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February 10, 2026 By Sam Sifton Good morning. The U.S. military blew up another boat in the Pacific Ocean that it claimed was carrying drugs, killing two people. The strikes have now claimed 130 lives. And a group of conservative activists has worked for more than a decade to stop all American government efforts to fight climate change. They’re “close to total victory,” one said. There’s more news below, including a look at the cognitive benefits of coffee. I’m going to start, though, with nuclear weapons. An atomic test in Nevada in 1955. U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, via Associated Press The end of arms control I grew up in a world where the prospect of nuclear war seemed remote, if not impossible. My school didn’t run the duck-and-cover drills that haunted baby boomers. My punk-rock friends largely sneered at their older siblings’ recordings of the 1979 No Nukes concerts at Madison Square Garden. None of us really understood the satire of “Dr. Strangelove.” The existential threat that hovered over our classrooms was AIDS. Then, last week, the United States and Russia allowed New START, their last nuclear arms control treaty, to die. For the first time in 50 years, the two nations do not have limits on the size or composition of their nuclear arsenals. Not only that, report my colleagues David Sanger and William Broad: The United States is considering deploying more nuclear weapons — and may even restart testing them. Trump unbound President Trump says he wants an “improved and modernized” agreement. But he hasn’t mentioned freezing the size of the American and Russian arsenals. The consequences for global security are myriad, and scary. For one thing, it leaves open the possibility of a new arms race, one that the United States, Russia and China have anticipated. For another, some U.S. allies already wonder if they can count on the protection of the U.S. as a nuclear deterrent. Some have begun to explore making their own nukes. Currently, just nine nations — Britain, China, France, India, Israel, North Korea, Pakistan, Russia and the U.S. — command these weapons. Could others soon join them? Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin. Pool photo by Evgenia Novozhenina Amid that uncertainty comes the Trump administration’s plan to deploy more bombs and maybe test some. That would take the United States in the opposite direction from the greater and greater control of nuclear weaponry in place since Ronald Reagan was president. The nation has not conducted a nuclear test since 1992. The administration is already budgeting funds that would enable more warheads on the largest nuclear-armed submarines, David and Bill say. That puts enemies on notice, of course: A retaliatory strike by the U.S. could be bigger than ever. But it could also encourage other nations to do the same, threatening Trump’s desire to protect the nation with a “Golden Dome” to intercept missiles launched by its foes. The more targets there are, the harder it is to shoot them down. A new arms race? Last fall, Russia unveiled the Poseidon, an underwater drone that can cross an ocean to detonate a thermonuclear warhead. That could set off a radioactive tsunami and eliminate a coastal city. “There is nothing like this in the world in terms of the speed and the depth of the movement of this unmanned vehicle — and it is unlikely there ever will be,” Vladimir Putin said at the time. (He added that there were “no ways to intercept” it.) Russia is also trying to place a nuclear weapon in space, American officials said during the Biden administration, where it could vaporize fleets of American satellites. China, for its part, has tested a hypersonic missile that could follow a zigzag path and release a warhead that would be almost impossible to intercept. And it appears to have little interest in arms control until the size of its nuclear arsenal matches the ones controlled by Washington and Moscow, David and Bill report. American allies have a related worry: that Washington’s “nuclear umbrella” can’t be counted on to cover them. The prime minister of Poland suggested recently that the time had come for his country to explore nuclear options. And last month, when Trump was threatening to take over Greenland (remember that?), a leading newspaper in Sweden called for a Nordic nuclear arsenal. I’m glad not to be an eighth grader thinking about this before bed. IN ONE CHART *The government has appealed. Allison McCann/The New York Times Over the past year, federal immigration agents patrolling in U.S. cities and towns have shot 16 people. In many of these cases, the government is quick to blame the people who are shot. Those claims have fallen apart when the cases have gone to court, as Alexandra Berzon and Allison McCann detail in a new article. THE LATEST NEWS Immigration A federal judge struck down California’s law banning federal agents from wearing masks because it did not apply equally to all law enforcement. In Minnesota, many children from immigrant families are too afraid to attend school, which cuts them off from free breakfast and lunch programs. Some schools are sending volunteers to bring food to hungry families. Epstein Investigation Ghislaine Maxwell, Jeffrey Epstein’s longtime associate, refused to answer any questions during a closed-door deposition before the House Oversight Committee. Two congressmen, a Republican and a Democrat, reviewed unredacted Epstein files and criticized the government for obscuring the identities of six men who they believed were implicated in sex-trafficking charges. Britain’s prime minister, Keir Starmer, is facing calls to resign over his decision to name an associate of Epstein’s as ambassador to the U.S. Health The Trump administration plans to rescind $600 million in public health funds from four Democratic-led states. Officials have recorded more than 700 cases of the measles in the U.S. since the start of the year, a vast majority of them in unvaccinated people. Dr. Mehmet Oz, Trump’s director of Medicare and Medicaid Services, urged Americans to get vaccinated against measles. International In the West Bank. Daniel Berehulak/The New York Times Israel’s government has made it easier for Jewish settlers to buy land in the West Bank, a possible violation of international law. The police and pro-Palestinian protesters clashed in Sydney, Australia, as the president of Israel visited the site of the Bondi Beach attack. Iranian authorities have detained at least seven prominent opposition figures as they crack down on dissent. Labor San Francisco teachers walked out, shuttering schools for tens of thousands of students, after nearly a year of contract talks failed to yield an agreement. Nurses