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Good morning,

How about this view of the eclipse? Astronauts aboard the International Space Station got to take in the eclipse in one window and check out the view of the moon’s shadow on earth in another window! VIDEO from space.

They were orbiting about 260 miles above Canada as the moon’s umbra was moving over New York state.

By the time the next total eclipse happens over North America in 2044, NASA hopes to have a permanent presence on the moon. How about that view?!

Have a good one!

Mosheh, Jill, & Lauren

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💰 BIDEN’S STUDENT LOAN FORGIVENESS PLAN (B)

Let’s try this again. President Biden announced a new plan Monday to cut student loan debt. It could bring relief for about 30 million borrowers, when combined with the administration’s other actions. The goal is to bring relief to as many of the approximately 43 million US student loan recipients as possible. They have a collective $1.7 trillion in debt.

Biden’s 2020 campaign promise of large-scale student debt relief has faced legal barriers. The Supreme Court blocked his executive action last year. They are trying again…this time using a different legal authority.

• Yesterday’s announcement took place in Wisconsin, a swing state that he won by a narrow 0.63% margin in the last election.

THE PLAN
Regardless of income, the new effort could automatically provide up to $20,000 of relief to people who owe more than they originally borrowed because of accrued interest. Borrowers could see all their interest wiped away if they have an annual income under $120,000 (individual) or $240,000 (couple). Up to 23 million people could have their unpaid interest completely forgiven.

• And more: 10 million Americans could see partial relief of at least $5,000. About two million people who qualify for existing programs, but have not applied, would get their debt wiped. And another 2.5 million Americans that have been paying for over 20-25 years could see total debt cancellation.

• Republican state officials intend to challenge the plan in court. They succeeded in overturning Biden’s earlier plan, which would have forgiven up to $20,000 in student debt for borrowers with an income below $125,000 — about 40 million Americans.

Why might this plan work when the others didn’t? The process here is different. The Education Department has been conducting “negotiated rulemaking” which takes a bit longer, but is less likely to be subject to legal barriers.

• Time check: Administration officials said this round of debt relief could start in the fall (before the election) and regulations will be rolled out in the coming months.

OK, WHAT ABOUT THE CURRENT STUDENTS?
Biden said during yesterday’s announcement that he still wants to make community college free, “so you don’t need loans at all,” but that it won’t happen unless he wins another four years in the White House.

• Last week, we reported the cost for a year of education at some private US schools is well-over $90,000. Public university tuition is rising too, in part, because of federal and local government cutting funding.

• While schools boast providing financial aid, and say the highest price tags are only for the wealthiest students, the data shows that the cost burden of an education is still felt at a lower income (SEE ABOVE).

  • Lawmakers have called out for-profit schools over allegations of misleading students into taking on more debt than they can afford to pay off.

• Last year, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) sent a letter to the Education Department with recommendations on oversight of higher education institutions that “too often leave students with insurmountable debts.”

📌 TRUMP TAKES STANCE ON ABORTION

Former President Trump has declined to endorse a nationwide abortion ban and instead said states should have the power to decide. In a video posted on Monday, Trump says: “at the end of the day this is all about the will of the people.”

Here’s a timeline of Trump’s evolving position on abortion.

TRYING TO HAVE IT BOTH WAYS
Trump claims responsibility for the US Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade—he appointed three of the court’s conservative bloc. At the same time, he is critical of Republicans for pushing further restrictive bans across the country.

• Some Republican lawmakers hoped Trump would go farther and endorse a 15-week federal abortion ban.

  • Former VP Mike Pence called Trump’s new stance— NOT backing a federal ban— “a slap in the face,” while one anti-abortion group have called it “morally indefensible.”

• But politics: Trump is calculating that the social conservatives will vote with him anyway, and if he’s going to win the presidential election, he needs to find a way to appeal to people with more moderate positions on abortion.

  • Trump never loved this issue. He said after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade— despite appointing the judges who made it happen—that this was bad for the GOP.

