Transcript: January 18, 2023

Introduction

Sound: Tank Firing

Jonathan: On the other side of the world right now, Russia’s war against Ukraine continues to rage. We’ll tell you where things stand right now. Plus – is one of Elon’s tweets about to cost him a ton of money?

Those stories and more today on… Notice News. 

Elon Musk in More Legal Trouble

Jonathan: Hey guys, it’s Jonathan here at Notice HQ in Brooklyn. You probably know Elon Musk, the billionaire owner of Tesla and Twitter, who was once the world’s richest man. 

He’s not the world’s richest man anymore – now he’s the second richest – after a fall in the value of Tesla stock over the past year. And now, some old tweets he sent may end up costing him even more money, thanks to a lawsuit filed against Elon by some Tesla shareholders.

In 2018, Elon wanted to change Tesla from a public company, that ordinary people like you or me can buy stock in – into a private company – which doesn’t sell stock to the public and is owned by private investors. 

At the time, Elon tweeted quote, “funding secured” implying it was a done deal, but that wasn’t necessarily true.

Elon later clarified that an investor *supported* taking Tesla private, but that’s not the same as having “funding secured.” 

The government investigated and forced Elon to step down as Tesla chairman and ordered him to pay a $40 million fine split between him and the company. Some people who owned Tesla stock thought that didn’t go far enough, so they filed a lawsuit against Elon, and that trial began yesterday. It’s expected to last around three weeks, and Elon might even have to appear in court and testify.

The shareholders want him to pay damages for the false statements that affected their investments, and this lawsuit has the potential to cost Elon millions of dollars. but it’s not Elon’s only problem with misleading statements.

He’s described Tesla vehicle’s autopilot system as “probably better” than human drivers, but a report in the New York Times magazine said drivers have been “genuinely confused about autopilot’s capabilities.”

Tesla is facing several lawsuits over crashes involving that autopilot system, which allege the company downplayed the software’s dangers. 

Headlines

Jonathan: Here’s what else is making news right now.

The death toll in California has risen to at least 20 after the state was hit with some of the heaviest rain it’s seen in decades.Cleanup began this week as the rain finally slowed down, and President Biden plans to survey the damage on Thursday.

China, the most populous country in the world, actually saw its population decrease by 850,000 people last year. It’s the first time it’s gone down since 1961.

And Taylor Swift’s guitar, Eminem’s shoes, and a full outfit worn by a member of BTS will be auctioned off next month for charity. Some of the items are expected to bring in up to $10,000 for musicians in financial and medical crisis.

The War in Ukraine Rages On

Jonathan: You don’t hear about it as much anymore, but the war in Ukraine is still raging. 

This makeshift memorial was set up in Ukraine’s Dnipro, where more than 40 people died when a Russian missile hit an apartment building on saturday.

The Washington Post reports that includes 4 children.

It’s the single deadliest incident since the war began almost a year ago, and dozens more remain missing under the rubble.  Russia denies intentionally targeting civilians, which is a war crime, but western countries don’t buy that.

This woman told Reuters she came to pay respect for those who lost their lives. Attacks like these have Ukraine asking for more military aid, including air defense and tanks, as top U.S. officials are planning to meet with America’s allies this week to discuss the country’s needs. 

After a string of setbacks the past few months, Russia has made some advances in the eastern part of Ukraine, and now Putin has ordered the number of Russian troops up to 1.5 million.

Ukraine is worried about a possible Russian offensive in the spring, and is looking to prepare now. The U.K. just agreed to send more tanks, and Germany might soon follow.

February 24 will mark the one year anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Conclusion

That’s it for today but you can learn more about the lawsuit against Elon Musk on our website, noticenews.com.

I’ll be back tomorrow with more from us, Notice News.