News Information and Media Site: News it or lose it … and will the midterms be about “Biden Democrats”?

From NBC's Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, and Carrie Dann

FIRST READ: The last 24 hours have been a news overload — with more to come

It's been a whirlwind of political and national news over the last 24 hours, and expect the news to keep spinning today.

Photo by Ed JONES / AFP

Yesterday's headlines:

House Democrats (along with two GOP votes) passed a select committee to investigate the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.
New York City released more results in its chaotic (and still-incomplete) count in the Democratic mayoral primary.
Donald Rumsfeld's family announced the death of the former Defense secretary.
Donald Trump headed to the Texas border.
And Bill Cosby was released from prison.

And today's:

The Trump Organization's Allen Weisselberg surrendered to the Manhattan D.A.'s office after a grand jury indicted him.
President Biden travels to Florida to meet with the first responders and families in Surfside, Fla. (while the Washington Examiner is reporting that Gov. Ron DeSantis is asking Trump to postpone an upcoming rally that's 200 miles from the tragedy).
And the U.S. Supreme Court is set to deliver its final opinions this term, including a closely watched voting-rights case.

While there's certain to be a lot of focus today on the Weisselberg indictment, ask yourself which is the more potent political story, at least when it comes to 2022 and 2024: Is it the Trump Organization's business practices?

Or is it what happened on Jan. 6 (and information we still don't know about that day)?

TWEET OF THE DAY: What happened on Jan. 6 – in 40 minutes

Talking policy with Benjy: Will the midterms be about "Biden Democrats"?

Democrats are looking shaky on economic issues heading into the midterm cycle, but President Joe Biden's popularity remains a potential life raft. That's the view from center-left think tank Third Way, which shared its latest polling memo with NBC's Benjy Sarlin on the party's economic message based on a survey of 1,000 likely voters.

According to their findings, congressional Democrats are tied with Republicans on the generic ballot, with the GOP holding a 12-point advantage on which party is more trusted on the economy, including an effective tie with Latino voters and a larger 29-point gap with "persuadable" voters.

Biden fares better in the poll, however. He holds a 50-48 percent approval on the economy versus 41-55 percent for Democrats in Congress.

"One thing Democrats can do to help address this economic trust gap in 2022 is run as Biden Democrats," Ryan Pougiales, deputy director of politics at Third Way, told Sarlin. "Describe yourself as a Biden Democrat, run full-throatedly on the Biden agenda, and certainly bring the president to your district when you can. Hopefully, the Biden magic on the economy can rub off on them."

This advice isn't that surprising given the group's natural affinity for Biden. Still, the numbers pointed to serious weak spots for the party. Despite trillions in relief spending and infrastructure and jobs bills under discussion, voters by a more than a 2-to-1 margin described Democrats as more focused on cultural and social issues than economic ones.

Third Way's prescription: Stick to Biden, talk a whole lot more about the economy, and emphasize the benefits for "working" and "middle class" families, which the vast majority of voters identify as across a wide range of financial situations, rather than "low-income" ones, which voters are more likely to assume doesn't apply to them.

Data Download: The numbers you need to know today

18: The death toll in the Surfside, Florida condo collapse, with 145 people still unaccounted for.

41st: The debut ranking of former President Donald Trump in a new C-SPAN survey of historians

33,800,492: The number of confirmed cases of coronavirus in the United States, per the most recent data from NBC News and health officials. (That's 10,261 more than yesterday morning.)

608,138: The number of deaths in the United States from the virus so far, per the most recent data from NBC News. (That's 247 more than yesterday morning.)

326,521,526: The number of vaccine doses administered in the U.S.

43 percent: The share of all Americans who are fully vaccinated, per NBC News.

57.4 percent: The share of all American adults over 18 who are fully vaccinated, per CDC.

ICYMI: What ELSE is happening in the world?

Biden is headed to Surfside, Florida today.

A judge has blocked — for now — a new Florida law that seeks to punish social media companies for deplatforming political candidates.

A third Oath Keeper has pled guilty to charges that he stormed the Capitol on January 6.

What's really going on with Tucker Carlson's claims about the NSA?

Don't miss this interview with the Michigan Republican who led a 2020 election investigation that concluded there was no widespread fraud in the state.