Good Monday morning! Democrat tensions flare as Biden vows to stay in the race; French voters resist far-right takeover, the UK elects a new prime minister, and Iran elects a “reformist.”

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Good morning,

While you may have been celebrating America’s birthday on July 4th, the date also marked another big birthday: The Caesar salad turned 100 years old!

• It was allegedly created by Caesar Cardini, an Italian immigrant, at his restaurant the Alhambra in Tijuana, Mexico, in 1924. Two years later he opened Cafe Caesar's Place, which tourists have flocked to ever since.

• 🥗 During a rush to feed wealthy Americans who had crossed the border to escape Prohibition, Cardini tossed whole Romaine leaves with garlic-flavored oil, Worcestershire sauce, lemons, eggs and Parmesan cheese.

Have a good one!

Mosheh, Jill, & Lauren

PS: Don’t forget to refer friends & family to subscribe to the Mo Newsletter… you could get free Mo News merch — DETAILS at the bottom of this newsletter!

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📌 BIDEN VOWS TO FIGHT ON AMID MORE QUESTIONS ABOUT HIS AGE AND COMPETENCY

This week may be determinative as to whether President Biden remains the Democratic nominee for president. One by one, Democratic lawmakers are slowly starting to openly call for the 81-year old president to withdraw from the race. With new polling showing that Biden is losing additional ground to former President Trump, and Congress returning from its July 4th break today — the pace is likely to pick up.

Axios reports a “fast-growing” group of Democrats are attempting to get everyone from the Obamas and congressional leaders to push Biden to drop out by this Friday.

DAMAGE CONTROL
On Friday, Biden sat down with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos to reassure donors, Democratic leaders and voters that he is still up to the job. The interview was not a disaster, but not so great as to stop the growing discontent. Biden maintained that he would only leave the race if the “Lord Almighty” literally comes down and tells him to get out.

• One of the answers causing concern: Stephanopoulos asked Biden how he would respond to a Trump win in November. The President responded, “I’ll feel, as long as I gave it my all, and did as good a job as I know I can do … that’s what this is about.”

  • Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) on NBC’s “Meet the Press” said: “This is not just about whether he gave it the best college try, but rather whether he made the right decision to run or to pass the torch.”

• Former Obama White House senior adviser, David Axelrod, wrote in a CNN op-ed that Biden’s interview not only failed to “quell the panic that has gripped the Democratic Party,” but that it also showed the president is in a cycle of “Denial. Delusion. Defiance.”

• Beyond the ABC interview, all Biden public appearances over the course of the past 12 days have been scripted or extremely brief.

• Biden’s family continues to circle the wagons around the president, while some staffers describe the current situation as “miserable.”

  • "Everything else feels like 'Weekend at Bernie's' by his inner circle to prop him up,” a DNC official says.

NUMBERS GAME
So far, just a handful of sitting House Democrats, of the more than 200 in Congress, are publicly calling for Biden to step aside. However during a call between House Democrats yesterday afternoon, several ranking members joined the chorus.

• A House Democrat told Axios, "The sh*t is going to hit the fan on Monday, when Congress returns … People are scared about their own races. But they're also worried about the country, and about democracy.”

• If Biden was to step down, the most likely replacement at the top of the ticket would be VP Kamala Harris.

As for GOP lawmakers: For now, Republicans are opening an investigation into Biden's doctor following the debate. Among the questions: Why hasn’t President Biden received a cognitive test?

• House Oversight Chair James Comer (R-KY) requested a closed-door interview with White House physician Kevin O'Connor over “his medical assessments of President Biden and his private endeavors with the Biden family’s business schemes.“

• Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) thinks Biden "most likely will be replaced" as the Democratic nominee and called for regular cognitive tests for anyone in the Oval Office. It’s something several Democrats, including Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), called for while Trump was in office, but dropped once Biden was elected.

🇫🇷 🇬🇧 🇮🇷 INTERNATIONAL ELECTION ROUND-UP

It was a holiday weekend in America, but there were some major elections in France, the United Kingdom, and Iran.

🇫🇷 ‘UNGOVERNABLE’ FRANCE
France had the second round of its Parliamentary elections Sunday— and with a surprising result. The far-right led in France’s first round of legislative elections last week. But in the final round this weekend, a coalition of leftist parties beat back that surging far-right National Rally party.

However, even though the left appears to have the most seats in parliament, they don’t have a majority. That means these results threaten to plunge the country into further political and economic turmoil.

• The National Rally party nearly doubled its seats, but still came up short of expectations.

• Instead, initial data shows the New Popular Front, a coalition that also includes some far left parties, securing the most seats (between 177 to 192). President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist coalition lost about 100 seats, but appears to have still won more seats than the far-right.

