Latest News
See the latest news and get GPT analysis of articles
Americans are 'getting whacked' by too many laws and regulations: Justice Gorsuch None - Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch is out with a new book in which he says ordinary Americans are “getting whacked” by too many laws and regulations WASHINGTON -- Ordinary Americans are “getting whacked” by too many laws and regulations, Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch says in a new book that underscores his skepticism of federal agencies and the power they wield. “Too little law and we’re not safe, and our liberties aren’t protected," Gorsuch told The Associated Press in an interview in his Supreme Court office. "But too much law and you actually impair those same things.” “Over Ruled: The Human Toll of Too Much Law” is being published Tuesday by Harper, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers. Gorsuch has received a $500,000 advance for the book, according to his annual financial disclosure reports. In the interview, Gorsuch refused to be drawn into discussions about term limits or an enforceable code of ethics for the justices, both recently proposed by President Joe Biden at a time of diminished public trust in the court. Justice Elena Kagan, speaking a couple of days before Biden, separately said the court’s ethics code, adopted by the justices last November, should have a means of enforcement. But Gorsuch did talk about the importance of judicial independence. "I’m not saying that there aren't ways to improve what we have. I’m simply saying that we’ve been given something very special. It’s the envy of the world, the United States judiciary,” he said. The 56-year-old justice was the first of three Supreme Court nominees of then-President Donald Trump, and they have combined to entrench a conservative majority that has overturned Roe v. Wade, ended affirmative action in college admissions, expanded gun rights and clipped environmental regulations aimed at climate change, as well as air and water pollution more generally. A month ago, the Supreme Court completed a term in which Gorsuch and the court’s five other conservative justices delivered sharp rebukes to the administrative state in three major cases, including the decision that overturned the 40-year-old Chevron decision that had made it more likely that courts would sustain regulations. The court’s three liberal justices dissented each time. Gorsuch also was in the majority in ruling that former presidents have broad immunity from criminal prosecution in a decision that indefinitely delayed the election interference case against Trump. What's more, the justices made it harder to use a federal obstruction charge against people who were part of the mob that violently attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, in an effort to overturn Trump's defeat by Biden in the 2020 election. Gorsuch defended the immunity ruling as necessary to prevent presidents from being hampered while in office by threats of prosecution once they leave. The court had to wrestle with an unprecedented situation, he said. “Here we have, for the first time in our history, one presidential administration bringing criminal charges against a prior president. It’s a grave question, right? Grave implications,” Gorsuch said. But in the book, co-authored by a former law clerk, Janie Nitze, Gorusch largely sets those big issues aside and turns his focus to a fisherman, a magician, Amish farmers, immigrants, a hair braider and others who risked jail time, large fines, deportation and other hardships over unyielding rules. In 18 years as a judge, including the past seven on the Supreme Court, Gorsuch said, “There were just so many cases that came to me in which I saw ordinary Americans, just everyday, regular people trying to go about their lives, not trying to hurt anybody or do anything wrong and just getting whacked, unexpectedly, by some legal rule they didn’t know about.” The problem, he said, is that there has been an explosion of laws and regulations, at both the federal and state levels. The sheer volume of Congress' output for the past decade is overwhelming, he said, averaging 344 pieces of legislation totaling 2 million to 3 million words a year. One vignette involves John Yates, a Florida fisherman who was convicted of getting rid of some undersized grouper under a federal law originally aimed at the accounting industry and the destruction of evidence in the Enron scandal. Yates’ case went all the way to the Supreme Court, where he won by a single vote. “I wanted to tell the story of people whose lives were affected,” Gorsuch said. The book expands on a theme that has run through Gorsuch's opinions over the years, from his criticism of the Chevron decision back when he served on a federal appeals court in Denver to his statement in May 2023 in which he called emergency measures taken during the COVID-19 crisis that killed more than 1 million Americans perhaps “the greatest intrusions on civil liberties in the peacetime history of this country.” While Gorsuch has voted with the other conservative justices in most of the court’s momentous cases, he also has joined with the liberals in notable cases, including those in which he wrote the opinion in 2020 that expanded protections against workplace discrimination to LGBTQ people. Gorsuch also has sided with the liberal justices in all the court’s cases involving Native Americans since he joined the court. Immigration, especially when people fighting deportation have complained they were given inadequate notice about hearings, is another area where he has typically broken with his conservative colleagues. Gorsuch recently returned from a summer teaching gig in Porto, Portugal, for the George Mason University law school. Last year, he spent two weeks in Lisbon, Portugal, with the same program for which he was paid nearly $30,000, plus meals, lodging and travel. He will travel to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California, later this week to talk about the new book. The day he met with AP, he said, was the first time in weeks that he put on a tie. He wore a dark blue suit, cowboy boots and a Western-style belt. He seemed at ease, offering chocolate chip cookies and coffee to visitors and joking with a reporter who talked about an upcoming trip to the New Jersey shore. “Go fly some flags up there,” Gorsuch said, a reference to the controversy over flags, similar to those carried by Jan. 6 rioters, that were flown at homes owned by Justice Samuel Alito and his wife. Gorsuch is not the only justice rolling out a book this summer. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson's memoir, “Lovely One,” will be published next month.
With a $97M 2nd weekend, 'Deadpool & Wolverine' sets new high mark for R-rated films None - After 10 days in theaters, “Deadpool & Wolverine” is already the highest grossing R-rated movie ever, not accounting for inflation NEW YORK -- After 10 days in theaters, “Deadpool & Wolverine” is already the highest-grossing R-rated movie ever, not accounting for inflation. In its second weekend, the Marvel Studios blockbuster starring Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman continued to steamroll through movie theaters, collecting $97 million according to studio estimates Sunday. That raised its two-week total to $395.6 million, pushing it past the long-reigning top R-rated feature, “The Passion of the Christ,” which held that mark for 20 years with $370 million domestic. Worldwide, the Shawn Levy-directed “Deadpool & Wolverine" has quickly amassed $824.1 million in ticket sales, a total that already surpasses the global hauls of the first two “Deadpool” films. The 2016 original grossed $782.6 million worldwide; the 2018 sequel collected $734.5 million. The weekend’s primary challengers both struggled. M. Night Shyamalan’s latest thriller, “Trap,” managed a modest opening of $15.6 million at 3,181 theaters for Warner Bros. The film, starring Josh Hartnett as a serial killer hunted by police at a pop concert, didn’t screen for critics before opening day and scored lower in reviews (48% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes) than Shyamalan’s films typically do. Audiences gave it a C+ CinemaScore. With a budget of about $35 million that Shyamalan largely finances himself, “Trap” didn’t need a huge opening. But it may struggle to break even. “This is a soft opening for an M. Night Shyamalan suspense crime thriller,” wrote David A. Gross, a film consultant who publishes a newsletter for Franchise Entertainment. “The writer/director’s movies out-earn other original thrillers by a wide margin, and that’s true here, but this start is not on the level of recent Shyamalan films.” The live-action “Harold and the Purple Crayon,” adapted from the classic kids book, also didn’t make much of a mark in theaters. Th,e Sony Pictures release debuted with $6 million. It, too, got dinged by critics (28% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes), though audiences (an A- CinemaScore) liked it more. “Harold and the Purple Crayon," which stars Zachary Levi, cost about $40 million to make. “Twisters," the Universal Pictures disaster film, continues to kick up a storm at the box office. It held in second place with $22.7 million in its third weekend. Lee Isaac Chung's sequel to the 1996 original, starring Glen Powell, Daisy Edgar-Jones and Anthony Ramos, has racked up $195.6 million domestically. While it has made less of an impression overseas, “Twisters” is holding particularly well in North American theaters, down just 35% from the week prior. Hollywood closed July with its best month in a year and its first $1 billion month since July 2023. While comparisons to last year aren't favorable — July was when “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer" launched — a pair of Walt Disney Co. releases in “Inside Out 2” and “Deadpool & Wolverine” (the two top films of the year) powered a banner month for the movie industry. There will still reminders, though, of harder times in cinemas earlier in the spring and early summer, when a sparse release calendar and a few notable flops put the box office at a deficit. On Friday, AMC Theatres, the largest North American chain, posted a $32.8 million loss for the second quarter of 2024. Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore. Final domestic figures will be released Monday. 1. "Deadpool & Wolverine," $97 million. 2. “Twisters,” $22.7 million. 3. “Trap,” $15.6 million. 4. “Despicable Me 2,” $11.3 million. 5. “Inside Out 2,” $6.7 million. 6. “Harold and the Purple Crayon,” $6 million. 7. “Longlegs,” $4.1 million. 8. “A Quiet Place: Day One,” $1.4 million. 9. “Daaru Na Peenda Hove,” $615,782. 10. “Bad Boys: Ride or Die,” $600,000.
