CNN Murmurs, Trump’s Fox Calculus, Scooter Braun Fallout

Welcome back to The Daily Courant, your pocket guide to Puck’s best new reporting.

Today, we lead with Julia Ioffe’s trenchant dispatch on the stunning death of Yevgeny Prigozhin, the brutal Wagner paramilitary leader and Putin’s would-be usurper, and the chilling response inside Russia.

Plus, below the fold: Bill Cohan dissects Mike Bloomberg’s big announcement and the Goldman board’s mounting pressure. Dylan Byers spotlights Fox News’s Trump pickle and the Chris Licht successor sweepstakes. On The Powers That Be, Julia and Peter Hamby chew over a new fear gripping Russia. And on The Town, Matt Belloni and Shirley Halperin chat candidly about the Scooter Braun-Justin Bieber-Ariana Grande situation.

JULIA IOFFE

Putin’s inner circle has always abided by an unwritten code—“ponyatie,” or understandings—about the rewards of loyalty and the fate of traitors. Prigozhin, lured into thinking that he might be special, was never an exception.

A MESSAGE FROM OUR SPONSOR

For your consideration, the show The New York Times called “a beloved institution,” is nominated for three Emmy awards, including Outstanding Talk Series.

Trevor Noah helped us make sense of and laugh at a nonsensical and not so fun world. And he did it every single night, four nights a week, 52 weeks a year, except when he didn’t because of holidays and stuff.

The Washington Post called Trevor “a late-night comedy unicorn.” And we all know how rare unicorns are. They’re pretty much extinct.

He didn’t do it for the awards…but come on.

If you’re still not convinced, go to www.paramountfyc.com.

WILLIAM D. COHAN

News and notes on the most pressing questions around Wall Street: Goldman’s endless media headache, an M&A shotgun wedding, and succession planning inside 731.

DYLAN BYERS

Tonight’s Republican debate will be most notable, of course, for the absence of the Republican frontrunner, and for testing whether the Murdochs can remain at the center of the media universe without the monster they made.

PETER HAMBY & JULIA IOFFE

Peter and Julia Ioffe discuss the stunning death of Putin’s greatest nemesis.