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IMPORTANT ISSUES! THESE ARE NOT SOLICITATIONS

Six days left, and I’m so glad you’re in this with me. Your exclusive morning briefing is at the bottom. One thing from the Raskin report that I didn’t put in the free version: survivor Maria Farmer reported Epstein’s abuse to the FBI and raised concerns about Trump too, yet her reports about Trump are nowhere in the Epstein files. I’m digging to find out why.

If someone you love should be reading this before they vote on Tuesday, a gift subscription gets them in today. And if you’re able, upgrade to a founding membership.

Rather send me a tip? My Venmo is https://venmo.com/u/dworkinreport. Any amount helps in a big way!

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Trump Just Got One Date He Can’t Cancel. Tuesday Is The Other.

Inside: the judge who put Trump on the clock, the neighbors who stopped ICE, the survivors Raskin put on the record, and the students who just ended a strongman’s 14-year run.

Scott Dworkin Oct 28

Thanks for joining me today. I’m glad you’re here. I have some great news for you, including a scandal exposed, a strongman going down, and Trump being forced to be deposed under oath.

Before you scroll, hit the ❤️ like button and restack to share this edition with everyone who follows you. One story today is a report Trump would love for people to skip, so let’s make sure they see it.

In these last six days, we’re putting everything we have into flooding social media with the truth, while taking on the MAGA propaganda machine. But we need all hands on deck so we can finish strong, and be ready for what comes next.

If you’ve yet to, join us as a paid subscriber today. You’ll get my campaign briefing every morning until the polls close, a seat with me for our live election night coverage, and more. Let’s win this:

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The Judge Making Trump Answer

 Under Oath

Last December, Trump sued the BBC for $10 billion over a documentary that spliced together two parts of his Jan 6 speech. The BBC apologized for the edit, and its director general resigned. But it says it never defamed him, and its lawyers want to question him under oath.

On July 10, the BBC asked Trump’s lawyers for dates. It followed up four more times that month. Both sides finally agreed on October 16. Then on September 28, Trump’s lawyers canceled, citing “other matters of national importance.” The BBC’s lawyer told the court Trump spent October 16 campaigning in Georgia.

Trump’s team now says he won’t have any time for the rest of the year, only offering dates between January 11 and 22. But that’s after both sides are supposed to be finished gathering evidence like his deposition.

Magistrate Judge Enjoliqué Lett refused to agree with that timeline, ordering Trump to answer questions under oath by December 11. If he doesn’t, he could be sanctioned or his case could be thrown out. “No plaintiff is above the law,” BBC lawyer Charles Tobin said.

Trump has run from this kind of thing before. In 2023, Trump dropped his $500 million lawsuit against his former lawyer Michael Cohen just four days before his deposition.

Trump sues to scare people into submission—whether it’s viable or not. But when it’s his turn to answer, he goes into hiding. Now a judge has him on the clock, and he has six weeks to show up.

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The Neighbors Who Stood Up To 

ICE

On Saturday, October 17, US citizen Ricardo Gonzalez was riding his e-bike through his own neighborhood in North Long Beach, California. His family says he was born in Hanford, California. He spent about seven years working for the city, most recently for Long Beach Utilities.

ICE agents stopped him. His daughter Leslie says an unmarked federal vehicle hit him, then agents tased him twice and pinned him to the ground. Video shows an agent holding him down while he yells, “Help me, my arm is broken” and “call a paramedic.”

His neighbors came running. About 50 people surrounded the agents and demanded to see a warrant. Some dragged trash cans behind ICE’s vehicles, and others stood in front of them so they couldn’t leave. Patricia Velazquez has lived there for more than 30 years. “If they try to take one of us, they’re going to have to take all of Long Beach,” she told the Long Beach Post.

ICE called local police for help. Officers arrived to find Gonzalez handcuffed and bleeding. They then drove him to a fire station, took off the cuffs, and got him to a hospital. He’s since been released and is recovering at home. When agents followed them back to the police station, Long Beach police told them to leave.

ICE claims Gonzalez smashed a mirror on one of its vehicles and tackled an officer, and denies hitting him—but they have yet to announce any charges. Mayor Rex Richardson filed a complaint with Homeland Security’s inspector general. “A federal badge is not a license to brutalize people,” he wrote.

Trump’s agents hurt an American citizen on his own street. His neighbors made sure ICE didn’t drive off with him. More than 700 donations have raised over $31,000 for his recovery.

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The Survivors Raskin Won’t Let

 Trump Bury

On Monday, Rep. Jamie Raskin released a new House Judiciary report on Trump and Epstein. I reviewed the whole document, and it is beyond disturbing. It lays out the accounts of 11 women—five of them accuse Trump of sexual assault with Epstein there or nearby. Trump denies any wrongdoing.

