California homeless encampments to be removed under new order; The Olympics are here!

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*The World Snail Racing Championships. Via: NY Times.*

Good morning,

As athletes from around the world gather to see who is the fastest of the fast and the best of the best at the Summer Olympic Games, another competition is taking place in Europe this month as the World Snail Racing Championships recently crowned the fastest snail.

Congham, England hosted 85 garden snails to see who could make it 13.5-inches to a circle’s outer edge.
- The world record stood at 2 minutes flat — about 0.006 miles per hour.
A large snail named Jeff was named the world champion after making the distance in four minutes and five seconds.

*We wonder what Jeff had to say. Via: NY Times.*

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!

📌 HARRIS LOOKS TO DEFINE HERSELF AS GOP FACES BACKLASH FOR THEIR LABELS

Former President Trump is standing by his VP pick JD Vance after some criticism, including some comments from 2021 now getting a lot of backlash. At the time, Vance implied in interview with Fox News (above) that people without children should not be dictating national policy about the future, and called Kamala Harris and other DC liberals “childless cat ladies who are miserable.” The clip went viral this week, and has everyone from politicians to actress Jennifer Aniston chiming in.

To note: Harris has been a stepmom for ten years. Even her husband’s ex-wife, her stepkids’ mom, released a statement that said Harris is a parent to them.

Vance is known for making some incendiary comments in recent years, which are now being recirculated on social media after his elevation to the VP nominee slot. Here is how he explained the cat lady comments.

It comes as Republicans are calling Harris everything from “dumb as rocks” to a “DEI hire.” It’s prompted House leadership to tell members to stop attacking her race and gender, and instead focus on her policies. With just about 100 days until the election, it leaves little time for the GOP to define Harris, and for that matter, for Harris to define herself.

LIBERAL-BORDER CZAR-PROSECUTOR?
Speaking of which, on the campaign trail this week, Harris has been leaning into her experience as a prosecutor. It’s tough-on-crime, yet relatable (everyone knows Law & Order). However, her time in DC as a lawmaker is being scrutinized.

Government transparency site GovTrack removed a 2019 page naming Harris as that year’s “most liberal” senator.
- Why? GovTrack founder, Joshua Tauberer, says it’s because the ranking was not a realistic view of her work and was only data from a single year..
- Still, Harris’s active page shows that during her time in the Senate, she was rated the fourth most liberal senator. In 2020, she in second was just behind Sen. Bernie Sanders. She was asked about it by 60 Minutes back in 2020 (below).

Border Czar or Not? Meanwhile, the White House is trying to shield Harris from too much responsibility over how the border crisis has unfolded over the last few years.

President Biden originally assigned Harris in 2021 the challenging task of solving the "root causes" of migration from countries like Guatemala, whose citizens were fleeing their home countries and flooding the border.
- She was not officially appointed "border czar,” and was not assigned to address the broader border problems.
- Still, Republican leaders and media outlets took to calling her “Biden’s Border Czar.” There wasn’t that much pushback, until now. With illegal crossings hitting record highs in recent years, the Harris team is messaging that she was NOT in charge.

UP NEXT: THE DEBATE ABOUT THE DEBATE
Harris said she wants to debate Trump, and accused the former president of “backpedaling” in regards to the ABC News debate he agreed to have with President Biden on Sept. 10.

“I think the voters deserve to see the split screen that exists in this race on the debate stage,” she said.
Trump has said he will face off with Harris, but wants to move the debate to a more conservative network like Fox News.
- Fox has offered to host a debate on Sept. 17 in Pennsylvania. Harris has not commented on it.

📌 CALIFORNIA TAKES MAJOR ACTION TO REMOVE HOMELESS ENCAMPMENTS

California Gov. Gavin Newsom says the state no longer has excuses for allowing homeless encampments. It comes after the Supreme Court’s recent decision giving local governments more power on the matter.

Newsom issued an executive order yesterday directing local officials to begin dismantling the sites.

THE CRISIS
In California last year, about 180,000 people experienced homelessness, 123,000 of whom were unsheltered on any given night. California accounts for half of all unsheltered people in the US, and also has the highest housing costs.

