The Full Belmonte, 6/27/2023
Voting rights activists rally outside the Supreme Court during oral arguments in the Moore v. Harper case. | Drew Angerer/Getty Images
“UNEASY ANNIVERSARY — The Voting Rights Act dodged a bullet earlier this month when the Supreme Court passed on the opportunity to further narrow its scope. In a case out of Alabama, the court upheld a key provision which allows minority voters to challenge voting maps that hinder their collective ability to elect their chosen candidates.
And today, the first major domino fell after the Alabama ruling when the Supreme Court restored a lower court’s ruling that Louisiana’s congressional lines also likely diluted the power of Black voters there — a decision that will likely reverberate in other states, including Georgia and Texas.
It’s an unexpected development, given the last decade of jurisprudence on the VRA. Sunday marked the 10-year anniversary of the Supreme Court’s decision in Shelby County v. Holder, which kicked off a near-unbroken pattern, until this month, of the high court whittling away at the VRA. A decade later, the future of the landmark piece of legislation remains incredibly uncertain.
The Court’s decision 10 years ago was the first of many blows to the Voting Rights Act. The 5-4 decision, written by Chief Justice John Roberts, effectively eviscerated Section 5 of the VRA, which required states and local municipalities with a history of discriminatory voting practices to get any changes to election laws precleared by either the Department of Justice or a federal court in D.C. The court gutted those protections by tossing out the formula used to determine if a jurisdiction had that history of discrimination. Since there’s no way to determine who has a discriminatory history, the thinking went, there’s no way to apply Section 5 protections. But that was only the beginning.
The court further chipped away at other sections of the Voting Rights Act in subsequent decisions, like one in 2021 adopting five ‘guideposts’ to assess voting rules that activists decried for its sweeping nature. The Shelby County decision and subsequent rulings allowed for what voting rights activists have called a wave of new state election laws that have restricted the vote. The Brennan Center — a liberal think tank — found that there had been at least 29 laws passed in 11 states that were previously subject to preclearance, either in whole or in part, that added some sort of new voting restriction over the last decade.
This pattern seemed like it would continue unabated — until earlier this month, that is. The decision from the Alabama redistricting case shocked most court watchers, who assumed the court would continue on its path of cutting away at the Voting Rights Act. Instead, along with today’s ruling in the Louisiana case, it could lead to another majority Black House seat in both states — and open a path for a boon in minority representation across the South.
That does not mean the future of the Voting Rights Act is secure, however. The Alabama decision in Allen v. Milligan merely affirms the current law that has already been whittled away over the last decade, and does not expand it. And Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who was in the majority in that case, nevertheless channeled Justice Clarence Thomas’ biting dissent by noting in a concurrence that the case did not delve into ‘the authority to conduct race-based redistricting … indefinitely into the future.’
Also still to be decided is a case in Arkansas, arguing the provision at the core of the Voting Rights Act does not allow for a ‘private right of action.’ If successful, it would represent perhaps the biggest blow to the VRA yet, limiting challenges to just the federal government and closing the door to private groups’ right to sue entirely. The Eighth Circuit heard that case earlier this year, and has yet to issue a decision.” [POLITICO]
Donald Trump was heard on a recording discussing a classified document.
“What to know: The former president appears to brag about having a sensitive report about Iran. The audio, recorded in 2021, was revealed for the first time yesterday.
Why it matters: Trump is facing charges related to his handling of classified documents, and this is key evidence. The next hearing in the case was scheduled yesterday for July 14.”
Read this story at Washington Post
Screenshot: CNN
“‘You will hear what jurors will hear one day,’ CNN's Anderson Cooper told viewers last night.
And former President Trump knew he was being recorded.
The tape's existence was reported before, but news organizations now have the actual audio. It was made in July 2021 at Trump's club in Bedminster, N.J., and includes the distinct sound of papers being shuffled.
