Live updates: Trump bashes migration, green energy and failures to end wars in U.N. speech to General Assembly

A former Tennessee House speaker was sentenced today to three years in prison after he was convicted in a scheme with a onetime aide to win taxpayer-funded mail business from lawmakers after scandals drove the two out of their top leadership roles.

U.S. District Judge Eli Richardson in Nashville handed down the sentence for Republican former Rep. Glen Casada, a court document shows. Casada’s former chief of staff, Cade Cothren, was also convicted and was sentenced to 2½ years last week.

A jury found Casada guilty of 17 of 19 charges in May, and Cothren was found guilty of all 19 counts in a public corruption trial that began in late April.

The judge this month acquitted the pair of three counts while leaving in place the convictions on the rest of the charges, including use of a fictitious name to carry out fraud, wire fraud and money laundering.

Read the full story here.

Razom for Ukraine, which translates to Together for Ukraine, heaped praise on Trump today after he appeared to monumentally shift his position on the war, for the first time saying Ukraine could regain all territory it has lost to Russia since the 2022 invasion.

After Trump’s post on Truth Social, Razom for Ukraine, a group that has worked to shore up U.S. support for the war-torn country, called his comments some of his strongest yet.

“This is the kind of leadership that wins Nobel Peace Prizes,” the group’s director of advocacy said in a statement. “Putin only respects strength, and that’s exactly what we saw from President Trump today.”

Harris’ return to the public eye has kicked off a new phase of the nascent 2028 presidential race.

In excerpts published ahead of the release of her new book, Harris outlined her internal thinking (and a few mea culpas around key decisions and developments that vexed her 2024 presidential campaign). She also offered some blunt thoughts about a handful of other prominent Democrats, including up-and-comers whom she considered to be her running mate, like former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro.

Now, Harris’ book has opened up the first big moment of confrontation among potential 2028 rivals. Democrats are eager to skip ahead to their turn to attempt a political comeback in Washington after Harris’ loss last year, even if it’s still far from clear who wants to seek the nomination.

While potential candidates are traveling to different key states and building their profiles, Harris’ memoir has them engaging with her — and sometimes criticizing her judgment — particularly early in a presidential campaign that could eventually have them squaring up against one another.

Read the full story here.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said today at an economics conference in Rhode Island that policymakers at the central bank are "looking at what's the best thing for the people we serve" and not for what would be best politically.

His comments, the most explicit response so far to months of blistering Fed criticism from the Trump administration, came just days after the Fed cut interest rates. Many administration officials want the Fed to go further.

"Truth is, most of the people who are calling us political, it’s just a cheap shot," Powell said. "And also, we don’t engage. ... We don't get into the back-and-forth with external people. We just do our jobs."

The Trump administration today proposed overhauling the visa’s lottery selection process to prioritize higher-paid and higher-skilled foreign employees.

The proposed policy changes could reignite the debate over U.S. employers’ use of foreign labor.

Trump has taken aim at H-1B visas, a program Big Tech and outsourcing companies widely use to hire foreign workers. He announced Friday that companies would be required to pay $100,000 fees with new applications submitted after Sept. 21.

The administration targeted H-1B visa allocation today, proposing a “weighted selection process” for when annual demand for the visas tops the 85,000 limit set by Congress, which it says has happened every year for more than a decade.

Read the full story here.

GOP Rep. Tom Tiffany said today he will run for governor of Wisconsin, joining a race for the open seat in the crucial swing state that has drawn crowded primaries on both sides.

Tiffany, 67, has represented Wisconsin’s 7th Congressional District — a rural and solidly Republican area comprising most of the northern part of the state — since 2020.

“Madison politics may smell like the barn, but I know how to clean up the bull,” Tiffany says in a video launching his campaign. “I will roll up my sleeves and deliver results for every Wisconsinite.”

Tiffany’s entrance into the race, which had been widely expected, further expands the field of candidates in both parties running to succeed Democrat Tony Evers, who announced in July that he wouldn’t run for a third term.

Read the full story here.

Trump said this afternoon that he thinks Ukraine, with help from the European Union, could win back its territory from Russia and return the country to its original borders.

Trump has previously suggested numerous times that giving up some land would be a key component of resolving Ukraine’s war with Russia.

