Axios

House Democrats are aghast as Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) conducts a series of lengthy meetings with Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) aimed at defusing her efforts to oust him.

Why it matters: Democrats have already vowed to protect Johnson from Greene's motion – leading many of them to ask why he's still trying to appease her.

House Republicans are preparing legislation to sanction International Criminal Court officials as a "precaution" against potential arrest warrants of Israeli officials, Axios has learned.

Why it matters: Pro-Israel members of Congress in both parties have warned repeatedly that the ICC risks consequences from the U.S. if it moves forward with the warrants.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation is a workplace rife with sexual harassment and discrimination, an independent investigation alleged on Tuesday.

Why it matters: The damning report looks terrible for FDIC leadership, particularly chair Martin Gruenberg, who is a President Biden nominee.

Judge Aileen Cannon on Tuesday indefinitely postponed former President Trump's classified documents trial date in Florida, citing a number of outstanding pre-trial motions.

Why it matters: The ruling makes it unlikely that the classified documents trial will end before the 2024 presidential election, where Trump is the presumptive GOP presidential nominee.

13 conservative federal judges said they would not hire law students or undergraduates from Columbia University over how the school responded to recent pro-Palestinian demonstrations on its campus.

The big picture: The judges, all of whom are appointees of former President Trump, said in a letter that they've "lost confidence in Columbia as an institution of higher education."

Adult film actress Stormy Daniels provided a detailed testimony Tuesday of her alleged sexual encounter with former President Trump in 2006.

Why it matters: The dramatic moment brought Daniels face-to-face with the former president, who allegedly paid her off to stay quiet about an affair that he denies. The payment is at the center of Trump's New York criminal trial.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams said Tuesday that the Department of Correction and Rikers Island would be "ready" if former President Trump is sentenced to jail for violating the gag order in his hush money trial.

Why it matters: Judge Juan Merchan, who is overseeing Trump's New York criminal trial, issued a dramatic warning to Trump on Monday that further violations of his gag order could land him behind bars.

The White House thinks the Israeli operation to capture the Rafah crossing doesn't cross President Biden's "red line" that could lead to a shift in U.S. policy towards the Gaza war, two U.S. officials told Axios.

Why it matters: The Biden administration has expressed deep concern about the possibility of a major Israeli military invasion in the southern Gaza city where more than one million displaced Palestinians are sheltering.

The judge in former President Trump's ongoing hush money criminal trial rejected his request for a mistrial on Tuesday.

The big picture: The request comes the same day adult film actress and star witness Stormy Daniels testified in the case. Trump's legal team alleged Daniels changed her story on the stand from what she said in 2016 when pushing for the mistrial.

A U.S. Army solider stationed in South Korea was accused of theft and arrested in Vladivostok, Russia, on May 2, according to the Army.

Why it matters: The U.S. and Russia are already negotiating over other arrested Americans who the U.S. has deemed wrongfully detained, and the arrest of Staff Sgt. Gordon Black could escalate tensions between the two countries further.

The Biden campaign today launched a digital ad to remind Latino voters of President Trump's family separation policy at the border — officially announced six years ago today — which resulted in nearly 4,000 kids being taken from their parents.

Why it matters: The Biden-Harris campaign is upping its effort to puncture nostalgia for Trump's four years in office. Some Americans have increasingly embraced some of Trump's more extreme immigration policies and rhetoric.

Zoom in: The ad, called Ripped Apart, interlaces video of Trump making anti-immigrant comments with the cries of children who were separated from their parents.

A site along the U.S.-Mexico border where enslaved people passed while using the Underground Railroad into Mexico is getting important recognition from the U.S. National Park Service.

Why it matters: Historians believe that between 4,000 to 10,000 enslaved Black people may have taken the trek south, yet there's been little documentation and mentions in history books about the Underground Railroad to Mexico.

Zoom in: The NPS announced last month that its National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom program will now include the Jackson Ranch Church and Martin Jackson Cemetery, located in San Juan, Texas, which once served as a gateway to Mexico for enslaved people seeking freedom.

Latinos were among the 2024 Pulitzer Prize winners in journalism and literature announced Monday.

Why it matters: The awards that a new generation of Latino writers and journalists is gaining recognition. Here are the winners:

National reporting

Silvia Foster-Frau and Arelis Hernández are part of the staff of the Washington Post that took the prize "for its sobering examination of the AR-15 semi-automatic rifle," the board said.

• The project "forced readers to reckon with the horrors wrought by the weapon often used for mass shootings in America."

Poetry

Brandon Som for his collection "Tripas: Poems."

• The board said the work "celebrates his Chicana grandmother, who worked nights on the assembly line at Motorola, and his Chinese American father and grandparents, who ran the family corner store."

A site along the U.S.-Mexico border where enslaved people passed while using the Underground Railroad into Mexico is getting important recognition from the U.S. National Park Service.

Why it matters: Historians believe that between 4,000 to 10,000 enslaved Black people may have migrated south, yet there's been little documentation and mentions in history books about the Underground Railroad to Mexico.

President Biden delivered a forceful rebuke of rising antisemitism in the U.S. and the horrors of Hamas' Oct. 7 attack during his keynote address at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum's annual Days of Remembrance ceremony Tuesday.

Why it matters: Antisemitic and Islamophobic incidents have surged nationwide since the outset of the Israel-Hamas war, which has become a flashpoint on college campuses.

Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) on Tuesday introduced a resolution to censure Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) for referring to some Jewish students as "pro-genocide."

