Nikki Haley’s Abortion Message and Elon Musk’s X Sue Media Matters: Morning Rundown

OpenAI employees threaten to leave after ouster of CEO Sam Altman. Dexter Wade, the Mississippi man first buried in a poor man’s field, is getting his own funeral. And Nikki Haley’s message on abortion seems to resonate with Republican voters.

Here’s what you need to know today.

Inside Israel’s secret air war

Day and night, Palestinians say, a sound echoes above Khan Younis, the largest city in southern Gaza. The sound is not that of the detonation of a bomb dropped by an Israeli plane. It’s the dull hum of Israeli drones circling above us. As civilians flee northern Gaza, international attention – and the fears of many Palestinians – is focused on how Israel might wage war in southern Gaza. Particular emphasis is placed on airstrikes.

Israeli officials, including two active-duty drone pilots who spoke to NBC News, said they followed rigorous procedures to minimize civilian casualties. A military lawyer for the Israeli army must approve each strike after an intelligence review. And pilots must conduct real-time analyzes of potential civilian deaths.

Critics of Israel’s tactics say the volume of airstrikes it has carried out in such densely populated areas is worrying, and some say it could violate international law. During the first week of the conflict, the IDF dropped 6,000 bombs on Gaza. In 2019, the United States dropped 7,400 bombs in Afghanistan over an entire year.

IDF officials allowed our journalists access to military drone base south of Tel Aviv as NBC looks inside Israel’s secret air war against Gaza and the West Bank.

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OpenAI’s future appears to be in limbo

OpenAI, the company behind artificial intelligence chatbot ChatGPT, is facing an employee exodus as the fallout from the board’s ouster of CEO Sam Altman continues. Yesterday, more than 740 of OpenAI’s 770 employees signed a letter announcing they would resign and potentially join Microsoft. The letter was presented to OpenAI’s board of directors, a company spokesperson said.

For now, the company has a new interim CEO: Emmett Shear, co-founder of the streaming platform Twitch, which he left in March. In the months since, Shear’s social media presence has taken a freewheeling approach. He criticized Microsoft, spoke out on gender politics, and even initiated discussions about OpenAI’s firing of Altman before his own appointment. The reviews are I wonder if the company did their due diligence?.

Dexter Wade finally gets the funeral he was denied

Bettersten Wade wiped away tears as she stood before a ruby ​​red casket in Jackson, Mississippi, yesterday afternoon. “Dexter,” she choked out, “you’ve come home.”

Bettersten Wade wasn’t just speaking to civil rights leaders and their loved ones who attended her son’s funeral. She also addressed a national audience, while the ceremony was broadcast live.

Bettersten spent months searching for Dexter Wade after he disappeared in March. In late August, officers revealed that Dexter was struck by a Jackson police cruiser less than an hour after leaving his home, then buried in a poor man’s field after authorities were unable to contact him. his closest relatives. The case sparked public outrage when NBC News’ Jon Schuppe reported on it last month. Since then, he has followed the approach of Bettersten Wade efforts to bury his son.

Elon Musk steps up his fight against his detractors

Elon Musk-led advertisements from large companies. The lawsuit accuses Media Matters of fabricating the images featured in an article published last week with the intention of harming X’s advertising sales. In response to the suit, Media Matters President Angelo Carusone said the prosecution was “frivolous”.

The trial is a major escalation of a fight involving Musk, his critics, and X’s fragile relationship with advertisers. The fight first intensified last week when Musk posted comments about X embracing a conspiracy theory that many consider anti-Semitic, leading many companies to pull their ads from X.

Politics in brief

Abortion: In Republicans’ search for a messenger on abortion, many voters support presidential candidate Nikki Haley, whose views contrast sharply with Trump.

NBC News Poll: American voters, across all parties, are more supportive funding to strengthen southern border securitywhile support for foreign countries at war reveals sharp partisan divisions, a new poll finds.

2024 debates: Dates and locations Most of the presidential debates for next year’s general election have been announced, which begin in Texas on September 16.

Right to vote: A decision by judges of a federal appeals court threatens to gut voting rights lawand the case will likely be challenged in the Supreme Court

Biden’s birthday: President Joe Biden celebrated his 81st birthday fulfill an annual tradition at the White House. He also has confused Taylor Swift with Britney Spears.

Staff choice: Haunted by strangers

One of six suspects in a drug-induced robbery scheme that largely targeted New York’s gay bars was sentenced yesterday to nine years in prison. Authorities said the years-long criminal ring included 16 victims and resulted in two of their deaths.

I’ve been covering this story since spring 2022, and my last reporting took me to the Rikers Island prison complex, where I was the first reporter to interview Eddie Ashley just before his sentencing. My conversations with Ashley, the victims who survived the crime ring and the families of the men who died – as well as documents obtained from prosecutors – provide new insight into how the criminal scheme unfolded and highlight how many questions still remain unanswered. —Matt Lavietes, NBC OUT reporter

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In case you missed it

A shooter opened fire at a Walmart in southwest Ohio last night, injuring four people and then apparently committing suicide, police said.

Starting next week, American households will be able to order four free Covid tests. Here’s how to get them.

Body found on New York beach perhaps the remains of an Irish filmmaker who disappeared earlier this month.

A Navy surveillance plane overshot an airstrip while approaching a Marine Corps base in Hawaii. and found himself in the bay.

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