May 4, 2026: All Newsclips

Lead Stories

Why almost everyone loses—except a few sharks—on prediction markets

John Pederson, 33, couldn’t work. The former Outback Steakhouse line cook was recovering from a car crash and running out of money. Kalshi, the prediction market, promised a quick way to fix that. He took out a variable-interest loan and started betting. At first, it worked. Pederson turned about $2,000 into close to $8,000 by betting on daily snowfall totals in Detroit, where he lives. He parlayed that into $41,000 by trading on sports, using a strategy he developed with the help of AI, according to a Wall Street Journal review of his account records. Then he placed his most audacious bet yet: All $41,000 that a celebrity would say a particular word on TV. He lost it all. Pederson isn’t alone in walking away empty-handed from the bet-on-anything markets, which cover sports, celebrities, news and more.

click here for more

Kalshi and its competitor Polymarket advertise themselves as life-changing tools for regular people—implying everyone has a fair chance to score. “I was about to be unable to pay my rent, but I got two years of rent through Kalshi’s predictions,” gushed one woman in a Kalshi ad on TikTok. But for most users the reality is nothing like that. Instead, casual traders are bleeding cash while a small number of sophisticated pros—including trading firms with access to vast streams of data—eat their lunch, according to a Journal analysis of platform data and interviews with traders. On Polymarket, the Journal found, 67% of profits go to just 0.1% of accounts. That means less than 2,000 accounts netted a total of nearly half a billion dollars. The Journal analyzed 1.6 million Polymarket accounts that have traded since November 2022. There are at least 2.3 million total accounts on the site. On Kalshi, too, losers vastly outnumber winners. Spokeswoman Elisabeth Diana said there are 2.9 unprofitable users for each profitable one based on data from the past month. She said the number is subject to change as the exchange grows. The company doesn’t make public comprehensive data on users’ profits and doesn’t share its total number of users. Total trading volume on both platforms has rocketed to $24.2 billion in April, up from $1.8 billion a year earlier, according to analytics firm The Block. Proponents say the markets don’t count as gambling, and that they harness the wisdom of crowds to accurately predict future events. Federal Reserve research shows Kalshi is an effective tool to forecast economic trends.

Corpus Christi Water officials detail long-term water supply plan, conservation progress

City of Corpus Christi officials outlined the latest updates on the city’s long-range water supply planning during a public briefing on Friday, emphasizing ongoing projects, conservation efforts, and future diversification of the water supply. Nick Winkleman, Chief Operating Officer of Corpus Christi Water, said residential customers have significantly reduced water use and are already performing projected allocation levels below. Winkleman emphasized that reports of water blackouts or evacuations are false. “I’m here to emphatically state that that information isn’t true,” Winkleman said. “We want to ensure everyone has the most accurate information.” According to the latest data, Choke Canyon Reservoir sits at 7.3% and Lake Corpus Christi at 8.7%, bringing the combined capacity to about 7.7%, while Lake Texana remains higher at 66% following recent rainfall.

click here for more

Despite the low levels, officials say residents are already doing their part, using less water than projected targets. “Our residential customers…have made tremendous efforts to reduce their water usage,” Winkleman said. “They are already below what a potential allocation might be. Winkleman also highlighted continued progress on major supply projects, including groundwater development in Nueces County, seawater desalination planning, reclaimed water reuse initiatives, and pipeline construction tied to new treatment systems. Winkleman noted that construction and design work are advancing across multiple projects, including brackish groundwater treatment, which is expected to begin initial deliveries in 2027. Officials also reiterated its goal of diversifying water sources to include surface water, groundwater, seawater, and reclaimed effluent to ensure long-term supply stability. Officials said no level one water emergency but stress that no restrictions are currently in effect. “Allocations and baselines…are not in effect until we go into a level one water emergency,” Winkleman said. If that happens, Texas law requires water reductions to be applied evenly across all users, including residential, commercial and industrial customers. At the same time, officials highlighted ongoing efforts to expand supply, including groundwater projects, wastewater reuse and desalination planning. “Our strategy is to diversify the water supply…to make it sustainable for future generations,” Winkleman said.

