| | | | | | | Presented By PhRMA | | | | Axios AM | | By Mike Allen · Jun 08, 2022 | | Hello, Wednesday. Smart Brevity™ count: 1,489 words ... 5½ mins. Edited by Noah Bressner. | | | | | | 🥊 1 big thing — California earthquake: Left on run |  | | | Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios | | | | Voters in deep-blue California rebuked Democrats in both the Bay Area and Southland yesterday: - In San Francisco, a progressive prosecutor was recalled.
- In L.A., a billionaire former Republican is in the runoff for mayor.
Why it matters: Even in top Democratic power centers, midterm-year liberal voters are fed up. It's a bleak sign for President Biden as Dems try to hold on to the House and Senate in November. - Political analyst (and L.A. resident) Ron Brownstein said the result will rattle "the political landscape from coast to coast."
🐦 Jim Kessler of Third Way, the centrist Democratic think tank, tweeted: "If national Democrats don't wake up to what happened to progressives in NY, MN and SF this cycle prepare yourselves for permanent minority status." Chesa Boudin speaks last night. Photo: Nick Bastone/Axios San Francisco San Francisco voters recalled District Attorney Chesa Boudin after a divisive election over the prosecutor's handling of crime. Why it matters: Boudin's recall spells trouble for progressive prosecutors across the country, who face increasing scrutiny amid rising crime rates, Axios' Erin Doherty and Nick Bastone report. What's next: San Francisco Mayor London Breed will appoint a temporary replacement who will serve until a permanent district attorney is elected in November. State of play: Boudin's recall was introduced last year by activists who slammed him as being too soft on crime. - Boudin was elected in 2019 as a "progressive prosecutor," when he vowed to reduce incarcerations and refine law enforcement practices in San Francisco.
Boudin, a former public defender, admitted in remarks last night: "People [in San Francisco] are angry. They're frustrated." Photos: Unique Nicole, Irfan Khan/L.A. Times via Getty Images Rep. Karen Bass (D-Calif.) and billionaire developer Rick Caruso, a former Republican, will be in a November runoff for L.A. mayor after none of the dozen candidates on the ballot topped 50%. - Why it matters: The race has echoes of other contests in which the electorate's dissatisfaction with crime, the economy or the political status quo upended Democratic orthodoxy, Axios' Hans Nichols reported in a preview.
Caruso, 63, made crime and homelessness centerpieces of his campaign and racked up celebrity endorsements from Snoop Dogg, Kim Kardashian and Elon Musk. Caruso is on the board of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation. - Bass, 68, is a former chair of the Congressional Black Caucus and was on President Biden's shortlist of running mates in 2020.
Share this story. |     | | | | | | 2. Summer '22 foretold |  | | | Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios | | | | The U.S. is in store for another summer of extreme heat, hurricanes, droughts and wildfires — threats that are all escalating because of climate change, Axios' Andrew Freedman reports. - Parts of the Arctic are already burning. So are parts of New Mexico.
Why it matters: Summer used to be synonymous with freedom and fun. Now, the Union of Concerned Scientists, an environmental research and advocacy organization, calls it "the danger season." How it works: The warmer season comes with inherent natural variability. When that piles on top of larger trends related to climate change, extreme weather events can vault from "rare and uncomfortable" to "unprecedented and deadly." Threat level: New Mexico this year has had the largest wildfire in the state's history — and it's still burning. - The long-term Southwest megadrought exacerbates the fire risk.
🌐 Outside the U.S., the outlook can be even worse: - Heat came early this year in India and Pakistan.
- In the Arctic this week, wildfires are already burning in northern Siberia and Alaska.
Share this story. | | | | | | | | 3. 📣 Gun marches Saturday in 450+ cities | | Speaker Pelosi talks with David Hogg in Washington yesterday. Photo: Kent Nishimura/L.A. Times via Getty Images March for Our Lives tells me more than 450 gun-safety marches are planned in at least 45 states and around the world on Saturday, with the total expected to increase. - Why it matters: The youth-led group, started by David Hogg and others after the Parkland school shootings, mobilized gun-violence protesters around the globe in a 2018 show of force. This weekend's marches come as gun legislation gains new momentum.
At noon ET Saturday at the Washington Monument, speakers will include survivors of gun violence, March For Our Lives leaders and teachers. - Among them: X Gonzalez, March for Our Lives co-founder and Parkland Survivor ... Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.) ... NEA President Becky Pringle ... AFT President Randi Weingarten ... Yolanda King, granddaughter of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. ... Garnell Whitfield, son of a Buffalo shooting victim, and retired Buffalo fire commissioner.
