Hunger grips rural area after Trump cuts and Gulf Coast braces for Hurricane Isaias: Morning Rundown

Food banks are struggling to keep up with demands from their communities after federal funding cuts. Hurricane Isaias barrels toward the Gulf Coast. And Michigan Senate candidates Abdul El-Sayed and Mike Rogers debate gas prices and tariffs. Here’s what to know today. Hunger grips a rural community hit by Trump’s cuts In Dunlow, West Virginia, Bill Likens stared down a half-mile-long line of cars and trucks that started forming before the sun came up over the Appalachian Mountains. He had one job: figure out how to feed them all. This is Morning Rundown, a weekday newsletter to start your day. Sign up here to get it in your inbox. Some had driven more than 30 miles in aging vehicles. They sat silently as the temperature rose into the 80s, their engines turned off to preserve gas, waiting hours for a few boxes of food. Likens, 51, counted cartons of eggs and sacks of potatoes to calculate how much of each waiting car could get — an algorithm of hunger he is constantly trying to solve. Increasingly, the job of feeding the nation’s hungry is falling on the shoulders of everyday Americans like Likens, who have become the last bulwark against hunger in a land of plenty. He and others on the front lines of feeding their neighbors say they face unprecedented challenges brought on by Washington. Food distribution programs are getting less supplies from federal programs to feed the hungry after cuts by the Trump administration. At the same time, restrictions on food stamps from the Republicans’ “big, beautiful bill” have driven up demand, while rising gas prices because of the Iran war have cut into the budgets of households and food banks alike. The challenges extend far beyond Appalachia, with many food banks saying more people are showing up to their doors. Read the full story here. Related coverage: For subscribers: NBC News surveyed 90 of the largest food banks across the country. The responses from 48 food banks, representing 35 states and Washington, D.C., were dire. Hurricane Isaias barrels toward the Gulf Coast Hurricane Isaias strengthened to a Category 2 storm and could intensify to Category 3 before making landfall late tonight or early Saturday. The National Hurricane Center forecasts landfall between Mississippi and the Florida Panhandle, but warns that dangerous storm surge could affect a much wider area, stretching from southeast Louisiana to Florida’s Big Bend. See our live tracker of Isaias’ path. Forecasters are warning of dangerous and life-threatening conditions along parts of the Gulf Coast beginning today and into the weekend. Follow our live coverage. Major oil companies, including Chevron and Shell, have already begun shutting down some production sites. While the industry has well-established protocols for hurricane-related evacuations and shutdowns, the timing could hardly be worse, experts say, as Americans face rising prices at the pump for gasoline and diesel. What a reduction in supplies would mean in the U.S. El-Sayed and Rogers face off in Michigan Senate debate Candidates in Michigan’s Senate race, one of the most competitive contests of the election cycle, clashed over gas prices, tariffs and the war in Iran, trading barbs in a debate that frequently turned personal. Democrat Abdul El-Sayed sought to portray his Republican rival, former Rep. Mike Rogers, as a weak-willed loyalist to President Donald Trump who had changed his positions on some issues out of political necessity. Rogers tried to frame El-Sayed as a “con man” who will have to raise taxes or other costs to deliver on promises he has made, such as “Medicare for All.” Both candidates said they would support pausing a federal tax on gas amid the war in Iran, but the question led into a deeper discussion about the conflict. El-Sayed called out Rogers for initially supporting tariffs before he released an ad this week calling for an end to the trade war. When pressed about his criticism of Israel, El-Sayed dodged the moderator’s question. Read more takeaways from the debate. More politics news: Texas Senate candidate James Talarico is expected to return to the campaign trail this weekend after he was forced to sit out for nearly two weeks because of the flu. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced the firing squad execution of Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan will be livestreamed. Democratic congressional candidate Bernadette Greene-Placentia said she was raped while putting out campaign signs in Arizona and told police her attackers might have recognized her as a political figure. What’s next for Christa Pike? Her fate hinges on critical questions Christa Pike was walking with assistance and had regained some movement in her arms, her lawyers said yesterday, a week after her botched execution in Tennessee. Her lawyers had previously said she was suffering from pneumonia, but reported yesterday that her lungs were now clear. She had also resumed eating a regular diet. The state is now investigating what exactly happened. NBC News reviewed the protocol and spoke with medical experts and an anonymous source who witnessed the event to get a better comprehension of what took place. What comes next for Pike? The state could attempt to execute her again for the 1995 murder of Colleen Slemmer, setting the stage for legal challenges that could reach the Supreme Court. Such a case would raise questions about double jeopardy and whether a second execution attempt would amount to cruel and unusual punishment under the Eighth Amendment. Another option, experts say, is that the state could agree to commute her death sentence to life in prison. Or officials could decide to do nothing. Dive deeper into the key legal arguments at play. Staff Pick : TrumpRX discounts are a ‘mixed bag,’ report shows At the Republican midterm convention last month, President Donald Trump said the U.S. pays “the lowest prescription drug prices anywhere in the world.” It was a striking claim, considering how many presidents and lawmakers have tried and failed to bring down drug costs. And with healthcare affordability among the concerns for voters ahead of the midterms, I wanted to know: Is this true? Trump has certainly made lowering prices a priority, but he has taken a strange approach: Rather than try to pass legislation through Congress, his administration has struck voluntary deals with drug companies. In an independent analysis, researchers compared prices of 32 brand-name drugs offered through TrumpRx — the public face of Trump’s drug pricing discounts — with prices in 11 other wealthy countries. The results were revealing. While 17 drugs on TrumpRx were lower than the average prices abroad, 15 were higher than the average prices. Only five were the lowest-priced, while 13 were the highest-priced. The analysis doesn’t cover every drug, but it was enough to shed light on a sweeping claim that has been difficult to verify. — Berkeley Lovelace Jr., health and medical reporter Read All About It The USS Abraham Lincoln docked in San Diego after 322 days at sea. Among the crew members who reunited with loved ones was a father who met his 10-month-old son for the first time. An ICE officer shot a man in New York City during what DHS officials called a “targeted enforcement operation.” A newly released video of a 6-year-old who shot his teacher in 2023 shows him cursing and yelling at another teacher and police officers.The Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to South African jurist Navanethem “Navi” Pillay in recognition of her efforts to advance peace and international law. For subscribers: Sean “Diddy” Combs’ prison release date was pushed back by more than a month after an NBC News report revealed the rapper’s time in prison has included access to alcohol, nude photos and other VIP treatment. NBC Selected: Online Shopping, Simplified Rise and shine! Whether you’re a morning person or need some extra help waking up early, a sunrise clock may be the gentle nudge you need to get out of bed. Here are the best options. Plus, NBC Selected’s editors share the 100 best things they’ve ever bought from Amazon. 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