Asian Entertainment Industry

August brought another overwhelming wave of migration at the U.S.-Mexico border — including a record number of family members crossing illegally, according to government data released Friday.

Why it matters: After initial optimism that President Biden’s new policies were working, immigration officials are again scrambling.

Fellow Democrats are raising alarms as their cities struggle to provide shelter for the thousands of foreigners arriving from the border.
What’s happening: 233,000 migrants and asylum seekers attempted to cross the U.S.-Mexico border last month without proper visas.

181,000 people crossed the border illegally last month — the highest monthly number since before pandemic policies were replaced by new carrot-and-stick measures in May.
A record 93,000 family members crossed illegally.
Driving the news: Things haven’t slowed down since August.

For the first time since a historic wave leading up to the end of restrictive COVID policies, border crossings surpassed 10,000 in a single day on Wednesday, according to internal data obtained by Axios.
The number includes migrants and asylum seekers crossing illegally as well as at legal entry points.
The daily average for the past three weeks is now nearing 9,000 a day, according to the data.
Customs and Border Protection “remains vigilant in the face of ruthless smugglers and transnational criminal organizations who exploit vulnerable migrants,” Troy Miller, a senior official serving as CBP commissioner, said in a statement.

“Our operational tempo along the border has increased in response to increased encounters,” he added.
Between the lines: The higher numbers have been driven in part by a surge in Venezuelan migrants and asylum seekers fleeing a severely unstable economy and government at home.

More than 31,000 Venezuelans crossed into the U.S. in August, with 70% choosing to do so illegally despite Biden’s legal parole program specifically created for them.
Many are risking the dangerous jungles of the Darién Gap separating Colombia and Panama.
A startling 82,000 migrants took the often-deadly journey through the Darién last month. Nearly 63,000 of them were Venezuelans, according to Panamanian data.
Venezuelans have long been a particularly challenging demographic. The country’s authoritarian regime doesn’t cooperate with U.S. efforts to deport Venezuelans — leaving U.S. officials few options once migrants arrive.
What to watch: The administration on Wednesday extended and re-designated Venezuela for Temporary Protected Status.

That will allow Venezuelans who were already in the U.S. before the end of July to legally live and work in the U.S. for at least the next year and a half.
The Biden administration has already expanded a program nationwide that allows officials to more rapidly deport families who do not qualify for asylum.
It is also deploying 800 active duty military personnel to assist border officials — on top of the 2,500 National Guard troops already there.
The intrigue: For months, Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) has blocked Biden from using funds to assist other countries in deporting Venezuelans before they reach the U.S.

Menendez is now “temporarily” stepping down from the committee in the face of federal bribery charges.

President Biden condemned the “totally unacceptable” rise in gun violence in the U.S. during a speech Friday after launching the first-of-its-kind White House office of gun violence prevention.

Driving the news: “If members of the Congress refuse to act, then we’ll need to elect new members of Congress that will act, Democrat or Republican,” Biden said Friday.

“There comes a point where our voices are so loud, our determination is so clear that our effort can no longer be stopped,” Biden said, speaking alongside Vice President Kamala Harris, who will oversee the office.
“We’ve reached that point today in my view, where the safety of our kids from gun violence is on the ballot.”
State of play: The office will work to “expedite the implementation” of the sweeping Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, Biden said Friday.

The president also appeared at the event with Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.), the first member of Generation Z elected to Congress.
The office will also coordinate more support for survivors of gun violence, “the same way FEMA responds to natural disasters,” Biden said.
It will also identify further executive actions the administration can take “within our legal authority to reduce gun violence,” among other priorities.
He said that together the priorities of the office “will help rally the nation, to have a sense of urgency and seriousness of purpose.”
Zoom out: There have been more than 500 mass shootings in the U.S. this year, and guns have become the leading cause of death for American kids.

The announcement comes as Biden’s reelection campaign is heating up, presenting an opportunity for Biden to woo young voters.
Gun violence was a key issue that drove young voters to the polls during the 2022 midterm elections, according to advocacy group March for Our Lives.
Biden has been a strong proponent for stricter gun control legislation and has repeatedly called for a ban on assault weapons, but he’s faced opposition from Congress.

Earlier this year he signed an executive order that the administration said would get the country “as close to universal background checks as possible without additional legislation.”
What they’re saying: Youth advocacy groups praised the creation of the office, which will be led by Stefanie Feldman, a longtime policy advisor to Biden on gun violence prevention.

Santiago Mayer, Voters of Tomorrow founder and executive director, said in a statement that the administration “has repeatedly answered our calls.”
“Growing up with countless mass shootings, including in our schools, it’s no wonder that Gen Z is called the ‘mass shooting generation,'” Mayer said.

Claire Atkinson, a veteran media reporter, plans a major biography of Rupert Murdoch that’ll be out in 2025 and is titled … “MURDOCH.”

Why it matters: Atkinson is a British journalist who once worked for Rupert Murdoch’s New York Post. She’ll portray him as a “tenacious yet perennially unsatisfied man, a formidable business leader, and a once-in-a-century business legend,” according to the publisher, Grand Central.

Zoom out: Murdoch said Thursday he’ll step down as chairman of Fox Corp. and News Corp.

Michael Wolff, who wrote a bestselling trilogy about former President Trump, will be out Tuesday with a dark take on the Murdoch empire, “The Fall: The End of Fox News and the Murdoch Dynasty.”
Zoom in: “Spanning the full arc of his life and career, ‘MURDOCH’ will explore what drives this relentless workaholic — an Oxford University graduate with a disdain for the elite and an uncanny ability to connect with the man on the street,” the publisher’s announcement says.

“The book will uncover the enduring impact Rupert has had on the world of politics and communications — and his grown son Lachlan Murdoch, now solely in charge of Fox and News Corp. — and shed light on the complicated relationships that inspired ‘Succession.'”
Atkinson is founder of newsletter and podcast The Media Mix, and formerly covered media for Murdoch’s New York Post. Called “indefatigable” by Deadline, she later joined NBC News.

Tropical Storm Ophelia is set to bring “life-threatening” impacts to the Carolinas and Mid-Atlantic beginning Friday and lasting through the weekend.

Threat level: The biggest risks from the tropical storm, which officially formed on Friday afternoon, are coastal flooding, high winds and copious amounts of rainfall.

The storm has a large swath of tropical storm-force winds (sustained winds of at least 39 mph), extending 275 miles from the center.
The National Hurricane Center is warning of life-threatening storm surge flooding along coastal areas of North Carolina, Virginia, parts of Maryland, Delaware and New Jersey, where storm surge warnings and watches are in effect.
Storm surge refers to a rise of water, typically driven by a storm’s winds, above the predicted astronomical tide levels.
Zoom in: The areas expected to be hit hardest include parts of southeastern North Carolina, where 3 to 5 feet of surge is expected.

Norfolk and Virginia Beach, Va., an area especially vulnerable to coastal flooding, is expected to see 2 to 4 feet of storm surge.
The Upper Chesapeake Bay region and much of coastal New Jersey is in a region that is forecast to see 1 to 3 feet of surge.

The big picture: The storm is gaining energy from the Gulf Stream as well as winds in the upper levels of the atmosphere. It is likely to make landfall in eastern North Carolina on Saturday, and weaken while moving north-northwestward into the Mid-Atlantic.

As it does so, it is likely to spread a shield of heavy, windswept rains from the Carolinas to southern New England.
Washington, D.C., for example, could pick up as much as 4 or more inches of rain between Friday night and Sunday, along with gusty winds and a threat of coastal flooding along the tidal Potomac River.
The National Hurricane Center is predicting that the storm will have maximum sustained winds of 65 mph when it makes landfall, bringing with it the threats of downed trees and power lines.
Our thought bubble: This storm is not one that has been heralded in the media for days, spurring evacuations and planning. It may surprise many with its significant impacts, particularly because it will be making landfall as it intensifies.

