It’s around 100 degrees today in New York, Washington, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Atlanta. Some 163 million people, from Missouri to Maine and south to Mississippi, live in areas likely to experience dangerous heat. For many, it’ll last till Sunday. Follow our live coverage here.

When your core body temperature hits 104 degrees, you can get heat stroke. In this scorching heat and humidity, it takes a lot of energy to prevent that: An adult must expend around 210,000 joules, or 50 calories, to reduce body temperature by nearly two degrees. That means a person on the cusp of heat stroke must expend around 150 calories to reach a healthy temperature again, even just temporarily. That’s roughly the same as:

A lot of energy. So stay hydrated — it helps your body sweat and expel heat — and pace yourself.

Related: What’s causing all this record-breaking heat?

Trump’s midterms gambit

President Trump has taken at least 14 actions to nationalize elections. He has taken at least 21 actions to tighten voting restrictions. He has cut security, pushed for mid-decade redistricting, questioned previous results and punished those who didn’t question previous results.

It all amounts to an extraordinary effort to reshape election rules. See all the ways Trump is trying to tip the scales for the 2026 midterms.

More on politics:

Russia attacks Ukraine

The Russian military blasted Ukraine’s capital with waves of ballistic missiles and drones overnight and into the morning, a deadly show of force after weeks of Ukrainian attacks heaped pressure on President Vladimir Putin. At least 27 people were killed and 85 injured in the attacks on Kyiv, Ukrainian officials said.

A busy weekend in Washington

The Fourth of July is nearly here, and it’s not just any Fourth of July: It’s the country’s 250th birthday. Trump isn’t going to let the occasion pass without a proper romp. (His plans include a record-breaking fireworks show with 850,000 pyrotechnics.)

A company run by his allies is organizing many of the weekend’s biggest events, funded in part by $68 million in taxpayer money. But because the Trump administration has routed funds through an opaque nonprofit, it is unclear how much the company will make.

Wedding planning (Taylor’s Version)

If — theoretically! — a couple wanted to choose the most ostentatious and logistically complex time and place for a wedding celebration, they might choose Madison Square Garden in Manhattan over the Fourth of July weekend.

Taylor Swift and her fiancé, Travis Kelce, the Kansas City Chiefs tight end, are poised to pull it off. They’ve invited around 100 people to a rehearsal dinner at the Garden tonight, starting right as I’m sending this newsletter, according to an internal police memo. Tomorrow, as many as 1,000 guests are expected there for a larger celebration.

In potato salad we trust

Forget the hot dogs and apple pie. The Times critic Wesley Morris has one thing on his mind this weekend: potato salad. The moment has stirred up some strong feelings for the summer staple.

This week on “Cannonball,” Wesley takes to the streets of New York City and back to The Times’s Cooking Kitchen to answer an essential question: Does potato salad belong on the Mount Rushmore of national dishes?

Listen to the episode here.

Searching for George Washington

He is a mythic figure in our national memory, cast in metal, carved in stone. How does one imagine his living presence, much less embody him?

John Koopman, 67, is part of a small fraternity of men bold enough to try. He has portrayed Washington for decades, often while riding his horse, named Bear. “By some strange quirk of genetics, I have Washington’s exact dimensions,” Koopman said.

The Times asked 13 of the founding father’s modern-day interpreters how they strive to capture his legacy, flaws and all.

Have a Washingtonian evening.

Thanks for reading. We’ll be off tomorrow for the holiday, and we’ll be back on Monday — Evan

Eli Cohen was our photo editor.

We welcome your feedback. Reach us at evening@nytimes.com.