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- Bucks in 6: Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks got the last laugh. The Bucks overcame a 2-0 NBA Finals deficit, clinching their title last night with a Game 6 win over the Phoenix Suns. This is the team's first championship since 1971.
Here's what we're talking about:
- Millennials and Gen Z will bring down the GOP – if Democrats don't screw it up
- US life expectancy fell by its most since World War II, mostly thanks to COVID-19
- 3 things to know about Tom Barrack, the latest Trump ally to face criminal charges
What we're watching today: The Senate is expected to hold a procedural vote on a bipartisan infrastructure agreement later today. It's most likely destined to fail.
1. AN AGE-OLD PROBLEM: Younger voters pose a genuine existential threat to Republicans. Millennials and Gen Zers are voting for Democrats by much larger margins than previous generations. But the generational crisis hasn't fully hit the GOP yet.
My colleague talked to top strategists on both sides of the aisle on what's to come:
The boom is about to bust: 2020 was the last election in which baby boomers will make up a plurality of the electorate. Millennials and Gen Zers are expected to make up 44% of eligible voters in 2024. The larger shift will only accelerate from there.
- "Obama was not just a blip," said Kristen Soltis Anderson, a GOP pollster. She said fellow Republican strategists felt the party's struggles with young voters would end once President Barack Obama left office. But instead, President Donald Trump only deepened the age divide.
Demographics aren't always destiny: President Joe Biden won a smaller share of voters of color than Hillary Clinton did in 2016. Latino voters swung to Trump by 8 points. It's certainly possible that Republicans could flip the narrative here too.
- But experts aren't so sure: They point out that unlike some previous generations, millennials aren't warming up to the GOP as they grow older. The one big unknown remains an unforeseen event that could dramatically alter American politics.
Read why strategists say getting serious about the climate crisis could be the GOP's only hope.
2. Trump aides are getting booted from the federal payroll today. But he's still getting taxpayer money: In all, Trump's transition staff of at least 17 people was expected to receive about $1.3 million in federal salary and benefits from January 20 to today. Trump can still use taxpayer money to cover staff, but he'll get progressively less over time. More on the trappings of ex-presidents that Trump now gets, including a six-figure pension.
3. Recapping Jeff Bezos' journey into space: The richest man on Earth briefly left the planet aboard a New Shepard rocket designed and built by Blue Origin, the spaceflight company he founded in 2000. Bezos quickly said he would be down for a return journey. And Blue Origin is looking to cash in on others who want to join an elite group of travelers.
- Not everyone is celebrating: Bezos thanked Amazon customers and employees for making the journey possible. For some, the feeling isn't mutual.
Watch: We decoded how Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson got to space
4. US life expectancy fell by its most since World War II: Life expectancy fell by a year and a half in 2020, mostly a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. More than 600,000 people in the US have died from the virus, with nearly two-thirds of those deaths recorded in 2020. Hispanic Americans had the most drastic drop in life expectancy of any ethnicity, dropping three years. More on the grim statistics here.
5. Three things to know about Tom Barrack, the latest Trump ally to face criminal charges: Prosecutors allege that Barrack was illegally lobbying on behalf of the United Arab Emirates. He's accused of inserting language praising the UAE into a Trump campaign speech, pushing for a lawmaker viewed as favorable to the UAE to become an ambassador, and once heaping praise on a key official in an email by writing that he had "nailed it ... for the home team." Barrack denies any wrongdoing. More on how Barrack met Trump, including their reported partying with Jeffrey Epstein.
- Eye-popping stat: Eight Trump campaign or administration officials have faced federal criminal indictments. A recap of every charge thus far.
6. Want to know what Amazon, Google, Disney, JPMorgan, and other top companies pay? Insider's new searchable salary database gives you access to salary disclosures from more than 250 firms. Search by company or job title here.
7. Markets recovered after Wall Street's terrible day: Stocks staged a comeback Tuesday after a harsh sell-off the previous day, with the Dow rebounding 550 points as investors bought the dip and bet on the continued strength of the economic recovery. Here's where things stood after the market closed. | Why JPMorgan is preaching patience with the economic recovery.
And here are the top 15 meme stocks this week on Reddit: Here's what else traders want to take to the moon.
8. French President Emmanuel Macron's number was reportedly on a list for possible surveillance: Phone numbers for Macron, two other presidents, 10 prime ministers, and one king were all listed in a leaked database for an Israeli spyware firm, The Washington Post reports. The company that owns the program, NSO Group, denied that Macron was ever the "target" of any of its customers in the "Pegasus" program. The Post and journalists around the world have illustrated how spyware allowed governments to snoop on journalists and silence dissidents. More on what it means for some of the most powerful leaders to be in this database.
9. Caitlyn Jenner's tax returns show her income has slid over the years: Jenner's tax returns from 2016 to 2019 show that her income has fallen to a fifth of what she earned in 2016, when she had her own reality-TV show. More on how the California gubernatorial candidate is nowhere near as rich as people think she is.
Drew Angerer/Getty Images
10. Tom Brady trolled Trump at the White House: Brady, a former Trump golf partner, poked fun at the former president's inability to accept his election defeat. During the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' visit to the White House to celebrate their Super Bowl championship, Brady joked to Biden: "I think about 40% of the people still don't think we won. You understand that, Mr. President?"
Today's trivia question: How did Amazon honor its first customer? Email your guess and a suggested question to me at [email protected].
- Yesterday's answer: Neil Armstrong brought pieces of the Wright brothers' plane with him on the historic moon landing. Bringing historic mementos into space appears to be a lasting tradition. Bezos brought a different Wright-brothers plane piece, Amelia Earhart's goggles, and other priceless aviation artifacts with him on the anniversary of Apollo 11's landing.