Episode Details

Today's Headlines: Trump touched down in Beijing for his Xi Jinping summit — greeted by a military band and hundreds of children waving flags — while Elon Musk technically skipped his own OpenAI trial to attend as emotional support, despite the judge explicitly not excusing him. On the Iran war, US intelligence assessed that Iran still has operational access to 30 of its 33 missile sites and about 70% of its prewar missile stockpile, which is not what "totally obliterated" means, and for the seventh time Senate Democrats tried to advance a war powers resolution to force a congressional vote on Iran and for the seventh time it failed. On the domestic front, the DOJ is discussing settling Trump's personal tax return lawsuit for up to $10 billion in taxpayer money — potentially including dropping all audits of Trump, his family, and his businesses — while the FBI has been running an internal "payback squad" of agents handling cases against Trump's political enemies out of off-site locations for over a year. Trump got his preferred Fed chair with Kevin Warsh confirmed 54-45, the narrowest margin in modern history, and the White House is planning 250 pardons to celebrate America's 250th birthday because of course it is. On the redistricting front, Louisiana senators stayed up all night to advance a map eliminating one of the state's two majority-Black districts, and South Carolina's governor called a special session specifically to pass a new map eliminating Jim Clyburn's seat with a simple majority instead of the usual two-thirds vote. Alligator Alcatraz is closing after costing Florida hundreds of millions in under a year, and Alex Murdaugh's murder convictions were unanimously overturned by South Carolina's Supreme Court after it emerged the court clerk told jurors not to be "fooled" by him — before writing a book about the trial.

Resources/Articles mentioned:

NYT: How China Sent a Message to Trump on His Arrival

NBC News:A judge told Musk he wasn’t excused from trial. He went to China with Trump anyway

NYT: U.S. Intelligence Shows Iran Retains Substantial Missile Capabilities

The Guardian: Senate fails to curb Trump’s war on Iran even as Republican opposition grows

CNN: Justice Department considers settling Trump’s $10 billion IRS leak lawsuit

WSJ: White House Explores 250 Pardons to Mark America’s 250th Birthday

Not Us: FBI Created ‘Payback Squad’ to Handle Political Cases, Sources Say

WSJ: Kevin Warsh Is Confirmed as Fed Chair in 54–45 Senate Vote

NYT: Florida Plans to Close ‘Alligator Alcatraz,’ Vendors Are Reportedly Told

Axios NoLa: Louisiana advances congressional map with reduced Black representation

The Hill:

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