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National

The U.K. House of Commons voted 327-299 on Wednesday to pass a bill forcing Prime Minister Boris Johnson to seek a Brexit extension rather than take the country out of the European Union on Oct. 31 without a divorce deal.

Why it matters: Less than a day after expelling 21 rebel lawmakers from his own Conservative Party, Johnson saw his government defeated in Parliament for the 2nd consecutive time. Hours later, Parliament rejected Johnson's proposal to hold a general election on Oct. 15, which he hoped could earn him a fresh majority to resolve the Brexit impasse.

It's a disastrous start for the new prime minister, who campaigned on a pledge to leave the EU on Oct. 31 with or without a deal. No prime minister has lost their first vote in office since 1783 — let alone their first 3.

The opposition Labour Party said it would not back an election until the bill ruling out a no-deal is enshrined in law. It has to pass through Parliament's upper chamber, the House of Lords, for that to happen.

The tension: Lawmakers from across Parliament, including the ones expelled from the Conservative Party yesterday, view it as their moral obligation to stop a no-deal Brexit, which experts warn could cause food and drug shortages, a "shock" to the economy and possibly the outbreak of violence in Northern Ireland.

Johnson's controversial decision to suspend Parliament from next week until Oct. 14 has forced lawmakers to work fast to lock the prime minister into a position where a no-deal Brexit is impossible.

On Monday, cross-party lawmakers unveiled a bill that would give Johnson until Oct. 19 to negotiate a deal with the EU. If Johnson failed, the bill would require him to request a 3-month extension to move the Brexit date to Jan. 31.

On Tuesday, Johnson watched as a Conservative lawmaker walked across the floor of the House of Commons to join the Liberal Democrats, stripping the government of its 1-man majority in dramatic fashion. Hours later, Parliament defeated Johnson in a vote to take control of the legislative agenda.

On Wednesday, Parliament voted in favor of the bill to block a no-deal Brexit. The 21 rebels who were expelled for voting against Johnson have served for a total of 350 years as Conservative lawmakers and include several high-ranking former government ministers and the grandson of Winston Churchill.

The bottom line: Johnson is in a bind and has completely thrown away his majority. No one quite knows how the next 57 days will shake out.

Go deeper: The sticking point standing in the way of a Brexit deal

Westminster mayhem

Prime Minister Boris Johnson will now bring a vote to hold new elections in October.

U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Photo: House of Commons/PA Images via Getty Images

World

Brexit

Media Trends

Axios Media Trends

President Trump on Tuesday presented a doctored version of an official National Hurricane Center map of Hurricane Dorian's path that appeared to show Alabama in the eye of the storm. 

Reality check: None of the original forecast maps featured the black loop that appeared on the map shown by Trump.

Presumably, the loop was drawn on the map to make it appear as though Trump's false claim that Alabama was in the storm's path was true. (The National Weather Service has since debunked the claim.)

In response, the White House provided a map it said Trump was shown on Sunday that displayed a large possible storm track that included a small piece of Alabama. It didn't say who produced the map.

Trump also tweeted a map showing many possible storm tracks, including over Alabama. But the map was dated Aug. 28, days before the storm approached the coast.

The big picture: This isn't the first time Trump has pulled something like this. 

April 2019: Trump tweeted a doctored video of Nancy Pelosi that made her seem drunk with the caption "PELOSI STAMMERS THROUGH NEWS CONFERENCE." 

January 2019: Gizmodo reported that photos posted to Trump's official Facebook page seemed altered to make himself look thinner and his hands longer. Trump faced insults about his hand size during the 2016 Republican primaries, which he adamantly refuted.

November 2018: Then-White House press secretary Sarah Sanders shared an edited video on Twitter of a confrontation between CNN's Jim Acosta and a White House press official that made Acosta look aggressive. The video appeared to editorialize the incident to justify the removal of Acosta's press pass. 

The bottom line: The media has been focused on preparing for deepfakes, but amateur fakes coming from the White House are already happening.

This story has been updated to include the Trump tweet and the White House response.

Trump uses doctored map to back false claim about Hurricane Dorian

It's not the first time he's pulled something like this.

