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Joseph Zeballos-Roig: Cuba libre?
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While the Trump administration scrambles for an exit strategy in Iran, a second conflict that’s brewing just off southern Florida also lacks a clear endgame.
For the last four months, the administration has been turning up the pressure on the Cuban government with a fuel imports blockade that the United Nations warned has left the country on the edge of collapse.
Reports from the Caribbean island show a deteriorating quality of life that has grown more dire with every passing week. Blackouts are frequent and can last up to 12 hours a day in the capital, Havana.
No part of the island is immune from power outages, leading to delays in medical procedures and a virtual halt to public transportation. Even safe drinking water has become harder to access as aging pumping systems going offline from the lack of electricity. A carton of eggs now costs the same as a retiree’s monthly pension.
Living in Cuba means experiencing what author Leonardo Padura recently described as a “near-catatonic state.”
In a typical administration, the blockade would be at the center of a carefully orchestrated public campaign.
Read Joseph Zeballos-Roig’s analysis here.
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Should Stephen Colbert run for president?
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In an interview with former President Barack Obama, late-night host Stephen Colbert joked about running for president. Obama jokingly responded that “the bar has changed” but noted that was not an endorsement.
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Here are some more highlights of the president’s actions over the past seven days:
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- Saw his family business sign an agreement with Palm Beach County over profits from merchandise sold at the new Trump International Airport
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- Labeled Democrats as “human garbage” just a week after the White House blamed heated political rhetoric for an assassination attempt
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The news can feel overwhelming. But each week, we pause to highlight a person, organization or movement sticking up for their principles or their fellow Americans. This week’s challengers were Republican state senators in Indiana.
The president has made no secret of the fact that he wants Republican-led states to gerrymander as much as possible ahead of the November midterm elections. But while states such as Texas and Florida followed through, state lawmakers in Indiana blocked an attempt to redistrict there. Their reasons: it would damage trust in the state’s institutions, distract from more important priorities and could backfire if Democrats surged in November. They also pushed back against Trump himself, with Sen. Spencer Deery saying the president should not have threatened Indiana over the issue and Sen. Mike Bohacek, who has a daughter with Down syndrome, saying he objected to Trump’s use of an ableist slur. Trump endorsed primary opponents to seven senators, and on Tuesday, at least five of them lost. (Bohacek won, while Deery’s race has not yet been called.) Of all the challengers featured in this space, these state senators were among those who had the most to lose — and some of them did. Read more.
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On Tuesdays, you can expect to receive a special edition of the Project 47 newsletter dedicated to covering the biggest issues shaping key races in the midterm elections. If you would prefer to opt out of the special midterms edition of the newsletter, click here and you will automatically be removed.
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These days, we hear a lot about the “K-shaped economy,” where high-income consumers keep spending despite higher prices while low-income earners spend less as they struggle to get by. And then there are the CEOs, who are in a category of their own. From 2024 to 2005, the earnings for 384 CEOs in the S&P 500 rose 25.6%, according to a new report from the International Trade Union Confederation and Oxfam. During that same period, the groups calculated that average hourly earnings for private sector employees rose 1.3% after inflation. Meanwhile, a record number of Americans have said their financial situation is getting worse, gasoline is now more than $4.50 a gallon on average and inflation is heading in the wrong direction. Affordability is a leading political issue, but not for those leading our businesses.
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— Stephanie Ruhle, host of “The 11th Hour”
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Sign up for The Tea, Morning Joe’s signature afternoon digest. Get Joe Scarborough’s takes on the day’s headlines, conversations with Morning Joe’s roster of lawmakers, reporters, strategists, authors and, for the first time, a direct line to all of them to ask your questions and leave your comments. Subscribe at ms.now/morningjoenewsletter.
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