Missiles, Layoffs, and a World Cup Upset: Your Tuesday Rundown

This episode of The Morning Rundown covers a tense morning of global and market news. Overnight strikes on Kyiv and a Ukrainian drone attack on one of Russia's largest refineries in Siberia raise the stakes ahead of an upcoming NATO meeting, while a Chinese submarine missile test unsettles Wellington and Tokyo. The hosts also touch on Hamas dissolving its Gaza government, a move Israel dismisses as a stunt.

On the business side, Microsoft's nearly 4,800 job cuts hit its Xbox division hardest, framed as a business model issue rather than an AI-driven shift. Meanwhile, Toyota is investing $3.6 billion to move Tacoma production to Texas, a reshoring decision tied to tariff incentives. Despite the mixed signals, the Nasdaq opens higher heading into a major earnings week.

The show wraps with sports and culture: Spain's stoppage-time win over Portugal ends Cristiano Ronaldo's World Cup run, the USMNT draws criticism after its exit against Belgium, and the hosts push back on claims that politics influenced the Balogun red card reversal. The episode closes with a heartfelt tribute to Lauren Bennett, the voice behind LMFAO's Party Rock Anthem, who passed away at 37.

• Ukrainian drones strike a major Russian refinery nearly 1,700 miles from the front line
• China's submarine missile test raises alarm in Wellington and Tokyo ahead of a key NATO meeting
• Microsoft cuts nearly 4,800 jobs, concentrated in its Xbox division
• Toyota commits $3.6 billion to shift Tacoma production to Texas amid tariff pressures
• Spain ends Ronaldo's World Cup career while USMNT and Balogun red card controversies dominate sports talk
• A tribute to Lauren Bennett, vocalist on Party Rock Anthem, who died at 37

Listeners looking for a quick but thorough rundown of today's top international, business, and sports stories will find this episode a useful starting point for the day.

Transcript

0:13

[Maya] Morning,[Maya] everybody. Welcome back to the morning rundown.[David] Yeah,[David] and we've got a packed one today.[Maya] Overnight strikes hit Kyiv hard and there's a NATO meeting coming up fast.[David] Plus,[David] China just test-fired a submarine missile.[David] That's got Wellington and Tokyo pretty rattled.[Maya] So tension's the mood overseas this morning.[David] And it bleeds into markets,[David] too.[David] Microsoft's cutting nearly 5,000 jobs.[David] Xbox taking the hit.[Maya] Wait, and Toyota's doing the total opposite, pouring billions into Texas for the Tacoma.[David] Totally different signals, same news cycle.[David] We'll get into that.[Maya] Then sports. Spain knocked out Portugal, so Ronaldo's World Cup run is done.[David] And the USMNT lost to Belgium.[David] People are not happy about it.[Maya] There's also a red card controversy people are reading way too much into.[David] We'll get into that debate too.[Maya] Softly, we want a moment for Lauren Bennett,[Maya] the voice on Party Rock Anthem. She passed at 37.[David] Yeah,[David] we'll talk about her legacy later in the show.[Maya] All right, lots to cover.[Maya] Let's start where the headlines are loudest.[David] Overseas,[David] Kyiv,[David] China,[David] and everything in between.[Maya] Okay,[Maya] so overnight,[Maya] Kyiv got hit hard.[Maya] The Washington Post is reporting at least 11 people killed in Russian strikes,[Maya] and this is right before a big NATO meeting.[David] Right before.[David] That timing's not an accident.[Maya] Ukraine's president is saying NATO flat out needs help intercepting these missiles,[Maya] not just send more aid packages.

[David] So here's what I keep asking: 1:39

[David] why now,[David] days before allies sit down together?[David] If you're Moscow,[David] you want the room walking in rattled, not united.[Maya] Rattled and divided,[Maya] Yeah.