Drugstores tinker with new looks as their usual way of doing business faces challenges None - America’s drugstores are testing smaller locations and more ways to offer care as more store closings loom Drugstores tinker with new looks as their usual way of doing business faces challenges America’s drugstores are testing smaller locations and more ways to offer care as price-sensitive shoppers look elsewhere. Customers may see Walgreens stores that are one-fourth the size of a regular location or CVS drugstores with entire primary clinics stuffed inside. If these experiments succeed, the new stores might improve access to care and create a more lasting connection with customers, analysts say. “Everyone looks at health care and says, ‘Oh yeah, it’s a market that’s ripe for disruption,’” said Neil Saunders, managing director of consulting and data analysis firm GlobalData. “But it isn’t easy to disrupt.” Walgreens CEO Tim Wentworth said recently that his company could close a “significant portion” of underperforming stores in the next few years. CVS Health is going through a round of closings. Rite Aid has filed for bankruptcy. Thousands of independent drugstores have closed over the past five years. The closures can leave gaps: An Associated Press analysis published in June found that urban neighborhoods that are majority Black and Latino have fewer pharmacies per capita than white majority neighborhoods. There are still more than 30,000 drugstores scattered around the country, but even Walgreens executives admit that the market is overbuilt. The stores have struggled with increased competition from Amazon and lower-price options like Walmart or Dollar Tree. They're also dealing with theft, growing costs and thinner prescription reimbursement. Some are responding with new looks. Walgreens is testing a store in Chicago that has digital kiosks where customers place orders. A separate desk offers pickup of items ordered at the kiosks or online. The company also has opened about 100 mini drugstores focused on health and wellness and featuring store-brand merchandise. Walgreens started testing these stores in 2019 and plans to add more this year. Walgreens spokesman Jim Cohn said shopper preferences are shifting, and the company aims “to meet them where, when and how they want to shop.” Saunders notes these stores are less expensive to run and allow the company to serve areas without enough people to support a bigger store. At one of these locations in Indianapolis, only four short aisles separate the front door and the pharmacy counter in the back. Healthy snacks, vitamins, first aid supplies, and the usual mix of antacids and Advil fill its shelves. But there are no magazines and only small selections of greeting cards and beauty products at the store, which is closed on Sundays and sits about a half mile from a vacant Walgreens. Customer Leonard King has visited several times. He says his prescriptions are ready on time, and the store seems to have decent supplies. “Being a diabetic, sometimes medicines are hard to get,” the 67-year-old Indianapolis resident said. But King also said he misses being able to shop for things like toiletry items that can be found at bigger stores. The selection of retail items also is smaller at some CVS Health stores that include Oak Street Health primary care clinics. The company plans to open about 25 of these combinations this year and 11 more next year, with either full-sized or smaller clinics n the stores. The clinics can have primary care doctors, social workers and people to help with insurance coverage. They specialize in treating patients with Medicare Advantage plans, which are privately run versions of the government’s coverage program mostly for people age 65 and older. CVS Health says it is putting the clinics in areas that need primary care. It is targeting big cities like Chicago, New York and Dallas with its initial rollout. “If we can invest more upfront for the patients who need it, by increasing access, improving quality of care, we can keep patients healthier,” company executive Mike Pykosz said. Making things easier for patients helps build relationships between store staff and customers and can lead to repeat business, noted Arielle Trzcinski, a principal analyst at Forrester who covers health care. Independent drugstores also have been polishing their health care reputations. They are expanding immunizations and testing, spurred partly by increased business they saw during the COVID-19 pandemic, said Kurt Proctor of the National Community Pharmacists Association. Some also are adding doctor’s offices or specializing in diabetes care. Proctor said they are doing what they have always done: adapting to community needs. “There are 19,000 (independent) stores across the country and no two of them are exactly alike,” he said. Diving into health care isn’t new for drugstores. They started adding small clinics more than 20 years ago. CVS Health has been on a health kick since it quit selling tobacco in 2014. As many as a quarter of drugstores could eventually wind up with big health clinics, especially those located in densely populated areas, said Jeff Jonas, a portfolio manager at Gabelli Funds who follows the industry. But he cautioned that the idea is still unproven. Walgreens has closed VillageMD primary care clinics just a few years after it launched plans to add hundreds to its stores. Analysts say companies are still learning what makes money and resonates with customers. One thing they know for certain: Drugstores are no longer “America's convenience destination” like they used to be, Saunders said. “That really, over the past 10 to 15 years, has unwound,” he said. ___ The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
A year after Maui wildfire, chronic housing shortage and pricey vacation rentals complicate recovery None - Thousands of displaced residents on Maui have faced a year of anxious uncertainty since the deadliest U.S. wildfire in a century devastated Lahaina LAHAINA, Hawaii -- Josephine Fraser worried her young family's next home would be a tent. Fraser and her partner, their two sons and their dog had moved nine times in as many months, from one hotel room to another, since the deadliest U.S. wildfire in a century razed her hometown of Lahaina, on Maui. They would sometimes get just 24 hours to relocate, with no immediate word where they were headed. Now, the Red Cross was warning that the hotel shelter program would soon end and Fraser was having trouble explaining to her 3-year-old why they couldn't just go home. “He just kept asking, ‘Why?’" she said. "It really broke me.” Like Fraser, thousands on Maui have faced a year of anxious uncertainty since the Aug. 8, 2023, wildfire brought apocalyptic scenes of destruction to Lahaina, the historic former capital of the Hawaiian kingdom, forcing some survivors to flee into the ocean. The fire killed at least 102 people and displaced 12,000. Government and nonprofit groups have offered temporary solutions for displaced residents, including providing hotel rooms, leasing apartments, assembling prefabricated homes and paying people to take in loved ones. Disaster housing experts say the effort, expected to cost more than $500 million over two years, has been unprecedented in its cooperation among federal, state, county and philanthropic organizations toward keeping the community together. But on a tourism-dependent island where affordable homes were in short supply even before the fire, a housing market squeezed by vacation rentals is undermining attempts to find long-term shelter for survivors even a year later. Just about all of the 8,000 survivors put up in hotels have been moved into other accommodations, but many of those are pricey condos once rented to visitors, and they aren’t near residents’ jobs or their children’s schools. Work to finish developments of temporary homes has been slowed by the difficulty of clearing toxic debris, obtaining materials from thousands of miles away, blasting and grading volcanic rock and installing water, sewer and electricity lines. Members of at least 1,500 households have already left for other islands or states, some estimates say. Locals fear more will depart if they can’t find stable, affordable, convenient housing. That's particularly painful for Hawaii, where leaders have long worried the islands are losing their culture as housing costs fuel an exodus of Native Hawaiian and other local-born residents. "You start to change the fabric of Hawaii,” said Kuhio Lewis, chief executive of the nonprofit Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement, which is involved in housing survivors. "That’s what’s at stake, is the future of who Hawaii is.” Gov. Josh Green told The Associated Press in an interview that the state is building transitional and long-term housing, changing laws to convert 7,000 vacation rentals to long-term rentals and swiftly settling lawsuits by fire survivors so plaintiffs can get the money they need to start rebuilding. “Will some people leave? Of course," Green said. “But most will stay, and they’ll really be able to stay if they get their settlements and can invest in their new houses.” Plaintiffs and the state reached a $4 billion global settlement on Friday, according to court filings. The Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement is building 16 modular units in Lahaina and 50 in Kahului, about an hour away, which kept Fraser and her family from winding up in a tent. In May, they moved into the first unit completed in Kahului, a small, white structure with two bedrooms and one bathroom. The neighborhood remains a dusty construction site. The location is not convenient for her job as a manager at a hotel restaurant in Lahaina, but Fraser, 22, is grateful. She can cook for her kids and they can play outside. “Everyone’s choice is to move out of Lahaina, to move off-island, to move to the