Axios AM

May 20, 2023
โ๏ธ Good Saturday morning! Erica Pandey is at the helm โ give her a follow: @erica_pandey.
- Smart Brevityโข count: 1,398 words ... 5ยฝ mins. Edited by TuAnh Dam.
1 big thing: Gun violence generation

More than 1,000 incidents involving firearms have shaken America's schools since 2018 โ a dramatic increase over any similar period since at least 1970, according to the K-12 School Shooting Database.
- Why it matters: The stunning rise in gun violence on school property is reshaping the daily lives of America's youngest generation, putting children at the center of a previously unthinkable number of life-or-death moments, Axios' Erin Doherty writes.
What's happening: 273 people were killed or wounded on school grounds from 303 gun-related incidents last year alone โ both record highs, according to the database.
- Guns are the leading cause of death for U.S. children and teens and firearms accounted for nearly 19% of childhood deaths in 2021, according to the CDC.
The daily impacts of gun violence on children extend to the measures schools take to prevent future incidents.
- Nearly all (98%) K-12 public schools reported drilling students on lockdown procedures as of the 2019-2020 school year, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.
2. ๐งฎ Biden-McCarthy's shared math problem
Photo: Drew Angerer/Getty Images
Behind the deep philosophical differences between President Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy lies a simpler issue โ how to get any deal through the House, Axios' Hans Nichols writes.
๐ Zoom in: The White House seized on yesterday's breakdown in debt ceiling talks to argue for its preferred approach to a deal โ a bipartisan bill that will rely on a big chunk of Democratic votes.
- Talks restarted last night after Republicans announced a "pause" earlier in the day.
Some Biden allies argue that working backwards from 218 โ the number of votes needed to pass a bill in the House โ is a way out of the ideological staredown. Start from the center. Build out.
- Deciding what's in a potential deal becomes more of a coalition math problem than an ideological one.
๐ญ Zoom out: Finding a deal in the center is possible, but it carries real risks for both leaders.
- Biden will have angry progressives on his hands and McCarthy could see his speakership in jeopardy.
๐ฎ What we're watching: In a sign of progress, some of McCarthy's initial proposals โ like repealing Biden's signature energy legislation โ aren't being seriously considered.
- Other elements of McCarthy's opening bid, like rescinding $120 billion in IRS funding, haven't been flatly rejected.
3. ๐ค Why you can't find cheap Taylor tickets
Illustration: Shoshana Gordon/Axios
There is no hotter ticket in Boston โ or anywhere โ this weekend than for Taylor Swift's three shows at Gillette Stadium, as part of her first U.S. tour in five years.
- Why it matters: Resale prices on sites like StubHub begin at $1,000 for nosebleed seats, with some closer views topping $8,000 per ticket (plus fees).
Swift herself could have limited the price gouging, but didn't, Axios' Dan Primack writes from Boston.
- For context, the face value prices of Swift tickets (non VIP) ranged from $49 to $499 (plus fees).
๐ผ๏ธ The big picture: Ticketmaster got deserved grief last fall for its glitchy rollout of Swift tickets, including condemnation from Swift and even U.S. Senators at a congressional hearing.
- Swift utilized a Ticketmaster tool called "Verified Fan," which is designed to reduce the number of tickets purchased by brokers.
- The trouble came when demand basically overwhelmed Ticketmaster's systems, although the "Verified Fan" program was still deemed successful in its intent (Ticketmaster estimated that less than 5% of Swift tickets ended up on resale sites).
What Swift didn't also use, however, was a separate Ticketmaster program called Face Value Ticket Exchange. This would have prevented brokers and others from reselling tickets for more than face value (plus fees).
๐ฅ Reality check: One major complication is that six states, including New York and Virginia, have passed laws that effectively outlaw the use of FVTE.
- These states argue that a ticket is property, and thus can be resold without restriction. Eight other states, including Massachusetts, are considering similar legislation.
4. ๐จ Portrait of power

