The influences behind JD Vance’s politics and Lebanon’s hospitals prepare for war: Morning Rundown

JD Vance and his aunt shed light on how his upbringing shaped his sharp opinions. Lebanon’s already crisis-hit hospitals are making preparations in case of war with Israel. And the last European shows of Taylor Swift’s “Eras Tour” come with heightened security measures.

Here’s what to know today.

How JD Vance’s family shaped his sharp-edged rhetoric

In his first month as former President Donald Trump’s running mate, JD Vance has turned heads with his past comments about “childless cat ladies,” as well as his views about marriage, children and families. Democrats have made his sometimes aggressive support of more conventional family dynamics the basis of their case against him as a national candidate.

But those close to Vance, a first-term Ohio senator, say his relationships with the women who raised him are key to understanding his worldview on the thorny cultural issues for which he has become known. Vance also acknowledged in a recent interview that his upbringing shaped his sharp opinions.

In his book, “Hillbilly Elegy,” Vance portrays his grandmother as a profane but loving matriarch herding a family often in crisis. His mother battled drug addiction and, according to his book, once “beat the s—” out of him.

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“My sister had five husbands, and that’s not to mention the men that were in and out of their lives that she didn’t marry before she got her crap together,” Lori Miebers, Vance’s aunt and one of the women who took him in when his mother could not, said in an interview with NBC News. “He’s seen that side of life and living.”

In his book, Vance also celebrated his older sister’s marriage to “someone who treated her well and had a decent job,” breaking the cycle of abandonment and dysfunction that defined their childhood.

In interviews, Vance and Miebers gave new details of his upbringing and discussed how it forged his opinions.

Read the exclusive story here.

More 2024 election coverage:

• Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will appear together in Maryland. Tim Walz swings through the Northeast, and Vance goes to Pennsylvania.Follow our live blog.
• At a rally in Asheville, North Carolina, Trumpwent on numerous tangentsabout Biden, Harris and Walz while laying out some economic policy proposals.
• Walzaccepted an invitationto debate Vance on Oct. 1.
• Republicans are angry that a leading pro-cryptocurrency groupbacked Democrats in two high-profile Senate races.
• Pro-Palestinian protest groups saytens of thousands of people will descend on Chicagoto demonstrate outside the Democratic National Convention next week.

Lebanon’s hospitals ready themselves for a full-scale war

Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah militant group have been engaged in a low-level war for 10 months, but after the twin assassinations last month of senior Hezbollah and Hamas figures, many in the region, including hospitals, are preparing themselves for the possibility of a full-scale war.

At Rafiq Hariri University Hospital, the largest public hospital in Beirut, there’s a new triage system that can whisk critical patients to high-level care “in seconds,” Dr. Jihad Saadeh said. A just-finished facility can wash away weaponized poisons, and specialized areas can be transformed into trauma surgeries in no time. But Saadeh estimates the hospital can only withstand about 10 days of war before it would need outside supplies.

While doctors learned from the country’s last war with Israel in 2006, Lebanon’s myriad crises loom over the health care sector, causing concern about how it could weather a new conflict.

European finale of Eras Tour features heightened security

It’s the end of an Eras! Five performances in London, starting tonight, mark the end of the European leg of Taylor Swift’s record-breaking “Eras Tour.”

With the shows coming a week after a foiled terror plot that had targeted her appearance in Vienna, Austria, Swift’s team worked with organizers in the United Kingdom to ensure heightened security at Wembley Stadium in London. Among the measures: Fans who were unable to score tickets won’t be able to stand outside the stadium and listen from afar, as was allowed at previous shows, and no “tay-gating” will be allowed.

Fans, some traveling from the U.S. to attend Swift’s shows, said they are comforted by the security measures and are determined to have a night to remember. Read the full story here.

Politics in Brief 

Immigration: Texas Gov. Greg Abbott recently doubled down on his commitment to send buses full of migrants to blue cities. One problem: There aren’t enough migrants.

Want more politics news? Sign up for From the Politics Desk to get exclusive reporting and analysis delivered to your inbox every weekday evening.Subscribe here. 

Staff Pick: LA28 preps for a different Los Angeles than in 1984 and 1932

With the successful Paris Olympics now wrapped up, looking at how preparations are going for the next host city was a no-brainer. Los Angeles last hosted the global sports event in 1984 when it was a much different city: Less people, less traffic, less heat and less homelessness. We examine the hurdles Los Angeles 2028 will face as it prepares to capture the world’s gaze in four years.—Amanda Covarrubiasnews editor

NBC Select: Online Shopping, Simplified 

The18 best tools every gardener should haveinclude many tried-and-true basics and other products to keep your plants looking pristine. For those who are new to gardening,a raised bedis especially great because it’s like “gardening with training wheels.”

Sign up to The Selectionnewsletter for hands-on product reviews, expert shopping tips and a look at the best deals and sales each week.

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Elizabeth Robinson

Elizabeth Robinson is a newsletter editor for NBC News, based in Los Angeles.