mainland, and that’s not something that we want to do,” she said. “Lahaina is our home.” Lahaina’s plight highlights an important question as human-caused climate change increases the severity and frequency of natural disasters: How far should governments go to try to keep communities together after such calamities? Shannon Van Zandt, with the Hazard Reduction and Recovery Center at Texas A & M University, said it's a worthy goal. Being a part of a community that supports its members is important not only to their livelihoods but their mental health, she said. Jennifer Gray Thompson, the CEO of nonprofit fire-recovery initiative After The Fire, said she has worked in 18 counties that have suffered massive wildfires since 2017, when she herself lived through blazes that ripped through Northern California’s wine country. Thompson has never before seen the Federal Emergency Management Agency invest so heavily in keeping a community together, she said. “Maui is the first one I’ve ever seen the federal government fully listen to the community ... and actually really try to do what they were asking, which was to keep people on the island,” she said. FEMA has focused on providing rentals for survivors who did not have insurance coverage for fire losses. The agency is directly leasing homes for more than 1,200 households and giving subsidies to 500 others to use on their own. Many of the rentals are in Kihei, 25 miles (40 kilometers) from Lahaina. Still, the approach has proved tricky partly because vacation rentals and timeshares are one-quarter of the housing supply. In October, FEMA raised its rates by 75% to entice landlords to rent to locals. The agency is now paying $3,000 per month for a one-bedroom and more than $5,100 for a three-bedroom. People seeking housing on their own say that has inflated the rental market more. Frustration over the prevalence of vacation rentals after the fire prompted Maui’s mayor to propose eliminating them in areas zoned for apartments. The measure is still under consideration. FEMA also is constructing 169 modular homes next to a similar site being built in Lahaina by the state and the Hawaii Community Foundation. Residents begin moving into FEMA’s development in October. The $115 million project next to it will provide 450 homes for people who aren't eligible for FEMA; the first families arrive in the coming weeks. Residents begin moving into FEMA's development in October. Bob Fenton, FEMA's regional administrator, told the AP the agency is even paying for survivors to fly elsewhere to live temporarily and to return when housing is ready. “Our goal is the community’s goal," Fenton said. "We’ve tried to do everything we can to support that.” Lucy Reardon lost the home her grandfather passed down to her and her brother. When July came, she was still living in a hotel with her partner and two children. She twice declined offers from FEMA to move off the island temporarily and provide her a car, she said, because her grandfather would have wanted her to stay. Finally, the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement moved her and her family into a two-bedroom apartment in West Maui, in the same building as her brother and his family. “To get that phone call was like somebody reaching out with light,” Reardon said. Her daughter will be able to start kindergarten with her cousins at the school she would have attended before the fire. The council also is paying people who take in displaced loved ones, providing $500 a month per guest. That has been helpful for Tamara Akiona, who bought a small condo in central Maui with her husband after she lost the multigenerational home where she lived with 10 family members in Lahaina. The money has covered food and other costs since they took in her uncle, Ron Sambrano. “Without my family, I’d probably be living on the beach or under a bridge or something,” Sambrano said. With stable housing, Fraser's family can begin finding a routine once again. She works during the day while her partner watches their sons. She returns to do dinner and baths before he leaves for his night shift as a restaurant server. “It’s awesome to have a roof, somewhere to call home,” Fraser said. “At least for now, until we go back into Lahaina.” ___ McAvoy reported from Honolulu. Freelance journalist Mengshin Lin shot drone video accompanying this story. Associated Press coverage of philanthropy and nonprofits receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. For all of AP’s philanthropy coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/philanthropy.
Missile attack by Yemen's Houthi rebels hits container ship in first attack in 2 weeks None - A missile attack by Yemen’s Houthi rebels struck a container ship traveling through the Gulf of Aden, the first assault by the group since Israeli airstrikes targeted them DUBAI, United Arab Emirates -- A missile attack by Yemen's Houthi rebels struck a Liberian-flagged container ship traveling through the Gulf of Aden, authorities said Sunday, the first assault by the group since Israeli airstrikes targeted them. The Houthis offered no explanation for the two-week pause in their attacks on shipping through the Red Sea corridor, which have seen similar slowdowns since the assaults began in November over Israel's war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip. But the resumption comes after the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Iran, the Houthis' main benefactor, amid renewed concerns over the war breaking out into a regional conflict. The rebels separately said they shot down another U.S. spy drone Sunday, later publishing imagery of the aircraft's wreckage on the side of the mountain. The attack on Saturday happened some 225 kilometers (140 miles) southeast of Aden in a stretch of the Gulf of Aden that has seen numerous Houthi attacks previously. It hit the container ship Groton just above its waterline, causing minor damage, said the Joint Maritime Information Center, a multinational coalition overseen by the U.S. Navy. An earlier missile attack missed the vessel, the JMIC said. “All crew on board are safe,” the center said. “The vessel was reported diverting to a port nearby.” The Groton had left Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates bound for Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The Groton's Greek managers did not respond to a request for comment. Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree, a Houthi military spokesman, claimed the attack in a prerecorded statement Sunday afternoon. The rebels have targeted more than 70 vessels with missiles and drones in a campaign that has killed four sailors. They have seized one vessel and sunk two in the time since. Other missiles and drones have been either intercepted by a U.S.-led coalition in the Red Sea or splashed down before reaching their targets. The Houthis maintain that their attacks target ships linked to Israel, the United States or Britain as part of the rebels’ campaign they say seeks to force an end to the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip. However, many of the ships attacked have little or no connection to the war — including some bound for Iran. In the case of the Groton, JMIC said that the ship “was targeted due to other vessels within its company structure making recent port calls in Israel.” The Houthis also have launched drones and missiles toward Israel, including an attack on July 19 that killed one person and wounded 10 others in Tel Aviv. Israel responded the next day with airstrikes on the Houthi-held port city of Hodeida that hit fuel depots and electrical stations, killing and wounding a number of people, the rebels say. In the time since, there has not been a reported attack on shipping through the Red Sea corridor, which links Asia and the Middle East to Europe through the Suez Canal. Since November, Houthi attacks have disrupted the $1 trillion flow of goods passing through the region annually while also sparking the most intense combat the U.S. Navy has seen since World War II. Saree also claimed in his statement that the Houthis shot down a U.S MQ-9 spy drone over Saada province. Shortly after the claim, the rebels published footage of the downed aircraft, showing Houthi supporters including children climbing over the wreckage and pointing at what appeared to be missiles the drone had carried. The U.S. Defense Department said it was aware of the claim and investigating, without elaborating. Since Yemen’s civil war started in 2014, when the Houthis seized most of the country’s north and its capital, Sanaa, the U.S. military has lost multiple drones to the rebels, while others may have been lost by the CIA. No military identification markings could be seen on the downed drone in the footage. MQ-9 drones, known as Reapers, cost around $30 million apiece. They can fly at altitudes of up to 50,000 feet (about 15,000 meters) and have an endurance of up to 24 hours before needing to land. The killing of Haniyeh in Tehran has sparked concerns of a new escalation in the Israel-Hamas war. Already, the U.S. military says it will move a fighter jet squadron to the Middle East and keep an aircraft carrier in the region. The USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier strike group will enter the Middle East to replace the USS Theodore Roosevelt carrier strike group, which is in the Gulf of Oman. Other ships are in the Mediterranean Sea with a Marine detachment if regional evacuations become necessary. Meanwhile Saturday, the U.S. military's Central Command said its forces destroyed a Houthi missile and launcher in Yemen. Hamas' Oct. 7 attack on Israel, which killed 1,200 people and saw 250 others taken hostage, sparked the war. In the time since, Israel has killed at least 39,580 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and 590 in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Palestinian health officials say.
Warren Buffett surprises by slashing Berkshire Hathaway's longtime Apple stake in second quarter None - OMAHA, Neb. -- Billionaire Warren Buffett slashed Berkshire Hathaway's massive Apple stake in a move that could prove unsettling for the broader stock market — both because the investor is so revered and because there had been little positive financial news lately. Just two years ago Buffett called the stock one of the four giants of his conglomerate's business alongside Berkshire insurance, utility and BNSF railroad businesses that it owns outright. That gave investors the impression that Buffett might hold onto Apple indefinitely as he has with the Coca-Cola and American Express shares he bought decades ago. However, he has trimmed the Apple stake over the past year and has recently also sold off some of his stock in Bank of America and Chinese EV maker BYD while doing very little buying. As a result, Buffett is now sitting on nearly $277 billion in cash, up from what was already a record $189 billion just three months earlier. “This could could alarm the markets especially given the news from last week” with weak tech earnings, a disappointing jobs report and uncertainty about the future of interest rates, Edward Jones analyst Jim Shanahan said. Buffett has consistently lavished praise on Apple CEO Tim Cook, who attended Berkshire's annual meeting in Omaha in May, and talked about the way consumers are feverishly devoted to their iPhones and don't like to switch. He did trim more than 10% of Berkshire's Apple stake in the first three months of this year when he sold off more than 116 million shares, but the sale disclosed Saturday was a much bigger move. Wedbush tech analyst Dan Ives said in a research note that he thinks “Buffett is a core believer in Apple and we do not view this as a smoke signal for bad news ahead.” Apple remains the largest investment in Berkshire's portfolio by far — more than double its Bank of America stake. Ives said he thinks the recent tech sell-off is only a temporary distraction from the industry's long-term boom. Berkshire didn’t give an exact count of its Apple shares in Saturday’s report, but it estimated the investment was worth $84.2 billion at the end of the second quarter even though shares soared over the summer as high as $237.23. At the end of the first quarter, Berkshire’s Apple stake was worth $135.4 billion. Shanahan estimates that Berkshire still holds about 400 million Apple shares. Still, while CFRA Research analyst Cathy Seifert said she looks at the Apple sale more as responsible portfolio management because the tech giant had become such a large portion of Berkshire's holdings, it does look like Buffett may be preparing for a downturn. “This is a company girding itself for a weaker economic climate,” Seifert said. Berkshire reported a small drop in its bottom-line earnings because of a drop in the paper value of its investments. The company said it earned $30.348 billion, or $21,122 per Class A share, during the second quarter. That’s down from $35.912 billion, or $24,775 per A share, a year ago. Buffett has long cautioned investors that it's better to look at Berkshire's operating earnings when judging its performance because those figures exclude investment gains and losses which can vary widely from quarter to quarter. By that measure, Berkshire's operating earnings grew more than 15% to $11.598 billion, or $8,072.16 per Class A share, from $10.043 billion, or $6,928.40 per Class A share, a year ago. Geico led the improvement of Berkshire's businesses while many of its other companies that are more sensitive to the economy reported lackluster results. The results easily topped the $6,530.25 earnings per share that four analysts surveyed by FactSet Research predicted. Berkshire owns an assortment of insurance businesses along with BNSF railroad, several major utilities and a varied collection of retail and manufacturing businesses, including brands like Dairy Queen and See's Candy.
About half of US state AGs went on France trip sponsored by group with lobbyist and corporate funds None - About half the U.S. state attorneys general have traveled to France for an event cosponsored by a group largely funded by companies About half of US state AGs went on France trip sponsored by group with lobbyist and corporate funds About half the U.S. state attorneys general traveled to France in a trip cosponsored by a group mostly funded by companies, including some under scrutiny of the top state lawyers. Attorneys general are among the most visible officials in state governments and the job can be a launching pad to the world stage. Vice President Kamala Harris, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, previously held the post in California. Joining together gives AGs a chance to share concerns, develop bonds and strategies and talk with officials in other countries. The trips can be posh and provide opportunities for company lobbyists to rub elbows with them. Companies that have picked up the bill and sent representatives in recent years have been from the pharmaceutical, auto, financial, online gaming and tech industries, among others. Organizers said this summer's trip is “solely focused on commemorating and paying tribute to the achievements and sacrifices of those who fought in Normandy,” even though they are taking place nearly two months after the 80th anniversary of the D-Day invasion on June 6, which was commemorated by a gathering of world leaders. The Attorney General Alliance, known as AGA cosponsored the trip to France with the National Association of Attorneys General, a century-old group. AGA would not provide dates for the event, but one AG said it was set for July 29 to Aug. 3. The trip illuminates how corporate lawyers and lobbyists can gain access to officials who regulate their businesses with help from the Attorney General Alliance, one of the groups behind the event. “Lobbyists essentially fund these trips,” said Christopher Toth, a former National Associations of Attorneys General executive director. “They funnel the money through AGA, and then that insulates the AGs from being criticized that they’re taking money from lobbyists.” It also shields them from criticism that they are traveling abroad on taxpayers' dime. The AGA said 26 attorneys general were going on the trip. The nonprofit group said the Olympics were not on the itinerary, though the marquee international athletic competitions coincided with it. In 2022, the group sponsored a trip to Qatar in time for the FIFA World Cup soccer games, which some AGs attended. The group said it would not make public the 2024 schedule or exactly which AGs were attending in France because of security concerns. “This event, like all others, was scheduled based on availability of attorneys general and hotel & conference space,” Tania Maestas, an AGA lawyer, said in an email. Maestas declined to answer whether any of the corporate sponsors were giving attorneys general tickets to Olympic games. Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum, a Democrat, said she would be attending an Olympic soccer game in addition to the Normandy events and that the tickets, and a few days of a vacation in France with her husband, would be at her expense. Other AGs said they would not attend the games or ignored queries from The Associated Press. Attorneys general are the chief government lawyers in their states. All of them have roles in consumer protection and many in law enforcement. They are elected in 43 states and appointed in the other seven. A big shift in the job began in the 1990s when the states banded together to sue the tobacco industry over dangers caused by smoking. The deal opened the door for other huge multistate lawsuits and settlements over opioids, failing car airbags and other consumer protection issues. That use of the office — ensuring corporate accountability — gave rise to other developments. Now, some major law firms have departments specializing in representing companies that come under the scrutiny of AGs. Those departments, which frequently employ former AGs or their deputies, have all the motivation to lobby people in the job — as do the companies they represent. The AGA was originally known as the Conference of Western Attorneys General. It expanded its core topics from largely regional concerns such as water resources and challenges facing Native American communities to a broader range of issues and in 2019 created the nationwide group. The group's tax filings show it both brought in and spent about $10 million from July 2022 through June 2023. More than $6 million in expenses were on travel, conferences and meetings and events. Much of the organization's revenue has come in the form of sponsorships. While the tax filings do not list the donors, an AGA brochure from 2023, provided by a lawyer specializing in AG practice who requested anonymity because of fear of professional retribution, shows how it works: Corporate sponsors could send more people to AGA events by contributing more money. For instance, $20,000 contributors could have three seats at events during the year. Those who gave $150,000 could have 30. More than 200 companies were listed as sponsors at various levels. The AGA did not respond to questions about the brochure. “With the AGA, you have these regulated industries outright giving money to the organization,” said Paul Nolette, a Marquette University political scientist who studies AGs. Brian Frosh, a Democrat who served as Maryland’s attorney general from 2015 until last year, said he recalled attending just one or two of the group's dinners early in his time in office but did not attend any of the larger events, which have included international trips to China, Morocco, Ireland and elsewhere. “The dinners that I went to, you would sit next to a lobbyist for a different interest,” Frosh said. “And then you’d get up and move to another table. I didn’t find that to be enjoyable or educational.” A 2021 version of the AGA publication shows two companies contributed at least $500,000 that year: Amazon and Pfizer. Both have come under scrutiny from AGs. Last year, 17 attorneys general joined with the Federal Trade Commission to sue Amazon, claiming the online retailer inflated prices and overcharged sellers. Drugmaker Pfizer has faced legal action from AGs on multiple fronts. Texas AG Ken Paxton sued last year, claiming the company misrepresented the effectiveness of its COVID-19 vaccines and tried to censor public discourse about it. Pfizer also has been a target of multiple AG lawsuits over drug prices. Colin Provost, an associate professor of public policy at University College London who studies U.S. state AGs, said events where they mingle with lobbyists don't necessarily help companies get the outcomes they hope for. “The optics are often not good,” he said. “In terms of actually proving that this has sort of a corrupting influence, that’s harder to do.” ___ Associated Press reporters from around the U.S. contributed to this article. ___ This article has been updated to correct that the National Association of Attorneys General and the Attorney General Alliance are different groups and that Christopher Toth was the executive director of NAAG, not AGA.