Trump, apparently waving around a war plan against Iran, calls it a "highly confidential, secret" document:
‘I have a BIG pile of papers. ... Pages long. ... This is secret information. ... This was done by the military, given to me. ... See as president, I could've declassified it. But now I can't, you know. But this is ... secret. ... It's so cool.’
Trump then orders a nearby aide: ‘Hey, bring some Cokes in, please!’
Context: Trump was talking to a group of four people that included a writer working on a memoir by Trump's last chief of staff, Mark Meadows.
Trump was discussing an Iran war plan drawn up by the Pentagon and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mark Milley, the N.Y. Times reports.” [Axios]
Judge Denies Request to Seal Witness List in Trump Documents Case
The order by Judge Aileen Cannon means the identities of some or all of the Justice Department’s 84 potential witnesses in the case against the former president could become public.
By Alan Feuer
June 26, 2023
The federal judge overseeing former President Donald J. Trump’s prosecution on charges of illegally holding on to sensitive national security documents denied on Monday the government’s request to keep secret a list of witnesses with whom Mr. Trump has been barred from discussing his case.
The ruling by Judge Aileen M. Cannon, in the Southern District of Florida, means that some or all of the list of 84 witnesses could at some point become public, offering further details about the shape and scope of the case that the special counsel Jack Smith has brought against Mr. Trump.
The government’s request to keep the names of the witnesses secret ‘does not offer a particularized basis to justify sealing the list from public view,’ Judge Cannon wrote in her brief order. ‘It does not explain why partial sealing, redaction or means other than sealing are unavailable or unsatisfactory, and it does not specify the duration of any proposed seal.’
One of the conditions that a federal magistrate judge placed on Mr. Trump when he walked free from his arraignment this month was a provision prohibiting him from discussing the facts in his indictment with any witnesses in the case. The indictment accused Mr. Trump of willfully retaining 31 individual national security documents and obstructing the government’s repeated efforts to reclaim them….” Read more at New York Times
January 6
“Senate Democrats have released a new report on the January 6 attack on the US Capitol, and it is damning. In their assessment, lawmakers on the Senate Homeland Security Committee concluded that the attack was ‘essentially planned in plain sight on social media’ and accused the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security of dropping the ball. The report includes new details about how top intelligence officials either ignored or dismissed clear signs of potential violence by pro-Trump actors, which left law enforcement unprepared for the events of that day. Still, the report pointed to Trump as ‘the primary cause of the insurrection.’ A special counsel is currently overseeing a criminal investigation into January 6 and efforts to overturn the 2020 election.” [CNN]
Millions could face record-setting heat
“Tens of millions of Americans across the south and central U.S. – many of them in Texas – have endured a brutal heat wave over the past couple of weeks as temperatures soared to record levels.
Forecasters expect the intense heat to continue in Texas for much of this week and expand north into the Plains and east into the Southeast. Relief is not expected before the Fourth of July holiday. Lea esta historia en español.
•More than 45 million Americans live where some level of heat alert was in effect as of Monday, according to the National Weather Service.
•Several Texas cities set or tied all-time record-high temperatures: Del Rio (115 degrees), Laredo (115 degrees) and San Angelo (114 degrees).
•The cauldron of misery is courtesy of a sprawling heat dome that has parked itself over portions of Texas and Mexico, sending temperatures skyrocketing.
•Meanwhile, strong weather moving through the Northeast, especially around New York, caused the cancellation of more than 1,600 U.S. flights Monday, according to flight-tracking website FlightAware.” [USA Today]
A couple shares their coconut water to cool off from the heat on 8th Street in Little Havana, Miami, Florida during a heat wave on June 26, 2023.
GIORGIO VIERA, AFP via Getty Images
Teen and Stepfather Die on Hike in Near-Record Texas Heat
The high-pressure ‘heat dome’ that has engulfed Texas and Oklahoma for several days is forecast to shift eastward this week, bringing dangerous temperatures to the Gulf States.