“After getting to know and fully understand the Ukraine/Russia Military and Economic situation and, after seeing the Economic trouble it is causing Russia, I think Ukraine, with the support of the European Union, is in a position to fight and WIN all of Ukraine back in its original form,” Trump said in a lengthy post on Truth Social.

He said that with the financial support of NATO, returning Ukraine to its original borders is “very much an option.” He added that Russia has been “fighting aimlessly for three and a half years a War that should have taken a Real Military Power less than a week to win. This is not distinguishing Russia.”

Read the full story here.

Routh's trial came to a dramatic end when he started stabbing himself in the neck with a pen after the Florida jury found him guilty.

A Florida jury found Ryan Routh guilty on all counts of attempting to assassinate Trump on a golf course last year.

After just 2½ hours of deliberations, the panel also found Routh guilty of assaulting the Secret Service agent who rousted him from his hiding place and guilty of three federal gun charges stemming from the incident on Sept. 15.

Routh, who pleaded not guilty to all charges, faces life in prison when he is sentenced.

Read the full story here.

Before his closed-door meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the United Nations, Trump told reporters that the "biggest progress" that has been made in ending Russia's war against Ukraine is that "the Russian economy is terrible right now."

"As you know, it's crashing," Trump said. He also said that "it's not a good thing" for Russia that the war is still ongoing.

"This was supposed to be quick. And so, you know, Russia doesn't look very distinguished, having taken 3½ years now," Trump said. "Three and a half years of very hard fighting, and it looks like it's not going to end for a long time."

The meeting today was the two leaders' fifth during Trump's second term.

Speaking to reporters with Zelenskyy, Trump suggested he might be able to persuade Hungary to stop purchasing Russian oil despite President Viktor Orbán's refusal to do so.

“He’s a friend of mine," Trump said when he was asked about the issue. "I have not spoken to him, but I have a feeling if I did he might stop, and I think I’ll be doing that."

Sitting next to Zelenskyy before a closed-door meeting, Trump told reporters that NATO nations should shoot down Russian aircraft if they enter their airspace.

"Yes, I do," Trump said when he was asked whether the countries should shoot the aircraft down.

Asked whether the United States would back up NATO allies in such defensive actions, Trump said it "depends on the circumstance."

In recent days, Russian aircraft have entered the airspace of NATO members Poland, Romania and Estonia, according to the countries.

Trump’s future presidential library will be housed in downtown Miami at a location selected, in part, because of its proximity to the Freedom Tower, a landmark that played a significant role in helping Cuban refugees migrating to Florida.

Trump’s team has for months been eyeing Florida, where he is a resident, as the location for the library, which they also hope can be part of a larger development that would include an adjacent hotel. It would be the first presidential library to also be home to a hotel development.

Read the full story here.

Trump endorsed Argentine President Javier Milei for another term, praising him in a post to Truth Social as "a truly fantastic and powerful Leader for the Great People of Argentina, advancing on all levels at record speed."

In remarks to reporters before the two men met, Trump repeated his endorsement, saying that Milei "needs the next term" and predicted that the Argentine leader was "going to get it."

"We are giving the president of Argentina our full backing and endorsement," he said.

Asked by a reporter about the possibility that the U.S. could help to bail out Argentina, Trump said that he did not think the country needed it.

After Trump issued a strong warning to pregnant women suggesting without evidence that the number of children born with autism would decrease if expectant moms stopped using acetaminophen, reaction is pouring in from the medical community and families. NBC’s Kate Snow reports for "TODAY."

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said during a bilateral meeting with Trump at the U.N. this afternoon that Trump is right about the need for European nations to stop purchasing Russian oil.

She said that she wants to impose sanctions on ports and tariffs on oil imports to the European Union, suggesting an end-of-year timeline for such actions.

Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., spoke to Trump by phone last night and urged him to call off a meeting with Jeffries and Schumer later this week to discuss funding the government past Sept. 30, two sources familiar with the conversation said.

The Republican leaders stressed that Democrats already put out their demands for the continuing resolution, and that Trump need not meet with them.

The sources noted that Trump may still decide to hold a meeting with the two Democrats, but that Thune and Johnson would likely be involved in some way.

Thune’s office did not respond to a request for comment on the call and deferred to the White House on details of a potential meeting. Johnson’s office did not respond to a request for comment.

