Morning Announcements

Today's Headlines: Trump skipped the 9/11 memorial ceremony in New York to fall asleep at the Pentagon's 9/11 ceremony. He then flew to Ireland where the Irish president seated him behind a notably small desk, protests featured an inflatable Trump being inflatable-Netanyahu'd in the streets, and he called Irish reunification "fantastic" and "a cool thing," breaking 28 years of official US neutrality on an issue that has historically caused quite a bit of conflict. This landed at an awkward moment given that Northern Ireland, Wales, and Scotland are meeting today to discuss potentially dissolving the United Kingdom entirely. Trump also lunged at ABC reporter Rachel Scott when she asked about his $5,000 check promise and pointed out the national debt is $40 trillion, the White House called journalist Aaron Rupar a "sick, deluded freak" for noting Natalie Harp was in Ireland, and Trump blamed Zelensky for global energy prices and told him to stop hitting Russian diesel. It was quite the weekend for the President. While we’re on that, a Russian drone strike near the Polish border may have targeted a train carrying Boris Johnson and David Petraeus, prompting air raid warnings in Poland. In other news, An American diplomat accused of possessing child sex abuse material was quietly flown out of London on a secret military flight before police could question him. France expanded its Epstein investigation, identifying 13 new potential victims and multiple potential recruiters, one of whom was found dead in his home right before he was set to be questioned. On AI, Sam Altman, Elon Musk, and Dario Amodei all posted this weekend calling for AI regulation and a slowdown — simultaneously — very sketchy. And finally, ectopic pregnancy deaths have nearly doubled since the pandemic and increased even more in states with abortion bans, and Texas responded by simply deciding not to analyze maternal mortality data from 2022 and 2023 — the years the abortion ban went into effect — making it impossible to measure its impact.

Resources/Articles mentioned:

WaPo: At the Pentagon, Trump ties the legacy of 9/11 to his Iran war

NYT: In Doonbeg, Trump’s Irish Open Visit Prompts Protests and Praise

NYT: Trump Says Irish Unification Would Be ‘Fantastic,’ Breaking With Precedent

Telegraph: Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish leaders meet to plan break-up of United Kingdom

The New Republic: Trump Lunges at Female Reporter Asking About Those Supposed $5K Checks

Newsweek: White House Calls Journalist ‘Sick, Deluded Freak’ Over Natalie Harp Post

NYT: Trump Blames Ukraine for Global Diesel Shortage

The Guardian: Train carrying Boris Johnson and ex-CIA chief may have been targeted in Russian strike, officials say | Ukraine

Sky News: US officials 'secretly flew diplomat out of UK' after indecent image allegations

NYT: France Widens Sex-Trafficking Investigation Linked to Jeffrey Epstein

WaPo: Top AI leaders unite to warn the technology is advancing too fast

Fortune: Sam Altman confirms OpenAI won't go public this year, saying an IPO now would come at an 'ill-advised moment' given AI safety concerns

CNN: Ectopic pregnancy deaths have nearly doubled. It’s worse in states with abortion bans

Texas Observer: Texas Maternal Mortality Committee's Next Report Will Skip Post-'Roe' Deaths. Lawmakers Suspect Political Influence.

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Today's Headlines: Today marks 25 years since September 11th — 2,977 people killed that day, and over 5,000 first responders who have since died from toxic exposure at Ground Zero. The 9/11 Memorial added a seventh moment of silence this year specifically to honor those who died in the years following. The Republican convention pregamed the anniversary with "Trumpapalooza" — featuring a "God Made Trump" video, promises of $5,000 checks nobody will ever see, and a crowd member screaming that James Talarico and Abdul El-Sayed should be shot. Speaking of Talarico, a new poll shows him leading Paxton 48-43, which explains why ABC refused to air Jimmy Kimmel's Talarico interview after the FCC threatened the network, its affiliates, and local Texas stations — the interview is up on Kimmel's YouTube now, and if the Colbert precedent holds, more people will watch it there anyway. On the election interference beat, an appeals court rejected Trump's mail-in voting restrictions on the grounds that the president doesn't have authority to regulate state elections — though he'll almost certainly appeal to the Supreme Court — and the Supreme Court rejected Missouri's gerrymandered congressional map for the second time, leaving the state past its ballot deadline with no guidance on what map to actually use in November, which is a mess entirely of their own making. And finally, benchmark mortgage rates hit a 14 year high, so yay.

