The Hill's 12:30 Report — Presented by Facebook — How a nationwide railroad strike was averted

View Online  12:30 REPORT PRESENTED BY FACEBOOK TALK OF THE MORNING Back on track, baby!: ©  Amazon Prime Video President Biden announced Thursday morning that railroad companies and their unions have reached a tentative agreement to avoid the national strike that would have shut down all trains after midnight.    Added to Biden's schedule at the last minute: The White House sent an updated schedule around 10:30 a.m. to include a 10:45 a.m. meeting with negotiators, followed by 11 a.m. remarks on the railway labor agreement. Watch Biden's remarks    Photo of Biden meeting with negotiators in the Oval Office: Via The Wall Street Journal's Ken Thomas  ➤  THIS DEAL DIDN'T MAGICALLY APPEAR: CNN reports that this deal was reached after roughly 20 hours (!) of negotiations that involved Labor Secretary Marty Walsh. Biden even chimed in on the negotiations around 9 p.m. Wednesday.  ➤  WHAT'S IN THE NEGOTIATED DEAL: More time off  Time off for medical appointments  Block health care hikes  Two-person crews  Pay raises  Details for each from The Hill's Karl Evers-Hillstrom ➤  ROLL BACK THE AMTRAK TRIPS: Following the announcement of a tentative deal to avert a train strike, Amtrak is reversing its plans to cancel long-distance routes.     Keep in mind: Amtrak started canceling some routes on Tuesday, worried the strike would start before some trains reached their final destination.    How closely was Amtrak tied to the negotiations?: "Amtrak was not involved in the contract negotiations between rail workers and freight companies, but many of its trains run on railroads owned by third parties that could be impacted by a strike." What we know about Amtrak's restored service Happy Thursday! I'm Cate Martel with a quick recap of the morning and what's coming up. Did someone forward this newsletter to you? Sign up here.  Content from our sponsor: Facebook Facebook is taking action to keep its platform safe   Over 40 million people use Facebook Privacy Checkup each month. That's nearly 60 times the population of Washington, D.C. That's just one example of the work we're doing to create safer connections.     Learn more about our work ahead.  🎾 Other news this morning First, Serena. Now, Roger! :( ©  AP/Lee Jin-man Tennis star Roger Federer announced on Thursday morning that he is retiring from professional tennis.     How he announced it: He posted a video on Twitter. Watch Federer's retirement announcement    He said he will play in one more tournament, but that won't be a Grand Slam event: Federer said his last ATP tennis tournament will be the Laver Cup in London next week.    How many Grand Slam titles Federer has won: Federer has won 20 Grand Slam titles in his career, the third most in history. (Rafael Nadal has won 22 Grand Slam titles; Novak Djokovic has won 21.) ➤  ACTUALLY, SPEAKING OF SERENA WILLIAMS: During an interview with ABC's "Good Morning America," Serena Williams hinted at a possible return to professional tennis.    In Williams's words: "You never know, and I've just been saying that Tom Brady started a really cool trend!"     Williams is referring to football legend Tom Brady's retirement, followed by a return to the sport a little over a month later.    Watch Serena's full response — and body language — on GMA 'New Day's' last day: CNN is switching up its morning news coverage, announcing a new morning show anchored by Don Lemon, Poppy Harlow and Kaitlan Collins.    Any details?: It will debut later this year with a new name and format.    Keep in mind: CNN has been making a lot of changes since its new president, Chris Licht, took over in May. Some of those changes have come under criticism.     More context to the announcement, via The Hill's Dominick Mastrangelo  🎈 In the White House The plot twists of this season have been wild: "Fresh inflation data and a subsequent stock market tumble have come at a bad time for President Biden and Democrats, who were just appearing to be getting comfortable framing the economy as an asset for their party's pitch to voters in November."    OK, so get it: Democrats held a White House event to celebrate the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, which had been planned for weeks. But right before the event, new data showed that inflation actually rose in August when economists had expected it to dip.    What this could mean for the economy: "Fed officials are under greater pressure to keep raising interest rates at a rapid pace with inflation still stubbornly high. Doing so will slow the economy — potentially into a recession — as soon as next year, with the race for the White House looming in 2024."   How this could play out, via The Hill's Alex Gangitano and Brett Samuels ➤  'HOW INFLATION IS FUELING A NATIONWIDE LABOR MOVEMENT': The Hill's Tobias Burns explains.  