By Jacey Fortin and Mary Beth Gahan
Mary Beth Gahan reported from Dallas.
June 26, 2023
“A teenage boy and his stepfather hiking in Big Bend National Park in Texas died as temperatures there rose to 119 degrees Fahrenheit on Friday — the second-highest mark ever recorded in the state — during a triple-digit heat wave that was forecast to spread to the Southeast this week.
‘We are in extreme heat right now,’ said Thomas VandenBerg, a park ranger at Big Bend, near the U.S. border with Mexico, where another hiker recently died of heat-related causes.
The dangerous early-summer heat wave has broken daily temperature records across Texas and strained the state’s independent power grid. In Oklahoma, the heat scorched a state battered by storms that left tens of thousands, mostly in the Tulsa area, without electricity for much of last week.
By Monday, most power had been restored and temperatures had dropped into the 90s, but they were expected to climb over 100 again later this week….” Read more at New York Times
US to send $500 million in military aid to Ukraine, officials say
“The Pentagon is expected to announce Tuesday that it is sending up to $500 million in military aid to Ukraine, including more than 50 heavily armored vehicles and missiles, U.S. officials said, following the brief weekend insurrection in Russia by Yevgeny Prigozhin and the Wagner mercenary group that he has controlled. Russian authorities said Tuesday they have closed a criminal investigation into the armed rebellion, with no charges against Prigozhin or others. The aid is aimed at bolstering Ukraine's counteroffensive, which has been moving slowly.” Read more at USA Today
Judge to weigh whether Trump's New York criminal case should be moved
“A judge is set to hear arguments Tuesday over former President Donald Trump's attempt to move his criminal case in New York out of the state court, where he was indicted, to a federal court where he could potentially try to get the case dismissed. Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein isn’t expected to immediately rule. Trump’s lawyers sought to move the case to Manhattan federal court soon after Trump pleaded not guilty in April to charges that he falsified his company's business records to hide hush money payouts aimed at burying allegations of extramarital sexual encounters. Requests to move criminal cases from state to federal court are rarely granted.
•Donald Trump threatens to boycott 2024 Republican debate over Fox News coverage.
•Chris Christie responds to Donald Trump's attacks on his weight: ‘Like he’s some Adonis?’” [USA Today]
Malaria cases in Texas and Florida are the first US spread in 20 years
“The United States has seen five cases of malaria spread by mosquitos in the last two months — the first time there’s been local spread in 20 years — prompting officials to issue a public health alert. Four cases were identified in southwest Florida and one in southern Texas, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. Malaria is a serious disease transmitted through the bite of an infective female anopheline mosquito, according to the CDC. Although malaria can be fatal, the CDC said illness and death from the disease can usually be prevented. There is no evidence the five cases in the two states are related, the CDC said.” Read more at USA Today
Climate change is causing more devastating rain in parts of the country.
“The numbers: Roughly 20% of the U.S. can now expect extreme rain events known as 1-in-100-year storms to happen every 25 years, according to data released yesterday.
The worst-hit places: Parts of Indiana, Kentucky, Pennsylvania and North Carolina could suffer such storms even more frequently. These maps show where the risk is highest.”
Read this story at Washington Post
“Supreme Court won’t hear charter school dress code case that promised broader fallout: The Supreme Court today declined to take up a case that could have upended the charter school industry, but a legal fight over the future of the embattled segment of public schools is not over. Justices denied a petition to hear Charter Day School, Inc. v. Peltier after conferring over the case last Thursday. Religious liberty groups, some school choice organizations, plus 10 attorneys general in Republican-led states had asked the justices to intervene after the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals struck down a charter dress code that required girls to wear skirts.” [POLITICO]
States are clamping down on freight trains, fearing derailments and federal gridlock
“Spurred on by train derailments, some states with busy criss-crossing freight railroads are pursuing their own safety remedies rather than wait for federal action amid industry opposition and questions about whether they even have authority to make the changes. Read more.
Why this matters:
The February derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, of a train carrying toxic chemicals prompted legislatures in at least a dozen states to take action.
States want limits on the length of trains that routinely stretch more than 2 miles long and on how much time trains can block road crossings. They are also pursuing rules to maintain the current standard of two-person crews, bolster the trackside detectors used to identify equipment problems and require more notice to local emergency responders about hazardous freight.
‘It’s now time for this state to act,’ Pennsylvania Rep. Rob Matzie told colleagues. ‘We can’t wait for federal regulations, which always seem to be in the works, but never quite get done.’ [AP News]
About 1.5 million people cut from Medicaid coverage in recent months
“About 1.5 million people have lost Medicaid coverage since April as more than two dozen states have moved swiftly to halt health care coverage following the end of the coronavirus pandemic. Read more.
Why this matters:
More than 93 million people nationwide were enrolled in Medicaid as of February — up nearly one-third from January 2020.
States were prohibited from removing people from Medicaid during the pandemic in exchange for increased federal funding. But now that eligibility reviews have resumed, states are determining if people’s income or life circumstances have changed. However, most people got dropped for not filling out paperwork.
The eligibility review is required by the federal government, but President Biden’s administration has urged states to slow down since so many people are getting dropped for administrative reasons.” [AP News]
GOP's post-Roe Catch-22
Illustration: Annelise Capossela/Axios
“Former President Trump and other Republican presidential hopefuls are skirting questions about what abortion policies they'd support if elected, in a sign of new ambivalence on a topic that long ignited the party's base.
Why it matters: The overturning of Roe v. Wade last year took away the card most GOP candidates could play to express their anti-abortion views, Axios' Oriana González reports.
Over the weekend, Trump told an influential evangelical group, Ralph Reed's Faith & Freedom Coalition, that the federal government had a ‘vital role’ in opposing abortion. But he didn't elaborate on what federal restrictions he'd support.
Many in the party now say the issue should be left to the states. But some anti-abortion groups are pressing candidates to back, at a minimum, a national 15-week ban. At the same evangelical gathering, former Vice President Mike Pence challenged the rest of the field to do so.
Between the lines: ‘When Roe was in place, it provided this backstop that allowed Republicans to speak as aggressively as they wanted to,’ said Joshua Wilson, a political science professor at the University of Denver. ‘[T]here was no real risk of backlash.’
Now, the presidential hopefuls have to find a message that works with primary voters without alienating independents and swing voters. Polls show those voters generally support abortion rights.
There's no consensus among anti-abortion groups about what should be next. And the candidates are all navigating the issue slightly differently:
Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) skirted questions during an Axios News Shapers event about whether he would support a six-week abortion ban, but reiterated his support for a 15-week ban.
Nikki Haley said on ‘Face the Nation’ in May that it's ‘not realistic’ for candidates to pledge a federal abortion ban. She argued that it's unlikely Congress will pass such a law.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), who signed a six-week abortion ban, has criticized Trump for suggesting that the measure was ‘too harsh.’ DeSantis told the evangelical conference: ‘It was the right thing to do ... Don't let anyone tell you it wasn't.’
