Hello from CNN, I'm Joe Beck, with the five things you need to know for Thursday

June 20th.

Tropical Storm Alberto is bringing gusty winds and storm surge to southern Texas, while a dangerous heat

wave and deadly wildfires impact other parts of the US.

The first named storm of the hurricane season has winds of 50 miles an hour and it's expected to make landfall in Mexico this morning, but it's already being felt along the coast.

At least two people have died in southern New Mexico in what the governor called one of the most devastating fires in the state's history.

A pair of wildfires there have burned more than 23,000 acres between them,

while severe thunderstorms have also triggered flooding

and more rainfall is expected today.

Meanwhile, crews battling fires in California are facing extreme heat that could reach highs of 106 degrees.

And a dangerous heat wave is still scorching parts of the Midwest and Northeast, where several records have been broken already,

and New York has seen a spike in heat-related ER visits.

Well, the stage is set, and we're now just a week away from the presidential

election's first debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump on CNN.

It will be held in Atlanta and it's going to make history because it will be the first time a sitting

president and a former president have gone head to head.

CNN political analyst Maggie Haberman says the Trump campaign is taking the

event very seriously.

In public his aides often downplay the prep that he does.

He's been doing not standard debate prep.

He doesn't have stand-ins as of now for Biden.

They are focusing on various issues that could come. as of now for Biden.

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