in New York City reached a deal to end a monthlong strike at two major hospital systems. Nurses at a third system remain on strike. Other Big Stories In Triangle, Va. Caroline Gutman for The New York Times More than a dozen Buddhist monks have spent four months on a “Walk for Peace” from Texas to Washington, D.C., attracting crowds inspired by their journey. Savannah Guthrie posted a video asking the public to help find her mother, who has been missing for more than a week. “We are at an hour of desperation,” she said. Catherine O’Hara, the film and television actress best known for her roles in “Schitt’s Creek” and “Home Alone,” died of a pulmonary embolism with an underlying cause of rectal cancer, according to a death certificate. A major snow drought across the Western United States this winter is threatening water supplies and resulting in one of the worst ski seasons in decades. It has also forced the cancellation a dog sled race. BRAIN JUICE Amrita Chandradas for The New York Times If you think your daily doses of espresso or Earl Grey sharpens your mind, you just might be right. A large new study shows evidence of cognitive benefits from coffee and tea — as long as they’re caffeinated. Participants who drank two to three cups of coffee, or one to two cups of tea, daily for decades had a lower chance of developing dementia than people who drank little or no caffeine, the researchers reported. The study didn’t find additional benefits for people who drank more, though — possibly because there’s a limit to how much caffeine our bodies can metabolize. OPINIONS China is too powerful to be reined in by diplomacy or tariff policy alone, Steven Rattner writes. Here is a column by Michelle Cottle on Trump’s obsession with naming things after himself. Morning readers: Save on the complete Times experience. Experience all of The Times, all in one subscription — all with this introductory offer. You’ll gain unlimited access to news and analysis, plus games, recipes, product reviews and more. MORNING READS In Milan. Lucia Buricelli for The New York Times Carbo-loading: Olympic athletes are taking their pasta consumption to the next level at the Games in Italy, spaghetti’s ancestral home. Sighting: A gray wolf was spotted in the Los Angeles region for the first time in nearly a century. Recycling: A brother-and-sister team in Spain works with divers to give abandoned plastic fishing nets a second life as home décor. Your pick: The most-clicked story in The Morning yesterday was a ranking of the best Super Bowl ads. TODAY’S NUMBER 972 — That was the record for the number of career wins for a high school boys basketball coach in New York State. After 45 consecutive years at a high school in Queens, could Ron Naclerio beat it? Read his story. OLYMPICS The medal count. The Athletic Skiing: Lindsey Vonn, in her first public comments since crashing in the women’s downhill, said she had suffered a complex tibia fracture that is stable but will require multiple surgeries to fix. Curling: The U.S. mixed doubles team reached the gold medal match with a 9-8 upset win over defending the Olympic champion, Italy. The Americans will face Sweden today. Hockey: Team USA beat Switzerland 5-0 and improved to 3-0 in the women’s preliminary round. Next for the Americans is a showdown with Canada. Skiing: Philipp Raimund of Germany went from pulling out of a competition almost a year ago because of his fear of heights to winning gold in the men’s normal hill ski jump. RECIPE OF THE DAY Nico Schinco for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Barrett Washburne. I love Alexa Weibel’s recipe for kimchi chicken lettuce wraps for its precision — for the way she cooks most of the kimchi with ground chicken, to mellow it, but holds back enough to garnish the finished wraps at the end. Make sure to taste the hoisin sauce before using. Some brands are sweeter than others, and you may want to adjust accordingly. Would I make it with ground turkey or pork or beef instead? I would if that’s what I had. AN AMERICAN PRINCESS Sarah Pidgeon Caroline Tompkins for The New York Times The actress Sarah Pidgeon plays Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy in “Love Story,” a new series about the proto-influencer’s life with John F. Kennedy Jr. — and their tragic deaths in a small plane lost in the fog off Martha’s Vineyard in 1999. Alexis Soloski, an arts writer, profiled her in advance of the show’s premiere on Thursday. “There’s so much that’s so admirable,” Pidgeon said of Bessette-Kennedy. “I wanted to fiercely advocate for that interpretation of her, that she’s more than just her clothes.” More on culture Bad Bunny showcased Puerto Rican pride and history during his 13-minute halftime show performance, our critic Jon Caramanica writes. He had help from Toñita, a woman who runs the Caribbean Social Club in Brooklyn. (Late night hosts discussed the halftime show.) Wallace Shawn is probably the most famous avant-garde playwright in the world, Susan Dominus writes for T Magazine, though he’s recognized on the street for his screen roles (remember the “inconceivable” Vizzini in “The Princess Bride”?) rather than for his playwriting. That’s understandable, of course. But it makes for a curious life. “It’s unbelievably strange!” Shawn told her. “Unbelievably strange!” Read her profile here. Broadway fans are having fun on TikTok, reports Jesse Green, a culture reporter. “It’s where more and more fans go to experience musical theater — and to recreate it,” he writes. “Step for step, smile by smile, in bursts of 30 seconds or so, they imitate the originals and put their bodies into the scene.” The results are delightful. THE MORNING RECOMMENDS Read “Poems From an Attic: Selected Poems, 1936-1995” by Iris Murdoch. Murdoch, the celebrated novelist who died in 1999, thought her poetry was mediocre. “It isn’t,” writes our critic Dwight Garner, adding that it’s “emotionally charged and shorn, like the blunt chop of the uneven bangs she wore, of clever words and shallow feelings.” Get your resolutions for the new year back on track with these simple tips. Make your bed more comfortable with the best sheets tested by the hypersomniacs at Wirecutter. GAMES Here is today’s Spelling Bee. Yesterday’s pangram was cocktail. And here are today’s Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections, Sports Connections and Strands. Thanks for spending part of your morning with The Times and me. See you tomorrow. — Sam Reach our team at themorning@nytimes.com. Host: Sam Sifton Editor: Adam B. Kushner News Editor: Tom Wright-Piersanti Associate Editor: Lauren Jackson News Staff: Evan Gorelick, Brent Lewis, Lara McCoy, Karl Russell Saturday Writer: Melissa Kirsch Editorial Director, Newsletters: Jodi Rudoren

