10 things you need to know today: June 1, 2015

(Image credit: (AP Photo/Cliff Owen))

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1. Controversial bulk-surveillance program expires
2. Lindsey Graham joins a crowded GOP presidential field
3. Obamas visit Biden after his son's death
4. College drops Hastert's name from government and economics center
5. Baltimore's homicides rise to highest level in 43 years
6. Beijing smoking ban takes effect
7. 92-year-old becomes oldest woman to finish a marathon
8. Bob Schieffer hosts his last Face the Nation broadcast
9. Friday the 13th actress dies
10. San Andreas gives actor Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson his biggest opening yet

last updated 1 June 2015

1. Controversial bulk-surveillance program expires

The government's authority to collect bulk phone records expired at 12:01 a.m. Monday after Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) blocked an extension of parts of the Patriot Act. "We can still catch terrorists using the Constitution," Paul said. The Senate began debate on a bill that would revive a limited version of the National Security Agency's controversial bulk data collection programs, shifting phone-record storage from the government to phone companies. The House passed its version of the bill last month.

Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) plans to announce Monday that he will run for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination. Graham in January launched an exploratory committee he called "Security Through Strength." He is a military hawk, but conservatives in the GOP have criticized him for being too liberal. He joins an increasingly crowded Republican field as an underdog, as he scores in the low single digits in the latest polls.

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President Obama visited Vice President Joe Biden and his family on Sunday to express condolences for the death of Biden's eldest son, Beau. The president and first lady canceled a Sunday reception at the White House to pay their respects. The younger Biden died Saturday from a recurrence of brain cancer. He was 46. Beau Biden served as attorney general of Delaware for eight years, and had planned to run for governor before his health problems emerged. He had a mild stroke in 2010 before his cancer was diagnosed in 2013.

Ex-House speaker Dennis Hastert's alma mater, Wheaton College, announced Sunday that it was removing his name from its government and economics center. The move came following Hastert's indictment last Thursday on charges that he lied to the FBI as part of an effort to hide $3.5 million in hush money he allegedly paid someone to cover up sexual molestation claims. The misconduct allegedly occurred when Hastert, an Illinois Republican, was a high school wrestling coach and teacher.

Three fatal shootings on Sunday made May the deadliest month in Baltimore in more than four decades. The city had 43 homicides in the month, the most since August 1972, when there were 45. Baltimore experienced a surge in killings in May as the number of arrests dropped sharply. Some observers attributed the changes to heightened scrutiny of the city's police after the death of Freddie Gray, who was injured in custody. His death provoked protests and rioting.

Beijing launched an ambitious new smoking ban on Monday, prohibiting people in the Chinese capital from lighting up in restaurants, office buildings, and public transportation. Individual violators will be fined 200 yuan ($32). Businesses that allow smoking will pay up to 10,000 yuan ($1,600). After three violations, public smokers will be shamed on a government website. The World Health Organization's Beijing representative called the ban a "major advance" in tobacco control. A previous ban in 2008 was widely ignored.

Harriette Thompson, 92, on Sunday became the oldest woman ever to finish a marathon. Thompson — a Charlotte, N.C., grandmother of 10 — crossed the finish line of the San Diego Rock 'n' Roll Marathon in 7 hours, 24 minutes, and 36 seconds. She was met by confetti cannons at the end of the 26.2-mile race. "I can't believe I made it!" she said. "Around Mile 21, I was going up a hill and it was like a mountain, and I was thinking, 'This is sort of crazy at my age.' But then I felt better coming down the hill."

Bob Schieffer on Sunday ended his 24-year run as host of the CBS News' Face the Nation, which he called "the best job in the world." The 78-year-old anchor, after more than half a century in journalism, thanked his viewers before signing off. "I'll be honest. I'm going to miss being in the middle of things," he said, "but the one thing I will never forget is the trust you placed in me and how nice you were to have me as a guest in your home over so many years." CBS political director John Dickerson will replace him.

Actress Betsy Palmer, who played the killer camp cook in Friday the 13th, has died in hospice care at age 88. Palmer had roles in many films, Broadway productions, and TV shows over a career spanning decades before playing Mrs. Voorhees in the campy 1980 horror film, in which young camp counselors were murdered one after the other. Her character was the mother of Jason Voorhees, who had died at the camp years earlier and would come back to life in several sequels.

San Andreas raked in more than $53 million at the box office over the weekend, crushing the competition. It was the biggest opening gross ever for a film with former professional wrestler Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson as solo leading man — rather than as a member as an ensemble cast as he was in Furious 7. The massive opening for the earthquake disaster film came despite a weak start in Thursday previews, where it earned just $3 million.

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Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.