Is the rise of generative artificial intelligence an opportunity for turbocharged productivity and income growth, or a threat to millions of workers? The answer to both is effectively “yes,” according to a top central banker who weighed in on the economics of AI on Friday.

Why it matters: It was the first time a top Fed official has spoken in detail on the macroeconomic implications of AI.

Driving the news: Fed governor Lisa Cook, speaking at a National Bureau of Economic Research conference in Toronto, said that “[e]conomic history suggests cautious optimism” in how the technology built on large language models might affect jobs.

What they’re saying: Generative AI’s economic importance depends on whether it turns out to be a “general purpose technology” that improves productivity across a wide array of industries, as tech advances and electrification did a century ago.

“The impact of AI on the economy and monetary policy will depend on whether AI is just another app or something more profound,” Cook said. “The most consequential innovations in the past have been general purpose technologies that have broadly transformed the economy over an extended period of time.”
She suggests there is a strong possibility this is the case. “Generative AI makes communication more efficient, and nearly all human activities—and all industries—involve communication,” she said.
“It is true that if you let generative AI draft an email, write the minutes of a meeting, or research a topic, you will have to review, fact-check, and edit the result,” she adds. “Nonetheless, thanks to AI’s contribution, you may be much closer to your goal when you start than if you began with a blank page.”
What’s next: While that has the potential to make many jobs obsolete, the net benefits for workers and incomes should be favorable, Cook argued — though not without pain in some sectors.

“When the world switched from horse-drawn transport to motor vehicles, jobs for stable hands disappeared, but jobs for auto mechanics took their place,” she said.
“New technologies may displace some types of labor, but they can also raise the productivity and incomes of jobs they create or complement,” Cook adds.
“Nonetheless, the displacement effect might be concentrated and the productivity effect more diffuse. Therefore, while many workers throughout the economy benefit, a smaller set bear the brunt of the negative effects,” which could make for “a difficult transition for some workers.”
The bottom line: The potential — and pitfalls — for AI to shape the growth and jobs outlook is increasingly on the minds of top policymakers.

Earth’s sixth mass extinction is already happening — and it is rapidly accelerating, researchers warned in a study out this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) journal.

Why it matters: The study adds to a growing understanding of how humans have — often negatively — impacted Earth’s trajectory.

What they found: The study noted that animal species are going extinct at rates 35 times faster than the historical norm over the past million years.

Researchers highlighted the role of humans in the phenomenon, noting that animal species lost in the past 500 years would have taken about 18,000 to go extinct in the absence of humans.
Habitat destruction, illegal trade and climate disruption will likely continue to drive extinction rate acceleration in the coming decades, the study added.
The mass loss of animal species means losing a record of the planet’s evolutionary history and potential, and will have ramifications for humans, Gerardo Ceballos, the study’s lead author, told Axios.

“There is life on the planet because of the plants and animals — wild plants and animals — and the ecosystems that they form,” Ceballos said.
The crops humans use, the combination of gases of the atmosphere that make it suitable for life on Earth, and active compounds used for medications, are all in some ways dependent on plants and animals, he added.
By losing entire branches of genera, “we’re losing the capability of the planet to maintain life in general, and to maintain human life in particular,” Ceballos said.
State of play: The new research builds on a number of studies from past years that warned Earth is experiencing a sixth mass extinction.

Scientists have previously warned that up to 1 million species are threatened with extinction and some could be lost within decades.
A separate study published earlier this summer in the journal Biological Reviews noted that the sixth mass extinction, currently underway, is the first mass extinction “directly induced by a single species – humans.”
Researchers in June proposed the demarcation of a new epoch to reflect humans’ impact on Earth.
Yes but: Not all scientists are convinced that the current wildlife loss constitutes a sixth mass extinction.

