6 AM ET: Biden's critical week, Beryl hits Texas, French elections shock & more - CNN 5 Things - Podcast on CNN Audio (2024)

Episode Transcript

Hello! From CNN I'm Jo Beck with the 5 things you need to know for Monday, July 8th.

It's going to be a critical week for President Joe Biden, as the number of Democrats calling for him to step out of the 2024 race is growing. Sources told CNN that in a call yesterday, at least six House lawmakers from the party told Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries that Biden needs to drop out after his poor debate performance two weeks ago. CNN's Arlette Saenz has more.

Now, it all presents a very interesting dynamic for President Biden, especially as Congress is set to return to Washington this week. So much of the debate about President Biden remaining in the 2024 race has played out, while lawmakers have been back at home over the 4th of July holiday hearing directly from their members. But this week, they will be back here in Washington in front of reporters, holding meetings of their own, where certainly this issue of the 2024 campaign will arise. Now, President Biden is still charging ahead with his campaign campaigning in the battleground of Pennsylvania on Sunday. Joining him on the trail, several elected officials from Pennsylvania, the campaign really hoping that this will show some elected officials who are still supporting President Biden, who are out there campaigning with him.

This week also brings a chance for Biden to show his foreign affairs strengths on the global stage as he hosts NATO leaders for a summit in D.C..

Baryl has strengthened to a category one hurricane and made landfall in southern Texas. The National Hurricane Center said it had winds of 80 miles an hour when it hit near Matagorda Beach this morning. It's expected to bring heavy rainfall, storm surge, tornadoes and gusty wind as it moves inland, but is forecast to quickly weaken to a tropical storm. Authorities are warning people not to leave their homes.

Just know it's going to be wet, it's going to be windy and it's going to be dangerous. Do not go out between 12 midnight and 12 noon.

Beryl killed at least nine people last week when it struck the Caribbean islands and Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula.

'Boeing has agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy to defraud the U.S. and pay up to $487 million in fines to avoid prosecution by the Justice Department. But the so-called sweetheart deal has been criticized by the families of the victims of two fatal. 737 Max crashes, and the fine is just a fraction of the $24.8 billion they wanted Boeing to pay. As part of the deal, the company will have to operate under the oversight of an independent monitor for three years that's chosen by the government. The guilty plea is a further blow to Boeing's reputation, which has been badly damaged in recent years by the 2018 and 2019 crashes, which killed 346 people. In a brief statement after the court filing on Sunday, Boeing said it had reached an agreement in principle with the Justice Department, subject to, quote, "approval of specific terms.".

A left wing alliance has made a surprise win in France's elections. It was the second round of voting for the country's parliament, after the first round showed a strong lead by far right parties that were expected to get a majority in yesterday's polls. Instead, they came in third behind both the left wing Alliance and a centrist one led by President Emmanuel Macron's party. But as no one bloc has a majority, Sebastien Maillard from the Jacques Delors Institute tells CNN, there's no clear path forward.

I predict many power struggles between both blocs to see who is able to get a majority and also inside the blocs.

Coming up after years of speculation about Paramount's fate, the media company is merging.

Paramount Global is merging with Skydance Media. The announcement ends years of speculation about the fate of the media giant behind CBS, MTV and one of Hollywood's most storied film studios. The deal was announced late last night and comes after years of Paramount struggling as people moved away from cable television in favor of streaming services. The company already has a relationship with Skydance after working together on blockbusters like Top Gun Maverick and the latest Mission Impossible films.

That's all for now. I'll be back with more stories at 9 a.m. eastern.