Monday morning news: June 26, 2023

Russia » Russian government troops withdrew from the streets of Moscow and people flocked to parks and cafes Sunday after a short-lived revolt by mercenary forces.

While the would-be coup was put down, U.S. Secretary of State Tony Blinken said it’s bad news for Vladimir Putin nonetheless.

TONY BLINKEN: This is at the least an added distraction for Putin and for Russia. I think it’s to the advantage of Ukraine.

The Wagner mercenary group had been fighting for Russia in Ukraine, but on Saturday they began a mobilization on Moscow. Leader Yegeny Prigozhin called it a “march for justice.” That followed his claim that Russian military leaders ordered attacks on his forces.

The government of Belarus brokered a late-night deal with Prigozhin to stop the march on the capital.

Prigozhin will go into exile in Belarus in exchange for escaping prosecution.

Titan implosion latest » The U.S. Coast Guard is leading an investigation into the loss of the Titan submersible that was carrying five people to the wreckage of the Titanic.

Capt. Jason Neubauer says depending on what investigators find:

JASON NEUBAUER: They can make recommendations to the proper authorities to pursue civil or criminal sanctions as necessary.

Neubauer is the chief investigator. He says the Coast Guard has mapped the accident site in the North Atlantic.

All five people aboard the submersible were killed instantly when the vessel imploded roughly an hour and a half into the two-and-a-half-hour descent to the ocean floor.

Presidential politics » On the one-year anniversary of the Supreme Court decision that overturned Roe v. Wade, former President Donald Trump over the weekend touted his record as a pro-life president.

DONALD TRUMP: Stopped taxpayer funding for abortion providers, and at the United Nations, I made clear that global bureaucrats have no business have no business attacking the sovereignty of nations that protect innocent life.

But Trump has taken heat from pro-lifers for suggesting a new law in Florida that protects the unborn at six weeks gestation is “too harsh.”

He was one of several presidential candidates in Washington for the Faith & Freedom Coalition Policy Conference.

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie made good on his pledge to take the fight to Donald Trump. Christie said the former president “let us down.”

CHRIS CHRISTIE: He is unwilling to take responsibility for any of the mistakes that were made, any of the faults that he has, and any of the things that he’s done.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis told the crowd that it’s time to stand up and say “no” to men competing in women’s sports.

RON DESANTIS: When the NCAA crowns that swimmer the women’s champion, they’re not only taking away opportunities for other women athletes, they are asking us to be complicit in a fraud.

Recent polls still suggest that the primary contest is at present a two-person race between Trump and DeSantis.

But at least one new poll suggests the Justice Department’s recent indictment of Trump has worked in his favor with GOP voters.

House Intelligence on Wuhan report » The Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee says a new U.S. Intelligence report on the origins of COVID-19 does not comply with a federal law passed earlier this year.

MIKE TURNER: This is not sufficient. And certainly this is going to be set up between a battle between Congress and Director of National Intelligence.

Chairman Mike Turner told CBS the law requires agencies to declassify information about the virus’s beginnings and that this report doesn’t do that.

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence reported Friday that there is no consensus across government agencies that a lab leak in Wuhan, China, triggered the pandemic. The report does note that some agencies, including the FBI believe a lab leak was to blame.

Yellowstone derailment » In Montana, officials are testing the water in part of the Yellowstone River after a bridge collapsed and sent rail cars plunging into the water carrying hazardous materials .

David Stamey is Chief of Emergency Services for Stillwater County.

DAVID STAMEY: We've identified that two different materials that were potentially spilled in the water. So one is sulfur, and one is asphalt.

He said no one was injured or killed during the incident.

Officials say the asphalt and molten sulfur harden upon contact with water and likely won’t travel very far downstream.

I’m Kent Covington.

Straight ahead: Sorting through Supreme Court opinions on Legal Docket. Plus, how to respond to so-called “Japanification” in the Monday Moneybeat.

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