Tag: News

• If you're entertaining this Fourth of July weekend, set-it-and-forget-it dishes can be a lifesaver.
• From ribs to pulled pork, these slow-cooker recipes are perfect for summer gatherings.
• You can also make sides like potato salad and dips in a slow cooker.

From mouthwatering barbecue ribs to savory pulled-pork sandwiches, these slow-cooker recipes are perfect for any Fourth of July cookout.

Many of the cookout foods on this list are meatless, which might be good options this year amid rising grocery store costs. According to The Progressive Farmer, beef prices have risen 32% over the past five years due to inflation, making this summer barbecue season the priciest one in recent memory. 

And, while grilling certainly captures the spirit of the holiday, slow cookers can make preparing sides and meats for all your guests a breeze.

Here are 14 easy cookout foods you can make in a slow cooker this Fourth of July weekend.

For your Fourth of July cookout this year, try making the potato salad using your slow cooker.

You might not know that you can parboil potatoes in a slow cooker. To do so, chop and cover the potatoes with water, a little salt and pepper, and butter and cook them until they're fork-tender, usually about six hours on low.

Then, mix the dressing for your potato salad as you normally would, such as mayonnaise, dill, whole grain mustard, and a splash of red wine vinegar. 

You can also make a German-style potato salad with bacon, light dressing, and baby potatoes.

Dips, such as this spinach-and-artichoke dip, are also easily made in a slow cooker.

"I love to make spinach-and-artichoke dip in my slow cooker," Chungah Rhee, the author of the blog Damn Delicious, told Business Insider. 

"You can just free up so much of your time by using a slow cooker and hang out with your guests instead of laboring in the kitchen," Rhee continued. "Especially for side dishes or dips. You put it all together, set the time and it comes out ready to go."

This set-it-and-forget-it corn-and-jalapeño dip is creamy and easy to make.

"Another favorite of mine is this corn-and-jalapeño dip," Rhee told Insider. 

 

Buffalo-chicken dip is another quick and easy favorite you can make in a slow cooker.

One of the benefits of making a slow-cooker Buffalo-chicken dip, like this recipe on Rhee's blog — or any other side dish in a slow cooker — is that it can be prepared well ahead of time and reheated when you're ready to eat.

Rhee's advice for someone using a slow cooker for the first time for entertaining is actually to start out with a dip or side dish. 

"If for some reason it doesn't turn out, because we all know that can happen using an appliance for the first time, it's not detrimental to your dinner party being a success," she said.

Queso can serve a whole party when made in a slow cooker.

This creamy queso dip from Martha Stewart uses ingredients like American cheese and pepper jack cheese, a can of evaporated milk, diced tomatoes with chilies, sliced jalapeños, red onion, and cilantro. 

Brisket is perfect for feeding a larger family and can easily be made in a slow cooker.

"Brisket is a natural partner for the slow cooker, as a gentle braise renders it meltingly tender," Kim Laidlaw writes in her cookbook, "Everyday Slow Cooking: Modern Recipes for Delicious Meals."

Laidlaw's recipe for slow-cooked braised brisket includes garlic, onion, dry red wine, carrot, and chicken or beef stock, with a chimichurri sauce.

Pulled-pork sliders are another great way to use your slow cooker for a cookout.

One of the best ways to use braised and slow-cooked pork shoulder is to make pulled-pork sliders, like this Damn Delicious recipe, with all that tender meat.

To elevate the dish, top the meat with barbecue sauce and slaw before sandwiching it between two fluffy brioche buns or potato rolls. You can also use the carnitas to make tacos.

You can also make barbecue ribs in a slow cooker.

Nothing screams an end-of-summer cookout like sauce-covered ribs, like Laidlaw's recipe as shared on Cooking by the Book. After cooking them in the slow cooker, place them on a baking sheet in your oven and broil them until they're slightly crispy.

To save space on your grill, you can also make slow-cooked sausages and beer brats in the slow cooker.

Brats with onions, peppers, and garlic simmered in the slow cooker with beer — like this recipe by The Magical Slow Cooker — are one way to use your slow cooker on the Fourth of July.

