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Good Friday morning. Hard to believe it's the final weekend of August...hope it's a great one. — Neal Freyman, Sherry Qin, Matty Merritt

MARKETS Nasdaq 14,945.81 -0.64% S&P 4,470.00 -0.58% Dow 35,213.12 -0.54% Bitcoin $47,271.59 -3.02% 10-Year 1.357% +0.8 bps Russell 2000 2,213.98 -1.13% *Stock data as of market close, cryptocurrency data as of 5:00pm ET. Here's what these numbers mean. Afghanistan: 13 US troops and at least 90 civilians died during twin blasts near Kabul’s airport yesterday. An Islamic State affiliate known as ISIS-K took responsibility for what is the single deadliest incident for American forces in Afghanistan in a decade.  Markets: The S&P and Nasdaq broke their 5-day win streaks, but that’s small potatoes compared to Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s big speech at the Jackson Hole virtual conference this morning. Investors across the globe will be glued to their screens to hear more about the Fed’s plan to wind down its pandemic-era stimulus measures.

HOUSING The Eviction Moratorium Is No More Eric Baradat/Getty Images The Supreme Court put an end to the moratorium that protected renters from being evicted during the pandemic. In a 6–3 decision last night, the court said that the CDC, which imposed the moratorium, didn’t actually have the legal authority to do that. In practice, that means hundreds of thousands of people in the US could potentially be evicted from their homes now that the protections have been tossed. There’s a long backstory So here are the SparkNotes. The original moratorium was introduced by the Trump administration with the goal of keeping renters in their homes as the bottom fell out of the economy. The eviction ban was extended a few times, most recently by the CDC through Oct. 3 for areas where Covid-19 was spreading considerably (more than 90% of US counties). But because the latest moratorium was authorized by the CDC and not by Congress, it was on legal shaky footing.  Even President Biden saw the writing on the wall: “The bulk of the constitutional scholarship says that it’s not likely to pass constitutional muster,” he said earlier this month about the extension. The ruling is a big victory for landlords, who’ve argued that they still need to pay their bills even while their income from tenants has dried up under the moratorium. Big picture: The eviction moratorium was just Part 1 of a two-pronged approach by the government to help out renters during the pandemic. Problem is, Part 2 has flopped harder than Quibi. Congress authorized $46.5 billion in rental assistance, but this week we learned that only 11% of the total has been distributed. Looking ahead...with the federal moratorium scrapped, the Biden administration is asking local and state governments to enact measures of their own to protect renters from a wave of potential evictions. — NF

FITNESS Peloton's Quarter Got Us Like Screengrab from Peloton's infamous holiday commercial Not even Cody Rigsby could cheer up Peloton after its latest earnings report.  The fitness company said its losses widened during the latest quarter and warned that revenue for the current quarter won’t hit targets. It also reported a “material weakness” in its accounting processes that spooked investors—shares fell more than 6% after hours. There is good news for anyone who wants to flex on their coworkers with a Peloton in their Zoom background, but balked at the price. The company is slashing the cost of its OG Bike by about 20%, down to $1,495. “We know price remains a barrier,” the company wrote to investors. Big picture: Peloton’s fortunes soared in 2020 when quarantineers found that curling milk jugs just wasn’t scratching that fitness itch. This year has been a different story, as the company faces safety concerns over its Tread product and increased competition from the likes of Tonal, Mirror, and actual gyms.  After gaining more than 440% last year, shares have fallen more than 25% year-to-date...before yesterday’s tumble. — NF

RACIAL JUSTICE Are Companies Living Up to Their Racial Inequality Pledges?

KEREM YUCEL/AFP via Getty Images Last June, US corporations pledged to give a historic sum of money to projects addressing racial inequality following George Floyd’s murder. The country's 50 biggest public companies, including Amazon, Apple, and JPMorgan, collectively committed at least $49.5 billion to racial injustice initiatives, a Washington Post analysis shows.   14 months later, where and how has the money been spent? According to the Post... $45.2 billion—more than 90% of the commitment—are loans and investments that went to support Black-owned banks, expand Black home ownership, and grow Black-owned businesses. Most of the outright grants ($4.2 billion worth) went to groups focusing on economic equality, education, and health. Only $70 million went to organizations working on criminal justice reform specifically. Remember, these are just pledges, so it is difficult to track whether the corporations have actually written the checks. So far, 37 companies have confirmed disbursing at least $1.7 billion. Big picture: While financial muscle from Corporate America is welcome, some experts argue that policy, not philanthropy, is the most effective tactic to combat racial inequality.  – SQ

