Today's Headlines: Trump signed an executive order overriding the CDC's vaccine schedule authority, requiring the MMR vaccine to be broken into three separate shots at separate visits — while claiming he broke up his own kids' vaccines into five stops because he's "seen proof" that vaccines cause autism, which he described as a soda bottle poured into a child's body. Trump also admitted there was "some contractor error" with the reflecting pool while continuing to accuse a former Olympian of vandalism even though charges were dropped, and appointed a Project 2025 co-author as inspector general of the department that will review the reflecting pool renovation. On the tech beat, Meta and TikTok lost their attempt to dismiss thousands of lawsuits claiming their platforms are deliberately addictive and harmful to teenagers. Mark Zuckerberg responded to the cultural moment by releasing a 6,500-word AI manifesto arguing everyone's concerns are overblown and America needs to beat China anyway. Meanwhile, Bernie Sanders sent a strongly worded letter urging OpenAI, Anthropic, and Meta to pause AI development, citing all three companies reporting their own models going rogue in recent weeks and a petition signed by over 1,200 AI employees calling for an international safety framework. In scary weather news, July 2026 was the hottest month ever recorded in the United States going back to 1895, with NOAA forecasting more of the same through August. Finally, a 7.4 magnitude earthquake — the strongest recorded in the 21st century — hit Colombia and Ecuador, killing at least 111 people with many still missing.
Resources/Articles mentioned:
The Guardian: Trump signs order attempting to override CDC vaccine schedule and break up MMR shots
The Hill: Trump says there was ‘some contractor error’ during Reflecting Pool renovation
WaPo: Trump nominates loyalist to office that would oversee Reflecting Pool review
WaPo: Patriot Games open with dodgeball, lots of MAGA caps and even more questions
Axios: Meta, others lose appeal to drop thousands of social media addiction lawsuits
Axios: Zuckerberg: AI's biggest risk is one entity with too much control
Axios: Exclusive: Sanders calls for AI development pause
Axios: The U.S. just had its hottest month on record
AP News: 7.4 magnitude quake strikes western Colombia, killing scores of people
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