Democrats are leaning into abortion-rights messaging, motivated by significant gains in last year's midterms and strong turnout in special elections in swing states, including Wisconsin.” [Axios]
“Freedom Caucus takes key vote on Marjorie Taylor Greene’s future: House Freedom Caucus members took a momentous vote today on Marjorie Taylor Greene’s future with the group, according to three people familiar with the matter — but it’s not yet clear whether she’s been officially ejected. The right-flank group took up Greene’s status amid an internal push, first reported by POLITICO, to consider purging members who are inactive or at odds with the Freedom Caucus. Greene’s close alliance with Speaker Kevin McCarthy, and her accompanying criticism of colleagues in the group, has put her on the opposite side of a bloc that made its name opposing GOP leadership. While her formal status in the conservative group remains in limbo, the 8 a.m. vote — which sources said ended with a consensus against her — points to, at least, continued strong anti-Greene sentiment.” [POLITICO]
Ron DeSantis’s plans for the southern border
Suzanne Cordeiro/AFP via Getty Images
“Monday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis released a plan to crack down on illegal immigration in his first major policy proposal of the 2024 presidential campaign.” [Vox] [Associated Press / Valerie Gonzalez and Steve Peoples]
“DeSantis said he’d end the policy which allows the release of migrants pending court dates, keep asylum seekers in Mexico, and end birthright citizenship for children of undocumented immigrants.” [Vox] [NBC News / Gabe Gutierrez and Bianca Seward]
“He also said he’d be willing to use US military forces to crack down on drug cartels in Mexico.” [Vox] [CNN / Kit Maher and Steve Contorno]
“DeSantis would likely be able to enact some of these policies unilaterally using presidential authority, but others, such as ending birthright citizenship, could be difficult for a president to do constitutionally.” [Vox] [ABC / Will McDuffie and Hannah Demissie]
“Though most of his policies were similar to GOP frontrunner Donald Trump, DeSantis tried to distinguish himself by arguing he’d complete the wall along the southern border and deliver on campaign promises.” [Vox] [Politico / Sally Goldenberg]
Wagner mutiny threatens Putin’s power
Photo: Gavriil Grigorov/Sputnik/Kremlin Pool via Reuters
“Monday, questions remained about Russia’s political stability after Wagner Group paramilitary forces marched toward Moscow in an extraordinary challenge to Russian President Vladimir Putin.” [Vox / Ellen Ioanes]
“Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin said on Monday that he ordered the short-lived revolt after the Kremlin attacked his fighters and ordered them to join the Russian military.” [Vox] [Associated Press]
The standoff is the culmination of a long-running dispute between Prigozhin and Russian defense officials over the direction of the war in Ukraine. Prigozhin agreed to leave Russia in exchange for amnesty in a deal Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko claims to have brokered. [Guardian / Pjotr Sauer]
The turmoil over Wagner’s future could boost Ukraine’s confidence as it continues its grinding counteroffensive to take back Russian-held territory. [New York Times / Julian E. Barnes and Thomas Gibbons-Neff]
Moscow’s Mayhem Isn’t Over Yet
Members of Russia’s Wagner Group sit on top of a tank in a street in the city of Rostov-on-Don, Russia, on June 24.AFP via Getty Images
“Top Russian officials rallied around President Vladimir Putin in a clear sign of support for the Kremlin on Monday, two days after paramilitary Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin seized the strategic city of Rostov-on-Don and began an advance toward the capital.
‘We need to act together, as one team, and maintain the unity of all forces,’ Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said in a televised address. However, the crisis is far from over: Mishustin admitted that the apparent attempted coup was a direct challenge to Russia’s stability. In a late Monday speech, Putin repeated unsubstantiated neo-Nazi allegations and appealed to ‘those who were deceptively pulled into the criminal adventure’—likely, though not explicitly, acknowledging Wagner Group fighters.
The mayhem began late last Friday, when Prigozhin accused Russian troops of killing Wagner forces in a targeted missile strike. Prigozhin has worked with Kremlin officials to forward a Russian victory in Ukraine, but he has also been a thorn in Putin’s side. On Friday, his criticisms escalated; he accused the Russian leader of lying to top officials in February 2022, when Russia first invaded Ukraine, and marched toward Moscow with dozens of tanks and fighting vehicles in tow.
‘At the very least, that Prigozhin’s army was able to travel hundreds of miles unhindered shows that the Kremlin lacks the wherewithal to put down a domestic rebellion, especially when its best troops are fighting in Ukraine,’ Russia expert Lucian Kim, who formerly reported in Moscow, argued in Foreign Policy.
