Texas officials defend flood response and Tucker Carlson criticizes Trump: Morning Rundown

Republican strategists want lawmakers to get specific when selling the “big, beautiful bill” to voters. State and local officials defend their response to the catastrophic floods in Central Texas. And Tucker Carlson explains why he’s pushing back against some of Trump’s recent decisions.

Here’s what to know today.

Republicans look for new ways to sell Trump’s megabill

Now that Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” is signed into law, it’s likely the president will continue to use the alliterative turn of phrase he coined in talking about the legislation. But those in his own party, as well as Democrats, know those superlatives say nothing about what the measure means for Americans worried about the price of gas and groceries — so they’re setting out to explain what the bill means for daily life.

Two Republican strategists said they’re advising lawmakers to use different titles — such as the “Working Family Tax Cuts” act or possibly the “Trump Working Family Tax Cuts” — when referring to the legislation. The aim is to allude to policies, like no taxes on tips or overtime, that were popular among Trump voters. They’re also advising lawmakers to tout the additional money going to states for border enforcement.

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The White House also believes that other parts of the bill that may not have gotten as much attention are widely popular. For example, Republican polling shows a planned overhaul of the nation’s air traffic control system is the best-liked component of the act.

Trump, however, isn’t planning to traverse the nation to pitch the bill to voters. Instead, it’ll fall largely on his administration. An early test comes tomorrow, when Vice President JD Vance gives a speech at a machine shop in Pennsylvania, where he is expected to highlight how the bill “helps working class people most of all,” a person familiar with the speech said.

Democrats, meanwhile, are poised to contest the Republican talking points at every turn. At stake is control of Congress, which is up for grabs in the 2026 midterm elections.

Read the full story here.

More politics news:

• Rep. James Comer, who is leading the probe into Joe Biden’s cognitive state while he was president, has used an “autopen” to sign some of the letters and subpoena notices he has sent out during his investigation.

• Democrats are echoing criticism from the right and calling for the Trump administration to release more documents related to the investigation into Jeffrey Epstein.

• House Democrats are divided over the issue of impeaching Trump, with grassroots activists hoping lawmakers pursue votes more aggressively while centrist party members say they’re a “waste of time.”

• Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo is back in the New York City mayoral race. He announced a third-party bid after losing the Democratic primary to Zohran Mamdani.

• Attorney General Pam Bondi ordered the dismissal of a criminal case accusing a Utah doctor of selling fake Covid vaccination cards months after a federal “weaponization” committee allowed the case to proceed.

Texas officials defend response to deadly floods

Local and state officials who responded to the catastrophic flooding this month in Central Texas said they did everything in their power to save lives. Kerrville City Manager Dalton Rice, Kerr County Commissioner Jeff Holt and state Rep. Wes Virdell told NBC News over the weekend that officials did their best to coordinate evacuations and rescues against uncontrollable forces of nature. "Our teams did everything they possibly could with this gruesome, devastating situation that happened, and we would not change the way we did that. And I think we saved as many people as we could," Rice said.

However, the officials noted that a permanent emergency operations center, more diversion dams and better cellphone service in certain areas might save lives in future floods.

At least 132 people have died after the Guadalupe River surged to unprecedented heights in the early morning of July 4. More than 160 people are still missing. Kerr County and Kerrville officials held separate meetings yesterday about the ongoing flood response, though they mostly steered clear of addressing speculation over how leaders communicated about the floods. Read the full story here.

Study shows no link between aluminum in vaccines and autism

A study of more than 1.2 million people found that there is no link between aluminum in vaccines and an increased risk of 50 chronic conditions, including autoimmune diseases, allergies and autism. The study, published yesterday in the Annals of Internal Medicine, used Denmark’s nationwide registry to study people born between 1997 and 2018 and followed them until the end of 2020. Researchers were also able to compare children who received more aluminum in their vaccines by age 2 compared to those who received less. The study looked for connections between aluminum exposure from childhood vaccines and 36 autoimmune disorders, nine allergy or asthma conditions and five neurodevelopmental disorders, including autism and ADHD.

Aluminum in childhood vaccines is a target of vaccine skeptics, including Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who said on a 2024 podcast that aluminum in vaccines is “extremely neurotoxic.” Read the full story here.

Read All About It

• Heavy rainfall and flash floods hit parts of the Northeast, leading New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy to declare a state emergency. New Yorkers in basement apartments were told to be ready to leave.

• Kentucky police identified the gunman who they say killed two women and wounded three others in two shootings over the weekend.

• A creepy teddy bear that looked like it was made of human skin got the attention of California law enforcement. (Don’t worry, it wasn’t actually human skin.)

• Need proof that “Love Island USA” became a cultural event? Just look at the bars packed with viewers who gathered to see the finale unfold.

Staff Pick: Why Tucker Carlson stands out among MAGA’s worried warriors

NBC News' politics team has been closely tracking MAGA influencers raising the alarm about some the moves by President Donald Trump and his administration — whether that means bombing Iranian nuclear facilities, floating a deportation carve-out for undocumented farm workers or shutting down the release of additional information on the late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

No one’s pushback garnered more curiosity, though, than Tucker Carlson, the former Fox News host-turned-"America First" thought leader who was gifted a primetime speaking slot at the Republican National Convention last summer. Carlson had been aligned closely with the president after both men found themselves in exile after Trump’s failed effort to overturn the 2020 election.

I was able to get Carlson on the phone and ask about what’s been driving his recent criticism. “I like Trump. I campaigned for Trump,” Carlson told me last week, adding: “But I’ve got my views. I assume that we will overlap on most things, and I hope that, by the way, the bombing of the nuclear sites in Iran, which I did not support, I hope it works out great, and I’ll be grateful if it does. And I’ll be the first to say I was wrong for the millionth time in my life.”

Carlson spoke with me at a key moment for MAGA that is testing whether it’s willing to truly break with Trump and whether anyone besides Trump, the man who brought the movement together, can shift its direction. If any of these influencers can play a role in shaping Trump's right-wing alliance, it's Carlson.

— Allan Smith, politics reporter

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This article was originally published on NBCNews.com