SPONSORED BY WEBEX BY CISCO Don’t Let Hybrid Work Hold You Back There’s fast-paced work environments, and then there’s the blazing-around-a-track-at-200-MPH kind of work environments.  While most of us can’t say our jobs move at the same speed as the McLaren Formula 1 team, there is one thing we do share in common: Hybrid work is here to stay. McLaren counts on Webex to help keep their foot on the gas in this new hybrid work reality, ensuring real-time communication and seamless collaboration on and off the track. It’s all made possible with the Webex Suite—a unified experience for calling, meeting, messaging, events, and polling. In other words, you can shift gears about as fast as Lando right up there. Learn more about how the Webex Suite is driving hybrid work.

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Alex Haney Stat: Throw your “New York City is dead” takes in the East River with all the other junk. NYC has passed San Francisco as the most expensive rental market in the US, according to a report from Zumper. The median rent for a 1-bedroom in NYC is $2,810, compared to San Francisco’s $2,800.  Quote: “Their security is awful.”  John Brins, a 21-year-old American who’s claimed responsibility for hacking T-Mobile, told the WSJ that breaching the company’s cyber defenses was not particularly difficult. Last week’s hack compromised the personal info of more than 50 million people.  Read: How water shortages are brewing wars. (BBC Future)

QUIZ I <3 Quiz The feeling of getting a 5/5 on the Brew’s Weekly News Quiz has been compared to when someone cancels a meeting on your calendar. It’s that satisfying. Ace the quiz.

WHAT ELSE IS BREWING Apple made several concessions in its App Store policies as part of a proposed settlement for a class-action lawsuit brought by developers. Axel Springer, a German media behemoth, agreed to buy politics news site Politico for more than $1 billion. Welcome to the fam. CVS is restricting the number of over-the-counter rapid Covid-19 tests customers can buy due to elevated demand.   The Education Department is forgiving $1.1 billion in student loans for people who attended colleges in the ITT Tech chain, which closed down in 2016. South Korea became the first major economy in Asia to raise interest rates since the pandemic began.

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CRYPTO Should You Get Into Crypto? It's a question you've probably asked your friends in a group chat, or thought about when work is especially slow.  It's also a question we can't totally answer for you. But what we can do is round up all the best resources, expert opinions, and context to help you on your crypto investing journey.  So we did, and the result is the Crypto Crash Course, where you'll find everything you need to make an informed decision about crypto. Check it out here.

GAMES Friday Puzzle Below is a list of five countries with all the vowels removed. Can you name them? LGR CRT THP CDR ND

SHARE THE BREW The Final Countdown We are hours away from closing the books on our August giveaway, so it's now or never to send your referral link around the company Slack. Here are the details: Refer 5 people to the Brew by the end of today and you'll receive a limited edition Morning Brew backpack. At the same time, we’re raffling off free NUGGS (hugely popular plant-based chicken nuggets) for an entire year to 10 readers who share this week. You need at least 1 referral to be entered into the raffle. Time is ticking: Secure your free backpack today, because it won't be available tomorrow. *See terms and conditions here and here for the giveaway.

