Missing Sub Disaster: No Survivors After Catastrophic Implosion

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Good morning,

Sadly, the worst has been confirmed when it comes to the Titanic-bound submersible.

OceanGate Expeditions says all five passengers on board the missing vessel have tragically died.

The U.S. Coast Guard said Thursday that debris from the sub was found on the ocean floor, approximately 1,600 feet from the bow of the Titanic. Officials confirmed the pieces of debris indicate a "catastrophic loss of the pressure chamber" or an implosion of the vessel.

As for those banging sounds that had been heard during the search, the Coast Guard says it no longer believes they were connected to the vessel. In fact, the US Navy now is revealing it detected an explosion or implosion in the area soon after communications were lost Sunday.

When asked about the prospect of recovering the bodies of the victims, Rear Admiral John Mauger’s response was that the sea floor “is an incredibly unforgiving environment.”

The ‘Titan Five’ passengers were British businessman and explorer Hamish Harding, Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his 19 year-old son, Suleman Dawood, Paul-Henri Nargeolet, who had been on more than 35 dives to the Titanic wreck site, and OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush.

There are still many questions here — like what went wrong. Titanic Director/Sub Investor James Cameron says people in the explorer community have been warning OceanGate about their flawed design for years. For now, the Coast Guard is focused on mapping out the debris field.

Mosheh, Jill, & Courtney

🗞 ABORTION IN 🇺🇸: ONE YEAR POST-ROE

Saturday marks the one year anniversary of the Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. The landmark ruling — Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization— gave individual states the power to make their own abortion laws.

STATUS UPDATE
Here are where things stand as of today:

About 17.5 million women of reproductive age, one out of four US women in that age group, live in a state where abortion is banned or mostly banned, according to the Washington Post.

At least 15 states have now banned nearly all abortion services. Here’s a look at specific restrictions in different states.

BY THE NUMBERS
Looking at the impact of the decision, FiveThirtyEight recently published estimates from the nonprofit Society of Family Planning, which showed there were 24,290 fewer legal abortions from July 2022 to March 2023 compared to the period before Dobbs. That said, the exact numbers are hard to come by and this is just an estimate.

Many women seeking abortions are now forced to travel to different states, leading to increased costs for patients and also delays in getting care. Analysts say this has led to more abortions in the second and third trimesters.

Caitlin Myers, an economics professor at Middlebury College who researches reproductive policy, told NBC News that the bans are impacting “the poorest, most vulnerable” women the most, forcing them to carry unwanted pregnancies to term.

PUBLIC OPINION
When it comes to public opinion, support for abortion rights has increased in the year since the Dobbs decision.

A Gallup poll published last week found 69% of respondents believe it should generally be legal in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy, a record-high and two percentage points higher than last year.

MEDICATION ABORTION
Medication abortions make up more than half of the pregnancy terminations in the United States. The fate of mifepristone, one of the key drugs used in medical abortions, is now being litigated.

Back in April, the Supreme Court blocked lower court decisions banning/limiting mifepristone nationally as the appeals process plays out.

But, it is very likely that the case will make its way back to the Supreme Court for a final decision soon. It’s a case major retailers and political leaders are watching.

⏳ SPEED READ

📌 E-cigarette sales spiked nearly 50% between 2020 and 2022, driven largely by fruity and candy flavors (THE HILL)

📌 Major frozen fruit recall from Trader Joe’s, Walmart, Whole Foods, Aldi and Target (AXIOS)

📌 Pentagon accounting error provides extra $6.2 billion for Ukraine military aid (ABC)

📌 Black Americans are leaving cities in the North and West. Departing residents head for the suburbs or metro areas in the South, census estimates show (WALL STREET JOURNAL)

📌 TikTok's COO to step down from the company (ABC)

📌 A Delaware city is set to give corporations the right to vote in elections (CBS)

📌 Wimbledon to use AI for video highlight commentary (CNN)

📌 Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis won’t say whether he would support Trump if the former president becomes the 2024 Republican nominee (POLITICO)

📌 The U.S. population is older than it has ever been: New census data shows that the country’s median age is now over 38. In 1980, it was 30 (NEW YORK TIMES)

📌 100 injured as “golf ball” sized hail pummels Colorado concert-goers (KDVR)

📌 Deadly fungal infections confound doctors — once a freak occurrence, fungi resistant to standard drugs now threaten millions of vulnerable Americans (WALL STREET JOURNAL)

📌 Finland’s new phone-free island puts social media addiction to the test (BLOOMBERG)

📌 “We Knew Cottage Cheese Could Be Sexy.” Gen Z discovers the lumpy staple, and suddenly it’s cool again (WALL STREET JOURNAL)

🎉 CHEERS TO THE FREAKIN’ WEEKEND

• What We’re Watching: Jill: Season 2 of the Sex and The City reboot, And Just Like That, on Max aka the new HBO. Mosh: The Bear, Season 2 on Hulu

• What We’re Reading: Jill: The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid. Mosh: Winner Sells All: Amazon, Walmart, and the Battler for Our Wallets

• What We’re Eating:

  • First official weekend of summer— Jill is saying hello Chipwich!

  • Meanwhile, Mosh is in Charleston, SC this weekend and kicked it off with dinner at Fig. Check out his wife Alex’s Google Map of must-dos in Charleston for your next trip there.