UK pensioners left on ‘financial cliff edge’ by cuts to winter fuel payments None - Tens of thousands of pensioners are on a financial cliff edge because of the government’s decision to radically restrict winter fuel payments, a new analysis has revealed. The chancellor, Rachel Reeves, opted to introduce a means test for the payments, with only those on pension credit qualifying, stating it was one of the “difficult decisions” she had to make, as she accused the Tories of leaving £22bn in unfunded commitments. The decision removes the payments from about 10 million pensioners in England and Wales. Officials said this weekend the policy would be among a package of measures “to fix the foundations of the economy”. A new analysis by Policy in Practice, a social policy software and analytics company, suggests about 130,000 people will miss out on winter fuel payments in the UK because they are up to £500 a year over the threshold for receiving pension credit, making them ineligible for the benefit. Experts warned they may end up worse off than some of those qualifying for the payment. An estimated 850,000 older people are also eligible for pension credit in the UK, but not claiming it. Deven Ghelani, the founder of Policy in Practice and one of the architects of the universal credit system, said: “Cliff edges in the benefit system are a growing problem. It’s great that pension credit can unlock access to housing benefit and council tax support, alongside a growing list including social tariffs, the warm home discount and now winter fuel payments. But it means that about 130,000 pensioners might be better off with a lower income.” Jan Shortt, general secretary of the National Pensioners Convention, a campaigning organisation for older people in the UK, warned of the risk of higher hospital admissions and more deaths: “The real pain is going to be felt by those just above the entitlement for pension credit. They are on a ledge and some of them will drop off into silent poverty. “We will get more cold, damp and mouldy homes because people will turn off their heating just to get by.” Ros Altmann, a former Conservative pensions minister, said the government had made a “real blunder” by scrapping the winter fuel allowance for millions of pensioners. Lady Altmann said: “It’s made pensioners very angry and I’ve already had loads of emails. The chancellor kept saying: ‘If we can’t afford it, we can’t do it.’ Pensioners might have to say with their heating: ‘If we can’t afford it, we can’t turn it on.’ “This is genuine error where policy wonks don’t realise just how much of a knife edge some pensioners are on. There are so many people just above the threshold who are going to suffer from this.” skip past newsletter promotion Sign up to Observed Free weekly newsletter Analysis and opinion on the week's news and culture brought to you by the best Observer writers Enter your email address Sign up Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy . We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. after newsletter promotion View image in fullscreen Chancellor Rachel Reeves said introducing a means test for winter fuel payments was one of the difficult decisions she had to make. Photograph: UK Parliament/Jessica Taylor/Reuters The latest Opinium poll for the Observer shows that Reeves’s personal ratings have plummeted in the wake of Monday’s statement in which she announced the cut. They have fallen from +11% when she first became chancellor to -12% last week. Scrapping winter fuel payments for pensioners who do not receive pension credit or other means-tested benefits appears to have been an unpopular decision. Opinium found that 49% thought it was the wrong course of action, compared with 29% thinking it was the right one. Labour’s lead on being the best party to handle public services and benefits has also dropped 5 percentage points since Opinium’s last pre-election poll, but it still has a lead on the issue of 23 points. Heléna Herklots, the older people’s commissioner for Wales, last week urged the government to reconsider the decision on the winter fuel allowance. She said “driving more older people in Wales into poverty” could bring greater costs in the long term. Greg Fell, president of the Association of Directors of Public Health, said: “Fuel poverty can lead to cold, damp living conditions, which in turn can cause an increase in illnesses, including respiratory disease, cardiovascular disease and mental health problems.“There are a number of ways the government can act to limit fuel poverty and its effects, and all these mitigations, including the winter fuel allowance, should be maximised for those most in need of support.” A government spokesperson said: “This government is committed to pensioners: protecting the triple lock, keeping energy bills low through our warm homes plan and cutting NHS waiting lists. Given the dire state of the public finances we have inherited, this government must take difficult decisions to fix the foundations of the economy. In these circumstances, it is right that winter fuel payments are targeted at those in most need, and we will work with local authorities to boost uptake of pension credit, reaching the many pensioners who could still benefit from this year’s winter fuel payments.”
Stock market tumbles in Asia, Europe over fear of U.S. recession None - Stock market tumbles in Asia, Europe over fear of U.S. recession Stock markets plummeted overnight in Europe and Asia, including a huge drop in Japan, over fears of a U.S. recession in the wake of a weaker-than-expected jobs report. CBS News business analyst Jill Schlesinger explains the impact.
In Kamala Harris’ California, ‘weird’ is the ultimate insult None - There’s been a lot of talk lately about Kamala Harris’ campaign’s effective use of the word “weird” to define Donald Trump and the Republican Party. It seems obvious to me this has gotten under the skin of both Trump and his running mate. Nonetheless, some people think it misses the mark. I think actor Wendell Pierce, for example, made a great argument that Democrats ought to call out right-wing racism and misogyny for what they are, rather than use a term that’s far more mild in comparison. Indeed, for someone with Trump’s history, “weird” can seem like a serious understatement. But at the same time, I’m a millennial raised on the West Coast and I know that the term has a slightly different connotation than some may associate with it, which I think speaks to its effectiveness. In Harris’ home state of California, for example, “weird” — for many young nonwhite people — doesn’t just mean quirky or unique, it’s used as an insult. In Harris’ home state of California, for example, “weird” — for many young nonwhite people — doesn’t just mean quirky or unique, it’s used as an insult. That’s why there’s a genre of TikToks featuring young Californians talking about how being called “weird” — or its variant, “a weirdo” — is an offense that basically amounts to fighting words. Cali-based rapper YG’s song “Weird” explains — more crassly — the resonance the term has, while fellow California rapper Kendrick Lamar has used “weird” and “weirdo” on some of his diss tracks aimed at Drake, such as “Meet the Grahams” and “Not Like Us.” So, despite some understandable critique from fellow liberals, Harris and her campaign have settled on a term that appears to have cross-generational and cross-geographical appeal. “Weird” is a simple, straightforward term that voters of all ages can use, as my MSNBC colleague Ryan Teague Beckwith wrote, to describe Republicans whose “echo chambers and gerrymandered House districts” have led to ideas that are “increasingly extreme.” At the same time, the term is a familiar one to young voters of color — a constituency Harris will need to win in November.
