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Wednesday, March 6, 2024

3/6 WAKE-UP CALL: Biden, Trump Win Big, Haley Takes Vermont


Close to a third of the U.S. held nominating contests Tuesday. Republicans were voting in 15 states, while Democrats held primaries and caucuses in 15 states, plus American Samoa. Biden was winning most of those states by huge majorities. Trump’s wins didn’t give him enough delegates to become the presumptive nominee, he could hit that threshold by March 12 or March 19.


Donald Trump looked strong on Super Tuesday, racking up wins over Nikki Haley in states including Texas, Colorado and Tennessee, in their race for the Republican presidential nomination. Heading into Super Tuesday, Trump had won 10 of 11 contests. The Associated Press called Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia for him shortly after poll closings. Haley won Vermont, a small liberal-leaning state. Her only previous victory was Sunday in the District of Columbia, a heavily Democratic jurisdiction.

“They call it Super Tuesday for a reason,” Trump told hundreds of supporters here at his Mar-a-Lago compound in a speech that focused heavily on immigration and criticism of Biden. “Nov. 5 is going to go down as the single most important day in the history of our country,” he said, pointing to the general election.

A confused-looking President Biden once again admitted he’d get in “trouble” for taking questions at a press briefing Tuesday — just hours after his press secretary staunchly defended his mental acuity. The 81-year-old commander in chief started uttering the familiar, yet bewildering, refrain before he even lifted the microphone off the table at the launch of a task force aimed at lowering costs for American families. “I have a lot of questions. I better not start the questions. I’ll get in trouble,” Biden mumbled, garnering a few laughs from the audience.

He delivered a ragged exhale into the mic before placing it back down and stared blankly ahead with his mouth agape, ignoring some of the reporter’s last-ditch attempts to squeeze in a final question as they were leaving. “Oh my Lord. This man is not well,” former Democratic party campaign advisor Peter Daou opined on X.

Biden’s bizarre behavior came hours after White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre chastised a reporter for asking why the president routinely relies on notecards during public announcements. Although the reporter didn’t insinuate whether such a reliance reflects declining mental health, Jean-Pierre jumped to the defense of Biden.

➤SCHIFF, GARVEY ADVANCE IB CALIF:  Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) and Republican baseball star Steve Garvey pushed their way through a crowded Senate primary field on Tuesday to secure spots in November’s general election.  Garvey’s advancement to November helped avoid a costly slugfest between Schiff and Democratic rival Rep. Katie Porter (D-CA) that would have tested intraparty loyalties and drained resources that could be better spent on vulnerable Democrats in toss-up races. Now, Schiff likely faces a relatively pain free procession to take the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s seat.

.The Associated Press called the race for Schiff 31 minutes after the polls closed at 11 p.m. Eastern. During his victory speech, Garvey likened his second-place finish to “hitting a walk-off home run in a big game.”  He also told supporters to “keep in mind that this is the first game of a doubleheader” and to “keep the evening of Nov. 5 open.”

➤MORE CHARGES FOR MENENDEZ: Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., was charged Tuesday with obstructing justice in a new indictment that builds on earlier criminal allegations that he accepted bribes in exchange for improperly helping the Egyptian and Qatari governments. The new charges, which target Menendez and his wife, Nadine, allege the pair conspired to and actually obstructed justice in the New York federal investigation. Prosecutors say the pair wrote checks and letters from about June 2022 to 2023 that falsely characterized the return of bribes to co-defendants as loan repayments, and caused their legal counsel to make statements about the bribe money that the pair knew were false.


The charges add to the pair's legal woes. Prosecutors have already accused the senator and his wife, who was his girlfriend during part of the time covered by the indictment, of agreeing to help Egypt's government with weapons sales and financing in exchange for a middleman's help getting Nadine a low- or no-show job. The middleman later sweetened the deal with cash and gold, according to the allegations.

➤TARGET AIMS FOR TURNAROUND:  Target aims for a turnaround after its first sales decline since 2016. Last year the retailer’s annual revenue fell 1.6% from the previous year as it struggled to entice shoppers to splurge on items like homegoods and electronics. The company has been battling the effects of weaker traffic to its stores and shoppers spending a bigger chunk of their budgets on food and other essentials. Target said it would open more than 300 new stores and invest in the majority of its locations over the next decade. It also announced a paid membership program, Target Circle 360, that offers free same-day delivery on orders over $35 and free two-day shipping. Shares in the company rose more than 11% as it also reported stronger-than-expected profits in the holiday quarter.

➤TENSIONS MOUNT OVER GAZA: Tensions are mounting in Israel’s war cabinet as its three members jockey for political clout and disagree over how to pursue the war in Gaza. Benny Gantz, who leads the center-right National Unity party, embarked on a trip to Washington this week to meet with Vice President Kamala Harris and other top Biden administration officials without coordinating with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Last week, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant demanded the government pass legislation to draft ultra-Orthodox men into the army—a move widely seen as one that could topple Netanyahu’s coalition that relies on two ultra-Orthodox political parties. The three men are a team of rivals who have at times appeared united, and insiders say they have generally worked professionally together, but cracks are appearing more as the war drags on. 

Meanwhile, U.S. and Arab countries have proposed a humanitarian pause in fighting as negotiations stall in Cairo and starvation spreads in northern Gaza.


➤COMPANIES LOOKING FOR AI TALENT: U.S. companies are ramping up recruitment of AI professionals and paying a premium for talent. New AI job listings are up 42% compared with a December 2022 low point, according to University of Maryland researchers. That is in part because of ChatGPT’s late 2022 release, which set off an AI frenzy. On online hiring platform ZipRecruiter, listed pay for jobs related to AI can top that for their non-AI counterparts by tens of thousands of dollars. Investors also appear willing to shell out for a piece of the hot tech trend. Perplexity, an AI startup aiming to challenge Google’s dominance in web search, is finalizing a new funding deal at around a $1 billion valuation, people familiar with the matter said, roughly doubling its valuation since its most recent financing a few month.


🏀THOMAS RETURNING TO NBA: Eleven-year NBA veteran Isaiah Thomas will be returning to basketball this season with the Utah Jazz's G League affiliate Salt Lake City Stars. A two-time All-Star with the Boston Celtics, Thomas last played in the NBA over two 10-day contracts with the Charlotte Hornets during the 2021-22 season.

🏀CLARK LIVING THE DREAM: The first of what will likely be many accolades rolled in for Iowa women's basketball star Caitlin Clark. The NCAA all-time scoring leader was named Big Ten Player of the Year on Tuesday, her third consecutive year winning the honor in what has been a historic season. Clark was also named a unanimous first-team All-Big Ten selection. There was no question about who would be named the conference's top player of the season, especially when she was named the conference player of the week 11 times this year. She has received that honor 29 times in her career, the most in Big Ten history. 

➤WEDNESDAY'S WEATHER MAP



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