Warsh's take on Fed independence is met with confusion and some concern

Most people don’t know and don’t have much reason to care what a currency swap line is, except that the financial instrument could soon help markets understand what Federal Reserve Chair nominee Kevin Warsh’s unique ideas about Fed independence really mean. Warsh has said categorically the Fed should be “strictly independent” in the making of monetary policy. But he adds that he’s willing to work with Congress and the Trump administration on “non-monetary matters.” In answers to senators’ questions following his April 21 confirmation hearing, he elaborated: “Fed officials are not entitled to the same special deference in areas affecting international finance, among other matters.”

click here for more

Warsh has also talked often about a new “Fed/Treasury accord” that he’s suggested could govern the Fed’s balance sheet, though in ways he has yet to detail. To six former Fed officials interviewed for this article, those comments were unclear or confusing at best. When it comes to Fed independence, they found his analysis worrisome at worst. The outcomes could be benign, tinkering around the edges of existing conventions, or more concerning limitations to the Fed’s ability to use its balance sheet in a crisis. Because of the lack of clarity in Warsh’s comments, none of the former officials who spoke with CNBC were ready yet to draw conclusions either way. Former Richmond Fed President Jeffrey Lacker, long a hawk on interest rate and balance sheet policy, said he could welcome a new accord between the Fed and Treasury Department if it led to the Fed focusing on monetary policy, leaving credit policy up to Treasury. Under such an accord, for example, the Fed could be limited to just buying treasurys, not mortgages or other financial instruments.

Inside Democratic fundraiser ActBlue’s big spending and internal drama

Following Democrats’ bruising losses in the 2024 election, the chief executive of ActBlue, the platform that had helped Democrats raise $4 billion for that year’s contests, gathered staff for a four-day retreat. One of the first topics of the CEO’s remarks, according to people familiar with the matter: the outfit she had delivered to San Francisco for the occasion. Employees, still dazed after layoffs and election results, found the comments jarring, the people said. The platform that is integral to the Democratic Party’s infrastructure is now enmeshed in controversy, in part fueled by the management of its CEO, Regina Wallace-Jones, whose spending and legal decisions have raised concerns among Democrats and employees, according to people familiar with ActBlue’s operations.

click here for more

Wallace-Jones, a former tech executive, has tried to run the group not like the political nonprofit that it is, but like a Silicon Valley firm that is acquiring startups to stay relevant and offering executives some perks, the people said. She played down risks over some fundraising practices flagged by the group’s lawyers in 2024, the people said, while dramatically increasing spending on travel and security. During the retreat last February, ActBlue booked hundreds of rooms at the Intercontinental San Francisco, and Wallace-Jones was comped a stay in a two-story presidential suite while security guards swarmed the hotel at her direction, the people said. The organization spent roughly $700,000 on the retreat, according to Federal Election Commission disclosures. Wallace-Jones said in a statement that she was recruited to grow ActBlue. “We have been able to steer the organization from a single-service startup into a diversified technology platform supporting campaign operations well beyond fundraising,” she said. “Change on this scale isn’t easy, but neither is protecting the integrity of small-dollar democracy.”

State Stories

Grapevine-based GameStop makes $55.5 billion offer to buy eBay

GameStop has announced it has made a $55.5 billion offer to buy eBay at $125.00 per share in cash and stock. CEO Ryan Cohen, who would become CEO of the combined company should the deal go through, told The Wall Street Journal he wants to make eBay a “legit competitor to Amazon,” as he bids to grow his business beyond games and merchandise and hit a $35 billion payout in the process. GameStop said the cash part of the offer is expected to be funded from a combination of cash and liquid investments on GameStop’s balance sheet, which totaled $9.4 billion as of January 31, 2026, and “third-party acquisition financing,” with up to $20 billion in debt financing from TD Securities. GameStop did not say exactly where this third-party acquisition financing would come from.

click here for more

In its announcement, GameStop said eBay isn’t making enough money for what it’s spending, and that it would deliver $2 billion of annualized cost reductions within 12 months of closing the deal, suggesting plans for significant cuts. GameStop added that its 1,600 U.S. retail locations “give eBay a national network for authentication, intake, fulfillment, and live commerce,” confirming plans to bring the eBay business into its stores. GameStop posted a letter sent from Cohen to eBay president Paul Pressler in which the GameStop CEO said he would receive “no salary, no cash bonuses, and no golden parachute — I will be compensated solely based on the performance of the combined company.” In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Cohen said that if eBay turns the offer down, he will go directly to shareholders. “There is nobody who is more qualified, based on my experience, to run the eBay business,” Cohen insisted. As for where he’ll get the money needed for the deal, The Wall Street Journal said Cohen may turn to Middle Eastern sovereign-wealth funds.

After 43 years in DART, why did Highland Park voters choose to leave?