Read the full story here.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., is the star of a new ad in support of a ballot measure to redraw California's congressional maps to further boost Democrats.

Democrats are pursuing a mid-decade redistricting plan in California in response to Republicans' efforts in Texas and other states to draw new lines that are designed to help them protect their narrow House majority in next year's midterm elections.

"Donald Trump is redrawing election maps to force through a Congress that only answers to him, not the people. If he gets away with it, all bets are off, for our health care, our paychecks and our freedoms," Ocasio-Cortez says in the ad.

Harris said in an interview on ABC's "The View" that she's "done" with "punditry around everybody looking for a messiah, a savior of the Democratic Party."

"There are so many superstars in the party and who are doing very, very good work," she said.

The former vice president writes in her new memoir about her failed 2024 presidential campaign that she ran a "stars project" aimed at identifying new talent in the Democratic Party.

In her interview, Harris said "instead of having these endless conversations about who is the one, understand there are many."

"And similarly with the issues, what is the one message that Democrats need to have?" she added. "There are many, but I would, I would frame them in the context of the immediate needs of the people."

Former Vice President Kamala Harris criticized Trump in an interview on ABC's "The View" this morning, saying that he has "decided that he will be an emperor."

“He is destroying our government, our institution, our principles and values upon which we’re founded. I mean what he has done to attack a free and independent press, free speech. What he has done to attack the people of our country, in such a vicious way. I find there are no redeeming qualities," she said.

Trump and his Federal Communications Commission chairman has gone after TV networks recently and threatened to revoke licenses if they don't report on him more favorably. Trump has also sued several major news organizations over their coverage.

During Trump's remarks this morning at the United Nations, however, the president called on nations to renew their commitments to defending free speech and free expression, counting it among "those values really that we hold so dear together."

In brief remarks before reporters, U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres emphasized the importance of pushing for peace and highlighted the U.S.' long support of the international body.

Guterres praised Trump's efforts to work toward peace and told the president that the U.N. is "entirely at your disposal" to work together to achieve it.

Trump said the United Nations' potential was "really incredible," adding that while he disagreed with it "sometimes," he stood behind the body.

Reporters were ushered out of the room before the meeting.

Trump said on Truth Social that he will not be meeting with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer to discuss funding the government to avoid a shutdown by the Sept. 30 deadline, telling the Democratic leaders that "the ball is in your court."

"No meeting with [Democrat] Congressional Leaders could possibly be productive," Trump said. "I look forward to meeting with them if they get serious about the future of our Nation."

NBC News reported yesterday that Trump was expected to meet with the Democratic leaders later this week.

Trump said in his remarks that he plans to meet with Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva next week amid tensions after Trump levied 50% tariffs on Brazilian imports in response to the conviction of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro for plotting a coup to maintain power.

The president said he and Lula "embraced" when Trump was walking onto the stage and the Brazilian leader was walking out.

"We didn't have much time to talk, like about 20 seconds," Trump said, adding, "We had a good talk, and we agreed to meet next week, if that's of interest.

"But he seemed like a very nice man — actually, he liked me. I liked him," Trump said, adding, "We had excellent chemistry. It's a good sign."

Trump was allies with Bolsonaro, Lula's predecessor, and has called Bolsonaro's conviction a "witch hunt." In his speech, Trump said that Brazil "is doing poorly" economically and will only do well "when they're working with us."

"Brazil now faces major tariffs in response to its unprecedented efforts to interfere in the rights and freedoms of our American citizens and others with censorship, repression, weaponization, judicial corruption and targeting of political critics in the United States," Trump said.

Trump has ended his speech at the U.N. General Assembly, speaking to the body for a little under an hour.

Trump said in his remarks that free speech should be protected, although he and his administration have repeatedly gone after news organizations and networks over their coverage.

"Let us defend free speech and free expression. Let us protect religious liberty, including for the most persecuted religion on the planet today, it's called Christianity. And let us safeguard our sovereignty and cherished qualities that have made each of our nations so special, incredible and extraordinary," he said.

Trump and other administration officials have also reiterated the same message on free speech, but have defended FCC Chairman Brendan Carr's threats to take action against ABC over Jimmy Kimmel's comments about the accused killer of Charlie Kirk. Trump has also sued several media organizations over what he perceives as negative coverage of him.

