National

We are getting closer to June 1, the date Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warns the U.S. will run out of money to pay its bills. And there’s still no clear resolution in sight. What does the risk of a default mean for the U.S. government’s credit rating...and reputation?

Plus, how working mothers in the U.S. defied expectations.

And, the not-so-sweet news about artificial sweeteners.

Guests: Axios' Matt Phillips and Carly Mallenbaum.

Credits: Axios Today is produced by Emily Peck, Alexandra Botti, Fonda Mwangi, Robin Linn and Alex Sugiura. Music is composed by Evan Viola. You can reach us at podcasts@axios.com. You can text questions, comments and story ideas to Niala as a text or voice memo to 202-918-4893.

What the credit rating agencies are saying about the U.S.

Sorry, stevia: Artificial sweeteners get more bad PR

Return of working moms defies pandemic expectations

EMILY PECK: Good morning! Welcome to Axios Today! It’s Friday, May 26th. I’m Emily Peck in for Niala Boodhoo. Here’s what you need to know today: How working mothers in the U.S. defied expectations. Plus, the not-so-sweet news about artificial sweeteners. But first, if the U.S. defaults on its debts, what happens to its reputation? That’s today’s One Big Thing.

What a debt default could mean for the country' credit rating...and reputation

EMILY: You may be tired of hearing about it, but we are edging ever closer to June 1st. That's the so-called “X-date” when Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warns that the U.S. will run out of money to pay its bills and there's still no clear resolution in sight. Yet, as my Axios Markets co-author Matt Phillips has been reporting, markets still don't seem that worried. But what does the risk of a default mean for the U.S. government's reputation? Matt is here with the big picture. Hey Matt.

EMILY: So Matt, it feels like the debt ceiling hype is pretty intense right now. Lots of doomsday warnings are circulating. Should we be worried?

MATT: Well, maybe? But the markets don't seem that worried. Stocks are kind of puttering along, like we're still up about 7% for the year and there are some little idiosyncratic weirdnesses in the bond market like, for instance, people are avoiding some of the treasury bills that look like they could be a problem. But besides that, it's not like the financial markets are in any kind of freak out mode at all.

EMILY: I've been hearing that the credit rating agencies, they're may be worried. What's happening there?

MATT: For those that don’t follow that this closely, there's these companies, their whole job is to take a look at borrowers, whether they're like corporate borrowers or even like entire countries, and say like, you are good at paying back your debts, you know, you're not so good, and they give you a rating, kind of like your personal credit rating. So anyway, these companies – and there's three big ones – Fitch, S&P and Moody's. Fitch came out on Wednesday and basically threatened to take away the AAA gold standard style rating we have right now. If the debt ceiling doesn't get resolved in a somewhat orderly manner before we hit this X date.

So, yeah, they're saying it's not gonna be good for our reputation. We had a similar debt ceiling fight between Republicans that held the House under then Speaker John Boehner and the White House, the Obama administration, ah the summer of 2011. It went down to the wire and we got a deal. But even after we got a deal, S&P came out and said, well, this is no way to run a country, and like basically took away our AAA credit rating.

EMILY: Okay. So Matt, even if the credit rating agencies don't downgrade the U.S. and we come to a deal, crisis averted, surely incidents like this can't be good for the country's reputation, right?

MATT: Yeah, I think that's true. Like the U.S. has benefited because we have been seen for decades as the safest possible entity to which you could loan money, basically, and be assured that the U.S. government is gonna pay you back principle and interest on time. And this definitely has changed that, you know, in very specific circumstances like you can see it in some of the prices for the short term treasury bills. The question is, like, there's no other entity that will fulfill that role in the world, like there’s nowhere else. So, while our reputation might take something of a hit, you know, it's still tough to find something better.

EMILY: June 1st is fast approaching. There might not be a resolution. The U.S. might, I guess, run out of money. What are you going to be watching for?

MATT: What everyone will be watching, you know, both on and off Wall Street, is the Treasury General account. It's a public number. It's the U.S. Government's Bank account number, and you can see where it is every day. If it gets below $30 billion, that's putting us kind of uncomfortably close to where we might not have enough cash in there to pay obligations that come up. So that's kind of the number everybody's gonna be watching, but nobody knows exactly how fast the money will go.

EMILY: Matt Phillips is a markets correspondent for Axios, and he co-writes the Axios Market's newsletter with me. Thanks, Matt.

EMILY: In a moment, the return of working moms defies pandemic expectations.

How working mothers in the U.S. defied expectations

EMILY: Welcome back to Axios Today. I'm Emily Peck. The pandemic was supposed to be doomsday for women, especially working mothers. Dire headlines predicted they'd flee the workforce and never return, or really struggle to come back. And, as it turns out, that's not what happened, as I reported for Axios this week. 

The number of working mothers in the labor force is at a level last seen in 2019 – a peak back when women's employment was surging. How'd that happen? Well, first, there was a strong labor market and that meant employers were really eager to hire people. Second, a lot of women never had to leave the workforce because of remote work. It was a total game changer for working parents, especially women. If you'll notice, most, if not all, of the CEOs who are now arguing for people to come back to the office are older men who don't really have to worry about juggling work and family at all.