In 1983, when Dallas Area Rapid Transit was born at the ballot box, Highland Park embraced it by a higher margin than any city in the region. On Saturday, it said goodbye. Highland Park voters chose to abandon DART in a dramatic shift of priorities — from supporting a regional transit vision to questioning whether it delivers enough value. In doing so, it became the first city in nearly 40 years to break away. Nearly 70% of Highland Park voters Saturday chose to exit the system, a striking twist from the 77% who favored joining DART in 1983. That's when Dallas and more than a dozen suburbs agreed in an election to fund the transit agency through a one-cent sales tax. Coppell and Flower Mound were the last two cities to leave DART, back in 1989.

click here for more

Walt Humann, known as the father of DART for his push in the 1980s to create the transit system, remembers Highland Park voting overwhelmingly to join the agency. Article continues below this ad “No one ever asked, ‘Tell me what’s in it for me,’” he said Sunday. “It was always how can we help the region and how can we help our own citizens … Today in Highland Park, it’s more transactional. How much are we getting and how much are we paying?” Although DART lost a member city for the first time in nearly four decades Saturday, the agency has emerged from more than six months of threatening uncertainty relatively unscathed. Since November, nearly half of DART’s member cities considered leaving the agency, and of the three withdrawal elections that moved forward, only Highland Park chose to leave. Buses, trains and other service will continue in Addison and University Park, where voters backed DART.

Mariachi brothers detained by ICE invited to open for Kacey Musgraves after release

The crowd went wild when the three Gámez-Cuéllar brothers and their father took the stage on Sunday night. It was no ordinary concert. Two months ago, the brothers and their father, all musicians, were being held in federal immigration detention centers. Now, dressed in black mariachi suits, they were opening for the country music star Kacey Musgraves in New Braunfels, Texas. Just before they went on, the family uttered a prayer of thanks. “Thank you, Father, for giving us this great opportunity,” Antonio Yesayahu Gámez-Cuéllar, 18, addressed God, as he stood next to his 15-year-old brother, Caleb Gámez-Cuéllar; their 12-year-old brother, Joshua Gámez-Cuéllar; and their father, Luis Antonio Gámez. “We ask you, Father, to protect us and bathe us in your light.” In early March, the Gámez-Cuéllar family became snarled in President Trump’s mass deportation campaign.

click here for more

Their detention by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents drew widespread and bipartisan outcries that led to the family’s release from an immigration facility in Dilley, Texas. The oldest sibling, Antonio, was released from a separate detention center near the border. Shortly after the family was released, Ms. Musgraves extended an invitation to the brothers on Instagram: “great so come on the road with me.” Antonio and Caleb, along with their younger brother, Joshua, all renowned mariachi players from McAllen, Texas, jumped at the opportunity to open three shows for Ms. Musgraves with their father. The performances on her Middle of Nowhere tour began Sunday and will continue for two more days at Gruene Hall in New Braunfels, northeast of San Antonio. The venue is a whitewashed building that resembles a small church and considers itself the oldest continuously operating dance hall in Texas. “We were honored to be invited,” their mother, Emma Guadalupe Cuéllar López, said. At the concert, Antonio belted out a Spanish-language rendition of Frank Sinatra’s “My Way” to applause and cheers.

Tesla Semi production ramps up with first vehicle off high-volume line

The first Tesla Semi to roll off the company's high-volume line has arrived, the Austin automaker announced on Wednesday. The milestone at Tesla Inc.'s Nevada plant arrives shortly after a recent production win at Gigafactory Texas. Last week, the company announced that the Cybercab, its purpose-built robotaxi, was officially rolling off the assembly line. First unveiled in 2017, CEO Elon Musk had originally promised the tractor-trailer would be delivered to customers in 2019. Since then, other companies have been working up electric and autonomous options. For example, Einride is partnering with SH 130 Concession Co. to position SH 130 toll road, which connects Austin and San Antonio, as a corridor for autonomous freight operations.

click here for more

Tesla's long-awaited vehicle will also be watched for whether it can deliver on key features. Tesla's Semi specs boast a range of about 500 miles and the ability to reach up to 60% of range after 30 minutes of charging. That long-range model will reportedly sell for $300,000 while a 300-mile range Tesla Semi could sell for approximately $260,000. Now, Tesla's tractor-trailer will soon be put to the test on last-mile container moves. On Wednesday, California drayage operator MDB Transportation, which hauls cargo short distances between ports and nearby warehouses, announced the start of a three-week operational pilot using a Tesla Semi on active drayage lanes serving port freight. MDB says it will track performance across energy efficiency, cycle time, and driver experience, but is reporting positive early impressions. “We’re proud to be operating the Tesla Semi, the future of freight isn’t a concept — it’s in motion,” said Haig Melkonyan, MDB director of operations. Musk has also talked up the vehicle’s smooth ride. In an X post earlier this month, Musk said the truck “feels like a sports car to drive.” Meanwhile, dozens of Tesla Semi electric trucks also are expected to operate in Texas by next year, and infrastructure is following.