Top your brats with a bit of sauerkraut and put them on buns for a delicious summer dish.

Mac and cheese can also easily be made in a slow cooker.

If you're looking to add some carbs to your menu, look no further than a piping hot pot of mac and cheese. Martha Stewart's recipe for mac and cheese in a slow cooker calls for evaporated milk, three kinds of cheese, and homemade breadcrumbs.

Garlic-and-herb mushrooms are a delicious side dish but can also be used as a burger topping.

"The recipe for slow-cooker garlic-herb mushrooms is divine and so easy," Rhee said. "Mushrooms made in a slow cooker are truly the best."

Shredded Buffalo chicken goes great on top of salads.

One of the best — and easiest — ways to use your Crock-Pot or slow cooker is by making shredded Buffalo chicken, such as this recipe by The Magical Slow Cooker.

Add seasoned chicken breasts to the slow cooker and cover with your preferred Buffalo sauce. Then add a splash of ranch dressing and a cube of butter, toss your chicken breasts in the mixture to coat fully, and cook until the chicken is shreddable. You can use it for Buffalo-chicken sliders, salads, or tacos.

You can even make Buffalo or barbecue chicken wings using a slow cooker.

You can make any style of wings in a slow cooker, from Asian-style to barbecue and Buffalo wings. Add your wings to the slow cooker, add in your sauce of choice, toss to combine, and let them cook for a couple of hours on high.

To make them crisp up, add a cornstarch and water mixture to your slow cooker. After they're cooked through, broil them for a few minutes in the oven.

Meatballs make a great appetizer for guests and don't require cooking over a hot stove.

Meatballs make the perfect appetizer for parties big and small and are easy to make in a slow cooker. 

Place your seasoned, raw meatballs into the slow cooker, top with sauce, and let the slow cooker finish them off, says one recipe by Spend With Pennies. Serve them on their own with toothpicks or stuff them inside toasted sub rolls for a meatball sandwich.

• One of Eddie Murphy's funniest lines in "Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F" was improvised.
• In the scene, Murphy's daughter Bria plays a police officer who arrests him.
• Director Mark Molloy told Business Insider that Murphy's improv skills enhanced the movie's humor.

Netflix's "Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F" is filled with laughs, but there's one joke in particular that was a family affair.

At the end of an action sequence in which Murphy's character Axel Foley is being chased while driving a police meter maid cart, Foley crashes on Rodeo Drive and is quickly apprehended by two female police officers. While being cuffed, Foley tells the officer it's "very embarrassing" what's happening. The officer, played by Murphy's eldest daughter Bria, responds, "You should have thought about that before your little joy ride."

But what Foley is embarrassed about is being thrown into their unusually small squad car. "Ya'll are the LEGO cops," Foley says.

It's a line that director Mark Molloy told Business Insider was completely improvised by Murphy.

"That's all Eddie," Molloy said.

Molloy, who is making his feature directing debut with "Axel F," said that Murphy improvised several times, but it was often nothing more than little one-liners.

"He likes to get it on the page first," Molloy said. "We have to have something on the page first that really works, and then Eddie is going to take it from there."

Molloy said other improvisations from Murphy happened during the helicopter scene with costar Joseph Gordon Levitt and between Murphy and a valet played by comic Affion Crockett.

But how did Muphy's daughter end up playing one of the police officers?

"Eddie mentioned that his daughter would love to be involved," Molloy said. "And there was talk that it was going to be for another role, but I told him, 'If she's going to be involved, I have the perfect role for her.' I think she should arrest you!' So he gets arrested by his daughter."

Bria, 34, is Murphy's eldest daughter from his marriage with ex-wife Nicole Mitchell. Bria has previously starred in movies "The Perfect Match" (2016) and "Amateur Night" (2016).

"Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F" is now streaming on Netflix.

• Travis Kelce broke down his Eras Tour appearance on his podcast, "New Heights."
• Kelce revealed that joining his girlfriend Taylor Swift onstage was originally his idea.
• He said he had an "absolute blast," though he was focused on keeping Swift safe during their skit. 

Taylor Swift fans were thrilled when she invited her boyfriend, Travis Kelce, to share the stage at her concert — but according to Kelce, Swifties have him to thank for the idea.

