Will President Biden Remain in the Race?

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Newsbites

• Non-alcoholic (NA) beer: Athletic Brewing, the largest NA beer company in the U.S., was valued at $800M in its latest financing round, more than double its last valuation. The company said it will use the latest investment dollars to expand its brewing capacity to keep up with growing demand. While still a tiny percentage of the overall market, NA beers have been growing quickly as younger generations are drinking less alcohol. 

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• Russian strike on children’s hospital in Ukraine: On Monday, Russian forces launched several missile attacks throughout Ukraine killing more than 42 people. One of Ukraine’s largest children’s hospitals was hit by a missile. There were more than 1,200 people in the ten-story building and more than 600 children under care. Two adults were killed, and around 15 people, including children, were injured. Ukraine has claimed the missile was from Russian forces while Russia says it never targets civilians and that the missile came from the Ukrainian missile defense system. 
  
  More: This week, the U.S. and several other NATO countries committed to sending dozens of new air defense systems and continued equipment support. During a talk at the NATO Summit, Biden said, “We know Putin won’t stop in Ukraine. But make no mistake, Ukraine can and will stop Putin.”

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• Miracle baby: "We look at this 1-year-old as our miracle baby because he was still alive," Sheriff Stitch Guillory said after a truck driver spotted a missing baby crawling in a highway ditch in Louisiana on Tuesday. Guillory said the infant was covered in bug bites but was otherwise in good spirits after surviving in the heat without water or food for two days. "We had some remnants from [Hurricane] Beryl, some extra cloud coverage that probably kept his body cool. We were very lucky,” Guillory added.
  
  Authorities had been searching for the infant since Monday after his 4-year-old brother was found dead in the water by the Vinton Welcome Center in Louisiana. The children were last seen with their mother, 25-year-old Aaliyah Jack, who was subsequently found and arrested hundreds of miles away in Mississippi. Speaking about the 4-year-old boy, Sheriff Guillory said, “We don't know if he drowned, or we don't know if he was dead before he went into the water. Only the autopsy can reveal that."

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• France faces political gridlock after snap parliamentary elections last week, as no coalition gained a majority, leading to the most divided government France has seen in recent history. Many leftwing candidates that were not expected to win exited the race to consolidate support around the leading leftwing candidates and limit the gains for the rightwing party, which has been growing in popularity. France plays an important role in Europe as the region’s 2nd largest economy and is contending with growing political divisions over its support of Ukraine, membership in the EU, immigration and economic policy. (Read more).
  
  More: 28-year-old Jordan Bardella has become one of the leading rightwing voice in France.

• Discount Wars: Fast food chains are promoting discount value meals to entice customers, a sign that inflation has taken its toll on consumers. McDonalds, Burger King, TacoBell, Starbucks, and KFC are among the establishments offering low-priced bundles. At McDonald’s there’s the $5 Meal Deal, at Burger King the $5 Your Way Meal, and at TacoBell the $7 Luxe Cravings Box.

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• Israel military tells Gaza City residents to leave: The Israeli military dropped leaflets from planes urging Gazan residents to evacuate the "dangerous combat zone" and move South to two particular shelters. Israeli military forces have intensified their combat in the city where they say Hamas leaders and Islamic Jihad groups have re-grouped. There are estimated to be roughly 250,000 people still living in Gaza City. Residents who remained inside the city said this week was one of the most intense warfare in months. Gazans who left are now returning to Gaza City to total destruction of most of the buildings. (video)

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Main Stories

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Biden and the 2024 Election: Will He Stay in the Race?

What’s going on?
After a poor debate performance on June 27, a substantial number of Democrats are urging President Biden to end his campaign. 51M Americans watched the debate in which Biden stumbled over words and often didn’t finish his thoughts, highlighting the state of the president’s mental fitness and health.

A YouGov/ABC post debate poll found that 72% of registered voters do not believe Biden has the mental capacity to be the president of the United States, up from 65% last month. In his own party, 46% of Democrats think the President should drop out, while 56% think he should stay in. 

Biden family isolates
Following the debate, the Biden family isolated itself from outside noise at Camp David, the President’s Retreat Center in Maryland. His wife and kids, including his son Hunter, urged the president to stay in the race and grew frustrated at his staffers who prepared him for the debate. Just days after, Jill Biden was featured on the cover of Vogue Magazine with the headline reading, “We will decide our future.”

Since then, the Biden family has doubled down in their support of Joe, with his wife Jill and his granddaughters Finnegan and Natalie traveling alongside him during a slew of fundraising events on Saturday in New York.

The recovery plan + Biden gaffes
The Biden campaign is now making a full-scale effort to soften the blow of the debate. The president sat down with ABC’s George Stephenopolous for an interview. Biden said he was “exhausted” during the debate and didn’t feel well. He was tested for covid prior to going on stage, which came back negative, but had a sore throat throughout the debate. 

On Thursday, Biden held a “big boy” press conference as it was dubbed by White House Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre and other staffers. He addressed concerns about his mental fitness and answered questions from reporters. In one instance, he referred to Vice President Kamala Harris as Vice-President Trump. 

Just before taking the stage for the “big boy” press conference, Biden introduced President Zelensky as Putin before being corrected by the audience and Zelensky. 

Democrats abandoning Biden
A growing number of Democrats are publicly airing their doubts and concerns about Biden. 

• Nancy Pelosi said she would support whatever Biden chooses to do but that “time is running short.”

• Major Democrat donor George Clooney wrote an Op-Ed in the NYT titled: I Love Joe Biden. But We Need a New Nominee.

• Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said he’s “for Joe” but is supporting a new ticket behind the scenes per Axios reporting.

• Dozens of Democrat representatives and legislators across the U.S. have publicly supported a new ticket. 

Obama remains quiet
Former President Obama, who currently has ads running on YouTube in support of Biden, has been silent since the debate. Joe Scarbourough, a left-leaning television host on MSNBC, said on his morning show that the “Biden campaign and many Democratic officials do believe that Barack Obama is quietly working behind the scenes to orchestrate this." The suggestion has not been verified and Obama’s spokesperson declined to comment on the matter. 

Who would replace him?
Although it’s all speculation at this point, some Democrats who are being talked about include:

• Vice President Kamala Harris

• California Governor Gavin Newsom

• Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer

• Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro 

• Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg

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Trends: Metal Thieves are Profiting on American Cities

What’s happening?
Copper wire theft from street lights and other public fixtures has soared since the pandemic, with many cities reporting increases 4-5 times higher than the pre-pandemic era. In Los Angeles, the 14th city council district reported ~7,000 cases of copper wire theft in the past year, up from 600 in 2019. In Las Vegas and its suburbs, over 970,000 feet (184 miles) of electrical wire has been stolen over the past two years. In St. Paul (MN), the city spent $1.2M to replace stolen copper wires in 2023, up from $250k in 2019. 

The trend is not only costing cities across the U.S. millions of dollars to repair, it’s also creating more dangerous areas due to more dark streets at night.

Metal thieves often use sawzalls and bolt and wire cutters to strip fixtures of copper. They then sell the copper to metal recyclers, often first burning the rubber insulation off to make it less traceable and fetch a higher price.

What’s driving the increase?
Thieves are motivated in large part by the high price of copper, which has increased about 70% since 2019. The price of copper has shot up primarily due to general inflation, along with the increased demand for copper in applications such as AI data centers and electric vehicles. Some observers also cite the general increase in social unrest and decrease in law enforcement presence as contributing factors.

While street lights are the primary target for metal wiring, other popular items include traffic lights, EV chargers, HVAC systems, and fire hydrants. Although copper has been the #1 metal stolen, other metal prices have increased dramatically as well, attracting thieves. For example, there has been a sharp spike in fire hydrant theft in Los Angeles for the brass and iron in the hydrants.

Historical precedent
It’s not the first time copper theft has increased substantially. In 2008 when copper resale prices were also near record highs, the FBI published a threat assessment in which it wrote that “copper thieves are threatening US critical infrastructure.”

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