Happening Today: John McCain, Jeff Sessions, Memory Loss, OJ Simpson, ‘Harry Potter'

Get the top headlines of the day in your morning briefing from NBC 4 New York, Monday through Friday. Sign up for our newsletter here.

“Stay Strong”: Colleagues, Friends Show Support for McCain After Cancer Diagnosis

Arizona Sen. John McCain has been diagnosed with a brain tumor after doctors removed a blood clot above his left eye last week, his office said in a statement. The 80-year-old Republican has glioblastoma, an aggressive cancer, according to doctors at the Mayo Clinic in Phoenix. The senator and his family are reviewing further treatment, including a combination of chemotherapy and radiation. McCain’s Congressional colleagues were quick to express their support on social media. Many alluded to the Navy Captain and one-time prisoner of war’s toughness, calling him a fighter. President Trump offered support for McCain in a statement. "Senator John McCain has always been a fighter," Trump said. "Melania and I send our thoughts and prayers to Senator McCain, Cindy [his wife], and their entire family. Get well soon." The junior U.S. Senator from Arizona, Republican Jeff Flake, said in a statement on Twitter that he has spoken to McCain. “Tough diagnosis, but even tougher man.”

Trump Rages at Sessions in New York Times Interview

President Trump told The New York Times in an interview that he never would have appointed Jeff Sessions as attorney general had he known Sessions would recuse himself from overseeing the Russia investigation. In an extraordinary denouncement of one of his earliest backers in Washington, Trump said Sessions' decision to recuse himself from all matters related to Russia was "very unfair to the president." "Sessions should have never recused himself," Trump told the paper, "and if he was going to recuse himself he should have told me before he took the job and I would have picked somebody else." Sessions' recusal, announced following revelations that he had failed to disclose meetings with Russia's ambassador to the U.S., effectively paved the way for the appointment of Robert Mueller as special counsel. Mueller's investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election and potential ties between the Russian government and Trump campaign aides has cast a growing cloud on Trump's administration.

Trump Tells GOP Senators to Stay in Session, Keep Working on Health Care

Lecturing fellow Republicans, President Trump summoned GOP senators to the White House and told them face-to-face they must not leave town for their August recess without sending him an "Obamacare" repeal bill to sign. Senators responded by vowing to revive legislative efforts left for dead twice already this week. Success was far from assured, but Trump declared "I'm ready to act," putting the responsibility on Republican lawmakers, not himself. During last year's presidential campaign he had declared repeatedly it would be "so easy" to get rid of the Obama law. The developments came just a day after the latest GOP health care plan collapsed in the Senate, leading Trump himself to say it was time to simply let President Obama's health care law fail. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell had indicated he was prepared to stick a fork in the Republican bill and move on to other issues including overhauling the tax code.

Brain Scans May Change Care for Some People With Memory Loss

Does it really take an expensive brain scan to diagnose Alzheimer's? Not everybody needs one but new research suggests that for a surprising number of patients whose memory problems are hard to pin down, PET scans may lead to changes in treatment. The findings mark a first peek at a huge study under way to help determine if Medicare should start paying for specialized PET scans that find a hallmark of Alzheimer's — a sticky plaque called amyloid. Alzheimer's is the most common form of dementia, and classic symptoms plus memory tests often are enough for a reliable diagnosis. But unusual symptoms could mark another form of dementia that, while there are no cures, could require different symptom care. And on the other end of the spectrum, it's hard to tell if mild memory loss might be an early Alzheimer's signal, a more treatable condition such as depression, or even age-related decline. Until a few years ago, amyloid build-up could only be seen during autopsies. Older types of PET scans show what region of the brain appears most affected, of limited help.

After Nearly Nine Years in Prison, O.J. Simpson Faces Parole Hearing With Freedom at Stake

The rap sheet for inmate No. 1027820 at Nevada's Lovelock Correctional Center describes him only as a 70-year-old male, black, 6-foot-2 and 235 pounds with a medium build. His offenses include robbery and kidnapping, but no prior felonies. Not a lot stands out, except a single word that jumps off the page under his known aliases: "Juice." The nickname is a reminder of OJ Simpson's Hall of Fame football career, which vaulted him to stardom off the gridiron. Much of his life -- from electrifying runs as a USC Trojan to his days as a sports broadcaster, Hollywood movie actor, car rental company spokesman and defendant in the "trial of the century" -- has played out in the public spotlight, sometimes in dramatic fashion. Simpson will be there again Thursday when he appears at 10 a.m. via live video feed before Nevada parole board members, who will decide whether to release him from prison as he nears the minimum of a nine-to-33-year sentence for an armed robbery and kidnapping. It was a botched attempt in 2007 to retrieve sports memorabilia from dealers at a Las Vegas hotel that landed Simpson, convicted of armed robbery and kidnapping, in prison.

2 New “Harry Potter” Books Will Be Published in October

Calling all Harry Potter fans. Two new books from the Harry Potter universe are set to be released as part of a British exhibition that celebrates the 20th anniversary of the launch of the series. The British Library's Harry Potter exhibition, "A History of Magic," opens in October and runs through February 2018. In an earnings statement released, British publishing house Bloomsbury revealed that two new Potter books will be released in conjunction with the event. "Harry Potter: A History of Magic - The Book of the Exhibition" promises to take readers through subjects studied at Potter's wizarding school, Hogwarts. "Harry Potter - A Journey Through A History of Magic" will touch on mystical things such as alchemy, unicorns and ancient witchcraft.