Hurricane Debby makes landfall and U.S. markets set to open in red: Morning Rundown

Vice President Kamala Harris will tour swing states this week alongside her yet-to-be-named running mate. Hurricane Debby makes landfall in Florida as a Category 1 storm. And Noah Lyles is the world’s fastest man — by five-thousandths of a second. 

Here’s what to know today.

Harris to embark on seven-state campaign blitz with VP pick

It will be a critical week for Vice President Kamala Harris.

She will visit seven swing states over the course of five days, one of the heaviest weeks of campaign-related travel in the general election.

Harris’ team has vetted six possible contenders to be her running mate: Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz. 

The trip highlights the generational gap between Harris and President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, Democratic allies said. Harris, 59, is a generation younger than Trump, 78, and Biden, 81. In 2020, Biden was the oldest presidential winner in history. If elected, Trump would be the oldest sitting president by the end of his term.

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“I think the fact that she’s willing and able to do this many events in a small amount of time is something that can make a real difference, especially when we’re less than a hundred days out” from the election, a Democratic strategist said. Traveling for campaign events tends to create more opportunities for local media coverage and accelerate fundraising. 

Harris is expected to appear alongside her VP pick for the first time tomorrow in Philadelphia, where the pair will kick off the cross-country tour. 

More coverage: 

• The Democrats who could join Harris on the national ticket largely rose to prominence by defining themselves against Trump during his term as president.
• Harris’ campaign laid out its plan for winning over Republicans, hoping to mobilize swing-state voters who cast ballots for Nikki Haley. 

 Noah Lyles wins gold in epic photo finish 

Lyles earned his first gold medal in 9.79 seconds, which was a personal best. He edged out Jamaica’s Kishane Thompson by five-thousandths of a second, with American Fred Kerley behind in 9.81 seconds. 

Halfway through the race, Lyles was seventh in an eight-man field, chasing down Thompson, who had the fastest time in the semifinal round from earlier that day. Lyles was still unconvinced he had won the gold medal after finishing and the scoreboard offered no indication of who had won gold, silver or bronze as officials processed a photo finish.

“I didn’t do this against a slow field. I did this against the best of the best, on the biggest stage with the biggest pressure,” Lyles said. “And seeing that name, I was like, ‘Oh, my gosh, there it is.’” It was so close that Kerley said “whoever dipped at the line, they won that race.”

According to Olympic rules and regulations, the first athlete whose torso reaches the closest edge of the finish line is the winner. That means the trunk of the body is what counts, as opposed to the head, limbs or feet. Lyles became the world’s fast man— thanks to the positioning of his body as he crossed the finish line.

Watch the historic photo finish race here. 

Stream every moment and every medal of the 2024 Paris Olympics on Peacock.

Read more:

🤸 Simone Biles will compete in her final two events today. Track and field holds four medal events and surfing will finally have its medal day. Follow our live blog for continuous coverage. 

🥇 Katie Ledecky won her ninth gold and 14th overall medal Saturday, taking the 800-meter freestyle and concluding her fourth Olympic Games in style.

🏃‍♀️ Julien Alfred won the first Olympic medal in any sport for Saint Lucia on Saturday when she took gold in the women’s 100-meter final. Sha’Carri Richardson came in second.

🏊‍♂️ Bobby Finke and the U.S. women set world records in the 1,500-meter freestyle and the 4×100-meter medley yesterday, rounding out the events on the top step after a relative collapse in dominance for U.S. swimming. 

🏀 Former college basketball star and NBA veteran Jimmer Fredette tore ligaments playing for Team USA’s 3×3 Olympic team and will be sidelined for about six months.

▶️ Watch top highlights

• Novak Djokovic won the Golden Slam
• High jumper Yaroslava Mahuchikh claims Ukraine’s first individual Olympic gold
• Julien Alfred made history, wins gold as St. Lucia’s first medal 
• Kristen Faulkner was not supposed to go to the Olympics. She won gold.

Debby makes landfall in Florida as a Category 1 hurricane 

Hurricane Debby has made landfall in Florida’s Big Bend as a Category 1 hurricane. The National Hurricane Center said to expect life-threatening storm surges in Florida and major flooding across southeastern states.

Debby had sustained wind speeds of 80mph, but is expected to weaken after it moves inland to southern Georgia. Rain between 6 and 12 inches is expected and portions of southeast Georgia and South Carolina could see up to 30 inches in some areas, the hurricane center said. 

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis compared the storm’s path to last year’s Hurricane Idalia, a Category 4 storm that caused severe damage in north Florida. 

Follow Hurricane Debby’s path here, and follow our blog for live updates. 

Fears of a U.S. recession spark global market sell-off

U.S. stocks are on course to open in the red this morning, after Japanese stocks suffered their worst day of trading since the 1980s and a global equities sell-off intensified over fears of a U.S. economic slowdown.

The Nikkei’s 12.4% fall marked the worst day for the Japanese index since 1987’s “Black Monday” — the sudden and unexpected stock market crash that raised fears of a depression. Most major indices in Europe were most recently between 2% and 3% down, with the Stoxx Europe 600, Europe’s benchmark stock index, falling 2.2%. 

All of that follows on from brutal Friday trading, when a much weaker than expected U.S. jobs report made worse a market sell-off that has been underway for some weeks now, although some indexes, such as the Nasdaq, are coming off recent record highs. 

Israel bracing for attack after assassinations in Beirut and Tehran

Israel is bracing for a potential multiday attack by Iran and its ally Hezbollah following the assassination of two senior militant leaders last week, an Israeli official told NBC News. The official said Israel fears waves of missiles and drones could be fired over several days in response to the killing of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh and Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr.

This tension marks yet another escalation in the Middle East during the 10 months of the Israel-Hamas war, characterized by a series of heightened stress points amid worries that an all-out regional conflict is on the horizon.

Politics in Brief

 Election 2024: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. posted a video saying he abandoned a young dead bear in Central Park. 

Arizona Senate: Kari Lake, Arizona’s GOP Senate candidate, challenged her competitor, Rep. Ruben Gallego to a debate which he has agreed to, but now Lake is backpedaling away from the traditional format. 

Michigan laws: A political action committee backed by billionaire Elon Musk is being investigated by the Michigan secretary of state’s office amid efforts to collect voter data.

Supreme Court: Justice Neil Gorsuch warned President Biden to “to be careful” with Supreme Court reforms in an interview with Fox News. 

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Staff Pick: ‘Vacationland’ needs more housesMaine’s tourism economy is thriving (“As good as the Clinton years,” one pleasure boat captain said), but housing costs are putting a strain on the people who keep businesses humming. That’s what senior business correspondent Christine Romans found when she teamed up with Donovan Lynch, a reporter at NBC’s affiliate station in Portland. Without enough affordable housing along the state’s picturesque midcoast, some business owners who want to expand their operations are renting out places to their own staffers — or putting them up for free — aboard the very boats and in the hotels where they’re paid to cook and clean.

— Rich Bellis, senior business and innovation editor

NBC Select: Online Shopping, Simplified

 The summer heat can leave you feeling sweaty and sticky, but these products could help. Have you seen TikTok users putting micellar water on their hair? Dermatologists say it might actually work. One NBC Select editor swears by this rechargeable neck fan to help keep her breezy all while being hands-free. And for a towel that keeps you cool after an outdoor workout, look for PVA — here’s what it does and a few options to shop.

Sign up to The Selection newsletter for hands-on product reviews, expert shopping tips and a look at the best deals and sales each week. 

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