Good Tuesday morning! A 🚨 warning for Biden in new state polling, Sen. Bob Menendez’s corruption trial comes to NYC, Seinfeld warns graduates not to lose their sense of humor.

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Good morning,

Former University of Iowa star and No. 1 overall WNBA draft pick Caitlin Clark is set to make her regular-season WNBA debut tonight.

• 🏀 Her team, the Indiana Fever, will start their season on the road against the Connecticut Sun, and a sellout crowd — the first time all tickets were purchased since 2003.

  • Clark’s home opener will take place Thursday versus the New York Liberty.

• How to watch tonight: The game starts at 7:30 pm ET and can be streamed on ESPN+ and Fubo or watch on ESPN2.

Have a good one!

Mosheh, Jill, & Lauren

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📌 TRUMP LEADS BIDEN IN FIVE OF SIX KEY SWING STATES

A new set of polls show that former President Trump leads President Biden in the states that will likely determine the next president — states that Biden swept in 2020.

• The New York Times’ latest polling finds that Trump is ahead among registered voters in a head-to-head matchup against Biden in five of six key states: Michigan, Arizona, Nevada, Georgia and Pennsylvania. Biden still holds a lead in Wisconsin.

The results are pretty similar to polls from back in November. Since then, Biden’s campaign has spent tens of millions of dollars in ads in those states, the stock market has been booming, and Trump’s criminal trial began. But, it doesn’t appear that helped the president.

THE RFK QUESTION
The matchup is slightly closer among Americans who plan to vote in the fall (likely voters), but Trump continues to lead in the same five states. And if Robert F. Kennedy Jr. joins the mix, the overall results are similar — the same goes for other third party candidates.

• RFK Jr. got, on average, 10% of the vote across the six battleground states and took votes about equally from both Trump and Biden. Note that he still hasn’t qualified for the ballot in all those states.

WHAT THE NUMBERS SAY
Biden has kept most of his support among older and white voters, but he’s losing support with young, Black and Hispanic voters. Those three groups want fundamental changes to American society, not just a return to normalcy — Biden’s pitch back in 2020.

• According to the numbers, Biden and Trump are pretty much tied among 18-to-29-year-olds and Hispanic voters.

  • In 2020 those groups gave Biden 60% of their vote.

• Trump also wins over 20% of Black voters — which would be the highest level of Black support for any Republican presidential candidate since the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

• 🚨 But nearly 70% of voters say that the country’s political and economic systems need major changes — 1 in 6 Americans want the system torn down entirely.

• The economy and the cost of living remain the most important issues for one-quarter of voters — and a significant drag on Biden’s prospects.

  • Over half of voters believe that the economy is “poor,” despite cooling inflation, an end to interest rate hikes and stock market gains.

REMINDER: We are still six months out and most Americans don’t really start paying attention to the election until after Labor Day. This poll is worth noting, and we will watch to see whether it’s backed up by other polling or turns out to be an outlier. There are several political experts who are critical of some of the data in the poll.

⚖️ GOLD BARS AND CASH BRIBES: NJ SENATOR FACES CORRUPTION TRIAL

Sen. Bob Menendez’s (D-NJ) corruption trial began yesterday in New York. He’s accused of accepting bribes of gold bars, a car, and cash from three New Jersey businessmen with ties to Egypt and Qatar.

The accusation is that the money and gifts were in exchange for his help in using his role to push US aid and weapons to a foreign government and interfere in a federal trial.

THE CASE
Menendez, 70, faces 16 felony counts of bribery, extortion, fraud, obstruction of justice and acting as a foreign agent. He is accused of using his power and influence position in the Senate to protect and enrich the businessmen and benefit the foreign governments.

• The accusations center around hundreds of thousands of dollars bribes he and his wife accepted from three men between 2018 and 2022.

• The tougher charges that carry the most weight are that he secretly acted as a foreign agent for Egypt and tried to derail criminal investigations by writing checks to repay some of the bribes, adding phony memo lines such as “To Liquidate loan.”

  • Menendez is being tried with two of the New Jersey businessmen. Another man pleaded guilty to bribing Menendez and his wife; he will likely be a key witness.

• His wife’s case: Nadine Menendez, 57, will be tried separately in July after being granted a delay for a serious medical condition.