The football star gushed about his June 23 debut on the Eras Tour stage on the latest episode of his podcast "New Heights," which he cohosts with his brother, Jason Kelce.

"I initially mentioned it to Tay. I was like, 'How funny would it be if I just rolled out on one of the bikes during the "1989" album, that era,'" he explained. (Travis is a noted fan of "Blank Space," one of several hit singles from Swift's fifth studio album.)

"She started laughing. She was like, 'Would you seriously be up for doing something like that?'" Travis continued. "I was just like, 'What? I would love to do that. Are you kidding me?' I've seen the show enough — might as well put me to work here."

But Swift found a different way to slot him in. During the last of her three sold-out shows in London, Travis joined two backup dancers, Kameron Saunders and Jan Ravnik, for a skit that takes place during "The Tortured Poets Department" segment.

Travis was tasked with carrying Swift's limp body across the stage for a theatrical costume change.

"There was no bike in case I ran into somebody else or hit one of the dancers or anything," Travis said. "It was the safest option."

In fact, Travis said his biggest concern onstage was Swift's safety.

"The one thing I told myself is, 'Do not drop the baby. Do not drop Taylor on your way over to this damn couch,'" he said. "Get her to the couch safely."

Travis even recalled advice from his former coach, Eric Bieniemy, who helped lead the Kansas City Chiefs to two Super Bowl victories.

"Coach Bieniemy always used to say, 'That ball has our dreams, goals, and aspirations,'" Travis said. "You do not drop that ball."

"It's such a fun, playful part of the show," he continued. "It was the perfect area or perfect time for me to go up there, just be a ham, have some fun — not only with her, Kam, and Jan, but the crowd, and really try and get everybody excited for the rest of the show. It was awesome. I had an absolute blast."

Travis also praised Swift as a "true showman" and said it was "an honor" being onstage with her and her dancers — especially because Saunders' brother, Khalen Saunders, is a top NFL player and Travis' former teammate.

"I was up there with three professionals," Travis said. "You can do no wrong when Taylor's onstage. She's the best to do it."

Although Jason teased his brother, saying he could've ruined the show, Travis said he was pleased with his performance — and, more importantly, so was his girlfriend.

"I didn't disappoint Taylor, so that's all that really matters," he said. "That was my No. 1 goal: Do not fuck this up. Do not drop Taylor, do not fuck this up."

Travis wooed Swift last summer by giving her a shout-out on "New Heights," a move that Swift later described as "metal as hell."

The two began dating shortly after and quickly got serious, with Swift appearing at several NFL games to support the Chiefs.

"When you say a relationship is public, that means I'm going to see him do what he loves, we're showing up for each other, other people are there and we don't care," Swift told Time. "The opposite of that is you have to go to an extreme amount of effort to make sure no one knows that you're seeing someone. And we're just proud of each other."

• After traveling to over 50 cities in Europe, I've enjoyed visiting some lesser-known locations.
• Bath, England, is a great place to visit for Roman ruins and beautiful architecture.
• I also loved traveling to Bruges, Belgium, which is both historic and romantic.

I've visited over 50 cities in Europe, and while I love global tourist hubs like London and Paris, I also try to seek out smaller cities and towns.

With over 13 million Americans predicted to travel to Europe this summer, it could be the right time to check out the off-the-beaten-path destinations on your travel bucket list.

These are five lesser-known destinations in Europe I recommend visiting.

Bath, England, is just a 90-minute train ride from London.

As you probably could have guessed from this city's name, Bath is known for its Roman baths. These baths, dating back to AD 70, are some of the best-preserved Roman ruins in the world.

Bath is known for its beautiful Georgian architecture, which can be admired in places like the Royal Crescent, which features a crescent-shaped row of 30 houses.

I also loved visiting the Circus, which is made up of townhouses arranged in a circular pattern. These areas showcase Georgian architecture and are what makes walking around Bath feel unique.

If you're a book lover, you can visit during the annual Jane Austen Festival in September, where people dress up, and the city is taken back in time.

The train from London to Bath takes about 90 minutes, making this city the perfect day trip.

