Biden's Tapes, Netanyahu at the White House, and Spider-Man's $425 Million Weekend

MayaGood morning, everybody. Welcome back to the Morning Rundown.

DavidGood to be here. It's a loaded one today.

MayaDon't say that so early, but yeah, it kind of is.

DavidTop of the show, newly released tapes have Biden admitting he kept classified material.

MayaAnd that's landing right as the Senate confirms Jay Clayton for Intel chief.

DavidPlus, Beshear is going after McConnell over his health. Busy day on the Hill.

MayaThen we head overseas. Netanyahu's at the White House with Trump today.

DavidThat's against a rough backdrop, another tanker hit near Saudi waters and Japan still searching after that earthquake.

MayaWildfires chasing tourists. It's through the streets in France, too. We'll get into all of it.

DavidLater, I'm breaking down Apple's new lease-an-iPhone deal with Klarna.

MayaAnd I've got Hollywood drama, a $150 million lawsuit over the Golden Globes sale, Ariana Grande suing her hackers.

DavidAnd Spider-Man's about to have a $425 million weekend.

MayaOkay, let's start with what's actually happening in Washington. Okay, okay, okay, so there's new tape out where Biden actually admits on record that he kept classified material?

DavidYeah, this is the recording the New York Times released today, him telling his ghostwriter he's got, quote, classified stuff downstairs in the box.

MayaWait, he says that on tape, not a lawyer paraphrasing it later?

DavidRight there on tape.

MayaWow. Okay, let that sit for a second.

DavidAnd his house search happened well after Mar-a-Lago got hit with a much- A much bigger show of force.

MayaSame basic problem, two very different treatments.

DavidThat's the question nobody in D.C. wants to answer honestly. Who decides which office gets the FBI knock and which one gets a polite letter?

MayaYeah, follow the money on that one yourself.

DavidFollow the process, too. Whoever runs the investigation controls the story that comes out of it.

MayaOkay, speaking of who's controlling what, Jay Clayton just got confirmed.

DavidYep, Director of National Intelligence. CBS's Caitlin Yilek reports. Yilek reported his confirmation could unstick a surveillance tool that lapsed last month.

MayaWait, a Wall Street lawyer running intelligence? That's wild, right?

DavidI mean, he chaired the SEC under Trump's first term. Financial background, not spycraft.

MayaIs that the pattern with these picks? Business guys instead of career agency people?

DavidKind of, yeah. It signals Trump wants someone managing the bureaucracy, not just briefing him every morning.

MayaMakes sense.

DavidAnd that lapse tool actually matters. It's what agencies use to track threats, so letting it sit unused isn't nothing.

MayaBefore I forget, what's happening with the Attorney General pick, Todd Blanche?

DavidStill stuck, John Cornyn told The Hill there's no deal yet.

MayaOn what exactly?

DavidA $1.8 billion fund tied to what they're calling anti-weaponization efforts. Cornyn's line was, quote, they know what they have to do.

MayaSo this isn't Democrats blocking it, it's Republicans fighting Republicans.

DavidMoney and leverage inside their own conference. And speaking of senators under pressure, Governor Beshear is going after Mitch McConnell now. now.

MayaYeah, I saw this. The Washington Post has him demanding McConnell prove he can, quote, serve after that fall he had.

DavidI'll say this, a governor from the other party publicly calling for a senator's head is a little rich.

MayaEspecially when McConnell's office has been putting out staff updates. That's different from silence.

DavidRight, thin communication maybe, but not nothing.

MayaSo is this concern for McConnell's health or is it just an opening?

DavidNow let people draw their own conclusion on that one.

MayaFair.

DavidBut it says something about how fast the other side jumps on any sign of weakness up there.

MayaAll right, so from senators fighting on Capitol Hill to the White House itself, where the next meeting in the calendar involves a guy who just buried a colleague, and a leader staring down a tanker fire in the Red Sea. What's actually on the table when those two sit down? Netanyahu sat down with Trump today.

DavidRight, and NBC News had him also at Lindsey Graham's funeral while he was in town.

MayaThat's a lot of ground to cover in one visit. What's each guy actually trying to get out of the room?

DavidOne read is Israel wants continued military backing and Trump wants a Gaza deal he can point to. That's the trade being floated.

MayaAnd it's not happening in a vacuum. The New York Times reported the Houthis Hayes claimed another strike on a Saudi oil tanker.

DavidAnother one; and here's the part people miss: every hit like that raises insurance costs for ships moving through that lane.

MayaWhich trickles into?

DavidWhy, you pay at the pump, eventually. Follow the money: insurers call it a "war risk" premium, and once it's added, it doesn't come off fast.

MayaSwitching gears, Japan: search crews have been out through the night after that earthquake. Quake.

DavidYeah.

MayaBBC News says it was a magnitude six point eight that hit Kyushu Tuesday afternoon. People are still unaccounted for-a shopping mall, a collapsed factory.

DavidFamilies are still waiting outside the barricades for word.

MayaNo confirmation either way yet.

DavidRough one.

MayaDown in Peru, Keiko Fujimori got sworn in as president after a razor thin win.

DavidHow narrow are we talking?

MayaClose enough that the AP led with it. She's 51, Alberto Fujimori's daughter, and she's promising an iron fist on crime.

DavidThat's a specific promise to open with.

MayaAnd in France, wildfires tore through areas packed with tourists, people describing ash falling out of the sky as they ran for buses.

DavidActual ash, like falling on people?

MayaThat's how The Guardian described it. Hundreds of thousands evacuated between France and Spain. It's in Spain. Hotels emptied out overnight?

DavidThat's not a normal August.

MayaNo. Tankers getting hit, fires pushing families out of hotels. It's one of those weeks where the world costs more just to get through.

DavidSpeaking of things costing more, wait till you hear what Apple is asking people to do with their phone bill now.

MayaOh no, what now?

DavidWe'll get into it. Buying a phone outright might be on its way out.

MayaAlright, shifting gears, let's talk about your phone bill.

DavidSo Fox Business reported Apple's teaming up with Klarna to let you lease-an-iPhone or a Mac or a Watch.

MayaWait, lease? Like a car?

DavidBasically, you pay monthly and when you're done you can upgrade, buy it out, or just hand it back.

MayaHmm, that sounds like a nicer word for a payment plan.

DavidIt kind of is. Once you're leasing, you never actually own the phone. It's rent forever.

MayaSo instead of a thousand dollar phone, it's just another line on the credit card statement.

DavidExactly. People are already stretched thin. Add a car payment, add a phone payment, and it adds up fast.

MayaYeah, that's the part that worries me a little.

DavidSame. Read the fine print before you sign up for a subscription on your subscription.

MayaOkay, over to Hollywood because lawyers are busy too. The Hollywood Foreign Press is suing Penske Boehly and Todd Blanche. for $150 million.

DavidOver what?

MayaThe LA Times' Stacy Perman's byline says they're calling the 2023 Golden Globes sale a sham, fraud, monopoly, misuse of charity funds, the whole list.

David$150 million is not nothing.

MayaRight? And meanwhile, Ari Emanuel just wrote an op-ed for The Hollywood Reporter defending the Paramount-Warners deal.

DavidLet me guess he thinks the state attorneys general are wrong to fight it. Fight it.

MayaThat's basically his whole argument, yeah.

DavidOf course the guy running WME loves a mega merger.

MayaFair. Quick one too, Ariana Grande is suing the hackers who've been leaking her unreleased music for years, according to The Verge.

DavidGood for her, honestly.

MayaTotally. But the number I actually care about, Spider-Man: Brand New Day is tracking towards a $425 million global opening.

DavidThat's Sony's second best opening ever?

MayaDeadline says so. So say what you will about theaters, people still show up for the right movie.

DavidGuess we'll find out this weekend.

MayaOkay, that Biden tape thing still gets me, him just saying it, on record.

DavidYeah, that's the double standard question nobody in DC wants to answer honestly.

MayaRight. Anyway, that's the Rundown for today.

DavidOne takeaway: watch who gets the polite letter versus the FBI knock. Follow the money and the paperwork both.

MayaIf you liked the show, subscribe and leave us a review. It actually helps a ton.

DavidIt really does. Share it with a friend who needs their morning news fix, too.

MayaThanks for hanging out with us this morning.

DavidWe'll see you right back here tomorrow.