  • Trump acknowledges abortion rights are an issue that voters care about, and pointed to it being one of the reasons behind 2022 GOP midterm losses and not winning back the Senate.

    • He posted after the announcement, “We cannot let our Country suffer any further damage by losing Elections on an issue that should always have been decided by the States, and now will be!”

WHAT THE DEMS SAY
Biden took to social media to say that Trump is “endorsing every single abortion ban in the states, including abortion bans with no exceptions,” while Democrats are fighting to restore nationwide abortion access.

• Democrats continue to run on abortion access. And this November, Florida, New York, Maryland, and at least a handful of other states are poised to vote on the issue.

☀️ TOTAL ECLIPSE: A RARE COLLECTIVE MOMENT

For a few minutes yesterday, tens of millions of people gathered together to watch the total solar eclipse (or near-total eclipse!). It even broke the Congressional divide. Yes that is Senators Lindsey Graham and Liz Warren standing next to one another. 😉 

THE PHOTOS & VIDEOS
Was it more fun watching the eclipse or all the people watching the eclipse? Here are some of our favorite shots from the celestial event.

• View from the International Space Station, seeing the moon’s shadow pass over the Earth

Up next:

⏳ SPEED READ

🚨NATION

📌 New warning: Social order could collapse in the era of AI (WALL STREET JOURNAL)

📌 Speaker Johnson faces Ukraine aid dilemma and a threat to his job as Congress returns (NBC NEWS)

📌 RFK addresses his gravelly voice: “If I could sound better, I would” (LA TIMES)

📌 250 colleges ban transgender women from competing in women’s sports (REUTERS)

📌 Teen girls confront an epidemic of deepfake nudes in schools (NY TIMES)

🌎 AROUND THE WORLD

📌 Palestinians returning to Khan Younis after Israeli withdrawal find an unrecognizable city (AP)

📌 Former Israeli hostage recounts sexual abuse at hands of captors (TIMES OF ISRAEL)

📌 The Vatican says surrogate parenting and gender theory are 'grave threats' to human dignity (NPR)

📌 Brazil Supreme Court justice orders investigation of Elon Musk over fake news and obstruction (ABC NEWS)

📌 Chechnya bans all music deemed too fast or too slow (CNN)

📱BUSINESS, SCIENCE & TECH

📌 JPMorgan’s Dimon warns inflation, political polarization and wars are creating risks not seen since WWII (AP)

📌 Tesla heads to court after Apple engineer’s family says Autopilot caused his fatal crash (CNN)

📌 How Walmart shoppers can qualify for cash from $45 million settlement (GOOD MORNING AMERICA)

📌 Many cancer drugs remain unproven 5 years after accelerated approval, study finds (NBC NEWS)

🎬 SPORTS & ENTERTAINMENT

📌 NCAA Women’s championship breaks viewership record (THE WRAP)

📌Actor Jonathan Majors gets probation, avoids jail time for assaulting ex-girlfriend (NBC NEWS)

📌 Country star Morgan Wallen arrested on felony charges after throwing a chair from a Nashville rooftop bar (CNN)

📌 Billie Eilish announces new album “Hit Me Hard and Soft” with a trailer (PITCHFORK)

📌 'Cowboy Carter' becomes the first album by a Black woman to top the country chart (NBC NEWS)

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🗓 ON THIS DAY: APRIL 9

• 1959: NASA introduces America’s first astronauts: The Mercury 7.

• 1976: ‘All The President's Men' starring Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman (as reporters) Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein) premiered in theaters.

• 2003: US forces pull down a bronze statue of Saddam Hussein in Baghdad, three weeks into the invasion of Iraq, symbolizing the end of the Iraqi president’s reign. US troops remain in Iraq 21 years later.

• 2005: Charles, then the Prince of Wales, and Camilla Parker Bowles married in a civil ceremony at Windsor’s Guildhall.