Plus: Columbia's $200M Settlement With Trump & Ghislaine Maxwell Questioned By DOJ

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Good afternoon,

The Devil Wears Prada 2 is filming in New York City, and one of the film shoots this week is taking place right across the street from our Industrious office in Midtown Manhattan. (Project name: Cerulean. If you know, you know.)

The film is a sequel to the 2006 comedy about a beleaguered assistant struggling to keep up with the demands of the editor-in-chief of fashion magazine Runway.
- The film is based on the 2003 novel of the same name, written by Anna Wintour’s former assistant at Vogue.
Most of the main cast is returning 19 years later, including Anne Hathaway as protagonist Andrea Sachs and Meryl Streep as the iconic, but cruel editor Miranda Priestly.

After work, I camped outside 1221 Avenue of the Americas to see Anne Hathaway or Meryl Streep exit the building where they were filming. I didn’t snag a picture of any stars, but I made some fashionable, film-loving friends in the crowd.

But, it is another reason to work out of Industrious, the co-working space with hundreds of locations across the country that Mo News calls home!

Sam,
Associate Producer

Industrious is where you want to work

Industrious is the elevated office experience any kind of worker deserves — from the solo'preneurs with WFH fatigue, to the small business looking to expand into their first private suite, to the enterprise-level darling with a worldwide network. Industrious is the best coworking and member experience, period.

Alongside our pals at Mo News, we’re offering listeners (that’s you) 30% off your first Day Pass! Bookable at any location, Day Passes get you access to all Coworking amenities so you can utilize Industrious as a place to focus, a place to gather, or a place to get your best work done.

Use code MONEWS30 when booking a Day Pass or Meeting Room

🚨 ONE IMPORTANT THING

Gaza Facing Man-Made 'Mass Starvation', WHO & Aid Groups Warn; Israel Blames UN & Hamas

Gaza residents are suffering from man-made mass starvation caused by Israel's restrictions on aid, the World Health Organization (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Wednesday — an assessment echoed by more than 100 humanitarian organizations.

Israel is pushing back, acknowledging a “lack of food security inside Gaza,” but calling aid agencies’ claims “Hamas propaganda” and arguing that the UN is failing to distribute hundreds of truckloads of available aid sitting on the border.

DIRE NEED, NOWHERE TO GO
The WHO reports at least 21 children have died from malnutrition so far this year, though warns that the figure is likely to rise. The UN World Food Program says one in three people in Gaza go multiple days without eating.

“It’s man-made, and that’s very clear,” Tedros said from Geneva. “This is because of the blockade.”
- The blockade: Israel cut off all supplies to Gaza in March, only partially lifting the blockade in May. Israeli officials are blaming Hamas, which governs Gaza, for stealing aid and selling some back to Palestinians in need. They say aid creates a lifeline for the terror group, which Israel has vowed to destroy following the October 7, 2023, attacks.
  - Israel has vowed to continue the war until Hamas surrenders and returns the 50 Israeli hostages, about 20 of whom are believed to be alive, who it has been holding for nearly 2 years.
- Israel adds that over 4,500 aid trucks have entered Gaza since May, with hundreds more waiting for the UN at the border. Still, the current flow is far below the 500–600 daily trucks the UN says are needed.

The few locations where Palestinians can now access first-come, first-served aid are in military zones run by U.S. security contractors working on behalf of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. Hamas-run health authorities claim more than 1,000 people have been shot and killed while trying to obtain aid, though there are conflicting reports about whether Hamas or Israeli forces are responsible.

The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry said Wednesday that 10 people died of starvation in the past 24 hours, bringing the total reported hunger deaths to 111 since the war began. Obtaining accurate figures remains difficult, as Israel has blocked Western journalists from accessing the enclave.

Israel and the U.S. withdrew Thursday from ceasefire negotiations with Hamas due to the group’s newest demands.

🚨 ONE THING THAT COULD HAVE BIG IMPLICATIONS

Columbia University Settles $221M Antisemitism Probe With Trump Administration

Columbia University will pay $221 million to settle a federal probe into antisemitic harassment on campus. It is the first of such settlements and could set a precedent for other schools that President Trump has scrutinized, including Harvard.

Columbia says it will maintain academic freedom — including decisions on admission, hiring, and academic content — which was key to its negotiations. But it will share data on admitted and rejected students broken down by race, grade point average, and standardized test scores — after the White House argued the school has discriminated based on race and religion.
- The Supreme Court ruled against affirmative action in college admissions in 2023.

Rewind: In the spring, the Trump administration canceled around $400 million of federal grants and contracts to Columbia, with an additional $1.2 billion in future research funding likely threatened. Months later, the administration’s federal Title VI investigation concluded that Columbia acted with “deliberate indifference” toward harassment of Jewish students and staff by failing to prevent vandalism, enforce protest rules, protect Jewish students’ access to classes, or respond meaningfully to complaints.

