Headline News from The Associated Press
AP Headline News - Jul 03 2024 10:00 (EDT)
This is AP News. I'm Rita Folle. Blistering heat a hurricane and holiday travel. We've got all that and more this morning. We'll start with the millions of Americans on the road for the fourth. The AP's Jennifer King. AAA is forecasting a record July 4th travel period. Although with nearly 90 million people under heat alerts, it might be a good idea to watch the fireworks from a boat or on TV with a bowl of ice cream in hand. The Motor Club projects 70.9 million US travelers are heading 50 miles or more to enjoy independent state festivities this week. That's a 5% increase over last year and over 5.5 million more than before the pandemic. About 60.6 million are going by car with the worst traffic on Wednesday and Sunday. As for rental car demand, Hertz says Dallas, Denver, Salt Lake City, Los Angeles and San Francisco are tops this holiday week. GasBuddy.com is reporting the national average for a gallon of gas on the fourth is expected to be around $3.49. I'm Jennifer King. As for that brutal heat across much of the country today, temperatures above 100 degrees expected in parts of California, 101 in Oklahoma City today. A growing wildfire north of Sacramento has forced thousands of people to evacuate. Hurricane Beryl is threatening Jamaica after killing at least six people in the southeast Caribbean. We're learning that the White House is holding a staff meeting today to build as a morale booster following President Biden's shaky debate performance on Thursday night. The AP's Josh Boke. We are now starting to see some polls coming in that suggest that Biden is behind on Trump. Remember, Biden's advisers went into this debate, estimating that his performance would overcome any doubts. Instead, they've only magnified and intensified those doubts. And until this gets resolved, Democrats looking to win in November are going to have a lot of gut-wrenching moments about who should be their nominee. This is AP News. New vehicle sales are up, but only a little. Analysts expect prices to drop some more. The AP's Lisa Dwyer's got all of that and more. According to MotorIntelligence.com, new vehicle sells overall rose only 0.1% in the second quarter, despite larger discounts and slightly lower prices. Auto-industry analysts predict that even lower prices could be coming and suggest that buyers consider waiting for better deals. Analysts say inventories on dealer lots are building, particularly for pickup trucks and high-priced vehicles. Discounts vary by demand with smaller, less expensive models and gas electric hybrids generally being in shorter supply. I'm Lisa Dwyer. The number of Americans filing for unemployment inched up last week, but the number is still historically low. Fewer than 2 million Americans are on unemployment. The economy remains strong. I'm Rita Foley, AP News.