Start your week smart: Baltimore mass shooting, Supreme Court rulings, protests in France

By CNN Newsource

Published July 2, 2023 7:54 AM

By Andrew Torgan and Daniel Wine, CNN

(CNN) — We’ve got some good news this Fourth of July weekend if you’re planning a big cookout: Overall prices for foods typically found at such gatherings are down slightly from last year’s record high.

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

The weekend that was

• An 18-year-old woman and a 20-year-old man were killed and 28 others injured in a mass shooting at a Baltimore block party, officials said. Mayor Brandon Scott described the incident as a “reckless, cowardly act.”
• The Supreme Court blocked the Biden administration’s student loan forgiveness plan, rejecting a program aimed at delivering up to $20,000 of relief to millions of borrowers. The court also limited LGBTQ protections by ruling in favor of a Christian web designer who refuses to create websites to celebrate same-sex weddings.
• The mayor of a Paris suburb said his home was attacked, calling it “an assassination attempt” on his family amid ongoing unrest in the country. France has been rocked by protests after a 17-year-old boy was shot and killed by a police officer in Nanterre.
• A union representing about 160,000 actors has put plans to go on strike against major studios and streaming services on hold. The contract had been due to expire at midnight Friday but was extended until July 12 as negotiations continue.
• Fox News will pay $12 million to settle a pair of major lawsuits brought by former producer Abby Grossberg. She had accused the network of pressuring her into giving false testimony in the Dominion Voting Systems defamation case, and of fostering a deeply misogynist workplace.

The week ahead

Monday
Many people in the US will be enjoying the third day of a four-day weekend as most offices will be closed. Wall Street, however, will be open for business — at least for half a day of what’s expected to be light trading. All US financial markets will close at 1 p.m. ET.

Tuesday
July 4 is Independence Day. All the usual suspects — banks, the Postal Service, non-essential government offices and most businesses — will be closed. Restaurants and retailers are typically the exceptions, although if you need to run out at the last minute for a jumbo pack of hot dogs, don’t go to Costco. It will be closed.

The day also marks one year since the mass shooting along a July Fourth parade route in Highland Park, Illinois, that left seven dead and dozens more injured. The suspect pleaded not guilty last August to 117 criminal charges, including 21 counts of first-degree murder — three counts for each deceased victim.

Wednesday
A sentencing hearing for the gunman who pleaded guilty to killing 23 people and injuring dozens more at an El Paso Walmart in 2019 is set to begin and is expected to last several days to allow for victim impact statements. The shooter will likely be given 90 consecutive life sentences for one of the deadliest attacks on Latinos in modern US history.

Thursday
Walt Nauta, the aide charged alongside former President Donald Trump for the alleged mishandling of classified documents from the White House, is set to be arraigned in Miami. Nauta was expected to be arraigned last week, but his hearing was rescheduled after his flight to Florida was canceled due to storms. Nauta faces six counts, including several obstruction and concealment-related charges. He is expected to plead not guilty.

Friday
The June jobs report caps off the holiday-shortened week, with economists waiting to see if the labor market can once again exceed expectations. The US added a hefty 339,000 jobs in May, although there was also a sizable jump in the unemployment rate, which rose to 3.7% from 3.4%.

One Thing: What is Russia after the rebellion?
In this week’s One Thing podcast, CNN senior international correspondent Matthew Chance checks in from Moscow to examine what comes next for Russia and President Vladimir Putin after a brief rebellion led by Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin. Listen for more.

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
CNN’s “The Fourth in America” special will air live on Tuesday from 7 p.m. ET to 1 a.m. ET. The event will feature fireworks shows and performances from Post Malone, Demi Lovato, Zac Brown Band, Leon Bridges, Sheryl Crow, Darius Rucker and other artists.

Music
Taylor Swift’s “Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)” drops on Friday. Swift has been on a yearslong journey to rerecord new versions of her first six albums, calling them “Taylor’s Version” albums, after her former label Big Machine sold the master recordings of her catalog in 2019.

What’s happening in sports

At a glance …
Wimbledon, one of the four Grand Slam tournaments in tennis, officially gets underway on Monday at the All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club in London. Men’s No. 2 seed Novak Djokovic will be seeking his fifth straight Wimbledon singles title, while women’s No. 3 seed Elena Rybakina looks to defend her crown.

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

Quiz time!

Looking for a challenge over the holiday weekend? Take CNN’s special edition Independence Day Quiz! Test your knowledge of American history and the Fourth of July. So far, 49% of fellow quiz fans have gotten eight or more questions right. How will you fare?

Play me off …

‘America the Beautiful’
While Ray Charles’ version brings the house down, Alan Jackson’s gentle rendition has its heart in the right place.
(Click here to view)

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