Sunday 7.15.18 The excitement! The anxiety! The screaming like your hair is on fire! We're hours away from crowning a new World Cup champion. France vs. Croatia: Game on! Here's what else you need to know to Start Your Week Smart. By Michelle Krupa & AJ Willingham | |  |  It's been building like the run-up to a royal wedding. On Monday, President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin finally will have their first standalone summit, meeting in Helsinki, Finland. Trump, who has lambasted NATO allies and lobbed a Brexit bomb on his working tour of Europe, predicted the Putin encounter would be "the easiest of them all." The President last week declined to say whether considers the Russian President to be a friend or foe. Instead he sees Putin as a "competitor." Top issues to be discussed likely include nuclear disarmament on the Korean Peninsula and the conflict in Syria. Pressure surrounding the meeting has intensified after the US Justice Department announced indictments against 12 Russian intelligence officers as part of special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. Top Democrats in Congress urged Trump to cancel the summit.
Also on Monday, Amazon's Prime Day begins at 3 p.m. ET and runs through midnight Tuesday. It's like Black Friday for summer -- a carnival of American consumerism -- that promises more than a million deals around the world. Prime has more than 100 million members; it costs $119 a year.
All this week, keep an eye on Barack Obama. The former commander in chief, who Americans think was the best President of their lifetime, will travel to his father's homeland of Kenya before heading to South Africa to deliver a high-profile address Tuesday to mark the 100th anniversary of Nelson Mandela's birth, which is the following day. The big question: Will Obama directly -- or not so directly -- talk about Trump?
And speaking of politics, voters in two Southern states head to the polls Tuesday to choose candidates to go head-to-head for their parties in November's midterms. Sparks could fly in Alabama, where GOP US Rep. Martha Roby, who was forced into a runoff after disavowing Trump, now enjoys the President's endorsement. Elections also will be held in North Carolina.
Meanwhile, if the dry cleaner still has your Klingon suit, it's time to get it. Comic-Con International, the annual four-day celebration of all things comics, opens Thursday in San Diego. Over-the-top costumes always steal the show.
And on Saturday, young people will gather in Washington, Los Angeles, New York, Atlanta, Seattle and other cities to call for climate and environmental justice. The founder of the Zero Hour movement said in a CNN op-ed that the activists' message to lawmakers is this: "Now is the time to act on climate change. ... If you won't pay attention to Mother Nature's cries for help, maybe you'll pay attention to the cries of your children." | |  | This makes us want to fly a kite. It's really a couple of workers harvesting shrimp in Yuncheng, China. (Who's got the grits?) Check out the rest of the week's top picks from our colleagues at CNN Photos. | |  | The heroes who rescued 12 young soccer players and their coach from a flooded cave in Thailand. The successful mission went down more than two weeks after such a feat seemed hopeless. "Just to get any of them out alive would have been a miracle," said British caver Vern Unsworth, who helped pinpoint the boys' location. "But to get 13 out of 13 ... biggest miracle ever." | |  | | "They saved his life, dropped him off and then cared enough to save our GRASS!!" Melissa Work, describing how firefighters in Pasco County, Florida, after ferrying her husband to the hospital as he suffered a heart attack, returned to finish the sod-laying project he'd started when he fell ill. | |  | Settle in Looking for an in-depth story to savor while finishing up your coffee? Check out CNN's weekend reads. | |  | Hands up for your colors
We're about to go into serious World Cup withdrawal, so let's get in one last moment of hype with one of the official songs of this year's tournament. (Click here to rock out.) | | | | |
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