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Axios San Francisco

The Biden administration urged the Supreme Court Tuesday to let the Trump-era Title 42 border policy end as GOP-led states push to keep it in place — but requested a short pause on lifting it for operational reasons.

Driving the news: Title 42, which allows the U.S. to expel migrants at the southern border without the chance for asylum, had been set to expire Wednesday before the Supreme Court temporarily halted its termination to consider taking up the case.

The coalition of Republican states has argued that the termination of Title 42 will cause "irreparable harm," but the Department of Justice countered in its filing Tuesday that the states "assert no interests even arguably within the zone protected by Title 42."

Their interest in avoiding "immigration consequences cannot justify extending a public-health measure that is no longer supported by public-health conditions."

What to watch: The administration, however, requested that the high court keep Title 42 in place until next week at the earliest.

"[T]he government respectfully requests that, if the Court denies the application before December 23, it leave the current administrative stay in place until 11:59 p.m. on December 27," the court filing reads.

This would allow the government to prepare to return to pre-pandemic operations, "with new policies tailored to the consequences of the end of the Title 42 orders — a complex, multi-agency undertaking with policy, operational, and foreign relations dimensions," per the filing.

The big picture: The Biden administration has been seriously considering both expanding a parole program to Nicaraguans, Cubans and Haitians as well as imposing an asylum ban after the end of Title 42, as Axios previously reported.

The policy could remain in place for months if the legal dispute goes before the Supreme Court.

Editor's note: This story has been updated with details from the court filing. 

Biden administration asks Supreme Court to let Trump-era immigration policy end

Title 42, which allows the U.S. to expel migrants at the southern border without the chance for asylum, was set to expire Wednesday.

Immigrants seeking asylum turn themselves in to U.S. Border Patrol agents after wading across the Rio Grande to El Paso, Texas on Dec. 18, 2022. Photo: John Moore via Getty Images

Immigration

Politics & Policy

Hill Leaders

Axios Hill Leaders

President Biden said on the sidelines of a Nov. 4 election rally that the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran is “dead,” but stressed the U.S. won’t formally announce it, according to a new video that surfaced on social media late Monday. 

Why it matters: It's the strongest confirmation so far that the Biden administration believes there's no path forward for the Iran deal, which leaves key questions about the future of Tehran's nuclear program. 

In late October, U.S. envoy for Iran Rob Malley said that the administration is not going to "waste time" on trying to revive the Iran nuclear deal at this time considering Tehran's crackdown on protesters, Iranian support for Russia's war in Ukraine, and Iran's positions on its nuclear program. 

Driving the news: Biden made the remark in a short conversation with a woman who attended an election rally in Oceanside, California.

The woman asked Biden to announce that the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), as the Iran deal is formally known, is dead. 

Biden responded that he would not “for a lot of reasons."

But then he added: “It is dead, but we are not gonna announce it. Long story."

The woman replied that the Iranian regime doesn’t represent the people. “I know they don’t represent you. But they will have a nuclear weapon that they'll represent," he said.

What they're saying:  "The JCPOA is not our focus right now.  It’s not on the agenda," a White House National Security Council spokesperson told Axios. 

"We don’t see a deal coming together anytime soon," the spokesperson said, pointing to Iran's crackdown on protesters and support for Russia in the war in Ukraine. "Our focus is on practical ways to confront them in these areas."

Biden in newly surfaced video: Iran nuclear deal is "dead"

“It is dead, but we are not gonna announce it. Long story."

Photo: Samuel Corum/CNP/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Iran deal

Iran

Joe Biden

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

World

Media Deals

Media Trends

Axios Media Trends

Shares in Disney have dropped by nearly 5% in response to a disappointing debut for its highly anticipated "Avatar" sequel "The Way of Water." 

Why it matters: Investors are looking to see whether Disney can increase profitability in its traditional businesses, like theaters and parks, as its streaming losses continue to mount. "Avatar: The Way of Water" needs to bring in at least $2 billion globally over its lifetime to reach profitability. 

Its performance will determine whether the famous James Cameron movie franchise lives on past its second installation. 

Details: The sci-fi sequel brought in $134 million in its domestic debut, per Comscore, less than the roughly $150 million Disney initially expected. 

Disney lowered its full-weekend projections on Saturday after the film brought in $53 million in its first two days domestically.   

Despite little competition at the box office over the weekend, the film wasn't able to lure as many moviegoers as previous hits this year. 

"The Way of Water" was the sixth-highest domestic opener of the year, following Disney's "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness" ($187 million), Disney's "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever" ($181 million), Universal's "Jurassic World: Dominion" ($145 million), Disney's "Thor: Love and Thunder" ($144 million) and Warner Bros.' "The Batman" ($134 million). 

Yes, but: Despite lower-than-expected results, the film still opened as the top film in every market it was shown in globally, helping it bring in $301 million internationally for a total of $435 million in its worldwide debut. 

That total made the "Avatar" sequel the third-highest global weekend debut in the pandemic era, per Comscore. 

"Cameron's films have always been marathon runners, not sprinters, so it's the final gross that will be key," Comscore's senior media analyst Paul Dergarabedian told Axios last week. 

By the numbers: The first "Avatar," which came out around the same time in December 2009, grossed $77 million during its opening weekend.

Even the most successful of films have an average drop-off of around 40% in their second weekends."Avatar" dropped less than 2% to earn $75 million over that year's Christmas weekend.

"Top Gun: Maverick," the highest-grossing domestic release of 2022, dropped 26% during its second weekend in early June. 