The president told reporters on Friday that it's "illegal" that TV networks broadcast "negative reporting" about him.

In his speech to the U.N. General Assembly, Trump extolled his administration's use of tariffs as a way to protect the U.S. economy, saying America and other nations have been hurt by countries he claims have ignored international trade rules — an apparent reference to China, among others.

"The countries that followed the rules, all their factories have been plundered. It's really sad to watch. They've been broken. They've been broken by countries that broke the rules," Trump said.

"That's why the United States is now applying tariffs to other countries," he said. "And much as these tariffs were for many years, applied to us, uncontrollably applied to us, we've used tariffs as a defense mechanism under the Trump administration."

Trump pushed nations to accept his worldview, claiming he was always correct and touting MAGA hats that read, "Trump was right about everything."

"I don't say that in a braggadocios way, but it's true," Trump said. "I've been right about everything."

"And I'm telling you that if you don't get away from the green energy scam, your country is going to fail," he said, "and if you don't stop people that you've never seen before, that you have nothing in common with, your country is going to fail."

Trump called climate change "a con job" in his remarks, going on at length criticizing efforts to reduce the carbon footprint of industrialized nations in Europe.

"You know, it used to be global cooling," Trump said. "If you look back years ago, in the 1920s and the 1930s, they said global cooling will kill the world. We have to do something. Then they said global warming will kill the world, but then it started getting cooler. So now, they could just call it climate change, because that way they can't miss climate change, because if it goes higher or lower, whatever the hell happens, there's climate change," he said.

Much of the rise in temperatures happened in the latter half of the last century, with the rate of increase accelerating in this one, according to scientific organizations studying the issue.

Trump claimed without evidence that climate change predictions made by the U.N. and other groups have been wrong.

"It's the greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world, in my opinion, climate change," he said. "All of these predictions made by the United Nations and many others, often for bad reasons, were wrong."

Trump called for denuclearization and an end to biological weapons research and development, announcing that the administration will lead an "international effort" to enforce the Biological Weapons Convention and that he wants a "cessation of the development of nuclear weapons."

“We just can’t ever use them. If we ever use them, the world literally might come to an end,” Trump said. “There would be no United Nations to be talking about. There would be no nothing.”

Trump claimed that despite "reckless overseas experiments" contributing to the Covid pandemic, an apparent reference to China, "many countries are continuing extremely risky research into bioweapons and manmade pathogens. This is unbelievably dangerous."

Trump touted the White House's decision to carry out strikes on Venezuelan boats allegedly carrying drugs, and emphasized his willingness to do it again.

"To every terrorist thug smuggling poisonous drugs into the United States of America: Please be warned that we will blow you out of existence," Trump said. "That's what we're doing. We have no choice. Can't let it happen."

Trump said he has designated multiple drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations as part of his effort to stem the flow of illicit drugs into the U.S. 

Trump spoke about his administration's approach to stemming migration into the U.S.

"In America, we've taken bold action to swiftly shut down uncontrolled migration," he said. "Once we started detaining and deporting everyone who crossed the border and removing illegal aliens from the United States, they simply stopped coming. They're not coming anymore. We're getting a lot of credit, but they're not coming anymore."

Trump said that it's a "humanitarian act for all involved" because, he said, people have died or have been raped on the trip into the U.S.

"What we did was a victory, and we saved so many lives of people that wouldn't make the journey," he said, without citing specifics. "That journey was loaded up with death, loaded up with death, dead bodies all along, all along the roads of jungles to get up."

Trump slammed United Nations countries over migration, saying, "Your countries are being ruined."

He claimed that the U.N. was effectively "funding an assault on Western countries and their borders" by providing funds for certain migrants.

Trump blamed political correctness for what he said was a lack of effort to curb migration in Europe.

"Europe is in serious trouble," Trump said. "They’ve been invaded by a force of illegal aliens like nobody’s ever seen before. Illegal aliens are pouring into Europe. ... Nobody’s doing anything to change it, to get them out. It’s not sustainable, and because they choose to be politically correct, they’re doing just absolutely nothing about it."

The United Nations has a refugee agency that helps provide assistance to displaced people. It is unclear if Trump was referring to the agency.