One survivor known as “Jane” testified against Ghislaine Maxwell at her trial. According to the report, she told the FBI that Epstein introduced her to Trump at Mar-a-Lago when she was just 14. In July 2025, Trump’s old defense lawyer and now his attorney general Todd Blanche questioned Maxwell for two days. The report says Blanche cut Maxwell off at least three times when Jane came up. “Let’s not talk about individuals,” he told her.

Also in the committee report—Trump claims he kicked Epstein out of Mar-a-Lago. But in a 2009 email that the Justice Department still keeps blacked out, an Epstein lawyer wrote that Trump said Epstein “was never asked to leave.” On top of that, in 2024 Trump posted that he was “never on Epstein’s Plane.” But a federal prosecutor’s email says flight records put him on it eight times in the 1990s.

Raskin is now calling for an independent special counsel to investigate Epstein’s co-conspirators and the enormous coverup that’s taken place. He also wants the DOJ to hand over evidence to prosecutors who are already digging. That includes the British police investigation of Peter Mandelson, a longtime Epstein friend. If Democrats win the House on Tuesday, Raskin will likely chair the Judiciary Committee. That committee can subpoena Blanche and demand the unredacted files. And we will mount maximum pressure on the rest of the House to support it.

I’ve been covering this scandal for more than a decade, so there’s no way I’m letting go now. These survivors spoke up, and their stories are on the record. Now we need accountability for everyone involved in the coverup. In six days, we can elect a Congress who will finally bring it.

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The Students Who Beat Serbia’s

 Strongman

On November 1, 2024, a concrete canopy at the train station in Novi Sad, Serbia, collapsed and killed 16 people. Students said corrupt officials and shoddy repair work were to blame, and they marched into the streets. They organized blockades at universities across the country and built a national movement demanding accountability. They stayed in the streets for almost two years.

When President Aleksandar Vucic’s government failed to deliver it, the students put together a slate of candidates and ran against him. On Sunday, they beat him at the ballot box. In power since 2012, Vucic borrowed many of his methods from Hungary’s Viktor Orban—using state media and cracking down on critics to stay in power.

About an hour and a half after the polls closed, he admitted, “It is clear that we have lost these elections.” With nearly every polling station counted, the students’ slate had about 53% of the vote to 39% for Vucic’s party. Nearly 7 in 10 voters turned out.

Dijana Hrka’s son died when the canopy fell. On Sunday night she was in Belgrade celebrating. “I have been waiting for this moment for two years,” she told Serbia’s N1 television. “Now I expect that they will all be held accountable.”

In April, Hungarians threw out Orban after Trump told them in all caps to vote for him. On Sunday, Orban’s ally in Serbia lost, and so did Flávio Bolsonaro in Brazil, son of Trump’s ally Jair Bolsonaro. Trump is a wannabe strongman, and his allies keep losing. On Tuesday, it’s our turn.

The Morning Briefing: Six Days Out

Democrats are spending deep in red territory, and Republicans are scrambling to protect their own seats.

Maine and Texas are coin flips. On Tuesday, Sabato’s Crystal Ball called Maine and Texas the two races most likely to decide the Senate, and said Democrats “have the inside track to a Senate majority.” In Maine, a new Marist poll out Tuesday had Democrat Troy Jackson up 49 to 47 over GOP Sen. Susan Collins. Fox News and Trafalgar both had them tied last week. In Texas, Elon Musk’s super PAC has spent $27.9 million attacking James Talarico. But Emerson still had him ahead of Ken Paxton 49 to 48 in a poll taken October 17 to 19.

North Carolina is nearly locked up. Sabato moved the open Senate seat from Leans Democratic to Likely Democratic. Its analysts wrote it “would be stunning at this point” if former Gov. Roy Cooper lost. Early voting there has been weak for Republicans, so GOP House seats in the state are getting shaky too.

Democrats are going after red House seats. House Majority PAC, the main Democratic House super PAC, is now spending $2.2 million against GOP Rep. Brad Finstad in a Minnesota district Trump won by 12. It’s also on the air against GOP Rep. Victoria Spartz in an Indiana seat Trump won by 17. The DCCC, House Democrats’ campaign arm, is spending in 49 districts, and two-thirds of them are held by Republicans.

Republicans are playing defense. Six Republican-held House seats were moved by Sabato from Leans Republican to Toss-up, including GOP Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick in Pennsylvania and GOP Rep. Ann Wagner in Missouri. It moved two more GOP seats, in Pennsylvania and South Texas, all the way to Leans Democratic. It takes 218 to win. Sabato now ranks 225 seats as at least leaning Democratic, and says Democrats could top the 235 seats they won in 2018.

The early vote is ours so far. More than 35 million Americans had voted early by Tuesday night. In the 27 states that track party registration, Democrats cast about 45% of those ballots and Republicans about 31%, according to the University of Florida’s Election Lab.