Politics

Donald Trump

2024 will be an election year like no other, as President Biden seeks re-election amid economic uncertainty, two wars and questions about his age. His likely foe, former President Trump, faces felony charges and vows revenge on his political enemies. Meanwhile, Americans generally are dissatisfied with those choices and are divided over immigration, race, education and more.

Politics & Policy

Walmart is exiting much of its firearms business, but entering the gun control debate. Dan digs into the collision of politics and business with Bloomberg retail reporter Sarah  Halzack.

Go deeper: What Corporate America is doing about guns

Podcast: Walmart unloads on guns

The retailer is exiting much of its firearms business, but entering the gun control debate.

Business

Pro Rata Podcast

Retail

Axios Re:Cap

Axios Pro: Deals

Top stories & latest news on the Federal Reserve, real-time data, plus the biggest shifts happening in the U.S. and global economy.

Economy

After a record economic expansion, the coronavirus pandemic sent the U.S. economy into a recession as unemployment soared to staggering heights. The country now faces urgent questions about how much stimulus is needed for reeling consumers and businesses, and what a recovery might look like.

Economy & Business

Podcasts

During the family separation crisis last year, Health and Human Services facilities struggled to provide adequate mental health care to migrant children as required under the Flores agreement, according to a new agency watchdog report. 

Why it matters: Many of these migrant minors had already faced signifiant trauma in their home countries and in their travel to the border — such as physical abuse, kidnapping, rape and other forms of violence, according to the report. In addition, child migrant care facilities told the Inspector General (OIG) "addressing the unique mental health needs of separated children was particularly challenging."

Key quotes: "Separated children exhibited more fear, feelings of abandonment, and post-traumatic stress than did children who were not separated. Separated children experienced heightened feelings of anxiety and loss as a result of their unexpected separation from their parents..."

"Children who did not understand why they were separated from their parents suffered elevated levels of mental distress."

"The level of trauma and unique experiences of separated children made it more difficult to... address children’s mental health needs."

The report also found that the uncertainty and chaos surrounding the reunification process added to migrant children's emotional distress.

One child was moved to a different care facility to be reunited with her father, but "after the child made several trips to the detention center, she was returned to the Florida facility 'in shambles' without ever seeing her father."

What to watch: Dozens of migrant parents are preparing to sue the U.S. government, claiming their children were harmed while in HHS custody during family separation, the AP reported last month. It found taxpayers could end up having to pay $200 million in damages.

Government watchdog: Separations caused trauma on migrant children

"Separated children exhibited more fear, feelings of abandonment, and post-traumatic stress."

People protesting family separation in June 2018.

People march in support of separated migrant families in June 2018. Photo: Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Immigration

Whats Next

Axios What's Next


About 1.5 million Floridians have moved inland to avoid the wrath of Hurricane Dorian. Such evacuations can be perilous — but in the future, networks of automated vehicles could help shuttle people out of harm's way more efficiently.

The big picture: Two colliding trends will likely make evacuations in this storm-prone population center trickier in the meantime, however. People are moving to south Florida in huge numbers, which will put far more people at risk. And battery-powered AVs and the infrastructure to support them are still a long way off. 

That means Floridians — who rely on cars more than the rest of the nation — could have to choose between toughing it out on choked evacuation routes or staying put and riding out future storms.

Context: Evacuation orders are supposed to keep people safe, but sometimes create their own disasters, as occurred ahead of Hurricane Rita in 2005, when 2.5 million Houston residents tried to flee, only to be trapped by gridlock for up to 20 hours, according to the Houston Chronicle. 

More than 100 people died in the exodus, some of heatstroke, including 24 nursing home evacuees whose bus caught fire.

In Florida, 7 million people tried to escape Hurricane Irma as it marched the length of the state in 2017, leading to traffic jams and related problems.

AVs might help make evacuations more efficient, former Florida emergency management chief Bryan Koon, now a vice president at disaster consulting firm IEM, wrote in a 2018 blog post.

Platoons of connected AVs could shuttle groups of people at a time to a safe destination, reducing the number of cars on the road.

By communicating with other cars, they could travel faster, and closer together, to maximize traffic flow and reduce traffic-jamming fender benders. 

Smart cars could also identify less congested routes and even direct people to available shelters or hotels.

"If you take the need for drivers out of the equation, you can move 30% more people in the same space, in theory," agrees Louisiana State University professor Brian Wolshon, who has worked with local governments on evacuation planning.

