The Hill’s 12:30 Report: NASA unveils historic images of the universe

To view past editions of The Hill’s 12:30 Report, click here: https://bit.ly/30ARS1U 

To receive The Hill’s 12:30 Report in your inbox, please sign up here: https://bit.ly/3qmIoS9

–> A midday take on what’s happening in politics and how to have a sense of humor about it.* 

*Ha. Haha. Hahah. Sniff. Haha. Sniff. Ha–breaks down crying hysterically.

TALK OF THE MORNING 

Space is THE COOLEST: 

NASA just unveiled spectacular, full-color images of the universe taken by the James Webb Space Telescope. 

Watch NASA’s livestream where the new images were unveiled: The announcement started around 10:30 a.m. 

➤ THE NEW PHOTOS:

Whoa: Check out two images of a dying star. 

An image showing five galaxies: Four of those galaxies interact, according to NASA. 

This is such a cool image, it almost looks fake: “Behind the curtain of dust and gas in these ‘Cosmic Cliffs’ are previously hidden baby stars, now uncovered by Webb.” Photo of the ‘cosmic cliffs’.

Photo of galaxies colliding: The colors are spectacular. 

President Biden unveiled the first image on Monday. Here’s the image if you haven’t seen it:

^ By the way: Here is an image of the same spot in the sky, taken with an older telescope. Photo from 2017 

➤ SOME CONTEXT TO THE IMAGES:  

The part that baffles me: The image released by President Biden on Monday shows the universe as it appeared 13 billion years ago. Yes, you read that right: 13 billion years ago.

This is wild — I can’t even comprehend this: NASA’s Twitter account for the telescope tweeted, “If you held a grain of sand up to the sky at arm’s length, that tiny speck is the size of Webb’s view in this image. Imagine — galaxies galore within a grain, including light from galaxies that traveled billions of years to us!”  

Curious what a telescope of this magnitude actually looks like?: Here’s a photo of the telescope under construction, via Vox 

Here’s a side-by-side comparison of the new telescope’s images vs. an older telescope’s images: From Business Insider 

What even?: “This isn’t the farthest back we’ve observed. Non-infrared missions like COBE & WMAP saw the universe closer to the Big Bang (~380,000 years after), when there was only microwave background radiation, but no stars or galaxies. Webb sees a few 100 million years after the Big Bang.” Image from NASA 

IT’S TUESDAY. I’m Cate Martel with a quick recap of the morning and what’s coming up. Did someone forward this newsletter to you? Sign up here.

🔎 Jan. 6 

Happening at 1 pm — let’s turn our attention to the extremist groups: 

The House committee investigating the U.S. Capitol attack on Jan. 6, 2021, is starting its seventh hearing this afternoon. 

The focus of today’s testimony: The right-wing extremist groups tied to the attack 

More on what to expect during today’s session 

Today’s hearing livestream 

Slide this to the right, bring that forward, now shuffle it, spin the one on the right and swap it with the left: 

Bloomberg’s Billy House reports that Thursday’s primetime Jan. 6 hearing will be postponed until next week. 

Why?: We don’t know. The hearing had never been formally announced — and an explanation for the delay was also not given. 

The focus of this hearing: Former President Trump’s actions between the start of the attack and when he told his supporters to go home.  

Keep in mind: “It’s not the first time the committee has rescheduled hearings in its series of public sessions this summer. The panel did so once last month, citing a need to give its production crew more time to assemble video and exhibits.” What we know about the delayed hearing

🚔 News this morning 

Rest in peace, Shinzo Abe:

The funeral for former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was held in Tokyo earlier today after he was assassinated during a campaign speech last week. 

If you missed this news: “Millions around the world have reacted with shock and anguish at how Abe was gunned down in broad daylight during a campaign speech in the central city of Nara on Friday … The suspect, 41-year-old Tetsuya Yamagami, was arrested at the scene but has not been formally charged.” 

Photos from the funeral service — and more on Abe’s assassination, via CNN’s Rhea Mogul and Jessie Yeung

🐐 In the Democratic Party 

Get on our level!: 

“Democrats say they are angry, and they want President Biden to be angry, too.”  

Why Dems are furious: “In recent weeks, they’ve watched the Supreme Court overturn Roe v. Wade and at least one conservative justice hint that same-sex marriage and contraception could be next. Then they saw the high court restrict the Environmental Protection Agency’s ability to effectively tackle climate change. They’ve also witnessed the escalation of gun violence despite a small-scale legislative success on gun safety that fell well below what Democrats want to do on that issue.” 

Why Biden’s comments about abortion and guns haven’t been deemed as enough for his party, via The Hill’s Amie Parnes and Morgan Chalfant 

➤ ‘DOOMSDAY POLITICAL SCENARIO TAKES SHAPE FOR DEMOCRATS’:
Via The Hill’s Mychael Schnell and Hanna Trudo

🩺 The abortion fight 

To give some clarity to doctors — federal law trumps state law: 

“The Biden administration on Monday told hospitals that they ‘must’ provide abortion services if the life of the mother is at risk, saying federal law on emergency treatment guidelines preempts state laws in jurisdictions that now ban the procedure without any exceptions following the Supreme Court’s decision to end a constitutional right to abortion.” 

What this means for abortion access, via The Associated Press’s Zeke Miller

🦠 Latest with COVID 

➤ BY THE NUMBERS 

Cases to date: 88.4 million 

Death toll: 1,016,293 

Current hospitalizations: 17,783 

Shots administered: 597 million 

Fully vaccinated: 67 percent of Americans 

CDC data here.

🐥Notable tweets 

Ah ha! We knew it: 

Law 360’s Kellie Mejdrich retweeted a clip from CNBC’s “Squawk Box” discussing the number of chips in a bag.  

The ‘Squawk Box’ clip, from PepsiCo’s Hugh Johnston: “There are times we’ll take chips out of the bag instead of taking pricing up. There’s other times we’ll actually increase the number of chips in the bag, and we may take pricing up a little bit along with that…we move them around all the time.” Watch the clip 

Mejdrich commented: “Doritos man admits number of chips in the bag is changing constantly.”

⏱On tap 

The House and Senate are in. President Biden and Vice President Harris are in Washington, D.C. Biden is leaving for Israel tonight.

• 9 a.m.: Harris hosted Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador for breakfast at her residence. 
• 9:30 a.m.: Biden received the President’s Daily Brief. 
• 11:15 a.m.: Biden held a bilateral meeting with Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador to discuss global challenges such as food security and migration. Photo of his arrival to the White House 
• 11:30 a.m.: Two Senate roll call votes. Today’s Senate agenda 
• 2:30 p.m.: Two more Senate votes. 
• 5:30 p.m.: Harris participates virtually in an annual leaders meeting of the Pacific Islands Forum. 
• 6:30 p.m.: First and last votes in the House. Today’s House agenda 
• 9:30 p.m.: Biden leaves for Jerusalem, Israel. 
• Wednesday: The Hill is hosting an event, “Securing America’s Retirement.” Featured speakers: Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.), BPC chief economist Jason Fichtner and Ohio School Employees Retirement System’s Farouki Majeed. Details and RSVPs  
• July 19: The Hill is hosting an event, “America’s Unfinished Business: The Hill’s Future of Health Care 2022.” Featured speakers: Anthony Fauci, CMS Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, AMA president Jack Resneck and Mark McClellan. Details and RSVPs 

 All times Eastern.

📺What to watch 

• 9:30 a.m.: The White House COVID-19 Response Team held a press briefing. Video 
• 10 a.m.: The Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on the legal concerns after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. Watch 
• 4:30 p.m.: Biden and first lady Jill Biden host the White House Congressional Picnic. Harris also attends. Livestream 
• Tonight: White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre and national security advisor Jake Sullivan speak with reporters aboard Air Force One.

🥧 In lighter news 

Today is National Jell-O Day and National Pecan Pie Day! 

And to leave you on a happy note, here’s a mama bear trying to get her cubs across the street.