Trump lamented that the war in Ukraine was still ongoing, reiterated that he originally believed it "would be the easiest" war to end. He had claimed on the campaign trail that he could end the war in one day.

"Everyone thought Russia would win this war in three days, but it didn't work out that way," Trump said. "It was supposed to be just a quick little skirmish. It's not making Russia look good."

He continued, saying that Russia's initial attack "was something that should have taken a matter of days, certainly less than a week, and they've been fighting for three and a half years."

Trump criticized European countries for buying Russian oil at the same time they are trying to ramp up pressure on Russia to end its war in Ukraine.

"They can't be doing what they're doing. They're buying oil and gas from Russia while they're fighting Russia," he said.

"It's embarrassing to them, and it was very embarrassing to them when I found out about it. ... They have to immediately cease all energy purchases from Russia. Otherwise we're all wasting a lot of time," Trump said.

The president said he planned to discuss the issue with European leaders today.

Trump said the decision by some nations, including the United Kingdom and France, to recognize a Palestinian state would reward Hamas for the terrorist group's atrocities, including the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel.

"Unfortunately, Hamas has repeatedly rejected reasonable offers to make peace. We can't forget Oct. 7," he said. "Some of this body is seeking to unilaterally recognize a Palestinian state."

"This would be a reward for these horrible atrocities, including Oct. 7, even while they refuse to release the hostages or accept a ceasefire," Trump added. 

Trump repeatedly called for the release of all hostages, which drew applause from the audience.

"We got to get the hostages back. We want all 20 back. We don't want two and four," he said. "I always said the last 20 are going to be the hardest. And that's exactly what happened. We have to get them back."

Trump criticized the United Nations, claiming it has not tried to end several wars that he says he worked to end. (Other United Nations countries, however, have been involved in efforts to end various wars around the world.)

Trump said the list of wars he ended include Cambodia and Thailand, Kosovo and Serbia, the Congo and Rwanda, Pakistan and India, Israel and Iran, Egypt and Ethiopia, and Armenia and Azerbaijan.

"It's too bad that I had to do these things instead of the United Nations doing them, and sadly, in all cases, the United Nations did not even try to help in any of them," Trump said.

"Everyone says that I should get the Nobel Peace Prize for each one of these achievements, but for me, the real prize will be the sons and daughters who live to grow up with the mothers and fathers because millions of people are no longer being killed in endless and inglorious wars," Trump said. "What I care about is not winning prizes, it's saving lives."

Trump detailed his administration's hard-line immigration policy, listing the consequences for people who enter the U.S. illegally.

The president said that it could lead to jail time, being deported back to the country of origin, or "perhaps even further than that — you know what that means," he said.

Trump thanked El Salvador "for the successful and professional job they’ve done in receiving and jailing so many criminals that entered our country."

"It was under the previous administration that the number became record-setting, and they’re all being taken out," he said. "You have no choice, and other countries have no choice, because other countries are in the exact same situation with immigration. It’s destroying your country, and you have to do something about it."

Trump touted the foreign investments in the U.S. that have come into the country since he took office again, saying funds were "being invested in the United States and is now pouring in from all parts of the world."

Trump said $17 trillion is being invested in the U.S. through trade and investment agreements that his administration negotiated. It is unclear whether he is including foreign investment commitments that have yet to come to fruition.

Trump came up to the podium and said that the teleprompter wasn't working.

"I feel very happy to be up here with you ... and that way you speak more from the heart. I can only say that whoever's operating this teleprompter is in big trouble," the president said, drawing laughter from the room.

The teleprompter then appeared to be working as he began delivering prepared remarks.

Trump is now speaking at the U.N. General Assembly.

Virginia Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears is reprising a line from Trump’s presidential campaign in a new TV ad, with the Republican suggesting her Democratic opponent in the governor’s race “is for they/them, not us.”

“How radical is Abigail Spanberger? She didn’t just vote to let men in girls’ locker rooms. She wrote the bill," a narrator says in the ad. "Spanberger believes this man has the right to undress next to little girls, but it gets worse. If a child wants to change genders, Spanberger says the parents shouldn’t be told. That’s insane. Radical Abigail Spanberger is for they them, not us.”

Republicans have been leaning into anti-transgender attacks in the race. 