But, but, but: The shift from personal car ownership to shared mobility, and from gasoline engines to electric cars, will be a slow transition that could actually make mass evacuations more difficult, not less so, over the next couple of decades, Koon tells Axios.

As EVs proliferate, for example, the number of gas stations will fall and the number of charging stations will rise. But during the changeover "there could be a chance that we don't have enough of either" to handle a large-scale evacuation, he says.

As people give up their cars in favor of ride-hailing, it's also possible there won't be enough vehicles to accommodate everyone who needs to flee in an emergency, he says.

"We might no longer be able to say, 'Just get in your car and drive away.'"

What to watch: Florida's population is projected to increase by 6 million people, to 26 million, by 2030, with much of the growth in vulnerable coastal regions.

Restrictions on growth in the Florida Keys are tied to the county's ability to quickly evacuate people in a hurricane. Other regions could soon face similar limitations, warns Koon.

Government leaders need to factor in changing transportation trends, as well as the growing population, when crafting their emergency management plans. 

Self-driving cars could ease future evacuations

Automation could make evacuations like Florida's Dorian exodus more efficient — but hurdles remain.

Illustration of a car behind sandbags with wood panels for windows. 

Transportation

Natural disasters

Technology

News and analysis of the scientific advances fueling AI and quantum computing, revolutionizing biology and medicine, and tackling climate change. Science is changing the world and colliding with the global politics that shape it.

Science

Pro Rata

Axios Pro Rata

The National Basketball Association is considering the creation of an investment fund that would buy small equity stakes in a portfolio of teams, as first reported yesterday by Bloomberg.

Why it matters: NBA owners are concerned that skyrocketing team prices mean that there's a limited number of individuals who could buy the next teams put up for sale. Or, as one league source put it: "There are only so many Steve Ballmers and Joe Tsais."

This fund could, in theory, help expand the principal buyer pool by assuming some of the new purchase prices. Particularly by introducing institutional investors that have, historically, been shunned by the NBA and other pro sports leagues.

It also would become a way for existing minority owners to exit, if desired. Plus perhaps set more of a market price, as opposed to the current model of "last price + 20%."

Why the NBA? Because private equity sources say basketball is generally viewed as a better investment opportunity than baseball (shrinking attendance), hockey (geographically limited), and football (liabilities). International soccer is the best comp, although the NBA is still viewed as superior because it has capped player costs.

I'm also told that the NBA's plan would be a formalization of an ad hoc process that investment bank Allen & Co. often does for Major League Baseball. I'm still trying to suss out more details of that relationship.

The bottom line: Being a passive sports team owner is really being the person who pays the most for good seats. But owning a portfolio could be appealing for long-term money, and it's only a matter of time before we get a league-managed or third-party fund/marketplace for these interests.

Go deeper: The profound impact of the NBA's nomadic era

NBA mulling an investment fund for team equity

"There are only so many Steve Ballmers and Joe Tsais."

Illustration of a stack of money being thrown at a basketball hoop

National Basketball Association (NBA)

Shifts in technology and media are changing the way we play, watch and understand sports. Business models are adapting and social change is forcing those in charge of teams and leagues to reconsider decades-old practices.

Sports

Rep. Bill Flores (R-Texas) announced Wednesday that he will not seek re-election in 2020, becoming the fifth Texas Republican — and the 15th Republican overall — to retire from the House this term.

The big picture: House Republicans want to regain control of the chamber from Democrats in 2020, but the continued exodus of GOP members will make the task even more challenging. Texas, which hold 38 electoral college votes, is becoming a more competitive state for Democrats across all levels of government.

Rep. Bill Flores is the 5th Texas Republican to announce retirement

He's the 15th Republican overall to retire from the House this term.

Axios

Wednesday's top stories

Westminster mayhem

Trump uses doctored map to back false claim about Hurricane Dorian

Podcast: Walmart unloads on guns

Government watchdog: Separations caused trauma on migrant children

Self-driving cars could ease future evacuations

NBA mulling an investment fund for team equity

Rep. Bill Flores is the 5th Texas Republican to announce retirement

FTC unveils $170 million YouTube settlement

Michigan to become first state to ban flavored e-cigarettes

2020 Dems' new climate plans need the Senate to succeed

The media overcorrects for its past flubs