• Been here before: Back in 2017 prosecutors charged Menendez with bribery over luxury gifts a Florida eye doctor allegedly gave him for political favors, but the case ended in a mistrial after the jury could not reach a unanimous verdict.

His defense is centering around three strategies:

• He had gold bars and cash due to his latino heritage, which includes storing cash and not trusting banks.

• What he was doing was appropriate conduct for a senator.

• Blame his wife for deals made behind his back.

POLITICAL BACKLASH
The charges have already cost Menendez his powerful position as chair of the Foreign Relations Committee and support within his party. He’s served in the Senate since 1993, and now makes history as the only US Senator to be criminally indicted in two separate probes. If found guilty, his long political career would be over and he could spend the rest of his life in prison.

🎓 SEINFELD SAYS GRADUATES WON'T SURVIVE WITHOUT HUMOR

Jerry Seinfeld gave the commencement speech at Duke University over the weekend, offering graduates his three life lessons: 1. Bust your ass 2. Pay attention 3. Fall in love, and imparted some unique pieces of wisdom.

THE SPEECH
Seinfeld also received an honorary degree from Duke, where his son is enrolled and daughter graduated. Here are some key takeaways:

• Find fascination: Seinfeld argues it’s better than passion.

• Defense of privilege: Going to Duke is a privilege, Seinfeld says, and one that should be used to open doors.

  • “We're embarrassed about things we should be proud of and proud of things we should be embarrassed about.”

• While the speech didn’t discuss politics, it made headlines after about 30 of the 7,000+ graduates in attendance walked out in protests of the Jewish comedian’s support for Israel during the war. Some people in the crowd then booed the protesters.

• Bottom line: “Do not lose your sense of humor.” Seinfeld said, “Not enough of life makes sense for you to be able to survive it without humor.”

• Here’s the full address.

Mo News Podcast: A daily conversation about the news that matters.

⏳ SPEED READ

🚨NATION

📌 Biden to announce 100% tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles today (CBS NEWS)

📌 Louisiana bill would place abortion pills on same list as opiates (AXIOS)

📌 Michael Cohen testifies Melania Trump cast ‘Access Hollywood’ tape as ‘locker room talk’ (THE HILL)

📌 Major airlines sue Biden administration over junk fee disclosure rule (MO NEWS)

🌎 AROUND THE WORLD

📌 The UN reduced estimates for the number of women and children killed during Israel’s war in Gaza (MO NEWS) Israel proposes Palestinian Authority unofficially operate Rafah crossing (AXIOS)

📌 Two Americans among those arrested at Georgia protest against controversial foreign agents law (CBS NEWS)

📌 Haiti's notorious gang leader, Barbecue, says his forces are ready for a long fight (NPR)

📌 Children pulled from mud as hundreds die in severe flooding in Afghanistan (CNN)

📱BUSINESS, SCIENCE & TECH

📌 How Instagram ads are used to solicit sex with children (NY TIMES)

📌 Google and Apple partner to fight location tracker stalking (MO NEWS)

📌 Counterfeit fentanyl pills are becoming a lot more common in law enforcement seizures (NPR)

📌 OpenAI debuts new model with enhanced real-time voice abilities (AXIOS)

📌 GameStop, AMC stocks soar more than 70% each as ‘Roaring Kitty’ meme trader resurfaces (CNBC)

🎬 SPORTS & ENTERTAINMENT

📌 Ellen DeGeneres sets final comedy special with Netflix (VARIETY)

📌 Miss Teen USA 2023 runner-up declines title after winner steps down (E!)

📌 New ‘Lord of the Rings’ film coming in 2026 (CNN)

📌 Harry and Meghan wrap up a very royal looking tour of Nigeria (CBS NEWS)

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🗓 ON THIS DAY: MAY 14

• 1796: The world’s first successful vaccination was introduced by Dr. Edward Jenner to treat smallpox.

• 1948: The State of Israel, the first Jewish state in 2,000 years, was established. President Harry Truman recognized the new nation on the same day. There were two previous Kingdoms of Israel 2,000+ years ago.

• 1998: The last episode of ‘Seinfeld’ aired. More than 76 million people watched.

• 2003: Beyoncé released ‘Crazy in Love’ featuring Jay-Z.