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THIS DAY IN HISTORY September 14 1901 President McKinley dies of infection from gunshot wounds U.S. President William McKinley dies eight days after being shot by a deranged anarchist during the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York. read more Sponsored Content by REVCONTENT 19th Century 1847 General Winfield Scott captures Mexico City 21st Century 2015 Muslim teen arrested for bringing reassembled clock to school Arts & Entertainment 1814 Francis Scott Key pens “The Star-Spangled Banner” 1964 John Steinbeck awarded the Medal of Freedom 1974 Eric Clapton’s “I Shot the Sheriff” hits No. 1 1927 Dancer Isadora Duncan is killed in car accident 1982 Hollywood star and real-life princess Grace Kelly dies Civil War 1862 North and South clash at the Battle of South Mountain Cold War 1959 Soviet probe reaches the moon European History 1812 Napoleon enters Moscow Food 1964 Pop-Tarts debut Hispanic History 1988 Dolores Huerta beaten by police while peacefully protesting Natural Disasters & Environment 1999 Millions flee from Hurricane Floyd Religion 1975 Elizabeth Ann Seton becomes one of the first American-born saints Sports 1994 MLB cancels playoffs, World Series

How Republicans got Fetterman Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) appears on the video screen at the GOP's midterm convention in Dallas last week. Photo: Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images The biggest surprise of last week's Republican midterm convention began with an audacious request from the organizers to GOP Sen. Dave McCormick: Could he get Democratic Sen. John Fetterman, a fellow Pennsylvanian, to make an appearance? Why it matters: Fetterman's 64-second video — calling himself a "common-sense Democrat," praising McCormick and vowing to work with President Trump to defend Pennsylvania's steel industry — represented Fetterman's biggest break yet with his party, Axios' Alex Isenstadt reports. 🔎 Behind the scenes: Republican operative Tony Sayegh, a leading convention organizer, was a driving force behind the idea, and Trump adviser Jason Miller backed the plan. McCormick asked Fetterman to introduce him at the convention. A source said McCormick added: "I don't want you to do something that's not good for you." "I want to do it. I'm sure it will make people mad," Fetterman told McCormick, according to the source. "But you're my friend, and I want to introduce you." 🤫 The intrigue: To preserve the surprise, organizers kept the circle tight. McCormick looped in his chief of staff, Mark Isakowitz, and only a few others. Miller was Sayegh's point of contact in the White House. Fetterman went even further: He told no one on his team, a source told Axios. Fetterman reiterated after his virtual appearance that he isn't switching parties, calling himself a "lifelong Democrat" and saying that if Democrats win control of the Senate in November, he'd remain the "51st vote." Read on.

💸 Trump's reality check Illustration: Eniola Odetunde/Axios President Trump's proposal to send adult U.S. citizens $5,000 dividend checks if Republicans retain control of the House and the Senate would require congressional approval, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said yesterday. Why it matters: Trump and his top officials claim they can send the checks without Congress — even with the prospect of them costing upward of $1.3 trillion, Axios' Ben Berkowitz writes. Asked on NBC's "Meet the Press" if he'd commit that the checks will be sent, Johnson said: "I commit that Congress will work through it and find consensus on that like they have to do everything else." Trump told reporters before departing Ireland yesterday that "the $5,000 checks are going forward" and that he had thought of this plan "a while ago."

🗳️ Native voters' new power Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios. Stock: Getty Images The 2028 presidential election will give new political clout to a long-overlooked constituency: Native American voters. New Mexico now holds an influential early spot as one of the first states to vote in the Democratic primary — on Feb. 15, 2028. That's put Native Americans, who make up about 12% of the state, in position to wield more influence in the race for the White House, Axios' Holly Otterbein reports. Potential presidential campaigns are scrambling to adjust to the 2028 lineup, calling Native leaders to learn about Indigenous power players and the dynamics of tribal governments, Democratic operatives tell Axios. Native leaders and their allies say this'll push presidential candidates to pay attention to issues affecting Native Americans, such as tribal sovereignty, land and water rights, and rural infrastructure. Keep reading.

