TV networks stop covering Trump as a pool; CNN, Politico and MS NOW sue over White House ban
CNN, Politico and MS NOW filed a First Amendment lawsuit Monday over their ban from the White House, and after the White House pulled CNN from a pool assignment, the major networks suspended the shared TV pool that has covered presidents for decades — Trump was inaudible at one event as a result. The Post finds past media bans rarely survive in court; the Journal reports Trump has repeatedly discussed evicting the press corps from the White House altogether.
Background: Trump announced the ban on Truth Social on Friday, citing the outlets' "constant 'reporting' FAKE NEWS!"; their reporters had credentials confiscated at the gate Saturday. The outlets say the White House "revoked our journalists' credentials because it objected to our reporting." NBC reports senior aides were caught off guard and that Trump had floated banning specific outlets earlier this term but was talked out of it.
Iran threatens "new weapons" as Trump weighs meeting its president; U.S. proposes $5 billion Gulf energy fund
Two months into a renewed U.S. naval blockade that has choked Iran's oil exports, an IRGC spokesman warned Iran would "change the weapons and geography of the war" if attacked again, even as Trump weighs meeting Iran's president in New York this week. The administration also proposed $5 billion to rebuild Gulf energy infrastructure wrecked in the seven-month war, and U.S. military leaders are split on whether to strike the Houthis for Saudi Arabia.
Background: The U.S. and Iran fought a seven-month war that damaged Gulf energy infrastructure and disrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz; the U.S. naval blockade of Iran's ports has been in place for about two months. Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen are now attacking Saudi Arabia, which has asked the U.S. to intervene.
Six weeks to the midterms: prices up, Democrats ahead in polls, Republicans ahead in money
Gas averages $4.47 a gallon, up 41 percent in a year, diesel is at a record, and the Fed just raised rates for the first time in three years. A Post poll finds a record share of voters motivated to vote against Trump, while Republicans enter the stretch with a significant fundraising edge and a new ad blitz.
Putin's scripted election win; Ukraine answers with hundreds of drones on Moscow
Russia's first parliamentary elections since the invasion delivered United Russia its biggest-ever majority on the highest turnout in 15 years — results the Times says were engineered to signal Putin remains firmly in control. As the votes came in, Ukraine hit the Moscow region with hundreds of drones and missiles, striking a key oil refinery.
Xi comes to Washington this week with Taiwan on the line
Ahead of Xi Jinping's state visit, the Journal reports Xi sees Trump as a "rare window" to convince Taiwan that resistance is futile, after Taiwan's opposition leader was feted in Beijing in April. Pending U.S. arms sales to Taiwan are the issue most likely to upend the summit; separately, the U.S. proposed an AI incident alert system with China.
Appeals court backs Missouri GOP's redrawn House map, but the old map still stands for now
The 8th Circuit ordered Missouri's Republican-drawn map, which would eliminate one of two Democratic seats, be used this November. But the Supreme Court has already twice rejected it, so the state remains set to vote on the 2022 boundaries; the fight could return to the high court with six weeks left.
Background: Missouri Republicans redrew the state's congressional map last year to turn one of its two Democratic seats red. Democrats sued, and the Supreme Court has twice declined to let the new map be used while the case proceeds.
US
Trump and Mamdani meet for an hour at Gracie Mansion
The president and New York's mayor held their third in-person meeting in under a year, at the mayor's residence, and every outlet describes the same cordial rapport between two men from opposite ends of politics. Mamdani afterward criticized the White House coverage ban.
ICE agent shoots a Venezuelan immigrant in his car in Austin
An ICE agent shot Wilber Rafael Garces Perez, 28, in the torso in his vehicle Sunday afternoon; he was treated and released into ICE custody and says his car was struck twice before he was shot. It's the latest in a string of violent encounters between agents and people in cars during the immigration crackdown.
Perry Hall teacher gets 15 years for sexually exploiting four students
A Baltimore County judge sentenced Sean Brooks, a former Perry Hall High School health and PE teacher, to 15 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to sexual abuse of a minor and related charges involving four students. Judge Dennis Robinson Jr. called him a "creep," "manipulator" and "predator."
Developer MCB Real Estate filed permits listing an Oct. 15 demolition start, but it hasn't secured the hundreds of millions in financing its redevelopment needs, and vendors at the waterfront pavilions say they haven't been told anything. MCB isn't answering questions about the schedule.
U.N. expert: U.S. drug-boat strikes may be crimes against humanity
Ben Saul, the U.N. special rapporteur on human rights and counterterrorism, published a paper saying U.S. airstrikes on alleged drug-smuggling boats — which have killed more than 220 people — violate international law and plausibly constitute crimes against humanity. He also challenged the legality of the U.S. seizure of Nicolás Maduro.
British Columbia sues OpenAI, alleging ChatGPT aided a mass school shooting
The province alleges the chatbot assisted the Tumbler Ridge school shooter, one of the first government lawsuits tying an AI product to a mass-casualty attack. It landed the same day OpenAI, ahead of Sam Altman's U.N. address, called for worldwide AI safety standards.