Mostar is a beautiful city in southern Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Mostar really surprised me. It didn't look like anywhere else I'd been, with the towering Old Bridge connecting the two sides of the city. The 16th-century bridge, rebuilt after the 1990s war, is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

The city also has a well-preserved Ottoman quarter with charming cobblestone streets. During my time in Mostar, I loved drinking Bosnian coffee, taking in the views of the city, and feasting on local dishes like ćevapi.

Bruges, Belgium, is a romantic city.

Bruges is a well-preserved medieval town. Its historic center is a UNESCO World Heritage site, and visiting feels like stepping back in time.

The best thing I did was take a boat ride on the canal, admiring the architecture while cruising through Minnewaterpark, commonly referred to as the Lake of Love.

Bruges is a laid-back destination that makes a convenient day trip from nearby Paris and Brussels. The city is perfect for couples looking to indulge in Belgian beer and chocolate.

Heidelberg, Germany, embraces modern life without losing its historical charm.

Heidelberg has striking views around every corner. The city is home to a centuries-old castle as well as the oldest university in Germany.

I enjoyed walking along Philosophenweg (also called Philosopher's Way), where professors sought solitude and academic inspiration. The path was especially beautiful during my trip in the fall.

We loved spending time in the city, which had lots of nice restaurants and cool bars. Heidelberg does an amazing job of embracing the new while holding on to its historical charm.

Andorra La Vella is a hidden gem in the Pyrenees mountains.

Andorra La Vella is the capital of Andorra, a country in the Pyrenees between France and Spain.

Every restaurant we dined at featured dishes influenced by the surrounding countries. If you want to try authentic Andorran food, head to a borda — a traditional house once used for agricultural purposes. Now, these buildings are used as charming restaurants.

Andorra la Vella is a great day trip from Barcelona, but the city deserves more than a one-day visit.

• A new study suggests people on Ozempic or Wegovy may be more likely to suddenly go blind.
• The condition, called NAION, is still exceedingly rare. It's also painless and untreatable. 
• Blood sugar issues can impact our vision.

Eye doctors in Boston have started to notice a small but worrisome uptick in cases of a rare type of sudden blindness among patients taking semaglutide.

They're raising questions about whether taking Ozempic or Wegovy might be leading to more cases of nonarteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION), a rare condition where blood stops flowing to the optic nerve, disturbing the connection between the eye and the brain. The issue typically surfaces suddenly, without pain, and results in people waking up in the morning unable to see out of one eye.

The new investigation, published Wednesday in JAMA Ophthalmology, found that people taking semaglutide appeared slightly more likely to develop NAION than other patients with obesity or diabetes. (Semaglutide is the active ingredient in two Novo Nordisk drugs: Ozempic for type 2 diabetes, and Wegovy for obesity.)

Rare, and notable

The number of patients on semaglutide who developed NAION was still tiny: out of more than 16,000 eye patients in Massachusetts included in this six-year retrospective investigation, only 37 people on semaglutide developed NAION. But that was still more than four times more eye problems than other, similar patients who were not on the drugs experienced over the same time period. Only nine individuals with diabetes or obesity who were not on semaglutide developed NAION, according to the researchers.

"This is information we did not have before and it should be included in discussions between patients and their doctors, especially if patients have other known optic nerve problems like glaucoma, or if there is preexisting significant visual loss from other causes," lead study author Dr. Joseph Rizzo, the director of the neuro-ophthalmology service at Mass Eye and Ear and a professor of ophthalmology at Harvard Medical School, said in a news release.

"The use of these drugs has exploded throughout industrialized countries and they have provided very significant benefits in many ways, but future discussions between a patient and their physician should include NAION as a potential risk."

Pushback from Novo Nordisk

In a statement sent to Business Insider, semaglutide maker Novo Nordisk said "patient safety is a top priority for Novo Nordisk , and we take all reports about adverse events from the use of our medicines very seriously."

But the drugmaker also raised concerns about the ways this study was conducted, saying there were too few cases in the trial to draw meaningful conclusions, and that this type of backward-looking study could never answer questions about a causal link between semaglutide and NAION.

