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National

Pittsburgh authorities confirmed "two male victims, both juveniles" died after they were among at least 11 people shot at a house party in the East Allegheny area of the city's North Side overnight.

The big picture: There were two other mass shootings over the Easter weekend, but this was the only one in which fatalities have been confirmed.

The first shooting, in South Carolina's capital, Columbia, resulted in 14 people injured at a shopping mall on Saturday, police said.

Authorities in S.C. said they were also investigating a shooting at a bar and lounge in Furman early Sunday that left at least nine people wounded, according to the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division.

What happened: The Pittsburgh Public Safety Department confirmed the deaths in East Allegheny and that several people were "escaping gunfire" via a Twitter post on Easter Sunday morning. "An 11th gunshot victim connected to this incident showed up at a local hospital, condition unknown," it said in a later tweet.

 "The initial investigation reveals a large party was being held at the short-term rental property, with as many as 200 people in attendance, many of them underage," the Pittsburgh Public Safety Department said on Sunday morning.

"As many as 50 rounds were fired inside, prompting some party-goers to jump out the windows, sustaining injuries such as broken bones and lacerations. Several more shots were fired outside the home." 

Airbnb said the house was rented through the company and that it was cooperating with authorities, AP reports. It's given a lifetime ban to the person who booked it, who was required to be over 18 under Airbnb rules.

Meanwhile, authorities in Columbia confirmed that law enforcement did not believe that the mall shooting "was random" and that they had arrested a suspect, per AP. "We believe they knew each other and something led to the gunfire," Columbia Police Chief W.H. "Skip" Holbrook said.

The other shooting in S.C. was at Cara's Lounge in Hampton County, and police said "at this time there are no fatalities."

Editor's note: This article has been updated with new details throughout.

Pittsburgh mass shooting on Easter leaves at least 2 dead

The 2 who died at the Pittsburgh house party were "male victims, both juveniles,"  authorities said.

Broken glass and bloodstains are seen outside an Airbnb apartment rental along Suismon Street on April 17, 2022 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Broken glass and bloodstains are seen outside an Airbnb apartment rental along Suismon Street in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on Sunday. Photo: Jeff Swensen/Getty Images

Mass shootings

Politics & Policy

Top funded single-candidate super PACs

Candidates in key midterm primaries are getting huge cash boosts from wealthy out-of-state donors — funneled through groups that can raise and spend unlimited sums for them, according to an Axios analysis.

Why it matters: The massive out-of-state spending shows the degree to which high-profile congressional races have been nationalized. It precedes major Senate primaries, including Ohio's on May 3 and Pennsylvania's on May 17.

How it works: Axios examined Federal Election Commission filings for 26 top-tier, single-candidate super PACs.

The independent groups spend in support of, or, in some cases, in opposition to, one specific midterm hopeful.

Spending through March 31 was made public after a Friday reporting deadline.

The big picture: Those 26 super PACs together reported raising $84 million so far this cycle. More than three-fourths of that haul came from donors who don't reside in the states where those groups are spending.

Half of the 26 received at least 95% of their funding from out of state.

These include the top three single-candidate super PACs of the cycle so far: Honor Pennsylvania, Saving Arizona and Protect Ohio Values.

The details: Honor Pennsylvania is backing Republican David McCormick in that state's Senate race. All of its $15.3 million in receipts came from outside of Pennsylvania, the filings showed.

Saving Arizona and Protect Ohio Values — groups backing Republican Senate hopefuls Blake Masters and J.D. Vance, respectively— are funded almost entirely by a single out-of-state donor, California tech mogul Peter Thiel.

Vance rival Josh Mandel enjoys the backing of the USA Freedom Fund, which got 100% of its nearly $2 million this cycle from out of state.

Pennsylvania, Arizona and Ohio weren't the only states where these patterns are playing out.

Alabama Patriots PAC, which supports Republican Senate candidate Mike Durant, is also entirely funded by out-of-state donors.

The top House-focused super PAC on the list, Progress Pinellas, is backing Democrat Eric Lynn in Florida's 13th District. All of its $1.5 million came from Chicago private equity executive Justin Ishbia.

Other donors are single-handedly funding super PACs in other states. Illinois industrial supply magnate Richard Uihlein is the sole donor to groups supporting Senate candidates Eric Greitens in Missouri and Jake Bequette in Arkansas.

