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Wisconsin levels up, Haiti seeks justice and Capitol One spends big

 
Today's POLITICS story

Wisconsin ends GOP gerrymander

What happened?
Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers (D) on Monday signed new legislative maps he drew after the state Supreme Court struck down the old district lines as unconstitutional. Republicans, who have dominated the state legislature since drawing heavily gerrymandered districts in 2011, approved the maps last week. Now, 46 of the 99 Assembly districts lean Republican, 45 lean Democratic, and eight are tossups, according to a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel analysis.

Who said what?
"When I promised I wanted fair maps — not maps that are better for one party or another, including my own — I damn well meant it," Evers said. Wisconsin is "a purple state." Evers "signed the most Republican-leaning maps out of all the Democrat-gerrymandered maps" under consideration, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R) said. "Republicans will prove that we can win on any maps because we have the better policy ideas."

The commentary
Republicans "capitulated" because they didn't want the newly liberal court to draw the maps, Scott Lemieux said at Lawyers, Guns & Money. It's "funny" Vos now insists Republicans have been winning because of "ideas" and "candidates," when his old "illegally gerrymandered maps" meant Democrats needed "like 65% of the vote to get a bare majority of the state legislature."

What next?
Evers said the new maps "will take effect immediately." Democrats are also asking the Supreme Court to revisit Wisconsin's eight congressional districts, six of which are held by Republicans.

 
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Today's INTERNATIONAL story

Haitian judge indicts slain president's widow

What happened?
A Haitian judge investigating the July 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse has indicted 51 people, including former first lady Martine Moïse and former Prime Minister Claude Joseph. Martine Moïse, who was wounded in the attack, and Joseph are charged as accomplices in the president's death.

Who said what?
Martine Moïse's statements were "so tainted with contradictions" they "discredit her," Judge Walther Voltaire said in the indictment. Joseph said Prime Minister Ariel Henry, the "main beneficiary or the mastermind" of the tragic "coup," is "weaponizing the Haitian justice system, prosecuting political opponents like me" and Martine Moïse.

The commentary
The indictments are "expected to further destabilize Haiti" as it struggles with gang violence that surged after Moïse's assassination, The Associated Press said. Judge Voltaire "didn't conduct a serious investigation," said Gedeon Jean, the director of Haiti's Center for Human Rights Analysis and Research. He "didn't really explore substantial elements" like who ordered the killing, "who paid for it," and why.

What next?
After the defendants are notified, Haiti's chief justice will schedule a trial. In a parallel U.S. case, five of 11 defendants have pleaded guilty.

 
 
Today's BUSINESS Story

Capitol One to buy Discover for $35 billion

What happened?
Capitol One said Monday it would buy rival credit card issuer Discover Financial Services for $35.3 billion in stock. The deal would create the biggest credit card lender in the country, The Washington Post said, citing Bloomberg Intelligence.

Who said what?
"Our acquisition of Discover is a singular opportunity to bring together two very successful companies with complementary capabilities and franchises, and to build a payments network that can compete with the largest payments networks and payments companies,” Capitol One founder and CEO Richard Fairbank said.

The commentary
"A space that is already dominated by a relatively small number of megaplayers is about to get a little smaller," said Lending Tree analyst Matt Schulz. For consumers, "it's far from clear that bigger means better," Felix Salmon said at Axios. It is "very difficult to imagine" federal regulators allowing the deal to go through, "given the requirement that mergers benefit the public as well as insiders," said Jesse Van Too, head of the National Community Reinvestment Coalition.

What next?
The deal, if cleared by regulators, is expected to close in late 2024 or early 2025.

 
 

It's not all bad

Taghi Askari is back for another round on the diving board. The 100-year-old last competed nearly 60 years ago when he won a gold medal in his final diving championships. Before that, he took home silver and bronze medals at the inaugural Asian Games. This month, Askari did an exhibition dive at the 2024 World Championships in Doha, and he will soon appear as the oldest competitor at the World Aquatics Masters Championships.

 
 
Under the radar

There is a disturbance in the Force, and it comes in the form of a lawsuit against The Walt Disney Company. Gina Carano, a former actor in the "Star Wars" universe, is suing the Mouse House over her firing nearly three years ago. Carano, who played former Rebel trooper Cara Dune on the "Star Wars" television series "The Mandalorian," was let go by Disney subsidiary Lucasfilm after a series of controversial posts on social media.

Carano is attempting to get Disney and Lucasfilm to rehire her, claiming her termination from the company was the result of her right-wing views. Before she was dismissed, she suggested on Instagram that the treatment of U.S. conservatives was similar to Jews in Nazi Germany. "I was being hunted down from everything I posted to every post I liked because I was not in line with the acceptable narrative of the time," Carano wrote on X in a post announcing the lawsuit. Because many of Carano's comments were originally made on X, Elon Musk is funding the lawsuit, fulfilling a previous pledge.

It seems Musk is trying to enlist additional parties to join his campaign for "free speech," writing on X that people should "let us know if you would like to join the lawsuit against Disney." He also praised Carano for bringing her lawsuit.

No timeline for the case has been set. Carano wrote in her original post on X that "my now lawyers & X believe whole-heartedly in my case and are moving forward."

 
 
On this day

February 20, 1962

Astronaut John Glenn becomes the first American to orbit the Earth. Launched into space aboard the Friendship 7 spacecraft, Glenn spent more than four hours in orbit before splashing down in the Atlantic Ocean. The mission made Glenn the third American in space and the fifth human overall to leave the planet.

 
 
TODAY’S newspaperS

Tuesday's newspapers lead with the announcement by Alexei Navalny's widow, Yulia Navalnaya, that she plans to carry on her late husband's fight against Russian President Vladimir Putin, taking on the heavy "mantle of the opposition," as The New York Times says. The Wall Street Journal, which runs a photo of Navalnaya atop its front page, reports below the fold on how the "world's obesity capital is hungry for Ozempic," the weight-loss drug. The "world's obesity capital," by the way, is China.

► See the newspaper front pages

 
 
Tall tale

Masked taco bandits

A Florida woman learned not to get between a trio of raccoons and their pilfered tacos. Caterina Sevares ordered the tacos for dinner, and when she opened her door to grab the bag, the raccoons were helping themselves to her meal (though not the tortillas). Sevares started filming the bandits, and they hissed at her. "I shut the door so fast," she said to Fox 35 Orlando. "I was like, 'They can have the carne asada, it's fine.'"

 
 

Morning Report was written and edited by Catherine Garcia, Justin Klawans, Harold Maass and Peter Weber, with illustrations by Stephen Kelly and Julia Wytrazek.

Image credits, from top: Nicole Neri / Bloomberg via Getty Images; Arif Hudaverdi Yaman / Anadolu Agency via Getty Images; Andrew Caballero-Reynolds / AFP via Getty Images; Disney/Lucasfilm