"NAION is not an adverse drug reaction for the marketed formulations of semaglutide," the company said.

Patients with diabetes and high blood pressure have always been at an increased risk of developing eyesight issues. For example, having chronically high blood sugar can distort your eye lenses, contributing to blurry vision. (Novo Nordisk is also working on another, separate study, testing whether semaglutide might be useful in treating diabetic retinopathy.) NAION is usually permanent, and there is no treatment for it.

• Ukraine is operating US-made Hawk air-defense systems from the 1960s.
• Though the US retired these tools decades ago, Kyiv is now using them to kill Russian missiles.
• One Ukrainian operator recently praised the effectiveness of the antiquated system.

The Ukrainians are using an American-made air-defense system that the US retired from service more than two decades ago to successfully shoot down Russian cruise missiles.

The MIM-23 Hawk is a medium-range, surface-to-air system that was first fielded in the 1960s and has long considered obsolete, with militaries favoring more portable systems. But the hand-me-down weapons have found new life in Ukraine, proving they are still useful tools after all these years.

A Ukrainian soldier who operates the Hawk system, which stands for "Homing All the Way Killer," said that although it's not a new weapon, it is "effective in skilled hands." He has more than two dozen kills to his name, including Russia's Kh-59 cruise missiles and Iranian-made Shahed one-way attack drones.

The soldier, Oleksandr, was featured by the Ukrainian Air Force on Wednesday. In an interview, which was published to the AFU's Telegram messaging app, he said Shahed drones are the most annoying to engage because they fly very slow, so its tiring to battle them over long periods of time.

"'Working with missiles is much easier, even when they are aimed at you," Oleksandr said. "It was a little uncomfortable when three Kh-59 missiles, constantly changing altitude, flew right at us. But all the targets were captured and destroyed one by one."

"The main secret is not even in the weapon we work on, but in the synchronous and coordinated work of the unit," he said, according to a translation of his remarks. "We perfectly understand the risks and consequences if we do not hear or ignore each other."

The Hawk system was deployed all around the world during its four decades in service with the US military, and it saw combat in the Middle East. By the 1990s, though, with the Cold War over, the aerial threat to American forces had changed, and the Hawk was retired and replaced with lower-altitude systems like the FIM-92 Stinger and Avenger. The MIM-104 Patriot was also available to meet other US air-defense needs.

Though the US no longer use them, several countries still operate the Hawk and its multiple variants, including Spain, which first sent Ukraine a handful of launchers in October 2022. The Biden administration has since donated an unspecified number Hawk systems and munitions to Kyiv and has committed to procuring more for the country over the long term.

Ukrainian officials have routinely pressed the US and its NATO allies for more air-defense capabilities to battle the Russian threat. While the Hawk is an antiquated capability, it still helps plug crucial gaps in the sky.

The Hawk is not the only 1960s-era — and seemingly outdated — weapon to find successes in Ukraine. German-made Gepard cannons have also proven to be very effective at shooting down low-altitude Russian drones and cruise missiles.

• E-receipts from apps like Instacart give a highly personal view into the impact of inflation.
• Shoppers using "reorder items" on years-old orders can see exactly how much prices have increased.
• In some cases, baskets have seen price hikes exceed the overall official rate of inflation.

Paper receipts are fast becoming a relic of a bygone era at the grocery store, especially as app-based ordering and tracking have gotten more popular.

And while few shoppers would save their old grocery receipts, using apps like Instacart keep your order history for years.

Now, some customers are using those past orders to discover inflation's highly personal impact on them.

For Crisman White, a 33-year-old escape room designer from Virginia, the price of a basket of groceries from his local Publix nearly doubled since October 2019.

In a video on TikTok, White shared his experience using Instacart's "reorder items" function, explaining how a $35 order skyrocketed to more than $62 in the past five years.

"I went back to my first Instacart because that was the only thing that I could really track exactly what I purchased," he told Business Insider.

White said he was motivated to try the feature after another TikTok user posted an outlandish story about their Walmart+ order tripling in price in just the past two years. (Several commenters suggested this was due to the app replacing some out-of-stock items with more expensive offerings from third-party sellers.)