Spanberger has responded to those attacks in a recent TV ad, where she says: "Nothing matters more to me than the safety of all our kids, and as a law enforcement officer, I went after child predators. So it really angers me to hear these lies about who I am. I believe we need to get politics out of our schools and trust parents and local communities.”

Health officials across the globe today rejected Trump’s warning that pregnant women should limit the use of acetaminophen, the active ingredient in Tylenol, over unsubstantiated claims of a link to autism.

Authorities from Australia to Europe moved swiftly to respond to the U.S. announcement, which Trump made with great fanfare while flanked by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Read the full story here.

First lady Melania Trump will host a reception for dozens of spouses of heads of state today in New York, where she plans to announce a new global initiative focused on children, the White House said. 

The initiative is focused on prioritizing the personal development of children; unifying efforts related to technology and education and children; and working with the private sector to provide access to education technology and exchange solutions about artificial intelligence, the White House said.

Melania Trump is also expected to meet with Ukrainian first lady Olena Zelenska at some point today. Last month, President Donald Trump hand-delivered a letter to Russian President Putin from the first lady about children affected by the war in Ukraine. A few days later, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy brought a letter from his wife for Trump to deliver to the first lady, thanking Melania Trump for writing to Putin. 

Mysterious drones that forced the closure of a major European airport were part of a “serious attack,” officials said today, hours after the latest unsettling incident over the continent’s skies.

As U.S. allies weigh a tougher response to suspected Russian incursions, NATO leaders gathered at the United Nations General Assembly in New York condemned the Kremlin for a spate of “escalatory” incidents in recent weeks and vowed to defend itself.

Authorities did not immediately assign blame for the two to three large drones that shut Copenhagen Airport — Scandinavia’s largest — last night. But police said a hybrid attack could not be ruled out, and Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen called it “the most serious attack on Danish critical infrastructure to date.”

Read the full story here.

U.S. Secret Service agents have dismantled a network of electronic devices in multiple locations around New York City that could be used to disable the city’s cellphone network, officials said today. They said the system was also used to anonymously convey assassination threats against senior U.S. officials and for criminal activities.

In five locations within 35 miles of New York, Secret Service agents discovered more than 300 co-located SIM servers and 100,000 SIM cards, officials said. They said the system could also be used for criminal activity and that 80 grams of cocaine, illegal firearms, computers and cellphones were also found at the locations.

“These devices allowed anonymous, encrypted communications between potential threat actors and criminal enterprises, enabling criminal organizations to operate undetected,” Matt McCool, the head of the Secret Service New York Field Office, said in a video statement released this morning. “This network had the potential to disable cellphone towers and essentially shut down the cellular network in New York City.”

Read the full story here.

A pot of funding for insurance coverage under the Affordable Care Act expires at the end of this year, and Republicans in Congress are rejecting Democrats’ demands to extend it this month in a government funding bill.

Expiration of the funds would lead to sharp premium hikes for people all over the country. While they officially expire after the last day of 2025, there is some urgency to act soon: Insurers are filing their rates over the next few weeks, and open enrollment begins Nov. 1. Failure to act by then could cause many people to drop their coverage for 2026.

Read the full story here.

Former Vice President Kamala Harris offered only a mild endorsement of New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani in an interview on MSNBC’s “The Rachel Maddow Show” last night, comments that come as other prominent Democrats have been slow to embrace the progressive state lawmaker’s candidacy.

“Look, as far as I’m concerned, he’s the Democratic nominee and he should be supported,” Harris said when asked about her thoughts on Mamdani and why some in the party have been slow to back him.

Asked whether she endorsed Mamdani, she offered a tepid response before turning to other up-and-coming names in the party.

Read the full story here.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on NBC's "TODAY" that the U.S. might have to impose further sanctions on Russia "at some point" in the effort to end the war in Ukraine, but argued that "the minute we go heavy on the sanctions and everything else, our ability to act as a broker to bring about peace is diminished."

Rubio criticized European countries that continue to buy Russian fossil fuels, which he called "absurd," and pushed them to do more to put pressure on Russia.

Some countries are "asking for the U.S. to impose more sanctions, but there are countries in Europe that are not doing enough, so I think they need to do more," Rubio said.

In an interview on NBC's "TODAY," Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the administration's goal was to have peace in Gaza, but argued that peace could not happen with Hamas in existence.

