The Full Belmonte, 5/1/2023
Bank failure
“JPMorgan Chase is buying most assets of First Republic Bank in a deal announced today after the bank became the third in the US to fail since March. JPMorgan said it had acquired ‘the substantial majority of assets’ and assumed the deposits, insured and uninsured, of First Republic from the FDIC, the independent government agency that insures deposits for bank customers. It makes the lender the second-largest bank failure in the nation's history. The move represents the latest effort by federal regulators to prop up consumer confidence in the banking system, which has now suffered three major bank failures in six weeks. First Republic Bank's 84 offices in eight states are set to reopen as branches of JPMorgan Chase Bank today during normal business hours, the agency said.” [CNN]
Texas shooting
“More than 250 officers from multiple law enforcement agencies are searching for the gunman accused of shooting and killing five people — including a young child — at a Cleveland, Texas, home after neighbors asked him to stop firing his rifle outdoors, officials said. The father of the child killed told CNN that he and two others walked over to the suspect's home to ask that he shoot his gun on the other side of his yard because the gunfire was making his baby cry. However, the suspect refused, charged into their home, and opened fire. He then fled the scene without leaving a trace. An $80,000 reward is being offered for information that leads to the 38-year-old suspect's arrest. The US has suffered at least 184 mass shootings in the first four months of this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive.” [CNN]
Debt ceiling debate looms
“President Joe Biden and Democratic leaders have argued any negotiations on the federal budget and the debt ceiling should be separate discussions, urging House Republicans to support a clean debt ceiling increase with no strings attached. House Republicans narrowly passed their own debt ceiling proposal last Wednesday, raising the debt limit until May 2024 along with $4.5 trillion in spending cuts. The bill has an almost zero chance of passing the Democratic-controlled Senate, and Biden has vowed to veto the legislation if it reaches his desk.
•House GOP Whip Tom Emmer declined to outright guarantee U.S. will not default on its debts.” Read more at USA Today
U.S. House Minority Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., speaks during a weekly news conference at the U.S. Capitol on April 28, 2023 in Washington, DC
Alex Wong, Getty Images
Weekend tornadoes rip through coastal Florida and Virginia causing major damage
“Virginia Beach City Manager Patrick Duhaney declared a state of emergency Sunday evening, estimating that the total number of homes in the city damaged in a confirmed tornado were between 50 to 100. There were no immediate reports of deaths or injuries. The twister came one day after an F2 tornado touched down in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, that resulted in damaged homes, flipped vehicles, and snapped trees. The last Day of April brought heavy rain across the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast, and warmer weather across the West. But the start of May will bring below-average temperatures across the country.
•'Tornado Alley' is expanding: Southern states see more twisters now than ever before.
•Colder temperatures in Midwest, West Coast: Monday weather updates.•Water levels are going up in the West's massive reservoirs. Has the water crisis been averted?
•Gas leaf blowers and lawn mowers are shockingly bad for the planet. Bans are beginning to spread.” Read more at USA Today
Damaged cars appear in a parking lot after a reported tornado hit the area Sunday in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.
Joe Cavaretta, AP Images
Exclusive: Dominion tells its Fox story
Dominion CEO John Poulos speaks to the media in Wilmington, Del., after the settlement April 18. Photo: Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images
“Dominion Voting Systems was once an obscure, private equity-owned election machine maker. It seems to wish it still was, despite securing a $787.5 million settlement from Fox News.
Why it matters: Three key players from Dominion, speaking exclusively with Axios Pro Rata author Dan Primack, describe the Fox settlement as a shot across the bow for defendants in six remaining cases.
Four takeaways from Dan's interviews with Dominion CEO John Poulos; Hootan Yaghoobzadeh, co-founder of Staple Street Capital, Dominion's private equity owner; and Stephen Shackelford, outside attorney on the Fox case:
1. Dominion felt its business was badly burned by accusations Fox aired about the 2020 presidential election.
Existing employees received death threats, sometimes including their home addresses. Recruiting new employees became almost impossible.
Dominion had some customers cancel contracts early. Some potential clients said the firm was too politically radioactive to hire.
Staple Street Capital, which bought the business in 2018, had laid out a growth plan and was prepping a series of acquisitions and international expansion. All of that was disrupted in the days following the 2020 election.
2. Staple Street's CEO felt a sense of déjà vu.
Yaghoobzadeh's family immigrated to the U.S. from Iran when he was 5 years old, fearing persecution during that country's revolution.