Even though price increases have slowed significantly in recent months, the cumulative inflation in the past five years is about 23%, meaning that what once cost $1 now costs $1.23.

But that figure is calculated across a lot of different spending categories, and groceries, in particular, have seen some uneven increases during that time.

Add a dose of shrinkflation to the mix, and it can take a bit of work to replicate a past cart's contents on a unit-per-dollar basis.

"A lot of the items either have changed names, or the quantity or the weight has changed, so it doesn't exactly translate," White explained. "So I actually had to go through each individual item and place it into my cart."

White noted that his penchant for lox (which more than doubled in price for him) accounted for much of his cart's increase, but he told BI that national brand items like the 12-pack of Pepsi and the Pedigree dog food packed a punch too.

By way of comparison, BI analyzed two other past Instacart orders from editorial staff in Los Angeles and New York City.

The first — preparing for a pandemic Passover meal in 2020 from Gelson's in LA — had a subtotal of $76.24 before taxes, tip, and fees. That order now costs $93, an increase of 22% that is almost exactly in line with overall inflation during that time.

The second — a frugal-but-balanced basket from Wegman's in Manhattan — came out to a subtotal of $89 in May of 2022, jumping to nearly $105 today: a 17% increase that far exceeds the official 7% inflation effect during that time.

White told BI the response to his video, which has nearly a million views, has been very polarized.

"People are super divided on the issue," he said. "Some people are saying that it's inflation. Some people are saying that it's corporate greed. I think that it might be a little combination of both."

Graphics contributed by Andy Kiersz.

• President Joe Biden already had a narrow path to reelection before his disastrous debate.
• But if the bottom drops out, Democrats could be fighting to defend states like New Mexico or Virginia.
• At that point, Trump's victory would be a near foregone conclusion.

President Joe Biden's already narrow path to reelection is getting even harder to navigate.

Biden's best-case scenario before last week's disastrous debate likely required him to run the table in Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennslyvania while holding onto to the Omaha-based Nebraska 2nd congressional district. Trump, as Nate Silver pointed out, had much more flexibility in reaching 270 electoral votes and potentially reaching even higher.

Four years ago, Biden had the luxury of deciding whether to base his campaign on the Upper Midwest or bet on Sun Belt states like Arizona and Georgia that hadn't gone for Democrats in decades. Trump has held a steady lead in both states, according to RealClearPolitics' polling averages.

Biden's underdog status can get much worse. In its latest update on Wednesday, Sabato's Crystal Ball moved Michigan and Minnesota closer to Trump. As Kyle Kondik, managing editor of Crystal Ball, warned, this isn't rock bottom.

"It does seem like from the polling that Biden has taken a small hit, but he needed to be catching up as opposed to falling back," Kondik told Business Insider.

The Crystal Ball moved Michigan from "Lean Democratic" to "Toss Up" and Minnesota from "Likely Democratic" to "Lean Democratic." Under the University of Virginia Center for Politics' current projections, there are five true toss-up states: Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Arizona, and Nevada.

If Biden continues to decline, Virginia, New Mexico, and Maine (statewide) could all come into play.

A Republican hasn't carried Virginia or New Mexico in 20 years. Maine, which like Nebraska only awards two of its Electoral College votes to the statewide popular vote winner, hasn't crowned a Republican as a winner since then-Vice President George H.W. Bush in 1988.

"There's the possibility that maybe Trump is able to win the popular vote that is a roughly five-point improvement from 2020 and if that sort of thing happens you would expect Trump to win the states where Biden won in 2020 but did worse than the national popular vote," Kondik said. "That is also the situation where you would start to see a Minnesota or a New Hampshire or maybe even a Virginia or Maine be closer certainly like there were in 2016 and certainly even closer than that."

A post-debate poll in New Hampshire showed the race there is too close to call. According to A Saint Anselm College poll, Trump leads Biden 44% to 42%. Independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is at 4% in the state. Biden won the Granite State just over 7 points four years ago.

In a memo after the debate, Biden campaign manager Jen O'Malley Dillon said that data showed the faceoff did not change the minds of voters in battleground states. She also claimed that if polling does show a drop it would be a temporary dip due to media coverage.

