Good morning! Happy Earth Day. April 22 is recognized around the world as the one day we’re all socially obligated to slurp our iced coffees through mushy paper straws (and, of course, care for the environment). Nearly every country on earth takes part. The theme this year is Planet vs. Plastics.

THE PRESIDENCY

✈️ Flying in style (for cheap)

One of the biggest (literally) perks of being president: Air Force One. This puppy makes flying first class seem passé. And it costs $200,000 per hour to run.

These — AF1 is technically two identical Boeing 747-200s — are Air Force jets currently being used by President Biden to campaign. Normally, the use of government property for politics is super illegal. But the president doesn’t have a choice. The guy can’t just hop on a flying sardine can Spirit Airlines flight.

Who pays for this? You do. The federal government pays to shuffle the president and his security entourage around wherever he goes. Charging a campaign the full operating cost would make running for reelection financially unfeasible.

• Instead, the campaign pays the government the cost of chartering a similar jet. That's roughly analogous to what challenging candidates do.

• Journalists who tag along pay a commercial ticket price.

The Biden campaign has only forked over $300,000 so far. Expect that to shoot way up by Election Day. In 2020, the Trump campaign paid the government $4.7 million.

You can't beat the perks. Air Force One contains living quarters, office space, workout equipment, two kitchens, and a medical room (including an emergency operating table). A doctor is always present, along with a nurse (and the nuclear codes). It's got the capacity to feed 100 people and can refuel in midair. Which means this thing can stay in the air almost endlessly.

• They bring a cargo plane, too. That armored limo's got to go somewhere.

Air Force One isn't the only expensive presidential aircraft. The humongous helicopter that picks the president up on the South Lawn of the White House is called Marine One.

• The Marine Corps runs this one. And, like the planes, it's not just one. For security reasons, they fly groups of up to five identical helicopters to serve as decoys.

These planes are old. The planes currently used as Air Force One have been chugging along since 1990. They're set to be replaced with newer, larger 748-800s by 2028.

CONGRESS

🕵️ Congress re-ups federal spy powers, Biden signs

The horseshoe theory trotted back out in Congress. At midnight on Friday, the Senate voted 60-34 to reauthorize Section 702 of FISA (that’s the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act). President Biden quickly signed the two-year extension (the House had already passed this).

The horseshoe what? The horseshoe theory notes the common ground sometimes found between the two groups you’d expect to never agree: the far-left and the far-right. The most progressive and most conservative members of Congress opposed this bill over privacy concerns.

What is it? FISA was first passed in 1978 after federal surveillance abuses. It sets out rules on when and how intelligence agencies can collect intel/data. It's been modified several times since.

• Section 702 is the hot topic here. It lets the feds snoop on electronic communications of non-Americans located outside the U.S. without getting warrants.

• The problem? Some Americans get scooped up in that data when they’re contacting the people being watched.

Opponents argue this violates the Constitution’s Fourth Amendment, which, as Jay-Z understands, requires warrants for searches.

Proponents (including the Dept. of Justice, FBI, and Biden White House) argue this power is necessary for national security. They note that Section 702 has helped target terrorists in al-Qaeda and ISIS.

Congress has been busy lately. The House's marathon Saturday session was successful in passing billions of dollars in military aid for Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan, and the Philippines. War zones, including Gaza, will get humanitarian aid. The package also included a second shot at forcing the sale of TikTok.

• In response, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene said she'd bring a vote to oust House Speaker Mike Johnson. That push does not have wide support.

• Despite the bipartisan agreements above, the House failed to pass a border security bill.

POLITICS

🔵 Pro-Palestinian voters in Pennsylvania might refuse to support Joe Biden in November. In a close election, that could tank his chances in the state. And losing the state’s 19 electoral votes could cost him the White House.

• Biden’s recent tall tale of his uncle crash-landing in Papua New Guinea during WW2 and being eaten by cannibals is... not going over too well in Papua New Guinea.