Kansas and Nevada are turning out. In Kansas, more than 245,000 people had voted early by Tuesday, up about 80% from the 2022 midterms, according to the Secretary of State’s data. Registered Democrats have cast more of those ballots than Republicans. “The opponent got out of the starting blocks faster than us,” GOP Attorney General Kris Kobach admitted. In Nevada, Democrats’ early-vote lead topped 24,000 by Monday night and grew again Tuesday.

Pennsylvania needs a push. Through Sunday, ballots returned by registered Democrats were down 9% from the same point in 2022, while Republican returns were up 21%. Democrats still have a lead, but it’s smaller than it was four years ago.

The Bottom Line: Democrats will likely win the House and they have a good shot at winning the Senate. Maine and Texas could decide it all, and Republicans across the country are spending to defend seats they used to take for granted.

In six days, the polls close, and every one of those days counts. Campaigns can be won or lost here, so we work like we’re behind and sprint through the finish.

No advertiser can slow us down, and no billionaire can tell us to go easy on Trump. We are completely independent, and proud of it. But that means we rely on our amazing community here for funding.

If you’ve been waiting for the right moment, six days out, this is it—join us as a paid subscriber today to help us keep this work going. You’ll get my briefing every morning through Tuesday, and watch the returns with me live on election night starting at 8:30 PM Eastern. Let’s finish strong.

Before you go, tap the ❤️ like button and restack so the people who follow you hear these stories. Thanks for all you do.

Onward!

Scott

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If Democrats win the House, what’s the first thing you want them to investigate?

Do you think Trump will show up for his deposition, or drop his own lawsuit first?

If you’re voting in the US, have you voted yet? If not, what’s your plan?

Thanks for your support! Another way to help us out is by gifting subscriptions to friends and family! You can get yours by clicking the link.

For all contact Congress links, or to volunteer, you can go here: https://actionnetwork.org/forms/sign-up-for-the-watchdog-coalition

Scott Dworkin

8h

Six days out, and two of these are within about 150 letters of their goal. Let’s close them before lunch:

Get John Roberts to 44,000:

https://actionnetwork.org/letters/tell-congress-impeach-supreme-court-chief-justice-john-roberts/

Get Pete Hegseth’s impeachment letters to 14,500:

https://actionnetwork.org/letters/tell-congress-impeach-pete-hegseth/

Push the Epstein files demand to 17,000:

https://actionnetwork.org/letters/tell-congress-demand-acting-ag-blanche-release-all-of-the-epstein-files-now/

Keep Trump’s armed agents away from our polls:

https://actionnetwork.org/letters/tell-congress-stop-trump-from-sending-troops-to-our-polling-places/

Tell me below which ones you sent.

IMPRESSIVE COMMENTS WORTH READING!

‘F*cking P*dophile’: Trump Faces Backlash as Food Banks Run Dry, Fuel Costs Soar, Healthcare Premiums Rise, and th…

                                    

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MAGA REPUBLICANS ACTIONS AND FAILURES MERGE...

RIGHT BEFORE THE MIDTERM ELECTIONS! 

MAGA REPUBLICANS SUPPORTED tRUMP'S FAILURES AND 

REMAINED SILENT! 

VOTE THEM OUT!

Watch now

‘F*cking P*dophile’: Trump Faces Backlash as Food Banks Run Dry, Fuel Costs Soar, Healthcare Premiums Rise, and the War Rages

Aaron Parnas Sep 28

Good morning. Diesel prices hitting record highs are exposing new fractures in Trump’s own party weeks before the midterms, with Republican Senate candidates in Iowa and Michigan now calling for an end to the Iran war as the fuel costs driving it batter their voters. The same price surge is straining food banks nationwide, forcing some to burn through reserve funds and swap beef for canned chicken as a new report finds families skipping meals to get by. A separate analysis found AI tools are now quietly inflating hospital bills by flagging patients as sicker without changing the care they receive.

Trump himself is facing that pressure in person. He no longer can escape protests on the golf course, and it comes as a CNN investigation revealed the Republican nominee for one of Texas’s most powerful offices has spent years calling for public executions of political opponents, including Barack Obama, a scandal most of the party’s leadership has yet to fully reckon with. Overseas, Iran says it’s prepared for either renewed diplomacy or a return to fighting, and a new report reveals eight US Marines were injured in an Iranian attack the Pentagon never disclosed to the public.

I’m working on another major investigation right now. Reporting like this doesn’t get done by outlets that answer to advertisers or a corporate parent. It gets done because readers decide it’s worth funding directly. If you can, become a paid subscriber today, it’s what lets me keep digging instead of repeating the White House’s talking points. Let’s get into it.

Here’s the news:

Crisis at Food Banks:

• Food banks across the country are facing unprecedented demand just weeks before the midterms, driven by a combination of rising food costs and surging diesel prices needed to deliver it. 

• 
  

• A new “Hunger Report” from a Washington, D.C.-based food bank group found that food security nationally is “deteriorating,” with surveyed families reporting they’ve cut the size of their children’s meals, gone a full day without feeding their kids, or skipped meals themselves to save money. At Maryland’s Manna Food Center, CEO Craig Rice said fuel costs have spiked 25 to 30 percent in recent months, forcing the organization to absorb higher delivery costs while pushing harder for donations. Rice noted a shift in who’s showing up for help, saying it used to be mostly hourly wage workers but now includes salaried employees suddenly squeezed by gas prices. The piece contrasts this on-the-ground reality with President Trump’s claims that the economy is the “greatest in history,” suggesting the severity of the crisis is being understated.

• Individual food banks described specific strategies for coping with rising costs, from swapping proteins to redesigning delivery routes. In Lorain County, Ohio, Second Harvest Food Bank CEO Julie Chase-Morefield said beef prices have become so extraordinary that the organization can no longer buy truckloads of it, forcing a pivot to canned chicken and beans, while surging diesel costs are also driving up the price of fresh produce from local farmer partners during harvest season. Second Harvest is now tapping into its “rainy day fund” to maintain services, after its annual diesel expenses roughly tripled from about $50,000 last year to $150,000 in 2026, with no federal assistance to offset the increase. At the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina, president Amy Beros reported a 20 to 60 percent increase in need since last year, including among children, and said the organization is bracing for diesel to hit $8 a gallon by year’s end. Beros said her organization has already redesigned truck routes and limited driving speeds to cut fuel usage, adding that “it’s really hard for people in the United States to understand the scale of hunger, because it doesn’t look like it looks on TV.”

• 
  

• The crisis carries a political dimension heading into November, as Democrats tie the strain on food banks to a Trump-backed spending law that reduced SNAP eligibility. 

• The Capital Area Food Bank’s annual report noted that SNAP, which supports nearly 40 million people nationwide, saw reduced eligibility under the law, and further cuts are looming, with many states required to start paying a portion of SNAP benefit costs starting in October 2027 or later for the first time in the program’s history. Senate Appropriations Committee member Chris Van Hollen said food pantries he’s spoken with point to rising need, and accused Trump and Republicans of “driving prices up and cutting support” for SNAP and other nutrition programs while calling for the federal government to reverse the cuts. Democrats are expected to face pressure to restore federal nutrition funding if they retake congressional majorities in November. Despite the political stakes, the piece notes food banks themselves remain nonpolitical, focused instead on the immediate task of keeping nutritious food, including vegetables, fruit, and vitamin-rich staples, in the boxes they hand out to families.

• 
  

Prices continues to soar:

• Rising transport costs are spreading through nearly every corner of the US economy, with businesses largely unable to avoid passing them along, the Wall Street Journal reports. 

• Trucking expenses have hit their highest level since the pandemic, driven partly by diesel prices that are up 77% over the past year. Container shipping rates are climbing too, while railroads, FedEx, and even the US Postal Service are all raising their own prices. Separately, the newsletter noted the Iran war has also pushed motor oil prices higher, even as the US and China reached an agreement to reduce reciprocal tariffs.

• 
  

• Record-high diesel prices are causing rifts in Trump’s own party, with Republican Senate candidates in deep-red states now calling for an end to the Iran war and for a ban on diesel exports. 

• Michigan GOP nominee Mike Rogers and Iowa’s Rep. Ashley Hinson, who had voted against ending the war, are both now demanding relief, with Hinson’s race shifting from “Lean Republican” to “Toss Up” and a GOP pollster reportedly warning that districts once won by 15 points are now within the margin of error. Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley and Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks have joined calls for an export ban, backed by farm groups like the Iowa Corn Growers Association, even though Energy Secretary Chris Wright and independent analysts warn a ban could actually push gasoline prices higher rather than lowering diesel prices. Trump has dismissed the price pain, calling high gas prices “a very inexpensive price to pay” for the war, putting him at odds with vulnerable Republicans like Alaska’s Sen. Dan Sullivan, who wants exports banned “until the conflict in Iran comes to an end.” Farmers like Iowa’s Steve Kuiper describe diesel costs eating directly into thin margins during harvest season, with prices above $6 a gallon adding what he called serious “economic and mental stress.”

• Airfares could stay elevated even if oil and jet fuel prices fall, industry analysts and airlines say, because carriers set schedules and pricing months in advance and can’t retroactively raise fares on tickets already sold. Jet fuel prices have swung wildly since the Iran war began, from an April peak of $4.88 a gallon down to $2.70 in June before climbing back to $4.53 in September, while average US airfares kept rising regardless, reaching $436 in the second quarter and running 23% higher in August than a year earlier. Every penny-per-gallon increase adds about $10 million to American Airlines’ quarterly fuel bill, and the airline expects the latest spike to cost it roughly $1 billion in the fourth quarter alone, prompting American, United, and Southwest to cut less-profitable routes. Holiday travel is already hitting decade-high prices, with Hopper estimating round-trip Thanksgiving fares averaging $402 and Christmas fares $452, up 31% and 23% from last year respectively. Economists say the volatility itself, not just the price level, is what’s keeping airlines cautious, meaning travelers waiting for fares to drop may be waiting for a while yet.

