Trump Says He Has 'No Idea' How Mitch McConnell Is DoingPresident Donald Trump said Wednesday he had "no idea" how Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is doing as concerns continue to swirl about the former Senate majority leader's health.Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One that he hadn't spoken with McConnell, 84, since his hospitalization three weeks ago."I have no idea. I have no idea how he's doing," Trump said.After a spokesperson for McConnell refused to clarify rumors that the senator was brain dead, some of McConnell's colleagues and allies came forward to say they had spoken to him on the phone.But on Wednesday, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D) sent McConnell's office a letter requesting an update on his health, noting that people were growing concerned about his well-being. Meanwhile, McConnell's wife, former Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, said his health "did not warrant an immediate return" from her philanthropic trip to China. Latest Live UpdatesDSCC Commits To Fund New Nominee To Replace Graham PlatnerThe Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee said it has started a fund that will be given to the nominee to replace Graham Platner, who dropped out of the race after being accused of sexual assault. “Susan Collins is more vulnerable than she has ever been after voting with Trump 96 percent of the time, being the decisive vote for the justices who overturned Roe v. Wade, and selling out to the special interests that fund her campaigns after three decades in the Senate,” DSCC executive director Devan Barber said in a statement Wednesday. “The DSCC will work tirelessly to ensure the new Democratic nominee has the infrastructure and resources to immediately turn their focus to the general election, and in November we will defeat Susan Collins and win a Senate majority.”Venezuela Quake Survivors Improvise Showers, Toilets Amid Water ShortagesThousands of people affected by the devastating earthquakes in Venezuela last month are increasingly facing challenges in accessing clean water, sanitation and hygiene services.Families in the hardest-hit state, La Guaira, have taken to the beach to shower and relieve themselves, with excrement now dotting parts of the once-crowded Caribbean beaches. Others are using the little water that did not spill from their home storage tanks to do dishes and clean themselves. Many are living in temporary shelters or outdoors after 190 buildings collapsed and 856 others were damaged, according to Venezuelan officials, in the back-to-back earthquakes on June 24 that killed 3,811 people.Read more from The Associated Press:Trump Flew In Old Air Force One Due To Security Concerns: NYTThe Secret Service urged President Donald Trump not to ride aboard his new Qatari-gifted Air Force One, The New York Times reported. Although the president had pushed for the aircraft to be ready as soon as possible, lawmakers and some officials raised concerns that it may not be outfitted with sufficient security measures. The Secret Service reportedly advised against Trump flying the new plane out of Turkey as a precautionary measure. Asked on Wednesday why he wasn’t flying on the new jet, Trump didn’t answer directly and instead brought up the possibility of Iran wanting to assassinate him.“It’s a very dangerous profession,” Trump said of being president. “I’m number one on the kill list for Iran. They’re lovely people, I’m number one.”Read more in The New York Times: Breaking UpdateGraham Platner Drops Out Of Maine Senate Race After Sexual Assault AllegationsMaine Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner dropped out of the 2026 race on Wednesday after multiple sexual assault allegations surfaced.“This is incredibly difficult, because I know that some will think it’s an admission of guilt, and it most certainly is not. We’re not doing it because of the allegations, we’re doing it because of the structures that are being taken away from us by those in power,” he said in an 11-minute video Wednesday evening.Read more: Maine Democratic Party Says It Will Hold Nominating Convention If Platner Drops OutFollowing an emergency meeting with more than 100 committee members Wednesday, the Maine Democratic Party announced it would hold a nominating convention to replace Graham Platner if he drops out of the Senate race following an accusation of sexual assault."We will announce the full timeline, details for how the nomination process will move forward, information about how to participate, and requirements for candidates soon. We will keep the public informed throughout the process -- transparency is of the utmost importance," the state party leaders said in a statement."There is an unprecedented amount of energy and enthusiasm among Maine Democrats, driven in part by many of the dedicated volunteers and supporters who were inspired by Graham Platner's campaign," the statement added. If Platner withdraws before Monday, state law allows the party to pick a new Senate nominee. Despite indications that he plans to