On the version of Hot off the Wire posted July 12 at 7:45 a.m. CT:

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden used his closely watched anticipated news conference Thursday to deliver a forceful defense of his foreign and domestic policies, and batted away questions about his ability to serve another four years. Biden says: “I’m not in this for my legacy. I’m in this to complete the job I started.” He made one notable flub when he bobbled a reference to Vice President Kamala Harris. But for an hour he largely held his own under intense questioning, eschewing any suggestion that he was in decline, no longer capable of leading the nation and too old to serve another term. A growing number of Democratic lawmakers, donors and celebrities have called on him to step aside.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Authorities in Western states are warning of the rising risk of wildfires as hot conditions and low humidity dry out the landscape amid a protracted heat wave.

HOUSTON (AP) — Texas authorities say a suspect has been charged with the fatal shooting of a Houston-area sheriff’s deputy while police were conducting a manhunt following an assault at a pizzeria. Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez says Ronald Palmer Jr. was arrested around 7 p.m. Thursday and later charged with capital murder. 

A security breach in 2022 compromised the data of nearly all of AT&T’s cellular customers, customers of mobile virtual network operators using AT&T’s wireless network, as well as landline customers who interacted with those cellular numbers. 

In other news:

—The Associated Press

About this program

Host Terry Lipshetz is managing editor of the national newsroom for Lee Enterprises. Besides producing the daily Hot off the Wire news podcast, Terry conducts periodic interviews for this Behind the Headlines program, co-hosts the Streamed & Screened movies and television program and is the former producer of Across the Sky, a podcast dedicated to weather and climate.