ANSWER 1) Algeria 2) Croatia 3) Ethiopia 4) Ecuador 5) India August 27 FEATURED BIOGRAPHY Born On This Day Mother Teresa Roman Catholic nun READ MORE READ MORE FEATURED EVENT 1576 The death of Titian   MORE EVENTS ON THIS DAY 2011: After causing extensive damage to various Caribbean islands, Hurricane Irene made landfall in the United States, striking North Carolina's Outer Banks before moving along the Eastern Seaboard; property damage in the United States exceeded $7 billion, making Irene one of the most expensive Atlantic hurricanes in the country's history. [Sort fact from fiction in our quiz about natural disasters.] 2008: Democratic politician Barack Obama became the first African American to be nominated for the presidency by either major party; he later defeated Republican John McCain to win the office. [Read our list of 10 Democrats who made history, including Barack Obama.] 1979: Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma, was assassinated by members of the Provisional Irish Republican Army, who placed on a bomb on his boat, which was in Donegal Bay, Ireland. [Sort fact from fiction in our quiz about famous Europeans.] 1964: The musical film Mary Poppins, an adaptation of P.L. Travers's book, had its world premiere in Los Angeles, and it became a Disney classic, especially noted for the performance of Julie Andrews, who was making her screen debut. [Test your knowledge of Disney.] 1939: German Ernst Heinrich Heinkel's He 178, a turbojet-powered aircraft, made the first jet flight. [Take our quiz about early aviation.] 1928: The Kellogg-Briand Pact was signed between France and the United States in a series of peacekeeping efforts after World War I. SEE ALL EVENTS ON THIS DAY ALSO BORN ON THIS DAY 1908 Lyndon B. Johnson president of United States 1906 Ed Gein American serial killer 1770 Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel German philosopher 1961 Tom Ford American fashion designer 1890 Man Ray American photographer and painter 1908 Don Bradman Australian cricketer SEE ALL BIOS ON THIS DAY Advertisement Portland just handed their city over to Antifa with an insane decision that will kill people Inbox  The closest thing Antifa has to a national headquarters is Portland, Oregon. They are constantly launching attacks on conservatives, Christians, and police. And Portland just handed their city over to Antifa with an insane decision that will kill people.  Joe Biden deserted thousands of Americans to the mercy of the Taliban. Those U.S. citizens are scrambling to escape from Afghanistan. And Joe Biden gave Americans trapped in Afghanistan this horrible ultimatum. New Gov. Hochul Says Cuomo Hid Nearly 12,000 CVD Deaths In New York Court upholds death penalty for church shooter after rejecting mental-impairment claim J&J Hails Data in Antibody Study – Results Mean Booster Shots Are Coming World War II Vet Celebrates His 100th Birthday: ‘Every Day Should Be for Him’ Several Marines, Navy Medic Among Those Killed in Suicide Attacks McCarthy Blasts Schiff for Pursuing Impeachment Over Afghan Intel SPECIAL: This Is By Far My #1 Income Stock Capitol Police Sue Trump, Allies Over Jan. 6 Uprising Calif. Recall Election Vote-Steal Effort is in Full Swing Biden Backstabs Americans, Bows to Taliban, Leaves Just 7 Days to Get Thousands out Afghan Christians Turn to Glenn Beck Org. for Help After being Shunned By Biden Biden Just Left 14 Million Women to Be Butchered and Raped Even After Death Gen. Flynn: We Are in the Midst of a Fascist Power Grab, But We Still Have Options WATCH THIS - Donald Trump Just Released This Video - EVERYONE Should Watch It Read it Here >> Report: Biden Team Gave Taliban Refugee Names, IDs Special: Famous Investor Says Stock Market Bubble Will Soon Pop. Time to Move Your Cash? Texas AG Paxton: Open Border Situation Would Create Terrorist Network Fox News Star EXPLODES With Rage - "Ivy League As*es!" Read More >> - AD CONTENT - RECENTLY FEATURED $50 Million LOST Read More >> U.S. Senate HEARINGS Called Abruptly - It's An Emergency! Read More >> Ron DeSantis Was TARGETED - A Devastating Scheme Revealed... Read More >> George W. Bush In BIG Trouble - He Went Too Far... Read More >>   Kamala Harris’ foreign trip got thrown into chaos by this scary health issue Kamala Harris cannot escape bad headlines. Harris hoped a trip to Singapore and Vietnam would allow her to escape scrutiny for her role in the Afghanistan debacle. But Kamala Harris’ foreign trip got thrown into chaos by this scary health issue. Click here to read the full story >> A secret meeting with the Taliban just blew up in Joe Biden’s face Joe Biden’s humiliation in Afghanistan grows by the day. Biden’s failure to execute an orderly withdrawal left thousands of Americans stranded in Afghanistan as potential hostages. And now this secret meeting with the Taliban just blew up in Joe Biden’s face.   