now. good monday morning. i m erica hill alongside victor blackwell. let s get you started with five things to know. a high stakes meeting between secretary of state antony blinken and xi jinping aimed at cooling tensions between the u.s. and china. xi says the two sides have made progress in just a few moments. we ll hear blinken s take. more than 50 million people in the southeast are under severe storm threats. a large tornado left damage in mississippi and a heatwave is pushing texas power grid to the brink. across the state of kansas, at least 100 public officials and legislators have received letters containing suspicious white powder prompting an investigation. and another weekend marred by gun violence from washington state, illinois, sggeorgia, liv lost and communities on edge.