[David] Follow the motive: 1:49

[David] a show of force before a unity meeting is a message to NATO members who are wobbly on funding.[Maya] But get this,[Maya] Ukraine's not just sitting there.[Maya] Business Insider is reporting Ukrainian drones flew almost 1,700 miles to hit Russia's...[Maya] Its biggest oil refinery in Omsk, that's Siberia.[David] Wait,[David] Siberia?[David] That's Ukraine's longest strike of the whole war.[Maya] Longest range,[Maya] yeah,[Maya] so while Russia's pounding Kyiv,[Maya] Ukraine's showing it can reach targets nobody thought were reachable.[David] Which tells you something about how this war is actually going,[David] regardless of what the front-line maps say.[Maya] Okay, switching continents.[Maya] Gaza.[Maya] Hamas just dissolved its own government.[David] And Israel's calling it a stunt,[David] according to Reuters.[Maya] Basically saying they're handing power to, quote,[Maya] technocrats as this US-brokered ceasefire deal stalls out.[David] I mean, come on, you dissolve the government on paper, that doesn't change who actually runs things on the ground.[Maya] Right, it's optics.[David] It's a paperwork reshuffle timed to look like reform right when the pressure's on them to show they're serious.[Maya] Okay, now here's the one that actually made my jaw drop this morning.[David] What?[Maya] Here,[Maya] Iran's Revolutionary Guard fired missiles near...[Maya] Near ships by the Strait of Hormuz,[Maya] same week China ran a rare ballistic missile test,[Maya] launched from a submarine.[David] a submarine launch?[David] That's not a small flex.[David] AP's reporting it was likely a JL-2 or JL-3.[David] Those are China's long-range, sub-launched nuclear-capable missiles.[Maya] And New Zealand's furious,[Maya] saying it violated the South Pacific nuclear free zone.[Maya] Australia and Japan aren't thrilled either.[David] So you've got Iran squeezing a shipping choke point and China parading its submarine.[David] Submarine fleet in the same stretch of days?[Maya] That's wild,[Maya] right?[Maya] Two totally different regions,[Maya] same week.[David] Here's the pattern I keep circling back to,[David] though.[David] Every one of these-Kyiv,[David] Gaza,[David] Hormuz, the Pacific-they're all testing how far they can push before Washington and its allies actually respond.[Maya] It's less-[Maya] So, speaking of uncertainty,[Maya] turns out it's hitting close to home, too.[David] Yeah, no kidding.[Maya] Microsoft has cut 4,800 jobs, and Reuters says Xbox is getting hit hardest.[David] Hmm.[David] 20% of the gaming staff, from what DW reported.[David] And Microsoft's own VP said AI isn't filling those roles.[Maya] Wait,[Maya] so it's not even the robots took my job story?[David] Nope.[David] DW says it's more that the gaming business model wasn't sustainable.[David] and sustainable the way it was running.[David] Five studios are getting spun off too.[Maya] For the people who were sitting at those desks yesterday,[Maya] the reason probably doesn't matter much.[Maya] That's a family budget getting rewritten overnight.[David] Fair.[David] And it's a year after Microsoft's last round of cuts,[David] so this isn't a one-off.[Maya] Which stings more,[Maya] honestly.[David] But flip the coin,[David] Toyota's doing the opposite play this week.[Maya] Oh yeah?[David] CNBC reported Toyota's putting 3.6 billion...[David] It's billion dollars into moving Tacoma production out of Mexico and into San Antonio.[Maya] Wait,[Maya] they're pulling manufacturing back to the U.S.?[David] Yeah,[David] and let's trace the incentive here.[David] Tariffs on Mexican-built trucks change the math fast.[David] Once importing costs more,[David] building at home starts penciling out.[Maya] So it's not charity. The numbers just worked out that way.[David] Right, but the effect is the same.[David] More manufacturing jobs in Texas,[David] the same week Microsoft...[David] That's cutting jobs in Redmond.[Maya] It's wild seeing both headlines together.