Las Vegas casino magnate Steve Wynn is bankrolling Protect and Defend America, a PAC backing Republican Brady Duke's Florida House bid.

What they're saying: Some super PAC officials told Axios a national fundraising profile is the only way their candidates can compete with wealthy, self-funded rivals, who can pour unlimited sums directly into their own campaigns.

"Our campaign finance system overwhelmingly benefits people who can self-fund campaigns to the tune of many millions of dollars," Luke Thompson, the executive director of pro-Vance group Protect Ohio Values, told Axios.

Vance's primary opponents include Ohio businessman Mike Gibbons, who's given millions to his campaign. "Candidates who aren’t mega-rich have to try to make up the difference with a combination of small-dollar fundraising and support from outside groups,” Thompson said. 

A spokesperson for Saving Arizona, the pro-Masters group, noted self-funders  such as Masters rival Jim Lamon can "access the cheapest television rates available due to FCC rules for candidate ads."

"To a degree, independent expenditure groups like ours level the playing field and allow us to help candidates who aren’t extremely wealthy to be competitive with those that are," the spokesperson said.

Between the lines: At this stage in the cycle, candidates aren't competing for congressional majorities; the fight is over the particular candidates who will make it to the general election as their party's nominee.

That's what sets single-candidate groups apart from high-dollar spenders such as Republicans' Senate Leadership Fund, or the Democrats' Senate Majority PAC, both deep-pocketed super PACs devoted to winning party control of the upper chamber.

For high-dollar donors, single-candidate groups present opportunities to shape the slate of candidates competing in what is expected to be a favorable year for Republicans.

Yes, but: It's not all out-of-staters backing these independent spenders.

Some candidates enjoy the support of in-state funders as well.

Two groups backing Alabama Republican Katie Britt's Senate bid, Alabama's Future and the Alabama Conservatives Fund, are almost entirely funded by Alabama donors.

Restore Common Sense, a group backing North Carolina Republican Senate candidate Marjorie Eastman, got all of its money from the Tarheel State.

It came, specifically, from a single donor: pharmaceutical executive Fred Eshelman.

Out-of-state money floods midterm races

Candidates in key midterm primaries are getting huge cash boosts from wealthy out-of-state donors.

Campaign finance

Chart of the top funded single-candidate super PACs as of March 31, 2022

Zelensky Tapper

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stressed the importance of the forthcoming fight for Donbas during an interview on CNN's "State of the Union" Sunday, saying the battle could "influence the course of the whole war."

Driving the news: In recent weeks Russian forces have turned their focus on sending troops and materials to eastern Ukraine in preparation.

In the first phase of the war, Russian troops attacked across three broad fronts hoping to quickly take cities, but they became overstretched and suffered heavy losses. Moscow is now pulling tens of thousands of those troops back and preparing them for a narrower and potentially decisive fight for the Donbas, Axios' Dave Lawler writes.

What they're saying: "For us, the battle for Donbas is very important. It is important for different reasons, for the reason of safety, first of all. Our grouping located in Donbas is one of the best military we have. It's a large grouping and Russia wants to encircle them and destroy them," Zelensky said.

"It is 44,000 professional military men who survived a great war from the beginning of 2014. This is why it is very important for us to preserve that part of our army, that is one of the most powerful," he added.

"This battle — and it can happen, so there will be several battles and we don't know how long it is going to take — can influence the course of the whole war."

Zelensky added that though Ukrainian forces have fought off Russian assaults on cities like Kyiv and Chernihiv, if the Russians win in Donbas, they could "come further towards Kyiv."

Worth noting: Asked by host Jake Tapper about the possibility of Russia using nuclear weapons, Zelensky said "all of the world" needs to be worried about the possibility.

Go deeper: Russia and Ukraine race to prepare for decisive battle in Donbas

Zelensky: "The battle for Donbas is very important"

"This battle...can influence the course of the whole war."

Russian invasion of Ukraine

Russia

Conflicts, policies and powers are intersecting and shaping the world. Breaking news and analysis of national security, foreign policy and global crises.

World

Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.) said on Sunday that death threats — like those he received for voting for infrastructure spending — could "be a detriment getting good people to run" for Congress.

Why it matters: Upton announced his retirement on April 5 after more than 30 years in Congress.

Upton was one of 10 Republicans who voted to impeach former President Donald Trump for inciting the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.

Driving the news: Upton said on NBC's "Meet the Press" that he received death threats for voting in favor of the infrastructure bill, which he noted was at one point a Republican bill.

"It puts you at risk, particularly when they threaten not only you ... but when they threaten your spouse or your kids or whatever, that's what really makes it frightening," Upton said.

GOP Rep. Upton says death threats made bipartisan votes ‘frightening’

Rep. Fred Upton announced his retirement on April 5 after more than 30 years in Congress.

Congress

Richmond

Axios Richmond

Average price of a Big Mac in the U.S.

Data: The Economist, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Axios research; Chart: Simran Parwani/Axios

Rising prices are hitting Americans where it hurts: the drive-thru. 

Driving the news: Fast food menu prices are up 7.2% year-over-year, according to a report released this week by the National Restaurant Association. That's the biggest jump since 1981.

Prices at full-service restaurants are even higher — they've gone up 8%, the biggest jump of any restaurant category.

Ballooning menu prices are being driven by the rising cost of food and labor, according to the report.

It cites a 15.1% year-over-year increase in the Producer Price Index, which measures the cost of domestic goods, as well as a 12.1% increase in average hourly earnings for restaurant employees.

🍔 The Big (Mac) picture: McDonald's did not respond to requests for comment, but data from the Big Mac Index — which has been measuring the price of a Big Mac since the year the Oprah Winfrey Show debuted — shows that the price of a Big Mac nationwide rose  7% from 2020 to 2021.

Big Mac prices have risen by a whopping 40% in the past 10 years, according to the index.

Zoom in: Menu prices vary across the country, and even within cities. 

So we decided to make our own Big Mac Index, showing the price of McD's flagship burger in all of our Axios Local cities — the 14 current ones and our 11 coming-soon ones, including my own. 

And we compared those prices to each town's minimum wage.

Details: Austin, Texas —where the minimum wage is $7.25 an hour — is home to the cheapest Big Mac in the Axios Local world at $3.75;

But 200 miles down the road, Dallas — with the same minimum wage — a Big Mac is selling for $5.69.

Seattle, Wash. — where the minimum wage is $17.27 an hour — has the priciest Big Mac we found, at $6.39.

Data: Economic Policy Institute, Axios research; Chart: Simran Parwani/Axios

And in the most expensive cities in the country:

A Big Mac in San Francisco, where the minimum wage is $16.32 an hour, is $5.79

In New York, where the minimum wage is $15 an hour, a Big Mac can be found on Broadway for $4.95  

But in my town of Richmond, Va.  — where the minimum wage is $11 an hour — I'm paying $4.89 for a Big Mac — just 10 cents less than folks in New. York. City. And I'm furious about it. 

🍟 Reality check:  These prices are for the burger-only — no fries. So what's the point?

🗞 This article is by Axios Richmond's Karri Peifer! Subscribe to the Axios Richmond newsletter (launching May 31!).

Inflation comes for the Big Mac

Axios Local

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

Mariupol officials rejected Russia's demands to surrender the besieged port city on Sunday, as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned the invading forces were "trying to destroy everyone" in the besieged port city.

What to watch: Zelensky said Saturday that negotiations with Russian officials would end if the Ukrainians defending Mariupol were killed, the Washington Post reports. 

"I believe this is a big mistake if they definitely want to end the war as they say," Zelensky said of Russia.

"This is a dead end because … we aren’t bartering using our territories and people. And we understand that the talks are needed to defend our country and end the war," he added.

Zelensky calls scene in Mariupol "inhuman" as Russian forces bear down on city

He said earlier that negotiations with Russian officials would end if Mariupol fighters were killed.

Axios

Sunday's top stories

Pittsburgh mass shooting on Easter leaves at least 2 dead

Out-of-state money floods midterm races

Zelensky: "The battle for Donbas is very important"

GOP Rep. Upton says death threats made bipartisan votes ‘frightening’

Inflation comes for the Big Mac

Zelensky calls scene in Mariupol "inhuman" as Russian forces bear down on city

North Korean military conducts 12th missile launch of 2022

Florida says it rejected math textbooks for referring to critical race theory

Apple workers at flagship store in NYC take steps to unionize

Why Trump backed J.D. Vance