Adam Schiff just turned on Joe Biden with one sobering admission This top Democrat is about to lose his job for the one reason that put jaws on the ground Joe Biden will be crying in the Oval Office when he gets these horrible poll results This Kamala Harris reaction to Afghanistan just showed why she should never be President The Taliban issued a threat to Joe Biden that will leave every American embarrassed Kabul Terrorists Suicide Bomb Area Where American Civilians Are Meeting Here's What We Know >> RECENTLY FEATURED Portland Antifa Militants Occupy Waterfront ‘Autonomous Zone’ Read This Alert >> BOMBSHELL: Supreme Court DECIDES - The Verdict Is Officially In! Massive victory! >> Read it Here >> President Biden listens to a question after his address yesterday. Photo: Evan Vucci/AP Tragically, 20 years on, America isn't near done in Afghanistan. Why it matters: President Biden was determined to finally exit — "time to end the forever war," he said in April as he announced the U.S. would be out of Afghanistan by next month's 20th anniversary of 9/11. Now, the U.S. must deliver on Biden's vow of retribution for yesterday's calamity at the Kabul airport gate — amid fears Afghanistan will become a renewed launch pad for terrorism against the West. "Bottom line is that our work is not done in Afghanistan," Leon Panetta, SecDef and CIA director under President Obama, said on CNN. "We're going to have to go back in to get ISIS." On top of that, at least 250,000 Afghans who worked with the U.S. have yet to be evacuated, the N.Y. Times calculates (subscription). Efforts to deliver on commitments to those brave allies will go on for years, people involved in clandestine private projects tell me. Biden told the ISIS-K terrorists are believed to be behind the twin suicide bombings, followed by an attack by gunmen, that killed at least 95 Afghans and 13 U.S. service members: We will not forgive. We will not forget. We will hunt you down and make you pay.  Satellite image: Planet Labs. Map: AP At a Pentagon briefing, Marine Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, commander of U.S. Central Command, had said: "If we can find who's associated with this, we will go after them. ... 24/7, we are looking for them." Panetta told CNN's Erin Burnett that U.S. counterterrorism operations must persist past Tuesday's exit deadline: "We're probably going to have to go back in when al-Qaeda resurrects itself, as they will with this Taliban." "[W]e can leave a battlefield, but we can't leave the war on terrorism." McKenzie, the Central Command commander, said he expects the ISIS attacks to continue. Photo: Marcus Yam/L.A. Times This was the view of American and British forces at the intake Abbey Gate at the Kabul airport on the day before the suicide bombing. Photo: Marcus Yam/L.A. Times This is the sight inside Abbey Gate, as American and British forces try to keep order among Afghan evacuees waiting to leave Kabul. John Fey shows off ticket stubs from Nebraska's 1971 "Game of the Century" against Oklahoma, and the Cornhuskers' 1984 Orange Bowl against Miami. Photo: Eric Olson/AP Ticket stubs are such treasured mementos that most colleges continue to offer printed tickets, even though nearly every Football Bowl Subdivision school has gone to mobile ticketing, AP reports. In a spot check of 30 schools, only Notre Dame said it would refuse to print tickets for fans who preferred them to scanning a barcode. The other 29 are willing to print, though most don't publicize that. Illinois gave fans a choice, and 74% picked paper. That figure was 64% at Nebraska and 50% at Texas A&M. 1 big thing: "We're going to have to go back in" Photo: Asvaka News Agency via Reuters Above: Crowds near Kabul airport on Monday. Go deeper: U.S. relies on Taliban cooperation to complete mission in Kabul, by Axios' Dave Lawler.     2. Nine days back to freedom: An Afghan tale A refugee from Kabul waits at Dulles yesterday. Photo: Win McNamee/Getty Images   The green card that Atifa and her brother used to get back into the U.S. yesterday also put their lives at risk back in Kabul, when the Taliban searched door-to-door for Americans. Axios' Stef Kight interviewed the 21-year-old and her 18-year-old sibling, who went by his last name, Ahmadi, at the Dulles Expo Center in Chantilly, Va. They gave a first-hand account of the journey from Afghanistan to the U.S. — a terrifying, stressful, exhausting trip lasting nine days. Atifa and Ahmadi had been in Afghanistan visiting family for the month and a half preceding the collapse of the government. It took them three days to make it into the Kabul airport. In the safety of a convention center outside the nation's capital, they were surrounded by over 100 others who'd fled Afghanistan. Among them were children playing with hula