Texas Republicans Vote to Arrest Dem Legislators Who Fled State
Plus: Hamas Releases Propaganda Videos Of Israeli Hostages As Netanyahu Pushes Military Action To End War
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Good evening,
Lighten up. The “spoof” comedy is making a comeback.
Liam Neeson’s The Naked Gun debuted this weekend to a solid $17 million at the box office and a fresh score on Rotten Tomatoes.
The film is a reboot of the 1980s and 1990s TV and film franchise starring Leslie Nielsen, and it pokes fun at police dramas and crime thrillers. 🕵🏻♂️
Hollywood has been shying away from live-action comedies in recent years. The Naked Gun’s modest success might mean producers will be willing to invest in more zany spoofs.
Meanwhile, Adam Sandler’s Happy Gilmore 2, the sequel to the 1996 sports comedy, debuted to nearly 47 million views last weekend, making it the strongest U.S. debut of any Netflix film ever. ⛳️
Spoofs are also thriving in the world of animation. South Park recently signed a $1.5 billion deal with Paramount to produce 50 new episodes over the next five years, making creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker billionaires. 💸
South Park held back no punches when it skewered the recent settlement between Paramount and President Trump in its season 27 premiere — the most-watched season premiere for the show since 1999.
As someone who grew up watching Monty Python and Mel Brooks on streaming services, I’m excited to see spoofs make a comeback on the big screen. Nothing beats laughing with strangers in a movie theater (especially if you have a really weird laugh…that makes it even better). 🤣
Sam
Associate Producer
🚨 ONE IMPORTANT THING
Texas Democrats Leave State To Block GOP Redistricting Plan — Republicans Move To Issue Civil Arrest Warrants
The Texas State House voted Monday 85-6 to track down and arrest more than 50 Democratic lawmakers who left the state over the weekend, aiming to prevent the body from voting on a plan that could eliminate five Democrat-held U.S. House seats.
Their absence deprives the chamber of the 100 members needed to pass the new congressional map during the session Gov. Greg Abbott called to address President Trump’s redistricting request, along with legislation around last month’s devastating floods.
It is an extreme move to delay the vote and call attention to the issue of a mid-decade redrawing of congressional lines — which is usually done after the U.S. Census Bureau counts the population every 10 years — given that Democrats are in the minority in the state.
Abbott had warned that any missing lawmakers may have “forfeited” their offices and could be replaced. The Texas House is set to reconvene at 1 p.m. CT tomorrow.
Mo’ Context: This is just a delay tactic that will likely last days to weeks. Ultimately, Republicans have the votes to pass the new maps, and Democrats are using the few tools they have available to call attention to this issue nationally.
NOW WHAT?
Most Democrats traveled to Chicago, while others flew to New York and Boston to build support. Texas House Speaker Dustin Burrows on Monday vowed to sign civil arrest warrants for those missing — which only apply within state lines — and called on the chamber’s sergeant-at-arms and state troopers to make arrests.
Abbott also cited a 2021 legal opinion by Attorney General Ken Paxton to justify removing the Democrats from office. However, only a court (not the AG) can decide if their absence qualifies as abandoning their post and therefore justifies replacing them.
Lawmakers can face $500/daily fines for not showing up. Abbott suggested that lawmakers accepting outside funds to cover fines could face felony charges under bribery laws.
Texas’s maps already tilt toward Republicans, who hold 25 of Texas’s 38 congressional seats. The proposed map could mean Republicans — who make up about 55% of the vote under current maps — could end up controlling as much as 80% of the state’s congressional seats.
The move comes ahead of the 2026 midterms and would give Republicans a stronger chance at keeping their slim majority in Congress, one reason why Trump backed it.
Democrats and voting rights groups are expected to challenge the new congressional map in court, if it passes.
Democratic Governors Kathy Hochul (NY), JB Pritzker (IL), and Gavin Newsom (CA) are weighing their own type of retaliation: finding ways to redraw their own state maps to favor Democrats. Their immediate options are limited, though.
REWIND: WHAT IS GERRYMANDERING?
Gerrymandering is the practice of manipulating electoral maps to favor one party. But how exactly does it work? It’s kind of like slicing a pizza (see video above).
Both Democrats and Republicans have used redistricting to their advantage. In GOP-leaning states, liberal cities can be split up and diluted among larger rural populations — while the opposite can happen in Democratic-leaning states.
Arguments: Democrats say the Texas plan is a racist (it could dilute the Black vote) and partisan power grab. Republicans argue they’re operating within the law and Supreme Court precedent.
Redrawing maps falls under state jurisdiction, not federal. As of 2019, the Supreme Court ruled that only state courts — not federal courts — can step in when there is a perceived instance of gerrymandering. It’s unclear if Texas courts will uphold the maps if passed, and once Democrats or voting rights groups sue.
