| By Derek Caney (@stax920)
Donald Trump may be courting the poor white vote, but he's losing the rich folks. Some of them have been privately courting prominent peers to join them in backing Hillary Clinton's presidential bid. "I made the decision that I wouldn't be able to look at my grandkids if I voted for Trump," said Dan Webb, a former federal prosecutor and a self-described "Republican for decades" working to win over prominent Republican business people in Chicago. Meanwhile Republicans are calling on Donald Trump's family to hold an "intervention" to get the Republican nominee back on track. One idea being floated was to have a minder travel with Trump to help him stay on message.
The White House said the cash payment of $400 million to Iran that coincided with the release of five Americans detained in Iran was absolutely positively not a ransom payment. The money was part of a trust fund Iran used to buy U.S. military equipment before the 1979 Islamic Revolution. The fund had been frozen and tied up in international litigation since 1981. The $400 million payment, first uncovered by the Wall Street Journal, was the first installment of a $1.7 billion settlement the Obama administration reached with Iran to resolve the dispute. It was pure coincidence that the money was airlifted to Iran at the same time as a prisoner swap between the two countries that included Jason Rezaian, a Washington Post reporter detained by Iran. It also coincided with the nuclear agreement between Iran and the West.
Digits of the day: $293.2 million Tesla Motors posted a steeper-than-expected loss on higher spending at its vehicle and battery factories. Founder and CEO Elon Musk said that the company was on track to deliver 50,000 new Model S and Model X vehicles in the second half of the year. Tesla's net quarterly loss widened to $293.2 million, or $2.09 per share, from $184.2 million, or $1.45 per share, a year earlier. He also warned he would fire suppliers and reorganize internal teams who fail to meet a target date of July 1, 2017 to begin production of the Model 3, even while acknowledging it will be impossible to meet that date. Must be an interesting place to work.
Around the world - A knife-wielding man with suspected mental health issues went on a rampage in a London park, killing one woman and injuring five others. Police said there was no evidence that the attack was terrorism related.
- When Giulio Regini's body was found on the side of an Egyptian highway in February, it was so mangled, his mother could only identify him by the tip of his nose. Egyptian human rights groups said the torture suggested Egyptian security services had killed the student, allegations those services and the government have strongly denied. Why was he murdered? Egyptian security sources say it was because of his research into Egypt's political and economic issues.
- As the Olympic torch passes through Brazil ahead of tomorrow's opening ceremonies in Rio, 85,000 police, soldiers and security personnel will try to contain the threat of violent street crime and attacks by extremists. Already skirmishes have broken out in different parts of the country as the torch made its 12,000 mile journey through the country. Many of the nation's poorer residents question the wisdom of hosting the Olympics, a bid Brazil won in 2009 while its economy was booming.
Quote of the day: "The Olympics is a waste of time. The Games did not bring any benefits to Rio de Janeiro," Adriano Souza, a 25-year-old waiter in Rio. 
Mayor of Rio de Janeiro Eduardo Paes carries the Olympic torch. Beth Santos/Courtesy of Rio de Janeiro City Hall/Handout
Around the country - Opponents of transgender rights won the latest round when the Supreme Court allowed a Virginia school board to block a transgender student from using the bathroom of the gender he identifies with while the case is on appeal. The case is the first time the fight over transgender bathroom rights has reached the Supreme Court. Last year, the American Civil Liberties Union sued on behalf of Gavin Grimm, 17, to challenge the Gloucester County School Board's bathroom policy, which requires transgender students to use alternative restroom facilities.
- The suicide rate among American veterans jumped by nearly a third since 2001, outpacing the wider U.S. population, according to a Department of Veterans Affairs study. Between 2001 and 2014, veteran suicides increased by 32 percent, while civilian suicides increased by 23 percent in the same time period. After controlling for factors like age and gender, this meant veterans faced a 21 percent greater risk for suicide than those who had not served in the armed forces.
- Experts say the failure to protect upcoming SAT exams from leaks or theft may be among the worst security lapses in college-admissions testing history. It’s not clear how widely the material has spread, but the exam’s owner, the College Board, is trying to contain the damage.
Around Wall Street - Technology heavyweights might be all that keeps the U.S. earnings recession from extending into a fifth consecutive quarter. A bright spot in generally dour second-quarter results reported so far, technology is the only sector showing improved third-quarter analyst expectations, mostly because of strong scorecards recently from Facebook and Alphabet (née Google).
- Neel Kashkari, chief of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, pledged to devote more resources to addressing economic disparities between black and white Americans, saying the high rate of unemployment among African Americans is "really troubling." But he noted that the nation's central bank only has the tool of interest rates at its disposal. As long as inflation remains low, he said, the Fed can keep rates low to boost job prospects for all Americans. But there is little the Fed can do to address structural problems in the economy besides contribute to research, he added.
Today's reason to live: The Beatles – You Never Give Me Your Money |
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