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Today’s top stories
President Biden got a hero’s welcome on the first night of the Democratic National Convention as he passed the torch to Vice President Harris. “I made a lot of mistakes in my career, but I gave my best to you for 50 years,” Biden told the cheering Chicago crowd that gave him a five-minute standing ovation. At the beginning, his attempts to speak were repeatedly drowned out by cheers and chants of “thank you, Joe.” Harris also made a surprise early appearance to praise Biden, whose speech was largely a reflection on his legislative accomplishments since taking office.
U.S. President Joe Biden speaks onstage during the first day of the Democratic National Convention at the United Center on August 19, 2024 in Chicago, Illinois.
Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
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Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
- 🎧 NPR’s Stephen Fowler tells Up First that night one of the DNC sent the message that it’s a new Democratic Party with Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz leading the way. Fowler says the president’s decision to step aside and endorse Harris to run against Trump could be historic. Among those who spoke, New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who hasn’t always seen eye-to-eye with the party establishment, took the stage. She thanked Harris and Walz for their vision, and Biden for his leadership.
- ➡️ Catch up with the DNC’s night one key speeches here.
- ➡️ Former President Donald Trump is currently doing a series of events in swing states covering issues such as national security and immigration.
Thousands of protestors marched in Chicago against Israel’s war in Gaza as the DNC kicked off yesterday. Chicago Police Superintendent Larry Snelling said the department had a respectful working relationship with protest leaders, and looked forward to supporting the marchers’ right of free speech without a problem.
- 🎧 Things were calm until a group of masked protestors tried to enter the DNC’s security perimeter. Protestors took down several sections of a fence and then called other protestors to follow them through, NPR’s Martin Kaste says. Police closed in on them from opposite ends and arrested a handful of people. Kaste found a long line of delegates and talked with some, but none of them had seen or heard any of the protests. More demonstrations are planned for the remaining three days of the DNC.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken says Israel has agreed to a ceasefire proposal for the war in Gaza. That announcement came after he met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyhu for three hours Monday in Jerusalem. After announcing Israel’s backing of the deal, Blinken called on Hamas to do the same. Netanyahu has not directly said he’s endorsing the new proposal presented last week in Doha.
- 🎧 NPR’s Kat Lonsdorf says we’ve seen this before – just because the U.S. says it has an agreement from Israel, it doesn’t mean Israel is actually committed. Netanyahu’s office did release a statement last night that didn’t mention agreeing to the proposal and instead focused on getting as many hostages out of Gaza alive as possible. Hamas put out a statement responding pretty negatively to the proposal, saying it caters to Netanyahu’s demands too much on several key sticking points, and they blame him fully for obstructing the deal. Egypt is expected to host the renewed cease-fire talks later this week. Qatar is where some Hamas officials are based, so it’s likely that Blinken will be there pushing for Hamas to sign off.
Deep dive
There are more than 4,600 hospitals in the U.S., and 49% of them are nonprofit and therefore tax-exempt. The CEOs of these nonprofit health systems now earn, on average, $1.3 million a year.
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Nearly half of U.S. hospitals are tax-exempt nonprofits, tasked with providing medical care to their communities. But despite their community-focused missions, the CEOs in charge of these nonprofits command annual paychecks that now top $1 million on average. Researchers found that the CEOs with the largest paychecks work at hospital systems with the biggest financial returns. The question this raises is whether the nonprofit medical systems achieving these profit margins are doing so at the expense of their mission, subverting the intended purpose of their tax-exempt status.
- 🏥 CEO compensation is set by the hospital’s board members. Many of the members work in for-profit sectors, meaning their professional experiences and perspectives are separate from the mission of nonprofit medicine.
- 🏥 Positive profit operating margins are what allows nonprofits to keep up with inflation, retain the best medical talent and balance treating insured patients with those who are underinsured or uninsured.
- 🏥 Tax breaks afforded to these nonprofits have allowed them to become hyper-competitive and this has led to a wave of mergers and acquisitions in the health care sector, said Ge Bai, a professor of health policy and management at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
- 🏥 Bai predicts that unless policymakers intervene, the consolidation will continue, driving down competition and leaving patients with fewer options and higher prices.
Today’s listen
The “Los Angeles League of Musicians” wants you to dance. LA LOM, as the band is known, released its debut album earlier this month. The trio of drums, bass and guitar plays a nostalgic, romanticized musical portrait of Los Angeles. Its tunes are like a time capsule that takes you back to the ‘50s and ‘60s.
3 things to know before you go
Emmy award-winning talk show host Phil Donahue.
Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images
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Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images
- Phil Donahue, the TV host hailed as the father of the modern audience-participation daytime talk show, died on Sunday. Donahue’s show, which was on air for about 26 years, tackled hot-button issues like racism and abortion. He was 88.
- Former Rep. George Santos pleaded guilty to wire fraud and identity theft charges in a Long Island federal courtroom yesterday. He is expected to face sentencing on Feb. 7 for a minimum of two years and a maximum of 22 years in prison. (via Gothamist)
- In 1989, Julia Weber was walking to a bus stop in downtown San Francisco when the sidewalk began to shake. Fear overtook her and she locked eyes with another commuter. They stepped toward each other, embraced and held on until the earthquake ended. Now, 35 years later, Weber still thinks of her unsung hero and her kindness in a frightening moment.
This newsletter was edited by Obed Manuel.