GOP Candidate Called for Obama’s Execution:

• A CNN KFile investigation found that Bo French, the Republican nominee to lead the Texas Railroad Commission, has repeatedly called for public executions of political opponents over the past six years, extending a controversy that began with a racist post about South Asian students at a University of Texas football game. 

• 
  

• In deleted posts from May 2020, French demanded the death penalty for Barack Obama and other “Obama conspirators” over the Russia investigation, using the hashtag “#HangEmHigh” and writing that “the penalty for treason used to be death, even for a former president.” In February 2025, while chairing the Tarrant County GOP and promoting a Musk-style government efficiency effort, French said DOGE should stand for “Dangle Officials Gallows Expeditiously” and wrote “I want more than perp walks. I want public executions,” at one point calling for now-Senator Adam Schiff’s execution and saying “the wrong person was hung” in response to a post about a Jan. 6 defendant’s suicide. CNN found the old and current accounts share the same underlying numeric user ID, tying the posts directly to French despite his having deleted or lost access to them.

• The revelations have drawn bipartisan condemnation, with GOP strategist Karl Rove saying he’d vote for French’s Democratic opponent and Texas Sen. John Cornyn saying he won’t support French, even as French dismissed critics as “less conservative” and declined to respond to CNN. Despite the controversy, Texas’s most powerful Republicans, Gov. Greg Abbott and Senate nominee Ken Paxton, have kept their endorsements in place, with Abbott calling the racist post “not my message” and Paxton offering only a vague statement that he “condemn[s] racism in all its forms” without naming French. Neither official, nor the Texas Republican Party, responded to CNN’s questions about French’s calls for executions specifically. French will face Democratic state Rep. Jon Rosenthal in November for a seat on the commission, which despite its name no longer regulates railroads but instead holds broad authority over the state’s oil and gas industry.

Iran war continues, Marines injured:

• Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Sunday that Tehran is “fully prepared” for the war with the US to resume but remains open to diplomacy, insisting it’s “up to President Trump to choose,” even as Trump told Axios he expects talks to resume this week. Trump maintained that Iran is “losing so badly” and “overplayed their hand” after he rejected Tehran’s proposed seven-day ceasefire and phased reopening of the Strait of Hormuz last week, a plan tied to conditions from the collapsed mid-June memorandum of understanding. Complicating that outlook, Iran’s UN delegation said Monday it has no plans for direct talks with the US and is returning to Tehran on Tuesday, with Iranian state media saying its positions have already been “conveyed clearly and explicitly” through a Qatari mediator. Republican Sen. John Kennedy dismissed Iran’s proposal as “not a serious offer,” backing continued sanctions and the naval blockade while ruling out sending US ground troops into Iran.

• NBC reported that eight US Marines were injured, though not seriously, when an Iranian cruise missile struck a ship in the Strait of Hormuz on September 14, an attack the Defense Department never publicly disclosed. The Marines suffered smoke inhalation and concussion-like symptoms such as headaches but all returned to duty shortly afterward, and officials did not specify what type of vessel was hit. The revelation adds to mounting scrutiny of the Pentagon’s casualty reporting, after a Washington Post report found at least four service members killed in the Middle East since the war began were left out of the official count. CBS News separately reported soldiers describing downplayed injuries, including one who suffered severe shrapnel wounds and multiple emergency surgeries in Kuwait after being told by an Army official his injuries were “minor,” a characterization the Army disputes as a misapplication of specific military terminology.

• Meanwhile, Trump claims that “we” are going to win this war very soon, something he has been saying for months:

• 
  

• Iran’s economy continues to deteriorate under the strain of war and sanctions, with its currency, the rial, falling to a new record low against the dollar on Monday, surpassing 2.4 million rials per dollar on the free market. Annual inflation has reached 61.4% as of August, while food prices have surged 128% year over year, according to Iran’s Statistical Center. Iran has also formally protested new US aviation sanctions to the International Civil Aviation Organization, after restrictions imposed this month forced airlines across the region to cancel flights. Iran’s civil aviation chief, Abouzar Shiroudi, framed the complaint as an effort to “defend the legitimate rights of the aviation industry” against what Tehran calls illegal restrictions.