๐ธ World leaders from the G7 โ Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United Statesโ and other invited countries pose for a family photo in Hiroshima today.
Top row, from left to right:
- OECD Secretary-General Mathias Cormann
- IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva
- European Council President Charles Michel
- German Chancellor Olaf Scholz
- India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi
- France's President Emmanuel Macron
- U.S. President Joe Biden
- Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau
- Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese
- European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen,
- Executive Director of the International Energy Agency Fatih Birol.
Bottom row, from left to right:
- President of the World Bank David Malpass
- Secretary-General of the United Nations Antonio Guterres
- Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni
- Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown
- South Korea's Yoon Suk Yeol
- Indonesia's President Joko Widodo
- Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida
- Comoros President Azali Assoumani
- Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula de Silva
- Vietnam's Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh
- Britain's Prime Minister Rishi Sunak
- WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala
โก The latest: Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky also arrived in Japan today to meet with world leaders at the summit.
- U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan said that Biden and Zelensky would have direct engagement at the summit, AP reports.
- Yesterday, Biden announced his support for training Ukrainian pilots on U.S.-made F-16 fighter jets, a precursor to eventually providing those aircraft to Ukraine.
5. ๐ผ Charted: Trending baby names


America's fastest-rising baby name last year was Everleigh, with nearly 25 times the number of babies getting the name in 2022 than in 2021, Axios' Erin Davis writes.
- One inspiration for parents may be Everleigh LaBrant, a 10-year-old YouTuber with more than 3.9 million subscribers.
Alexa saw the biggest drop.
- One possible reason? Amazon's virtual assistant Alexa, which debuted in 2014.
6. ๐ธ Rudy's "murky mess"

Rudy Giuliani, 78 โ once "America's mayor," now tarnished by his discredited arguments that the 2020 election was stolen โ faced legal jeopardy on three fronts this week:
1. During a three-hour hearing in Washington yesterday, Giuliani tried to convince U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell that he made a good-faith effort to produce documents for two Georgia election workers who sued him for defamation, Bloomberg reports.
- Giuliani claims he canโt afford $320,000 to hire professionals to perform searches. The judge called the case "a murky mess."
2. Last Monday, Giuliani was sued by Noelle Dunphy, who claims "abuses of power, wide-ranging sexual assault and harassment" and wage theft after she became his business development director in 2019.
- She says she has audio recordings of "alcohol-drenched rants that included sexist, racist and antisemitic remarks." Giuliani denies it. Go deeper.
3. On Wednesday, Daniel Gill โ who spent a night in jail after smacking Giuliani on the back and calling him a โscumbag" in a Staten Island ShopRite last year โ sued the former mayor and several NYPD officers for false arrest. Go deeper.
7. ๐ Adidas sells off Yeezys

Adidas will start selling its inventory of Yeezy shoes โ worth $1.3 billion โ and donating the profits to anti-racism groups.
- The recipients of the donations will include the Anti-Defamation League and the Philonise & Keeta Floyd Institute for Social Change, run by George Floyd's brother, Reuters notes.
โก Flashback: The sportswear company was left with a stockpile of the popular shoes after it ended its partnership with Yeezy designer and rapper Kanye West, who goes by Ye, last October after he made a string of antisemitic comments in interviews and on social media.
- Adidas stopped making new Yeezys, and this will be the first time it is selling the shoes since the partnership ended.
- For each shoe sale, Ye will be entitled to previously agreed commissions โ 15% of turnover, according to media reports. Adidas has declined to comment on this, Reuters reports.
8. ๐ฅ 1 for the road: Salad-bot

The fast casual spot Sweetgreen is debuting its first automated salad bar in Naperville, Illinois โ 30 miles outside of Chicago.
๐ผ๏ธ The big picture: Sweetgreen has plans to open 1,000 locations around the world by 2030, and this is the first one where customers' salads are prepared by a robot.
- It's faster, more accurate and more precise, Sweetgreen notes.

"Guests can watch the technology at work, from dispensing greens and dressing bowls and plates, to evenly dispersing ingredients and mixing salads."
- Humans are still involved. "Team members add the final touches at the finishing station, with a sprinkle of herbs or a scoop of avocado," the company says.
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