So, though not everyone can take advantage of remote work, experts argue that this shift, the shift to working from home is a much needed feminist update to old-fashioned conceptions about how office work is organized.

All in all, in markets land, we'd call what happened with women over the past few years a “surprise to the upside.”

We'll link to more of my reporting on this in the show notes.

The not-so-sweet news about artificial sweeteners

EMILY: There's new guidance on artificial sweeteners from the World Health Organization. So before you choose between Stevia, Splenda, sugar, we wanted to check in with Axios Lifestyle reporter Carly Mallenbaum. Hey, Carly.

CARLY MALLENBAUM: Hey Emily, how's it going?

EMILY: I think a lot of people assume sugar substitutes are at least a better choice than sugar. How popular are they?

CARLY: They're really popular. I mean, we see Nielsen data that's tracked that people buy more sugar substitutes now than they do some caloric sweeteners these days, or at least in the last 10 years. And the mindset tends to be what you're saying, oh, it's not real sugar, it's artificial, it doesn't really count, or that's fine to have more of that, and that's when it becomes a problem.

EMILY:  The WHO did a review of studies about sugar substitutes, right? And now they have some new recommendations. What are they?

CARLY: Their new recommendation is don't just have a lot of sugar substitutes and think it's fine to replace sugar with that. In fact, if you're someone who's looking to Stevia or Sweet’N Low or sweeteners like that because you think it's a good way to lose weight, they're like, please don't do that. In fact, they say try not to have sweeteners in your diet altogether. Try to lessen that overall. But I realize in practice that's not always the most helpful advice.

EMILY: Are these recommendations ok for everyone? Aren't there certain cohorts that it's okay or even recommended to use sugar substitutes?

CARLY: The World Health Organization said these recommendations are for everyone, except they weren't talking to people who already have diabetes.

EMILY:  So artificial sweeteners and sugar substitutes aren't gonna help you lose weight, and I think WHO has found they're also not good for your health. Why is that?

CARLY: Well, at least they're just saying we are concerned about long-term risks. We have all these studies. We've found that it could increase your risk of heart disease. We've found that it could change the makeup of your gut microbiome in a way that hurts your metabolic health. Hopefully that will help people who were just thinking, like, I'm healthy, I'm having stevia. They'll make them pause and think, okay, it's not just about the number of calories I'm taking. This could have some other implications on my health.

EMILY:  That's Axios’ Carly Mallenbaum. Thanks. Carly.

EMILY:  Since we’re already talkin’ food, here’s one more fun thing before we go…you know those giant soda dispensers you see at the movies or fast food places, the ones that let you mix and match flavors? Well, Heinz just unveiled something similar, but for ketchup.

It’s a new digital sauce dispensing machine capable of serving over 200 variations of ketchup. Flavors include mango or chipotle, or Heinz inventions like Kranch (that’s ketchup/ranch) or Tarchup (ketchup tartar sauce)…I’m not making those up. They won’t be available for this year’s Memorial Day BBQ’s, but you may get to see them by the end of the year. And, until then, you can mix up your own sauces – if that’s your thing.

EMILY:  That’s all for this week. Axios Today is produced by Fonda Mwangi, Lydia McMullen-Laird and Robin Linn. Our senior sound engineer is Alex Sugiura [[soo-gee-ARE-uh]]. Alexandra Botti is our supervising producer. Aja Whitaker-Moore is Axios’ executive editor, and Sara Kehaulani Goo is Axios’ editor in chief. 

And I’m Emily Peck. We’re off Monday for Memorial Day, but we’re back with you Tuesday…so stay safe, enjoy your ketchup, and enjoy your holiday weekend.

What debt default would mean for the nation's credit rating

Debt ceiling

Two coffee mugs and the Axios Today logo.

Axios Today

Podcasts

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis launched his 2024 presidential campaign via Twitter Spaces on Wednesday evening. Elon Musk's event was plagued by technical glitches and delays.

Plus, how a government app is affecting the war in Ukraine.

Remembering George Floyd on the 3rd anniversary of his murder.

And, the world says goodbye to Tina Turner.

Guests: Axios' Alex Thompson and Dave Lawler, journalist Robert Samuels.

Credits: Axios Today is produced by Emily Peck, Alexandra Botti, Fonda Mwangi, Lydia McMullen-Laird, Robin Linn and Alex Sugiura. Music is composed by Evan Viola. You can reach us at podcasts@axios.com. You can text questions, comments and story ideas to Niala as a text or voice memo to 202-918-4893.

Ron DeSantis declares 2024 candidacy in glitchy Twitter Spaces event

Trump campaign ad takes aim at DeSantis after governor enters 2024 race

His Name is George Floyd co-author Robert Samuels

Tina Turner, Magnetic Singer of Explosive Power, Is Dead at 83

EMILY PECK: Good morning! Welcome to Axios Today!  It’s Thursday, May 25th. I’m Emily Peck in for Niala Boodhoo.  Today: how a government app is affecting the war in Ukraine. Plus, the world says goodbye to Tina Turner. But first, a bumpy campaign launch for Ron DeSantis – that’s today’s One Big Thing.

ELON MUSK: I think we've got just a massive number of people online. So it's, um, servers restraining somewhat.

EMILY: That was Elon Musk on Twitter last night launching or trying to launch Florida Governor Ron DeSantis presidential campaign. The much ballyhooed event was delayed by technical glitches. DeSantis joins former President Donald Trump and five other candidates so far in the race for the Republican nomination.

Axios’ Alex Thompson is here with the big picture. Hey Alex.

ALEX THOMPSON: Hey, thanks so much for having me.

EMILY: So Alex, that was all kind of a big mess. almost comical. Still, at some point, over half a million people were waiting. Why did DeSantis do it this way?

ALEX: Well, I was among the half a million. And I think, Ron DeSantis, you know, in some ways who, who is the most formidable challenger to Donald Trump, he wanted to start with a big media splash. That got a lot of attention. Now, unfortunately, for him, it ended up being a lot of negative attention because he trusted that Elon Musk and Twitter and their technology would not crash and would not glitch. And for the first 20 to 30 minutes, they essentially couldn't, and they had to end and restart a new one with actually a much smaller audience. So the fact that the first campaign event of Ron DeSantis’ presidential campaign was a logistical mess, was not exactly an auspicious start.

EMILY: This rollout was very intentionally in the friendliest media outlets he could find. Is that typical?

ALEX: Yeah me and a colleague have, have taken to calling it the safe space rollout? And you know, a lot of principles, a lot of campaigns increasingly will only give access to the candidate, if they feel that the outlet is ideologically sympathetic. And DeSantis is just taking this to a, a new degree where, you know, it was Twitter with Elon Musk and conservative influencers, Fox News primetime, And DeSantis is continuing this safe space strategy by focusing on conservative media. Today, he's also sitting down for interviews with Erik Erickson and Dana Loesch who are also well-known conservative radio personalities. 

EMILY: It's still early in the race, DeSantis is going to be competing for attention mostly, I think, with former President Trump. What's the biggest challenge there?

ALEX: The biggest challenge that Ron DeSantis has is that he is trying to dry contrast with Trump while also not alienating the people that like Trump and also keep the “Never Trump” people. So I think that's his biggest challenge and it's sort of this gymnastics routine that no one in the Republican party has been able to figure out.

EMILY: What's your biggest takeaway from last night?

ALEX: First of all, anyone that can tell you how voters in Iowa and New Hampshire are going to vote in nine months is not telling you the truth or they're from the future. Let's put that to the side. I think a lot of people that want an alternative to Trump and put a lot of their hope in Ron DeSantis, a lot of GOP primary voters, they had seen his declining poll numbers the last few months, and they were hoping that this would be the beginning of the turnaround. And instead, I think some of their confidence has been shaken even further, rather than feeling that this is the beginning of a movement. But there is still plenty of time for a rebound.

EMILY: Alex Thompson is Axios’ national political correspondent. Thanks, Alex.

EMILY: Today marks three years since the murder of George Floyd by a former Minneapolis police officer. The killing shocked the world and ignited the Black Lives Matter movement. On last year's anniversary, Niala Boodhoo spoke with Washington Post reporter Robert Samuels about his book His Name is George Floyd, which he co-wrote with his Post colleague Tolu Olurunnipa. The book won a Pulitzer Prize for nonfiction this year. Here's Robert Samuels speaking to Niala in 2022.

ROBERT SAMUELS: I think everyone has a person like George Floyd in their life, who they love and and they're beloved by everyone. And everyone who we spoke to talks about how much he said he loved them, that he’d end every conversation with, “I love you, I love you.” And when you hear that, it deepens your understanding of why he said he shouted “I love you” over the last breaths of his life. 

EMILY: We'll put a link to the whole conversation in our show notes. Coming up, Ukrainians report Russian troop movements on a government app.

A Government app in the Ukraine allows citizens to help the war effort

EMILY: Welcome back to Axios Today. I'm Emily Peck in for Niala Boodhoo. There's been some movement this week in the war in Ukraine. Moscow now claims to have full control of Bakhmut, the first city to fall to Russia in 10 months. And at the G-7 Summit over the weekend, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky secured more aid from Western allies, including the promise of more fighter jets. Ukrainians are meanwhile helping the war effort on the ground by reporting Russian troop movement through a government app used by 19 million people.

MYKHAILO FEDOROV: February 24, Russia started the full scale invasion of Ukraine and it kicked off the new era of digital country.

EMILY: That was Mykhailo Fedorov, the Ukrainian Vice Prime Minister for Innovation speaking in D.C. this week. Axios’ senior world reporter Dave Lawler spoke with him about how technology is changing citizens’ engagement with the conflict. Hey Dave.

EMILY: Was this app designed for the war?