hoops, mothers in head scarves holding kids, young men in traditional clothes. After boarding a flight out of Kabul, the siblings landed at the Al Udeid Air Base in Doha, Qatar, where they stayed for two nights. There was little food, and none that Afghans are used to eating. Their next stop was Germany. After five days, they boarded a 12-hour flight to the U.S. The expo center was filled with the echoes of dozens of other Afghans who emerged from behind dividers where they had been processed with wristbands signaling their different visa statuses. Hundreds of green cots sat covered with Red Cross blankets, divided by curtains and labeled with hand-written signs designating sections for single women or families — in English and Dari. A curtained area was set aside for prayer. Outside, a U.S. citizen who lives in New York told Axios' Erin Doherty she was confused about why she landed in Virginia. Other people waited for relatives — or searched for a lost bag. Share this story.     3. What Marines face at Abbey Gate Photo: Marcus Yam/L.A. Times A woman is surrounded by her children as she waits in a pile of debris in the processing area outside Abbey Gate on Wednesday.     A message from Amazon Amazon ranked as the No. 1 U.S. company investing in America     The Progressive Policy Institute (PPI) ranked Amazon as the No. 1 U.S. company investing in America. Why it’s important: PPI estimates Amazon invested $34 billion in U.S. infrastructure in 2020. Every Amazon job comes with a starting wage of $15/hr and comprehensive benefits. Learn more.     4. Ambulance wait times soar Illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios   The Delta wave is overwhelming local ambulance companies, Axios' Marisa Fernandez reports: Across the U.S., wait times for EMS have skyrocketed. In some rural areas, EMS trucks have to drive hundreds of miles to respond to calls, even crossing state lines to pick up patients — only to arrive at hospitals with no available beds. First responders in Austin are waiting up to an hour to hand over a patient to hospital staff. Share this story.     5. Even the cloud has holes Microsoft warned thousands of cloud computing customers, including some of the world's largest companies, to change their passwords so intruders can't read, change or delete their databases, Reuters scoops: Security company Wiz found the vulnerability in Microsoft Azure's flagship Cosmos DB database. Microsoft paid a $40,000 bounty for reporting the flaw. Our thought bubble: Axios managing editor Scott Rosenberg tells me this is more a reminder of online vulnerabilities than a four-alarm fire. Microsoft says there's no indication that anyone was compromised.     6. Peloton slowdown Data: Company filings. Chart: Axios Visuals For the first time since COVID struck, the number of new Peloton users slowed during the past quarter, Courtenay Brown writes in Axios Closer.     7. Stat of the day The L.A. Chargers took the field Sunday in Inglewood, Calif., before losing a preseason game to the 49ers, 15-10. Photo: Ashley Landis/AP The NFL says 93% of players are vaccinated for COVID.     8. What's next for Anne Finucane, pioneer in climate finance Photo: Bank of America   Bank of America Vice Chairman Anne Finucane, who announced she'll retire at the end of the year, plans to keep working on climate finance and sustainable investing, and is being mentioned for high-level posts in the Biden administration. Why it matters: Finucane positioned Bank of America as a leader in environmental, social and governance (ESG) efforts, and pushed environmentally sustainable capital deployment as good business. Dina Powell, Goldman Sachs' global head of sustainability and inclusive growth, tells Axios: "As one of the most senior women in finance, [Anne] made a point to mentor and promote so many women." Keep reading.     9. College fans resist digital tickets Photo: Stephen B. Morton/AP Above: Florida fan Evelyn Stark, 86, wore a hat with all the ticket stubs since her first Florida-Georgia game in 1956, while tailgating in 2015.     10. America mourns Workers walk on the roof of the White House yesterday after lowering the flag. Photo: Susan Walsh/AP President Biden ordered U.S. flags flown at half-staff on public buildings until sunset Monday.     A message from Amazon "Before Amazon, money was tight. I wanted a good stable job"     When Marie joined Amazon, she started making at least $15 an hour and gained some peace of mind. The background: Amazon raised their starting wage to at least $15 an hour in 2018 because it is good for workers, good for business, and good for communities.

Pentagon Bracing for More Attacks After Troops Killed at Kabul Airport Special: ‘Once-in-a-Millennia’ Money Shift Has Wall Street Diving for Cover Aaron Babbitt to Newsmax: DC, Media Ran Cover for My Wife's Killer