💵 In Congress It's about to go down: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) are headed on a collision course over how to fund the government.    What Scott and Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Mike Lee (R-Utah) want: A short-term funding bill so that if Republican win control of the House and Senate next year, they could shape the longer-term funding bill themselves.    What we know about McConnell's perspective: "[S]everal Republican senators say McConnell wants to pass a year-end omnibus spending bill before the end of the 117th Congress, although they add the leader is playing his cards close to the vest."    What to expect, via The Hill's Alexander Bolton 🗳 On the campaign trail Interesting read — 'Election deniers advanced to November ballots in 27 states, report finds': NBC News's Adam Edelman reports that "candidates who deny the results of the 2020 election have advanced to November ballots in statewide races for positions that will oversee, defend or certify elections in more than half of the states, according to a nonpartisan group tracking the races."     Why this is significant: "Many of the general election contests will be competitive races in critical battleground states — among them Arizona, Pennsylvania, Nevada and Michigan — whose outcomes could have enormous impacts on the results of the next presidential election in those states."     Breakdown from NBC   Read the States United Action report  🦠 Latest with COVID BY THE NUMBERS Cases to date: 95.2 million  Death toll: 1,046,195  Current hospitalizations: 27,467  Shots administered: 610 million Fully vaccinated: 67.6 percent CDC data here. Content from our sponsor: Facebook We spent $16 billion to enhance safety and security in the past 6 years  That's enough to build 7 pro stadiums – all to keep our communities safe and create more meaningful connections.    That's just one example of the work we're doing.    Facebook is taking action to keep its platform safe.     Learn more about our work ahead.  🐥 Notable tweets LOL, the way Prince Harry greeted actor Matt Smith is great: Actor Matt Smith, who played young Prince Philip in Netflix's "The Crown" and is now playing Daemon Targaryen in HBO's "House of the Dragon," appeared on NBC's "Today."  Watch his interview    My favorite tidbit: Smith said he met Prince Harry at a polo match, who walked up to the actor and greeted him as "Granddad."  ⏱ On tap The House and Senate are in. President Biden and Vice President Harris are in Washington, D.C. 8:30 a.m.: Biden received his daily briefing.  10:10 a.m.: Harris spoke at the United We Stand Summit.  11:30 a.m.: A Senate judicial confirmation vote. Today's Senate agenda  1:45 p.m.: Harris hosts a multilateral meeting with Caribbean leaders.   1:45 p.m.: Another Senate confirmation vote.  1:45 – 3:30 p.m.: The House votes before leaving for the weekend. Today's House agenda  3:30 p.m.: Biden delivers a keynote speech at the United We Stand Summit at the White House.  All times Eastern.  You're Invited: Unlocking Access to Oral Health, Tuesday, Sept. 20 at 8 a.m. ET   A healthy mouth is essential for a healthy body. Yet, access to adult oral health care is inconsistent or inaccessible for millions of low-income adults enrolled in Medicaid across the country. Is there a connection between oral health benefits in public programs like Medicaid and health equity? Join The Hill for a discussion on what more can be done to improve oral health nationwide. RSVP today to attend in-person or receive the livestream link. 📺 What to watch Today: The United We Stand Summit at the White House. Livestream  10:30 a.m.: The White House Monkeypox Response Team held a press briefing. Video  1:15 p.m.: White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre holds a press briefing. Livestream  8:25 p.m.: Biden attends the 45th Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute Gala at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center. Livestream  🍝 In lighter news Today is National Linguine Day and National Double Cheeseburger Day!  You want thingamabobs? I've got twenty!: ©  Disney Princess Disney released its first trailer for the upcoming live-action remake of "The Little Mermaid," with Halle Bailey playing Ariel.    Watch the trailer    It's impossible not to smile while watching this: Watch the reactions of young Black girls watching the trailer and seeing Ariel as a Black Disney princess. CNN clip  And because you made it this far, I'll leave you with a cat enjoying an afternoon drink.  Stay Engaged Send comments, story ideas and events for our radar to cmartel@thehill.com and follow along on Twitter and Facebook. A friend forward this to you? Subscribe here. Privacy Policy  |  Manage Subscriptions  |  Unsubscribe  Sign Up for Other Newsletters 1625 K Street NW, 9th Floor, Washington, DC 20006 © 1998 - 2022 Nexstar Media Inc. | All Rights Reserved.