1 big thing

Summer is unofficially here, with people across the country going out, traveling, and dropping masks more than in months past. But case numbers over Memorial Day weekend were almost 6 times higher than at this time last year, and COVID vaccines aren't keeping up with the new variants that just keep coming.

Guests: Dr. Celine Gounder, editor-at-large for public health at Kaiser Health News and Axios' Hope King.

Credits: Axios Today is produced by Niala Boodhoo, Erica Pandey, Sara Kehaulani Goo, Alexandra Botti, Nuria Marquez Martinez, Alex Sugiura, and Lydia McMullen-Laird. Music is composed by Evan Viola. You can reach us at [email protected]. You can text questions, comments and story ideas to Niala as a text or voice memo to 202-918-4893.

Go deeper:

A sweltering heat wave has made its way across the country over the past week, in a reminder of the drastic effects of climate change that just keep getting worse. Now cities are looking for new ways to keep people cool.

Guests: Axios' Jennifer Kingson and Emily Peck.

Credits: Axios Today is produced by Niala Boodhoo, Sara Kehaulani Goo, Alexandra Botti, Nuria Marquez Martinez, Alex Sugiura, and Lydia McMullen-Laird. Music is composed by Evan Viola. You can reach us at [email protected]. You can text questions, comments and story ideas to Niala as a text or voice memo to 202-918-4893.

Go deeper:

As with virtually everything in the Senate these days, Democrat Joe Manchin of West Virginia holds a lot of power. As he engages in talks on climate and deficit reduction with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, could he also play a role in gun reform?

• Plus, what new details on George Floyd’s life reveal about the U.S. past and present.

Guests: Axios' Hans Nichols; Robert Samuels, National Enterprise Reporter at The Washington Post

Credits: Axios Today is produced by Niala Boodhoo, Sara Kehaulani Goo, Alexandra Botti, Nuria Marquez Martinez, Alex Sugiura, and Lydia McMullen-Laird. Music is composed by Evan Viola. You can reach us at [email protected]. You can text questions, comments and story ideas to Niala as a text or voice memo to 202-918-4893.

Go Deeper:

Could Uvalde be the mass shooting that spurs U.S. lawmakers to action that would prevent massacres like Tuesdays? It's a question many are asking this week, and Axios congressional reporter Alayna Treen says there are a few reasons to think this time might be different.

• Plus, Blinken’s China warning.

Guests: Axios' Alayna Treene and Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian.

Credits: Axios Today is produced by Niala Boodhoo, Sara Kehaulani Goo, Alexandra Botti, Nuria Marquez Martinez, Alex Sugiura, and Lydia McMullen-Laird. Music is composed by Evan Viola. You can reach us at [email protected]. You can text questions, comments and story ideas to Niala as a text or voice memo to 202-918-4893.

Go Deeper:

We now have names and photos of most of the victims murdered on Tuesday at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. The majority of those killed were around 10 years old. Parents around the country are dealing with the horrific news, and it’s spurring some to action.

• Plus, can tech companies do better at helping to prevent mass shootings?

Guests: Axios' Sophia Cai and Ashley Gold; Axios Today listeners

Credits: Axios Today is produced by Niala Boodhoo, Sara Kehaulani Goo, Alexandra Botti, Nuria Marquez Martinez, Alex Sugiura, and Lydia McMullen-Laird. Music is composed by Evan Viola. You can reach us at [email protected]. You can text questions, comments and story ideas to Niala as a text or voice memo to 202-918-4893.

Go Deeper:

19 children and at least 2 adults are dead after a mass shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas. Almost 10 years after Sandy Hook, and just 11 days after the mass shooting in Buffalo New York, the nation is forced into mourning and outrage again.

Guests: Axios' Astrid Galván and Margaret Talev.

Credits: Axios Today is produced by Niala Boodhoo, Sara Kehaulani Goo, Alexandra Botti, Nuria Marquez Martinez, Alex Sugiura, and Lydia McMullen-Laird. Music is composed by Evan Viola. You can reach us at [email protected]. You can text questions, comments and story ideas to Niala as a text or voice memo to 202-918-4893.

Go Deeper:

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke yesterday at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Axios’ Jonathan Swan interviewed President Zelensky via Zoom, in an Axios exclusive.

• Plus, the U.S. is negotiating a deal among Saudi Arabia, Israel and Egypt.

Guests: Axios' Dave Lawler and Barak Ravid.

Credits: Axios Today is produced by Niala Boodhoo, Sara Kehaulani Goo, Alexandra Botti, Nuria Marquez Martinez, Alex Sugiura, and Lydia McMullen-Laird. Music is composed by Evan Viola. You can reach us at [email protected]. You can text questions, comments and story ideas to Niala as a text or voice memo to 202-918-4893.

Go Deeper:

• Zelensky zooms out

Ukrainian Corporal Andrii Shadrin and news producer Kateryna Malofieieva are at the heart of the conflict between Ukraine and Russia. Both are based in the Donbas, a region that’s been partially controlled by pro-Russian separatists since 2014. The battle for the Donbas is critical to the outcome of this war. And in the meantime, Andrii and Kateryna’s families are being torn apart.

Guests: Ukrainian Cpl. Andrii Shadrin; news producer Kateryna Malofieieva; Axios' Dave Lawler and Matt Phillips.

Credits: Axios Today is produced by Niala Boodhoo, Sara Kehaulani Goo, Alexandra Botti, Nuria Marquez Martinez, Alex Sugiura, and Lydia McMullen-Laird. Music is composed by Evan Viola. You can reach us at [email protected]. You can text questions, comments and story ideas to Niala as a text or voice memo to 202-918-4893.

Go Deeper:

The Department of the Interior released a report showing that between 1819 and 1969, hundreds of Native American children died while in the federal Indian boarding school system. The probe takes a deep look at the systemic way in which the US government forced indigenous families to assimilate, often through widespread abuse.

Guests: Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Indian Affairs, Bryan Newland.

Credits: Axios Today is produced by Niala Boodhoo, Sara Kehaulani Goo, Alexandra Botti, Nuria Marquez Martinez, Alex Sugiura, and Lydia McMullen-Laird. Music is composed by Evan Viola. You can reach us at [email protected]. You can text questions, comments and story ideas to Niala as a text or voice memo to 202-918-4893.

Go Deeper:

Title 42 is set to come to an end in four days. That's the pandemic-era CDC policy that allowed officials at the border to turn migrants and asylum seekers away because of public health concerns. But last month, a federal judge stopped the Biden administration from winding down this border policy and its fate is uncertain.

For now, lawmakers, asylum lawyers, and non-profits along the border continue to prepare for the expected surge that would accompany the end of this policy, whether it happens next week or months from now.

Guests: Michelle Hackman, immigration reporter for The Wall Street Journal; and Axios' Asher Price.

Credits: Axios Today is produced by Niala Boodhoo, Sara Kehaulani Goo, Alexandra Botti, Nuria Marquez Martinez, Alex Sugiura, and Lydia McMullen-Laird. Music is composed by Evan Viola. You can reach us at [email protected]. You can text questions, comments and story ideas to Niala as a text or voice memo to 202-918-4893.

Go Deeper: