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The Florida governor claimed that the beer brand ditched its "fiduciary duty" by promoting a "woke" agenda and "radical social ideologies."
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- Republican lawmakers are jeopardizing national security after releasing classified documents that accuse President Joe Biden of conspiring with Ukrainian gas company Burisma, retired U.S. Army Lieutenant General Mark Hertling said.
- The Democrat-led Senate Judiciary Committee voted 11-10 to advance legislation that would require Supreme Court justices to adopt a code of conduct following ethics concerns raised during the high court's last term.
- Louisville's new police chief will be the first Black woman to hold the position, sparking hope that the much-scrutinized police force could undergo significant reform.
- U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's Conservative Party suffered two defeats in a trio of special elections, including a formerly safe conservative seat in Selby and Ainsty. The party narrowly held on to a seat in Boris Johnson's former constituency.
- Donald Trump's midnight deadline to declare if he would appear before a grand jury convened by Special Counsel Jack Smith over charges related to election subversion has passed.
- NFL team owners approved Dan Snyder's $6.05 billion sale of the Washington Commanders to a group led by businessman Josh Harris. Snyder agreed to pay a $60 million fine over allegations of sexual harassment and withheld revenue.
- North Korea suggested that the recent appearance of a U.S. nuclear submarine in South Korea could lead to nuclear retaliation.
- A mass shooting has left at least five people dead on the Caribbean island of St. Vincent, with police placing the island on high alert.
- In the ongoing war in Ukraine, Russia launched a third straight night of air attacks against the Ukrainian city of Odesa, with at least 27 civilians wounded in the strikes on ports. The strikes come as the U.S. said that Ukraine was using the provided cluster munitions effectively.
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TL/DR: "I'm the last liberal. A JFK, RFK, FDR liberal. I'm for middle-class labor, the environment, anti-war, anti-corporatist takeover of government agencies, anti-subversion of democracy without redress, and protection of minorities,” Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told Newsweek.
"You mean keep my mouth shut?" Robert F. Kennedy Jr. retorts when Newsweek asked him why he doesn't stop promoting conspiracy theories as he challenges President Joe Biden for the 2024 Democratic nomination. "My father told me when I was a little boy that people in authority lie and the job in a democracy is to remain skeptical," he said. "I'm pro-science."
Kennedy's positions on COVID and other issues appear to align more with Donald Trump than Biden. Recently, he was blasted for suggesting that COVID was an "ethnically targeted" bioweapon that spared Jews. He's in favor of sealing the southern border; against allowing trans women to compete against female athletes and is anti-war. He's often criticized as a DINO, a Democrat in Name Only. "Some Democrats like him because he is a Kennedy," political science professor John Pitney said. "As more have learned about who he is and what he stands for, his Democratic support has edged downward."
What happens now? Kennedy is scheduled to testify about alleged efforts to censor his campaign during a House subcommittee hearing this morning. He has used his anti-authority stance to win a post-COVID, post-Trump following that has seen him polling 20% against Biden. While that makes him a very long shot at becoming the Democratic nominee, it has raised concerns that he could do enough damage to give a Republican a better chance of victory. Kennedy's candidacy seems to be premised on "appealing to Democrats frustrated by Biden and dissatisfaction with how COVID was handled," political science professor Robert Shapiro said, suggesting it could be significant for Biden if Kennedy does well in the New Hampshire primary. Kennedy responds to criticism of his position with the argument that he is a proponent of free speech.
TL/DR: “The U.S. attorney in Delaware in our investigation was constantly hamstrung, limited, and marginalized by DOJ officials as well as other U.S. attorneys," IRS special agent Joseph Ziegler said.
The House Oversight and Accountability Committee held their first public testimony with two IRS whistleblowers, Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler — a 13-year IRS veteran previously known as "whistleblower X" — who allege the government slow-walked and mishandled its investigation into Hunter Biden. They repeated claims that President Joe Biden's son should have been charged with more severe crimes, but they provided few new, concrete details.
Yet, their testimony will likely fuel calls from Republicans to impeach Attorney General Merrick Garland. Shapley said he had no evidence that Garland intentionally misled Congress. Democrats denounced the investigation as a campaign against President Biden at a time when Donald Trump is on the verge of being indicted. But Republicans argue it's about credibility. The "Justice Department can't get their story straight, changed three times in 33 days," House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan said. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene defended showing sexually explicit photos of Hunter and accused him of violating the anti-human trafficking law.
What happens now? Although the IRS whistleblowers allege that Trump-appointed Attorney David Weiss — who is overseeing the years-long probe — was prevented from bringing charges outside of his district, Weiss has told Congress that he was granted “ultimate authority,” including the final say on charges. Ziegler, and Shapley, believe a "Special Counsel is necessary for this investigation." House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, already under pressure from the hard-right members of his party, has signaled he's open to an impeachment inquiry. Weiss has offered to testify after Hunter's plea hearing next week, while Garland is scheduled to testify on September 20, although the date could be moved up amid impeachment calls.
TL/DR: The women’s soccer World Cup kicks off in Auckland as the U.S. seeks a record fifth title.
The soccer FIFA Women's World Cup has begun in Auckland as co-hosts New Zealand picked up a historic win — their first at a World Cup (either men's or women's) — against Norway in the opening game. The 32 teams will compete in Australia and New Zealand, with the U.S. seeking a third successive victory. The U.S. begins as strong favorites, ahead of recent European champions England, alongside fellow favored teams Spain, Germany, France, and Australia.
This tournament feels like a big step out of the shadow of men's soccer, with record attendances already almost assured, broadcast rights sold separately for the first time, and the prize pot increase to $110 million, almost triple that of 2019, with every player receiving compensation from FIFA. A French TV advert, which used VFX to superimpose well-known male soccer players onto women's games, is everywhere online. It's being used to show that the gap between the two games has shrunk. This tournament looks to cement that view.
What happens now? The U.S. team’s first game v. debutants Vietnam is on Saturday at 9 p.m. ET on Friday. Fox has the English-language broadcast rights to the Women's World Cup in the United States. Telemundo will broadcast the Spanish-language coverage. Megan Rapinoe is playing her final World Cup. She has become a pop culture icon since her debut in 2006, and recently received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Joe Biden.
TL/DR: “In the last month, Ukraine has liberated more territory than Russia captured in the last year," Moore said.
Richard Moore, the chief of British intelligence agency MI6, said in a rare interview that Russian President Vladimir Putin had "cut a deal" with Wagner group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin to "save his skin", following the latter's mutiny against the Russian military last month. Prigozhin is believed to have returned to neighboring Belarus, where he purportedly vowed to make the Belarusian army better than Russia's.
Moore called for Russian civilians to spy for the British state, claiming that MI6's "door is always open" and that "their secrets will be safe with us." Considering Western security agencies have been hesitant to comment on the invasion for fear of the Kremlin accusing them of meddling in Russian affairs, his comments will likely spark fury in the Kremlin. Moore also said Moscow has 'little prospect" of winning the war. Ukraine is about six weeks into its summer counteroffensive and has made small gains along the front lines, with little sign of letting up any time soon.
What happens now? Russian officials have yet to comment on Moore’s comments. Moore also claimed that China was “absolutely complicit” in the invasion by standing by Putin, and criticized Iran for attempting to profit from the conflict by continuing to sell weapons to Russia. However, he also called on Western leaders not to “humiliate” Putin in the public eye, warning that doing so could weaken any prospective peace negotiations between warring parties.
TL/DR: "America is awesome when she gets slapped. But the goal is not to be slapped in the first place," head of U.S. Air Mobility Command Mike Minihan told Newsweek.
Amid heightened tensions with China and Russia, U.S. Air Force General Mike Minihan told Newsweek that his forces were well-prepared to overcome the daunting task of supplying Ukrainian aid and building capabilities in the Asia-Pacific region. Minihan — whose leaked memo predicting a war with China by 2025 made headlines in January — emphasized that "war or conflict isn't inevitable," but "the best thing I can do for my chain of command... is give them a force that's ready to take the field and dominate."
Charged with moving assets, including troops, weapons, refugees, and more, across the largest military network, AMC is positioned "to take forces very far away, very quickly" with its ~1,100 aircraft and 100 times as many personnel. Yet "there's always tension" in operating with such intensity in more than one theater simultaneously. He pointed to the flow of assistance supplied to Ukraine as a "great example" of what his forces can do at a time when the AMC conducted its largest-ever readiness exercise in the Indo-Pacific region.
What happens now? The AMC's “Mobility Guardian 2023” drills, which began July 5, are set to wrap up Friday. Minihan noted that gaps remain that need to be filled, asserting that "there always needs to be (an) investment in our inventory,” especially those "related to urgency and action." There's also room for improvement in "connectivity" between assets in the sky and ground systems. AMC is already looking to anticipate future issues by seeking more sophisticated next-generation systems, including those used for critical refueling missions. The ultimate goal is to be prepared for a potential fight once it erupts and to deter one from ever manifesting in the first place, he said.
TL/DR: "My political views have never been something I’ve hidden from, and I know that a lot of us in this Country don’t agree on how we get back to a sense of normalcy where we go at least a day without a headline that keeps us up at night. But the desire for it to- that’s what this song is about,” Jason Aldean said.
Country singer Jason Aldean is turning controversy into success, as his song "Try That in a Small Town" recently hit number one on the U.S. iTunes chart after Country Music TV (CMT) pulled its music video from the channel. The video, which was filmed where a 1927 lynching took place and plays over lyrics that critics say promote gun violence, has garnered more than 2.3 million Youtube views and support from Donald Trump.
Aldean, who was present during the Las Vegas Route 91 mass shooting, defended his work against "dangerous" criticism, saying the single isn't about race, instead it "refers to the feeling a community where we took care of our neighbors." His fans allege CMT is "pulling a Bud Light," a reference to conservative backlash over Bud Light's Dylan Mulvaney campaign, after CMT took the unusual step of removing Aldean's video. Such controversies can hurt or boost an artist's success. While Dixie Chicks' sales plummeted after they criticized then-President George W. Bush, 2 Live Crew and Morgan Wallen saw sales spike after attempted crackdowns on their music.
What happens now? Aldean has also received criticism from fellow singers, including Sheryl Crow. “There’s nothing small-town or American about promoting violence. You should know that better than anyone having survived a mass shooting,” she tweeted at him. It’s too soon to tell whether radio stations will follow CMT’s decision by removing “Try That in a Small Town.” Earlier this week, Country Aircheck data showed 125 country stations had Aldean’s song in rotation. Meanwhile, Aldean has been invited to perform “anywhere” in South Dakota by the state’s Republican governor, Kristi Noem. The invitation extends to the front lawn of the governor’s residence, Noem said.
I'm a Gay Army Officer—Queer Troops Must Fight Back
"Raise your right hand, and repeat after me," an authoritative voice commanded.
I was 17 years old, in a room beneath the Brooklyn Bridge, and my parents had agreed to support my unwavering commitment to serve as a fresh recruit in the United States Army.
While a gleaming sense of honor enveloped me, there was an undeniable fear lingering in my eyes, stemming from the daunting task of standing tall as a queer soldier.
The Full STORY- "This was an opportunity for the state of Alabama to be on the right side of history. Well, once again, the state decided to be on the wrong side of history," Alabama state Rep. Prince Chestnut, a Democrat, said after Republicans voted in favor of approving new congressional lines that critics say might violate a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling.
- "What President Biden's trying to do is just a blatant vote buy. And it's, you know, the Supreme Court has ruled it illegal. He can't just, with the sign of his pen, wipe away over half a trillion dollars in student loan debt," former Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos said on WABC's Cats & Cosby podcast.
- "I call on the International Criminal Court to issue an arrest warrant for Dzmitry Shautsou, who has publicly confessed to the crime of unlawful deportation of children from occupied areas of Ukraine. All those responsible for stealing Ukrainian children must be held to account," Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba said after the top Belarus Red Cross official told state-run media that his organization is helping transport Ukrainian children to Belarus.
- The Senate Judiciary Committee is expected to vote on new legislation that would require Supreme Court justices to embrace and follow a code of ethics.
- Jemaine Cannon, the 51-year-old death row inmate convicted of killing a young mother nearly three decades ago, is set to be executed in Oklahoma.
- The weekly report on initial and continuing jobless claims, existing home sales, and leading economic indicators for June are due from 8:30 a.m. ET.
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