• Amid Biden’s unpopularity, Democratic organizers are trying a new strategy: Convince people to vote for lower-level Dems in the hope that they’ll pull the lever for Biden while they’re at it.

• Team Biden is upping its outreach to Hispanic voters as polls show a Trump opening with the key demographic.

⚪ Contrary to the fears of many Democrats, an NBC poll found Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s independent campaign hurts Trump more than Biden.

🔴 Donald Trump’s NYC criminal trial really kicks off today with opening statements. He faces 34 felony counts of falsifying business records related to hush money paid to former porn star Stormy Daniels in 2016.

• Daniels' former attorney, who’s now in prison himself, says he’d testify for Trump (but totally not because he wants a pardon, nooo).

• This is the first of Trump’s four criminal cases and possibly the only one that will go to trial before the election.

• Trump (legally) spends over one-fourth of his campaign donations on legal fees.

• South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (R) dodged questions about certifying the 2020 election as she angles for the VP nod.

⚪ Both sides in Trump’s trial worry about so-called stealth jurors. These people secretly have their minds made up from the start and hide their views so they get put on the jury. One possibility? Juror #2, who’s one of like 2 people to get his news almost exclusively from Truth Social.

⚪ The Republican-controlled Wisconsin legislature is suing the state’s governor, Tony Evers (D). Most state governors have an upgraded veto power: the line-item veto. Instead of axing the whole bill, this lets the gov veto specific parts (while approving the rest). This spat arises over the claim that Evers abused this power by vetoing specific sections to change a law’s overall meaning. Historic abuses of this power have been drastic and nicknamed “Vanna White vetoes.”

TRIVIA

Earth Day (not to be confused with Arbor Day), is an annual affair conceived by peace activists in, unsurprisingly, San Francisco. In what year was Earth Day first celebrated?

Hint: When did peace activists jump onto the scene?

WORLD

🇬🇪 Georgia: Only a sliver of the Caucasus Mountains (OG home of Caucasians) nation is in Europe. But it’s enough. Last year, Georgia was named an official European Union candidate. But its own politicians concede membership won’t happen anytime soon. One issue? The ongoing Russian occupation.

🇮🇱 Israel: Israel used a radar-evading supersonic Rampage missile in its calibrated military response to Iran. Elsewhere, Israel called on the U.S. to drop its coming sanctions on an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) unit for alleged human rights abuses in the West Bank (not Gaza).

🇳🇪 Niger: American troops have been stationed in Niger as part of a counterterrorism partnership for more than a decade. Last month, Niger revoked that deal. Now U.S. troops say they're stranded without supplies.

🇺🇸 United States: President Biden condemned the huge, pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University as antisemitic. Jewish students were warned to stay away as the protests rage. Last week, the school’s president testified before Congress on its poor response to recent antisemitism.

BRIEFS

• A ten-year-old Texas boy admitted to killing a sleeping man when he was seven using his grandpa’s gun

• Chick-fil-A predictably landed at the top of a Qualtrics study on customer service and satisfaction

• Ukrainian troops training in the United Kingdom were given free cigarettes to boost morale

• The big Bitcoin halving is complete — as planned, the creation rate of new bitcoins has been automatically cut in half

• The Education Dept. issued new Title IX rules, updating the 1970s sex discrimination law to include orientation and gender identity

• Workers at a Tennessee VW factory voted to join the UAW in a huge win for organized labor’s push into foreign-owned Southern factories

• India's wild seven-stage, six-week elections began on Friday — Prime Minister Narendra Modi is hugely favored to win term #3

QUOTE

SNACKS

🍿 Movies: The first full trailer to Deadpool & Wolverine drops today.

🧠 Quiz: How well do you know the Olympics? Test your medal mettle with "Is this an Olympic sport?"

📷 Weird: Some gadgets are game-changers. Some are the Humane AI Pin. Others are, uuh, cameras that print AI-generated poems instead of photos.

ANSWER

Earth Day was conceived by activist John McConnell in 1969. Sen. Gaylord Nelson later picked up the ball and ran with the idea. It was first observed in 1970.