• Regional military dynamics shifted as Saudi Arabia reportedly resumed oil exports through its East-West Crude Oil Pipeline, restoring a key alternative route after drone strikes Saudi officials blamed on Iran-backed Iraqi militias had forced its shutdown earlier this month. The pipeline had let Saudi Arabia bypass the badly disrupted Strait of Hormuz, though Iran’s Houthi allies in Yemen have vowed to blockade Saudi Red Sea ports and have already targeted vessels there. Separately, Iran’s unseen supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, was quoted predicting that US forces would soon be driven out of the Arabian Sea entirely, claiming they’ve already been unable to advance further due to “painful blows.” Meanwhile, UK police continue investigating a suspected terrorist plot involving explosives-laden trucks near RAF Fairford, a base used for US strikes on Iran, with authorities probing a possible Iranian link and Trump praising the arrests as “an amazing job.”

Trump Faces Protests on Golf Course:

• President Trump was heckled as he appeared at the Presidents Cup at Medinah Country Club outside Chicago on Sunday, his second high-profile sporting appearance in as many days after being booed at a college football game in Knoxville the day before. He initially received a warmer welcome at the golf event, with cheers and “USA” chants, and posed with the trophy alongside PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp after Team USA’s win over the 12-man international squad, though a hot mic and crowd noise often made his remarks to players hard to decipher. That goodwill broke when a spectator shouted “You’re a f---ing pedophile, Donald!” as Trump posed with the trophy, drawing a round of whooping from other attendees while Trump stared ahead without acknowledging it. Moments earlier, he had opened his remarks by preemptively insisting the “fake news media” would falsely claim he got a bad reception, when in fact “we got a good reception.”

• The incident fits a pattern of Trump being heckled over his past friendship with Jeffrey Epstein, who died in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. Similar confrontations have occurred at a Michigan rally in July, where a man repeatedly shouted “Pedophile protector!” prompting Trump to call him “a communist,” and at a Pennsylvania rally in June, where a protester flipped him off while calling him a pedophile. Trump was forced to directly deny the accusation in an April CBS interview with Norah O’Donnell, telling her “I’m not a pedophile.” Polling suggests much of the public remains skeptical of the administration’s handling of the matter: a June Reuters/Ipsos survey found just 10 percent of Americans, and only 21 percent of Republicans, believe the administration has helped hold Epstein’s associates accountable, while three in four respondents said they think the federal government is hiding information about his alleged clients.

Other news:

• New York prosecutors have reopened their investigation into an alleged 2024 gang rape of a former Cornell University student after she filed a 101-page civil lawsuit this month accusing seven Chi Phi fraternity members of drugging and assaulting her while a group Snapchat message invited others to join in, and accusing Cornell of inadequately protecting and disciplining those involved. Tompkins County DA Matthew Van Houten said his office will present the case to a grand jury, explaining that the civil complaint’s allegations were “dramatically different” from the woman’s original 2024 statement to police, which never alleged she was drugged without consent or physically incapacitated, though he acknowledged his office relied entirely on Cornell police’s investigation rather than conducting its own. The woman’s attorney, Thomas Giuffra, disputed that characterization and said no trained sexual assault investigators ever interviewed her beyond her initial report, while Cornell disputed claims it let accused students avoid real punishment, saying two of the seven were expelled and others suspended after a formal Title IX process, and that it banned the fraternity’s chapter from campus and formed a sexual assault task force. An attorney for one accused student denied any wrongdoing on his client’s behalf, and Jane Doe herself described the assault as “the worst experience of my life,” saying the trauma will “haunt me and be part of me the rest of my life.” The case has drawn national outrage, with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez condemning a “culture of rape” at elite universities during an Ithaca town hall and actress Florence Pugh publicly denouncing schools for “protecting boys” at the expense of survivors.

• A new Blue Cross Blue Shield Association analysis finds that hospital systems are increasingly billing patient stays as more medically complex, and that widely adopted AI coding tools appear to be driving a large share of that shift. More than 60% of hospital systems now use AI-enabled technology that scans lab results, doctors’ notes, and electronic records to identify secondary diagnoses, conditions found in addition to a patient’s primary reason for care, that can move a claim into a higher-severity, higher-reimbursement billing category. Researchers estimate this trend added $942 million in healthcare spending for BCBS companies between 2023 and 2025 alone, with roughly 70% of that increase, about $650 million, tied specifically to these secondary diagnoses. The study focused on cases like anemia following major bowel surgery, since such diagnoses can be derived from a single lab value, making them particularly easy for AI systems to flag. Crucially, BCBSA says there is “a clear disconnect between coding and treatment,” meaning the way hospitals are coding care has changed sharply while the actual care patients receive has not. The analysis draws on de-identified claims data from BCBS companies, which collectively cover one in three Americans and offer visibility into every ZIP code in the country.

• Senator John Fetterman mistakenly called himself a “lifelong Republican” during a fireside chat in Texas, fueling fresh speculation about his party loyalty. Asked why he hadn’t become an independent, the Pennsylvania Democrat replied “Because I’m a lifelong Republican,” prompting CBS correspondent Major Garrett to correct him on stage as the audience laughed. Fetterman quickly clarified he meant Democrat, acknowledging the clip would “break through” online, and social media users seized on the moment as a possible Freudian slip. The gaffe follows months of scrutiny over Fetterman’s votes with Republicans against ending the Iran war and cutting military aid to Israel, plus his appearance praising GOP Senator Dave McCormick at a Republican convention. Fetterman has denied planning to defect, saying he’d only leave the party if it became “the anti-Israel party,” and he left open how he might vote if Senate control comes down to a tiebreaker after the midterms.

• Scientists are warning that a massive, planetary-scale “kelvin wave” could raise sea levels along the California coast by up to a foot in the coming months. The phenomenon forms when trade winds weaken or reverse during El Niño years, sending a slow-moving surge of warm water from the western Pacific toward the Americas, with one such wave expected to reach California within days. Researchers say this year’s El Niño could be the strongest in at least 1,000 years, compounding the kelvin wave’s effect with already elevated tides, more frequent storms, and about 8 inches of sea level rise accumulated over the past century. Governor Gavin Newsom has already declared a state of emergency, staging road-closure equipment and preparing the National Guard for possible winter storms and flooding. Officials are especially concerned about storms coinciding with high tides around Thanksgiving and Christmas, which past El Niño events show produce the most damaging coastal flooding.

• Nvidia unveiled a new software platform Monday, the NVIDIA Open Agent Safety Platform, built with more than 100 industry partners to help companies monitor and control AI agents after a string of incidents in which agents “went rogue” and hacked into corporate and government systems without being instructed to. CEO Jensen Huang framed the move as essential to realizing AI’s potential, saying “we must accelerate discovery at the frontier of AI safety,” even though he has separately dismissed existential AI risk concerns as overblown and told CNN’s Anderson Cooper that companies worried about losing control should simply “get the company under control” rather than seek new regulation. The announcement contrasts with warnings from OpenAI’s Sam Altman and Anthropic’s Dario Amodei, who have both called for international regulations to constrain AI systems. Alongside the safety platform, Nvidia also announced a $150 billion share buyback on top of an already underway $85 billion repurchase, which the company called the largest single corporate buyback ever, surpassing Apple’s $110 billion repurchase in 2024. The buyback news drew only a modest premarket stock bump, even as Nvidia’s roughly $5.4 trillion market cap keeps it the most valuable company in the world.

• A Delta flight from Barcelona to Boston was diverted to Porto, Portugal, after smoke was reported in the cabin. Flight DL251 landed safely in Porto after the reported mechanical issue, according to the airline operator. Flightradar24 data showed the plane departed Barcelona at 3:15 p.m. and landed in Porto about two and a half hours later. Eight passengers were treated on the tarmac at Francisco Sá Carneiro Airport, while three others were taken to the hospital for further treatment. Portuguese emergency officials confirmed the forced landing was due to smoke in the cabin.

• A new study argues that decades of fossil fuel and libertarian donor influence over university governance left colleges vulnerable to the Trump administration’s recent crackdown on research funding. The administration froze billions in research funding in 2025, investigated 75 institutions, and canceled $4 million in climate grants at Princeton alone, with the study’s lead author warning young researchers now fear losing funding over their questions. The Academic Freedom Index found US institutional autonomy fell sharply, from 3.3 in 2019 to 1.7 in 2025, and researchers say some scientists have started removing terms like “climate change” from grant applications. The study traces the pattern back decades, noting six fossil fuel companies gave more than $700 million to US universities between 2010 and 2020, while donors like Koch Industries’ David Koch gained lasting influence over hiring and curricula at schools like MIT. The authors call for greater transparency and faculty power to reject compromised gifts, pointing to a model policy from the UnKoch My Campus campaign as one path forward.

• A new report finds the herbicide atrazine, banned in 60 countries, is contaminating nearly a quarter of all continental US river miles at levels that can harm wildlife and human health. The Center for Biological Diversity’s review of EPA records found the affected waterways touch over 20% of surface drinking water intakes and more than 675,000 private and commercial wells nationwide. Atrazine is linked to reproductive harm and developmental problems in fetuses and children, and has been shown to “chemically castrate” and alter the sex of frogs at extremely low exposure levels. Despite the risks, it remains the second most widely used pesticide in the US, with about 70 million pounds sprayed annually and $2 to $3 billion in estimated 2025 sales for manufacturer Syngenta. Researchers say the EPA has failed to act for decades because of the chemical’s profitability, with hotspots including the midwest corn belt, the Chesapeake Bay, Lake Okeechobee, and the lower Mississippi River.