"If we do see changes in polling in the coming weeks, it will not be the first time that overblown media narratives have driven temporary dips in the polls," O'Malley Dillon wrote in the June 29th memo.

Kondik stressed that there's still time for Biden to turn it around and that one possibility for a post-debate slump is that Democrats remain depressed about the president's performance. He pointed out that both the Democratic National Convention and the second debate remain. There's also the chance that Biden is pushed out of the race before either of those things happen. The president could also remain in the race and struggle to mount the comeback campaign he needs to.

It wasn't supposed to be this way. In April, the president's campaign boasted that they could win in Florida, Trump's adopted home and a state that has moved away from Democrats. Now, even a top Biden official has said Florida isn't a battleground.

The issue for Biden is that he needed the debate to begin his upswing. Instead, his faceoff with Trump could lead to the president dropping out of the race entirely. Biden himself has acknowledged he did not debate well.

As CNN's Harry Enten has detailed, every incumbent president that went into the first debate trailing and was viewed as having lost that debate went on to lose their reelection. Biden's only saving grace is the debate's early time on the calendar.

For now, prominent Democrats are sticking behind Biden. Most critically, this includes the list of potential replacements, including Vice President Kamala Harris, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, and California Gov. Gavin Newsom. On Tuesday, Rep. Lloyd Doggett of Texas became the first member of Congress to call on the president to drop out.

The reality is that if Biden is stuck playing defense in states Democrats usually win, Trump's return to the White House will be a foregone conclusion. The only question then will be how many Electoral College votes would the former president win.

"If Biden's position gets worse, that's when you see maybe a Virginia or New Mexico get in play," Kondik said. "But again, if that's what we're actually going to be talking about in October then the election itself shouldn't be that dramatic. Virginia, New Hampshire, New Mexico, or Minnesota are not going to be the states that put Trump over 270. They are the states that would get him well north of 300 electoral votes."

• On Air New Zealand's Boeing 777-300ER, flight attendants rest in a room hidden above economy class.
• I explored the secret bedroom with an in-service flight manager. 
• As I scaled the steps up to the room, I entered a cramped space with eight beds and storage. 

For travelers, long-haul flights typically involve cramped quarters and attempts at sleeping.

It's not just the passengers who get a rest. When flight attendants and pilots work long shifts, they also take a break — in tiny rooms hidden on planes.

On the way back to the US from New Zealand in 2022, I went behind the scenes for a firsthand look at flight attendants' break room on Air New Zealand's Boeing 777-300ER. 

On Air New Zealand's long-haul flights, a flight attendant's job doesn't pause until the plane's completed takeoff, dinner service is finished, and passengers are resting. Even then, their breaks last only a couple of hours.

As someone who has survived several long-haul flights, I was curious about where those breaks occur. So, on a 12-hour flight from New Zealand to Los Angeles, I boarded early to tour the crew area, which is off-limits to passengers.

Read more: I took a 13-hour flight to New Zealand from LA. Here are 8 mistakes I made and what I'll do differently on my flight home.

Sarita, the in-service manager for my flight, met me at the entrance of the plane. Together, we navigated to the crew rest area.

We walked past business class, premium economy, and the last row of economy seats into the rear galley.

Read more: I went inside Air New Zealand's future plane cabin that has bunk beds in economy and wireless chargers in business class. Take a look.

At the very back of the plane, Sarita approached a door camouflaged by a wall. After pressing a sequence of buttons, a latch popped open, revealing a steep stairwell.

Each step was covered in a non-slip tread that led up to a bedroom for flight attendants. I grabbed onto the handrail and scaled the steps.

As I entered the rest area, I was surprised by its small size. While the room was large enough to fit eight beds, low ceilings and narrow hallways made it feel cramped.

At 5'8'', I was too tall to stand comfortably. Instead, I crouched and crawled around the dimly lit room

While there are eight beds, Sarita said six are occupied at a time. That's because most long-haul routes have 12 flight attendants who take breaks in shifts once meal service is finished, she said.