The group's National Park Service permit application requests space for up to 100,000 demonstrators, Axios D.C. reports. | | | | | | | | A message from PhRMA | | Voters want Congress to address health insurance | | |  | | | | Many Americans reject so-called government "negotiation" once they learn it could sacrifice access, choice and innovation. The story: Respondents find health care coverage costs unreasonable and a top priority health care issue for policymakers to address today. Read more in the new survey. | | | | | | 4. 📷 1,000 words | | Photo: Win McNamee/Getty Images During yesterday's White House briefing, Camila Alves McConaughey — an entrepreneur, and wife of actor Matthew McConaughey — holds shoes worn by one of the children killed in the Uvalde school shooting. McConaughey, a native of Uvalde, went to the podium after meeting with President Biden and told reporters about Maite Rodriguez, 10. She wanted to be a marine biologist — and was already in contact with Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi about enrollment. - "Maite wore green high-top Converse with a heart she had hand-drawn on the right toe," McConaughey said. "These are the same green Converse on her feet — that turned out to be the only clear evidence that could identify her."
McConaughey's visit. | | | | | | | | 5. ⚖️ Brookings head probed | | Marine Gen. John Allen, then the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, testifies on Capitol Hill in 2012. Photo: J. Scott Applewhite/AP The FBI seized electronic data of a retired four-star general who authorities say withheld "incriminating" documents about his role in an illegal foreign lobbying campaign on behalf of the wealthy Persian Gulf nation of Qatar, AP's Alan Suderman and Jim Mustian report. - Federal court filings outlined a potential criminal case against former Marine Gen. John R. Allen, who led U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, and since 2017 has been president of the prestigious Brookings Institution think tank.
What's happening: It's part of an investigation that ensnared Richard G. Olson — a former ambassador to the UAE and Pakistan who pleaded guilty to federal charges last week — and Imaad Zuberi, a prolific political donor now serving a 12-year prison sentence on corruption charges. - Several members of Congress have been interviewed as part of the investigation.
The court filings detail Allen's behind-the-scenes efforts to help Qatar influence U.S. policy in 2017, when a diplomatic crisis erupted between the gas-rich Persian Gulf monarchy and its neighbors. - The FBI says Allen gave a "false version of events" about his work for Qatar during a 2020 interview with law enforcement officials and failed to produce relevant email messages in response to an earlier grand jury subpoena.
The 77-page search warrant application appears to have been filed in error and was removed from the docket after AP reached out to federal authorities about its contents. - Allen declined to comment on the filing. He has previously denied working as a Qatari agent and said his Qatar efforts in 2017 were motivated to prevent a war from breaking out in the Gulf.
Keep reading. | | | | | | | | 6. 🇺🇦 Ukraine's "Book of Executioners" |  President Volodymyr Zelensky says Ukraine is launching a "Book of Executioners" to collate evidence of war crimes during Russia's occupation, Reuters reports. - "Next week, a special publication is to be launched — 'The Book of Executioners' — an information system to collect confirmation of data about war criminals ... from the Russian army," he said in a video address.
| | | | | | | | 7. 🏈 Denver Broncos bought by Walton family | | Denver's Mile High Stadium in 2014. Photo: David Zalubowski/AP The Denver Broncos named a new owner: Walmart heir Rob Walton and his family. The new owners will decide whether to build a new stadium, reports John Frank of Axios Denver. 💭 Rob Walton — former Walmart chairman, and eldest son of Walmart founder Sam Walton — said in a statement by the Walton-Penner Family Ownership Group: - "We are excited to announce that Mellody Hobson, Co-CEO of Ariel Investments, has agreed to join our ownership group. ... Mellody currently serves as Chair of the Board of Starbucks Corporation and is also a director of JPMorgan Chase."
- Share this story ... Read the statements ... 🏘️ Get Axios Local.
| | | | | | | | 8. 🎮 Video gaming dips post-lockdowns |  | | | Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios | | | | The number of Americans who play video games has declined slightly this year, likely due to the phaseout of lockdowns, Axios Gaming's Stephen Totilo writes from an Entertainment Software Association report. - The trade association put the U.S. gaming population at 216 million, compared to 227 million for 2021. The stat is based on people who play video games at least one hour per week.
- ESA president Stanley Pierre-Louis told Axios: "We actually view it as a good thing, as people are getting out, people are enjoying life, but people are still enjoying games."
By the numbers: 48% of U.S. gamers identify as female, up from 45% last year. - Average age is 33. Pierre-Louis noted there are more gamers 45 and up than under 18.
U.S. gamers play for an average of 13 hours each week. | | | | | | | | A message from PhRMA | | Insured Americans face barriers to care | | |  | | | | Nearly half of insured Americans who take prescription medicines encounter barriers that delay or limit their access to medicines. Learn more about the abusive insurance practices that can stand between patients and the care they need in PhRMA's new report. | | | | 📬 Invite your friends to sign up here to get their daily essentials — Axios AM, PM and Finish Line. |  | It's called Smart Brevity®. Over 200 orgs use it — in a tool called Axios HQ — to drive productivity with clearer workplace communications. | | | |
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