DAVE: No. So this was actually a campaign promise of Vladimir Zelensky back in 2019, that he was gonna put the state in a smartphone. That was kind of the tagline, and they started rolling it out in 2020. there's all sorts of services on there. You can apply for a building permit in the app, and you don't have to go wait in line. And also, you're not gonna be asked for a bribe, which has historically been a factor in Ukraine. Uh, and that was part of the pitch, as well, that it was gonna help clean up corruption by digitizing all of these government services. Then we had a pandemic, so they had to adapt to that, and they added some features, you know, related to vaccination, et cetera. And then Russia invaded Ukraine and they had to think about how government services were gonna change. So basically if you fled the country, you could let the government know, and you could actually apply for assistance to get out. If your home was shelled, you could report that to the government, report the damage, and an assessor would come out and you know, give you basically an appraisal of, of how much compensation you might be entitled to as a result of that. And then there's this feature that you mentioned where, you know, if you see a column of Russian armored vehicles in your neck of the woods, you can take a video of that or a picture and you can report it through the app. And I asked Federov, you know okay, people can report it, but then does the military actually act on that? And he said, there is a system where, you know, they can look at these reports, they can try to verify them with satellite imagery, et cetera., and then maybe they will take action, you know, militarily. So it goes from the citizen on the ground, potentially, to military action from the Ukrainian forces.

EMILY: What about data privacy? Is that a concern? 

I did ask him about that. You know, there, there's a sort of biometric feature. You, you identify yourself, uh, like you would when you open a, your smartphone perhaps with, you know, facial recognition, et cetera. Your health data can be stored there. He said that basically, they can't pull up that data without your permission. So, so, you actually have to sign off before the government's able to access that data. He said they can't track your movements around the country. And he also was asked about cybersecurity, right? Russia has a long history of hacking Ukraine, including Ukrainian government websites. What if Russia were able to get into this system? Uh, he said that's a huge priority of theirs, building the security of this system and, and that they've gotten some assistance from the U.S. on that as well to make sure, you know, the infrastructure is, is as hardened as it could possibly be.

EMILY: Dave, does the U.S. have anything similar to this?

DAVE: The U.S. does not have any similar app. There are some privacy concerns there. You know, having all of the citizens’ data be funneled through one app might be tricky in a U.S. context. But also, I don't know if you remember when, uh, Obamacare rolled out online, that was not exactly a smooth process. It does seem to be happening more smoothly, in war-torn Ukraine than it has happened at times when the government tries to do digital, you know, services in the U.S.

EMILY: Dave Lawler is a senior world reporter at Axios. Thanks, Dave.

EMILY: Tina Turner – The Queen of Rock N’ Roll – passed away yesterday at the age of 83. Her career started at age 17 with eventual husband Ike Turner, and her electrifying live performances catapulted them to stardom. But after years of abuse, she left him in 1976 and went on to have a remarkable second act as a solo artist in the 1980s and ‘90s, selling millions of records and winning 6 of her 8 career Grammys. She is one of only three women to have been inducted twice into the rock and roll hall of fame. To put it in her words, she was simply the best.

That’s all we’ve got for you today!  I’m Emily Peck in for Niala Boodhoo - thanks for listening - stay safe and we’ll see you back here tomorrow morning.

A bumpy campaign launch for Ron DeSantis

A bumpy campaign launch for Ron DeSantis.

It's been one year since 19 children and two teachers were killed in a mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. In the lead-up to the anniversary, community members have been seeking mental health help.

Plus, LA's controversial plan to protect bus riders from the heat.

Guests: Axios' Madalyn Mendoza and journalist Sam Bloch.

Credits: Axios Today is produced by Emily Peck, Alexandra Botti, Fonda Mwangi, Lydia McMullen-Laird and Alex Sugiura. Music is composed by Evan Viola. You can reach us at podcasts@axios.com. You can text questions, comments and story ideas to Niala as a text or voice memo to 202-918-4893.

Mental health help on standby for Uvalde a year after shooting

Remembering Uvalde children's joy one year after shooting

Meet “La Sombrita,” the Shade Structure That Only Attracts More Heat

EMILY: Good morning. Welcome to Axios Today.

Today: LA’s controversial plan to protect bus riders from the heat… and the push to bring shade to cities around the country.

But first: a community looks for mental health support…one year after the mass shooting in Uvalde. That’s today’s One Big Thing.

JOE BIDEN: I had hoped when I became president I would not have to do this again. Another massacre, Uvalde, Texas.

EMILY: That was President Biden one year ago today, after 19 children and two teachers were killed in a mass shooting at Rob Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. The deadliest school shooting in the state's history and in the U.S. in a decade. That day changed the lives of so many in the city. The school children who survived, families grieving lost loved ones, and a whole community torn apart. And now all in need of mental health support.

Axios’ Madalyn Mendoza has been covering the mental health of Uvalde families one year later. Hey, Madalyn.

EMILY: Madalyn, you talk to organizations providing mental health support for the people of Uvalde. What are you hearing about their needs at this one year mark?

MADALYN: Yeah, so I spoke to the ecumenical center of San Antonio and the Family Service Association, who are two San Antonio based nonprofits who have been helping in Uvalde since the day the tragedy occurred. And they both have told me that they have seen an increase in people coming in, trickling in as the one year mark approaches. It's been a lot of anxiety.

But also the Family Service Association told me that another concern that they're seeing is a financial stress that comes along with parents having to call out of work to work through the needs of their children or take them into appointments. So there's also this really heavy financial burden that they've been seeing throughout the years. So they're trying to help them through everything from anxiety and stress related to the actual shooting, to now the after effects with finances.

EMILY: Is it mostly families, who've lost loved ones and survivors? Are there other community members really feeling the trauma over the past year?

MADALYN: Yes, so both nonprofits told me that it's really the community at large. So in a town of about 15,000 people roughly, the Ecumenical Center has said they've seen about 2,000 people. And the ages range anywhere from elementary age children to grandparents. And the services are free, so people are really going in and taking advantage of these services. Treatments range for music and art therapy. Also some technologies like Eye Movement Reprocessing, so it's really a range, whether it be counseling, group therapy, activities, whatever their needs are, they can go into this hub of resources there in Uvalde and get that treatment.

EMILY: And how are the mental health professionals dealing with all this? Do they have the resources to help everyone?

MADALYN: So for today, for the one year mark, both nonprofits told me that they either have extra help on hand, or they have more people on standby ready to help because whoever goes in, they wanna make sure that those individuals get the help that they need. You know, some of the sources that I spoke to told me that, because they're there in Uvalde, this is their community, this is where they grew up, that at first, they've gone through the whole grief journey too of denial and acceptance not believing that this could happen in their community. So it was interesting to hear from these mental health experts that they are also needing to lean on each other and find the help that they need to, to get through this really somber one year mark,

EMILY: What do you think is important for people to remember about this tragedy a year later?

MADALYN: I think it’s important to remember that healing isn't linear. That students who may not have known what was going on a year ago are may be now at an age where they do understand the headlines or what's being talked about in school, they may have questions. And one of the mental health experts that I spoke to here in San Antonio made a good point that if a student asks you or your child asks you, or your nephew or niece asks you about the event to kind of evaluate what they already know before sharing too many details that might not be age appropriate. And I think even as adults taking in this information throughout today and remembering it's important to realize that the grief journey comes and flows and giving yourself space and permission to feel those feelings and emotions.

EMILY: Madalyn Mendoza is an Axios San Antonio reporter. Thanks Madalyn.

EMILY: In a moment: Why the debate over shade in cities is more important than ever.

EMILY: Welcome back to Axios Today. I'm Emily Peck in for Niala Boodoo. It's shaping up to be yet another hotter than average summer for most of the US. LA, a city where scorching heat is already the norm, has responded by building new shady structures at bus stops for sunny days, dubbed La Sombrita. But they face tons of blow back. Here to explain why is Sam Bloch, a journalist currently writing a book about shade for Random House. Sam, what is up with these shade structures? Who are they for and what do they look like?

SAM BLOCH: These shade structures are for bus riders in Los Angeles. There are 630,000 plus boardings every day in the LA region. So people get on and off the bus and only about a quarter of the bus stops in the city of LA have any kind of overhead shelter protection from the rain, but mostly the sun. This new structure called La Sombrita has been designed by the Kounkuey Design Initiative who are, um, international designers in response to the needs and desires of female and female-identifying bus riders who were involved in a, let's say, community working group about a year ago. And they said they wanted some shade because they were riding the bus in the middle of the day when it's hot. Some of them maybe are elderly or they have physical disabilities or maybe they suffer from diabetes. Any other conditions that sort of make you more vulnerable to the heat and they don't want to feel like they're going to, you know, get a heat stroke or suffer from heat exhaustion just trying to get around this city. Some of 'em also felt threatened at night. They requested more lighting to feel like they were safer when they were waiting for the bus. So, uh, KDI came up with this kind of design hack called La Sombrita. It's 24 inches wide. It's basically like a metal grate, which is a vertical screen facing the sun to make shade, uh, with a little nightlight on top.

EMILY: It looks like a big fly swatter, I thought.

SAM: Yeah, I was calling it like a perforated popsicle, but I think flies water is good too. It's not your average bus shelter. It's designed to be, um, quickly deployed and installed on some city infrastructure that already exists.

EMILY: That sounds all well and good. It's really hot. These women want shade at the bus stop. But I saw on Twitter earlier this week, a lot of, I'm sorry, but people were throwing shade at the shade structures.

SAM: They were throwing shade at this structure because the city wanted to announce this good work they were doing. You know, they were working with these designers on a broader gender equity plan. And I think there was a huge chasm between the sort of, grandiose rhetoric of solving or addressing uh, systemic issues and then the physically minuscule object itself, which is only 24 inches wide. And again, bolted to a bus pole, like on the side of the road.

EMILY: But I mean, shade, it's, it's a very important and increasingly so important issue. Right?

SAM: Yeah, it's taken on this like, more existential political, ecological importance now that we know that the planet is getting hotter. Cities especially are getting hotter, they suffer from something called the urban heat island effect. So the way cities are made, like all those asphalt roads, all those buildings, the lack of vegetation that has been paved over, cars spewing the heat, all that makes cities hotter. They're actually warming faster than the rest of the planet is sort of in a general way. So, over the past, I would say 10, 20 years as climate change has become a political issue, the mayors in Los Angeles, they've all tried to respond to this, you know, growing concern and need for some protection from the sun and some cooling.

EMILY: So, what's next for these shade structures? Are we gonna see more?

SAM: Well there are four shade structures right now in four different neighborhoods that have, uh, high rates of transit ridership. Uh, the designers are going to, uh, study these structures. They're gonna talk to bus riders and see what they think about them. And they've told me that, depending on the feedback they receive, they, they might try to make a new design.

EMILY: Last week there was new research showing we're likely to surpass 1.5 degrees of warming in the next five years. What role will shade play going forward as temperatures increase?

SAM: In cities like on the East coast, naturally forested environments, you're gonna be seeing a, you know, a big push for tree planting. In fact, President Biden, I think released 1.5 billion in federal funding for tree planting, but then I think in some of the arid, drier cities, like LA, like Phoenix, maybe even Las Vegas. You're gonna see urban designers and some city officials trying to experiment with different kinds of shade structures because they just haven't really figured out yet how to get the watering for these trees.

EMILY: Sam Block is a journalist currently writing a book about shade. Thanks Sam.

That’s all we’ve got for you today! You can reach our team at podcasts at axios dot com or reach out to me on twitter – I’m AT Emily R Peck.

I’m Emily Peck in for Niala Boodhoo - thanks for listening - stay safe and we’ll see you back here tomorrow morning.

Mental health support for Uvalde, one year later

Mental health support for Uvalde one year later.

Uvalde, Texas school shooting

The NAACP issued a formal travel advisory for Florida, warning people against going there, alongside the LGBTQ advocacy group, Equality Florida. A number of Pride events across the state have also been canceled.

Plus, Americans are flocking to stable, patriotic brands.

And, a deal to dramatically cut water usage from the Colorado River.

Guests: Axios' Margaret Talev and Sara Fischer; and The Washington Post's Hannah Sampson.

Credits: Axios Today is produced by Niala Boodhoo, Alexandra Botti, Fonda Mwangi, Lydia McMullen-Laird, Robin Linn and Alex Sugiura. Music is composed by Evan Viola. You can reach us at podcasts@axios.com. You can text questions, comments and story ideas to Niala as a text or voice memo to 202-918-4893.

Florida Pride organizers cancel events, warn of "climate of fear"

3 states agree to historic Colorado River water cuts

EU fines Meta $1.3 billion for sending European user data to U.S.

Axios Harris Poll 100: Year of the tarnished titans

NIALA BOODHOO: Good morning! Welcome to Axios Today!  It’s Tuesday, May 23rd. I’m Niala Boodhoo. 

Here’s what we’re covering today: Americans are flocking to stable, patriotic brands, over foreign companies. Plus, a deal to dramatically cut water usage from the Colorado river.

But first: civil rights groups warn travelers about Florida. That’s today’s One Big Thing.

Civil rights groups warn travelers away from Florida

NIALA: The NAACP has issued a formal travel advisory for Florida. Its President, Derrick Johnson, says this is in response to Florida becoming openly hostile towards African Americans, people of color, and LGBTQ+ individuals. The LGBTQ advocacy group Equality Florida issued a similar travel advisory last month, and a number of pride events in Florida cities have also been canceled. Hannah Sampson reports on travel for the Washington Post. She's also one of my former colleagues from the Miami Herald and a native Floridian. Hi Hannah.

NIALA: What does the NAACP advisory specifically warn travelers about here?

HANNAH: They're referencing some of the policies that the state has put into place, things that the Governor Ron DeSantis has championed in his efforts to make Florida what he calls “anti-woke” regarding teaching of black history and the abolition of diversity, equity, and inclusion programs. They're saying, as you mentioned, that this is an openly hostile position toward black people and people of color, and that it's not safe to go to the state, or at least that they should consider this kind of background if they're planning to visit.

NIALA: They're not the only group to issue a travel advisory, the League of United Latin American Citizens, and I mentioned Equality Florida, have also released statements in some cases. This is also around immigration reform?

HANNAH: The Florida Immigrant Coalition flat out called Florida “dangerous” for people who are immigrants or who even appear like they could be immigrants, because of policies and laws in the state that target people who are undocumented. Equality Florida called the state “a serious risk for people who are part of the LGBTQ community.” And that's because of laws and policies passed in Florida around bathroom bills and treatment of trans minors, gender-affirming care. They also mention abortion laws and, in some cases, weapons ownership.

NIALA: And is it about physical safety? Is it fair to say these groups don't believe it's physically safe to go to Florida versus where you should invest your money?

HANNAH: I think it's a whole gamut of taking a stand and not giving your money to a place that has policies that are opposed to your existence, but also not wanting people to come and be harassed, disrespected, or made physically unsafe.

NIALA: Hannah, how has the State of Florida and Governor DeSantis responded to all of these statements?

HANNAH: They have consistently called these kinds of travel advisories political stunts.They also like to point at their record tourism. And it seems like they're very dismissive of it.

NIALA: Disney, of course, is also in an ongoing feud with Governor Ron DeSantis, the latest that the company canceled a $1 billion plan to build a new campus in the state. Do we have a sense of how these travel advisories or this fight with Disney is going to affect the largest industry in Florida economically?

HANNAH: It's important to remember that some of these battles have been going on since last year, and Florida had record tourism last year. They had over 137 million visitors. It was a big increase from the previous year. You know, people wanna go on vacation to a warm place and Florida will always have that going for them, but they definitely risk losing specific groups of people and putting a really bad taste in the mouth of others.

NIALA: Hannah Sampson covers travel for the Washington Post. Thanks Hannah.

A deal to dramatically cut water usage from the Colorado River.

Niala: A few other stories we’re watching today:

Arizona, California and Nevada have reached a deal with the Biden administration to conserve an unprecedented amount of water from the Colorado River Basin in exchange for $1.2 billion in federal funding. The Colorado River is a key source of water in the American west and has been facing dangerous levels of drought. The deal, which the Department of the Interior will now review, is meant to keep the country’s largest reservoirs — Lake Powell and Lake Meade — from dropping to catastrophically low levels over the next three years. 

The European Union has fined Facebook’s parent company Meta a record $1.3 billion dollars for data privacy violations. Meta broke European privacy laws by transferring user data from the EU to the U.S. The conflict represents the long-standing political struggle to reconcile American data laws with European ones — which are more protective of consumer data. 

U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy has issued an official warning about the dangers of social media for kids. And he’s calling for immediate action by policy makers, companies, and parents to create safe limits.

Spending more than three hours on these apps a day doubles the risk of anxiety and depression, says research…and the average for teens in the U.S. today is 3.5 hours a day.

In a moment, the companies Americans trust most…and least.

Americans are flocking to stable, patriotic brands.

NIALA: Welcome back to Axios Today. I'm Niala Boodhoo.

FTX and Tesla took two of the biggest hits in this year's Axios Harris Poll 100, which gauges the reputation of the most visible brands in America. But overall trust in American companies foreign firms soared. Axios’ Sarah Fischer and Margaret Talev are here with what we can learn from the latest rankings.

Sara, catch us up quick. How is this survey done?

SARA FISCHER: Every year Axios teams with Harris Poll, this year we surveyed over 16,000 Americans. The first thing we ask is for them to identify the most visible brands in America. We then ask these survey respondents to rank those brands, we pull the top 100 most visible in terms of a number of attributes. And we come up with one reputation score based off of the cumulative averaging of those different attributes and that score is ranked one through a hundred. So number one, meaning you're the top rated brand amongst Americans this year, in this case it was Patagonia. And number 100, meaning you are ranked the lowest of the 100 most visible brands by Americans we pulled this year, in this case it was the Trump organization.

NIALA: Margaret, what did people say they liked about Patagonia?

MARGARET TALEV: Patagonia is a company ideologically that has a center left appeal. And yet you have many Republicans who like Patagonia as well. What consumers have been saying consistently in this survey is that they like a company that knows what it stands for and isn't just chasing consumers with marketing employees, but that sticks to its message. Patagonia last year made the decision to transfer its ownership. And the structure of this puts all of the profits at Patagonia back into conservation. So it's a combination of consistency, of having a message and sticking with it, but also of ramping up that commitment a notch in the past year.

NIALA: So Sara, why did we see such big drops in the reputation for Tesla and FTX this year.

SARA: Well for Tesla, I definitely think it has to do with its Founder Elon Musk's takeover of Twitter for a few reasons. One, he's had to dump a lot of Tesla's stock. Two, he's been charged by shareholders, a sort of neglect of the company. They've pushed him to bring on a new CEO for Twitter, so that he can focus more of his attention towards Tesla. And then three, you have a bunch of American auto companies who have been started to invest in electric vehicles. And so as a result, I don't think Tesla is this shiny new object there.

And then with FTX, of course, that company, you know, filed for bankruptcy after it was found out that it essentially was running on like a pyramid scheme. The founder of FTX, Sam Bankman Fried, has been indicted, and so the collapse of FTX has just taken down the entire crypto economy with it. 

MARGARET: There's one more trend that we saw which is really interesting. As you know, inflation has totally freaked everybody out. Number of companies that did well this year did well because part of their brand is affordability or they can be used to counter inflation. One of the most popular overall is Costco. 

SARA: I think Americans are flocking towards brands that feel secure, stable, familiar and patriotic. When we first started doing this poll with Harris, you know, six, seven years ago, where Americans were really flocking towards the new shiny unknown things. I think a lot of those types of big idea companies and big tech moguls have let Americans down and as a result, they really are focusing on brands that hit close to the heart in the heartland: John Deere, which is headquartered in Illinois, Kohls, which is headquartered in Wisconsin, USSA, which is based in Texas. These companies are seeing really big reputation gains over companies like Shein, which is a Chinese e-commerce company, or TikTok. And another thing to know is that, these companies tend to have a tie to traditional manufacturing and retail. Consumers are really flocking towards tangible goods, things that they understand.

