Daily Briefing: 'Raise the age’ gun bill passes in Texas House

Several Uvalde victims' relatives burst into sobs and cheers when a Texas House committee passed a new restriction on purchasing guns. Also in the news: President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy will meet today to spar over raising the debt ceiling. Winston the Frenchie is fighting for the title in the finals at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show.

🙋🏼‍♀️ I'm Nicole Fallert, Daily Briefing author. The Pulitzer Prizes has honored the Austin American-Statesman's Uvalde coverage in collaboration with the USA Today Network. Congrats to these incredible colleagues and journalists!

Now here we go with Tuesday's news.

Bill passes Texas committee after months of advocacy by Uvalde families

A bill that would raise the minimum age to purchase AR-15 style semiautomatic rifles from 18 to 21 passed out of a Texas House committee advancing the measure hours before a key deadline.

The moves comes after months of advocacy by relatives of the 19 fourth graders and two teachers killed at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde on May 24, 2022.

• While Monday’s progress was a major, and unexpected, step forward, the future of the bill remains uncertain. Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan cautioned that he doesn’t believe it has the votes to pass the House and Gov. Greg Abbott has said he believes the measure to be unconstitutional.

• As the names of the eight people killed in a shooting at a suburban Dallas mall emerged Monday, authorities worked to determine whether the gunman was motivated by white supremacist and neo-Nazi views.

Click on the video below to watch families react to the vote:

President Biden's stance on spending cuts tested in debt ceiling meeting with McCarthy

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre reaffirmed President Joe Biden's unwillingness to negotiate the debt ceiling ahead of his meeting Tuesday with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. House Republicans are "manufacturing a crisis" over raising the debt ceiling, which she noted Congress has raised 78 times since 1960. But Biden is facing increasing pressure to soften his stance on Republicans' demands for spending cuts ahead of a June 1 deadline to avoid a government default. The two sides will open talks with little common ground besides the commitment of both parties not to touch Social Security or Medicare, the two biggest drivers of national debt that's exploded to $31.4 trillion. Read more

• Doc’s Prescription: US faces unprecedented default on its Treasury debt.

• Debt limit crisis has Biden and GOP divided. Here's how their plans to fix things compare.

• ''I don't have anything in my refrigerator'': GOP debt ceiling plan would cut SNAP benefits.

• Trying to get a loan? How the 2023 banking crisis has made borrowing even tougher.

More news to know now

• Texas Rep. Bryan Slaton resigned after giving alcohol to, having sex with 19-year-old aide.

• Colombian ''Prince of Submersibles'' gets 20 years for smuggling kilos of coke into US with narco-submarines.

• Seven shot, one dead in mass shooting at Ocean Springs, Mississippi beach restaurant.

• E. Jean Carroll v. Donald Trump: Attorneys make final arguments in civil rape case.

• On today's 5 Things podcast, Ukraine shoots down Russian drones in Kyiv. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your smart speaker.

What's the weather today? Check your local forecast here.

El Paso sees sharp increase in migrants as officials brace for Title 42 end

As cities near the U.S.-Mexico border brace for the end of Title 42, the city of El Paso has seen an influx of migrants, with more than 3,300 reported Monday camped out near shelters. With more expected to begin arriving when Title 42 restrictions expire later this week, the El Paso City Council on Monday unanimously approved extending a disaster declaration due to a "state of emergency" to assist in transporting and sheltering migrant asylum-seekers. City officials said the biggest concern is the large number of migrants expected to enter the city, adding to the growing number already in El Paso. Read more

• As Title 42 ends, chaos at border is inevitable. Is Biden prepared?

Putin tells Red Square parade 'real war' unleashed on Russia

Russian President Vladimir Putin has addressed his country’s Victory Day parade on Moscow’s Red Square, claiming that “a real war” has been unleashed against Russia — a reference to the war in Ukraine that the Kremlin portrays as being a proxy conflict with the West. Earlier Tuesday, Russia unleashed a barrage of cruise missiles on Ukraine, hours before the start of the annual commemorations celebrating the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II. The Kremlin’s forces launched 25 missiles overnight in a wave of attacks across Ukraine. Read more

Just for subscribers:

• Hiker embraces life after paralyzing fall — step after step, mile after mile.

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• I used to love the Kentucky Derby, but horse deaths have caused me to hate racing.

• At an Arizona senior living center, a resident killed another. How the system enables violence.

These articles are for USA TODAY subscribers. You can sign up here. 

The 147th Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show

The 147th annual Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show is back with over 3,000 dogs of more than 200 different breeds competing for the ultimate prize, glory and bragging rights. Buddy Holly the PBGV, Rummie the Peke, Winston the Frenchie and Ribbon the Australian shepherd are headed to the show finals Tuesday, along with three other finalists yet to be chosen. Winston came in second at Westminster last year and went on to win last fall's National Dog Show, hosted by the Kennel Club of Philadelphia. Read more

Quick hits

• King Charles and Queen Camilla released the first official portraits since the coronation.

• Madrid Open tennis controversy: Ball girls, birthday cakes raise equality concerns.

• ''Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3'' uses disturbing animal cruelty to make a larger point.

• Opinion: Bob Huggins can't stay at West Virginia after gleefully using a homophobic slur.

Photo of the day: 'The Little Mermaid' world premiere

The live-action movie of the 1989 animated classic, "The Little Mermaid," is almost here! Stars of the highly anticipated film strutted down the blue carpet to celebrate its world premiere in Los Angeles on Monday. The movie features Halle Bailey as the title character, Melissa McCarthy as Ursula, Jonah Hauer-King as Eric, Javier Bardem as King Triton, and Jacob Tremblay voices the adorable Flounder. Click here to see more photos from the blue carpet.

Nicole Fallert is a newsletter writer at USA TODAY, sign up for the email here. Want to send Nicole a note? Shoot her an email at NFallert@usatoday.com or follow along with her musings on Twitter. Support journalism like this – subscribe to USA TODAY here.

Associated Press contributed reporting.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Texas gun law, Texas shooting, debt ceiling, Title 42, Ukraine, Putin, dog show, Little Mermaid: Daily Briefing