📚 Reading rut Data: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Chart: Sami Sparber/Axios Just over 16% of Americans read for pleasure on an average day last year, Axios' Sami Sparber writes from new government data. We spent an average of 16 minutes per day reading for pleasure in 2025, but an average of 2.6 hours watching TV.

⚡ Altman: "pacing" not "pausing" Screenshot from X OpenAI CEO Sam Altman tweeted just after midnight ET that "pacing" the development of AI models, as the top labs endorsed over the weekend, doesn't mean "stopping." "Progress has been rapid and will continue to be," he wrote. "But it should be slower than it otherwise could be; interventions like safety cases and monitoring have significant costs." 💡 Why it matters: Altman thinks "pacing" — sequencing safety before release — will allow the U.S. to continue to lead in innovation. His overnight statement shows the AI giants don't plan to disarm, either against each other or against China. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei pushed a similar approach in his essay, "We Must Pace the Frontier," that triggered unprecedented statements of agreement from the cutthroat competitors building AI. In a tweet a few minutes later, Altman advocated "a narrow middle path" between accelerationists and the pause crowd. This third way would avoid "two ways AI progress could go very badly ... [F]or example, one country could gain too much power. Another example is one lab ending up with too much power."

🤖 Scoop: Coxon, Bernie, Bannon unite Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios Ex-Anthropic researcher Jacob Coxon, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and MAGA podcaster Steve Bannon will join forces at an event tomorrow to push for human-controlled AI, Axios' Maria Curi reports. Why it matters: An industry insider, the face of the progressive movement and a MAGA star make for unlikely allies. But AI is upending political norms. The Future of Life Institute, a nonprofit advocacy group, is organizing tomorrow's Pro-Human Assembly, which will also include faith groups plus Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Greg Casar (D-Texas), and actors Ashley Judd and Joseph Gordon-Levitt.

D.C.'s AI paralysis Illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios. Stock: Getty Images President Trump is as all-in on AI as a politician could be: all gas, no brakes, and zero interest in hand-wringing about dystopian risks or public disdain. Democrats are as conflicted on AI as a party could be: skeptical of the labs, spooked by their warnings, but split on whether to shut it all down. Why it matters: This staggering divide makes consensus on federal AI regulation almost unimaginable this year — and probably through early 2029, regardless of who wins control of Congress, Axios' Zachary Basu writes. 🦾 Zoom in: Trump has governed as the AI president from Day 1, applying the same doctrine to models and the data centers that power them — build faster, regulate less, beat China. Speaking in Ireland yesterday, he dismissed new safety warnings as the work of "a lot of negative forces ... bringing up things that won't happen" — and reduced the stakes to one line: "Whoever wins AI wins." It's unclear which "negative forces" Trump has in mind: Calls to slow the race — or "pace the frontier" — are now coming from the leaders of America's premier AI labs, including Anthropic, OpenAI, SpaceXAI and Google. Between the lines: Trump's accelerationist allies, including venture capitalists in Silicon Valley, see the safety alarms as a cynical ploy by the field's dominant players to lock in favorable regulations. David Sacks, Trump's former AI czar and a leading voice for the administration's hands-off approach, has a simple answer: Slow yourselves down. If OpenAI and Anthropic truly think the frontier is moving too fast, Sacks argues, they can decelerate on their own without using Washington to force competitors to do the same. 🏛️ House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) echoed Sacks' argument that the labs don't need Congress to slow themselves down — and rejected calls for an emergency moratorium. Johnson said on NBC's "Meet the Press" that he'd recall the House and put AI regulation to a vote "if we had the solution," but warned Congress against rushing into rules it doesn't yet understand. His preferred first step is a summit: Johnson said yesterday he wants Trump, congressional leaders and the heads of the major AI labs in a room as soon as possible to hammer out a common approach to safety. The other side: Congressional Democrats are coalescing around urgency, but have no comparable doctrine on what to actually do. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries says his caucus will meet tomorrow to debate what action to take, while former President Barack Obama is privately urging the party to make AI a top priority. 🔭 The policy spectrum is vast — and doesn't neatly map onto what the labs themselves are asking for. On the progressive end, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Greg Casar (D-Texas) want to ban superintelligence outright, pause advanced AI development and threaten violators with up to 20 years in prison. Others are reaching for more conventional Washington fixes: Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) wants a bipartisan AI select committee with subpoena power, while Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) is demanding that OpenAI open its models to federal safety reviews. What to watch: The unprecedented push for restraint from inside the AI industry, colliding with deepening public unease, could scramble this political stalemate. Michigan GOP Senate nominee Mike Rogers, a Trump ally running in a swing state, said Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei's new warning convinced him "we must slow down development" so government can catch up. Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) is investigating AI's "existential risk," while Sens. John Thune (R-S.D.) and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) are pursuing a narrower plan requiring companies to test and report catastrophic risks. 🖊 Reality check: Political pressure and lobbying could crack open the door to narrow bipartisan measures, though any meaningful regulation would still have to survive Trump's veto pen.

