Georgia Runoffs, World Cup Goals, and a Growing Ebola Crisis

MayaGood morning and welcome to the morning Rundown. I'm here with David and okay, we packed a lot in today's show.

DavidYeah, no kidding. Like, where do we even start?

MayaElection night first. Georgia held Republican runoffs and the results were mixed, to put it mildly. Trump's endorsement went two different directions in the same state.

DavidSplit ticket. One win, one upset. And it's got real implications for November.

MayaWe'll get into all of it. But then, okay, this is the part I was not ready for this morning. The World Cup is happening!

DavidMessi hat-trick already day one.

MayaI mean, come on! And Mbappé breaking France's all-time scoring record in the same night?

DavidWild night for soccer fans. We've also got the Obama Presidential Center opening concert. Springsteen, Bono, Stevie Wonder.

MayaNot a bad lineup.

DavidNot bad at all.

MayaAnd then we get to the heavier stuff. Africa CDC is warning the Ebola outbreak in Congo could be the worst in history. The UN Secretary General visited Haiti amid gang violence that has... That has displaced over one in ten people.

DavidAnd Trump at the G7 telling world leaders, quote, I'm the boss, signed a joint declaration backing Ukraine anyway.

MayaA lot to get through. Georgia's up first. So Georgia voters showed up Tuesday night, and the results were messy, like complicated in ways that matter.

DavidWhich is actually kind of interesting if you're watching how much sway Trump has over his own party right now.

MayaRight, so CNN called it Mike Collins wins the Georgia Senate primary, Trump backed him, Collins advances. That's a win.

DavidIt is, but the governor's race tells a different story. Rick Jackson, billionaire, self-funded, he beat Trump's preferred candidate. The Washington Post had that one wrapped up pretty early.

MayaWait, so Trump's pick for governor actually lost?

DavidYeah. Jackson outspent him, ran his own operation, didn't need the endorsement to close the deal. That's the part worth paying attention to.

MayaI mean, that's wild, right? Because in most Southern primaries, a Trump endorsement is basically the finish line.

DavidUsually. And look, Al Jazeera flagged this too. Trump-backed candidates had a rough night overall across multiple states. States, but I'd push back on calling it a rebuke. Georgia's just Georgia. It's always been more complicated than Alabama or Oklahoma.

MayaSpeaking of Alabama, that one went smoother for Trump's side?

DavidMuch smoother. NBC News projects Barry Moore wins the Alabama Senate runoff, defeated former Navy SEAL Jared Hudson. Moore now advances to the general to succeed Tommy Tuberville.

MayaAnd Moore had Trump's endorsement going in.

DavidHe did. So you've got a clean win in Alabama, a split night in Georgia.

MayaMm

DavidThe

Maya-hmm.

Davidendorsement still moves votes, it's just not automatic everywhere.

MayaSo what does this actually mean for, like, a regular Georgia Republican voter? looking voter. Do they feel like Trump lost ground?

DavidHmm, I don't think so. Collins winning the Senate seat is significant. That's a federal race with real implications. The governor's thing, Jackson ran a strong campaign with serious money. That's not voters rejecting Trump, that's voters picking the better funded candidate.

MayaRight. And money matters, especially in a runoff when turnout is low.

DavidExactly. Follow the money, and a lot of it was behind Jackson before Trump even weighed in.

MayaSo the read here, and tell me if you disagree, is that Trump's influence is still strong, but it's not a blank check anymore. Candidates still have to run actual campaigns.

DavidYeah, I'd say that's fair. The endorsement opens doors it doesn't guarantee the house.

MayaThat's a good way to put it.

DavidAnd the other thing, these are primaries. The general election is where Georgia actually gets competitive. Democrats are going to spend serious resources there in the fall.

MayaSo Republicans can't just coast on a Trump endorsement when the whole When the whole state is voting, not just the primary base.

DavidRight. Primary electorates are more loyal. General electorates are messier. And Georgia proved in 2020 and 2022 that it swings.

MayaThat tracks. So heading into the fall, the GOP has wins to celebrate, but also some questions about which candidates can actually expand beyond the base.

DavidAnd that's the real test. Collins more, they advanced. Now they have to win in November in states that aren't automatic. dramatic.

MayaAnd all of this is happening while Trump is at the G7 doing Trump things. I'm the boss, apparently.

DavidReuters had that quote. He actually said it to other world leaders.

MayaI mean, subtlety has never really been the brand.

DavidNo. But back home, his candidates are having to prove they can win on their own. That tension is going to define the next five months.

MayaOK, so Georgia is a mixed bag, Alabama solidly Trump country, and the GOP heads into fall with some momentum, but not a clean sweep.

DavidThat's the Tuesday night summary.

MayaAll right, you know what, though? Not everything from last night was complicated political math. math. Some of Tuesday's results were a lot more fun to watch.

DavidYou're talking about what's happening on the pitch.

MayaAnd the score lines were way more satisfying than the primary returns. So who had the bigger night? Okay, shifting gears completely because I need to talk about what happened on the pitch last night.

DavidPlease, yes, let's do this.

MayaMessi hat-trick, Argentina over Algeria 3-0. The defending champs looked locked in.

DavidI mean, come on, the guy is 30-something years old and he's still doing this.

MayaThirty-eight, technically, and yeah, Al Jazeera covered the match, Argentina looked sharp from minute one. no rust.

DavidWhat struck me was the Algeria match-up specifically. That's not a pushover group opener, and Argentina just handled it.