Avatar domestic box office revenue

Data: Box Office Mojo; Chart: Axios Visuals

"Avatar: The Way of Water" clocking in below initial earnings expectations

All eyes on Avatar to save struggling box office

"Avatar: The Way of Water" disappointing debut irks Disney investors

Its performance will determine whether the movie franchise lives on past its second installation.

Media trends

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

TikTok on Tuesday said it will soon start explaining to users why it is recommending a particular video to them.

What's happening: The new feature, which is expected to roll out in users' main "For You" feed in coming weeks, is part of a wider effort by TikTok to be more transparent about how its content-choosing algorithm works.

Details: Users will be able to tap a button on the side of a video labeled with a question mark icon called "Why this video." 

TikTok will list reasons a certain video was recommended to a user, using categories like the user's previous interactions; the accounts the user follows; content that's been posted recently; or content that's growing popular in a user's region.

Between the lines: TikTok has been pushing to make parts of its algorithm and content moderation decisions more transparent in recent years as it faces increasing scrutiny from lawmakers about its ties to China. 

Last year, the company said it would adjust its algorithm to avoid showing users the same types of videos too frequently, creating filter bubbles.

The year prior, it walked reporters through a tutorial on how its algorithm selects videos to show users.

Yes, but: Lawmakers are still skeptical that TikTok's data security and content recommendation practices are conducted independently of influence from the Chinese state. 

Some states have begun to ban TikTok from government devices, and there's a new effort to pass such a ban nationally. 

TikTok is currently undergoing a national security review with the the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS). 

As part of that process, TikTok has tapped Oracle to independently vet its algorithms and content moderation models.

The big picture: Lawmakers have been evaluating ways to regulate the algorithmic distribution of content to make sure tech platforms aren't biased in their recommendations and to make it easier to stop misinformation. As a result, more platforms are taking steps to be transparent with users about their algorithms.

Meta published new details about how its video algorithm works in August. 

Google added a new feature to give users more context about their search results last year.

Editor's note: This story has been corrected to say that lawmakers are skeptical of TikTok's practices, not Twitter's.

TikTok to explain why videos are recommended to users

The video platform will give users a way to learn at least a little about why they were shown a particular video.

Illustration of the TikTok logo made from binary code. 

TikTok

From the Valley to D.C., Big Tech players like Facebook, Google and Amazon are under more scrutiny than ever as new technology develops and privacy and antitrust concerns grow in lockstep with companies’ ambitions.

Technology

Earning six figures — or buying a $1 million house — isn't quite the same in a high-inflation era.

Why it matters: Fast-rising prices have turned a lot of adults into versions of their grandparents, bowled over by the high cost of [waves hands] everything. 

We're all becoming that old person who says stuff like, "back in my day, a candy bar only cost a nickel."

What's happening: The average lowest wage that American workers with a college degree expect for a salary is $92,000, per a New York Fed survey, released Monday. That's the highest level since they started tracking the number in 2014 when it was $70,000.

For those with less than a college degree, it's $60,000. (That's equivalent to $30 an hour — or twice the $15 hourly minimum wage that's been on activists' agendas for more than a decade.)

Lowest annual salary that employed Americans say they would accept for a new job

Data: SCE Labor Market Survey; Chart: Erin Davis/Axios Visuals 

Meanwhile, the Federal Housing Administration recently announced it would back mortgages of as high as $1 million in high-cost areas. Critics called this "a McMansion" subsidy — but it's more a reflection of soaring home prices, particularly in these expensive areas.

Zoom out: We form a lot of our feelings toward spending and our understanding of what things cost when we're just starting out in adulthood, says Scott Rick, a professor at the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business who studies financial decision-making. 

That sense "persists even when circumstances change." 

The bottom line: Our minds are still catching up with the CPI.

Inflation changed the meaning of a $100K salary

Illustration of a dollar sign covered in cracks with pieces of tape over the cracks.

Inflation

Elon Musk said Monday that future polls on Twitter's policies will be limited to paying Twitter Blue subscribers.

Why it matters: It was one of Musk's first tweets since Twitter users voted for him to step down as head of the company via a poll he initiated and pledged to follow.

Musk hasn't specifically addressed the poll since the results were finalized early Monday morning.

Driving the news: A Twitter user tweeted at Musk to suggest that "Blue subscribers should be the only ones that can vote in policy related polls. We actually have skin in the game."

Musk replied: "Good point. Twitter will make that change."

A majority of the roughly 17.5 million respondents — 57.5% — to a Twitter poll posted by Musk on Sunday said that he should step down as head of Twitter.

The big picture: The social media company relaunched its Twitter Blue subscription service earlier this month.

Subscribers can pay a monthly fee for verified, blue-check-mark accounts and some additional features — like editing tweets and uploading high-quality video.

An earlier attempt to roll out the subscription attempt failed over concerns about impersonation.

Musk: Twitter will limit policy polls to paying subscribers

It was one of Musk's first tweets since Twitter users voted for him to step down as head of the company.

Axios

Tuesday's top stories

Biden administration asks Supreme Court to let Trump-era immigration policy end

Biden in newly surfaced video: Iran nuclear deal is "dead"

"Avatar: The Way of Water" disappointing debut irks Disney investors

TikTok to explain why videos are recommended to users

Inflation changed the meaning of a $100K salary

Musk: Twitter will limit policy polls to paying subscribers

Congress saves big health care decisions for last

Slow fade for Google and Meta's ad dominance

Major winter storm threatens to upend holiday travel

Video: America's homeownership gap

Congress releases $1.7 trillion spending bill as shutdown looms

Arctic blast and intense winter holiday storm to slam U.S.