> Iranian commercial ship struck in the Strait of Hormuz, killing one person and injuring three others (More) | See live map of ship traffic (More) > Damage to renovated Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool was caused by chemical mixture used, contractor responsible for work says; Trump administration previously blamed vandalism (More) > Pennsylvania reports third death linked to measles this year; patient was a 40-year-old woman, no other information made public (More) | Why is measles so contagious? (More)

> US stock markets closed higher Friday (S&P 500 +0.9%, Dow +1.0%, Nasdaq +1.0%) to snap a four-day losing streak as oil prices declined for the first time in over a week (More) > Oracle cofounder Larry Ellison cancels plans to sell 50 million Oracle shares worth approximately $7.5B without specifying a reason for the reversal; Oracle shares have fallen roughly 22% since the beginning of the year (More) > President Donald Trump will lift 10% tariff on Irish whiskey after conversations with golfers during his visit to the Irish Open tournament spurred the decision (More)

> NASA and IBM team up to launch an AI model that aids researchers in analyzing the moon's surface; new tool will help map craters, find young volcanic features, and model possible locations of water ice (More) > A smartphone attachment could make cataract screening more accessible in rural areas by turning the phone’s camera into a low-cost tool for imaging the eye’s lens and spotting signs of clouding (More) | See how cataracts form (More, w/video) > Scientist discovers 10,000-year-old mastodon tooth near a creek in San Mateo County, California; the molar presents researchers with a new window into understanding ice age biodiversity (More)

> No. 4 Texas rallies for 21 points in the fourth quarter, tops No. 1 Ohio State at home (More) | Alexander Zverev beats Ben Shelton to win men's US Open; an American player hasn't won the title in 23 years (More) | Elena Rybakina tops Aryna Sabalenka to win women's title, claim world No. 1 spot (More) > "60 Minutes" returned last night for 59th season following summer shake-up by editor-in-chief Bari Weiss; segments included interview with US airman downed in Iran (More)

> The 78th Primetime Emmys to be held tonight (8 pm ET, NBC); HBO's "The Pitt" enters with 25 nominations, see predictions here (More)

September 14, 2026 Guard against Pride “To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.” (Acts 26:18) Jesus promised to make Paul “a minister and a witness” (Acts 26:16) to “turn [unbelievers] from . . . the power of Satan unto God” (our text). And Paul did this through his living and teaching for the rest of his life, teaching the exact opposite of what caused Satan’s downfall and what led Paul to persecute believers: pride. Scripture reveals the devil’s proud heart in the famous five “I wills” of Isaiah 14. Here are two: “I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High” (Isaiah 14:14). This mere creature believes he deserves praise fit only for the uncreated Lord. So do we! Why else do we want others to know how good we are, like Paul before he encountered Christ? When we try to wrest glory from the infinitely more deserving Lord, we follow in the steps of Satan. How can we escape this “darkness” (our text)? Live like the living Light: Jesus. Instead of expecting and demanding the treatment due Him as Lord, Jesus “made himself of no reputation, and . . . humbled himself” (Philippians 2:7-8). The result? “Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him” (v. 9). The way up is to give ourselves up to the will of the Lord. “So the last shall be first” (Matthew 20:16). Will you obey your self-exalting flesh or “set your affection on things above” (Colossians 3:2)? Peter admonished, “Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time” (1 Peter 5:6). Each day affords a gracious opportunity to turn “from the power of Satan unto God” (our text). BDT

7% of all American adults believe that chocolate milk comes from brown cows. That works out to 16.4 million people. James

House Speaker Mike Johnson says Trump's $5,000 'dividend' needs congressional approval President Donald Trump's proposal to send $5,000 to every American adult if his Republican Party maintains control of the House and Senate in the November election needs congressional approval, House Speaker Mike Johnson said Sunday, while pledging to try to make it happen. Read More.

