SCOTUS madness to the Delta variant explosion

1) Holy crap, Texans just lost their right to abortion. WFT? 2) California moves closer to recalling Gov. Gavin Newsom... or are they? 3) Defying a judges order Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has gone to war with FL school boards 4) Racist Texas law attacks ballot box access. 5) Afghanistan, werrrrrr're out!

As Michael Corleone was to the mob in The Godfather movies, so is Joe Biden to Afghanistan. No matter how hard he wants out, it keeps pulling him back in. So please indulge us as we go deeper this week into the quagmire that is Afghanistan and take a peek at how the Media are dealing with this situation.

Afghanistan is a fucking mess - More major cities continue to fall to the Taliban as the US continues it withdrawal from the country. Meanwhile the Biden Administration is sending 3,000 US troops into the country to stabilize US enclaves as they continue to pull out. Will we have a Fall of Saigon moment? Kabul could fall in weeks if not days. Senate passes $1.2 trillion bipartisan deal - this week the US senate voted 69-30 to pass the Biden Infrastructure package. Hundreds of billions of dollars (if this plan goes info effect) would go towards roads, bridges, electric grid, rail, public transit and other "hard infrastructure" projects. 19 Republicans voted for the measure which pissed off x-President Trump - the guy who lost the last election. This is a major triumph for Biden who has made bipartisanship a major aspect of his administration. This bill faces an uncertain future in the House as Progressive Democrats are pushing for an even larger 3.5 trillion dollar companion bill which would address social-spending and climate remediation items. Among other things, it would expand health care coverage, fund universal pre-K and free community college, create ambitious federal programs to combat climate change and grant a path to citizenship for qualified immigrants Gov. Andrew Cuomo is gonzo - New York's human leach will step down 14 days after his announcement after the State's Attorney General Letitia James reported on his harassment of at least 11 women. Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul will replace him becoming the State's first female governor. COVID's Delta Variant is going nuts and you should be wearing a fucking mask again - While Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Florida Ass-hat Ron DeSantis continue to threaten teachers and prohibit local efforts to mandate mask wearing, most of the country is getting the message - if you refuse to get vaccinated you are putting yourself and children younger than 12 at risk of dying. DeSantis has gone as far as threatening the salaries of heroic school board officials as they defy his ban. Britney Spear's father Jamie Spears steps down as his daughter's conservatorship - Why can't Brit run her own life? Who the fuck knows but it seems like this guy's 13-year gravy train has come to an end.

President Biden is set to meet Vladimir Putin in Geneva during the G7 Conference - this from NPR - Can Biden find common ground, or should he? - Making Human Rights Great Again - WTF with all the cyberattacks Russia? o Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said that President Biden will raise the issue of recent ransomware attacks and tell Putin that "states cannot be in the business of harboring those who are engaged in these kind of attacks." - Ukraine's seven-year conflict with Russia From CNBC - Newly released emails show in the last days of the Trump administration, WH officials pressured DOJ to challenge election results - The House Oversight Committee shared more than 200 pages of documents taken from the White House and the Department of Justice - "These documents show that President Trump tried to corrupt our nation's chief law enforcement agency in a brazen attempt to overturn an election that he lost," so says, committee Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney. - The documents show, among other allegations, that Trump in December pressed the Justice Department to file a Supreme Court lawsuit to nullify the election, the committee said. NBC News reporting - apparently, we're all going to have to learn what Critical Race Theory is - In towns nationwide, well-connected conservative activists, and Fox News, have ramped up the tension in fights over race and equity in schools. - Critical Race Theory: According to Wikipedia (because that's the best Google can do) Critical race theory (CRT) is an academic movement of civil-rights scholars and activists in the United States who seek to critically examine the law as it intersects with issues of race and to challenge mainstream liberal approaches to racial justice. - Basically, it's the academic study of racism's pervasive impact on law, culture & society. - at least 165 local and national groups that aim to disrupt lessons on race and gender, according to an NBC News analysis of media reports and organizations' promotional materials. - While the efforts vary, they share strategies of disruption, publicity and mobilization. The groups swarm school board meetings, inundate districts with time-consuming public records requests and file lawsuits and federal complaints alleging discrimination against white students. House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) is calling for an investigation after the New York Times blockbuster report, showing that DOJ officials subpoenaed Apple for his phone records - At least a dozen people including Schiff and other Intelligence Committee members had records seized during Trump's reign. - The revelation comes alongside recent disclosures that the Trump administration secretly seized the phone records of CNN, Washington Post and New York Times reporters. - Justice Department prosecutors, under then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions, were looking for the sources behind leaks - According to the Times, "The zeal in the Trump administration's efforts to hunt leakers led to the extraordinary step of subpoenaing communications metadata from members of Congress - a nearly unheard-of move outside of corruption investigations," the newspaper adds. - "President Trump repeatedly and flagrantly demanded that the Department of Justice carry out his political will, and tried to use the Department as a cudgel against his political opponents and members of the media," Schiff wrote in a statement following the Times' Thursday night report. E3 happened - CNN - The 270 billion-dollar industry known as "video games" had their big confab this year - It was digital - CNN declared Xbox Game Pass as the winner of the show

