Today’s Big Story

The Final Stretch Is Expensive

Harris, Trump and Allies Spend Over a Half-Billion Dollars in the last two weeks

The American president gets paid $400,000 a year. A nice salary, but to get the job, you have to spend more than that. Like, a whole lot more. In the final lap of the presidential race, Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump have started spending enormous sums on advertising and voter contact, according to financial disclosures that were filed on Thursday.

Combined with their main allied super PACs, the Harris and Trump operations spent an extraordinary half-billion dollars in just 16 days. The Harris and Trump campaigns combined to spend about $265 million during that period, and the main pro-Harris super PAC, plus the four main pro-Trump super PACs, spent roughly an additional $260 million. Of course, most of this goes to advertising. The campaigns’ ad spend will be even greater than the filings show, according to data from the ad-tracking firm AdImpact. All told, the Harris campaign has aired or reserved $647 million in ads between January and Election Day. The Trump campaign has booked $273 million.

According to the Wall Street Journal, The Biden/Harris campaigns reported spending about $72 million on payroll and consulting this year through August. Of more than 1,300 people in FEC disclosures whose expenses were categorized as payroll, payments ranged from $220 to about $126,000 (for Democratic National Committee Chair Jaime Harrison). The Trump campaign shelled out just over $35 million in payroll and consulting through August. The most expensive person named was the campaign adviser Jason Miller, who was paid $240,000 during that period.

How much is too much? That’s hard to say. And it stands to reason that each election will inevitably be more expensive than the next, right? “If there was a set amount of money that you needed to win, it would be a very simple process,” said Sarah Bryner, Research Director at OpenSecrets. Outside political action committees are shelling out more dough than ever. A recent report from OpenSecrets says they are predicted to fork over more than five billion of the roughly $16 billion record breaking sum likely spent by Election Day. That is almost a billion more than what the same groups spent at this point in 2020.

How’s the World Doing on Climate Change?

Um … not great

Let’s call it a report card season for climate change. Each year, the United Nations takes stock of whether countries are on track to cut carbon emissions and limit global warming. This year’s report card reads like mine did when I had a problem with talking too much in class: “needs more improvement than ever.”

Global greenhouse gas emissions rose to a new record in 2023, and if countries do not change course, the world will see warming of more than 5.5 degrees Fahrenheit (3.1 degrees Celsius) by the end of the century. That would blow past the targets set in the 2015 Paris climate agreement: Countries have agreed to try to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius to avoid the most catastrophic impacts of climate change. In fact, the report said that nothing short of a “quantum leap in ambition” will suffice at a time when the world is on course to well exceed all targets for limiting warming.

As the New York Times points out, a “year after world leaders made a landmark promise to move away from fossil fuels, countries have essentially made no progress” when it comes to tackling the problem. And the report comes a month before diplomats from around the world are scheduled to meet in Baku, Azerbaijan, for annual United Nations climate talks, where countries will discuss how they might step up efforts to address global warming. So maybe they can make new plans on how to reduce emissions and find ways to meet a growing demand for electricity.

Menendez Brothers’ Resentencing Recommended

That’s the power of Netflix … and Kim Kardashian

Prosecutors recommended Thursday that Erik and Lyle Menendez be resentenced for the 1989 killings of their parents in the family’s Beverly Hills home, providing the brothers with a chance at freedom after 34 years behind bars. Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón announced during a news conference that his office would recommend the brothers receive a new sentence of 50 years to life. Because they were under 26 years old at the time of the crimes, they would be eligible for parole immediately, he said.

Of course, resentencing must now be approved by a judge, and the state parole board would have to sign off on the brothers’ release. And a hearing before a judge could come within the next month or so. The case has gained attention among true crime fans on TikTok recently, but things really started moving in recent weeks after Netflix began streaming Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story. It also attracted the attention of celebrities like Kim Kardashian, who visited the brothers in prison and later called for their release in an essay published by NBC News. “I have spent time with Lyle and Erik; they are not monsters,” she wrote.

Gascón’s reexamination of the case also comes after attorneys for the Menendez brothers filed a habeas corpus petition last year, citing what they argue is new evidence, as well as a recent California law on resentencing in which the court can take into consideration sentences in comparable cases. Among the new evidence the 2023 petition asked a court to consider: a sworn statement by former Menudo boy band member Roy Rosselló, who alleged Jose Menendez—Erik and Lyle’s father—sexually assaulted him in the 1980s too. The attorneys also said a letter Erik Menendez wrote to a cousin months before the killings alludes to the abuse he endured.

Ready for the World Series?

This could be the superstar extravaganza baseball needs

Ohtani. Judge. Soto. Betts. Freeman. Cole. In true New York–L.A. fashion, the stars are out in this year’s Fall Classic—to a nearly unprecedented degree. However, the World Series that begins tonight at Dodger Stadium will not break the record for most Hall of Famers on the field—13, set in the 1932 battle between the Yankees and Cubs. But this will be really good.

It’s certainly understandable why no one would want to celebrate this particular anniversary, but 2024 marks 30 years since the 1994 strike canceled the World Series, still the worst thing that has happened to baseball—and maybe sports—in my lifetime. Over those 30 years, baseball has steadily lost market share to the NFL and other competitors. But Intelligencer says that this match-up is just what the sport needs. “Former rivals are playing against each other, more than any other pairing; then there’s the fact that the teams have two of the largest payrolls in baseball and are home to the largest media markets; the fact that fans across America love to hate both teams.”

It’s being called a matchup for the ages—the first time the Dodgers have hosted the Yankees in the Series since 1981. There will be a lot of action, but the Sports section of the Washington Post has put together five key matchups that will help determine a winner over the next few games.

A Weekend Pairing

‘Road Diary: Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band’ + an Irish Whiskey

For nearly half a century, Bruce Springsteen has been one of the most electric live acts ever to hit the stage, whether touring with The E Street Band, solo, or even doing his own one-man show on Broadway. When rumors started to spread that his current stadium tour might be his last—which would be understandable, since The Boss is now 75—Springsteen stated, “We ain’t doing no farewell tour bullshit!” and “Get the hell out. I ain’t going anywhere.”

With Road Diary: Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band, streaming now on Hulu, director Thom Zimny gives audiences a look at what it takes to put on a Springsteen tour, yet considering how many postponements, medical problems, and various issues have arisen on this tour, it’s a shame that Zimny’s film doesn’t explore these elements, but rather, only shows the early days of this still-running tour. Critics call it "joyful" and a "rare insight" into what it takes to keep on touring.

Think for yourself.