Shows on Newsmax, Fox Business and Fox News have begun airing corrections and clarifications to baseless allegations of election fraud involving Smartmatic and Dominion following legal threats by the two voting machine companies.
Why it matters: Defamation lawsuits could prove to be very costly, especially for fledgling networks like Newsmax and OAN that are trying to lure investors to be able to take on Fox News. Unsubstantiated claims about election-rigging have been heavily promoted by President Trump and his allies, including on these networks.
The NBA tips off tomorrow night, making it the first major U.S. sports league to play a second season amidst the pandemic. No bubble this time, but also not many in-person fans.
Axios Re:Cap talks with Milwaukee Bucks co-owner Marc Lasry on the business of basketball, how much he expects to lose this season and that massive new deal for two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo.
The House on Monday released the text of a $900 billion coronavirus relief package and $1.4 trillion government spending bill that Congress expects to pass before the holidays.
The state of play: The House will move quickly to pass the bill on Monday night, with the Senate likely to stay late to vote in the early hours of Tuesday morning. This gives lawmakers and their staff just hours to review a 5,593-page bill — one of the largest rescue packages in U.S. history.
Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) agreed to buy Aerojet Rocketdyne (NYSE: AJRD) for $4.4 billion in cash (including assumed debt).
Why it matters: This reflects how legacy defense companies are racing to keep up with Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos in space, a dynamic that also helped drive Raytheon's merger effort with United Technologies Corp. Plus, this is the exact type of company that will be seeking Space Force bids, maybe getting cool branding logos on the Guardian outfits.
Upstart streaming network fuboTV "should be looking at" forming exclusive partnership deals for live sports offerings, CEO David Gandler tells me.
Why it matters: The company is small but growing fast — its stock price has jumped 340% year to date, including a 19% gain on Thursday and 11% gain on Friday that pushed its fully diluted market cap to more than $5.7 billion, per FactSet — and could pull sports-dedicated streaming companies like DAZN and ESPN+ toward further content siloing.
Republicans began their latest attack on the Fed over the weekend, seeking to rein in the central bank's ability to recreate the slate of lending programs it rolled out in March, when it announced an open-ended commitment to move into corporate bonds and keep credit flowing.
What happened: Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) and a group of Republican senators had proposed curbing the central bank’s lending powers to prevent new programs from being created that provide direct lending to large and medium-sized companies and the purchase of bonds from corporations and municipalities with just approval from the Treasury.
Heading into 2021, the economy is in a state of gross divergence, presenting opposing narratives that are drifting further apart, creating ostensible winners' and losers' brackets.
Why it matters: The pandemic has accelerated shifts in the economic makeup of the U.S. and the world. Those trends are being further cemented.
SoftBank on Monday will file to raise between $500 million and $600 million via an IPO of its first SPAC, Axios has learned from multiple sources.
Look ahead: The investment giant is said to be prepping at least two additional SPACs, which are blank check vehicles that raise money to buy a company and take it public via a reverse merger.
Instacart has asked public health authorities to include its workers as part of the essential workers who'll get COVID-19 vaccines, according to letters it provided to Axios. Uber, Lyft and DoorDash have made similar requests in recent days.
Why it matters: These workers are disproportionately bearing more exposure and risk than many of their customers, who have the luxury of staying home and having their groceries and food delivered.
States are the new battleground in the growing national movement to protect people of color from hairstyle discrimination.
Driving the news: Advocates are taking the fight local as legislation in Congress has stalled, gaining state-by-state workplace and school rights for people who wear Afros, braids, cornrows, dreadlocks and headwraps.