Resources/Articles mentioned:

9/11 Memorial: News Release: 9/11 Memorial & Museum Adds Moment of Silence to 25th Anniversary Commemoration, Honoring Those Lost to 9/11 Health Effects

NYT: Republican Convention Live Updates: Vance and Trump to Speak on Day 2 of Midterm Event

NBC News: Jimmy Kimmel says show won’t air James Talarico interview on TV, citing FCC threats

The Guardian: US appeals court rejects Trump’s bid to restrict mail-in voting before midterms

NYT: Supreme Court Again Blocks Republican-Backed Missouri Voting Map

The Hill: Benchmark mortgage rate hits 14-month high as bond yields keep rising

Subscribe to the Betches News Room and join the Morning Announcements group chat. Go to: betchesnews.substack.com

Morning Announcements is produced by Sami Sage and edited by Grace Hernandez-Johnson

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Today's Headlines: The dumb (with a b) Republican convention kicked off in Dallas with John Fetterman appearing in a video praising Trump and calling Democrats extremists and socialists to no one's surprise. In semi-related news, Ken Paxton lost the endorsement of his own former top law enforcement official — a decorated Texas Ranger who blew the whistle on Paxton to the FBI in 2020 — to Democratic opponent James Talarico, because even the people who worked for him can't stand him. Moving on, Trump celebrated the AFD's German election win with "MGGA — Make Germany Great Again," actively cheering on the Nazi party with two more German regional elections coming in ten days. Trump also gave $45,000 cash gifts to Natalie Harp, communications director Margo Martin, and 26-year-old executive assistant Chamberlain Harris — nearly a third of each of their $150,000 salaries — plus $20,000 to Walt Nauta, all of which appears to violate federal law prohibiting supplementing government employees' salaries from outside sources. On the tech beat, an Anthropic researcher named Jacob Coxon quit his job and gave up significant equity because he believes his company and its competitors are building tools that could destroy humanity, while a colleague on Twitter put the odds at 10% that AI destroys humanity by 2030 — and separately, a human mathematician accused OpenAI of solving a century-old math proof only because they heard about his work through an Anthropic scientist, which would have given Anthropic the credit, so Sam Altman allegedly stole a math discovery, which tracks. Yesterday marked a year since Charlie Kirk was killed, Georgetown students held a lookalike contest in DC, and Turning Point USA was not amused. And finally, South Park is renaming itself South America for season 29, explicitly mocking Apple and Google for caving on Lake Ontario.

Resources/Articles mentioned:

AP News: Democratic Sen. Fetterman speaks at a GOP midterm convention, fueling party-switch fears

WaPo: Paxton’s former top law enforcement official endorses Talarico

Axios: Trump's "MGGA" praise collides with Germany's Nazi past

WaPo: Trump gave $45,000 cash gifts to Natalie Harp, two other close aides

WSJ: Anthropic Researcher Quits Over ‘Out-of-Control’ AI Fears

WIRED: OpenAI Just Claimed a Huge Math Discovery. Some Academics Are Crying Foul

WJLA: Georgetown students plan Charlie Kirk lookalike contest for anniversary of death: report

Variety: ‘South Park’ Changes Name to ‘South America’ as Creators Roast Apple and Google for Obeying Trump’s Lake America Name Change

Subscribe to the Betches News Room and join the Morning Announcements group chat. Go to: betchesnews.substack.com

Morning Announcements is produced by Sami Sage and edited by Grace Hernandez-Johnson

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Today's Headlines: So Donnie’s AI slop posting frenzy over the weekend caused Iceland to summon the US ambassador after he posted a map with the American flag over all of North America, Greenland, and Iceland — Denmark called it "disturbing and completely inappropriate" — and Iceland is now accelerating its EU membership vote, having previously moved it up after Trump confused them with Greenland four times in one speech. Trump also threatened to ban Canadian aircraft manufacturer Bombardier from the US market unless they build planes domestically, despite Bombardier's supply chain already involving 3,000 American companies across 47 states, with wings made in Texas and engines from Phoenix. And on the Iran war, the US launched more strikes on Iranian oil tankers in response to Iran's latest attacks on American warships. Meanwhile, the Smithsonian's secretary Lonnie Bunch is stepping down by year's end, citing Trump's harassment of the institution and attempts to rewrite American history in its museums. The Republican Party's invented midterm convention kicks off in Dallas this week with Trump's approval rating at around 30%, and not every Republican is showing up — Susan Collins among the notable absences. This week marks the 25th anniversary of 9/11 and New York City released over 170,000 pages of documents suggesting city officials knew the air quality near Ground Zero after 9/11 was unsafe while telling the public otherwise, with more firefighters dying of related illnesses than were killed on the day itself. Speaking of 9/11, TSA launched a new program called Gateside allowing PreCheck members to enter airports without tickets to meet people at gates – a pre-9/11 experience making a limited comeback. And finally, a dozen countries including the UK, France, and Canada announced they're halting trade with Israeli West Bank settlements, with Israel responding by closing the British consulate in East Jerusalem and expelling British representatives from Gaza.

Resources/Articles mentioned:

CBC: Iceland summons U.S. ambassador over Trump's threat to take over Arctic nation

AP News: Trump threatens Canadian jetmaker Bombardier, which has an extensive US footprint

WSJ: U.S. Strikes Iranian Oil Tankers in Response to Tehran’s Attacks on Navy Ships

AP News: Lonnie Bunch to retire from Smithsonian leadership following clash with Trump administration

NYT: Which Senate Candidates Are Skipping Trump’s Republican Convention?

Axios: NYC unveils records suggesting officials knew air was unsafe after 9/11

AP News: TSA brings back gate access for some people without plane tickets 25 years after 9/11

WSJ: European Nations Impose Trade Bans on Israel Over West Bank Settlements

Subscribe to the Betches News Room and join the Morning Announcements group chat. Go to: betchesnews.substack.com

Morning Announcements is produced by Sami Sage and edited by Grace Hernandez-Johnson

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Today's Headlines: It was a wild Labor Day weekend for Trump who spent the holiday posting AI images of himself as the Hulk, on the moon, with George Washington, and a map renaming New Mexico to "New America" and stepped off Air Force One as a brunette. Meanwhile, Tweedles Dum and Dee, Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff visited Kyiv for peace talks with Zelensky, raved about how respectful Putin has been to them personally, and promised announcements "in the coming weeks" before winter. In semi-related news, the Russia backed far-right AFD party won a landslide in Germany's Saxony-Anhalt regional election with 78% turnout, forming the first far-right state government since the original Nazis, with two more German regional elections coming September 20th. Canada's 50% retaliatory tariffs on over 700 American imports went into effect at midnight, doubling what they already had in place, because liberation day is the gift that keeps on giving. In disturbing news, the Tate brothers, picked up another set of Romanian indictments for trafficking minors, money laundering, and witness intimidation while sitting in Florida custody awaiting potential extradition to the UK, and seven Epstein survivors sued hairstylist Frederic Fekkai — named by Massie last week — alleging his salon was the "epicenter for victim grooming," with one of his locations inside a store owned by Les Wexner, also named by Massie, so the connections keep connecting. And finally, Hunter Biden announced a meme coin called $LAPTOP launching on Coinbase, with 20% of proceeds going to people who lost money on Trump's meme coin, which is something.

Resources/Articles mentioned:

Axios: Witkoff and Kushner make first Kyiv visit for peace talks

NYT: Trump Floats Renaming New Mexico as ‘New America,’ Prompting Pushback

The Independent: ‘What’s going on with Trump’s hair?’ Internet puzzled over president’s new brunette coiffure

NYT: Is Work Starting for Trump’s Arch? It Depends Who’s Asking.

AP News: Germany's Merz shocked by far-right state election triumph but doubles down on unpopular reforms

NYT: Brushing Aside Trump’s Threats, Canada Retaliates on Tariffs

NYT: Andrew and Tristan Tate Face New Charges in Romania: A Timeline of the Cases Against Them

Allure: A New Lawsuit Alleges Frédéric Fekkai's Hair Salon Was Epstein's "Epicenter for Victim Grooming"

WSJ: Hunter Biden (and His Laptop) Enter the Cryptosphere With New Meme Coin

Subscribe to the Betches News Room and join the Morning Announcements group chat. Go to: betchesnews.substack.com

Morning Announcements is produced by Sami Sage and edited by Grace Hernandez-Johnson

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices