Good morning! Sometimes AI wins, sometimes it loses. On one side, McDonald’s is axing its testing of AI-powered drive-thru lanes because the bots got too many orders wrong. On the other, SoftBank plans to use AI to digitally calm the voices of angry customers in hopes of lessening the emotional toll of getting yelled at all day for customer service reps.

FOOD

🥑 RIP avocado imports (for now)

Bad news, guac lovers. The U.S. halted avocado and mango imports from Mexico after two U.S. inspectors in the area were reportedly assaulted and detained at a roadblock.

• About 80% of avocados in the U.S. are imported from Mexico. Most are from Michoacán, a state (Mexico has 31) plagued by cartel violence.

• The U.S. military believes cartels effectively control about one-third of Mexican territory. That makes security difficult.

The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is a unit of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The good folks in APHIS have loads of employees deployed to countries around the world who inspect (get this) animals and plants to protect the U.S. food supply against disease.

• Avocado and mango inspections are temporarily paused until the agency can ensure the safety of its employees. No inspections means no exports.

• Fruit already in transit isn’t affected.

• If it’s not resolved quickly, the pause could put Chipotle's guacamole even further out of reach and lead to the transition of mango salsa into boring non-mango salsa.

A similar 2022 incident was resolved within a week, so there weren't any supply chain disruptions. Let's hope this gets sorted out just as quickly before it forces everyone to switch back to queso.

IMMIGRATION

🏛️ Biden pushes spousal amnesty program

President Biden announced a program to provide a path to citizenship for an estimated 500,000 immigrants in the U.S. illegally. The program is widely popular in Washington and isn't expected to be controversial. Just kidding.

The program applies to those already married to American citizens. About 50,000 of their children are also eligible until age 21.

• Immigrants who come to the U.S. legally and marry American citizens already have a path to citizenship.

• Typically, spouses who came illegally have to leave the country before applying for permanent resident status. This lets them stay during that process. Permanent residents could eventually apply for citizenship.

The Biden administration plans to launch this thing over the next few months. But the White House was mum on how long it will take before possible beneficiaries start, you know, benefitting.

The Trump campaign called the program "amnesty" that will only invite more "illegal immigration." Texas Gov. Greg Abbott called it "blatantly illegal" executive action that will get struck down in court.

• Recent polling found that 62% of registered voters favor "a new national program to deport all undocumented immigrants currently living in the U.S. illegally." A smaller majority, 53%, of Hispanics said the same thing.

Elsewhere in the federal government…

• 🖱️ The Federal Trade Commission sued Adobe, claiming the company hurts consumers by hiding fees and purposely making it harder to cancel subscriptions

• 🔫 The Senate is attempting to pass a bill to ban bump stocks after the Supreme Court overturned the previous ban because it didn't go through Congress.

• ⚠️ U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy wants cigarette-style warning labels on social media

POLITICS

⚪ A new national poll has the presidential race tied at 49% to 49% with 2% of voters still waffling.

🔵 A Secret Service agent was robbed at gunpoint during Joe Biden's fundraising trip to Los Angeles last weekend. The White House is hitting back at a video from that trip that it says is misleading. The video seems to show Biden freezing on stage before being led away by his old boss, Barack Obama.

🔴 Days after insulting its biggest city, Donald Trump held a rally in Wisconsin and claimed he loved the place. Trump’s campaign denied reports that he’s planning to stay in Chicago during this summer’s Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.

Election results:

• 🔴 Oklahoma Rep. Tom Cole easily beat back, 65% to 26%, a Republican primary challenge from Rich Guy™ Paul Bondar. Bondar spent $5 million of his own money on the race after moving to the state from Texas less than 3 months ago to run for office. As chair of the House Appropriations Committee, Cole is one of the most powerful people in Congress.

• 🔵 Virginia Democrats nominated Eugene Vindman in the swingy 7th congressional district. Vindman is famous for leaking the phone call that led to Donald Trump's first impeachment.

⚪ A Republican state representative in Vermont spent months, um, pouring water into the bag of a Democratic colleague. She later confessed to the bizarre habit after being identified on video “by her gray hair” (insulting, but we’ll allow it). Her choice of victim was just as weird as her choice of crime. Not only has she known this guy since childhood, they go to the same church.

⚪ Indie candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. will not make CNN's debate stage next week. He claims to be on the ballot in 23 states. But election officials say it's only five — nowhere near enough to hypothetically win.

TRIVIA

Happy Juneteenth! Congratulations to all who get the day off and happy Wednesday to everyone else. Juneteenth was made a federal holiday back in 2021. It celebrates June 19th, 1865 — the day slaves in Texas became the last to learn of their freedom under the new Emancipation Proclamation. Before Juneteenth, what federal holiday was the most recently created?

Hint: Most Americans also don’t get off work for this one.

WORLD

🇭🇺 Hungary: Donald, is that you? "Make Europe Great Again" is Hungary's motto for its upcoming six-month presidency of the Council of the European Union. Various member state cabinet officials comprise the group. They rotate in and out depending on the topic at hand.

🇮🇱 Israel: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu disbanded his "war Cabinet." The move comes days after moderate rival Benny Gantz quit the unity government in protest. It solidifies his influence over the war in Gaza right as some fear the war could spread north to Lebanon.

🇰🇵 North Korea: The world's most oppressive state is hosting the world's funniest-named dictator. Russian President Vladimir Putin is in Pyongyang, North Korea for a "friendly state visit." He last visited way back in 2000 but now seeks stronger ties with countries "not controlled by the West."

🇹🇭 Thailand: This may surprise many Americans, but Thailand will soon become the first country in Southeast Asia to legalize same-sex marriage. The legislature approved the bill yesterday. It now goes to the party-going King Rama X for his approval.

BRIEFS

• Malaysia plans to join the BRICS economic group, an anti-G7 run by China and Russia (which has its own semi-fake mini Olympics)

• AI chipmaker Nvidia is now the world's most valuable publicly traded company, surpassing Microsoft and joining the $3 trillion club

• The U.S. warned China that it’s legally obligated to defend the Philippines against continued Chinese attacks in the open ocean

• Apple is shutting down its year-old Apple Pay Later service in favor of using industry big boys Affirm and Klarna

• Famed linguist and professor activist Noam Chomsky may or may not be dead — the media dropped their pre-written obituaries of the guy yesterday, only for his wife to claim he's still kicking

• EV startup Fisker filed for bankruptcy this week, three months after halting production on its cool-but-troubled Ocean SUV

QUOTE

SNACKS

🍿 Netflix: Dallas and Philly will soon be home to the first two locations of Netflix House, a 100,000-square-foot “experiential entertainment venue.”

🚨 Out of sync: Justin Timberlake dropped one of the best-looking mug shots of all time after getting arrested for DUI in the Hamptons.

👭 Twinning: Twenty-three sets of twins just graduated from the same Massachusetts middle school. The kids made up a whopping 10% of their eighth-grade class.

ANSWER

Congress created Martin Luther King, Jr. Day in 1983. It was first observed in 1986. King is one of just three individuals honored by U.S. federal holidays alongside George Washington and Christopher Columbus.