A New Plan for Closer U.S.-Israel Military Cooperation, and the First mRNA Flu Vaccine

From the New York Times, it's the headlines. I'm Tracy Mumford, today's Thursday, August 6, here's what we're covering. On Capitol Hill, a controversial measure is working its way through Congress that would reshape America's relationship with Israel when it comes to military support. For years, the U.S. sent Israel $3.8 billion in annual military assistance, but that deal runs out in a couple of years. And some lawmakers who support Israel are worried that the chances of re-upping it are dwindling, as public support in the U.S. for that kind of arrangement is dropping sharply, following backlash to Israel's conduct in Gaza. Times, Sianna Polling, for example, found that among Republican voters aged 18 to 44, about two-thirds said the U.S. should not give more economic and military support to Israel. And in the House last month, nearly half of Democrats backed a measure that would have ended U.S. aid to the country. Facing that, a group of lawmakers has put forward a new proposal that would phase out the annual financial commitment and instead create a new office at the Pentagon that would be legally required to facilitate a U.S.-Israel defense industrial partnership, the kind of partnership that the U.S. already has with close allies like Britain and Australia. Supporters of the plan, including President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, say it's a way to collaborate on things like AI, missile defense, and cyber security. And for the U.S. to capitalize on Israeli defense and intelligence innovations. But critics say it would give Israel too much control of sensitive U.S. military matters, and that it could intertwine Israel's military with the Pentagon in ways that might be dangerous and difficult to unwind. Representative Thomas Massey of Kentucky, one of the few Republicans who have spoken out against the measure, called it a "betrayal of American sovereignty," and in an interview at the time, Senator Chris Van Hollen, a Democrat from Maryland, argued that the U.S. government could always choose to work with another country on a case-by-case basis. But that quote, "what sort of jaw-dropping about this is that it mandates it." One version of the plan passed the House last month, and is now waiting for action in the Senate. Today, the Senate Homeland Security Committee will vote on whether to hold Dr. Anthony Fauci, the country's former top infectious disease expert, in contempt of Congress, following a heated hearing last week in which he declined to answer any questions. Fauci invoked the Fifth Amendment, his constitutional right not to incriminate himself more than a hundred times in response to questions big and small, as Republican senators accused him of funding research that led to the coronavirus pandemic, something there's been no evidence of. Legal experts say that Fauci basically took a better safe than sorry approach, since going into the hearing, the committee's Republican chair had already repeatedly said he thought Fauci should be sent to prison. But Fauci's refusal to answer questions frustrated Republicans, and today, they're expected to argue that Fauci was not entitled to plead the Fifth, because President Biden gave him a pardon covering his work during the pandemic. Biden issued that pardon on his way out of office, saying he wanted to protect Fauci from Republicans who vowed to pursue him. Republicans are basically saying that because Fauci's protected by that pardon, he has no right to refuse their questions. If the contempt vote passes the committee today, the case could eventually be referred to federal prosecutors, and Fauci could face vines or up to a year in prison. Many legal scholars predict it won't get to that point, and one law school professor who's an expert on pardon power told the Times that if a court rules Fauci can't claim the Fifth, it would be a huge break in precedent. Quote, that would say you take the Fifth at your own risk of going to jail, and that turns the Fifth Amendment upside down. Yesterday, the Food and Drug Administration approved the first ever mRNA flu vaccine. mRNA is a molecule found in all human cells, and mRNA vaccines prompt the cells to make a tiny bit of a virus, which can then train the body's immune system. It was the technology used in COVID vaccines that were given to hundreds of millions of people, and now scientists believe it will let them develop new flu shots more quickly than traditional vaccines, which can take months to prepare. The head of the American Public Health Association said the mRNA vaccine will make it possible to rapidly adjust to emerging new strains, quote, "a capacity we have not had before." The flu remains a major public health challenge, which kills an estimated 300,000 people a year worldwide, according to the CDC. The new vaccine, which is made by the company Moderna, is expected to be ready for the upcoming flu season, and will be available to most Americans 50 or older. The FDA's approval marks a stark turnaround. Initially, the agency refused to even review Moderna's application, following moves by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to limit mRNA research. Their public outcry, the FDA reversed course. There's also been pushback against flu vaccines in general within the Trump administration. Earlier this year, the Pentagon lifted a decades-old flu shot requirement for troops, but that was reinstated after a major flu outbreak at an Air Force Base in Texas. I've been writing about the tax dodging strategies of the world's biggest companies for more than 20 years, and the new hotspot for big companies that want to hide their profits from the IRS is Malta. My colleague Jesse Drucker is an investigative reporter on the Times Business Desk. He went to Malta recently, a tiny chain of islands south of Italy. I went to several of the buildings that were listed as the headquarters that were claiming billions of dollars of profits for big U.S. multinationals, got buzzed into one building that claimed to be the headquarters of dozens of companies, and every office, court-on-quote office, was empty with the lights turned out. Another building I went to claimed to be the headquarters of Crocs. That was just two people, and this office claims all of Crocs' profits around the entire world. Jesse says that Malta has been a tax haven for decades, but it's become even more appealing in the past few years after the country delayed joining an international effort that would have put in place a global minimum corporate tax. Companies are piling in there. You can see in the records that Victoria's Secret and Kraft Hines and Pepsi are all setting up new shell companies in Malta so they can do strategies that are similar to what we're seeing with Crocs. Now what is also happening is that other countries look like they may soon follow Malta's lead. Places like Switzerland and Singapore may soon go the way of Malta of not taking part in this global crackdown. Jesse says that for its part, the U.S. had been making an effort to reign in tax dodging and made some progress under the Biden administration by signing on to that global minimum tax initiative, but on his first day back in office, President Trump withdrew the U.S. from that, essentially giving corporate America a huge gift. According to a Times analysis, the move has helped American companies avoid at least $40 billion in income taxes since the beginning of last year. And finally, so there's more products in there where last time I was here, there are some greeting cards, mugs, what is that? Dates? A couple months ago, my colleague Heather Knight, the San Francisco bureau chief, stopped by what's been billed as the world's first ever store run by AI. When you walk in, you really smell incense. Luna seems to be very big on incense. Not sure why we could go ask it. Essentially, an AI agent named Luna is running the show, choosing the products, doing the ordering, setting the prices, etc. The company behind the experiment is testing not just if it can make money, but also how AI does as a boss. The shop has human employees since AI can't unpack boxes or ward off shoplifters. So Heather recently went back to find out how that's been going a few months in. And apparently, AI is super nice as a boss, but there are some issues. The best way to describe it might be like working for a teddy bear with amnesia. But 27 times that employees have come in late, it has said no worries. It has also approved every single request for time off. Even if that's meant there's no one there to work and the shop has to close. One employee said she suggested Luna could up the store's social media presence to try and bring in more business, but the bot forgot its Instagram password for several weeks. It also keeps reordering products that aren't selling. Still, the co-founders of the operations say they're pleased that Luna has kept its friendly attitude, saying having happy employees could be one of the most important recipes for success. But also, so far, Luna has lost $62,000. Those are the headlines. Today on The Daily, how the cyclospora outbreak got so bad and why it's been so hard for authorities to get it under control. You can listen to that in the New York Times app or wherever you get your podcasts. And one last thing before we go, the Times just made a change to that app that gets you more access to our reporting even if you are not subscribed to the Times yet. When you download the Times app, you now get a free month of access. Totally free, 30 days, all the stories, you do not even have to put your credit card in. Download the Times app now to get started. I'm Tracy Mumford, we'll be back tomorrow with the latest and Friday news quiz.