3. Dominion wasn't very interested in an on-air apology.
The company didn't believe it would have been sincere.
Shackelford adds that things might have gone a bit differently if Fox had publicly apologized early.
4. Tucker Carlson's firing wasn't a condition of the settlement. But Dominion and its lawyers believe the lawsuit and the pre-trial discovery "got that rock moving."
Dominion appears to be going full steam ahead on six other pending lawsuits against One America News, Newsmax, Sidney Powell, Rudy Giuliani, Patrick Byrne and Mike Lindell.
Reality check: None of those are expected to reach trial before 2024.” [Axios]
Ukraine
“Russia launched a fresh round of deadly missile attacks on Ukraine today, resulting in an unspecified number of casualties. This comes as Ukrainian officials are signaling that their much-anticipated counteroffensive could be launched imminently while Russia continues to build up its layers of defense. Meanwhile, the head of the Russian private military company Wagner has threatened to withdraw his mercenaries from the embattled city of Bakhmut if they don't receive more supplies from Moscow. Wagner's ongoing clashes with Russian generals and other defense officials are ramping up — even as the group continues to recruit hundreds of Russian convicts from prisons to bolster their forces in the region.” [CNN]
Sudan
“Thousands of foreign nationals have fled Sudan since fighting erupted between rival military forces more than two weeks ago, while many Sudanese remain stuck in the deteriorating conditions. The violence between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces paramilitary group that broke out earlier this month has left hundreds dead, including two Americans. The country remains at risk of a humanitarian disaster as those still trapped in their homes face shortages of food, water, medicine and electricity. Despite a number of nations evacuating their citizens, the US had maintained for more than a week that the conditions were not conducive to a civilian evacuation. But State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a statement Sunday that the US has now ‘facilitated the departure of nearly 1,000 US citizens from Sudan’ with cooperation from global allies.” [CNN]
Coronation
“Following the death of Queen Elizabeth II, her eldest son Charles III instantly became King. In the days that followed, he was formally proclaimed Britain's new monarch and now, after months of painstaking preparation, his coronation is nearly upon us. Heir to the throne for 70 years, Charles will be officially crowned in a magnificent and deeply religious ceremony on Saturday alongside his wife Camilla, Britain's new Queen. Thousands will gather at Westminster Abbey and the surrounding streets of central London to witness the public celebration. Buckingham Palace has said it ‘will reflect the monarch's role today and look towards the future, while being rooted in longstanding traditions and pageantry.’” [CNN]
“The Kremlin since Soviet times has often celebrated International Labor Day under the slogan of ‘Peace, Labor, May.’ The Foreign Ministry in Moscow did so again today on Twitter even as Russia marked the May 1 holiday by raining cruise missiles on cities in Ukraine.
If the Orwellian double-think indicates President Vladimir Putin’s approach to justifying his invasion, Russia’s resumption of large-scale strikes at Ukrainian cities may reflect apprehension about Ukraine’s looming counteroffensive.
Ukraine claimed it shot down most of the Russian missiles, a measure of improved air defenses thanks to systems supplied by its US and European allies. That comes after a winter in which Russia systematically tried and failed to destroy Ukrainian energy infrastructure to break public morale.
The battlefields are rapidly drying out following the spring thaw and both sides anticipate potentially decisive confrontations.
Ukraine has trained thousands of troops and amassed tanks and other armor from its allies for the offensive, aiming to push Russian forces out of its eastern and southern territories.
Russia made hardly any winter gains. In Bakhmut, where fighting has raged for months, the Wagner mercenary group leader has threatened to withdraw because of ammunition shortages.
Success for Ukraine would swing momentum Kyiv’s way in future peace talks. But failure would hand the advantage to Putin, particularly if the US and European election calendar indicates any public fatigue with the cost of aiding Ukraine.
A ban on Ukrainian grain imports by Poland and other eastern European states last month amid anger among farmers over a collapse in prices underlines the pressures facing governments even in Ukraine’s staunchest allies.
Russia next marks the May 9 Victory Day holiday for the end of World War II with Putin presiding over a Red Square military parade. He has sought, however implausibly, to convince Russians they’re facing a similarly epic struggle now.