Texas Killing Fields suspect faces two new felony charges following search of Bacliff property

A man already accused of committing multiple crimes connected to the decades-old Texas Killing Fields case was charged with two additional felonies after authorities served search warrants on his Bacliff property. James Elmore, 61, was charged with possession of child pornography and possession of visual material depicting sexual assault on Thursday, according to Galveston County court documents. Elmore was previously arrested in March on charges of manslaughter and tampering with evidence in two of the Texas Killing Fields cases. The new charges come in the midst of a renewed investigation into the deaths of around 30 women, whose bodies were found in the late 1980s and early 1990s in an area referred to as the Texas Killing Fields — near the intersection of Calder Road and Ervin Street in League City, which is located between Houston and Galveston.

click here for more

According to a search warrant served on April 16, Elmore’s phone — which was taken when he was indicted in March — allegedly contained multiple images of child pornography. The search warrant called for the forensic examination of any computer or computer-related media found at Elmore's home to look for potential evidence of criminal activity, specifically possession or promotion of child pornography, as well as the possible identification of other child victims of sexual exploitation. Another search warrant served on April 16 called for the search for possible human remains on Elmore’s property. Authorities confirmed that the search for human remains ended early this week. Authorities did not find human remains at the property of 61-year-old James Elmore, according to KPRC reporting. Elmore remains jailed on combined bonds totaling $4.5 million. A trial date for Elmore has been set for Aug. 31.

Richardson is latest city pumping the breaks on short term rentals

The city of Richardson is the latest North Texas city to question whether short-term rentals are more of a nuisance than not. Last month, residents spoke of the noise, trash, parking and safety issues they have seen caused by short-term rentals in their neighborhoods. Short-term rentals are stays lasting no more than 30 days, and are commonly listed on websites such as Airbnb and VRBO. The complaints heard in Richardson are similar to those reported in Dallas, Arlington, Plano and a host of other cities that have passed ordinances regulating such properties or imposing outright bans on listings in residential neighborhoods. Following community complaints, the Richardson City Council approved a 90-day prohibition on new STR listings. The pause will run from the end of May through August, meaning homeowners will not be able to capitalize on last-minute demand driven by the FIFA World Cup’s presence in North Texas this summer.

click here for more

During the pause, the city will begin collecting data on short-term rentals, including registered and unregistered properties, whether some neighborhoods have developed STR clusters, and the impact that vacation rentals have on residents’ quality of life. “This isn’t against STRs or the many responsible, involved owners,” said council member Joe Corcoran during an April 20 work session. “I think that adopting this prohibition allows us to be robust. It allows us to look forward and adopt responsible regulations that respect property rights, while also being responsive to all the residents that have come to us with concerns.” Corcoran added that he’d like to see city staff cross-reference the collected STR data with police and code compliance data to identify nuisance properties. Dallas attempted to pull similar data in its own short-term rental fight and, in 2024, found that code inspectors received 160 complaints in a year (not accounting for repeat complaints). At the time, more than 3,000 known STRs were registered within the city. Council member Jennifer Justice added that she supports the moratorium because complaints about STRs are the “number one issue” that she hears about from residents. The council will have the option to extend the pause after August if more time is needed for the study.

Dallas mayor slams City Council for ‘lip service’ amid budget woes

Mayor Eric Johnson on Sunday backed the city’s new cost-cutting measures, slamming City Council members who talk about restraint but approve “bloated” budgets and resist meaningful cuts. "Council members will pay lip service to fiscal responsibility, but when it comes time to vote, few are willing to follow through. Each has favored projects and programs to which they will tolerate no reductions," Johnson said in his weekly newsletter. The newsletter marks Johnson’s first public comments on the budget, likely to stir tension from some council members who support the cuts and have called for a closer look at spending and how the burden is shared. Dallas officials are navigating a more than $30 million shortfall six months into the current fiscal year, driven in part by rising health care expenses and overtime costs. Last month, City Manager Kimberly Bizor Tolbert told department leaders to limit costs immediately.

click here for more

She also imposed a hiring freeze for most city jobs, halted nearly all overtime and banned unnecessary spending and travel. Departments must now spend money only on essential needs and delay or cancel anything else. Since then, council members have weighed in, some pushing to grow revenue and others calling for a review of payroll and a “top-heavy” workforce. Johnson said he hoped Tolbert’s cost-saving directive will serve as “a wake-up call” for the council to hone in on aggressive measures to rein in spending. He said resistance to cuts makes it difficult to follow through, pointing to the library system in which the council approved branch closures but later resisted implementing them. In his newsletter, Johnson highlighted his budget record, voting against three budgets, calling to “defund the bureaucracy” and issuing a tax-cut challenge last year. He again urged council members to identify programs to cut alongside those they want to preserve. Protecting their own projects makes “meaningful spending restraint…impossible,” he said. Johnson is one vote on the council and does not control the budget, which is crafted by the city manager and approved by a majority of council members, including the mayor. The city is scheduled to meet this week for its first public discussion on next year’s budget.