But local governments have been hamstrung in their response.
That is, until last month when the Supreme Court in a 6-3 decision allowed an Oregon city to ban homeless residents from sleeping outdoors— even if there were no beds available in shelters.
- California asked the high court to hear the case. And following the ruling, Newsom said, “This decision removes the legal ambiguities that have tied the hands of local officials for years and limited their ability to deliver on common-sense measures.”

TRYING TO FIND A FIX
The order advises California cities and counties on how best to ramp up enforcement. It also mandates that officials work to house people and provide them assistance.

🇺🇸 PARIS 2024: WHO TO WATCH ON TEAM USA

Today’s the day! The Opening Ceremony for the Paris Olympics are at 7:30pm local time (1:30 pm ET), but competition is already underway. Team USA has about 600 athletes, but here are some that we’ll be watching.

Katie Ledecky: This will be the swimmer’s fourth Summer Games and she already has seven Olympic gold medals. She’s up for three individual events and one relay. By the end of the two weeks, she could become the most decorated female Olympian in history.
Simone Biles: The Gymnastics GOAT withdrew from most events during the last Summer Olympics due to a bad case of the “twisties.” But the most decorated athlete in gymnastics history, and the pioneer of four moves that no one else has ever matched, is set to take center stage.
- Her team includes four other Olympic veterans and newbie Hezly Rivera. Last games they got silver as a team, so they’ll be trying to reclaim gold.
Both Women and Men’s basketball teams: After skipping the 2016 and 2021 Games, LeBron James at 39-years-old is likely making his last Olympic appearance. And looking at recent close scores against the competition, it looks like other countries are catching up to USA basketball’s historic domination.
- As for the women’s team, they are going for their 10th gold. (Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese weren’t asked to join the team this year.)
Sha’carri Richardson: Disqualified from the Tokyo Games after testing positive for THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, Richardson is looking to prove she is the fastest woman in the world. She will be racing in the 100-meters.

📺 You can watch the Opening Ceremony today in the US on NBC or via streaming on Peacock.

⏳ SPEED READ

🚨NATION

📌 House Republicans, and six Dems, vote to rebuke Kamala Harris over administration’s handling of border policy (AP)

📌 DC cleans up vandalism and graffiti in wake of anti-Netanyahu protests (WASHINGTON POST)

📌 Man pushing flaming car into ravine started Park Fire, burning over 70,000 acres in California, officials say (NBC NEWS)

📌 Obama to throw his full support behind Harris (POLITICO)

🌎 AROUND THE WORLD

📌 Netanyahu meets with Biden and Harris to narrow gaps on a Gaza war cease-fire deal (AP) Video of Harris explaining her Israel-Gaza vision following her meeting (MO NEWS)

📌 Russian and Chinese bombers intercepted off of Alaska (ABC NEWS)

📌 Why more U.S. adults are choosing not to have kids (AXIOS)

📌 Ghana's top court upholds law criminalizing gay sex (NBC NEWS)

📱BUSINESS, SCIENCE & TECH

📌 CrowdStrike says hackers are threatening to leak sensitive information on adversaries (NBC NEWS)

📌 Yellowstone hydrothermal explosion leaves pools "overflowing" as hazards remain, officials say (CBS NEWS)

📌 Spicy dispute over the origins of Flamin’ Hot Cheetos winds up in court (AP)

📌 Southwest ending its open seating policy (FOX BUSINESS)

🎬 SPORTS & ENTERTAINMENT

📌 Melania Trump to tell her story in memoir, ‘Melania,’ scheduled for this fall (AP)

📌 Harry says battles with British press contributed to rift with the royal family (NBC NEWS)

📌 ‘Happy’ Jennifer Lopez celebrates 55th birthday at low-key East Hampton dinner with friends — but no Ben Affleck (PAGE SIX)

📌 HGTV star Christina Hall says third husband transferred $35k from her account after divorce filing (FOX NEWS)

🎉 CHEERS TO THE FREAKIN WEEKEND

WHAT WE’RE WATCHING: Jill: 🇺🇸 Olympics! Lauren: ‘Veep’ re-runs.
WHAT WE’RE READING: Jill: How to Make Friends, According to Science ~ Ben Healy. Lauren: The Movement ~ Clara Bingham.
WHAT WE’RE EATING: Jill: Cottage Cheese Chips, courtesy of Jasmine Mays Lauren: Sottocasa (great regular and gluten free pizza in Harlem and Brooklyn).