{"id":212443,"date":"2026-06-02T16:44:56","date_gmt":"2026-06-02T16:44:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/what-to-watch-in-todays-primaries-and-russia-bombards-ukraine-morning-rundown-nbc-news\/"},"modified":"2026-06-02T16:44:56","modified_gmt":"2026-06-02T16:44:56","slug":"what-to-watch-in-todays-primaries-and-russia-bombards-ukraine-morning-rundown-nbc-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/what-to-watch-in-todays-primaries-and-russia-bombards-ukraine-morning-rundown-nbc-news\/","title":{"rendered":"What to watch in today\u2019s primaries and Russia bombards Ukraine: Morning Rundown – NBC News"},"content":{"rendered":"

news Alerts
There are no new alerts at this time
In today\u2019s newsletter: <\/strong><\/em>Russia bombards Ukraine, leaving at least 18 dead.<\/em> <\/strong><\/em>Voters head to the polls for primaries across six states, where the fight to shape the future of the Democratic Party is playing out. And Scott Pelley accuses CBS News\u2019 Bari Weiss of \u201cmurdering\u201d \u201c60 Minutes.\u201d<\/em>
Subscribe to read this story ad-free
Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.
Here\u2019s what to know today.<\/em>
The fight to shape the future of the Democratic Party is playing out in a slew of key primaries across six states tonight \u2014 California, Iowa, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico and South Dakota.
Two of California\u2019s races have attracted a great deal of national attention. The race to succeed Gavin Newsom as governor has narrowed to a three-way contest between two Democrats and a Republican with President Donald Trump\u2019s backing. Meanwhile, Los Angeles Mayor is facing two major challengers in her all-party primary, including former reality TV star Spencer Pratt.
This is Morning Rundown, a weekday newsletter to start your day. Sign up <\/strong><\/em>here<\/strong><\/em><\/a> to get it in your inbox.<\/strong><\/em>
House incumbents from California to New Jersey are facing serious electoral threats from members of their own parties, in another clear sign voters are eager for change. Many of the primary fights among Democrats are highlighting divisions between progressives and more establishment candidates.
But the party\u2019s hopes for a midterm boost have extended to red-state Iowa, with the governor\u2019s office and one Senate seat up for grabs.
Democrats have quickly coalesced around State Auditor Rob Sand to replace GOP Gov. Kim Reynolds. Rep. Randy Feenstra, who received Trump\u2019s endorsement last week, had long been considered the frontrunner, but farmer and businessman Zach Lahn has been pouring his own money into the race and received backing from the \u201cMake America Healthy Again\u201d camp.
If no candidate wins at least 35% of the primary vote, the Republican nominee will be chosen at the state party convention on June 13.
More House battleground elections are happening across the country. Here\u2019s what you need to know about the races to watch.<\/strong><\/a>
As the U.S. races to respond to the growing Ebola outbreak<\/strong><\/a>, a key player has been notably quiet: the institute that Dr. Anthony Fauci used to run.
For decades, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) has been a world leader in research into the prevention and treatment of deadly diseases such as AIDS, Ebola and Malaria. But without a director and the loss of various senior leaders, the institute has been on the sidelines.
During the largest Ebola outbreak in history, from 2014 to 2016, research from NIAID scientists offered early evidence that an Ebola vaccine might be safe to give to humans, and the agency stood up trials of two experimental vaccines in Liberia.
Since Trump took office, a handful of NIAID leaders have resigned or been fired or reassigned to other roles. In addition to the departures at NIAID, 14 of the 27 institutes and centers within NIH are missing permanent directors.
In the absence of NIAID representation during a Senate committee hearing last week, the Trump administration noted a shift in the institute\u2019s focus: moving away from pandemic preparedness and biodefense toward addressing \u201cdiseases and conditions that people actually have,\u201d according to Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, the director of the National Institutes of Health.
Read the full story here.<\/strong><\/a>
Russia unleashed a devastating assault on major cities across Ukraine early today, killing at least 18 people and injuring more than a hundred, authorities said.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy pleaded for more help from the United States after the strikes, which left people trapped under the rubble of apartment buildings and residents scrambling to shelter underground as smoke billowed over the capital Kyiv.
It follows warnings from Moscow of an intense new wave of attacks, as the Kremlin hopes to change the narrative of a war mired in battlefield setbacks and diplomatic stalemate amid growing signs of domestic disquiet.
Ukraine\u2019s emergency service said that a rescuer was among the 11 dead in Dnipro after what appeared to be a double-tap strike.
Read the full story here.<\/strong><\/a>
After fierce backlash from Senate Republicans and Democrats who teamed up to block the \u2018anti-weaponization\u2019 fund, it appears the Trump administration backed down.
The Justice Department cited a Friday ruling that temporarily blocked the fund, saying it \u201cdisagrees strongly\u201d but \u201cwill abide by the Court\u2019s ruling.\u201d A hearing had been set for June 12.
