Tuesday, July 7th, 2026 - USMNT Eliminated, Platner Sexual Assault Allegation, DOJ Leaked Its Own Sealed Report

Today's Headlines: The US lost to Belgium 4-1 in the World Cup Round of 16 despite Trump personally calling FIFA to get Balogun's red card suspension reversed, which worked, and Belgium won anyway — so the meddling was both successful and pointless. On the election beat, Graham Platner, who won Maine's Democratic Senate primary a few weeks ago despite a Nazi tattoo is now facing a heavily corroborated sexual assault allegation so severe that nearly every major backer including Hasan Piker and Ro Khanna immediately called for him to drop out — Democrats have until July 27th to find a replacement if he exits by July 13th, which they should probably get moving on since Maine is a must-win Senate seat. In other news, Trump is headed to the NATO summit in Turkey this week, which he only agreed to attend because it's hosted by Erdogan, one of his last real NATO allies, with Netanyahu already lobbying him ahead of arrival to rein in Erdogan's anti-Israel rhetoric. Trump also rang the stock market opening bell from the Oval Office to celebrate the launch of Trump Savings Accounts, which devolved into rants about crypto, Biden, and World Cup red cards, and the preliminary hearing for Tyler Robinson — the man accused of killing Charlie Kirk last September — began yesterday in Utah, with Erika Kirk, Charlie Kirk's parents, Donald Trump Jr., and Jack Posobiec all in the courtroom. Meanwhile, the DOJ accidentally sent the sealed second volume of Jack Smith's classified documents report — the one Trump has spent over a year keeping hidden — to the defense lawyers of the former prosecutor currently being prosecuted for leaking that exact report, and the only reason it's still secret is because her lawyers were more careful with it than the government was. On AI, Meta's AI safety strategy involves paying adults to pretend to be teenagers and feed suicide and sex prompts to competitor chatbots, which they describe as "comprehensive AI safety benchmarking," and OpenAI is reportedly offering the US government a 5% stake in the company. Finally, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei's funeral drew over a million people this week while his son and successor Mojtaba — wounded in the airstrike that killed his father — didn't attend any of the ceremonies. It’s giving Mitch energy. Resources/Articles mentioned: Yahoo Sports: USA vs. Belgium score, World Cup live updates: U.S. looks to mount comeback as Christian Pulisic is subbed out in second half Politico: Exclusive: Woman who dated Graham Platner says he sexually assaulted her Axios: Scoop: Netanyahu asks Trump to rein in Erdoğan ahead of NATO summit WaPo: After America’s 250th, Trump will test how far he can push NATO allies PBS News: WATCH: Trump officially launches Trump Accounts for kids, ringing Wall Street opening bell Financial Times: OpenAI proposes handing Trump administration 5% stake  WIRED: Meta Contractors Posed as Teens to Prompt Rival Chatbots About Suicide, Sex, and Drugs  TNR: DOJ Accidentally Gives Jack Smith Report to Person They’re Suing AP News: Prosecutors argue the man accused of killing Charlie Kirk should stand trial AP News:Mourners throng funeral procession in Tehran for Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei Subscribe to the Betches News Room and join the Morning Announcements group chat. Go to: betchesnews.substack.com Morning Announcements is produced by Sami Sage and edited by Grace Hernandez-Johnson Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices