Ben Crump’s mission, bogus narrative, brain trauma: Catch up on the day’s stories

By Daniel Wine, CNN

👋 Welcome to 5 Things PM! George Santos is in hot water again — this time for insider trading. The former Republican congressman just became the first person to receive a lifetime ban from the prediction market platform Kalshi.

Here’s what else you might have missed during your busy day.

5 things

1️⃣ Racial justice

Civil rights attorney Ben Crump built a career demanding answers. Nolan Wells’ death during a July Fourth outing in Mississippi has put his mission — and methods — back under a microscope.

➕ Lindsay Clancy trial: What the jury is weighing

➕ Tupac’s murder trial: Jury begins deliberations

2️⃣ A bogus narrative

President Donald Trump keeps trying to preemptively blame congressional Republicans if they lose big in the 2026 midterms. CNN’s Aaron Blake says he’s making an argument that’s flat-out wrong.

🏗️ Just in: Supreme Court allows Trump to continue building White House ballroom

🗳️ Sign up: Introducing CNN’s 20/26 Vision midterms newsletter

3️⃣ Brain trauma

New and startling research revealed that as many as one in four NFL players could end up with CTE. Maura Horton explains what it’s like to live with — and lose — a loved one to the degenerative disease.

4️⃣ Back from the brink

Deep in a swampy forest lives a species of monkey that scientists didn’t discover until 1993. Less than two decades later, roughly 90% of the population had vanished. Now, a conservationist is helping to rescue them from near-extinction.

5️⃣ ‘Ripped from the headlines’

From “Furious” to “Industry” and “Scoop,” Jeffrey Epstein-inspired stories about billionaire predators are having a moment.

Watch this

🐦 For the birds: Forget cheesesteaks. After rescuing a sick pigeon, a Philadelphia couple turned their newfound passion into a weekly tour.

Top headlines

• Floodwater ‘like liquid cement’ as death toll in Nepal climbs
• Tropical depression forms in the Gulf, heads for Texas and Louisiana coasts
• Lionel Messi announces he is retiring from Argentina’s national team

Check this out

🛀 Steam and sweat: Steeped in history, Istanbul’s public baths blend architecture, tradition and relaxation. Here’s what it’s like inside.

For CNN subscribers

• A uniquely bipartisan backlash against data centers shakes up the midterms
• His family long wondered what happened to the World War II veteran who vanished in 1965. Then the FBI knocked on the door
• A mysterious drone. A Mercedes RV. A Chinese intelligence puzzle in the New Mexico desert

Quiz time

🖼️ Which museum just canceled plans to honor controversial British designer John Galliano?

A. Tate Modern

B. Louvre Museum

C. British Museum

D. Metropolitan Museum of Art

⬇️ Scroll down for the answer.

Thanks for reading

✅ Most popular in Friday’s newsletter: Analysis: The problems with Trump’s ranking of the presidents

🧠 Quiz answer: D. Galliano will no longer be the subject of an exhibit linked to the Met Gala after a growing outcry over his past antisemitic comments.

👋 We’ll see you tomorrow.

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Today’s edition of 5 Things PM was edited and produced by CNN’s Kimberly Richardson and Gina Park.