THE SHOW NOTES: Attacking Israel, Pro-Choice Kari Lake, & Investigating The New York Times

Welcome! A 92-year-old Augusta woman won’t sell her home to The Masters.

OUTRAGE: A Memphis teen shot three police officers this morning after being released weeks ago without bond for stealing guns and cars.

HEADLINE: UC Berkeley condemns student antisemitic threats, school says it can’t disclose if it’s disciplining offenders - JI

NEW: Modified surveillance bill clears key House hurdle after failing earlier this week - CNN

PENCE: Mike Pence is teaching a college course at Grove City College.

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Attacking Israel

The Israeli government is preparing for an unprecedented direct attack from Iran within the next 48 hours in a move that could send the entire region into conflict.

Details: Two undisclosed US officials told CBS that intelligence points to an Iranian attack utilizing hundreds of armed drones and missiles that would overwhelm Israeli defenses.

Context: The leak suggests that Iran is planning to make good on its threats to respond to Israel’s airstrike on an Iranian embassy in Damascus that resulted in the death of the most senior Iranian general since Qasem Soleimani. Just this morning, “hostile aircraft intrusion alerts” were sounded in Northern Israel with little additional information available.

Impact: The Biden administration is worried about the regional conflict’s impact on domestic gas prices in an election year. Already gas prices have jumped $0.24 within the past month before the heavy-summer driving season begins. Brent Crude oil is up $21 per barrel from the beginning of the year which has spurred discussion in the White House about potentially making additional releases from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve or pressuring the Saudis to increase production ahead of the summer. Notably, Biden’s last attempt to push Saudi Arabia’s Mohammed Bin Salman to increase oil production did not go well.

Is Kari Lake Pro-Choice Now?

New York Times Bosses Seek to Quash Rebellion in the Newsroom

The New York Times is investigating itself.

Over the past several weeks, Charlotte Behrendt, a top Times editor in charge of probing workplace issues in the newsroom, has summoned close to 20 employees for interviews to determine whether staffers leaked confidential information related to Gaza war coverage to another media outlet.

It is the latest internal crisis at the Times, where management has been at odds with factions of the newsroom over union negotiations and coverage of sensitive topics like the transgender community and social justice. 

Reporting about the Gaza war has been a particular flashpoint, especially over an in-depth article that found Hamas weaponized sexual violence in the Oct. 7 attacks on Israel. Some staffers questioned the reporting behind it and alleged that the suffering of Gazans isn’t getting the same attention. Times leaders in March said they stand by the reporting.

The internal probe was meant to find out who leaked information related to a planned podcast episode about that article. But its intensity and scope suggests the Times’s leadership, after years of fights with its workforce over a variety of issues involving journalistic integrity, is sending a signal: Enough.

Full story at The Wall Street Journal (paywall)

Trending news:

• Donald Trump no longer plans to repeal Obamacare. - Twitter

• Biden to forgive $7.4 billion more in student loan debt for 277,000 borrowers - CNN

• Auto insurance premiums are skyrocketing. What's to blame? - Fox Business

• Trump Threatens Reaction to Pending ‘SHAM Trial’ in Fundraising Email: ’72 Hours Until All Hell Breaks Loose!’ - Mediaite

• Ukraine digs defenses, fears it could lose war without U.S. aid as Russia steps up attacks - NBC

• Iran’s Deadly Message to Journalists Abroad - The Atlantic

• Gold surges to fresh record above $2,400 an ounce - Marketwatch

• Drug shortages reach all-time high - Axios

• Fast rise in AI nudes of teens has unprepared schools, legal system scrambling for solutions - Arcamax

• A narco revolt takes a once-peaceful nation to the brink - The Washington Post

• Mortgage Rates Near 7% Again - WSJ (paywall)

Market snapshot: