A White House Crisis, Teleporting Photons, America’s Poet Laureate

Coming up on today’s show:

• After a year of denying that his campaign had any connections to the Kremlin, President Donald Trump is facing the first piece of hard evidence that key members of his campaign knowingly met with Russians in order to obtain information on Hillary Clinton. The president’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., says he’s prepared to testify before the congressional committees investigating Russian meddling. Sen. Ron Wyden, who sits on the Senate Intelligence Committee, explains how these new revelations may change the Senate’s investigation. 

• Republicans need 50 votes to get a healthcare bill through the Senate, but more than a few GOP lawmakers say they’re not on board with the plan to repeal and replace Obamacare. Perry Bacon Jr., a senior writer at FiveThirtyEight, explores why the GOP is having a hard time wrangling votes, and what it means for the Republican Party if the bill is dead. 

• A team of Chinese researchers has reportedly teleported a photon into space. It involves a complex phenomenon of quantum physics called entanglement. Scientists routinely teleport photons on Earth using entanglement, but with the move into space represents an impressive new achievement. Krister Shalm, a research associate at the National Institute of Standards and Technologies, has the details. 

• The month of July has been a particularly deadly one in Mexico, as criminal groups fight for the remnants of the empire once controlled by drug kingpin El Chapo. A battle between rival drug cartels left at least 26 dead in Mexico’s Sierra Madre mountains, where illegal drugs have deep roots in the community. Joshua Partlow, Mexico City bureau chief for The Washington Post, weighs in. 

• Today, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will meet with foreign ministers from the four Arab states leading a boycott against Qatar in an effort to broker a resolution. It will be Tillerson’s first test in high level crisis negotiation. For a look at what to expect, The Takeaway turns to Charles Dunne, a scholar with Middle East Institute and a former diplomat in the U.S. foreign service for 24 years.

• Newly-appointed Poet Laureate Tracy K. Smith is a Pulitzer Prize-winning author who has published three books of poetry and written a memoir. She was appointed by the librarian of Congress, and fills the role for a year. She discusses her work, and how her poetry fits into modern American life. 

This segment is hosted by Todd Zwillich.