Gabbard’s office warns attorney against sharing classified complaint with Congress The general counsel for Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard on Monday warned the attorney for an anonymous government employee not to directly share a top-secret complaint about Gabbard’s handling of classified material with members of Congress. Read more. Why this matters: The letter to attorney Andrew Bakaj is the latest escalation in the back-and-forth accusations over the complaint. It alleges that Gabbard withheld top-secret material for political reasons. Two inspectors general for the intelligence community reviewed the claim and found that particular allegation did not appear to be credible. Gabbard has denied any wrongdoing and said she did all she could to ensure the report reached Congress. Democrats on the House and Senate intelligence committees have blasted Gabbard’s office over the handling of the complaint, questioning why it took eight months for it to be sent to select members of Congress as required by law.

Democrats say White House offer on ICE is ‘insufficient’ as Homeland Security funding set to expire Democratic congressional leaders said in a statement late Monday that a White House counterproposal to the list of demands they transmitted over the weekend “included neither details nor legislative text” and does not address “the concerns Americans have about ICE’s lawless conduct.” Read more. Why this matters: The Democrats’ statement comes as time is running short, with another partial government shutdown threatening to begin Saturday. Their demands include judicial warrants, better identification of DHS officers, new use-of-force standards and a stop to racial profiling. Many Democrats who are furious about Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s aggressive crackdown have said they won’t vote for another penny of Homeland Security funding until enforcement is radically scaled back. Republicans have balked at the Democrats’ requests and some have demands of their own, including the addition of legislation that would require proof of citizenship before Americans register to vote and restrictions on cities that they say do not do enough to crack down on illegal immigration. RELATED COVERAGE ➤ Judge blocks California’s ban on federal agents wearing masks but requires badges be clearly seen US immigration court blocks deportation of Tufts graduate student from Turkey, her attorneys say

👢 Texas Dems stumble over identity politics Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios The Texas Democratic Senate primary between Rep. Jasmine Crockett and state Rep. James Talarico has turned ugly over race and credibility — foreshadowing tensions for Democrats nationwide, Axios' Russell Contreras writes. Why it matters: The primary's rapid escalation in identity-based attacks reveals unsettled fault lines that Democrats worry could derail them, again. Back in December, Crockett had to defend comments she made a year earlier to Vanity Fair, when she said the way Latinos talk about immigration reminded her of the "slave mentality." Then a TikTok post last week claimed that Talarico, a white man, called former Senate candidate (and former U.S. Rep.) Colin Allred a "mediocre Black man." 🔭 Zoom out: The contest highlights the minefield Democrats face with their diverse coalition. Talarico has cultivated a racially diverse following on social media by pairing progressive policies with a faith-centered message. Crockett gained national prominence as a House member by becoming one of the Democrats' most viral interrogators in congressional hearings. Keep reading.

👀 OpenAI's ad test begins Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios ChatGPT started testing ads for some U.S. users yesterday on its free and cheapest subscription tiers, Axios' Madison Mills writes. Why it matters: It could be the beginning of the end of ad-free ChatGPT. The company says ads won't influence ChatGPT's answers, which will remain focused on what is "most helpful." If a user asks about recipe ideas, the answer may be followed by a grocery delivery service ad, for example. Keep reading.

🍁 Trump's Canada threat Via Truth Social President Trump threatened to block the opening of a new Canadian-built bridge across the Detroit River yesterday, demanding that Canada turn over at least half of the ownership of the bridge and agree to other unspecified demands. Trump accused Prime Minister Mark Carney of pursuing a trade deal with China. In a 296-word Truth Social post, Trump says: "Canada has treated the United States very unfairly for decades" and that China would "terminate ALL Ice Hockey being played in Canada." The Gordie Howe International Bridge cost $6.4 billion — "entirely funded by Canada's government, but the bridge is under the public joint ownership of Canada and the state of Michigan," the CBC writes. Go deeper.

📉 Europe's leadership crisis Data: Morning Consult. Chart: Axios Visuals U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer is fighting for his political life, rejecting calls to resign yesterday as fallout from the Epstein files threatened to bring down the British government, Axios' Zachary Basu writes. Why it matters: Less than two years after Labour's blowout election victory, Starmer is the most unpopular British prime minister on record, according to The Economist. But new Morning Consult data shows he isn't even the most unpopular leader in Europe. French President Emmanuel Macron has a putrid 16% approval rating, setting the stage for the far-right National Rally to win next year's presidential election. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz is also deeply unpopular, reflecting Europe's broad backlash against incumbents over inflation, economic stagnation and immigration.

🥊 AI infighting hits boiling point Illustration: Annelise Capossela/Axios AI CEOs are openly trash-talking each other, sniping over advertising and their philosophical approaches to the future, Axios AI+ co-author Madison Mills writes. Why it matters: The squabbling is intensifying as the cost of staying competitive in AI soars, along with pressure to deliver real returns. 🖼️ The big picture: AI CEOs can be divided into two groups — the researchers and the entrepreneurs. The researchers tend to view AI as a fragile, long-term project that demands collaboration, caution and governance. Google DeepMind's Demis Hassabis and Anthropic's Dario Amodei fall into this camp. The entrepreneurs — including OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and xAI's Elon Musk — want to move fast and break things. The fighting ramped up when Anthropic pledged to keep its large language model Claude ad-free and ran a Super Bowl commercial poking at OpenAI, which is testing ads in ChatGPT. Altman fired back with a 420-word post calling the ad "dishonest." Altman also has beef with Musk. Musk is pursuing two lawsuits against Altman. Keep reading.

THIS DAY IN HISTORY February 10 1996 World chess champion Garry Kasparov loses game to computer On February 10, 1996, after three hours, world chess champion Garry Kasparov loses the first game of a six-game match against Deep Blue, an IBM computer capable of evaluating 200 million moves per second. Man was ultimately victorious over machine, however, as Kasparov bested Deep Blue in the... read more Sponsored Content by REVCONTENT 1960s 1966 Auto safety crusader Ralph Nader testifies before Congress Arts & Entertainment 1957 Laura Ingalls Wilder, chronicler of American frontier life, dies 1972 Ziggy Stardust makes his earthly debut 2006 Final episode of “Arrested Development” airs on Fox 2014 Iconic child star Shirley Temple dies at 85 Cold War 1962 Pilot Gary Powers exchanged in U.S.-Soviet spy swap Colonial America 1763 The French and Indian War ends Crime 1992 Star boxer Mike Tyson convicted of rape Natural Disasters & Environment 1970 Avalanche buries skiers in France Vietnam War 1971 Vietnam War journalists killed in helicopter crash

Brain-Boosting Game Playing a brain-training video game could protect against dementia for up to 20 years, according to a long-term study published yesterday. Researchers say the findings, based on tracking nearly 3,000 individuals ages 65 and older, offer the strongest evidence yet that cognitive training can have lasting benefits on the brain. Participants who completed up to 23 hours of "speed training" over three years had a 25% lower risk of developing Alzheimer's disease (see 101) and other forms of dementia over a 20-year follow-up period, compared to a control group. The training required participants to quickly identify and respond to objects on a screen—an activity likened to noticing peripheral objects while driving. By contrast, other subsets of participants who learned memorization strategies or practiced pattern-based problem-solving saw no reduction in dementia risk. Researchers say the speed-training game’s outsized benefits may stem from its reliance on implicit learning (w/interactive) and from its gradual increase in difficulty as participants improved.

Jimmy Lai Sentenced A Hong Kong court sentenced 78-year-old media mogul Jimmy Lai yesterday to 20 years in prison. The sentence is the longest to date under Hong Kong’s five-year-old national security law that critics say effectively criminalizes political dissent. Lai founded Apple Daily, a since-shuttered prodemocracy newspaper that reached more than 3.8 million registered web users, about half of Hong Kong’s population. At its height, Lai had a reported net worth of $1.2B. In 2020, however, local authorities arrested him under a then-new national security law following antigovernment protests the year before. Lai was accused of conspiring with foreign governments and printing and distributing seditious articles. He has spent more than five years in jail, including stretches in solitary confinement. President Donald Trump yesterday said he would speak to Chinese President Xi Jinping to encourage leniency for Lai, who has multiple chronic conditions; Trump is planning to meet with Xi in April, when they will also discuss trade issues, the war in Ukraine, and Taiwan.

You cry when you cut onions because your tears react to the propanethiol s-oxide released by the onion, creating acid in your eye. James

⛸️ Parting shot: Ice dance! Photo: Julien de Rosa/AFP via Getty Images Britain's Phebe Bekker and James Hernandez compete in ice dance today at the Winter Olympics in Milan.

What’s going on with ACA subsidies? After temporary Affordable Care Act subsidies expired at the end of 2025, enrollees may face higher premiums in 2026. https://usafacts.org/articles/whats-going-on-with-aca-subsidies/? How many vacant homes are there in the US? Over 15 million American homes — approximately 10% of the country’s housing inventory — were vacant in 2024. https://usafacts.org/articles/how-many-vacant-homes-are-there-in-the-us/? One last fact The national cancer incidence rate decreased by 8.1% from 1999 to 2022. However, rates rose in 10 states, particularly in Tennessee (+13.5%). Rates fell the most in Washington, DC (-26.4%).

👎 Dems' skeptical dealmakers Senate Democrats plan to discuss the White House counterproposal to reform ICE at their caucus lunch tomorrow, with the goal of arriving at a unified position to maximize their negotiating power. Why it matters: Minor differences are emerging over whether to support another short-term spending bill for the DHS to buy more time for negotiations. "The effort has been to try to keep Democrats — not only in our caucus, but in the House and Senate — basically in the same place on the kinds of reforms that would be necessary," said Kaine. "I can't vote for a DHS budget unless there are serious reforms to ICE — simple as that," Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) said. "There's no reason it can't be resolved in the next four days." Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) seemed open to another short-term DHS spending stopgap. "It depends on whether we're making progress or not," she said. "Right now, it's not clear to me what kind of progress is being made or what negotiations are happening." The bottom line: Any deal likely runs through them. Kaine, King and Shaheen all voted to reopen the government in November after the longest shutdown in history. — Stephen Neukam

💰 Thune buying time Senate Majority Leader John Thune is preparing to start the process of voting on a continuing resolution for the Department of Homeland Security as soon as tomorrow, ahead of Friday's deadline, he said tonight. "If Democrats are serious about finding a solution here, they may need to find more time to bring these efforts to a productive conclusion," Thune told reporters today. Between the lines: Republicans have long argued that the two-week window to negotiate ICE reforms to unlock DHS funding was too compressed. "I originally argued that we should have three to four weeks to get the work done, but that's not what was chosen," Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) said tonight. What we're watching: As they headed to votes this evening, Democratic senators were eager to read and digest the White House counterproposal. "I'm aware of it, but I know I have not read it," Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) said. The other side: Republicans are urging the White House not to give in to too many Democratic demands and are calling for any reforms to also make it more difficult for so-called sanctuary cities to defy federal immigration laws. — Hans Nichols

🚨 House's Epstein twist Reps. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) are threatening to use the House floor to expose the names of six men who are "likely incriminated" by their inclusion in the Epstein files. "There are six men, some of them with their photographs, that have been redacted, and there's no explanation why those people were redacted," Khanna told reporters today. One of the men is "pretty high up" in a foreign government, and another is a prominent individual, Massie told reporters. Why it matters: Massie and Khanna led the discharge petition that forced Speaker Johnson's hand on legislation requiring the release of the files involving the late Jeffrey Epstein, a convicted sex offender. The lawmakers said they want to allow the Justice Department time to further un-redact those files. But they said they're open to using the House's speech and debate clause as a liability shield to read names on the floor. Zoom in: Congress was supposed to get access to the un-redacted files this week in a reading room at the Justice Department building in D.C. However, many of the files they viewed were still redacted, Massie and Khanna said. Democrats and some Republicans have argued the DOJ is skirting its statutory requirements under the Epstein Transparency Act by withholding millions of documents and heavily redacting some of the files it has released. House members must give at least 24 hours' notice to view the files and may not bring electronic devices, though they may take notes. The bottom line: Epstein co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell declined to answer questions during a closed-door, virtual deposition today with the House Oversight Committee. "I just think it's unconscionable that she's pleading the Fifth or trying to make deals. She needs to tell the truth," Johnson said. — Kate Santaliz 🔎 Lawmakers flag 6 Epstein names Reps. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) said yesterday the Justice Department redacted the names of at least six men who are "likely incriminated" by their inclusion in the Jeffrey Epstein files, Axios' Kate Santaliz writes. The lawmakers — who viewed unredacted versions of the documents — said they want to allow DOJ time to further unredact files. They have also floated sharing the names on the House floor, which would provide them with immunity from civil or criminal liability. Massie told reporters that one of the men is "pretty high up" in a foreign government and another is a prominent individual.

