Good morning. In today’s edition:

• 🗣️ Recapping last night’s debate
• ✈️🔬 Airline rewards programs are under the federal microscope
• 🤔 Fyre Festival 2

… and more.

🚀⏰ Ready, Set, Go: Today’s news should be a ~4.99-minute read (1,329 words).

P.S. We had some technical problems with our website yesterday. Apologies for the issues. For those so inclined, you can read Monday’s Dose of Discussion poll results here.

+In the know: Today is the 23rd anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Remembering September 11, 2001.

“Every day may not be good, but there's something good in every day.”

–Unknown

Former President Trump and Vice President Harris squared off on the debate stage in Philadelphia last night, marking the first – and potentially only – time voters were able to compare the two candidates side-by-side.

The 90-minute event featured a heavy dose of policy contrasts, with both candidates laying out their competing visions for the economy, abortion, and immigration.

• Harris sharply criticized Trump for the state of the economy and democracy when he left office, and linked him to GOP efforts to restrict abortion access.
• Trump in turn largely criticized Harris over her role within the Biden administration and its failure to solve major issues like inflation and unauthorized immigration.
• Read a more in-depth recap here.

The debate came as Harris is widening her fundraising lead. Late last week, Harris’ campaign said it raised a combined $361 million in August across the Democratic National Committee and joint fundraising committees – nearly triple the $130 million combined haul reported by Trump’s campaign over the same period. The Harris campaign said it ended August with $404 million cash on hand, while Trump’s campaign reported $295 million.

Polling update: Most polling aggregators, which draw from surveys taken over the past several weeks, show Harris with a slight lead over former President Trump at the national level (ranging from +1.1% to +3.4%).

However, according to several newly published polls, Trump appears to have narrowed the gap or even taken a lead in recent days.

• NY Times/Siena College found Trump ahead of Harris by a 48%-47% margin among a national sample of voters, in a poll published Sunday.
• A new CBS News poll of three key battleground states – Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin – found the margin between Harris and Trump was 1% or tighter across all three.
• A Harvard CAPS-Harris survey published Monday showed Trump and Harris tied at 46% apiece among registered US voters.

Looking ahead… This month marks the official start of the 2024 election, with a handful of states scheduled to send out mail-in ballots and five states opening up in-person early voting. See your state’s early voting schedule here.

📊 Flash polls: In your opinion, how did last night’s debate affect the presidential campaigns of Donald Trump and Kamala Harris? (Pick one for each)

🔴 Trump:

• Helped his chances of victory
• Harmed his chances of victory
• Had no material impact on his chances

🔵 Harris:

• Helped her chances of victory
• Harmed her chances of victory
• Had no material impact on her chances

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🇳🇱 Netherlands-based Ocean Cleanup says it could clear the Great Pacific Garbage Patch within a decade. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is a mass of ~79,000 metric tons of trash (2x the size of Texas) floating between California and Hawaii, which researchers say is growing exponentially. Ocean Cleanup CEO Boyan Slat on Friday said his company recently developed technology to eliminate the patch by 2034 – but needs more funding to do so, with total costs estimated at $7.5 billion. Since launching in 2013, the Ocean Cleanup has removed ~10,000 metric tons of trash from oceans and rivers around the world.

🇺🇦🇷🇺 Ukraine launched an unprecedented drone attack on Moscow. Russian officials said they destroyed most of the 144 Ukrainian drones deployed across the country yesterday, including 14 in and around Moscow. The strike killed one Russian resident near Moscow and injured at least 12 others, marking the war's first death in the region. Separately, Russia launched its largest post-Soviet navy drills with China yesterday, involving 400+ warships, submarines, and other maritime vessels.

🇪🇺 Apple and Google lost separate major EU court cases yesterday. In Apple’s case, the EU’s top court upheld a 2016 decision that found Ireland had improperly granted Apple tax breaks worth ~$14.4 billion over a period of 20+ years. In its other major ruling, the EU’s top court upheld a $2.7 billion fine against Google for abusing its dominant position in search to favor the company’s comparison shopping service.

The Department of Transportation thinks airline frequent flyer programs aren't very fly. Last week, the DOT launched a probe into the rewards programs of American, Delta, Southwest, and United, America's four largest carriers.

Background: Frequent flyer programs used to be primarily based on the number of flights taken or miles flown with a particular airline. However, in recent years, rewards have been fueled by airlines selling frequent flyer miles to credit card companies and other travel partners, who in turn offer them as rewards to customers.

This practice currently accounts for ~40% of airline revenue. And nearly one out of every four US households has an airline credit card, per Airlines for America.

The case: The DOT is investigating how flyers are impacted by the devaluation of earned rewards, hidden and dynamic pricing, extra fees, and reduction in competition and choice.

• The DOT alleges airlines unfairly manipulate their rewards systems by adding blackout dates, points expiration, and refusals to honor certain rewards, along with continuously increasing the number of points needed for elite status or award redemptions.
• The lowest daily average price of US airline tickets purchased with points or miles was up 28% in March 2024 compared to March 2019 – outpacing inflation by 7%.

👀 Looking ahead… The DOT is giving airlines 90 days to submit all documents related to the probe, and hasn’t yet announced any potential penalties or actions.

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“[If] it’s done well, I think Fyre has a chance to be this annual festival that really takes over the festival industry.”

Maryland has crabcakes and football; Billy McFarland has hype and grilled cheese sandwiches. The convicted Fyre Festival fraudster revealed additional details about the event’s sequel in a new interview with NBC News.

Per McFarland, Fyre Fest 2 is scheduled for April 2025, this time on a yet-to-be-revealed privately owned island off Mexico. Tickets will reportedly range from $1,400–$1.1 million, with the most expensive packages including things like luxury yachts, scuba diving, and travel between islands.

• In August 2023, the first drop of 100 presale tickets for the festival (priced at $499 apiece) sold out within a day.
• McFarland told NBC he believes he’s learned from past mistakes. He says he’s hired a festival production company (but declined to reveal which one), and is taking a more professional approach this go ‘round.

But… The festival has zero musical artists booked so far. And Andy King, an OG Fyre Festival investor heavily featured in Netflix’s documentary on the subject, says he sees a “lot of red flags” with McFarland’s planned reboot.

🥪 Regardless of how it turns out, at least one thing isn’t changing: Cheese sandwiches will still be available for the festival’s attendees.

• ☝️ Tropical Storm Francine strengthened into a Category 1 hurricane last night in the Gulf of Mexico; Francine is projected to make landfall in Louisiana as a hurricane later today, bringing up to 12 inches of rain and potentially life-threatening storm surges.

BUSINESS & MARKETS

in partnership with JadeYoga

• 💰 US markets closed mixed (S&P: +0.5%; Dow: -0.2%; Nasdaq: +0.8%).
• 🏦 The Federal Reserve halved its proposed capital requirement rise for large US banks. | 📉 JPMorgan Chase shares fell 5% after the bank tempered its guidance for earnings from interest payments. | 📈 Bank of America raised its US minimum wage to $24/hour.
• ☕ New Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol outlined his priorities for the coffee chain in an open letter. | ✈️ Southwest Airlines chairman Gary Kelly will retire in 2025; six board directors will also step down; the changes come amid pressure from activist firm Elliott Management.

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SPORTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

• ⚖️ Sean “Diddy” Combs was ordered to pay $100 million to a man who accused him of a 1997 sexual assault after Combs failed to appear in court to contest the civil allegations; an attorney for Combs denied his client knows the accuser.
• 🎭 Peacock‘s follow-up to The Office – which has yet to receive a title – added three new cast members, bringing its running total to five.
• ⚽ The US Soccer Federation officially appointed Mauricio Pochettino as the USMNT’s new head coach; Pochettino was previously the head coach at Tottenham, Chelsea, and Paris Saint-Germain.

SCIENCE, SPACE & EMERGING TECH

in partnership with Caliber

• 🗣️🤖 Amazon invited some Audible narrators to train AI-generated clones of their voices, in exchange for royalties on the titles they allow their clones to narrate. | 🌐 Oracle announced a strategic partnership with Amazon Web Services.
• 🐟🦈 Researchers in Japan captured footage of Japanese eels escaping after being eaten by a predatory fish by traveling backwards through the animal’s digestive tract and gills; it marks the first known observation of such a behavior in nature.
• 🚀 SpaceX’s Polaris Dawn mission successfully launched US billionaire Jared Isaacman and three others into orbit early yesterday morning; its crew will attempt the first-ever private spacewalk at 2:23 am ET on Thursday, per SpaceX.

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MISCELLANEOUS

• ✈️💥 Two Delta airplanes collided while taxiing at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport yesterday; no injuries were reported, though both planes sustained damage.
• 🇮🇱 The Israel Defense Forces said it’s "highly likely" Israeli soldiers "indirectly and unintentionally" shot and killed a Turkish American citizen in the West Bank last week; the American was participating in a demonstration against Israeli settlements in the Palestinian territory.
• ⚖️🏥 Missouri’s Supreme Court ruled in favor of keeping a proposed abortion rights amendment to the state constitution on the ballot in November; the state is one of 10 across the country with an abortion-rights amendment on the ballot this year.

CLICKBAIT

• 😋💰 The Most Expensive Tasting Menus In America.

🎓🤑 Stat of the Day: If you’re looking to secure a major bag after graduating college, there’s no better school than the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, according to the 2025 Wall Street Journal/College Pulse rankings. The list, which examined income data 10-11 years after students entered college, found MIT graduates earn the highest median salary of any US university at that point in their careers ($133,793). Stanford and Princeton round out the top-three highest-earning schools, followed by Georgia Tech and UPenn. Overall, 36 of the top 50 spots belong to private universities.

🤔 Did You Know? Multiple studies have found an estimated 80%-90% of all US dollar bills in circulation contain cocaine residue. So maybe don’t let your dog sniff your wallet.

📰 Worth a Read: How the buildings you occupy might be affecting your brain → (Psyche)

Four year old Lyla was home alone with her mom, Leah, when the woman went into an epileptic fit. While Leah had told Lyla to call her grandmother if this ever happened, the toddler never actually had to put it to practice.

Lyla reached for her mom's phone, only to find it locked – so she quickly ran upstairs and asked Alexa to call for her. Soon enough, her grandma was on the way. 

"Leah was downstairs, so Lyla must have been weighing it up. In that situation, she would have wanted to stay with her mom but she thought, ‘right I have to leave my mom and go and get help," her grandma said after the fact. “I’m so proud of her. That must have been such a difficult decision for a four-year-old”.

• Lyla was awarded a trophy and "being amazing" certificate for her heroic deed 👆.

How it works: We provide an incorrect stat. Then you guess whether the actual number is over or under the given value.

1. 🦋 13: The length of the world’s largest butterfly wingspan, in inches
2. 🐜 1 million: How many ants exist on Earth for each human
3. 👅 5,000: Number of taste buds the average person has

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1. 🦋 Under; 11 inches
2. 🐜 Over; 2.5 million
3. 👅 Under; 2,000-4,000