"On Mrs. White's attitude toward the English revision of the 1880's, her son, W. C. White, reports: It is significant that almost immediately after the appearance of the English Revised Version, Mrs. White made use of it in her books, as she did also of the American Standard Revision when it became available in 1901. It is also significant that four major statements from Mrs. White's pen concerning the Bible and the Bible writers were penned during this decade of the appearance of the revised versions of the New and Old Testaments." Ellen G. White® Estate: The E. G. White Counsel on Versions of the Bible

Inside a Philadelphia barbershop, Black men debate their political past and future Ever since Democrat Kamala Harris lost the presidential election to Donald Trump two years ago, political strategist Khalil Thompson has been traveling the country to figure out why Black men inched toward a white Republican rather than a Black woman. Read More.

Fighting in Yemen intensifies, and Houthis launch more attacks on Saudi Arabia The conflict in Yemen intensified on Sunday, as government forces launched attacks against Iran-backed Houthi rebels along the Red Sea and Houthis fired into neighboring Saudi Arabia, which supports Yemen’s government. Read More.

The secret ballot has been an article of faith in US elections. That's being tested in Georgia Security researchers say rapid advances in artificial intelligence are making it more critical to address a flaw in Georgia's voting equipment that can allow voters to be matched to their ballots after they have been cast. Read More.

Trump downplays the need to check AI development and says he doesn't want to cede edge to China President Donald Trump on Sunday played down the need for his administration to check the development of artificial intelligence, saying he worried about ceding America’s edge over China in a global competition and that winning would help address the risks from the advancing technology. Read More. ps:Of course he did, because he's got money in this game!!

There’s bipartisan agreement to take on Big Pharma America may be divided, but Republicans, Democrats and Independents agree: It’s time for commonsense drug pricing reform. New polling shows 86% of voters across the political spectrum support drug pricing reform in the U.S. See the breakdown.

This week in the pre-campaign Illustration: Brendan Lynch / Axios A look at what potential 2028 Democratic presidential contenders are up to: 👌 California Gov. Gavin Newsom sat down with Don Lemon while touring South Carolina and other Southern states. Newsom said he thinks House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries is doing an "incredible job" and said he has "great respect" for the energy the Democratic Socialists of America are bringing to the party despite disagreements on some issues. He declined to weigh in on the Senate candidacy of DSA member Angie Nixon in Florida, saying he didn't know enough about the race. 🤖 Newsom also signed several state bills regulating AI and social media (to varying degrees). One bill bans addictive social media features for children under 16. ✝️ New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez traveled to Florida to campaign for Nixon and attend the National Baptist Convention, which bills itself as one of the "nation's oldest and largest African American religious organizations." She said she's "been amazed watching how God works" in the last two years and argued that the country is going through a "great realignment." Ocasio-Cortez's office did not advise reporters about the visit ahead of time. Former Vice President Kamala Harris will campaign with Georgia Sen. Jon Ossoff at the end of October and keynote a Democratic Party dinner, CNN reported. 🦀 Maryland Gov. Wes Moore further teased a potential 2028 run, telling Bakari Sellers, "The truth is that I am going to be part of a bigger conversation going forward, because I think the state of Maryland, and what we've done, has justified that." See the full episode of "The Bakari Sellers Show" here. Moore also announced a raise in the minimum wage to $18 an hour for some Maryland Aviation Administration contract workers at Baltimore's main airport. Buttigieg continues to be one of the only 2028 contenders who's welcomed by fellow Democrats in the most competitive House districts this year. He'll campaign next week in New York's Hudson Valley with Cait Conley, who's trying to beat Republican Rep. Mike Lawler. 🥊 Pritzker's PAC Ready for the Fight announced $20 million in spending to help House candidates, Politico reported. 🤠 Pritzker also traveled to Dallas as part of a Democratic counterprogramming effort to Trump's midterm convention. Pritzker argued that any Republican who attended is "probably going to be disqualified in 2028." Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly told 12News KPNX in Phoenix that he will make a decision about 2028 after the midterms, but that his wife, former Rep. Gabby Giffords, is "very supportive" of him running. "She is a public servant through and through," he said. Kelly also walked in the Navajo Nation Parade in New Mexico and Arizona. Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro spoke at Shanksville, Pa., on the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks in remembrance of the victims of United 93. Shapiro called the field where the hijacked flight crashed "hallowed ground." Watch his full speech here. Buttigieg said on "Meet the Press" that he believes the country is ready for a gay president. "I wouldn't have run for president in the first place if I didn't believe that. Of course," he said via a remote interview from New Mexico. Booker encouraged his followers on X to watch an ad by former Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez, who's running for an Arizona House seat.

