seat of Republican Rep. Ken Buck, who resigned from Congress in March. Buck, a hardline conservative who clashed with his own party at times, told CNN at the time that Congress “has just devolved into this bickering and nonsense and not really doing the job for the American people.” The candidates in the special election will not be running for a full term, however, and will instead complete Buck’s unexpired term.

Wednesday
Gershkovich will stand trial behind closed doors in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg, the state-run news agency TASS reported last week, citing the court’s press service. Gershkovich, 32, has been imprisoned since he was arrested on a reporting trip in March 2023 by Russia’s federal security service, which accused him of trying to obtain state secrets. Gershkovich, the US government and his employer, the Wall Street Journal, have vehemently denied the charges against him. If convicted, Gershkovich faces up to 20 years in prison.

Thursday
The first presidential debate of the 2024 election cycle will air on CNN and be hosted by Jake Tapper and Dana Bash in Atlanta. President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump are set to make history in the first presidential debate between an incumbent and a former president. It will also be the first debate since 2020 featuring either Biden, who did not face a serious challenge for the Democratic nomination, or Trump, who skipped those held during the Republican primary race. The 90-minute showdown will begin at 9 p.m. ET. Read about the debate parameters agreed upon by the Trump and Biden campaigns — and who will get the last word.

Friday
Iran will hold a presidential election following the helicopter crash that killed President Ebrahim Raisi and other officials last month. Out of 80 initial candidates, only six individuals were approved in a vetting process by Iran’s Guardian Council, a powerful 12-member body charged with overseeing elections and legislation. There were four women on the longer list but none were approved. The slate includes hardline parliament speaker and former Revolutionary Guards commander Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf and Saeed Jalili, ex-chief nuclear negotiator and former head of the Supreme National Security Council, Iran’s top security body.

One Thing: Skills over degrees
In today’s “One Thing” podcast, CNN’s Athena Jones takes us inside a movement aimed at diversifying the workforce by prioritizing skills over college degrees. 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
“Land of Women” lands on Apple TV+ on Wednesday. The six-episode dramedy series stars Eva Longoria as Gala, a New York empty-nester whose life is turned upside down when her husband implicates the family in financial improprieties and she is forced to flee the country alongside her aging mother (Carmen Maura) and teenage daughter (Victoria Bazúa).

You can’t spell CBS without C-S-I … “The Real CSI: Miami” premieres Wednesday. The true-crime series follows in the (bloody) footsteps of the original CSI franchise.

Season 3 of FX’s “The Bear” arrives Thursday on Hulu. Jeremy Allen White returns as Carmy and Ayo Edebiri returns as Sydney, Carmy’s sous chef. Ebon Moss-Bachrach — who wears suits now — also returns as Richie. Fans of the Emmy Award-winning show who devour it like potato chips (you can’t eat just one) will be pleased to learn that all 10 episodes of the season will drop at midnight.

In theaters
The first film in Kevin Costner’s epic four-part Western “Horizon: An American Saga” rides onto the big screen Friday. Costner co-wrote, produced, directed and co-stars in the movie, which is set around the time of the Civil War. The second “chapter” hits theaters on August 16. (“Horizon: An American Saga” is distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, which, like CNN, is a unit of Warner Bros. Discovery.)

“A Quiet Place: Day One,” the latest installment of the “Quiet Place” films, stars Lupita Nyong’o, Joseph Quinn, Djimon Hounsou and Alex Wolff. “Day One” follows what happens on the first day the aliens, who hunt by sound, come to Earth and invade New York City. (Why is it almost always New York that gets trashed? What’s wrong with, say, the Midwest?)

What’s happening in sports

At a glance …
Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever square off against Angel Reese and the Chicago Sky this afternoon in what is shaping up to be the most expensive WNBA game ever, with seats going for up to $9,000. It’s the third time this season that Clark and Reese have met in the WNBA. Previous matchups between the former college rivals have been close, physical battles that have sparked national attention and record TV ratings.

The Olympic trials continue today with US athletes hoping to punch their tickets to Paris next month. Track and field, diving and swimming trials are scheduled throughout the day.

The 111th edition of the Tour de France begins Saturday in Florence, Italy. The world’s most prestigious bicycle race lasts for three weeks and covers more than 2,100 miles. This year, the race will finish in Nice, France, as Paris is hosting the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

In the Stanley Cup Final, the Edmonton Oilers have all the momentum after cruising to a 5-1 victory over the Florida Panthers in Game 6. That sets up a winner-take-all Game 7 on Monday night. The Panthers led the series 3-0, but the Oilers have won three in a row.

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!

It’s the first weekend of summer! Take CNN’s Summer Quiz to see how much you know about summertime facts and traditions. So far, only 17% of fellow quiz fans have gotten eight or more questions right. How will you fare?

Play me off …

‘All Night Long’
Music legend Lionel Richie celebrated his 75th birthday last week. No word on whether his party did indeed last all night long … (Click here to view)

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