Why it matters: Pro-Palestinian lawmakers have been repeatedly penalized in the GOP-controlled House for their comments on Israel.

Speaker Mike Johnson says he wants to lead the House in 2025, and isn't apologizing for meeting with his defectors as he works to beat back an ouster attempt.

Why it matters: Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) are making demands of Johnson as he looks to stave off a motion to strip him of his gavel. But GOP members argue concessions could come at a price.

LOS ANGELES – President Biden and former President Trump will definitely have a debate for the 2024 election, says Jeffrey Katzenberg, key adviser to Biden's re-election campaign and founding partner of WndrCo.

Why it matters: Katzenberg's declaration shows chances are rising that there will be a 2024 presidential debate, after the Biden campaign had declined to commit to one for months.

• Biden had told Howard Stern that he's "happy to debate" Trump during his April 24 interview for Stern's Sirius XM radio show.

Catch up quick: Last year, Former President Trump asked the Commission on Presidential Debates to move up the scheduled debates.

• Trump made this same request in 2020, but ended up not participating in 1 out 3 presidential debates.
• Most recently, he skipped all the Republican presidential debates for the 2024 election.
• The presidential debates will take place Sept. 16, Oct. 1 and Oct. 9. The vice presidential debate is set to take place on Sept. 25.

Axios business editor Dan Primack interviewed Katzenberg at Axios' first BFD Talks reception.

• This event was in partnership with Wheelhouse and sponsored by West Monroe.

Flashback: Katzenberg also recalled meeting a young Trump roughly 50 years ago, who was with his father at the time, and said he was a "colossal a**hole."

Separately, the former Hollywood media mogul also discussed the Paramount Global and Skydance merger that expired last Friday and said it would have been a "great win" for Paramount and the film industry.

• When it comes to Sony and Apollo's $26 billion cash offer, Katzenberg says there may be a private equity issue since Sony wouldn't be allowed to hold an FCC license for CBS because it's foreign.

AI has been a major point of contention within the film industry, but Katzenberg thinks the new technology is going to have a positive impact.

• "Generative AI is going to be the most empowering and powerful set of tools ever put in the hands of filmmakers by a factor," says Katzenberg.
• But, he thinks it'll be another 10 years before AI really interrupts the industry.

Content from sponsored segment below:

In a View from the Top conversation, West Monroe president Gil Mermelstein says technology is a trend they are seeing in the deal-making space.

• He also stressed that AI is a major innovation that many companies bring to the table.
• "We see a lot of companies with all kinds of claims. Sometimes they're real, sometimes they're not. That's part of our job to decipher," said Mermelstein on new AI tech.

Cliff Sims, a former (and perhaps future) Trump administration official, is out today with what he tells Axios is a "political junky's dream devotional book."

• "The Darkness Has Not Overcome: Lessons on Faith and Politics from Inside the Halls of Power" shot to No. 1 in many of Amazon's Christian books categories after Sims' first interview for the book, on "The Glenn Beck Program."

House Democrats are challenging House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) to put his money where his mouth is when it comes to cracking down on campus antisemitism, Axios has learned.

Why it matters: House Republicans held a vote on an antisemitism bill last week that Democrats complained was inadequate to address the issue and geared toward dividing the left.

The Biden campaign on Tuesday is launching a digital ad to remind Latino voters of President Trump's family separation policy at the border — officially announced six years ago today — which resulted in nearly 4,000 kids being taken from their parents.

Why it matters: The Biden campaign is upping its effort to puncture nostalgia for Trump's four years in office. Some Americans have increasingly embraced some of Trump's more extreme immigration policies and rhetoric.

College protests against Israel's war in Gaza are dominating headlines. But only a sliver of students are participating or view it as a top issue, according to a new Generation Lab survey shared exclusively with Axios.

Why it matters: The poll hints that the war — and the accompanying protests — might not hurt President Biden's election prospects among young voters as much as previously thought.

Democrats in Congress are furious as Israel moves into the southern Gaza city of Rafah after they and President Biden spent months trying to prevent such an operation.

Why it matters: A full-scale invasion could be a sea-change moment for Democrats on Israel and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, with whom relations have become increasingly strained.

The idea that Donald Trump could land in jail for violating a gag order in his hush-money trial suddenly became real Monday.

• Manhattan Judge Juan Merchan found Trump in contempt of court for a 10th time for criticizing jurors or court personnel, fined him $1,000 — and warned that more violations could land the ex-president behind bars.

NYPD officers arrested several pro-Palestinian protesters near the Met Gala after hundreds marched across New York City on Monday.

The big picture: Pro-Palestinian activist group Within Our Lifetime had called for a "Day of Rage" demonstration against the Israel-Hamas war, starting from Hunter College, about 1.2 miles from the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Israeli officials claim the Biden administration knew about the latest hostage and ceasefire deal proposal Egypt and Qatar negotiated with Hamas, but didn't brief Israel before Hamas announced it accepted it on Monday. A senior U.S. official pushed back saying "American diplomats have been engaged with Israeli counterparts. There have been no surprises."

Why it matters: The episode has created deep disappointment and suspicion among senior Israeli officials regarding the U.S. role in the hostage deal talks and could negatively influence the negotiations going forward.

GOP lawmakers are increasingly optimistic that Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) will abandon with her effort to oust Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) after she held off from advancing the motion to vacate on Monday evening.

Why it matters: Following a two-hour meeting with the speaker, Greene and Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) said they will huddle with Johnson again on Tuesday as top Republicans look to avert a vote to strip him of his gavel.