Good morning and welcome to your weekday morning roundup of the top stories you need to know.
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What's going on today:
- Crash course: The California recall election is today. Californians will vote on whether to recall Gov. Gavin Newsom. This is the second gubernatorial recall election in California - the other one was in 2003, and Arnold Schwarzenegger came out on top. Here's a look at how we got here and what political experts think could happen.
- Speaking of the recall election, Biden made a trip to the West Coast to stump for Newsom. At a rally in Long Beach, President Joe Biden implored Californians to vote "no" in the recall election. The president called Newsom "one of the best governors in the country" and referred to Larry Elder - who is considered Newsom's main opponent - as a "Trump clone."
- So many kids in the US are getting COVID-19. More than 243,000 kids were reported to have gotten COVID-19 in the seven days that ended Thursday, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. That's the second-highest weekly total among kids of the pandemic.
- DeSantis is threatening to fine counties and cities if they impose vaccine mandates. Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida said he'd slap a $5,000 fine on any city or county governments requiring all employees to be vaccinated. It could amount to "millions and millions" of dollars in fines, DeSantis said at a
news conference. - There's a new richest person in Japan. Takemitsu Takizaki, the founder of the sensor-making manufacturer Keyence, is now Japan's richest person. Keyence is known for paying some of the highest salaries in Japan. Takizaki and his $38.2 billion fortune have bumped Uniqlo's Tadashi Yanai from the top spot.
That's all for now - see you tomorrow.