“We have no idea how to identify a sixth mass extinction,” Stuart Pimm, the Doris Duke Professor of Conservation Ecology at Duke University, told Axios.
Disagreeing with the premise of a sixth extinction doesn’t mean disputing the fact that the Earth is experiencing wildlife loss that’s much faster than in the last few million years, he stressed.
“When you start saying, ‘Well, how does this compare to what happened 65 million years ago?’ That’s when it gets really difficult,” Pimm said.
Ceballos defined mass extinction as a catastrophic event that happens relatively quickly, is caused by a natural catastrophe, and wipes out 70% of the plants and animals on Earth.

The debate over whether a sixth mass extinction is occurring “doesn’t really matter,” Ceballos said.
Regardless of what you call it, Earth is facing massive biodiversity loss, climate change, and the toxification of the environment, he added.
Background: The last mass extinction occurred after an asteroid struck the earth roughly 66 million years ago.

Researchers found that the impact fundamentally changed the diversity and structure of tropical forests in South America.
The bottom line: The new study notes that “immediate political, economic, and social efforts of an unprecedented scale” are necessary in order to prevent these mass extinctions and their impacts.

Humans have the science, technology, and knowledge “to do much better,” Ceballos said

Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) has been indicted on bribery charges, according to prosecutors and court records.

Why it matters: It’s the second time the powerful New Jersey Democrat has faced federal corruption-related charges in the last decade.

Driving the news: Menendez and his wife, Nadine Menendez, are charged “with bribery offenses in connection with their corrupt relationship with three New Jersey businessmen,” the U.S. attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York wrote on the social media platform X on Friday.

Menendez, chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and his wife are charged with three counts, including conspiracy to commit bribery, conspiracy to commit honest services fraud and conspiracy to commit extortion under color of official right.
A spokesperson for Menendez’s office did not immediately respond to Axios’ request for comment.
Zoom in: The indictment alleges that Menendez and his wife accepted “hundreds of thousands of dollars of bribes in exchange for using” the senator’s “power and influence to … seek to protect and enrich” the businessmen.

“Those bribes included cash, gold, payments toward a home mortgage, compensation for a low-or-no-show job, a luxury vehicle, and other things of value,” the indictment said.
Prosecutors allege that Menendez “promised to and did use his influence and power and breach his official duty in ways that benefited the Government of Egypt,” as well as Egyptian-American businessman Wael Hana.
The indictment also says that Menendez “provided sensitive U.S. government information” that “secretly aided” the government of Egypt.
In addition to Hana, New Jersey associates and businessmen Jose Uribe and Fred Daibes are also charged.
What he’s saying: Menendez on Friday called the indictment a “smear campaign” and said that he remains “focused on continuing this important work and will not be distracted by baseless investigations.”

“Since this investigation was leaked nearly a year ago there has been an active smear campaign of anonymous sources and innuendos to create an air of impropriety where none exists,” he said.
U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Damian Williams said during a Friday press conference that special agents with the FBI executed search warrants at Menendez’s New Jersey residence and safe deposit box.

“When they got there, they discovered approximately $500,000 of cash stuffed into envelopes and closets.”
“Some of the cash was stuffed in the senator’s jacket pockets, some of the envelopes of cash contain Daibes’ fingerprints, Daibes’ DNA,” Williams said.
The agents also discovered gold worth over $100,000.

Flashback: Menendez previously denied wrongdoing in the probe, saying in May: “I am sure it is going to end up in absolutely nothing.”

In 2015, he was indicted in New Jersey for allegedly offering public favors to a Florida eye doctor in exchange for lavish gifts, flights on a private jet, and political donations.
However, the case ended in a mistrial in 2017.

At the Kern County Fair this weekend, monster trucks roar in a grandstand, all-Alaskan racing pigs squeal in a tent, and at the county Republican party table, voters smile and pose next to a life-sized cardboard picture of House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

In Bakersfield, California, the legislative chaos in the House of Representatives pushing the country to the brink of a government shutdown – starring the town’s favorite son, Speaker McCarthy – hardly registers in this agricultural and oil producing region.