WHAT’S INSIDE THE SETTLEMENT
Columbia will pay $200 million to the government over three years, plus $21 million to Jewish employees who faced discrimination. The university will also be subject to independent monitoring. Columbia did not admit to any wrongdoing.

Why settle? Like many legal settlements, the agreement is likely meant to avoid a costly court battle which could have revealed negative details about the school.
- A congressional committee investigating antisemitism on college campuses recently released texts showing Columbia’s acting president, Claire Shipman, criticizing a Jewish trustee who was outspoken about treatment of Jewish students on campus. Shipman has since apologized. In 2024, three university administrators were put on leave after their alleged texts were released.

Who’s next? The case raises broader questions about elite institutions — from universities and law firms to media companies like CBS and ABC — and the calculations they are making to appease the Trump administration as it aims to shake up the status quo.

Here’s what Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, a top Democratic contender for the 2028 presidential election, had to say about that:

🎧 Catch our full conversation with Pete Buttigieg on the Mo News podcast — available first to the Mo News Premium community TODAY. Join here!

🚨 ONE THING WE’RE WATCHING

DOJ Questions Ghislaine Maxwell; Officials Warned Trump That His Name Is In Epstein’s Files

Federal prosecutors seeking new information in the Jeffrey Epstein case spoke Thursday with his former girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year prison sentence for aiding Epstein’s sex trafficking operation.

The day before, the House Oversight Committee issued a subpoena to depose Maxwell on August 11.
There is no telling whether the public will ever hear what Maxwell shares with Justice Department officials, or if what she says will be credible.

The Wall Street Journal also reported that a senior DOJ official told President Trump in May that his name appears multiple times in the Epstein files.

WHAT’S INSIDE THE FILES?
The files reportedly include unverified hearsay about hundreds of people, including Trump, who had socialized with Epstein in the past. Being mentioned in the records is not necessarily an indication of wrongdoing.

The DOJ official who informed Trump said they do not plan to release any more documents related to the investigation of the convicted sex offender, as the files contain child pornography and victims’ personal information. Trump said he would defer to the Justice Department’s decisions.
- After blowback from the joint statement by the DOJ and FBI earlier this month — which said that Epstein died by suicide in a New York jail cell in 2019 and that there was no “client list” — and last week’s Wall Street Journal report accusing Trump of writing Epstein a provocative 50th birthday card, Trump instructed Attorney General Pam Bondi to ask a judge to release grand jury transcripts from an investigation into Epstein. On Wednesday, the federal judge denied the DOJ’s request.

⏳ SPEED READ

🚨NATION

Appeals court finds Trump’s effort to end birthright citizenship unconstitutional (POLITICO)
Man accused of attempting to assassinate Trump can represent himself at trial, judge says (NBC)
Trump says he wants Elon Musk to 'thrive' after suggesting DOGE could investigate him (FOX)
US government is building a 5,000-person immigrant detention camp in west Texas (AP)
Trump administration sues NYC over "sanctuary city" policies (AXIOS)

🌎 AROUND THE WORLD

Thailand launches airstrikes on Cambodian military targets as deadly border dispute escalates (CNN)
Israel, Ukraine set to deepen defense cooperation, Kyiv's FM says (JERUSALEM POST) Israeli Heritage Minister says country will resettle Gaza, make it Jewish (TIMES OF ISRAEL)
French President Macron says France will recognize Palestine as a state (AP)
Plane crash in Russia's Far East leaves 48 dead (FOX)

📱BUSINESS, SCIENCE & TECH

UnitedHealth under federal investigation, company says in filing (ABC)
RFK Jr. greenlights removing preservative anti-vaccine activists have linked to autism from flu shots (AXIOS)
US applications for jobless benefits fall for sixth straight week, remain at historically low level (AP)
Apple releases public preview of iOS 26, its biggest iPhone software redesign since 2013 (CNBC)

🎬 SPORTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Wrestling icon Hulk Hogan dies at age 71 after cardiac arrest (MO NEWS)
Chuck Mangione, Grammy-winning jazz musician, dead at 84 (CNN)
White House slams South Park after it mocks Trump and Paramount settlement (FOX)
All five former players with Canada’s 2018 world junior hockey team have been found not guilty of sexual assault (CBC)
Comic-Con kicks off in San Diego with crowds, chaos, and cosplay (NBC SAN DIEGO)

ICYMI FROM THE 📲

In case you missed it… 7,000 steps — not 10,000 — is the sweet spot for reducing health risks, a new study finds. Back in the 1960s, Japanese company Yamasa popularized the 10,000-step goal to sell pedometers. It wasn’t scientific, but it was great marketing.