☕️ Sacklers unsettled

Disney debuts a historic ride... June 28, 2024 [View Online]( | [Sign Up]( | [Shop]( [Morning Brew]( PRESENTED BY [Rootless]( Good morning. Last night’s debate left Republicans feeling way more upbeat than Democrats. President Biden tried to attack former President Trump on raising taxes for the wealthy, abortion, and his recent criminal conviction (“You have the morals of an alley cat”), but that was overshadowed by a subdued and meandering performance that elevated concerns he is too old to serve another term. You will likely see more calls from Democrats to replace him on the ticket. On the other podium, a more-composed Trump repeated falsehoods and exaggerations, and refused to commit to accepting the results of November’s elections. By the end of the debate, the two candidates were sparring over golf handicaps. 130 days until Election Day… —Matty Merritt, Molly Liebergall, Cassandra Cassidy, Adam Epstein, Neal Freyman MARKETS Nasdaq 17,858.68 +0.30% S&P 5,482.87 +0.09% Dow 39,164.06 +0.09% 10-Year 4.288% -3.0 bps Bitcoin $61,456.28 +1.12% Chewy $29.05 -0.31% Data is provided by *Stock data as of market close, cryptocurrency data as of 4:00pm ET. [Here's what these numbers mean.]( - Markets: [Stocks]( went Limp Bizkit mode and kept rollin’, rollin’, rollin’, rollin’ ahead of the release of the Fed’s favorite inflation gauge today. And in a sign that perhaps the meme lord of Wall Street has lost his fastball, pet supplies retailer Chewy briefly spiked but ultimately ended the day in the red after Keith Gill, aka Roaring Kitty, posted a cartoon dog on social media.  SCOTUS [Opioid settlement that shielded Sacklers blocked]( [Photo of protestor holding sign that says “The Sacklers destroyed my parents lives.”]( Washington Post/Getty Images While SCOTUS is taking its sweet time deciding the last of this session’s cases before the holiday next week, it did rule on a biggie yesterday. The high court [struck down]( a decade-in-the-making settlement between Purdue Pharma and victims of the opioid epidemic. The settlement, crafted as part of Purdue’s bankruptcy, would have forced the Sacklers—the wealthy family who reaped billions from Purdue’s massive OxyContin push—to shell out $6 billion that would partly go toward compensating individuals impacted by the drug. But, in return, the Sacklers demanded protection from any current and future lawsuits. - The family amassed over $10 billion in Purdue Pharma payouts before they left the company’s board and Purdue filed for bankruptcy amid a slew of lawsuits. Sackler family members, none of whom filed for personal bankruptcy, said nearly half of that went to taxes. - At the request of the Biden administration, the Supreme Court put the settlement on hold last summer after a lower court allowed it to go forward. In a 5–4 vote, the high court nixed the settlement, saying protection from legal liability for the Sackler family is out of the jurisdiction of the bankruptcy court as the DOJ argued in the case. Now it’s back to the drawing board for Purdue, and a new settlement sans Sackler protections will likely be difficult to cook up. What else the court decided yesterday SCOTUS dismissed an appeal from Idaho officials, a decision that allows emergency abortions in the state for now—but did not rule on the underlying legal question. Pro-choice advocates said it was not the win they were hoping for, but instead punts the issue to a later date. The court also [ruled]( 6–3 that defendants facing SEC financial penalties have the right to make their case before federal juries instead of in-house tribunals, which could potentially undercut government agencies’ ability to penalize infractions. Five more decisions are still pending…including former President Donald Trump’s highly anticipated immunity case and one on whether states can punish homeless people sleeping in public spaces.—MM PRESENTED BY ROOTLESS [Final day to invest in this health breakthrough]( [Rootless]( After working in climate change for 10+ years, Sachi Singh knew how sustainable seaweed is. But she discovered it had an even greater power: It could transform women’s health. That’s why she founded Rootless, and it’s [one of the most exciting investment opportunities this year](. Over 1b women will experience menopause by 2025. [And Rootless has the answer](. They’re helping solve the root cause of this untapped $600b menopause market. Their seaweed-powered Daily Bites are proven to improve hormonal health in women. No wonder their sales exploded 251% in 2023 alone. Don’t miss your chance to share in Rootless’ growth potential. [Become a Rootless shareholder before this deal ends on June 28](. WORLD [Tour de headlines](#) [NFL commissioner Roger Goodell]Ryan Kang/Getty Images The NFL has to pay Sunday Ticket fans $4.7 billion. A Los Angeles jury found that the league [violated federal antitrust law]( by inflating the price of NFL Sunday Ticket—its out-of-market broadcast bundle—and preventing fans from buying single-team packages. The league reportedly must pay nearly $5b to fans who subscribed to Sunday Ticket and another $96 million to bars that were overcharged for the package (a sports bar in San Francisco initially filed the suit in 2015). These amounts could be tripled under the law. The NFL, which said it was “disappointed” in the decision, plans to appeal. Walgreens will reportedly close a number of stores. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, CEO Tim Wentworth said the pharmacy chain will shutter [a significant share]( of its 8,600 locations in the US. The closures are part of a broader attempt to boost the ailing company, which also includes reducing its stake in the primary care business VillageMD. Wentworth said the company can reassign most employees instead of conducting layoffs. Shares cratered yesterday after Walgreens whiffed on Wall Street’s earnings projections due to weak consumer spending. Americans abroad were hit with a huge phone outage. Many US customers of AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon traveling out of the country [could not make calls]( or send messages yesterday. A Verizon spokesperson told CNN that 30% of its overseas customers’ data connections were not going through as of last night. The companies blamed a third-party provider, Syniverse, that manages international roaming. Syniverse confirmed it was working to restore full service, but didn’t say what caused the issue. E-COMMERCE [Amazon’s launching a Shein-like discount section]( [Amazon box on conveyer belt]( Stirk/Getty Images The website where you can buy almost anything for cheap will soon sell a miscellany of goods for even cheaper. Amazon is planning to open an ultra-inexpensive, direct-from-China storefront that’ll compete with increasingly popular bargain sites Temu and Shein, The Information [reported]( this week. If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em. In Amazon’s strongest-armed [response]( to Temu and Shein yet—one that resembles its competitors’ tactics—the e-commerce giant’s forthcoming bargain section will sell China-made goods that are largely under $20, ranging from clothes to weights to gua sha facial tools (but nothing edible or liquid). - Amazon will ship the products directly to US buyers from Chinese warehouses in nine to 11 days. - That’s much slower than Prime speed, but Temu’s and Shein’s popularity suggests that some shoppers are willing to wait a while if they can pay less. Because the packages will ship straight from China to your door (rather than as part of a larger shipment that stops at a US warehouse first), they could take advantage of the de minimis exemption—a much-criticized loophole that nixes import tariffs on individual foreign cargo valued at TikTok is another concern: ByteDance’s [brain-rot service]( will run a TikTok Shop sale beginning on July 9, the platform announced yesterday…two days after Amazon said Prime Day would be July 16 and 17.—ML TOGETHER WITH CRASHPLAN [CrashPlan]( You need a backup plan. New research shows that a surprising amount of data exists on endpoints in business settings (regardless of policy). [It also may not be properly protected]( which can spell good news for hackers and bad news for your org. We teamed up with CrashPlan to explain what lacking endpoint data resiliency can look like—and [how to solve it without manual effort](. ENTERTAINMENT [Disney’s new ride replaces one with racist origin]( [Tiana’s Bayou Adventure ride at Disney World]( A major attraction of the Magic Kingdom got a reboot. Tiana’s Bayou Adventure opens in Florida [today]( in place of the mega-popular but controversial ride Splash Mountain, four years after Disney announced the revamp (the same transformation will happen at Disneyland by the end of the year). The new ride, which is part of Disney’s $60 billion [investment]( in its theme parks, follows Princess Tiana from The Princess and the Frog through a celebration of family and friends in New Orleans. While it runs on the old Splash Mountain tracks and still uses animatronics, it marks a new era for Disney as the first ride based on a Black character in the company’s nearly 70 years of operating theme parks. Despite all the love for Br’er Rabbit…Splash Mountain had run its course, according to a creative director at the park. The attraction was based on the 1946 movie Song of the South, which has been criticized for featuring racist stereotypes of Black people. Disney never released the movie on home video or streaming. Genie+’s out, too. Disney World unveiled a new ride reservation system this week, rebranding its former system, Genie+, into two different Lightning Lane passes. There’s one huge new perk for Disney aficionados: Visitors can now pre-book their rides up to seven days in advance.