Austin train derailment prompts renewed push to relocate freight rail

A freight train derailment in downtown Austin last month is prompting Travis County Judge Andy Brown to renew calls to move a major rail line out of the city’s urban core — a long-debated idea that has yet to gain traction. Seven Union Pacific cars derailed early on April 23 as a 230-car train rounded a sharp curve near West Third and Bowie streets in the Seaholm District. No one was injured, but the incident snarled traffic for hours and delayed school bus routes in West Austin as crews worked to clear the scene.

click here for more

The train was transporting “mixed commodities” rather than hazardous chemicals, but Brown — a longtime passenger rail advocate who oversees emergency management in his role as county judge — said the cars could just as easily have been carrying something far more dangerous, like chlorine. “Chlorine can cause a cloud of chlorine gas, and that would be a horrible thing,” Brown said. “Just the fact that you’re potentially carrying hazardous chemicals right through this huge metro area with condos literally feet away from where this curve was is not great.” Brown has pushed for expanded passenger rail in Central Texas for years, including a proposed line between Austin and San Antonio. In October, the Travis County Commissioners Court — which Brown presides over — commissioned a feasibility study of a new passenger rail line between the two cities. The study examines the cost and technical feasibility of building the line within existing highway rights-of-way. The results have not yet been released.

Proposed Fort Bliss data center could use more power than all of El Paso

The U.S. Army is proposing developing a gargantuan, 3-gigawatt data center complex on Fort Bliss property that within a few years would consume more electricity than all of El Paso Electric’s 460,000 customers combined – even as questions about its development, water usage and air pollution remain unanswered. If built, it would be the third major data center project in the El Paso region, along with Meta Platform’s $10 billion facility in Northeast and the $165 billion Project Jupiter campus that Oracle and OpenAI are building in Santa Teresa, New Mexico. The combined scale and size of the three facilities could quickly transform the Borderland into one of the nation’s core hubs of power generation and AI infrastructure. The publicly-traded investment firm Carlyle Group would pay to build and operate the Fort Bliss data center – one of several planned in a national rollout under President Donald Trump’s administration to rapidly increase artificial intelligence technology for the Department of Defense.

click here for more

At Fort Bliss, the Army is “targeting an initial operating capacity of about 100 megawatts on the compute side” by next year, David Fitzgerald, deputy undersecretary of the Army, said during a meeting with reporters April 22. An official estimated cost for the project has yet to be released. By 2029, the complex on military land in far East El Paso would require 3 gigawatts of electricity, Fitzgerald said. By comparison, El Paso Electric currently maintains about 2.9 gigawatts of generation capacity across its entire system that spans from Hatch, New Mexico, to Van Horn, Texas. The highest customer demand the power company has ever seen was just over 2.3 gigawatts during the summer of 2023. And whether most El Pasoans are on board with the rapid buildout of another data center here is not a question that Army leadership is asking at this point. “What we’re trying to do is find where are the common interests, common ground that we can solve for?” Fitzgerald said, referring to coordinating with El Paso city leaders on the data center project. “The state of modern warfare and future warfare is largely going to depend on the ability to capture, process and utilize massive amounts of data,” he said. “So, the reality is, this is a strategic priority, not just for the Army, but for the entire Department of War. So, we need these capabilities, and we need to put them somewhere.”

As the state targets cities over ICE policies, Austin considers next steps

In some ways, Texas has provided a crystal ball for the rest of the country when it comes to immigration policy. Before the Trump administration poured billions into immigration enforcement and built partnerships between local police and state and federal immigration agents, Texas was already doing it. So, for those opposed to the deportation surge, Texas is worth paying attention to. That was one of the takeaways from a panel Saturday at the KUT Festival. “Here in Texas, we have kind of a four- to five-year head start when it comes to the rest of the country,” said Kristin Etter, the director of policy and legal services at the Texas Immigration Law Council. “We have operated a program called Operation Lone Star that has used state resources. So we have a model here in Texas for this police/ICE collaboration."

click here for more

Another takeaway from the panel: In a state where much of the voting public and all state political leaders support aggressive immigration enforcement, opposition becomes local. In liberal Austin, local leaders have tried to craft policies that would limit police partnering with ICE, but the governor took notice and the Austin Police Department had to soften one policy under threat of funding cuts. City Council Member Zo Qadri said Austin still has tools at its disposal “to make sure that folks are protected and are safe.” City Council Member José Velásquez pointed to millions in city funding for local immigration advocacy groups and the council’s support for Austin’s “safe to call” initiative as examples. That policy orders the city management to find ways people might call 911 without inadvertently opening themselves up to ICE detention. But regardless of those efforts, immigrant advocate Carmen Zuvieta said anyone who at risk of being targeted by immigration enforcement should think twice before interacting with the police. “In Texas, all the police are immigration,” she said. “So when you see one police stop one person, don't assume it's a ticket.” Kristin Etter concurred. Though, she said, some current state law may ultimately be struck down. “We believe that the Constitution is supreme,” Etter said. “Constitutional rights cannot be taken away from state laws.”