Rewind: This isn’t the first Democratic walkout in Texas over voting issues. In 2003, lawmakers left the state to try to halt a GOP redistricting effort, and in 2021, lawmakers left to protest new voting restrictions. The provisions were ultimately passed.
READY TO PLAY BALL
New York’s Hochul, speaking alongside some of the Texas lawmakers on Monday, said she’s also exploring ways to redraw her state’s congressional maps, despite recent gerrymandering efforts getting struck down in court.
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🚨 ONE THING WE’RE MONITORING
Israel Pushes For “All Or Nothing” Hostage–Ceasefire Deal As New Hostage Videos Spark Fear
Disturbing new videos released by Hamas show 24-year-old Israeli hostage Evyatar David and 22-year-old Rom Braslavski in visibly fragile states, nearly 22 months after they were kidnapped on Oct. 7, 2023.
The propaganda videos, which the families have allowed to be published, appear to be an attempt by the terror group to link the mass hunger in Gaza to the condition of the hostages.
At one point in David’s video, the muscular arm of a captor appears, handing him a jar of food — a moment that underscores the psychological torment and makes clear that not everyone in the tunnel is starving. Israel has accused Hamas of stealing aid.
World leaders condemned the videos, and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Israel and the Occupied Territories said the “dire situation must come to an end.”
Tomorrow, following a request by Israel’s foreign minister, the UN Security Council will hold a special session to discuss the fate of the roughly 50 hostages still in captivity, fewer than half of whom are presumed to be alive.
WHAT COULD BE NEXT
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that Hamas doesn’t “want a deal,” rather, “They want to break us with these horrifying videos, with the false horror propaganda they’re spreading around the world.”
CNN reports that the Israeli leader is “pushing for the freeing of the hostages through military defeat (of Hamas),” despite concerns about continued war from some hostage families.
As part of that plan, the prime minister is looking to fully occupy the Gaza Strip — 75% of which the IDF already controls. The Israeli military has previously pushed back against this, saying it could put the hostages in danger — as they believe the hostages are being held in areas not currently occupied by the IDF.
U.S. INVOLVEMENT
Late last week, White House envoy Steve Witkoff visited Gaza to assess humanitarian needs as the two million people there face a growing hunger crisis.
On Saturday, he told hostage families that President Trump wants to "shift" negotiations from a phased Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal to an “all-or-nothing” deal to end the war and return the remaining hostages at once.
Trump on Sunday said that he does not “want people going hungry, and we don’t want people to starve. And there’s some bad things happening” in Gaza, but rejected that there was a genocide going on.
⏳ SPEED READ
🚨NATION
As search for prime suspect goes on, 2 more people charged in Tennessee quadruple killing (ABC)
8 people shot after party shut down in Los Angeles, 2 dead (KTLA)
Canada wildfires cause poor air quality in the midwest and northeast U.S. (NPR)
New York Post to launch “California Post” in LA (MO NEWS)
🌎 AROUND THE WORLD
Netanyahu moves to fire attorney general prosecuting him for corruption (AXIOS)
Ukraine strikes five Russian fighter jets at the airfield in annexed Crimea (EURONEWS)
Dozens of migrants die after boat capsizes off Yemen (BBC)
Pope Leo XIV inspires over a million young Catholics at Rome faith gathering (FOX)
📱BUSINESS, SCIENCE & TECH
Electricity prices rise across the US as AI data centers require more power (MO NEWS)
Tesla grants Musk massive $29 billion pay deal to keep CEO on board amid legal battle (FOX)
About 3,200 Boeing jet and weapons workers begin strike (ABC)
More early stage colon cancers found in people aged 45-49 thanks to more screenings (CBS)
🎬 SPORTS & ENTERTAINMENT
Shares of American Eagle surge 20% after Trump calls Sydney Sweeney campaign ‘hottest ad out there’ (CNBC)
Box office: ‘F1’ Becomes Brad Pitt’s Highest-Grossing Movie Ever (VARIETY)
Popular 1980s actor Loni Anderson of the hit TV series ‘WKRP in Cincinnati’ has died (AP)
Noah Lyles gets shoved by rival Kenny Bednarek after rallying for win in track championship (NBC)
ICYMI FROM THE 📲
In case you missed it… Mo News spoke with Vicky Ward of Vicky Ward Investigates about her book, The Idaho Four. We discussed Bryan Kohberger's guilty plea, how the victims’ families felt about not going to trial, as well as Kohberger’s criminology background and fixation with “incel” culture — short for involuntary celibate and characterized by deep-seated misogyny and resentment toward women.
Check out the full conversation above ⬆️ or at this link. We also dive into Vicky’s decades of reporting on Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell — shedding light on what might still be in the Epstein files.