The risk facing Putin in the months ahead is that it’s hard to appear victorious if Ukraine is forcing his military to retreat.” [Bloomberg]
Rescuers search for survivors in the rubble of a residential building hit by Russian missile strikes in Uman on Friday. Photographer: Sergei Supinsky/AFP/Getty Images
“Escalating tensions with China form the backdrop of today’s meeting between US President Joe Biden and his Philippine counterpart, Ferdinand Marcos Jr., at the White House. As Andreo Calonzo writes, it’s expected to lead to broader economic partnerships and even greater defense ties between the two nations.
The US accused China of harassing Philippine ships and reaffirmed its defense commitment ahead of Marcos’s visit.
Singapore’s top diplomat expressed ‘grave concern’ over altercations in the South China Sea following a near collision between Chinese and Philippine vessels.” [Bloomberg]
“France is bracing for Labor Day demonstrations that aim to reignite pressure on President Emmanuel Macron over the unpopular pension reform that he signed into law last month. A wave of protests and strikes has waned in recent weeks, but labor unions and left-wing parties are betting on popular resentment against the measure that raises the retirement age to 64 from 62 to revive the movement.” [Bloomberg]
“Paraguay’s ruling party candidate, Santiago Pena, won yesterday’s presidential election, as his Colorado Party secured a third straight mandate in the South American country. He pledged to maintain Paraguay’s alliance with Taiwan. The main challenger, Efrain Alegre, who led a coalition of leftists and conservatives, conceded defeat, as an anti-establishment candidate spoiled his chances by taking almost a quarter of the vote.” [Bloomberg]
Pena celebrates his victory in Asuncion yesterday. Photographer: Santi Carneri/Bloomberg
“Thailand’s main opposition party, Pheu Thai, holds a significant lead over its political rivals, putting it in prime position to win the May 14 general elections. The vote is shaping up to be a battle between the pro-establishment groups of the ruling military-backed coalition and a pro-democracy camp of opposition parties.” [Bloomberg]
ChatGPT can show more empathy than docs
Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios
“OpenAI's ChatGPT can answer patient questions with more empathy than human physicians can, Axios' Tina Reed writes from a new study.
Why it matters: Apparently, even our humanity can be bested by robots.
In the study — published Friday by the research journal JAMA Internal Medicine — researchers led by U.C. San Diego, La Jolla, took a random sample of 200 patient questions from Reddit’s AskDocs forum.
Then both human doctors and ChatGPT answered the questions.
A clinical team evaluated both of the answers to each of the questions, rating them on the quality of the answers and the empathy demonstrated.
The chatbot won. It wasn't close: Evaluators preferred the computer's response nearly 80% of the time.
Between the lines: ‘It's pretty obvious why AI was better. It's not constrained by time,’ lead author John Ayers, an epidemiologist at U.C. San Diego, La Jolla, told Axios.
‘You could take a simple query like: 'I have a headache, can you help me?’ and you'll immediately see ChatGPT say 'I'm sorry you have a headache,'" Ayers said. ‘The doctor knows that, they feel that. They don't have time to say it.’” [Axios]
SPORTS NEWS FROM THE ATHLETIC
Stephen Curry.Carlos Avila Gonzalez/San Francisco Chronicle, via Associated Press
“Game 7: Stephen Curry scored 50 points and led the Golden State Warriors to a series-clinching victory over the Sacramento Kings. He gave a rare speech to his team ahead of the game.
Shocking night for hockey: The Panthers eliminated the Bruins, the best regular-season team in N.H.L. history. The Colorado Avalanche — the defending Stanley Cup champions — are out as well.
Good draft, bad draft: N.F.L. draft expert Dane Brugler ranked draft classesfrom No. 1 to 32. Philadelphia’s haul came out on top.” [New York Times]
2023's first $1B movie
Mario (left), voiced by Chris Pratt, and Luigi, voiced by Charlie Day, in "The Super Mario Bros. Movie." Photo: Nintendo and Universal Studios via AP)
“‘The Super Mario Bros. Movie,’ a Nintendo videogame adaptation, crossed $1 billion globally, after dominating April's box office with four weekends at No. 1.
Why it matters: It's the fifth movie of pandemic times to join the $1B club — following "Spider-Man: No Way Home," "Top Gun: Maverick," "Jurassic World Dominion" and "Avatar: The Way of Water." —Variety [Axios]
“Lives Lived: Dr. LeRoy Carhart performed late-term abortions and argued cases at the Supreme Court, undeterred by arson at his home and by the murder of a colleague. He died at 81.” [New York Times]