[Maya] One company shrinking,[Maya] one expanding,[Maya] and both[Speaker 3] BGHOST1mhm[Maya] make sense on paper.[David] That reshoring trend people kept predicting for years?[David] It's actually showing up in a purchase order now.[Maya] Okay,[Maya] so how's the market handling all of it?[David] Pretty calm,[David] actually.[David] The Wall Street Journal's live markets coverage had the Nasdaq opening higher today right at the start of a loaded earnings week.[David] It's weak.[Maya] So Wall Street is shrugging off layoffs and factory moves and just watching for tech earnings.[David] Traders have a one-track mind this week.[David] Follow the money,[David] and right now it's all pointed at earnings calls.[Maya] Guess we'll see if the numbers match the optimism.[David] We will.[Maya] Speaking of things not going as planned,[Maya] soccer gave us a way bigger upset than anything on a balance sheet this week.[David] Now I've been waiting for you to bring that up.[Maya] Shifting gears from earnings to actual games,[Maya] Spain just knocked Cristiano Ronaldo out of the World Cup.[David] Merino,[David] first minute of second half stoppage, Spain wins it 1-0.[David] AP News had it, Ronaldo just standing there at the whistle.[Maya] End of an era,[Maya] honestly.[Maya] Hard to picture the sport without him in it.[David] Totally, but can we talk about our team for a second?[Maya] Oh boy. Yeah.[David] The U.S.M.N.T. exit against Belgium was rough.[David] The Hollywood Reporter ran a piece,[David] U.S. soccer is not ready for prime time. And honestly,[David] fair headline.[David] Ouch, but not wrong.[Maya] Right?[David] I mean, come on, we've had years to build this up before hosting next summer.[David] Which brings up the Balogun thing,[David] and I gotta push back on this one.[David] Oh, the red card mess?[Maya] Oh, the red card mess?[David] Al Jazeera ran a piece basically saying there's a political angle to FIFA reversing that card.[Maya] Oh,[Maya] wait, seriously?[Maya] It's a red card.[David] I know,[David] officials botch calls constantly,[David] in every sport,[David] everywhere.[Maya] So, a referee makes a bad decision and suddenly it's a political conspiracy?[David] That's the read, apparently.[Maya] I mean, look,[Maya] I'm not saying FIFA's officiating is spotless, but reaching for politics on a card call is a stretch.[Maya] Sometimes a blown whistle is just a blown whistle.[David] Agreed. Not everything needs a headline that big.[Maya] Okay,[Maya] switching gears for something sadder.[David] Yeah.[Maya] NBC News reported that Lauren Bennett passed away.[Maya] She was[Maya] He was thirty seven.[David] The 'Party Rock Anthem'[David] voice,[David] right?--that LMFAO hit everybody knows?[Maya] That's her!" She sang the hook,[Maya] and she was also part of the group GRL.[David] Her old band mates said their hearts are broken.[David] That's basically the statement NBC ran.[Maya] Thirty-seven is just way too young.[David] It really is . . . one of those songs everybody's danced to without knowing who's actually behind the mike.[Maya] Sending real condolences to her family and everyone in GRL this morning.[David] Yeah,[David] rest easy.[Maya] Alright,

[Maya] that's a lot of ground today: 8:05

[Maya] global flashpoints,[Maya] layoffs, upsets, and one really tough goodbye.[David] A packed one for sure.[Maya] And that's the Rundown.[David] We'll see you next time.[Maya] Alright, that's the Rundown for today.[David] Yeah, from those drones hitting Siberia to Toyota betting big on Texas.[David] Busy morning.[Maya] Honestly,[Maya] my takeaway?[Maya] When things get shaky overseas,[Maya] it shows up fast in paychecks and factory decisions back home.[David] Exactly.[David] Worth watching those two things together going forward.[Maya] Brightening.[Maya] If you like the show,[Maya] hit subscribe and leave us a review.[Maya] It actually helps people find us.[David] Seriously,[David] takes 10 seconds and means a lot.[Maya] Thanks for spending your morning with us.[David] We'll catch you next time.[Maya] Bye,[Maya] everybody.