  • How it happened: In the last week, Macron’s centrist alliance struck deals with left-wing parties in local races to consolidate candidates (so votes were not split) to have a better shot at defeating National Rally candidates. More than 200 candidates dropped out of their race.

    • More voters also came out. Over two-thirds of eligible voters cast ballots, up more than 20% from the last legislative vote.

• But, France’s ability to move forward appears bleak. CNN's Saskya Vandoorne writes, “For now, France seems ungovernable. With no party projected to get close to clinching a majority, the parliament will be in a state of paralysis, split between three blocs. … The left-wing alliance, which has seemed shaky, is going to have a hard time speaking with one voice.”

• Bottom line: The far-right and far-left both gained a historic number of seats. The centrists lost traction, after Macron gambled by calling these elections. It is now unclear what the last two+ years of Macron’s presidency will look like, and how he navigates domestic policy.

🇬🇧 UK RETURNS LABOUR TO POWER

Meanwhile, British voters ended 14 years of Conservative rule in their July 4th election. The Labour Party won a landslide victory in the country’s general election, while Conservatives had their worst showing in nearly 200 years.

Keir Starmer, a human rights lawyer, is the new prime minister. Rishi Sunak resigned and moved out of the 10 Downing Street residence the next morning (yes, the transfer of power there literally happens in less than 24 hours).

• Starmer has moved the Labour Party towards the center in recent years–pushing out far-left voices. He is promising a pro-business agenda, along with sustainable government finances, national health service reforms and a green agenda.

• Over the last decade, Conservatives pushed the country to leave the European Union (aka Brexit), which has so far been a major minus for the British economy. Beyond that, the economy has been hit by the pandemic and the war in Ukraine. Add a series of scandals by Conservative prime ministers, and voters decided they had had enough.

🇮🇷 NEW IRANIAN PRESIDENT
“Reformist” candidate Masoud Pezeshkian won Iran’s presidential runoff this weekend. The election followed Ebrahim Raisi’s death in a helicopter crash in May.

• Pezeshkian, a heart surgeon turned lawmaker, beat conservative hard-liner Saeed Jalili.

• Iranian officials said about 30 million people turned out for Friday's runoff, or nearly 50% of eligible voters. That’s considered low for presidential elections there.

• Pezeshkian has voiced a desire to have more of a dialogue with the West, and ease mandatory hijab laws, curb Iran’s morality police, and restrictions on the internet. That said, he has pledged allegiance to Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has ultimate control of Iran. It is unclear what, if anything, Pezeshkian could end up reforming.

⏳ SPEED READ

🚨NATION

📌 Forecasters concerned about Beryl as hurricane makes landfall(CNN)

📌 Republican convention in Milwaukee could be ‘attractive’ target for violent extremists, federal assessment says (CNN)

📌 Persistent heat wave in the US expected to shatter new records as it bakes West and swelters in East (AP)

📌 Judge pauses deadlines in Trump classified documents case over immunity questions (NPR)

📌 Trump claims not to have knowledge of ‘Project 2025’ despite numerous campaign connections (AP)

🌎 AROUND THE WORLD

📌 Talks for a cease-fire in Gaza appear set to resume as the war reaches 9 months (NPR)

📌 Ukrainian drone triggers warehouse explosions in Russia as war of attrition grinds on (ABC NEWS)

📌 Pope decries populists, warns democracy is in bad health (REUTERS)

📌 Injured American citizen’s condition ‘worsening’ after Hezbollah missiles fired toward Israel (CNN)

📱BUSINESS, SCIENCE & TECH

📌 Sizzling sidewalks, unshaded playgrounds pose risk of burns (VOA)

📌 Younger women are practicing radical pay transparency on TikTok (WASHINGTON POST)

📌 Job scams surged 118% in 2023, aided by AI. Here’s how to stop them (CNBC)

📌 NASA crew in simulated Mars habitat emerge after a year (AP)

🎬 SPORTS & ENTERTAINMENT

📌 LeBron James signs deal to stay with Lakers, opening door to first father-son teammates in NBA history (NBC NEWS)

📌 Margot Robbie is pregnant! Actress expecting her first baby with husband Tom Ackerley (PEOPLE)

📌 John Cena, 16-time world champion, to retire from WWE after 2025 (THE ATHLETIC)

📌 Caitlin Clark rallies Fever past Liberty with first triple-double by WNBA rookie (ABC NEWS)

🗓 ON THIS DAY: JULY 8

• 1776: The Declaration of Independence is read in public for the first time by Colonel John Nixon in Philadelphia.

• 1889: Journalist Charles Henry Dow published the first issue of The Wall Street Journal. He would also help co-create the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

• 1947: A local newspaper reported that a “flying saucer” had crash-landed and had been recovered near Roswell, New Mexico.

• 1996: The Spice Girls released their debut single ‘Wannabe.’