"The goal is not to end the war. The goal is to have peace," Rubio said. "And obviously you can't have peace as long as Hamas exists."

He dismissed concerns about the possibility of the U.S. being increasingly isolated for not recognizing a Palestinian state, as many allies have done in recent days.

"It also is a reward for Hamas," Rubio said. "It really is. It makes Hamas feel like they carried out this massacre on Oct. 7, and now they get this in return."

Former Vice President Kamala Harris’ memoir of her failed 2024 campaign for the Oval Office skewers some of the nation’s most prominent Democrats — including former President Joe Biden — offers her perspective on crucial moments in the election and outlines her own regrets about her decisions and performance.

Published by Simon & Schuster on Tuesday, “107 Days” zooms in on the narrow window during which Biden abruptly handed her the reins of the Democratic nomination and she lost to Donald Trump.

The book is notable among election memoirs in its often candid assessments of figures who are still active in politics and in the possibility that Harris will use it as a launch pad for a third bid for the presidency in 2028.

Read the full story here.

Washington and Beijing will have to communicate better if they are to resolve their various disagreements — and if they don’t talk it could be “dangerous,” a U.S. lawmaker said today during a rare congressional visit to China.

Though a group of U.S. senators visited Beijing in 2023, this is the first delegation of House lawmakers to visit China since 2019. Their trip comes amid tensions between the U.S. and China over trade, technology and wars in the Middle East and Ukraine.

Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., the leader of the bipartisan delegation, said they held “robust and very helpful” meetings with Chinese officials and that the objective of the trip was to reopen lines of communication between “the two most powerful countries in the world.”

“Our relationship is going to be the most consequential relationship in terms of what the world is going to be like for decades to come,” Smith told reporters at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing. “It is really important that we work to strengthen that relationship and better understand each other.”

Read the full story here.

Trump will address the United Nations General Assembly today at a moment of heightened strain with U.S. allies over Palestinian statehood, trade and other flash points as his administration retreats from the global body.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt previewed Trump’s remarks, saying he will highlight “the renewal of American strength around the world” and what the White House sees as key accomplishments since he returned to office, including winding down conflicts abroad. Leavitt said Trump would also deliver a “straightforward and constructive” vision of global leadership.

After his speech, Trump is scheduled to meet with U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres, as well as leaders from Ukraine, Argentina and the European Union. He will also take part in a multilateral meeting with Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Turkey, Pakistan, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan, Leavitt said.

Read the full story here.

Former Democratic Rep. Abigail Spanberger’s campaign for Virginia governor is launching a new TV ad today, knocking Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears for her stances on taxes and Trump’s sweeping tax cut and spending legislation. 

“When she speaks about taxes, it’s disturbing,” a narrator says in the 30-second ad, shared first with NBC News, which also labels Earle-Sears as a “MAGA Republican.”

“Sears pledged not to raise a penny of taxes on billionaires and corporations. But what about you? Sears backs Trump policies that are raising prices for everything: groceries, mortgages, health care, electricity. You pay more so billionaires pay less,” the narrator says.

The ad points to Earle-Sears’ agreeing to Americans for Tax Reform’s pledge to oppose any efforts to raise taxes and her support for Trump’s so-called “one big beautiful bill.”  Earle-Sears said during a Newsmax interview in July that the measure “does so many great things.” 

The ad is Spanberger’s first new TV spot since early voting kicked off Friday. Her campaign has so far dominated the airwaves, spending $22.1 million on ads to Earle-Sears’ $9.7 million, according to the ad-tracking firm AdImpact.

Voters in Arizona's 7th Congressional District will fill the late Rep. Raúl Grijalva's vacant seat tonight, with Democrats favored to hold onto the district, which then-Vice President Kamala Harris carried with more than 60% of the vote in 2024.

Democrat Adelita Grijalva, the late congressman's daughter and a former county supervisor, faces Republican Daniel Butierez in the special election. The district takes hundreds of miles of the U.S.-Mexico border from Tucson to Yuma, as well as a slice of the Phoenix suburbs.

Polls close at 7 p.m. local time (10 p.m. ET). Republicans' majority in the House currently stands at 219-213, with two vacancies in districts Democrats won last year and one vacancy in a district Republicans won last year.

See results here.