• A man has been arrested and charged with murder after a 63-year-old woman was found dead in Central Park, with police saying she may have been experiencing homelessness. Jonathan Robles, 36, was booked for murder and criminal possession of a weapon Sunday night, with his last listed address given as a Hell’s Kitchen homeless shelter. The victim was found near East Drive and East 74th Street with head trauma, after police initially and incorrectly reported she had been stabbed. Officers responded to a call about an unconscious woman around 9:40 a.m. as a nor’easter drenched the region, and she was pronounced dead at the scene without identification. The death shook park visitors, with one New York resident calling the park the city’s “playground” and a tourist saying she’d now avoid it after dark.

• Hawaii is experiencing “storm fatigue” after being hit by a third hurricane in recent weeks, though Hurricane Nolo’s threat to the islands has diminished as it tracks offshore. Hilo’s mayor described residents as anxious and even experiencing PTSD after hurricanes Lala, Lowell, and Nolo battered the state, with Lala alone killing two people and damaging more than 200 homes last month without making landfall. More than 120 National Guard members were activated on the Big Island as part of a roughly 400-strong statewide deployment, after President Trump approved an emergency declaration authorizing FEMA assistance. Nolo strengthened to a Category 4 storm Sunday afternoon but was expected to stay south and southwest of the islands, with a hurricane watch issued for the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument. Meanwhile Mexico’s Baja Peninsula was bracing for Category 3 Hurricane Polo, and Tropical Storm Rachel formed off Mexico’s southwest coast the same day.

• Heavy monsoon rains have killed more than 90 people across India, Nepal, and Thailand, displacing hundreds of thousands and triggering widespread flooding. In India’s Uttar Pradesh state, at least 62 people died and 46 were injured after three days of heavy rainfall damaged more than 1,000 homes, prompting school closures and evacuations in Lucknow and other districts. Neighboring Nepal recorded 21 more weather-related deaths over four days, compounding the toll from August floods that had already killed more than 1,400 people and left nearly 6,000 missing. In Thailand, intense rainfall flooded Bangkok and swamped drainage systems, forcing more than 5,900 people into evacuation centers and leaving over 80,000 residents unable to leave their flooded homes. Economists estimate the Thai floods could shave 0.3 percentage points off the country’s annual GDP growth, with nationwide damage already put at roughly $327 million.

• Hurricane Polo is bearing down on Mexico’s Baja California peninsula as a Category 3 storm, threatening life-threatening flooding, mudslides, and storm surge. Residents of the fishing town of Puerto San Carlos, where officials say 90% of the community is flood-prone, boarded up homes and reinforced earthen embankments ahead of the storm, with some evacuating to shelters roughly 37 miles away. The Mexican navy has staged personnel, humanitarian aid, and vessels in the ports of Guaymas and Mazatlán to reach communities that could be cut off by the storm. Polo is expected to cross into mainland Mexico and could bring heavy rain and flooding to the US Southwest later in the week, while Hurricane Nolo continues to threaten Hawaii with heavy rain even as it moves away from the islands. Tropical Storm Rachel also formed off Mexico’s southwest coast the same day, though no coastal watches were in effect for that storm.

• The rerelease of “Avengers: Endgame” topped the box office over the weekend, grossing $26 million domestically as Marvel builds hype for “Avengers: Doomsday.” The rerun, billed as “Endgame: Encore,” added new end-credits scenes and a fan thank-you from Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Evans, and it beat out three new wide releases, including “Primetime,” “Heart of the Beast,” and “Forgotten Island.” “Primetime,” a modestly budgeted A24 film starring Robert Pattinson as “To Catch a Predator” host Chris Hansen, outperformed expectations with a $19.2 million opening, drawing a mostly Gen Z audience. “Resident Evil” held strong in its second weekend with $23.3 million, while DreamWorks’ “Forgotten Island” underperformed despite strong reviews. Overall, the crowded weekend pushed domestic ticket sales up nearly 59% over the same weekend last year, putting 2026’s box office 19% ahead of 2025’s pace.

• Ireland’s national soccer team wore black armbands and declined to shake hands with Israeli players before a Nations League match that had faced pressure for a boycott over Gaza. Ireland won the match 3-0 in Debrecen, Hungary, with reserve goalkeeper Gavin Bazuno opting out of both games entirely, citing his belief that “the killing of innocent people is wrong.” Players bowed their heads during the Israeli national anthem, and captain Dara O’Shea shook hands with match officials but pointedly avoided shaking hands with Israel’s captain, Manor Solomon. Goals from Troy Parrott, Adam Idah, and Jack Moylan gave Ireland a comfortable win, though tensions boiled over near the hour mark in a clash between Idah and Israel’s Raz Shlomo that drew bookings for both players. The two sides are scheduled to meet again on October 4, with Israel playing its “home” fixture in Backa Topola, Serbia, due to the ongoing conflict.

See you soon.

— Aaron

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