💥 Native Americans' 2028 power play Illustration: Sarah Grillo / Axios. Stock: Getty Images 💪 The 2028 race for the White House will give new political clout to a long-overlooked constituency: Native American voters. Driving the news: New Mexico now holds an influential early spot as one of the first states to vote in the Democratic primary — on Feb. 15, 2028. That's put Native Americans, who make up about 12% of the state, in position to wield more influence in the presidential race than ever before. In recent Democratic primaries, New Mexico typically has voted late in the season, in June. States that held the earliest primaries had much smaller Native populations. Now potential presidential campaigns are scrambling to adjust to the 2028 lineup, calling Native leaders to learn about Indigenous power players and the dynamics of tribal governments, Democratic operatives tell Axios. 🔎 Zoom in: Any presidential candidate who wants to win New Mexico is "going to have to listen to tribes," warned Deb Haaland, the former U.S. interior secretary who made history in 2021 when she became the first Native American to head a cabinet agency. "We could be a large part in who that nominee is." Native leaders and their allies say that will force presidential candidates to engage closely with tribal governments and pay attention to issues such as tribal sovereignty, land and water rights, and rural infrastructure. 📝 Several potential 2028 contenders are already taking notes. Isaac Dakota Casados, a New Mexico Democratic consultant and Navajo Nation member, told us his phone has been ringing off the hook as presidential campaigns-in-waiting look to learn more about Native voters. "They're really trying to figure out how the Native American demographic plays into this larger picture," he said. "I think they're used to speaking to Hispanic and Latino populations within their states. This is a very unique variable that's very different to them." Casados said Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker acknowledged to him that he's "really gotta learn" about tribal leadership, while New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker was "fascinated" by New Mexico's myriad tribal cultures in a recent conversation. Kalyn Free, a Choctaw Nation citizen who's on the Democratic National Committee's powerful rules and bylaws committee, also said she's been getting outreach from presidential hopefuls and their teams. The jockeying among 2028ers to win Native American voters could help elevate new power players in the Indigenous community. Tribal governments will likely be courted for endorsements. Haaland, a member of the Laguna Pueblo, is uniquely poised to become a sought-after validator for 2028 candidates in Indian country: She's running for governor of New Mexico this year. Some potential 2028 contenders already appear to be wooing Haaland. She met recently with Booker and is rallying with former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg this weekend. Pritzker helped raise money for Haaland at an event in New Mexico this month. Haaland told us she talked with Pritzker about her efforts to investigate the troubled legacy of federal Indian boarding schools and President Trump's slashing of protections for Native American sacred sites. 🔭 Zoom out: New Mexico has the nation's third-largest share of people who identify as American Indian or Alaska Native, and it includes 23 federally recognized tribes. When New Mexico votes in the presidential primary, the race will probably have been narrowed to two or three candidates — giving the state an oversized say in helping pick the party's nominee, Democratic strategists say. Native leaders say their community's voters don't easily map onto the party's progressive-vs.-moderate divide, and stressed that the community isn't a monolith in general elections, either. In the 2016 Democratic primary, Hillary Clinton won some states with significant Native populations, such as New Mexico and Arizona — but Bernie Sanders carried others, such as Alaska and Montana. In 2024's general election, some Native voters across the country — who polls suggested had been hit particularly hard by inflation — shifted toward Trump. Axios' Russell Contreras contributed reporting. — Holly Otterbein