00:00The wait is over. Los Angeles has its mayoral matchup. Karen Bass and Nithya Rahman are headed to November. Spencer
00:08Pratt is out.
00:09Plus, Apple is giving Siri a major AI upgrade, what your iPhone may soon be able to do for you.
00:16And the NBA Finals turn into a political sideshow. Trump shows up at the Garden, and the crowd lets him
00:23know what it thinks.
00:26The stories that matter, clear and credible, from across the country to around the world.
00:32These are your Unbiased Updates from Straight Arrow.
00:38Good morning, I'm Craig DeGrelli. We begin this morning with a major shakeup in Los Angeles politics.
00:44After trailing on election night, City Councilmember Nithya Rahman has surged into second place
00:49and locked up a spot in the November mayoral runoff.
00:53The turnaround happened as elections workers counted thousands of mail-in ballots in the days after last week's primary.
01:00Under California's election system, the top two finishers advanced to November, regardless of party.
01:06Rahman, a progressive City Councilmember, passed former reality TV personality Spencer Pratt over the weekend
01:13and expanded her lead in the latest count.
01:15Pratt had come in second on election night and quickly became a national political story,
01:21drawing attention from conservatives and President Trump.
01:24As Pratt's lead shrank, both he and Trump questioned the slow-moving count.
01:30Trump claimed, without evidence, the election was rigged,
01:33while elections officials noted that California routinely takes days to process mail-in ballots
01:38because there are so many of them,
01:40and California law allows them to be counted up to seven days after the election.
01:46Rahman will now face incumbent Mayor Karen Bass in November.
01:49Bass finished first in the primary but failed to win an outright majority,
01:54forcing the first mayoral runoff involving an incumbent Los Angeles mayor in more than two decades.
02:00A federal judge has struck down one of President Trump's biggest attempts to curb legal immigration.
02:06Ruling his $100,000 fee on skilled worker visas was illegal.
02:11The ruling targets a Trump policy announced last September that raised the cost of obtaining a new H-1B visa
02:19from a few thousand dollars to $100,000.
02:22The H-1B program is widely used by technology companies, hospitals, universities,
02:28and other employers to hire highly skilled foreign workers.
02:31A federal judge in Massachusetts ruled the administration exceeded its authority,
02:36finding the fee functioned as a tax that Congress never approved.
02:40A coalition of 20 states challenged the policy,
02:43arguing it would worsen shortages of workers in fields including health care, research, and education.
02:50Trump defended the fee when he announced it,
02:52saying it would encourage employers to hire more American workers.
02:56Judge Leo Sorokin rejected the administration's argument that the fee was simply a regulatory payment.
03:02The judge also pointed to a recent Supreme Court ruling that blocked Trump's tariff policy,
03:07writing that presidents cannot impose taxes or penalties without authorization from Congress.
03:13The White House says it will appeal.
03:15A spokesperson told Straight Arrow,
03:18President Trump has clear legal authority to restrict entry of any class of aliens he determines is not in America's
03:25best interests.
03:26And that is exactly what he did.
03:28President Trump is making it official he wants his former personal defense lawyer to run the Justice Department.
03:34The White House formally sent Todd Blanche's nomination to the Senate on Monday,
03:39seeking to make him attorney general permanently.
03:42Blanche has been serving as acting attorney general since Trump fired Pam Bondi in April.
03:47Before joining the administration, Blanche represented Trump in several high-profile criminal cases,
03:53including the New York business fraud trial.
03:55The president first signaled the move last week.
03:58Monday's filing makes it official and sets up a Senate confirmation battle.
04:02Some Republicans have already raised concerns.
04:06North Carolina Senator Tom Tillis has said he has not decided whether he will support Blanche
04:11and has suggested his vote could depend on how Blanche addresses January 6th.
04:16During his short tenure leading the department,
04:18Blanche has overseen a series of high-profile investigations and prosecutions,
04:23involving some of Trump's most prominent critics.
04:26That includes a case against former FBI Director James Comey
04:29over a social media post showing seashells arranged to read 8647.
04:35The Justice Department has also pursued cases involving former Cuban leader Raul Castro
04:40and other Trump adversaries.
04:42Blanche has defended the department's actions and says his priority is carrying out the president's agenda
04:48while focusing on crime, public safety, and stopping illegal immigration.
04:53The company that helped kick off the AI boom is taking its first step toward Wall Street.
04:59OpenAI has confidentially filed paperwork for an initial public offering,
05:04giving the company the option to go public after a review by federal regulators.
05:09The company announced the filing Monday, but made clear a stock market debut is not imminent.
05:15In a post on its website, OpenAI said it has not decided on timing
05:20and added that some of its plans may be easier to pursue as a private company.
05:25The move is the latest milestone for CEO Sam Altman's company,
05:30which helped push artificial intelligence into the mainstream with the launch of ChatGPT in 2022.
05:36It also comes just a week after rival Anthropic filed confidentially for its own IPO,
05:44setting up a race between two of the biggest names in AI.
05:47And the competition doesn't stop there.
05:50Elon Musk's SpaceX is also preparing to go public with OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google
05:56all listed as AI competitors in its filing.
06:00OpenAI is now valued at more than $850 billion,
06:03making it one of the most valuable private companies in the world.
06:08Similar topic now, Apple is making its biggest AI play yet,
06:13and it's betting a much smarter Siri can help it catch up to the competition.
06:18At its Worldwide Developers Conference, Apple revealed a major overhaul of Siri,
06:24turning the digital assistant into a more conversational AI tool
06:28that can handle complex tasks and work across apps and devices.
06:32Apple showed Siri researching concert tickets, helping plan events,
06:37finding information in emails and texts,
06:39and answering follow-up questions in a more natural way.
06:43The company is also weaving AI deeper into its software,
06:47adding new tools for search, photos, Safari, and other apps.
06:51At Apple, we believe privacy in AI is non-negotiable.
06:56Apple Intelligence uses on-device processing, as well as private cloud compute,
07:01which ensures your data is not stored or accessible to Apple or anyone else.
07:06Your data is only used to execute your request,
07:10and outside experts can continue to verify this promise at any time.
07:15Monday's event also carried extra significance for Apple.
07:19It was the final Worldwide Developers Conference for CEO Tim Cook,
07:23who is set to step down later this year after more than a decade leading the company.
07:27Apple says the new Siri AI will begin rolling out later this year.
07:32Investors appeared underwhelmed by the announcements,
07:35with shares falling during Monday's event as the company enters what some analysts are calling
07:40a prove-it phase for its AI strategy.
07:43Finally this morning, it was billed as the biggest sporting event in New York in decades.
07:49The New York Knicks hosting the San Antonio Spurs
07:51in a home game of the NBA Finals at Madison Square Garden.
07:56President Trump, as expected, attended the game.
07:59Security was extraordinarily tight.
08:01Fans were urged to arrive several hours early just to deal with a tremendous amount of security.
08:07Secret Service screened everybody entering the arena.
08:10The president, accompanied by his granddaughter,
08:12was seen saluting the flag from his seat in a suite.
08:15Many fans booed the president as he was shown on the Jumbotron during the National Anthem,
08:20although there was a smattering of cheers mixed in.
08:24At halftime, Trump, who was invited by Knicks owner James Dolan, headed down to the court.
08:29Fans with their cell phones took pictures and video of him.
08:32NBA Commissioner Adam Silver also stopped by for a conversation.
08:36As for the game itself, it wasn't a great night for the president's team.
08:40The Knicks fell to the Spurs 115-111, with Victor Wembenyama scoring 32 points.
08:46New York still leads the series two games to one,
08:49with Game 4 back at the Garden on Wednesday night.
08:52All right, before we head out, here's what we're tracking today.
08:54Voters head to the polls in Maine, Nevada, North Dakota, and South Carolina
08:58for primary elections that could shape key races this fall.
09:02At 11, First Lady Melania Trump honors winners
09:05of the Presidential Artificial Intelligence Challenge,
09:08recognizing some of the country's top young innovators.
09:12That same hour, NASA unveils its next Artemis crew
09:15and outlines plans for a mission focused on practicing key maneuvers
09:20needed for future lunar landings.
09:22At 1 Eastern, the Southern Baptist Convention opens its annual meeting in Orlando, Florida,
09:28bringing thousands of delegates together for two days of votes, debate, and policy decisions.
09:33At Straight Arrow, we give you facts first, the news straight.
09:37News Guard gives us a perfect score for reliability.
09:41All Sides gives us a center rating with balance certification.
09:44Unbiased Updates is the fastest, fairest few minutes in news.
09:48Watch anytime at san.com or on the app.
09:51You can also stream us on Spotify.
09:53Those are your Unbiased Updates for this Tuesday.
09:56We'll see you back here tomorrow.
09:57For all of us here at Straight Arrow, I'm Craig DeGrelli.
10:00Have a great day.
10:02Cheating Few
10:02We'll be upции
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