By A series of coordinated arson attacks disrupts travel before today’s opening ceremony. Barack Obama endorses Kamala Harris for president. And Elon Musk’s daughter responds to his comments about her transgender identity.
Here’s what to know today.
‘Massive attack’ on French rail network disrupts travel hours before the most ambitious opening ceremony yet
In the 128-year history of the modern Olympiad, there’s never been an opening quite like today’s.
Rather than parade inside a stadium, around 10,500 athletes will sail in a 3½-mile flotilla of 94 boats down Paris’ iconic Seine. It could be a blockbuster return for the summer sporting festival, which will host spectators for the first time in eight years after the coronavirus-plagued days of Tokyo in 2021.
France has heightened its security ahead of the games, following a terrorist attack in Moscow in April. “Security is a perennial concern for any large international or global gathering, so when you’re talking about the Olympics, security concerns tend to be extraordinarily vivid,” one of France’s top terrorism experts said.
Those fears came into focus hours before the festivities started when France’s state-owned high-speed rail network was hit with “several simultaneous” arson attacks disrupting travel for 800,000 people, the government operator SNCF said.
Prime Minister Gabriel Attal said the country’s intelligence services and law enforcement agencies had been mobilized to track down suspects after “acts of sabotage” caused “massive and serious” problems on several lines of the national rail network.
The almost 600 athletes on Team USA comprise a talent-loaded roster, with women outnumbering men 314 to 278. American supporters will be eager to see if returning superstars such as Katie Ledecky and Simone Biles can add to their medal hauls in swimming and gymnastics, and whether LeBron James and Steph Curry will lead Team USA to victory over tough international talent. There are plenty of new faces, too, including gymnast Hezly Rivera and runner Nikki Hiltz.
Organizers say Paris will provide an unforgettable backdrop to the Olympics, with events interspersed among its iconic landmarks. The arrival of Celine Dion and Lady Gaga has led to speculation that they could even take the stage today. 👀
Watch top moments from Paris
More Olympics news:
- Canada’s women’s soccer team will be without its head coach after she was suspended amid drone-spying allegations in the opening days of the Paris Games.
Obama endorses Harris for president
Former President Barack Obama endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris for president today, days after President Joe Biden’s exit from the race.
Obama, the first Black president, and Harris, who could become the first woman president, have been in close touch since she announced her candidacy and he has privately been fully supportive, according to four people familiar with their discussions, NBC News previously reported. Aides to Obama and Harris have talked about the two appearing together on the campaign trail at some point, according to three people familiar with the discussions.
“Michelle and I couldn’t be prouder to endorse you and to do everything we can to get you through this election and into the Oval Office,” Obama said in a video that shows Harris receiving a call from the couple.
More on the 2024 election:
- Harris said she urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to reach a cease-fire deal soon with Hamas and expressed deep concern about the high death toll in Gaza.
- Former DOJ officials warned in a letter obtained by NBC News that the future of democracy is “at stake in this election,” and said Harris is “the best choice” to defeat former President Donald Trump.
- Trump has been going after Harris on immigration as a “border czar,” and her campaign is pushing back on the title.
- Follow NBC News’ latest live election coverage here.
Elon Musk’s transgender daughter says he berated her for being queer as a child
Vivian Jenna Wilson, the transgender daughter of Elon Musk, said in her first public interview that he was an absent father who was cruel to her as a child for being queer and feminine.
Wilson told NBC News in an exclusive interview that for as long as she could remember, Musk hasn’t been a supportive father, and that he was rarely present in her life. Wilson responded to comments Musk made about her on a recent podcast, saying she was “not a girl,” and that he had been “tricked” into authorizing gender-affirming medical treatment for her when she was 16. Wilson said Musk knew what he was doing when he agreed to her treatment.
Wilson said that when she was a child, Musk would harass her for exhibiting feminine traits and pressure her to appear more masculine, pushing her to deepen her voice as early as elementary school. She said that she hadn’t spoken to Musk in about four years and that she refused to be defined by him.
Son of ‘El Chapo’ and Sinaloa cartel co-founder ‘El Mayo’ arrested in Texas
The son of jailed Sinaloa cartel boss Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán Loera and a cartel co-founder who helped lead it for three decades were arrested yesterday in El Paso, Texas, Attorney General Merrick Garland said.
Joaquín Guzmán López and Sinaloa cartel co-founder Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada García have both been indicted in the U.S., and they face “multiple charges” in connection with the Mexico-based criminal organization, “including its deadly fentanyl manufacturing and trafficking networks,” Garland said in a statement.
The crime kingpin known as “El Chapo” was arrested in Mexico and extradited to the U.S. and is serving a sentence of life plus 30 years that was handed down in New York in 2019.
Harvey Weinstein hospitalized with Covid and double pneumonia, his team says
Former Hollywood movie mogul Harvey Weinstein who has been in prison following a sexual assault conviction, tested positive for Covid and double pneumonia, according to a representative. Weinstein was taken to Bellevue Hospital’s prison ward, where he was hospitalized for a “myriad of health conditions” that affect him “on a daily basis such as diabetes, high blood pressure, spinal stenosis, fluid on his heart and lungs, and various other conditions,” said his representative and prison consultant, Craig Rothfield.
Weinstein was convicted in New York and Los Angeles of sex offenses, and in the Los Angeles case he was sentenced to 16 years in prison. Weinstein was sentenced to 23 years in New York, but that 2020 conviction was overturned in April.
Politics in Brief
Giuliani’s bankruptcy case: A New York judge said he might reconsider his decision to dismiss Rudy Giuliani’s bankruptcy case, because he hasn’t paid the required administrative expenses tied to the case.
Supreme Court: Gov. Gavin Newsom ordered state agencies to remove homeless encampments from public properties in one of the most sweeping reactions to a U.S. Supreme Court ruling allowing such bans.
Assassination attempt: House Speaker Mike Johnson pushed back against FBI Director Christopher Wray’s testimony that Trump may not have been hit directly with a bullet during the attempt on his life.
Staff Pick: Budget pain points and rising prices
Nancy Breland was dreaming of a comfortable retirement after a decadeslong career as a hospital medical technologist, while her husband worked as a union pipe fitter. But at 72, she is left under increasing pressure as rising prices eat into her fixed income, stuck unable to afford outside help to take care of her ill husband. The latest in NBC News’ Checkbook Chronicles is a sobering read on the financial reality of getting older in 2024.
— Nick Duffy, platforms editor
NBC Select: Online Shopping, Simplified
Planning an “everything” shower this weekend? NBC Select editors rounded up the best razors, face washes and moisturizers to get you started.
In Case You Missed It
- The FDA issued a new alert about lead contamination in another cinnamon product.
- A Texas man went missing more than a decade ago from the same Bahamas yoga retreat where a Chicago woman disappeared last month.
- New research shows how bird flu has spread efficiently among mammals, leading to experts worrying it could one day transmit from person to person.
- Hollywood video game performers voted to go on strike, citing concerns over AI in a proposed new contract.
Thanks for reading the Morning Rundown. Today’s newsletter was curated for you by Elizabeth Both.
