Good morning and welcome to your weekday morning roundup of the top stories you need to know.
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What's going on today:
- A possible Branson/Bezos space race. Two of the world's wealthiest men insist on shooting themselves out to space. An unconfirmed report suggests Branson may try to beat Bezos into space – and Virgin Galactic didn't deny it. Virgin Galactic did not deny the rumor that Branson is trying to launch by July 4, and one expert says the timeline is "very doable."
- When in doubt, borrow. The wealthiest Americans avoided billions in taxes by voluntarily borrowing cash from big banks. Who knew it could be that easy? Income taxes: 37%. Capital gains: 20%. ProPublica found billionaires avoid those by borrowing from banks at interest rates of less than 10%.
- Don McGahn speaks. Trump's former White House counsel says he felt 'frustrated, perturbed, trapped' when Trump asked him to help fire Mueller. Don McGahn made the comments while testifying to Congress last week about the Mueller probe and also said that he tried to "get off the phone" when Trump raised the subject.
- Compact travel has become big business. A major RV maker now has $14 billion in backlogged orders and is 'pretty much sold out for the next year'. Dealers for Thor Industries brands like Airstream and Jayco also have 'virtually no' inventory to sell.
- A nun on the run. California nun embezzled hundreds of thousands from the Catholic school where she was principal to support her gambling, prosecutors say. Mary Margaret Kreuper embezzled money from St. James Catholic School, where she was in charge of money the school received from tuition and donations. Over the course of her scheme she caused losses equal to $835,339, according to the Justice Department.
That's all for now. See you tomorrow.