The DOJ announcement is aimed at restarting the party-line \u201creconciliation\u201d bill Republicans are trying to push through Congress to fund ICE and Border Patrol. The push to fund both agencies stalled two weeks ago due to disagreements over whether to include the fund in the bill.
\u201cThe only thing that\u2019s going to solve this problem, to get immigration funded and law enforced, is for the president to do away with the weaponization fund,\u201d Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, the chair of the Judiciary Committee that oversees the DOJ, said.
Democrats are not convinced by the administration\u2019s backtrack, however. Many have threatened to use amendments in the reconciliation bill and force votes on stand-alone legislation to prevent it from being revived later.
Read the full story here.<\/strong><\/a>
\u201c60 Minutes\u201d correspondent Scott Pelley accused CBS News Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss of \u201cmurdering\u201d the newsmagazine<\/strong><\/a> during a heated staff meeting Monday, according to an audio recording and a source who was in the room.
Nick Bilton, a documentary filmmaker and former tech columnist at The New York Times tapped to oversee the show, told \u201c60 Minutes\u201d staff members that Weiss \u201cloves this institution,\u201d the source said. Pelley interrupted Bilton and pushed back.
\u201cShe is murdering \u201860 Minutes.\u2019 She does not love this place,\u201d Pelley told Bilton. \u201cShe was brought in to kill it, and she\u2019s been doing exactly that.\u201d
Weiss, a former opinion columnist and the founder of the website The Free Press, hired Bilton as part of a push to overhaul CBS News and \u201c60 Minutes.\u201d In a major shake-up Thursday, CBS ousted Bilton\u2019s predecessor, \u201c60 Minutes\u201d veteran Tanya Simon, and fired two correspondents, Sharyn Alfonsi and Cecilia Vega.
Read the full story here.<\/strong><\/a>
As a journalist covering the State Department, I have watched the departure of dedicated public servants over the past year and a half<\/strong><\/a> \u2014 people who joined the U.S. Foreign Service decades ago because they believed in the United States and were proud to represent it <\/strong>under any administration. I would run into diplomats I had known for years who were at the height of their careers, and they would all tell me they didn\u2019t want to leave but there was nowhere left to go.
The message was so consistent \u2014 a deep sense of frustration at the decades spent building specialized skills and expertise to help their country and being shut out from using them. There was also a shared sense of betrayal for those who were unceremoniously forced out of a career after committing themselves and their families to a life that requires significant sacrifices.
In my more than 12 years covering the department, I have found career diplomats reluctant to step into the spotlight even after leaving their positions. Their willingness to go on the record speaks to a new <\/strong>level of concern about the state of U.S. diplomacy.
\u2014 Abigail Williams, <\/strong>coordinating producer and off-air reporter
Can you believe it\u2019s June already? Let\u2019s take a quick look back at the best products the NBC Select team tried (and loved!) in May<\/strong><\/a>. Plus, this Adidas walking sneaker<\/strong><\/a> is perfect for summer, and it\u2019s 50% off for a limited time.
Sign up to The Selection<\/strong><\/em><\/a> newsletter for hands-on product reviews, expert shopping tips and a look at the best deals and sales each week.<\/em>
Thanks for reading today\u2019s Morning Rundown. Today\u2019s newsletter was curated for you by Kaylah Jackson. If you\u2019re a fan, please send a link to your family and friends. They can sign up <\/em>here<\/strong><\/em><\/a>. <\/em>
This is Morning Rundown, a weekday newsletter to start your day. Sign up <\/strong><\/em>here<\/strong><\/em><\/a> to get it in your inbox.<\/strong><\/em>
Thanks for reading today\u2019s Morning Rundown. Today\u2019s newsletter was curated for you by Kaylah Jackson. If you\u2019re a fan, please send a link to your family and friends. They can sign up <\/em>here<\/strong><\/em><\/a>. <\/em>
Kaylah Jackson is a platforms editor for NBC News, based in Los Angeles.
David Hickey is a platforms and social editor for NBC News.
© 2026 NBCUniversal Media, LLC<\/p>\n

source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

news AlertsThere are no new alerts at this timeIn today\u2019s newsletter: Russia bombards Ukraine, leaving at least 18 dead. Voters head to the polls for primaries across six states, where the fight to shape the future of the Democratic Party is playing out. And Scott Pelley accuses CBS News\u2019 Bari Weiss of \u201cmurdering\u201d \u201c60 Minutes.\u201dSubscribe […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":212444,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-212443","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-us","8":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212443","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=212443"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212443\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/212444"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=212443"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=212443"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=212443"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}