In this Republican district in a solidly Democratic state, belief in McCarthy’s ability to steer his caucus to a resolution remains steadfast, because the born-and-bred Bakersfield native carries the ideals of his city, said longtime ally Cathy Abernathy.

“We deal in real life’s realities here,” said Abernathy from her Bakersfield office to CNN. “You have to water that crop and pick it on time, no matter what’s going on. You have to make it work. There isn’t a choice. People in the Central Valley understand deadlines and the forces that fight it while we make it work. And Kevin is one of us.”

That confidence contrasts to the alarm blaring miles away in the nation’s capital.

McCarthy’s speakership now hangs in the balance with the clock ticking towards a potential government shutdown and calls from the most conservative members of the House Republican caucus threatening to oust him from the role he struggled mightily to obtain earlier this year. McCarthy has clashed with far-right members who oppose increased domestic spending and additional aid for Ukraine and have blocked multiple efforts by McCarthy to avoid a shutdown. Some of those far-right members are willing to push for McCarthy to be removed as speaker to prevent him from working across the aisle to pass a short-term government funding bill.

“If Speaker McCarthy relies on Democrats to pass a continuing resolution, I would call the Capitol moving truck to his office pretty soon because my expectation would be he’d be out of the Speaker’s office quite promptly,” Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, one of those hardline Republican members, told CNN on Wednesday.

“We will have a government shutdown, and it is absolutely Speaker McCarthy’s fault,” he added.

Taft, California, Mayor Dave Noerr brushed off Gaetz’s fiery quotes, calling it “ridiculous.” On the very public pressure facing McCarthy, Noerr told CNN he sees it as part of the bare knuckle fight of Washington, but nothing new for the speaker or the region that raised a young McCarthy.

‘Kevin will get this done’
In Bakersfield, he’s not just speaker of the House. He’s known as the son of a firefighter, born and raised in the Central Valley. He is the area’s most famous homegrown national office holder – community college, college and master’s degree all from this area – whose less-than-stellar grades would suggest a far less powerful career path. But like the working town that raised him, the lack of polish would impart lessons that guide McCarthy today.

“We’re made up of thick skin,” Noerr said. “We’re hard working. We are oil and gas, ranching and farming. We are not a ruckus crowd. But we are strong and get it done.”

Noerr referred to the intra-party war McCarthy faced to becoming speaker, one that he would ultimately win.

With House Republicans holding a slim majority in the 118th Congress, the now-familiar group of GOP hard-liners prompted a messy and historic floor fight for control of the speaker’s gavel. After voting had spilled into a fifth day, McCarthy broke through by conceding to a series of demands that weakened the power of the speakership.

It’s the sort of compromise that McCarthy understands must happen in governance, said Abernathy.

“People talking about trying to bring in moving vans are just fundraising,” said Abernathy, adding Gaetz is trying to “keep the pot boiling for national attention. Kevin will get this done, one way or another. Anyone who really knows Kevin McCarthy knows he’s up to the task.”

Bakersfield conservative Paul Stine has known McCarthy since 1995, battling with him since they were young Republicans. When they first met, Stine considered McCarthy as too centrist, more like Arnold Schwarzenegger than Donald Trump.

“Kevin can adapt,” Stine said. “But Matt Gaetz is making it hard for him to adapt this time. Gaetz and the rest are making it hard to get the budget out of the House unless he decides to work with the Democrats.”

That sort of political blow to the right wing would be tough for Stine to swallow. But it would follow a characteristic that Stine said has followed McCarthy throughout his professional life – political survival.

Stine said, “I don’t know what his exit plan today is, but he is the most adaptable politician I have ever seen in my life.”

A new surge of migrants at the US-Mexico border has placed immense pressure on federal resources and tested President Joe Biden’s border policies only months after going into place, prompting fresh criticism from Republicans and concern within the administration over a politically delicate issue.