When it's their turn to rest, a flight attendant will unlock the door, climb up the stairs, and pick one of the eight nooks for their two-and-a-half-hour break.

Sarita also told me the room can't be used during takeoff and landing. While the rest of the aircraft cabin is pressurized during these times, she said there's no ventilation in the bedroom space until the aircraft reaches 25,000 feet.

As the flight manager, Sarita said her bed had a telephone so she could communicate with the pilots and crew.

Each sleeping nook had a heavy curtain designed to dampen the sound, block out light, and create a sense of privacy.

Each bed had a seat belt for potential turbulence, with blankets and pillows strapped underneath.

I also spotted a mirror and two storage compartments inside each nook …

… as well as a panel to control the lighting in the sleeping space.

Sarita allowed me to crawl into her nook, and it felt surprisingly cozy. It wasn't nearly as supportive as my bed back home, but the thick mattress topper was comfy enough for a nap.

Once out of her bed, I moved to the front of the room, where there was another mirror and storage for flight attendants to stash their personal belongings.

Also in the front was a control panel for the room's temperature and an outlet.

At the very back of the cabin, I noticed a closet. Sarita told me it's for uniform storage.

Besides the lights and mirrors, the cabin rest area appeared bare. There were no windows, and I didn't spot any TVs for entertainment. Sarita said that's because the flight attendant's main focus in the room is relaxing and resting.

Sarita said she usually falls asleep during her break. Other flight attendants on board told me they struggle to sleep on planes, so they just use their breaks to rest.

Sure enough, as I walked around the airplane before I went to sleep, I noticed fewer flight attendants in the cabin.

After watching them prepare the cabin, serve dinner, and complete countless behind-the-scenes tasks, I was glad to know these hardworking flight attendants had a comfortable place to take a well-earned break.

• Law enforcement is investigating the death of a retired US Marine Corps major general in California.
• Maj. Gen. William Mullen's body was found Saturday at the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center.
• Mullen served for 34 years before retiring in 2020 as head of the Training and Education Command.

Law enforcement is investigating the death of a retired major general whose body was found Saturday at Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms, California, officials confirmed to Military.com.

Retired Maj. Gen. William Mullen, 59, a former Marine Corps officer with multiple deployments to Iraq, was found on the installation at Building 1651 over the weekend, according to San Bernardino County Coroner records.

A spokesperson for the Naval Criminal Investigative Service told Military.com on Tuesday that the military law enforcement entity is investigating the death.

"I can confirm that NCIS is conducting a thorough investigation into the death of retired Maj. Gen. William Mullen, as we do in response to any non-combat, medically unattended fatalities involving Navy and USMC equities, service members, and affiliated civilian personnel," said Darwin Lam, a spokesperson for the agency.

When asked, NCIS did not disclose the manner of Mullen's death.

"Out of respect for the investigative process, NCIS will not comment further while the investigation remains ongoing," Lam said.

Gloria Huerta, a spokesperson for the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department, told Military.com on Tuesday that the local coroner's office responded to Mullen's death at around 3 p.m. Saturday afternoon.

She said that the autopsy is ongoing and that the sheriff's department is not directly involved in the investigation with NCIS, only that its coroner's office is "handling the cause and manner of death."

Mullen assumed command of Twentynine Palms in 2016 as a brigadier general. Commissioned as an artillery officer, he served with the Marine Corps in a bevy of roles for 34 years, to include Marine Aide to the President of the United States, according to his official biography. Before retiring in 2020, he served as the commanding general of Training and Education Command.

"Maj. Gen. Mullen's dedicated service to our nation and the Marine Corps will always be remembered," Maj. Gen. Thomas Savage, head of the Marine Air Ground Task Force Training Command, said in a statement shared Tuesday with Military.com. "Our thoughts and prayers are with his loved ones."

The Los Angeles Times first reported that NCIS is investigating the former general's death. Twentynine Palms is the largest Marine Corps base in the world, according to the installation's website.

In May, Gunnery Sgt. Robert McDonald, a Marine at the installation, was killed when an 18-year-old fired a weapon into McDonald's vehicle while he was sitting with his dog at a park just 10 miles south of Twentynine Palms.