E Pluribus Unum (Kevin Mazur / Getty)   View in browser Last night, during Super Bowl halftime, I watched a mustachioed entertainer put on a show that celebrated working-class values, the pleasures of a good party, and the virtues of marriage, with a side serving of grievance against elites. This wasn’t Bad Bunny’s performance—it was the alternative performance put on by Turning Point USA, led by Kid Rock. Despite the best efforts of the organizers to stoke controversy, I couldn’t help but notice how much overlap there was between its message and the one the Puerto Rican superstar delivered in Santa Clara. As my colleague Spencer Kornhaber writes, Bad Bunny’s show was unifying rather than divisive, but it did have a political message: that working hard, playing hard, and loving America aren’t values that belong to any political group or linguistic heritage. Although Turning Point’s show was intended to offer a radical contrast, the many thematic convergences only strengthened that argument. Above all, the Turning Point show was boring and dour. It kicked off with a distorted-electric-guitar rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner,” a Jimi Hendrix pastiche shorn of all the irony and pathos of the famous version at Woodstock. Brantley Gilbert played “Real American,” a bland piece of nu-metal/country patriotic kitsch, and “Dirt Road Anthem,” a paean to drunk driving. Gabby Barrett, a former American Idol third-place winner, sang a kiss-off to a cheater and then a love song to “one of the good ones.” More overtly political, at least in theory, was Lee Brice’s “Drinking Class.” “I’m a member of a blue-collar crowd / They can never, no, they can’t keep us down,” he sang. “Monday through Friday, man, we bust our backs.” This is a common sentiment in contemporary country music, but it is not, despite what Brice might believe, unique to white conservatives. The New York Times wrote that Bad Bunny “was summoning a Latin heritage across generations, one that recognized hard work—cane-cutting, electric-grid repairs—alongside the good times workers sweated to earn.” These kinds of echoes were all over the two shows. Kid Rock extolled marriage, singing, “You can always put a diamond on her hand / ’til you can’t,” and Charlie Kirk, the assassinated founder of Turning Point, was heard encouraging marriage in an old audio clip; Bad Bunny hosted an actual wedding during his performance. Both shows used “real” instruments as signifiers of authenticity—workmanlike performances on guitars and drum kits for the Turning Point set (except from Kid Rock, who appeared to be lip-synching his 1999 hit “Bawitdaba”); a brass salsa band and the characteristic Puerto Rican cuatro during Bad Bunny’s. “We fly that red, white, blue, high, waving all across the land,” Gilbert sang. Bad Bunny flew that red, white, and blue too, along with flags from Puerto Rico and other countries in North and South America, declaring, “God bless America.” The fact that the patriotism he displayed was more complicated and nuanced that Gilbert’s does not make it any less genuine. Bad Bunny even danced on top of a pickup truck, a visual that would have worked perfectly for any of the Turning Point performers if they hadn’t been playing on a darkened, austere soundstage. Each show also had its complaints about mistreatment by elites, but not all grievances are equally legitimate. During “El Apagón,” Bad Bunny performed atop imitation power poles topped with sparking transformers—a symbol of Puerto Rico’s fragile power grid, and of the political corruption and imperial neglect that let it get that way. But whereas the Jumbotron behind Bad Bunny at Levi’s Stadium declared “The only thing more powerful than hate is love,” Brice delivered swipes at liberals and trans people in a new song called “Country Nowadays,” which nevertheless complained that “because I have my morals and my small-town point of view / You assume that you don’t like me means that I don’t like you too.” Could that be because of your lyrics? This unearned sense of grievance is what animated the backlash to Bad Bunny’s performance and inspired Turning Point’s alternative show. Right-wing pundits charged that Bad Bunny’s message would be divisive (it wasn’t) or that he was an immigrant (he’s not). President Trump ranted about the show on Truth Social, writing that it was “absolutely terrible, one of the worst, EVER! It makes no sense, is an affront to the Greatness of America,” adding that “Nobody understands a word this guy is saying, and the dancing is disgusting.” Laura Loomer was more straightforward in her condemnation: “This isn’t White enough for me,” she posted on X. If the people participating in the Bad Bunny backlash slowed down and looked a little closer, they might find that they actually have a great many values in common with him. (Well, maybe not Loomer. Some Bad Bunny critics are just bigoted.) This might provide the grounds for just the sort of understanding and reconciliation that Brice claims to want. Other Americans will notice, however, how familiar and relatable Bad Bunny’s ethos was, even if they couldn’t understand his Spanish-language lyrics. Almost as important as the message of Bad Bunny’s show was the exuberance with which he conveyed it: Living these American values could be joyful, he suggested. It was, as Spencer wrote, a performance “rooted in the good old-fashioned pleasure principle.” Meanwhile, the Turning Point musicians sang about having a good time, but they didn’t appear to be having a good time. If right-wing leaders wonder why MAGA has struggled to overtake the country’s cultural establishment, they might start with the very different ways the two shows framed shared values. Related: Trump’s golden age of culture seems pretty sad so far. How Bad Bunny did it

📺 1 for the road: 63 days of sports ecstasy Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios The Super Bowl and Winter Olympics are just the start of an incredible few months for sports fans. A few highlights ahead, via Yahoo Sports' Kendall Baker and Jeff Tracy: 🏀 Feb. 15: NBA All-Star Game 🏁 Feb. 15: Daytona 500 ⚾️️ March 5–17: World Baseball Classic 🏎️ March 6–8: F1 Season Opener 🏀 March 19–22: March Madness Opening Weekend ⚾️️ March 25–26: MLB Opening Day 🏀 April 4 & 6: Final Four ⛳️️ April 9–12: The Masters Go deeper.

🌐 Epstein rocks Europe Photo illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios. Photo: Rick Friedman/Corbis via Getty Images Fallout from the Jeffrey Epstein scandal is sweeping Europe — while in the U.S., many powerful people have skated, Axios' Avery Lotz reports. 🇬🇧 U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer's director of communications and chief of staff departed amid a firestorm over Peter Mandelson, who was dismissed as U.K. ambassador to the U.S. due to his Epstein links. Starmer is now fighting for his political life, despite never having met Epstein himself. British police are also assessing claims that Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor (formerly Prince Andrew) emailed confidential trade visit reports to Epstein. 🇳🇴 In Norway, a former prime minister is under investigation, an ambassador resigned and the crown princess has apologized for her friendship with Epstein. House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer speaks to reporters today. Photo: Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images 🏛️ In Washington today, Ghislaine Maxwell declined to answer questions during a closed-door, virtual deposition with the House Oversight Committee as part of its probe into Epstein, Axios' Kate Santaliz reports. Committee Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) told reporters afterward: "Unfortunately, she had an opportunity today to answer questions that every American has — questions that would be very important in this investigation — and she chose to invoke her Fifth Amendment." Maxwell was sentenced to prison in 2022 after a federal jury found her guilty of helping Epstein traffic teenage girls. She has denied abusing anyone and says she was scapegoated after Epstein died in prison in 2019. Prosecutors denied that. 🔍 What's next: Members of Congress can access millions of uncensored Epstein records starting today. Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), on X: "We will not rest until the Epstein class is brought to justice." Go deeper.

👧🏾 What babysitters make Data: UrbanSitter. (Metro areas sorted by average rate for 2 children.) Chart: Axios Visuals Average babysitting rates in the U.S. rose nearly 5% last year, hitting $26.24 per hour for one child, Alex Fitzpatrick reports from new UrbanSitter data. 💸 Parents are paying nearly $30/hour on average for two kids, the sitter-finding platform says. Rates tend to be higher in places with steeper costs of living. 🌉 San Francisco ($29.63/hour for 1 kid) and Seattle ($27.70/hour) have some of the highest rates. See the report.

San Francisco teachers strike over wages and health benefits SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — About 6,000 public schoolteachers in San Francisco went on strike Monday, the city’s first such walkout in nearly 50 years. https://apnews.com/article/san-francisco-teachers-strike-8507ee82d887d71cd94a1d7513409a11? NYC nurses reach a deal to end a strike at 2 major hospitals while walkout continues at another NEW YORK (AP) — Nurses and two major hospital systems in New York City have reached a deal to end a nearly monthlong strike over staffing levels, workplace safety, health insurance and other issues. https://apnews.com/article/nursing-strike-nyc-hospitals-agreement-0d837a65f5f3d74ea73eceeea89c2e74?

New York City police officer convicted of manslaughter in cooler throwing death NEW YORK (AP) — A New York City police officer was convicted Friday of second-degree manslaughter after he tossed a picnic cooler filled with drinks at a fleeing suspect, causing the man to fatally crash his motorized scooter. https://apnews.com/article/new-york-police-cooler-death-convicted-3d84146766bac526c97d48d687f0ff77?

Moderate candidate wins emphatically over a populist in Portugal’s presidential runoff LISBON, Portugal (AP) — Center-left Socialist candidate António José Seguro recorded a thumping victory over hard-right populist André Ventura in Portugal’s runoff presidential election Sunday, according to official results with 99% of votes counted. https://apnews.com/article/portugal-presidential-election-populist-moderate-5a63b7df570c98f53a9ad29b402bae7c?