More Oath Keepers indicted in Capitol attack! This from The Guardian - The far-right militia added 4 more members to the roster of insurrectionists. - Three of the four three individuals live in Florida - Joseph Hackett, 51, of Sarasota, Jason Dolan, 44, of Wellington, and William Isaacs, 21, of Kissimmee. - The fourth's person's name remains a state secret - The four Oath Keepers are each accused of forcing entry through the Capitol's East Rotunda doors after marching up the steps wearing combat uniforms, tactical vests, helmets and Oath Keepers insignia. - This brings the total to 19. All have so far pleaded not guilty. Who is Benjamin Netanyahu? Reporting in from NBC News - The Israeli Prime Ministers who has managed to lose his last 4 elections but still by the grace of God, he continues to lead Israel. - It's all very complicated but a close former Netanyahu lieutenant, has broken with him, and is now organizing a new government to replace him. - Naftali Bennett, head of the small religious and nationalist Yamina party, and opposition leader Yair Lapid, of the centrist Yesh Atid party, said they had joined forces. From the New York Times... Naomi Osaka, a Japanese Tennis superstar has pulled out of the French Open after being fined $15,000 for skipping a news conference. - Was this a case of being bullied off the court or a case of needing to attend to one's own mental hygiene. - the No. 2-ranked women's player in the world is opting to skip the rest of the tournament rather than face the media after her matches. - Writing on her Instagram account: "I've often felt that people have no regard for athletes (sic) mental health and this rings very true whenever I see a press conference or partake in one... Anyways, I hope the considerable amount I get fined for this will go towards a mental health charity." Another TOP STORY from the Times, the Texas Senate has Passed One of the Nation's Strictest Voting Bills - The Republican-led bill, which would toughen already stringent voting rules in Texas, is likely to pass the State House and Gov. Greg Abbott is expected to sign it. - The bill would make mail-in voting more difficult -- also prohibit after-hours and drive-through options - Texas is looking to join the vote restricting club of Florida, Georgia and other states that have used Trumps election lies as evidence - Democrats opposing the bill have staged a walkout to prevent the passage of the measure.

The Washington Post and ABC News are reporting - sources are telling them that the Manhattan district attorney has convened a special grand jury in the Trump probe - Could decide whether an indictment is warranted against former President Donald Trump - No charges have been filed - Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance began investigating Trump's business practices based on the congressional testimony of Michael Cohen, who served as the former president's personal attorney and fixer. - Trumps is saying "witch hunt" by New York Attorney General Letitia James CNN is reporting that the White House is touting US reaching goal of 50% adults being fully vaccinated - Source: White House senior Covid-19 adviser Andy Slavitt - Only 1% of Americans were vaccinated when President Joe Biden entered office - 130.6 million Americans are fully vaccinated against Covid-19 Mediaite is reporting a Heavily armed 1/6 suspect who has been arrested drove to Ted Cruz's home to discuss "election fraud" - says court documents - Three weeks before the Capitol riot on January 6, Alabama man Lonnie Leroy Coffman went to the D.C.-area home of Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) to discuss "election fraud," according to court filings entered on Monday. - Coffman, a U.S. Army veteran, was arrested on January 6 after police happened to notice weapons in his pickup truck while they were investigating reports of pipe bombs in a sealed off area of Capitol Hill in a matter unrelated to Coffman. In the truck, police found five loaded firearms, 11 molotov cocktail-style incendiary devices, a stun gun, a crossbow, and machetes. Coffman has been indicted on 17 charges. - The Cruz's did not answer the door. From The Guardian, President Biden is scheduled to meet with the family of George Floyd - The Tuesday meeting, marks the first anniversary of his murder by Minneapolis police - The meeting is private - Biden dropped a campaign promise to create a national police oversight commission in his first hundred days in office, reportedly after being advised by civil rights organizations and police unions that it might cause unnecessary delays.

1) Liz Cheney faces ouster from GOP leadership - Republican Conference Chair - for telling the truth about Donald Trump, not lying about the election and standing firm against insurrectionist propaganda. - The move is led by House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy - Vote to remove her expected Wednesday (today) 2) The Colonial Pipeline Ransomware Hack of a major petroleum pipeline - Perpetrated against the main gas artery along the East coast 100 million gallons of ful typically flow from the pipeline each day - FBI has attributed the attack to Darkside - Stupid people panicking, has caused gas shortages 3) Donald Trump's Facebook ban was made permanent - for 6 months - The supposedly independent "Oversight Board" upheld the ban initiated after the Jan 6 insurrection but called for Facebook to review its 'permanent' ban in 6 months - The Board said it was inappropriate to ban Trump "with no criteria for when or whether the account will be restored." - Republicans jeered the results, progressives called for government regulation of Facebook 4) The New York Times has called out the CDC for its claim that "less than 10 percent" of COVID-19 transmission occurs outdoors. - The actual figure is closer to 1%, perhaps being as low as 0.1% - why the exaggeration?

Once again David Wein shows us he has absolutely no clue what is going on in the world. Not to fear, David C. Guggenheim is here to break down the most pressing stories of the day. 1) Effort To Remove Calif. Gov. Newsom Collects Enough Signatures To Force Recall Vote - Recall Gavin 2020, posted a lengthy list of grievances against the governor on its website: "Unaffordable housing. Record homelessness. Rising crime. Failing schools. Independent contractors thrown out of work. Exploding pension debt. And now, a locked down population while the prisons are emptied." - If the recall election is held, voters would face two questions on the ballot: whether to remove Newsom from office and who should replace him. Newsom is not allowed to appear on the list of replacement candidates 2) The U.S. Census Bureau on Monday rolled out the first data from its count of American residents, numbers that will be used to apportion seats in the House of Representatives for the next decade. - 7 States losing seats include: Illinois, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and California - 6 States gaining: Montana, Oregon, Texas, Colorado, North Carolina and Florida 3) COVID raging in India - India, reported more than 17.6 million cases since the pandemic began last year (real number could be 30 times higher) - Mass burnings of Covid victims 4) Biden has called the deaths of 1.5 million Armenians between 1915-17 (WWI) a genocide at the hands of The Ottoman Empire. - "The American people honor all those Armenians who perished in the genocide that began 106 years ago today," Biden said in a statement on Saturday, marking the annual Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day. - Turkey contests the figures and denies the killings were systematically orchestrated or constitute a genocide. 5) Biden gives his address to Congress Wednesday & marks his 100th day in office this Thursday.

On the inaugural episode of What You Missed, we dive into Biden's plan to leave Afghanistan, the first Capitol Hill rioter who flips on his buddies the Oath Keepers, Texas flirts with eliminating ANY gun licensing and Florida takes anti-protesting legislation to the next level. PLUS: Earth Day Special, a Biden Climate Summit Special.

If you can't stand keeping up with the news, don't have time or are angry about the level of discord, this is the show for you. This is, What You Missed... Join David C. Guggenheim and David Wein each Monday as they break down the biggest news stories in the week in a fun, fact-based trip around what's going on.