College pics of Kamala Harris help highlight her Black Greek history None - The mobilizing power of Black sororities has been in focus ever since Kamala Harris launched her presidential campaign last month. Harris, a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc. since her days at Howard University, has received rousing receptions at two major events for Black sororities in recent weeks, including the biennial convention for Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Inc. and Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority Inc.'s 60th biennial Boule. Any time Harris has pulled up to these events, her fellow Divine Nine sisters showed the palpable energy they — and Black Greeks broadly — stand to bring her campaign. For those familiar with Black Greek-letter organizations, there was never any question that members of these groups — which love to tout their esteemed legacies and pride themselves on their links to Black history — would broadly coalesce around Harris, as they did in 2020. I've noted several Black Greeks were speakers on the Win With Black Men organizing call for Harris last month. That call, which helped disprove a social media narrative about Black men being averse to voting for Harris, came on the heels of the previous night’s Win With Black Women call, which similarly featured multiple speakers from Black sororities. Both calls showed how Black Greeks and their networks can help mobilize Black folks around important political matters. And the possibility of electing the first AKA president — the first Black Greek president — is, as members of the org might say, a serious matter. Late last month on “The ReidOut,” Joy Reid spoke with two of Harris’ line sisters (that is, women who pledged at the same time she did). After the clip aired, several viewers said they'd hoped to see some pics of the VP from her days on campus — or “on the yard,” as it’s often said. We'd included fairly recent photos of the VP and her line sisters in the segment, but we’re happy to share some throwbacks now that we have them! Check them out! And watch the clip of Joy's conversation with Harris' line sisters Monique Poydras and Lori Saddler below! Kamala Harris, right, with line sister Monique Poydras, left, and another woman in 1986. 38 JOIS, Spring 1986 archives Kamala Harris, second from left, with three of her line sisters in 1986. 38 JOIS, Spring 1986 archives
As momentum builds for Kamala Harris, Donald Trump spins out of control None - This is an adapted excerpt from the Aug. 5 episode of “Morning Joe.” During a campaign rally in Atlanta on Saturday, Donald Trump reignited one of his favorite old feuds. The former president spent roughly 10 minutes of his time on stage attacking Georgia’s Republican governor, Brian Kemp, calling him “disloyal” and a “bad guy.” Trump told the crowd he blamed the governor for his criminal charges in the state, claiming Kemp could have shut down Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’ investigation with a “phone call.” Now, attacking a popular sitting governor in his own state — a state you almost certainly will need to take back the White House — isn’t exactly a successful campaign strategy. And the only thing the former president succeeded in doing on Saturday was bringing even more negative attention to himself. What we saw Saturday was Trump responding to a chain of events that’s starting to feel out of his control. Trump clearly sees the enthusiasm surrounding Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign. He knows enthusiasm comes first, then comes the uptick in the polling — which we’re already starting to see. If momentum continues to build for Harris, Trump knows where this is heading in November. What we saw Saturday was Trump responding to a chain of events that’s starting to feel out of his control. Right now, he's grasping for anything. Trump's getting nastier, angrier and less disciplined. Every modicum of self-control he summoned during that weeklong period after the assassination attempt on him seems to be gone — like it's evaporated.
Joe Rogan's Netflix special 'Burn the Boats' was comedy for one specific audience None - Joe Rogan, the podcast superstar who’s come under fire at times for slinging racial slurs and spreading conspiracy theories, performed a live one-hour Netflix comedy special Saturday night. Looking like a jacked-up Uncle Fester of The Adams Family, the insanely popular Rogan delivered exactly the comedic content that his many fans (and critics) assumed he would. Little that transpired in “Joe Rogan: Burn the Boats” pushed artistic boundaries. Let’s put it this way: Little that transpired in “Joe Rogan: Burn the Boats” pushed artistic boundaries. Nor did much happen that might increase its star’s crossover appeal. The Chinese-American accents, the gags about pregnant men, the shout-outs to Alex Jones and Elon Musk, the use of the R-word, F-word (and strategic avoidance of the N-word), alongside a lot of LGBTQ-themed barbs — all of that might grow his massive fan base, but it certainly won’t diversify it. Presumably, that wasn’t the aim. It’s the immensity of that fan base that I find most interesting about Rogan. In fact, the sociologist in me finds it more interesting than Rogan himself. During one of his bits about gay people, he sermonized: “Listen folks, if you want equal love, you have to have equal jokes cause that’s how we find out if you’re annoying. If we can’t joke around about you, we know you take yourself too fucking seriously.” My first question here: Who’s “we”? A clue emerged at set’s end when Rogan exchanged high fives with the entire front row, as best I could tell, a representative sample of his own audience. According to the data, 71% of his viewership is male, 64% is white, (a quarter, interestingly, is Hispanic) and its average age is 24. Single and unmarried men flock to him in droves. Rogan’s commercial genius has been to solicit, grow and migrate this lucrative cohort back and forth across platforms, ranging from UFC to reality television to podcasting, and stand-up. Making sense of a cultural phenomenon as gargantuan as Joe Rogan is not easy (this essay by Aja Romano provides a thoughtful premier about the challenges). One way to think about it is to flip perspectives. Instead of approaching his jokes as reflecting Rogan’s obsessions, what if they actually reflect those of his fans? There’s a sociological theory about prophets which might be helpful here. It holds that prophets are figures who may actually be saying, quite unconsciously, what their listeners want them to say. I’ll spare the reader a disquisition on Max Weber and Pierre Bourdieu, but their writings raised the possibility that prophesies emerge from the passions of the prophet’s audience, not from the prophet. The prophet unknowingly gives voice to their desires (and mistakes them as personal revelations from God). If Rogan is a mouthpiece for his fan’s interests, then what did his special teach us about those who adore him? For starters, Roganites love “boys will be boys” humor. The comedian wondered why only male executives — and never female executives — couldn’t resist pleasuring themselves during Covid-era Zoom calls. More material about men behaving badly emerged in a riff about a cradle-robbing, 102-year-old grandpa freebasing Viagra so as to hook up with 75-year-old women down at the nursing home. Judging by Rogan’s content, his fans certainly want to hear their comedian/prophet expound on the gender and sexuality issues of the day. Heterosexual men, the comic quipped (to considerable applause), are about to go extinct. Rogan recounts how he was randomly selected for additional screening at an airport security line. He bristled at a female TSA agent who asked for a “male assist” to pat him down. “Did you just assume my gender?,” he accused with mock outrage. The trolling continued as Rogan reviewed his track record around Covid misinformation. “I’m a professional shitalker,” he confessed, “Don’t take my advice.” Boys just want to have fun — even when misleading millions of other boys in the process! There were more conspiracy theories. The moon landing never happened. Aliens are real and well versed with anal probe technology. Alex Jones, Rogan informed the crowd, was only wrong about one thing. In spite of all this, Rogan claims he doesn’t want to be perceived as a racist, ableist, homophobe, transphobe, etc. The comedian repeatedly affirmed he has nothing against people who are unlike him. Then he would claw the disclaimer back. Like Dave Chappelle, who has mastered this technique, Rogan started a bit by signaling how much he likes/respects “others.” Uh oh! That almost always signals something bad is coming; sure enough, by the punchline, those others were the butt of the joke. “I’m not remotely homophobic,” Rogan assured us. But then: “I wish I was gay. If I was gay I’d get to use the F-word again. Oh, how I miss it so!” Rogan doesn’t want to be perceived as a hater, he tells us. He then proceeds to make jokes that many would find hateful. The same move is made when Rogan exclaims: “I believe in trans people because I think the world is strange and nature is strange and I think nature can throw you a curveball and you believe you’re in the wrong body and I fully support your right as an adult to do whatever you want that makes you happy. I believe in freedom and I believe in love.” The comedian pauses dramatically and then exhales: “But I also believe in crazy people.” Rogan doesn’t want to be perceived as a hater, he tells us. He then proceeds to make jokes that many would find hateful. He’s playfully aware of this tension and can plausibly riposte he’s “just kidding around.” Perhaps his fans — who don’t have his millions of followers or dollars — navigate the same tensions at work and in their personal relationships. Perhaps they’re constantly accused of being “inappropriate” or “insensitive.” If so, Rogan is their proxy, their release and their vindication. Stand-up is really difficult and Rogan is a competent, skillful practitioner of the craft. But “Burn the Boats” isn’t cutting-edge art. It’s not disruptive like the interventions of Jerrod Carmichael, or Hannah Gadsby, or Bo Burhham. Rather, Rogan’s humor caresses a mass constituency, a ginormous “we.” If his jokes reflect the sensitivities and anxieties of a huge swath of American men, then that’s a gloomy prophecy.