leave the race, Platner has yet to announce a departure, and he's openly squabbled with the state's Democratic Party over his role in selecting a replacement.Trump Casts Doubt On Graham Platner's AccuserPresident Donald Trump called into question a new sexual assault allegation made against Maine's Democratic Senate nominee Graham Platner, who remains in the race despite demands he drop out."It’s really a question of whether or not you believe the woman," Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One. "A lot of people say big falsehoods." "It's very interesting, when a Republican woman came out with the same charge nobody believed her," he claimed, referring to allegations made by his former girlfriend and Virginia conservative, Lyndsey Fifield, who described a pattern of unsettling behavior by Platner to The New York Times last month.Trump didn't give a clear answer when asked whether Democrats should be allowed to replace Platner with a different candidate ahead of Election Day. Maine state law dictates that Platner has until July 13 to resign, while the party has until July 27 to replace him on the ballot."I would imagine he's going to lose," Trump said. Second Person In 4 Days Is Fatally Shot In Memphis By Federal Task Force MemberA member of a federal crime-fighting task force in Memphis shot and killed a person there on Wednesday, the second fatal shooting by a task force member in four days.The Wednesday shooting occurred while U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents were serving a drug warrant out of Shelby County at around 8:30 a.m. The suspect was in a hotel room and refused to open the door for agents, so they knocked the door down, U.S. Marshals Service spokesman Brady McCarron said.Read more from The Associated Press:Patrick Dempsey, Heather Cox Richardson Say They Won't Run For Senate In MaineActor Patrick Dempsey said Wednesday he will not throw his name into the ring to replace Graham Platner as the Democratic nominee for Senate in Maine, writing in an op-ed he preferred to keep focusing on his work to help cancer patients in the state. "The Dempsey Center has shown me what’s possible when people put aside differences and focus on helping one another. I’ve watched volunteers, healthcare professionals, small businesses, major corporations, donors and neighbors come together for one purpose: caring for people during some of the hardest moments of their lives," the former "Grey's Anatomy" star wrote in the Portland Press-Herald, referring to a cost-free supportive cancer care center he founded in his home state."No one asks who you voted for before offering support," he wrote. "That’s the America I know. That’s what I want to see in the leader we send to the Senate."A lesser-known sort of celebrity, Boston College history professor Heather Cox Richardson, also ruled out a run. Richardson, who writes the most popular political Substack newsletter in the country and has a large fan base of older liberals, said in a video posted to her Instagram a run was "not going to happen.""I am not a good candidate for the Senate race in Maine," she said. U.S. Central Command announced Wednesday that its forces have begun another round of attacks on Iran after targeting dozens of Iranian sites the day before.“At the direction of the Commander in Chief, U.S. Central Command forces have started conducting additional strikes against Iran to further degrade their ability to threaten freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz,” the agency said in a statement posted to social media. “The United States is holding Iran accountable for recent unjustified aggression against commercial shipping and civilian crews freely navigating a vital international waterway.”President Donald Trump said earlier in the day from Turkey’s NATO summit that he considered the ceasefire to be done, although he did not see the conflict returning to a full-blown war. JD Vance Drags His Kid Into Strange Response To Letter From Milwaukee MayorVice President JD Vance made a strange analogy involving his son while mocking a letter from Milwaukee mayor Cavalier Johnson. While speaking in Wisconsin on Wednesday, Vance told a story about his son, comparing it to Johnson's letter slamming a federal probe into the city's 2020 presidential election. "I get home and my 6-year-old greets me ... and says, 'Daddy, I'm glad you're home. I didn't steal any of the cookies!'" he said. "Well, of course he stole the cookies.""So, when I hear a guy protesting out of nowhere, 'I did not do any election fraud! I did not do any election fraud!' It makes me wonder, why is that guy protesting so aggressively?" he continued, referring to Johnson's letter that claimed there's no evidence of voter fraud to justify the investigation. Both Vance and President Donald Trump have refused to accept the results of the 2020 presidential election and have repeated baseless claims of fraud. The Trump administration has weaponized the FBI to investigate the results of the 2020 election across the country, including in Georgia and Arizona.See All Updates