MayaTotally. So now the whole conversation is, are we watching a messy farewell tour, or is this actually a title run?

DavidTitle run. Watch the tape.

MayaOkay, okay. And then on the other side of the bracket, David, Mbappé.

DavidOh, this was something. Reuters confirmed it this morning. Mbappé is now France's all-time leading scorer. Two goals against Senegal. France wins 3-1.

MayaWait, all time? Like, he broke the record in a World Cup group stage game?

DavidGroup stage against Senegal. Reuters had the numbers. That goal total pushed him past the previous

Mayarecord Wow.

Davidin a World Cup on day one for France.

MayaThat's wild, right? Like he just dropped that casually.

DavidThough France gave up a goal, which I think gets overlooked. Overlooked, three one sounds comfortable but Senegal made them work.

Speaker 3Fair point.

MayaSo now everybody's doing the math. Argentina versus France at some point down the line, Messi versus Mbappé, round three essentially.

DavidNo pressure on the tournament or anything.

MayaRight? And look, this World Cup is being played across North America, in our backyard, so the energy is just... Different. The crowds, the atmosphere.

DavidYeah, there's something about it being here makes it feel bigger, I think.

MayaOkay, quick culture note before we move on. The Obama Presidential Center is opening and Rolling Stone reported the concert lineup. Bruce Springsteen, Bono, The Edge, Stevie Wonder.

DavidThat's not a concert, that's a Hall of Fame induction ceremony.

MayaRight? I mean, that's a stacked bill. Anyway, fun moment.

DavidGood timing with everything else going on in the world.

MayaSpeaking of which, and I don't want to kill the vibe too fast, but there are some really serious stories we need to get into.

DavidYeah, Congo, Haiti, the G7, some heavy stuff.

MayaThe contrast is kind of striking, honestly. Stadiums full, celebrations everywhere, and at the same time, the Africa CDC is warning that the Ebola outbreak in Congo could be the worst in history.

DavidThat's not a small statement. We'll get into what's driving that and why this one is harder to contain. to contain.

MayaPlus, the UN chief just touched down in Haiti, and Trump had a moment at the G7 that, let's just say it was on brand.

DavidYeah, I'm the boss. Yeah, we've got that.

MayaAll of that right after this. Okay, shifting to something a lot heavier now. David, the Ebola situation in Congo.

DavidYeah, Africa CDC put out a warning this week that should be getting more attention. The DRC outbreak could be the worst in history.

MayaWorst ever? Like worse than the 2014 West Africa outbreak?

DavidThat's the scale they're talking about. Al Jazeera reported the confirmed case count has already hit 837 with 196 deaths. Yes, but the number that really jumps out is the contact tracing problem.

MayaWhat's the issue there?

DavidAfrica CDC said tens of thousands of contacts of sick patients

MayaWow.

Davidhaven't been traced. That's the containment failure. You can't stop what you can't track.

MayaAnd this is in eastern Congo, which isn't exactly a stable, easy-to-reach area.

DavidExactly. Active conflict zones, limited infrastructure, every previous Ebola response leaned heavily on contact tracing teams moving freely. moving freely. That's not happening here.

MayaThat's a real problem.

DavidIt is, and the world means to be paying attention to this one.

MayaAll right. Then there's Haiti. The UN Secretary-General Guterres visited Port-au-Prince yesterday. AP News reported this. Over 2,300 people killed so far this year. More than one in ten Haitians are homeless because of gang violence.

DavidOne in ten.

MayaOne in ten. And the Cabinet Director of the Defense Ministry was among was among those kidnapped. This isn't background noise. This is a country coming apart.

DavidThe new international security force deploying there gives some hope, but we've seen international missions in Haiti before. The results have been mixed, to put it charitably.

MayaRight. So whether this one is different, that's the open question.

DavidFollow the deployment, not just the announcement.

MayaYeah. Okay, and then the G7, Trump and Evian, and he says something pretty on brand.

DavidI'm the boss." Reuters had that direct quote.

MayaI mean, is anyone surprised?

DavidNo, but what matters more than the quote is what came out of the summit. Politico reported that Trump actually signed the G7 joint declaration backing Ukraine and committing to tighter Russia sanctions. That's a real outcome.

MayaSo the brash style but the substance landed where allies needed it to.

DavidThat's how I read it, and The Washington Post noted he's now signaling he may reimpose Russia sanctions. Those Russian oil sanctions, that's not nothing.

MayaFor a summit that could have gone sideways, that's actually a fairly strong result.

DavidAgreed. The posturing gets the headlines. The joint declaration is what Ukraine's government is actually watching.

MayaThree big stories, Congo, Haiti, G7, and all of them are about what happens when institutions either hold or fall apart under pressure.

DavidYeah, some days the news is just loud. Today, it's actually consequential.

MayaWe'll keep watching all of it. All right, that's the rundown. Big day, primaries, World Cup drama, and honestly, some pretty heavy global headlines.

DavidYeah, and I think the threat running through it all is that things don't always go the way you expect. Georgia is a perfect example. Split results, money matters, and the endorsement isn't a guaranteed win.

MayaThat tracks. And then Messi and Mbappé both showing out on day one? I mean, that collision course is going to be something.

DavidCan't wait.

MayaIf you got something out of today's episode, subscribe and leave us a review. It genuinely helps.

DavidWe'll be back tomorrow with more. Thanks for listening.

MayaAnd that's the Rundown.