Prigozhin went even further the following day, calling for Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu’s and army chief Valery Gerasimov’s removal. Although Russian authorities released a video of Shoigu on Monday—his first public appearance since the attempted insurrection—it is unclear if the Kremlin will concede to Prigozhin’s demands.
Through a deal negotiated by Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko on Saturday, Wagner fighters will be offered immunity if they withdraw from their posts. Prigozhin himself is set to fly to Belarus this week, choosing exile in exchange for Russia dropping criminal charges. However, the Kremlin announced on Monday that it will continue investigating the insurrection. Prigozhin has denied that he tried to overthrow Putin but doubled down on his criticism of the Russian military.
On Monday, Josep Borrell, the European Union’s top envoy, said Russia’s military looked fragile. ‘It’s not a good thing to see that a nuclear power like Russia can go into a phase of political instability,’ he said. Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky acknowledged that Russian infighting could leave the country vulnerable to Ukrainian advances. ‘For a long time, Russia used propaganda to mask its weakness and the stupidity of its government,’ Zelensky tweeted. ‘And now there is so much chaos that no lie can hide it.’
”India’s sweltering June temperatures, with reports of a spike in deaths among the most vulnerable, may be just a foretaste of what is to come. Scientists estimate climate change has made extreme heat 30 times more likely in the country and the World Bank has flagged it as likely to be one of the first places in the world where heat waves breach the human survivability threshold. Along with the human cost, failure to truly tackle the heat also puts India’s powerhouse economy at risk.” [Bloomberg]
Ballot-filled weekend. Former Guatemalan first lady Sandra Torres and center-left candidate Bernardo Arévalo face a presidential runoff on Aug. 20 following Sunday’s inconclusive first round of voting, with no candidate reaching a simple majority. Torres, who campaigned on expanded social welfare, won 15.8 percent of the vote; Arévalo, whose anti-corruption movement represented public anger with political elites, secured 11.8 percent.
Ahead of the vote, Guatemala’s electoral court disqualified numerous candidates who defied the status quo, a move rights activists warned was a direct threat to the country’s democracy. But Arévalo’s surprise win may have thrown a wrench in what could have been a win for the ruling class.” [Foreign Policy]
“Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis will return for a second term following Sunday’s repeat election win. His center-right New Democracy party took more than half of the Greek Parliament’s seats, well ahead of the leftist Syriza party. Mitsotakis has promised to push economic reforms that will alleviate the country’s debt crisis, increase tourist revenue, and raise wages. But he will also continue to implement strict immigration policies despite public condemnation.
Meanwhile, the far-right Alternative for Germany party won a local mayoral election in Sonneberg, Germany, on Sunday. Robert Sesselmann defeated the Christian Democrats’ Jurgen Köpper with 52.8 percent of the vote. The victory marks the first time the alt-right party, known for its anti-immigrant, antisemitic rhetoric, has ever won a district council election.
‘This is the bursting of a dam, which the political powers in this country cannot simply take on the chin,’ said Josef Schuster, the president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany.” [Foreign Policy]
“Violence in Sierra Leone. Not all of this weekend’s elections went smoothly. In Sierra Leone, senior officials from the opposition All People’s Congress accused the country’s military of attacking the party’s headquarters while staff were counting Saturday’s general election ballots. The party’s candidate for president, Samura Kamara, had rallied his supporters in Freetown when live ammunition and tear gas were reportedly shot into the crowd gathered outside. Sierra Leone’s national security agency has denied the military’s involvement.
This is not the first time the All People’s Congress has accused the government of bias in favor of the ruling Sierra Leone People’s Party. Nonetheless, despite claims of vote tampering, provisional results predict that incumbent President Julius Maada Bio will win another term with 60 percent support.” [Foreign Policy]
”Coffee chain Starbucks is planning to issue ‘clearer centralized guidelines’ for displays after baristas kicked off a 150-store ‘Strike With Pride’ event following union allegations that managers banned Pride-themed decor. The controversy has brought uncomfortable attention to Starbucks, which has worked to cultivate a progressive and inclusive brand. The union has frequently turned to tactics like coordinated walkouts and raising high-profile issues like LGBTQ rights as it tries to heighten public pressure on the company to curb alleged efforts to stifle labor organizers.” [Bloomberg]
People picket in front of a Starbucks store in Chicago on Friday. Photographer: Scott Olson/Getty Images
Jay Biggerstaff / Getty Images
First AI election
Illustration: Maura Losch/Axios
“Artificial intelligence and generative bots, led by ChatGPT, will upend next year's elections with as much force as social media reset the playbook in 2008, Axios Denver's John Frank writes from Aspen.
Why it matters: Top technologists are portraying a dystopian 2024 landscape in which misinformation and disinformation proliferate with a speed and ease that means ‘you can't trust anything that you see or hear,’ as former Google CEO Eric Schmidt puts it.
The campaign will be ‘full of false information that anyone can generate,’ Schmidt said yesterday at the Aspen Ideas Festival.
MIT's Daniel Huttenlocher, who joined Schmidt on a panel, said: ‘AI is now this huge amplifier for how you should not trust anything in print. ... And by the way you shouldn't trust any images, and you shouldn't trust any videos, and you shouldn't trust any audio either.’
Ron Klain, former chief of staff to President Biden, said during a separate conversation that campaigns will need to change to counter AI.
Klain said Biden must connect directly with people on the campaign trail, and the campaign to recruit local trustworthy messengers, rather than ‘bringing in random people from other places.’” [Axios]
LSU wins Men's College World Series final
“The kings of college baseball have been crowned. The LSU Tigers won the national championship after steamrolling Florida, 18-4, in the deciding game of the Men's College World Series final. The Tigers triumphed in the winner-take-all game on Monday night thanks to a dominant performance by pitcher Thatcher Hurd and offensive production up and down the lineup. The Tigers would out-hit the Gators 24 to 5. After claiming its seventh national championship Monday, LSU is now in sole position of the second most titles in Division I baseball.” Read more at USA Today
LSU celebrates after defeating Florida in Game 3 of the College World Series.
Rebecca S. Gratz, AP
LSU almost did it
“A day after we wondered if someone would score 20 runs last night, LSU went out and failed. Two runs shy. Tsk tsk.
Nonetheless, my LSU Tigers are your 2023 college baseball national champions after going full bizarro mode, winning 18-4 in the winner-take-all rubber match after losing 24-4 on Sunday. That negative tournament-long run differential we talked about yesterday? It was gone in four innings.
More fun facts:
LSU racked up 24 hits … which tied the record Florida set Sunday. Were these the best two offenses in college baseball? Likely.
The title is the seventh in program history, and LSU is now 7-1 in baseball finals. The only loss: to Florida in 2017.
Three of the top five projected picks in the upcoming MLB Draft starred last night, one way or another. LSU’s Dylan Crews, whom Keith Law has going No. 1, went 4-for-6 with a triple, three runs and one RBI. Florida’s Wyatt Langford, Law’s projected No. 5 pick, hit a first-inning homer. No. 2 prospect Paul Skenes, the LSU pitcher named MCWS Most Outstanding Player, didn’t see any action but did carry catcher Alex Milazzo — who fractured his shin earlier in the game — to the dogpile:
There’s also some strange symmetry going on in Baton Rouge. Both women’s basketball coach Kim Mulkey and baseball coach Jay Johnson have won national titles in 2023, each in their second season on the job. Brian Kelly is entering his second season as football head coach. Hm.” [The Athletic]
Details emerge in LIV/PGA saga
“By now, many know the basic arc of golf’s shocking merger from earlier this month. The PGA Tour and LIV Golf, formerly warring competitors, would come together as one company, funded by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund. Details of the agreement were scarce, however.