NIALA: Sarah Fischer is Axios Media reporter. Margaret Talev is the senior contributor for Axios and Director of the Syracuse University Institute for Democracy, Journalism and Citizenship. Thank you both.

NIALA: That’s it for us today!  I’m Niala Boodhoo, thanks for listening, stay safe, and we’ll see you back here tomorrow morning.

If you love diving deep into the stories shaping our lives, you’ll love TED Talks Daily, with a new TED talk every day to help you go beyond the headlines and explore the big ideas shaping our future. This summer, they delve into the ethics of AI, transforming the foster care system, building mental fitness, and more. Make your daily routine a little more curious. Find TED Talks Daily wherever you get your podcasts.

Civil rights groups warn travelers away from Florida.

Florida

The next debt ceiling meeting between President Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy is set for Monday afternoon. But there’s another possible constitutional option that some Democrats are pushing for: using the 14th Amendment.

Plus, passport delays may derail summer travel.

And, a $29 hot dog in Manhattan is the new symbol for food inflation.

Guests: Axios' Hans Nichols, Kelly Tyko and Jennifer Kingson. 

Credits: Axios Today is produced by Niala Boodhoo, Fonda Mwangi and Alex Sugiura. Music is composed by Evan Viola. You can reach us at podcasts@axios.com. You can text questions, comments and story ideas to Niala as a text or voice memo to 202-918-4893.

Biden teases 14th Amendment "authority" on debt ceiling

Passport application delays could derail summer travel

NIALA: Good morning! Welcome to Axios Today! It’s Monday, May 22nd. I’m Niala Boodhoo. Here’s what you need to know today: passport delays may derail summer travel. Plus, a $29 hot dog is the new symbol for food inflation. But first, Biden and McCarthy’s debt ceiling battle. That’s today’s One Big Thing.

Biden and McCarthy’s debt ceiling battle

NIALA: The next debt ceiling meeting between President Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy is set for this afternoon. But, there's another possible option some Democrats are pushing for invoking the Constitution to work around McCarthy and the other Republicans.

PRESIDENT BIDEN: I'm looking at the 14th Amendment as whether or not we have the authority. I think we have the authority. The question is, could it be done and invoked in time.

NIALA: Axios’ Hans Nichols is here with the big picture. Hi Hans.

NIALA: President Biden talked about the 14th Amendment before he left Japan yesterday. He was at a G7 meeting. I thought the 14th Amendment had to do with slavery. What does it have to do with the debt ceiling?

HANS: Paying debts, right? Now it’s, you can get into legal arguments on whether or not it was ever envisioned to be used for paying off debts to foreign countries to paying social security payments. The issue with the 14th Amendment isn't so much that it's unworkable. We don't know if it's workable or not because the courts haven't decided in this instance. The issue is, is that markets will react negatively and they may perceive it as a default, even if you use the 14th Amendment. So the very thing the White House is trying to avoid by having some sort of deal to raise the debt ceiling, you don't avoid that by using the 14th amendment. You actually inject more uncertainty and that's why this whole chatter is so unpopular at the Treasury Department and Janet Yellen basically says as much.

NIALA: So let's talk about why there isn't a deal. First, there's this notion of work requirements around food stamp benefits that some Republicans are pushing for in order to agree to raise the debt ceiling?

HANS: Oh, sure. We can get into the specifics of why there isn't a deal. To me, the bigger issue on why there isn't a deal is ‘cause neither side really accepts or believes that the other side is serious. That's one thing that will be tested today is, are either of the negotiators, and by that I mean President Biden and and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, are they willing to cut a deal? And uncertainty is kind of looming over this entire conversation because the White House certainly doesn't know how far McCarthy's willing to go. And McCarthy doesn't necessarily know how far the president's willing to go. But on the meta question - will both sides buck a significant part of their own party to cut a deal? And we don't know the answer to that question.

NIALA: So if that's the case, what has to be reached in terms of substance and content for an agreement to happen?

HANS: So to listen to Republicans on Sunday, really the big thing is spending and that once you get spending levels and they're saying it has to be lower in 2024 than it was in 2023, everything else will fall into line. There are some real policy differences, the Republicans want to attach some work requirements onto some social security programs, some entitlement programs.

Biden and McCarthy’s debt ceiling battle.

Axios Today

The big picture

All Axios Today episodes

What debt default would mean for the nation's credit rating

A bumpy campaign launch for Ron DeSantis

Mental health support for Uvalde, one year later

Civil rights groups warn travelers away from Florida

Biden and McCarthy’s debt ceiling battle

How AI could affect the loneliness epidemic

The toll of caregiving on mental health

ChatGPT head asks Congress to regulate AI

The unsettled debate over masking in hospitals