Supreme Court rejects Missouri's far-flung bid to intervene in Trump's N.Y. case None - The Supreme Court rejected an extreme long-shot attempt by Missouri to intervene in Donald Trump’s New York criminal case. That state wanted to sue the state of New York and block the former president’s gag order and upcoming sentencing following his guilty verdicts on 34 counts of falsifying business records. The high court denied Missouri’s motion Monday without explanation, though Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito noted in the order that they would have let the state file its complaint. While the two justices have recently sided with Trump, they have also previously signaled their disagreement with colleagues over the broader procedural issue of hearing lawsuits between states, indicating that they think the court must take such cases. This sort of case is different from the typical appeal at the Supreme Court, instead falling under the court’s “original” jurisdiction for suits between states. “New York’s prosecution of the presumptive Republican nominee is a transparent attempt to prevent the candidate disfavored by New York from freely campaigning,” Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey, a Republican, wrote to the justices last month, adding that it “threatens both the sovereign rights of Missouri and the constitutional rights of millions of its citizens.” This sort of case is different ... falling under the court’s ‘original’ jurisdiction for suits between states. New York Attorney General Letitia James opposed Missouri’s action, writing to the justices that “Missouri’s suit is based entirely on an ongoing criminal case between the Manhattan DA and former President Trump and does not present an actual controversy between sovereign States.” Trump is due to be sentenced in New York next month, but not before Judge Juan Merchan decides how, if at all, the Supreme Court’s immunity ruling affects Trump’s state guilty verdicts. Merchan is expected to rule on the immunity issue Sept. 6 and sentence Trump on Sept. 18 if he rejects Trump’s immunity motion. The GOP presidential nominee also recently lost a New York state court appeal challenging his gag order ahead of sentencing. Subscribe to the Deadline: Legal Newsletter for updates and expert analysis on the top legal stories. The newsletter will return to its regular weekly schedule when the Supreme Court’s next term kicks off in October.
In Arizona’s fake elector case, Jenna Ellis agrees to cooperate None - Last fall, Kris Mayes, Arizona’s Democratic state attorney general, told CNN that her office was overseeing a “robust” investigation related to the Republicans’ post-2020-election fake electors scheme. We learned months later that she was quite sincere about this: An Arizona grand jury indicted 18 people in April — 11 fake electors and seven Donald Trump aides. There were some high-profile names among those charged, including former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, and former Trump attorney Jenna Ellis. Today, one of them flipped. NBC News reported: Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes’ office announced Monday that Jenna Ellis, a former Trump attorney and one of the 18 defendants in the Arizona “fake electors” case stemming from the 2020 election, is cooperating with the prosecution. Ellis signed the cooperation agreement Monday morning, according to the announcement, which said prosecutors are dropping the charges against her. The good news for Ellis is that she’s no longer facing nine felony charges, and she no longer has to worry about ending up behind bars. The good news for prosecutors is that they now have a cooperating witness with key insights to share about the underlying electoral scheme. If these circumstances sound at all familiar, it’s not your imagination. In fact, it was last fall when Ellis pleaded guilty in Georgia to aiding and abetting false statements. The lawyer expressed what she described as “deep remorse” for her wrongdoing, adding that she shouldn’t have represented the former president in the case at all. As part of her agreement, the former Team Trump lawyer agreed to, among other things, provide evidence to prosecutors in Georgia — and as it turned out, she had information to share. It stands to reason that prosecutors in Arizona hope to benefit from a similar arrangement. There are legal experts who can speak to this with more authority than I can, but recent history suggests that after one defendant flips, others often follow. With this in mind, Ellis might be the first person to flip in the Arizona case, but there’s no reason to assume she’ll be the last. As for Ellis’ broader trajectory, the attorney has followed an unusual path. It might seem like ancient history, but in 2016 campaign, she was not a Trump fan. As regular readers might recall, the Republican lawyer repeatedly described the then-candidate as an “idiot,” adding that she considered him an “unethical, corrupt, lying, criminal, dirtbag.” Ellis even took aim at Trump’s supporters, saying they didn’t care about “facts or logic.” She later changed her mind. In fact, despite her rhetorical record, Ellis actually joined Trump’s legal team, becoming a rather enthusiastic proponent, not only of her client’s lies about his 2020 defeat, but also of radical tactics that would allow the then-president to remain in office despite the election results. Last year, she came full circle, declaring, “I simply can’t support him for elected office again.” Ellis added, “Why I have chosen to distance is because of that frankly malignant narcissistic tendency to simply say that he’s never done anything wrong.” If Trump starts going after Ellis by way of his social media platform, at least we’ll know why. This post updates our related earlier coverage.
Elon Musk-backed PAC is facing an investigation in Michigan None - Michigan’s secretary of state is investigating a super PAC backed by Elon Musk over the group’s acquisition of voter information. CNBC reported Friday that America PAC, which Musk has said he created and helped fund amid his open support for Donald Trump, created a website ostensibly meant for voter registration — but it acts differently depending on who uses it. As CNBC reported: If a user lives in a state that is not considered competitive in the presidential election, like California or Wyoming for example, they’ll be prompted to enter their email addresses and ZIP code and then directed quickly to a voter registration page for their state, or back to the original sign-up section. But for users who enter a ZIP code that indicates they live in a battleground state, like Pennsylvania or Georgia, the process is very different. Rather than be directed to their state’s voter registration page, they instead are directed to a highly detailed personal information form, prompted to enter their address, cellphone number and age. If they agree to submit all that, the system still does not steer them to a voter registration page. Instead, it shows them a “thank you” page. CNBC aptly noted that this meant people in battleground states who visited the site “got no help at all” with voter registration, but “they did hand over priceless personal data to a political operation” — data that someone like Musk, who owns a social media platform rife with right-wing disinformation, could easily use to microtarget voters with ads in the lead-up to November. On that note, a spokesperson for Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson’s office said the state agency is reviewing Musk’s PAC out of concern for how the voter data is being used. Per CNBC: “Every citizen should know exactly how their personal information is being used by PACs, especially if an entity is claiming it will help people register to vote in Michigan or any other state,” a spokeswoman for the Michigan secretary of state’s office said in a statement to CNBC. “While the America PAC is a federal political action committee, the Department is reviewing their activities to determine if there have been any violations of state law. We will refer potential violations to the Michigan Attorney General’s office as appropriate,” the spokeswoman added. The result of the Michigan investigation may show that America PAC is operating completely within state law. Even so, that wouldn’t preclude how its website behaves from being unethical or downright eerie. CNBC reported that a person with direct knowledge of the PAC’s operations says that the group is planning to launch a new website soon. (CNBC said an America PAC spokesperson declined to comment and that Musk did not return emails seeking comment.) CNBC’s report serves as a timely reminder to be wary of “broligarchs,” a term that has emerged for rich white men in tech — like Musk — who desperately want to elect Trump and reap personal gains from the access they seem to feel will come as a result.
Federal judge rules against Google in massive antitrust lawsuit None - A federal U.S. judge ruled that Google has illegally held a monopoly in two market areas: search and text advertising. NBC News' Brian Cheung explains the background of the case.Aug. 5, 2024
CSX profit slipped as the railroad scrambled to respond to Baltimore bridge collapse None - CSX railroad’s second quarter profit slipped 2% as it scrambled to respond to the Baltimore bridge collapse that disrupted coal exports CSX profit slipped as the railroad scrambled to respond to Baltimore bridge collapse CSX railroad's second-quarter profit slipped 2% — even though the volume of its shipments was up by the same rate — as it scrambled to respond to the Baltimore bridge collapse in March that disrupted coal exports. CSX said Monday that it earned $963 million, or 49 cents per share, in the second quarter. That's down from last year's $984 million, or 49 cents per share. But the results beat the 48 cents per share that analysts surveyed by FactSet Research predicted. “I am proud of our railroad’s performance, including our team’s effective response to the disruptions at the Port of Baltimore," CSX CEO Joe Hinrichs said. Baltimore is the nation's No. 2 coal export port, so the bridge collapse that closed the port caused significant disruptions. But CSX and its competitor in the east, Norfolk Southern, quickly worked to reroute shipments to other ports. The railroad's revenue was flat at $3.7 billion, which was slightly ahead of the Wall Street predictions. Expenses were slightly higher at $2.25 billion as labor costs crept up again. CSX predicts that volume and revenue will both be up by low-to-mid single digits in the second half of the year, but Hinrichs said the economy does appear more fragile than it was earlier this year. “I think there is just a little more uncertainty about where the economy really is,” Hinrichs said. Jacksonville, Florida-based CSX is one of the nation's largest railroads serving the eastern United States. Its shares rose about 3% in extended trading after the report.
Sell-off in global markets sends S&P 500 to its worst day since 2022; Dow drops 1,000 points None - Sell-off in global markets sends S&P 500 to its worst day since 2022; Dow drops 1,000 points Sell-off in global markets sends S&P 500 to its worst day since 2022; Dow drops 1,000 points
Google illegally maintains monopoly over internet search, judge rules None - A judge on Monday ruled that Google’s ubiquitous search engine has been illegally exploiting its dominance to squash competition and stifle innovation in a seismic decision that could shake up the internet and hobble one of the world’s best-known compa... WASHINGTON -- A judge on Monday ruled that Google's ubiquitous search engine has been illegally exploiting its dominance to squash competition and stifle innovation in a seismic decision that could shake up the internet and hobble one of the world's best-known companies. The highly anticipated decision issued by U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta comes nearly a year after the start of a trial pitting the U.S. Justice Department against Google in the country's biggest antitrust showdown in a quarter century. After reviewing reams of evidence that included testimony from top executives at Google, Microsoft and Apple during last year's 10-week trial, Mehta issued his potentially market-shifting decision three months after the two sides presented their closing arguments in early May. “After having carefully considered and weighed the witness testimony and evidence, the court reaches the following conclusion: Google is a monopolist, and it has acted as one to maintain its monopoly," Mehta wrote in his 277-page ruling. He said Google’s dominance in the search market is evidence of its monopoly. Google “enjoys an 89.2% share of the market for general search services, which increases to 94.9% on mobile devices,” the ruling said. It represents a major setback for Google and its parent, Alphabet Inc., which had steadfastly argued that its popularity stemmed from consumers' overwhelming desire to use a search engine so good at what it does that it has become synonymous with looking things up online. Google's search engine currently processes an estimated 8.5 billion queries per day worldwide, nearly doubling its daily volume from 12 years ago, according to a recent study released by the investment firm BOND. Kent Walker, Google’s president of global affairs, said the company intends to appeal Mehta’s findings: “This decision recognizes that Google offers the best search engine, but concludes that we shouldn’t be allowed to make it easily available.” For now, the decision vindicates antitrust regulators at the Justice Department, which filed its lawsuit nearly four years ago while Donald Trump was still president, and has been escalating it efforts to rein in Big Tech’s power during President Joe Biden’s administration. “This victory against Google is an historic win for the American people,” said Attorney General Merrick Garland. “No company — no matter how large or influential — is above the law. The Justice Department will continue to vigorously enforce our antitrust laws.” The case depicted Google as a technological bully that methodically has thwarted competition to protect a search engine that has become the centerpiece of a digital advertising machine that generated nearly $240 billion in revenue last year. Justice Department lawyers argued that Google's monopoly enabled it to charge advertisers artificially high prices while also enjoying the luxury of not having to invest more time and money into improving the quality of its search engine — a lax approach that hurt consumers. Mehta's ruling focused on the billions of dollars Google spends every year to install its search engine as the default option on new cellphones and tech gadgets. In 2021 alone, Google spent more than $26 billion to lock in those default agreements, Mehta said in his ruling. Google ridiculed those allegations, noting that consumers have historically changed search engines when they become disillusioned with the results they were getting. For instance, Yahoo was the most popular search engine during the 1990s before Google came along. Mehta said the evidence at trial showed the importance of the default settings. He noted that Microsoft's Bing search engine has 80% share of the search market on the Microsoft Edge browser. The judge said that shows other search engines can be successful if Google is not locked in as the predetermined default option. Still, Mehta credited the quality of Google's product as an important part of its dominance, as well, saying flatly that "Google is widely recognized as the best (general search engine) available in the United States.” The Consumer Choice Center, a lobbying group that has fought other attempts to rein in businesses, decried Mehta’s decision as a step in the wrong direction. “The United States is drifting toward the anti-tech posture of the European Union, a part of the world that makes almost nothing and penalizes successful American companies for their popularity,” said Yael Ossowski, the center’s deputy director. Mehta's conclusion that Google has been running an illegal monopoly sets up another legal phase to determine what sorts of changes or penalties should be imposed to reverse the damage done and restore a more competitive landscape. The potential outcome could result in a wide-ranging order requiring Google to dismantle some of the pillars of its internet empire or prevent it from paying to ensure its search engine automatically answers queries on the iPhone and other devices. Or, the judge could conclude only modest changes are required to level the playing field. “Google’s loss in its search antitrust trial could be a huge deal — depending on the remedy,” said Emarketer senior analyst Evelyn Mitchell-Wolf. “A forced divestiture of the search business would sever Alphabet from its largest source of revenue. But even losing its capacity to strike exclusive default agreements could be detrimental for Google. Its ubiquity is its biggest strength, especially as competition heats up among AI-powered search alternatives.” Regardless she added, a drawn-out appeals process will delay any immediate effects for both consumers and advertisers. Lee Hepner, senior legal counsel for the American Economic Liberties Project, believes the tenor of Mehta’s ruling makes it likely the judge will decide to prohibit Google from making default search deals and may even look at separating some of its different lines of business. The appeals process could take as long as five years, predicted George Hay, a law professor at Cornell University who was the chief economist for the Justice Department’s antitrust division for most of the 1970s. That lengthy process will enable Google to fend off the likelihood of Mehta banning default search agreements, Hay said, but it probably won’t shield the company from class-action lawsuits citing the judge’s findings that advertisers were gouged with monopolistic pricing. If there is a significant shakeup, it could turn out to be a coup for Microsoft, whose own power was undermined during the late 1990s when the Justice Department targeted the software maker in an antitrust lawsuit accusing it of abusing the dominance of its Windows operating system on personal computers to lock out competition. That Microsoft case mirrored the one brought against Google in several ways and now the result could also echo similarly. Just as Microsoft's bruising antitrust battle created distractions and obstacles that opened up more opportunities for Google after its 1998 inception, the decision against Google could be a boon for Microsoft, which already has a market value of more than $3 trillion. At one time, Alphabet was worth more than Microsoft, but now trails its rival with a market value of about $2 trillion. If Mehta decides to limit or ban Google’s default search deals, it could squeeze Apple’s profits, too. Although parts of his decision were redacted to protect confidential business information, Mehta noted that Google paid Apple an estimated $20 billion in 2022, doubling from 2020. The judge also noted Apple has periodically considered building its own search technology, but backed off that after a 2018 analysis estimated the company would lose more than $12 billion in revenue during the first five years after a break-up with Google. Google’s payments have helped Apple’s steadily growing services division, which generated $85 billion in revenue during the company’s last fiscal year. Apple didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. The Justice Department’s antitrust division has recently taken on some of the biggest companies in the world. It sued Apple in March and in May announced a sweeping lawsuit against Ticketmaster and its owner, Live Nation Entertainment. Antitrust enforcers have also opened investigations into the roles Microsoft, Nvidia and OpenAI have played in the artificial intelligence boom. The Biden administration has won some big cases, including blocking mergers of some of the world’s biggest publishers as well as JetBlue Airways and Spirit Airlines. It’s also had some notable setbacks, including in the sugar and healthcare industries. Google faces several other legal threats both in the U.S. and abroad. In September, a federal trial is scheduled to begin in Virginia over the Justice Department’s allegations that Google’s advertising technology constitutes an illegal monopoly. —— Associated Press writers Alanna Durkin Richer and Barbara Ortutay contributed to this report.