—CC STAT [Prime number](#) [Graphic of a phone connected to a tin can]Anna Kim The IRS seems to hate talking to you as much as you hate talking to them. According to the agency’s internal watchdog group, [just 31%]( of taxpayers were able to reach a representative over the phone this tax season, the WSJ reported. For certain departments, it was even worse: Less than one-fifth of the 2.1 million people who tried to reach the IRS collections line managed to get a human being to answer. Congress is aware of the communication problem—it approved funding in 2022 so the agency could hire thousands of agents. But the IRS says throwing more customer service reps at the problem isn’t a permanent solution. “Let’s think differently,” Erin Collins, head of the agency’s Taxpayer Advocate Service, said in her midyear report to Congress. QUIZ [That’s that me, quizpresso]( [New Friday quiz image]( The feeling of getting a 5/5 on the Brew’s Weekly News Quiz has been compared to when Dave Lozo finally makes an appearance at the office. It’s that satisfying. [Ace the quiz](. NEWS [What else is brewing](#) - [Two former Uvalde school police officers]( were indicted in the first criminal charges to stem from the botched law enforcement response to the 2022 mass shooting at Robb Elementary School, CNN reports. - [A Bolivian general]( and several others were arrested hours after leading a failed coup attempt amid the country’s economic crisis. - [Taco Bell]( unveiled a value meal that includes a whole lot of food for $7, joining McDonald’s and others in offering summer discounts. - [Boeing]( was sanctioned by the National Transportation Safety Board for “blatantly” violating federal regulations by disclosing sensitive investigative information to the public. - [Prince Harry]( will receive the Pat Tillman Award at this year’s ESPYs for his work founding the Invictus Games for wounded veterans. - [Bronny James]( was selected by the Los Angeles Lakers in the second round of the NBA Draft, joining his dad, LeBron James, as the first father-son teammate duo in league history. RECS [Friday to-do list] Travel: Let freedom ring with these Fourth of July [travel tips](. Read: A very detailed essay on the last century of moviegoing and how the pandemic affected the [future of theaters](. Watch: Molly Liebergall reports on [what it’s like]( to operate NYC’s Stonewall Inn on the 55th anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising. Slice safely: [How to avoid]( the dreaded “Avocado hand” injury this summer. Last chance: Get Money with Katie’s 2024 Wealth Planner bundle [at 30% off]( today. Fearless thinking: Get [bold insights]( on how tech and AI are impacting global business from the Financial Times. [Read more]( Time to check in: [We partnered with Delta]( to see how women professionals are feeling about their career journeys + career satisfaction. [Check out our article]( to see how the numbers panned out.* *A message from our sponsor. GAMES [The puzzle section](#) Decipher: Our new code-breaking game, Decipher, is back! Remember, the goal is to type the letters from the top half of the grid into the empty columns in the bottom half to spell out a message. The message this time is an iconic song lyric. [Play it here](. Friday puzzle Here’s a brainteaser from Jack for all the poker players: You are playing a simple poker game with one deck of cards. Everyone is dealt five cards, and whoever is dealt the best five-card poker hand wins. Lady Luck has promised to deal you a full house of your choice. Which full house should you choose to maximize your chances of winning? Standard rules apply. SHARE THE BREW [Share Morning Brew]( with your friends, acquire free Brew swag, and then acquire more friends as a result of your fresh Brew swag. We’re saying we’ll give you free stuff and more friends if you share a link. One link. Your referral count: 0 [Click to Share]( Or copy & paste your referral link to others: [morningbrew.com/daily/r/?kid=4904f90a]( ANSWER You might suspect that three aces and two kings is the obvious choice because it beats all other full houses. However, you’re best off choosing three aces with either two 9s, two 8s, two 7s, or two 6s—all give you the same chances of winning. [Scroll to the bottom of this page to see why.]( Word of the Day Today’s Word of the Day is: aficionados, meaning “people who are very knowledgeable and enthusiastic about something.” Thanks to Patti from Austin, TX, for the expert suggestion. Submit another [Word of the Day here](. ✢ A Note From Rootless This is a paid advertisement for Rootless’ Regulation CF offering. Please read the Form C and offering circular at [(. Written by [Adam Epstein]( [Neal Freyman]( [Matty Merritt]( [Molly Liebergall]( and [Cassandra Cassidy]( Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up [here](. Interested in podcasts? - Check out ours [here]( [ADVERTISE]( // [CAREERS]( // [SHOP]( // [FAQ]( Update your email preferences or unsubscribe [here](. View our privacy policy [here](. Copyright © 2024 Morning Brew. All rights reserved. 22 W 19th St, 4th Floor, New York, NY 10011