Late last night, The Athletic’s Brendan Quinn obtained the framework agreement for the merger, shedding light on how golf might actually work going forward. Key details:
The PGA Tour will have ultimate control over the future of LIV and its team format. The board of the new golf conglomerate will evaluate the sustainability of LIV-style team golf in the coming months.
There will be a pathway for LIV defectors to return to the PGA Tour in 2024 — with a penalty, the nature of which is still being decided. It could be a fine, a suspension or a combination of the two.
It remains unclear how much the PIF is initially investing in the company. Multiple outlets have reported a figure in the $2-$3 billion range, but it was nowhere to be found in the agreement paperwork.
Read Brendan’s full report here, which breaks down the specifics of all this and how it will affect golf in the next year. The merger is still facing government scrutiny.” [The Athletic]
First $1B concert tour
Taylor Swift's Eras Tour in Chicago on June 2. Photo: Shanna Madison/Chicago Tribune via Getty Images
“Taylor Swift's 106-night "Eras Tour" could become the first to rake in over $1 billion in revenue — potentially breaking an industry record held by Elton John, The Wall Street Journal reports (subscription).
Why it matters: Its success — which industry executives compared to Beatlemania, with reports of ‘post-concert amnesia’ — could reset expectations for blockbuster tours by other major artists.
Zoom in: Billboard estimated last year that her 52-show U.S. leg generated about $590 million in ticket sales.
She's also playing 54 international dates, which could push her over the $1 billion mark for ticket sales.
The Journal's napkin math puts Swift's possible profit at over $500 million when accounting for merch and expenses.” [Axios]
Jesse Watters to Fill Tucker Carlson’s Old Slot as Fox Shuffles Prime-Time Lineup
Fox’s prime time ratings have consistently been the highest in cable news but have fallen off by roughly one-third since the network took Mr. Carlson off the air.
“Fox News shook up its prime-time lineup on Monday in the first major reorganization to its most popular programming since the beginning of the Trump administration. The moves include permanently filling the 8 p.m. slot, which has been vacant since the network canceled Tucker Carlson’s show in April.
The changes will result in the promotion of two rising stars at the network — Jesse Watters, whose show will move to 8 p.m. from 7 p.m., and Greg Gutfeld, who has been hosting an 11 p.m. comedy and current events program that regularly draws higher ratings than late-night rivals like Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Kimmel. Mr. Gutfeld’s show will now start at 10 p.m.
Laura Ingraham, who has hosted a 10 p.m. program since 2017, will move to 7 p.m., occupying the hour that Mr. Watters has been hosting. Sean Hannity, a mainstay at Fox News since its early days, will remain in his 9 p.m. slot.
Though some of the names and times of Fox’s most important shows are changing, the overall tone of the coverage is not likely to sound much different to the audience….” Read more at New York Times
The Oscars and Grammys are changing some rules, here’s why
“The Grammy Awards are tightening their rules in response to the rise of AI music. Now “only human creators” can win the music industry’s highest honor. Meanwhile, the Academy Awards has mandated longer theater runs for films vying for best picture – a nod to theaters still struggling from the pandemic.” [AP News]
Photo of the day: The 2023 World's Ugliest Dog
“His tongue hangs seemingly limp from his mouth, he's bald except for wisps of scraggly white hair on his head, and a deformity causes him to use a cart to navigate the world. Scooter, a 7-year-old Chinese Crested pooch, won't be winning any "best in show" awards anytime soon. But his distinct features helped him capture the attention of the judges at the World's Ugliest Dog contest. Read more about Scooter and see more photos of his fellow contestants here.” [USA Today]
Scooter, a Chinese Crested, owned by Linda Elmquist is awarded first place, on stage during the annual World's Ugliest Dog contest at the Sonoma-Marin Fair in Petaluma, California, on June 23, 2023. Scooter was the winner of the 2023 World's Ugliest Dog Competition.
PHILIP PACHECO, AFP via Getty Images