Texas leads nation in utility shutoffs as electric bills rise, federal report finds

Texas had more residential electricity shutoffs than any other state in 2024, according to a new federal report that offers one of the clearest national pictures yet of how often households are left in the dark because they cannot pay their bills. The U.S. Energy Information Administration found that utilities disconnected residential electricity service 13.4 million times nationwide in 2024. Texas accounted for more than 3 million of those disconnections, the highest total in the country. The report also found Texas had 206,372 residential natural gas disconnections, again the largest state total. Margo Weisz, executive director of the Texas Energy Poverty Research Institute, said the numbers show that Texas is an outlier. She said Texas residents make up about 9% of the nation’s electricity customers but accounted for 22.5% of all electricity disconnections.

click here for more

“So we’re seeing a real challenge specifically in Texas where we purport to have very low electricity bills,” Weisz told Texas Public Radio. Weisz said the problem is especially acute for low- and moderate-income Texans. TEPRI survey data found that half of those households report struggling every month to pay energy bills. Many cut back on basic needs, including food, medicine or school supplies, to keep the lights on. The pressure is rising as electricity bills climb. A TEPRI affordability outlook found residential electricity prices in the ERCOT competitive retail market rose by roughly 30% between 2021 and 2025, adding about $35 to $40 a month to a typical low- or moderate-income household’s bill. The group projects another 29% increase from 2025 to 2030, driven largely by transmission and distribution investments. Those investments are tied in part to Texas’ rapid growth, extreme weather demands, grid hardening after the 2021 winter blackout, and new large electricity users, including data centers, crypto mining and industrial operations.

National Stories

European leaders see Trump’s troop drawdown from Germany as new proof they must go it alone

European leaders on Monday said that U.S. President Donald Trump’s snap decision to pull thousands of U.S. troops out of Germany came as a surprise but is a fresh sign that Europe must take care of its own security. The Pentagon announced last week that it would pull some 5,000 troops out of Germany, but Trump told reporters on Saturday that “we’re going to cut way down. And we’re cutting a lot further than 5,000.” He offered no reason for the move, which blindsided NATO, but his decision came amid an escalating dispute with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz over the U.S-Israeli war on Iran, and Trump’s anger that European allies have been reluctant to get involved in the conflict in the Middle East.

click here for more

Asked about the decision to pull out 5,000 troops from Germany, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre said: “I wouldn’t exaggerate that because I think we are expecting that Europe is taking more charge of its own security. “I do not see those figures as dramatic, but I think they should be handled in a harmonious way inside the framework of NATO,” he told reporters in Yerevan, Armenia, where European leaders are holding a summit. The European Union’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, said “there has been a talk about withdrawal of U.S. troops for a long time from Europe. But of course, the timing of this announcement comes as a surprise.” “I think it shows that we have to really strengthen the European pillar in NATO,” she said. Asked whether she believes that Trump is trying to punish Merz, who said that the U.S. has been humiliated by Iran in talks to end the war, Kallas said: “I don’t see into the head of President Trump, so he has to explain it himself.”

Former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani hospitalized in critical condition, spokesman says

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani is hospitalized in critical condition, his spokesman said on Sunday. Spokesman Ted Goodman didn't say what sent the 81-year-old to the hospital or how long he's been there. "Mayor Giuliani is a fighter who has faced every challenge in his life with unwavering strength, and he's fighting with that same level of strength as we speak. We do ask that you join us in prayer for America's Mayor-Rudy Giuliani," Goodman said. Giuliani hosted his online show, "America's Mayor Live," Friday night from Palm Beach, Florida. As he opened the show, he coughed and his voice sounded more raspy than usual. He remarked: "My voice is a little under the weather, so I won't be able to speak as loudly as I usually do, but I'll get closer to the microphone."

click here for more

‘This is the new Ohio’: Why everyone’s watching the Nevada governor’s race

Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo is trying to run a reelection campaign befitting the neon-drenched, sagebrush-pocked desert he has for five decades called home. President Donald Trump is making that hard. The Republican governor started the year with a sevenfold fundraising advantage, double-digit net favorability ratings and the tailwinds of a swing state the GOP presidential candidate carried for the first time in two decades. Five months later, he finds himself in a neck-and-neck race with Democrat Aaron Ford, the state’s attorney general, yoked to a highly unpopular president, a wobbling economy and a Middle Eastern war that has sent gas prices in the state soaring from $3.50 to $5 a gallon, among the highest in the nation.

click here for more

“Yes, I am concerned,” the governor told POLITICO in a recent sit-down interview at Starbucks in Las Vegas. “Not only because of my re-elect but because of Nevada, right? What’s the proverbial line — all politics are local? It’s no longer that way. What’s happening worldwide, nationally, either we embrace it or we don’t.” Lombardo’s race, while reflective of the idiosyncrasies of Nevada’s economy and politics, offers one of the earliest and most instructive tests of whether Republicans in battleground states can separate themselves from Trump’s political fortunes without alienating his coalition — a question with implications not just for 2026 but for the party’s path in 2028. And the gravitational pull of Washington politics looms large over the race: Nevada Democrats are all too keen to blame any discouraging headline on the “Lombardo-Trump economy.” Stung by tariffs that have chilled travel from Canada and Mexico and an immigration crackdown that has made international visitors wary of coming to the United States, Las Vegas saw 7.5 percent fewer guests last year — the worst non-pandemic decline since the city started tracking in 1970 — a heavy blow to a state economy still so reliant on tourism. Nevada’s unemployment rate remains among the highest in the nation, and the hospitality workers who form the backbone of the Las Vegas economy are seeing reduced hours, smaller tips and layoffs.

He nearly joined Trump’s administration. Now he’s running for Congress as a Democrat.

George Conway has heard all the names Donald Trump called him during the president’s political rise, fall and comeback over the past decade. “Deranged loser.” “Whack job.” “Husband from hell.” (This in reference to Conway’s long marriage to Trump first-term adviser Kellyanne Conway.) “Stone-cold loser.” (Conway’s favorite.) “Moon face.” “That was the racist one,” Conway said with a half-smile during a recent two-mile walk with his corgi, Clyde, on Manhattan’s East Side. Arguably the country’s preeminent critic of the 45th and 47th president, Conway has a name of his own for Trump: “the lowest form of life on Earth.”

click here for more

In the greatest hits of their forever feud, Conway is quick to recall his most cherished interaction with his favorite foe: When Trump learned that Conway was getting divorced from Kellyanne in 2023, he posted on Truth Social: “Free at last, she has finally gotten rid of the disgusting albatross around her neck.” In response, Conway, who revels in trolling Trump, reminded him of the sexual abuse and defamation allegations made by writer E. Jean Carroll and how Conway, who encouraged Carroll to take legal action, couldn’t wait to see him in court: “Hugs and kisses ????.” (Carroll was awarded more than $88 million in damages in these cases, but the rulings remain under appeal, and Trump has denied wrongdoing.) “I will tell you this,” Conway said, “I want a picture of the judgment in the E. Jean Carroll case on my gravestone.” At 62, George Conway has been a recurring character in the Washington soap opera spanning the Trump era of American politics. His well-documented arc is the stuff of an HBO series: Conway was once celebrated by conservatives as the operative who brought Bill Clinton’s affairs to light, and one of the most successful civil litigators in the country, living the good life as a behind-the-scenes power player with his wife and four children. In 2017, Trump was ready to tap him to become one of the administration’s top lawyers — either as solicitor general or as head of the Justice Department’s civil division. But Conway took himself out of consideration — and then guaranteed he would never get such an offer again a year later when he called the Trump administration “a s---show in a dumpster fire.”

At least 12 hospitalized as gunfire rings out at Oklahoma campground party

At least 12 people were hospitalized after gunfire broke out during a party at a campground in Oklahoma on Sunday night, local officials said. The shooting at Arcadia Lake in Edmond happened just after 9 p.m., the Edmond Police Department said on X. The extent of the injuries and their exact nature were not immediately clear. "Edmond Police, along with Oklahoma City Police and the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, responded to the scene and located numerous victims. Emergency personnel transported 10 victims to various metro-area hospitals," police said.

click here for more

No one was in custody as of early Monday, and it was unclear what preceded the gunfire. As of early Monday, nine shooting victims were being treated at the Integris Health Baptist Medical Center in Oklahoma City while three were being treated at victims at Integris Health Edmond Hospital, a spokesperson for the hospitals told NBC News. "These are all victims of the shooting in Edmond this evening. No other patients that Integris is aware of at their hospitals involved in the shooting," the spokesperson said. The campground is about 20 miles north of Oklahoma City. The lake, popular for watersports, was created in 1987 in a joint operation between the City of Edmond and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Alabama and Tennessee seek new congressional districts