Biden has been plagued by issues on the border since his first months in office when the US faced a surge of unaccompanied migrant children that caught officials flatfooted. Over the last two years, his administration has continued to face fierce pushback from Republicans – and at times, Democrats – over his immigration policies.

That complicated political landscape was put into sharp focus this week when administration officials were forced to contend with images of migrants crossing into the US in large groups, while also heralding a major move that will make hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans already in the US eligible to work, addressing a major sticking point with allies in New York.

But the new wave of newcomers – many of whom are from Venezuela – paints a grim outlook for the fall as Biden ramps up his reelection campaign and Republicans continue to hammer the administration over its handling of the border.

On Thursday, Biden blasted Republicans in Congress during remarks at the 46th Annual Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute’s Gala in Washington, DC, saying they “continue to undermine our border security” by blocking bipartisan efforts to pass immigration reform.

“We need our colleagues to act – for decades, immigration reform has been bipartisan in this country,” he said.

“Unfortunately, MAGA Republicans in Congress spent four years gutting the immigration system under my predecessor,” he added.

In the absence of immigration reform, the administration has put in place a patchwork of policies to try to stem the flow of migrants journeying to the US southern border amid unprecedented mass migration in the western hemisphere.

Earlier this year, the administration rolled out new and additional avenues for migrants to enter the US legally, like a mobile app, to keep people from crossing unlawfully. They have also stood up centers in the hemisphere to allow migrants to apply to come to the US.

But desperation and disinformation from smugglers have prompted migrants to cross anyway. Homeland Security officials are monitoring the situation and while they gave no clear explanation for what prompted the latest surge, they cited poor economies, authoritarian regimes and the climate crisis as forces driving migration.

This week, US Border Patrol apprehended more than 8,000 migrants daily, according to two Homeland Security officials. That’s up from around 3,500 daily border arrests after the Covid-era border restriction known as Title 42 expired in May and triggered more severe consequences for people who crossed the border illegally.

The Department of Homeland Security has ramped up capacity in border facilities to accommodate the growing number of migrants, as well as continued to conduct deportation flights of migrants deemed ineligible to stay in the United States. US officials are also coordinating with Mexico to try to drive down crossings.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas is set to travel to the border on Saturday, going to McAllen, Texas, for a meeting with President Xiomara Castro of Honduras.

The Department of Defense, for its part, is sending 800 new active-duty personnel to the US-Mexico border, in addition to the 2,500 National Guard members already in place, to provide support to federal authorities.

The arrival of migrants at the US southern border also affects inner cities, where asylum seekers usually reside as they go through their immigration proceedings, expanding the scope of the issue for the Biden administration.

The administration addressed a major concern among Democrats this week by making more than 472,000 Venezuelans already in the US eligible for Temporary Protected Status, which provides deportation protections and allows them to work in the US. Democratic allies had urged the White House to speed up the ability for Venezuelans to obtain work authorization so they wouldn’t have to rely on social services.

“As a result of this decision, immigrants will be temporarily allowed to work, fill needed jobs and support their families while awaiting an asylum determination. The decision will also substantially reduce the cost to New York taxpayers with respect to the sheltering of asylum-seekers,” said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, both of whom are New York Democrats, in a statement.

A furious scramble for second place is underway in the crowded Republican primary contest, with candidates vying for an opportunity to directly take on front-runner Donald Trump. The position, once held by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, now appears to be more of a free-for-all.

Since the 2024 presidential race began, the second-place spot in GOP primary polling has been a coveted one. The conventional wisdom was that for candidates not named Trump, one of their earliest objectives would be to become the consensus alternative to the former president. Before and in the early days of DeSantis’ campaign, it seemed like he would be that candidate. The Florida governor enjoyed a robust campaign war chest and early polling showed him trailing only Trump, albeit by a wide margin.

But more recently, DeSantis’s star has begun to fade. He was more muted compared with other rivals at last month’s first Republican primary debate in Milwaukee, and he’s now polling at similar levels to several other non-Trump contenders. A new CNN/University of New Hampshire poll of likely GOP primary voters in the Granite State found a close contest for second place between entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and DeSantis.

With the second GOP debate only days away, Haley has been gaining ground with Republican moderates, according to surveys in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina, and is increasingly trying to distinguish herself on both fiscal and foreign policy.

“We need a leader who will stand up to Democrats and Republicans,” the former governor said Friday as she unveiled her economic policy in an address at St. Anselm College in New Hampshire. “Republicans talk a big game, but they’re nearly as reckless as the Democrats on spending.”

Her strong showing at the Milwaukee debate, particularly the exchanges with Ramaswamy, gained her the admiration of voters like Tom Boyer, who came to see her speak Friday.

“I appreciated what she said and agreed with her wholeheartedly,” Boyer told CNN. “I like the fact that she’s in favor of supporting Ukraine, and some of her Republican opponents are not. I like her economic plan. I like her reasoning.”

Boyer, a longtime New Jersey resident who retired to New Hampshire, said he also was drawn to Christie’s candidacy but believes Haley has a better path to victory.

“If the problems Trump is having bring him down a little bit, I like her more than any of the other candidates,” Boyer said.

The GOP race will also be driven by voters like Thalia Floras, who said she intends to shed her Democratic Party registration next week in New Hampshire and become an undeclared voter. She said she ultimately intends to take part in the Republican primary and is considering Haley, Christie or former Texas Rep. Will Hurd. She said her chief goal was to find the strongest contender against Trump.

“Absolutely,” she said. “I will support the candidate that could potentially slow or stop Trump.”

Hoping for a stumble
It’s not unheard of for the overarching theme of a presidential primary to be about one consistent front-runner and a revolving door of alternatives. In the 2012 cycle, Mitt Romney enjoyed front-runner billing but his top rival changed throughout the primary. At one point, it was Newt Gingrich. At another point, it seemed like Rick Perry was Romney’s biggest threat. At yet another point, it was Rick Santorum. This cycle is shaping up to be similar to that, said Kyle Plotkin, a veteran Republican campaign strategist.

“Everyone’s going to get a second look to be second place,” Plotkin said.

For much of the rest of the field, that’s a big part of the gamble in running against Trump in this primary. Despite a bevy of indictments and a refusal to participate in the first two Republican presidential debates, Trump’s polling lead over the rest of the field has only grown and he’s enjoyed fundraising windfalls. Whether they admit it or not, other campaigns are betting that some unforeseen event will knock the former president’s momentum, said David Urban, a former senior adviser to Trump’s 2016 campaign and a CNN contributor.

“I think everyone’s kind of rowing their boat in that direction, hoping there will be a stumble at some point. That somehow, in some place along the way, the former president stumbles and he then gets knocked off the horse and then somebody else is next. Positioning for being next is the best thing you can hope for at this point,” Urban said. “Nobody’s closing the gap. The gap has not been closed. And so since that gap has not been closed, the thesis on ‘I’m going to run to be first’ -well, running to be first ain’t working. It’s not working. It’s not playing out. So running to be second seems to be the next best thing. And that’s all you can do.”

So far, it isn’t clear what that stumble would be. Trump has been seemingly impervious to the consequences of the tactical slip-ups the other candidates have experienced. That’s left the debates as key moments to break through for the rest of the field, argued Republican strategist Brett Doster.

“I think that the DeSantis campaign has made every rookie mistake you possibly could make for a presidential candidate, but he’s still the one to beat among the non-Trump candidates because of the money factor,” Doster said. “I think this upcoming debate is going to be interesting because it looks like there may be a smaller field. And I think it’s going to be a decisive moment for either (former Vice President Mike) Pence or Vivek or Nikki Haley to make their move.”