Republican governors in Alabama and Tennessee have summoned lawmakers into special sessions this week seeking new congressional districts after the U.S. Supreme Court weakened a key provision of the Voting Rights Act. Republican Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey has called legislators back to Montgomery starting Monday to approve contingency plans for special primary elections in hopes that the Supreme Court will allow the state to switch congressional maps ahead of the November midterms. It’s a move that Republicans legislative leaders said would “give our state a fighting chance to send seven Republican members to Congress.” The seven-member delegation currently has two Democrats. In Tennessee, Republican Gov. Bill Lee also announced a special session starting Tuesday for the GOP-controlled Legislature to break up the state’s one Democratic-held House district, centered on the majority-Black city of Memphis.

click here for more

The Supreme Court decision striking down a majority-Black congressional district in Louisiana said the drawing of the district map relied too much on race. The ruling began reverberating through statehouses across the South as Republicans eyed the possibility of getting new lines in place for the 2026 midterm elections, or at least 2028. President Donald Trump encouraged the latest round of redistricting in a post on social media on Sunday, saying his party could gain 20 seats in the House. “We should demand that State Legislatures do what the Supreme Court says must be done,” Trump said. “That is more important than administrative convenience.” Florida approved new districts the day of the Supreme Court ruling, and Louisiana moved quickly to postpone its May 16 congressional primary, drawing lawsuits from Democrats and civil rights groups. The state’s Republican leadership started planning for a redraw that could eliminate one or both of its congressional districts now represented by a Black lawmaker. South Carolina’s governor suggested his state might also reconsider its congressional map. Sen. Raphael Warnock, a Georgia Democrat, described the court decision and the redistricting scramble as an attempt to roll back the Civil Rights Movement.

Inside Spirit Airlines’ failed ‘Hail Mary’ to the Trump administration

Winding down a major US airline is a complicated business. Doing so when the president of the United States hints it could be saved adds another layer of complexity. Wracked with financial trouble, Spirit Airlines had filed for bankruptcy for the second time in August 2025. Months later, the conflict with Iran had driven up fuel prices and made its financial position even more untenable, putting it on the brink of closure. For weeks, Trump administration officials were in talks with the bargain airline on the possibility of a $500 million bailout package. The proposal would effectively give the government control of the overwhelming majority of Spirit’s shares. President Donald Trump publicly suggested that he would be on board “if we can get it at the right price.” “They have some good aircrafts, some good assets, and when the price of oil goes down, we’d sell it for a profit,” he told reporters in the Oval Office last month.

click here for more

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick met with Trump to lay out the options, according to two sources familiar with the meeting, which prompted some internal division among the president’s team. Lutnick, one source familiar with the deliberations told CNN, “was pushing” for a deal, with a second source familiar suggesting that he argued it would be a political win for the administration. But there were reservations about the possibility of a bailout from officials including Duffy, Trump deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett, and members of the White House counsel’s office, a third source familiar with deliberations told CNN. Those included concerns about pumping money into a company with a bad financial record, two of the sources said. The?idea of a bailout for a single airline also sparked backlash from both the airline industry and among Republicans in Congress. Previous bailouts have been in support of all US airlines, not a single carrier or group of airlines. And those rescue packages were in response to a paralyzed industry, like when passengers were afraid to fly in the wake of terrorist attacks or a pandemic, not because of increased costs and losses.

What to know about hantavirus

The virus that is believed to be responsible for the deaths of three people and the illnesses of three others aboard a cruise ship over the weekend is a relatively rare but devastating threat without a vaccine, treatment or cure. Hantaviruses, a family of pathogens, are spread by rodents, mostly mice, and excreted in the animals’ saliva, droppings and urine. On Sunday, the World Health Organization said hantavirus was confirmed in one case on a cruise ship in the Atlantic Ocean and suspected in five others. Three people died, one passenger was in intensive care in South Africa, and two ailing crew members remained on board and were in need of urgent medical care, the cruise line Oceanwide Expeditions said.

click here for more

Last year the virus killed Betsy Arakawa, the wife of Gene Hackman. Arakawa, 65, died from hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, and Hackman, 95, died a week later of hypertensive and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, officials have said. Alzheimer’s disease was a significant contributory factor in Hackman’s death. In New Mexico, where Arakawa and Hackman lived, the most common carrier of hantavirus is the deer mouse, a small creature with a white underbelly, large eyes and oversize ears. “It’s a horrible disease,” said Dr. Jeff Duchin, a retired public health officer in Seattle who helped characterize the first known outbreak of the disease in the U.S. in 1993. “It’s not uniformly fatal and it’s not always severe, but the fatality rate is still thought to be up to 40%, which is really high.”

Copyright May 04, 2026, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved