September 11, 2026: All Newsclips

Lead Stories

Kimmel says interview with James Talarico won't air under FCC pressure

Late-night host Jimmy Kimmel said the agency that regulates television “threatened” the show and that an interview with James Talarico, the Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate in Texas, will not air on television but on YouTube — thus bypassing any control or regulation by the Federal Communications Commission. It’s not the first time a TV show has moved an interview with Talarico to YouTube. The candidate’s appearance on Stephen Colbert’s show in February was moved online over network fears that it would violate regulatory guidance from the Federal Communications Commission on giving equal time to political candidates. Talarico is in a tight race against Republican, Ken Paxton, the Texas attorney general, and has given Democrats hope of winning statewide in the otherwise GOP-dominated Lone Star State.

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“For the whole 20+ years of our show, in fact, I’ve been interviewing Americans who are running for office with no problem,” said Kimmel on his Wednesday night show, the titular “Jimmy Kimmel Live.” “Something has changed,” he continued, suggesting that Trump’s presidency was that something. “His FCC has threatened me, threatened our show, threatened our network, ABC, our affiliates our local stations, based on simple traditional editorial decisions, guest bookings it would seem they don’t like.” The FCC did not immediately respond to a request for comment. But Anna Gomez, the Commission’s sole Democrat, said in a Thursday statement on social media that Kimmel’s decision to keep the interview off-air “shows just how far this Administration’s campaign of censorship and control has gone.” Gomez condemned the latest “intimidation” from her agency — and added that she hopes “courts will soon make clear that the FCC has no place dictating editorial choices or what viewers are allowed to see.” In August, in a further escalation of its battle with the Trump administration, Disney-owned ABC sued the FCC on First Amendment grounds, saying the agency’s demand for early review of its broadcast licenses — years before they were set to expire — posed an “existential threat” to the network.

Sept. 11 changed the world order. But not for the reason you may think.

When the World Trade Center towers crashed to the ground 25 years ago, they triggered a seismic wave that seemed to smash the world order. It was now “a different world,” President George W. Bush warned Congress. Secretary of State Colin Powell declared: “It was before 9/11 and after 9/11.” Vice President Dick Cheney added: “That day changed everything.” They were right, with a caveat. The attacks were a monumental tragedy. The world order did change. But it was the aftermath—the U.S. response to 9/11, not the terrorism itself—that made the difference. Sept. 11 marked a shockingly successful attack by a stateless and relatively small group of Islamist militants. The U.S., though, launched a massive military response: a War on Terror. It attacked two countries, one uninvolved with 9/11. The rhetoric was so sweeping, Washington borrowed language from World War II and the Cold War. America was now confronting an Axis of Evil.

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Consumed by the War on Terror, the U.S. had less capacity to address other global priorities such as the pivotal rise of China and an increasingly hostile Russia. That inattention to shifting global forces was what really changed the world. U.S. leaders were “certainly distracted” and “we continually found ourselves sucked back into the morass of our misadventures in the Middle East,” William Burns, who served in several administrations and later became director of the CIA, said in 2019. “Imagine if a bigger part of the time, energy and resources spent on the Global War on Terror had instead been spent on giving form to an affirmative vision for America’s role in Asia.” “China and Russia have welcomed” the War on Terror, the scholar Robert Kagan wrote in 2008, “because it has distracted the United States’ strategic focus away from them.” Recall America’s standing just before 9/11. It was a time of strength and optimism. The U.S. had won the Cold War and enjoyed international dominance. Its victory over Iraq in the first Gulf War still resonated: a U.S. military so powerful it could crush threats far away, in short order, and with few American casualties. Optimism notwithstanding, warnings still abounded. “Unfortunately, a policy of engagement is doomed to fail,” the scholar John Mearsheimer wrote in his 2001 book, “The Tragedy of Great Power Politics.” “If China becomes an economic powerhouse it will almost certainly translate its economic might into military might and make a run at dominating Northeast Asia.… In short, China and the United States are destined to be adversaries as China’s power grows.”

Trump wants to hand out cash. Congress and economists seem skeptical

Donald Trump’s pitch to send Americans $5,000 checks should Republicans prevail in the November midterms is drawing scorn from some members of Congress — the very people who have constitutional authority over federal spending. Economists and other political observers are voicing concerns about the potential effects on inflation and the national balance sheet. Taken together, it’s a swift reaction that makes clear that Trump’s dubious election-year gambit is likely little more than another grand promise from a politician with a long history of them. “Donald Trump is a known liar. This is the biggest liar to ever serve in government. Period,” said Rep. Robert Garcia, a California Democrat who was in Dallas on Thursday as part of his party’s effort to counter Republicans’ midterm convention. “The dividend is not happening.”

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Trump previously pledged to use savings from the Department of Government Efficiency and revenue from tariffs on foreign imports to distribute payments of $2,000 or more, but none of that came to pass. His latest idea comes as the U.S. economy is reckoning with persistent inflation and rising interest rates, two forces that have politically undermined Republicans after previously helping them reclaim power from Democrats. Trump claimed the payments would be possible because of the economy’s strength, yet consumer sentiment is weak as gasoline prices are increasing because of the war with Iran and wages are struggling to keep pace with inflation. Trump told CBS News Texas in an interview that he doesn’t believe Congress would need to approve his planned payments, though he did not specify how he could spend more than $1 trillion without Congress. “Well, we think not,” Trump said about congressional approval. “I think they will do it if we needed it. But we think not.” Later, when pressed by a reporter at the airport before he left Dallas, Trump denied the $5,000 was meant to turn out the vote even though he originally said the money would be distributed “if the Republicans win.” Instead, he described the payments as a “reward” for citizens who endured Joe Biden’s presidency. “It’s almost a reward for the people having to put up with Biden’s policy,” he said.

Inside Trump’s aggressive push to build data centers on public lands

President Donald Trump’s directive to accelerate data center development on federal lands is facing public backlash and legal hurdles. Behind the scenes, the Trump administration is pushing full steam ahead and sparking concerns it is prioritizing corporate needs over the public good. The Bureau of Land Management has asked its state directors to identify public land ripe for data center development, according to two people familiar with the request, and those leaders have compiled lists for Interior Department leadership. Interior leadership gave state leaders just three days to produce the lists and told its directors the issue was a top priority, according to a former BLM official involved in the discussions.

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The request has encountered several challenges: Bureau lands are typically remote and not near basics like electricity and water, agency staff lack the technical expertise to conduct requisite reviews, and overwhelming vacancies after dramatic staffing losses under Trump have diminished capacity. The directive follows an executive order Trump issued last year to accelerate permitting for data centers, including by identifying federal lands that could accommodate them. As the Trump administration is proposing further cuts to BLM, it has stressed in its most recent budget blueprint that the bureau should refocus its efforts on aiding the building out of data centers for AI. The push also comes after Interior Secretary Doug Burgum held meetings with dozens of technology and energy executives last year, according to a Washington Sun review of his calendar. Those meetings included a conversation with Amazon CEO Andy Jassy last spring about permitting, infrastructure and technology “to support data center growth.” The aggressive push inside the agency, and Burgum’s frequent meetings with industry, has stakeholders fearful that the administration is putting the interests of AI companies first at a time where widespread backlash has made companies desperate for more land to build out their infrastructure. “I’m not against development or progress but I think there are too many questions about this and nobody is asking them,” said Mary Jo Rugwell, a former BLM state director who now serves as president of the Public Lands Foundation. “I think we’re just bending knee to the tech oligarchs and letting them do whatever they need to do.”

State Stories

Chris Hollins sends strongest signal yet of a 2027 challenge to Houston Mayor John Whitmire

City Controller Chris Hollins sent the strongest signal yet on Wednesday that he could launch a challenge against Houston Mayor John Whitmire’s bid for a second term in 2027. Hollins, the city’s second-highest-ranking elected official, swiped at Whitmire during remarks at a press event in Dallas, where he appeared with Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker as part of Democrats’ pushback against the ongoing midterm Republican National Convention. While much of Hollins’ short speech was aimed at boosting statewide Democratic candidates, including James Talarico and Gina Hinojosa, he named Whitmire, who he has long clashed with over city finances and other issues, on a list of officials he hoped would be soon unseated.

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“We have folks who will do anything that they can to be the lapdog or the doormat of this demented, incompetent tyrant,” Hollins said, referring to President Donald Trump. “We’re stuck for now, for just a couple more days, with Greg Abbott, with Ken Paxton. “We’re stuck for a little bit longer with Ted Cruz, with (Dallas Mayor) Eric Johnson, with John Whitmire,” Hollins continued. “But the day for change is coming.” Hollins did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday. In a statement, Whitmire called the controller’s remarks “silly politics that I do not have time for.” The two officials have been at odds since both took office in 2024. From his post as the city’s financial watchdog, Hollins has publicly criticized Whitmire’s actions on the city’s budget woes as inadequate short-term fixes. He also opposed a number of mayoral initiatives, including the city’s settlement with firefighters and its recent $50 million deal to avoid annexing The Woodlands, moves he says significantly raise expenses while cutting off revenue streams. Even so, Hollins’ remarks are a sign that the feud could soon devolve into “open warfare,” said Brandon Rottinghaus, a political science professor at the University of Houston.

Austin-based Rastegar Capital, founded by former Nate Paul associate, embroiled in a string of court battles

Significant cracks are forming around Rastegar Capital. The Austin-based real estate investment and development firm has had multiple properties foreclosed on in recent months, including its West Austin headquarters. The company is also embroiled in several lawsuits, with some alleging millions in unpaid loans and others from investors alleging fraud. Compounding the issue is that the firm has had a revolving door of legal teams representing it in those lawsuits, with at least two withdrawing due to Rastegar Capital not fulfilling its financial obligations, according to court filings. Behind Rastegar Capital is Ari Rastegar, an Austin native who formerly worked for a notable and controversial figure in Austin real estate, Nate Paul.

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Rastegar helped open the private equity division for Paul’s World Class Capital in New York in 2012, according to previous reporting, before leaving World Class in 2014 to start his own firm. World Class for years has been legally hammered by investors and lenders, forcing it to shed many properties. In recent years, Rastegar himself made waves in the industry and has been in GQ, Maxim and the New York Post. In 2022, Austin Monthly magazine dubbed him "the king of Austin real estate" and chronicled his business philosophies and extreme health habits that involve him taking more than 150 supplements and vitamins a day. Rastegar declined to comment for this report. Rastegar has previously described his firm as “asset class agnostic,” and the company’s website touts a 3.5-million-square-foot portfolio across 38 cities in 13 states. That portfolio includes a potentially 1,000-home master-planned subdivision called Infinity Square in Kyle, the 600,000-square-foot Inf1nity Park industrial complex in Del Valle and East Austin’s 24,000-square-foot Inf1nity Views office project, among others. The portfolio also consists of older apartment properties and newly planned multifamily developments.

Trump blamed bathroom breaks for empty seats at Dallas convention

There was plenty of space Wednesday for President Donald Trump’s opening night remarks at the Republican midterm convention, but he suggested open seats were the result of people visiting the restrooms. Early in his remarks, Trump alluded to the unprecedented nature of the two-day gathering, including skepticism that people would be clamoring to attend. “This place is packed. And not only is this packed, this is a big arena, not only is this packed, but you have an equal number of people standing outside,” Trump said of the American Airlines Center. “If anybody would like to give up their seat . . . would anybody like to raise your hand and give up your seat?”

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The floor of the sports arena and the lower bowl were mostly full, but some upper-level sections were sparsely populated, with entire rows empty. Organizers and state parties went through different approaches to distributing tickets, from offering high-priced packages to giving away seats to Dallas-area residents. Trump repeatedly called the arena “packed” and predicted news outlets would say otherwise. “The fake news will go around and see that man up there? He's leaving for the bathroom. He'll be back in two minutes,” he said. “They’ll take a picture of his seat while he's gone. And they'll say, ‘Trump did not fill up the arena. The arena was not filled. Look at the seat.’” Trump then made a request that attendees wait until after his speech to heed nature’s call. Article continues below this ad “So please, if you don't mind, don't anybody go to the bathroom,” Trump said. The Republican National Committee on Thursday stood by Trump's description of the arena, called the energy "electric" and emphasized the event’s wider appeal for "Americans watching from home, the families weighing the choice ahead."

Kelley Shannon: To protect free speech, strengthen Texas’ public information law

(Kelley Shannon is executive director of the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas, a nonprofit based in Austin. For more information about the organization and its upcoming state conference, which is open to members of the public who register, go to www.foift.org.) It takes time and energy to keep a close watch on our government, but it’s our right as citizens. Really, it’s a duty. Transparency laws, along with liberties protected by the U.S. Constitution, help us do the job. Access to public information and free speech go hand in hand. We can’t effectively speak to and about our government without knowing the facts. Yet freedom of speech and one of the state’s main transparency laws, the Texas Public Information Act, are in the spotlight amid concerns they are being eroded. The Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas will explore these topics at its state conference “Tracking the Truth, Safeguarding First Amendment Rights” on Sept. 18 in Austin.

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Free expression on college campuses is the focus of the conference’s opening session, featuring former KUT News general manager Debbie Hiott, whose recent firing by the University of Texas at Austin ignited a free speech and transparency controversy. The conference will also include First Amendment experts; a look at access to immigration enforcement information; a keynote address by Garrett Haake, chief White House correspondent for NBC News; and a session on using the Texas Public Information Act. Despite a weakening of the Public Information Act over the years, the 53-year-old law still allows light to shine on government to answer essential questions about how taxpayer money is spent and how government officials make decisions. At its core, as it was written and intended, the law is strong and protects citizens’ right to know. That’s because government information is presumed to be open, unless a legal exemption to disclosure exists. This structure gives power to the people by requiring a governmental body that seeks to withhold information to argue why it should be permitted to do so. In most cases, it must seek a ruling from the Texas Attorney General’s Office.

Bud Kennedy: Tarrant leaders’ election cut saves dollars. Does it cost GOP votes?

Make this deal with the Tarrant County commissioners. If you have to drive far to vote Nov. 3 or wait a long time, your decision is easy. Vote against every single incumbent on the ballot who made it tougher to vote. Top to bottom. State house to courthouse. There is no other way to get the word across to the ruling Republicans on the Tarrant County Commissioners’ Court. Saving a few pennies by closing 92 voting locations is not worth the service lost, particularly not in a county that has voted solid Republican since 1994. In a county that is getting more Republican with every new Haslet subdivision — and where Republicans’ margin actually grew in recent elections from a 6-point edge to 8 points — there is absolutely no reason to make it tougher for Republicans to vote. Who are Republicans’ most faithful voters?

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The elderly. There are more Republican voters over 80 than under 30. It’s clear why commissioners wouldn’t want voting locations at colleges. There aren’t any Republicans there. But cutting so many other convenient neighborhood locations, particularly in older subdivisions and suburbs, makes no political sense whatsoever for the Republican judges and officials at the Tarrant County courthouse. When your county is 54% Republican — with more moving into northwest Tarrant County every day — you should be adding more polling places. Make sure newcomers can easily vote. Yes, Democrats succeeded in a few specific races in recent years. But there was a reason Beto O’Rourke, Joe Biden and Colin Allred carried the county. They won defense workers’ votes against a Republican senator and president who wanted to cut spending at Lockheed Martin.

Eric Johnson declares Dallas ‘America’s sanctuary city from socialism'

For five minutes on stage, Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson had the national Republican Party’s attention Thursday to make a pitch he has been making for years now: Don’t concede major cities to the Democrats. Introduced on stage as “the mayor of Y’all Street,” Johnson touted his record, saying Dallas is an example of what a major city looks like under Republican leadership. Johnson, a Republican in a nonpartisan post, built on his 2024 convention speech in Milwaukee, saying large American cities, governed by Democrats, were in disarray.

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Dallas is flourishing because of its pro-business attitude and investments in policing, the mayor said. He drew contrasts with New York City, Seattle and Chicago, referring to Dallas as “America’s sanctuary city from socialism.” “While socialist mayors and governors drive away businesses, here in Dallas we are choosing to build America’s next financial capital, which we proudly call Y’all Street,” Johnson said. Johnson took a prime spot in the lineup, speaking after Robert Kennedy Jr., the secretary of health and human services, and before former press secretary Karoline Leavitt. He switched from the Democratic Party in 2023, just months after he was reelected as mayor. He rallied the GOP crowd, detailing how he had abandoned “a political party that was determined to defund the police” and “that embraces tent cities and chaos.” Raucous cheers and applause broke beat after beat as Johnson recounted his reasons. He said he was no longer playing the role of a mayor disillusioned with a political party.

Two protesters arrested during a counter-protest outside the GOP Midterm Convention, police say

Two people were arrested Thursday during a protest near the GOP Midterm Convention being held at the American Airlines Center, according to Dallas Police. Police say officers were assigned to a protest near McKinney and Payne Streets. During the protest, police say the two protesters assaulted a counter-protester and blocked the road. Police say the victim didn't require medical treatment. Police have not yet released what led up to the assault or the names of the two arrested and the charges they face, but say those details will be released after the two are booked into jail.

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Family sues Fort Worth daycare over alleged child fight club, lawyer says that puts all daycares on notice

You can see how the parents of a 4-year-old boy light up when they describe their youngest of two children. “He’s into sports now, sports, basketball, anything sports, basketball, soccer, football,” Heather Harris said. Richard Harris said his son also has a love for Michael Jackson and practicing how to moonwalk. “He’s walking around now with his Michael Jackson glove. So, he’s just pretty awesome,” Richard Harris said. The Harris family recently watched the movie on Michael Jackson with their two children during their home movie night together. But the couple says there is a disturbing moment involving their son that they are still trying to make sense of. Heather says she made a surprise visit to Arka Montessori Academy of Risinger daycare in Fort Worth on April 27. She told WFAA TV in an exclusive interview that she knew something was wrong when she saw her son.

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“I knew from his cry, in the look on his face, that something had happened. And from that point on, I said, I need to see the cameras,” Heather Harris said. The family’s attorney shared surveillance video that he says shows an adult woman, described as a former employee, allegedly instigating a fight involving the 4-year-old. Heather Harris said she immediately called Richard Harris and told him what she had seen. “I was mortified when she showed me what actually happened on the video,” Richard Harris said. The Harrises say they trusted the daycare to care for their son and were shocked by what they said happened. “The trust that I put in this daycare, they failed us,” Heather Harris said. The couple says they believed they had done their homework before choosing the daycare. “Education was big; it was clean. Arka, we thought we hit gold with Arka,” Richard Harris said. Richard shared with WFAA TV that they even allowed their son to do a half day at the daycare to see how he would respond to the new facility, after changing his daycare based on location, after-school care, and their busy work schedules. The 24-7 cameras inside the daycare day rooms, the couple says, also played a huge role in their decision.

Ken Paxton celebrated a rise in jobs for women. ‘What. Is. He. Thinking???’

It’s not unusual for presidential administrations to cheer on job numbers, as the White House has been doing since a Friday report. They have celebrated women’s employment, pointing to figures that show that the vast majority of net job growth in August — and since President Donald Trump took office — has gone to women. But when the data was touted by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a staunch religious conservative and the Republican Party’s nominee in a Senate race that will help determine control of the chamber, not everyone was celebrating. Some on the right don’t see more women in the workforce as necessarily a good thing. “Thanks to President Trump’s leadership, American women are leading the way in our economic comeback,” Paxton wrote on X on Labor Day, amplifying a post from the White House about the numbers. “This is what happens when we put hardworking Americans first.”

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“What. Is. He. Thinking???” was the response from Megan Basham, an author and reporter at The Daily Wire, the outlet founded by conservative commentator Ben Shapiro. “Everything wrong with the conservative establishment is encapsulated in this tweet,” she wrote on X. “It’s tone deaf, it’s [sic] fails to understand the moment we’re in, and it reinforces the feminist longhouse situation that we are all trying to address. Seriously what’s the matter with Republican candidates???” Rebecca Jo Plant, a professor and historian of the American family at the University of California-San Diego, said the backlash to Paxton’s tweet was “sad but predictable.” “Men are struggling in this economy, but it’s not because women are employed. Critics would do better to look at who is actually profiting,” she said, pointing to “the extreme concentration of wealth” in the modern American economy. The response highlights growing tensions over family policy within the conservative movement: with affordability and cost-of-living leading voters’ concerns ahead of the midterms, the White House and Republican candidates are eager to tout any positive economic data about women driving workforce gains.

Elon Musk's Boring Company raises $3B, shattering Austin startup funding record

For the third time this year, the Austin metro's largest startup funding record has been broken. First, it was a $1 billion round for battery energy storage company Base Power, which it raised in 2025 and repeated again this year. Then it was a $1.75 billion investment for drone boat startup Saronic back in March. Now, enter the wealthiest founder of them all: Elon Musk. The tech titan's underground tunnel startup, The Boring Company, on Sept. 9 announced a $3 billion series D funding round. The massive investment was led by the United Arab Emirates and affiliated investment entities. Other investors included Human Capital, Vy Capital, Valor Equity Partners, Sequoia Capital, A16Z, Temasek, Shamal Holding and Baron Capital.

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The company said it is now worth $23 billion. The UAE involvement is perhaps not surprising in that The Boring Co. has teamed up with the entity on its Dubai Loop that intends to build out a nearly 100-mile network of underground tunnels across the UAE. It has also worked on projects at Tesla's gigafactory in the Austin area and a tunnel in Las Vegas. Boring Co. plans to channel some of its massive financing package into hiring. It has over 30 open roles posted to its website for the Austin area, as well as dozens more in other metros, including Dubai, Nashville and Las Vegas. Open roles include engineering, operations and production. The company in 2021 set up its headquarters at the corner of Walker Watson Road and FM 1209. Since then, the site has grown to include the Boring Bodega and the headquarters of social media company X, formerly known as Twitter. It also includes a University of Austin engineering lab and space for an elementary school.

Was Grindr really down last night during the RNC convention? A brief investigation.

Even before the RNC midterm convention started, the jokes about Grindr being down because of demand were already a thriving ecosystem on social media. But did it actually happen? For the uninitiated, Grindr is a popular location-based LGBTQ+ dating and social networking app. At the 2024 RNC convention in Milwaukee there were reports of the app being down, and in 2016, Vice reported on an influx of new users around the convention then. Since at least that time, jokes about the app going haywire during conservative-leaning events have proliferated.

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Basically, Downdetector says a lot more people than usual reported having problems with Grindr. Grindr’s own status page says there wasn’t an outage. It’s worth noting that at least some of Downdetector’s data is crowdsourced: people can report that a service isn’t working for them, and Downdetector also monitors other online sources for indications of problems. When those reports rise significantly above the normal level, Downdetector flags a potential outage. That doesn’t necessarily mean Grindr itself was down. “It’s important to note that while we can indicate that an issue may be occurring, we don’t diagnose why the issue may be occurring or what may be happening — that is something the service experiencing the issue can only know. The same is true for how many customers are actually impacted,” Raquel Sanz, a spokesperson for DownDetector parent company Ookla, told Snopes last year. And a lot of things can cause an app to stop working for an individual user, including local network congestion. At a large event, overloaded cell service can make a data-heavy app like Grindr slow to load or appear unavailable, even if Grindr itself isn’t experiencing an outage. It’s the old correlation is not necessarily causation thing. In short, some users may have experienced outages during the convention. But that doesn’t necessarily mean the problem was widespread, and the jokes may have created their own sort of feedback loop, with more people checking—and reporting—Grindr problems because everyone was talking about them.

Alaska surrogate asks U.S. Supreme Court to intervene after Texas judge dismisses custody claims

An Alaska surrogate who gave birth to a child with a rare heart defect in Texas asked the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene in the multistate legal battle over who has parentage and custody rights over the boy. Anchorage nurse McKenna West asked the high court to pause a California court order from last month ruling the child’s genetic parents — Los Angeles couple Nausheen Gilkar and Omar Ahmed — have legal parental authority, and West does not, according to a petition filed with the U.S. Supreme Court Wednesday. West fled from Alaska to Texas in July to give birth to the child after his genetic parents asked her to have an abortion. West argues under Texas law she is the legal parent because she gave birth to the child. She also argues Ahmed and Gilkar didn’t properly serve her notice of the parentage case they opened in California court, violating West’s due process rights.

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"The California courts stripped away (West’s) rights to the child she carried for 37 weeks as she fought to save his life from those who sought him dead," West's attorneys wrote in the petition. West’s request for a pause comes after Dallas judge Ashley Wysocki dismissed West’s bid for custody over the child earlier this month, upholding the California court’s order. Wysocki previously kept in place a temporary restraining order barring West from seeing the child after a hearing Aug. 25 pending a final ruling. Wysocki also ordered the court records in the Dallas case to be sealed from public view after a request from the court-appointed attorney for the child. An Alaska court in June gave full faith and credit to the California judgment, declaring Ahmed and Gilkar the child's legal and biological parents, according to a court filing obtained by KERA News before the case was sealed in Dallas. Gilkar and Ahmed named the child Rumi, but West and her legal team refer to the newborn as Baby Gabriel. As of Aug. 25, the newborn was in the hospital in critical condition awaiting further treatment after he received the first open heart surgery to treat his hypoplastic left heart syndrome.

Harry Styles announces two D-FW dates for 'Together, Together' tour

It might be time for North Texas to disco, occasionally. Harry Styles announced two dates at Arlington's AT&T Stadium for his "Together, Together" tour. The shows will be on April 9 and 10, 2027, and feature Argentine duo Ca7riel and Paco Amoroso as special guests. The As It Was singer had originally eschewed a traditional U.S. tour in favor of a 30-night residency at Madison Square Garden in New York City. His Thursday announcement reversed course, adding 25 new shows and 12 new stops to his tour in 2027, including North Texas. He also added North American dates in Phoenix, Toronto, Los Angeles, Atlanta and Chicago.

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The tour, which supports the release of Styles' latest album, Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally, originally included the 30 shows at MSG as well as lengthy runs in Amsterdam and London and stops in São Paulo, Mexico City, Sydney and Melbourne. Fans can buy tickets to the two Arlington shows via presales or the general sale. Tickets will first be available on Tuesday, Sept. 15 at 9 a.m. via a ticket presale for American Express cardholders. A fan presale will follow that same day at 4 p.m. before the general sale opens at 9 a.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 16.

City Stories

Edinburg CISD to solicit forensic audit as district faces $15M deficit

The school board here Tuesday voted to solicit requests for qualifications (RFQ) for an independent forensic audit that sparked a discussion on what the scope of the audit should include. The solicitation for independent forensic audit comes to the board with the district amidst a $15 million deficit in the proposed budget for next fiscal year The board also voted to solicit bids from the general public for a property of about 113.35 acres which initially was slated for the board to vote on a resolution to authorize a sale to Rhodes Development, Inc. for the development of low-income or moderate-incoming housing. The school board voted unanimously for the RFQ for an independent forensic audit, but not before some discussion.

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Board member Leticia “Letty” Garcia started the conversation by saying that she welcomes the audit. Garcia’s comments about the audit referenced several years, including criticism of last year’s compensation plan and the process of fixing the emergency situation at Canterbury Elementary which had trace amounts of E.coil after a flood sewage overflow. Garcia took issue that no procurement was used with the situation at Canterbury Elementary and the $700,000 cost for it. Trustee and former board president David Torres said that the process needed to be expedited since the district had parents up in arms to have something done or were lining up to file lawsuits against the district. “It was our duty to move quickly and fast and get this done properly,” Torres said. “This company came and cleaned the problem that were there which were extreme … we moved quickly because if we had not, we would have been sued by like 50-60 parents or more.”

National Stories

Why so many incumbents lost primaries this year

It’s been a bad year to be an incumbent. Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee’s ouster on Wednesday, the first primary defeat for an incumbent governor in eight years, caps off a primary season that’s seen longtime leaders fall across the map and politicians across both parties struggle to make the leap to higher office. Thirteen members of Congress have lost their reelection bids: seven Democrats and six Republicans, including two GOP senators. At least 16 more who were trying to move from the House to the Senate or take on statewide office have lost primaries: nine Republicans and seven Democrats, including Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet who unsuccessfully ran for governor. The upheaval has been driven by a confluence of factors that will continue to dog incumbents through November. Voters are frustrated with both parties’ leadership in Washington. President Donald Trump has targeted some GOP foes as he looks to cement his legacy; Democrats are in the midst of pitched generational and ideological battles. Some members in both parties faced daunting new district lines. Others faced scandals that sank them.

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In some races, those factors converged. Rep. Haley Stevens (D-Mich.) didn’t benefit much from her years in Washington in her Senate bid — and lost her primary to a left-flank rival who yoked her to the party establishment. Caitlin Legacki, who advised Stevens’ bid, said incumbents’ losses this year show voters are simply fed up. “It speaks to the high level of dissatisfaction that voters have with everyone,” said Legacki, who noted the anti-incumbent climate contributed to Stevens’ loss. “It’s a major ‘throw the bums out’ moment.” Democrats disillusioned with their leadership in Washington are taking it out on the party’s rank and file. Progressives picked off more-moderate House members from New York to Colorado. Younger challengers ousted older incumbents from Texas to Connecticut. Local elected officials outran Washington incumbents. And voters have spurned lawmakers seeking higher office from Michigan to Minnesota. Sometimes age was the biggest factor, sometimes it was ideology and sometimes both played a role. Democratic socialists defeated decades-older Reps. Diana DeGette of Colorado and Rep. Adriano Espaillat of New York. Former Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin relied on generational change to topple longtime Rep. John Larson in Connecticut.

Missouri Supreme Court finds Secretary of State Denny Hoskins was in contempt during redistricting fight

The Missouri Supreme Court found Secretary of State Denny Hoskins was in contempt after a tense and twisting legal battle over whether new congressional districts supported by President Donald Trump can be used in the November election. The state's top judges said Hoskins was in contempt of their order, but he has since corrected his contemptuous conduct and has purged himself of contempt. A written order is expected later in the day on Thursday. The judges ordered Hoskins to appear for a contempt hearing for not following their orders on which election maps to use and for instructing local election authorities to use the Trump-backed districts. Missouri’s battle over its congressional districts has spanned more than a year and spawned confusion over which districts will be in place for voters.

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State attorneys representing Hoskins had asked Clark to halt the contempt hearing. But Clark declined to do so. The contempt hearing for Hoskins is scheduled to occur as the U.S. Supreme Court is simultaneously considering a request from redistricting opponents to halt Clark's order favoring the Trump-backed congressional map. Missouri was the second Republican-led state, after Texas, to enact new districts after Trump urged Republicans last year to redraw House districts to their advantage ahead of the midterm elections. The revised Missouri districts target a Kansas City-based seat held by Democratic Rep. Emanuel Cleaver by shedding parts into neighboring districts and stretching the remainder into rural Republican areas. The goal is to help Republicans win seven of the state’s eight House seats in the midterm elections — a gain of one seat. Redistricting opponents collected hundreds of thousands of petition signatures seeking to force a statewide vote on the new districts. They submitted the signatures in December. But Hoskins waited until August — on the same day as Missouri’s primary — to reject the petition. Hoskins asserted that a referendum petition could not be used for congressional redistricting.

Missouri set to use old congressional map after Supreme Court rejects Trump-backed one

Missouri is poised to hold its November election with congressional districts passed after the last census, after the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday again rejected a new map backed by President Donald Trump that Republicans hoped could help them win an additional seat in the pivotal midterms. The Supreme Court’s decision marked a defining moment in a pitched legal battle that has lasted nearly a year and caused confusion for voters. Citing the court’s latest action, Missouri’s chief election official directed local authorities to use U.S. House districts passed in 2022, as the state’s highest court had ordered. Trump wanted courts to allow the use of his preferred map, which lawmakers approved last year at his urging.

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The decision means Missouri could run the November general election with different U.S. House districts than were used in the August primary — an extremely rare situation that could switch the candidate choices for more than a million potential voters, or nearly 1 in 4 voters statewide, according to an Associated Press estimate. No Supreme Court justices publicly dissented from the brief order. It did not detail the court’s legal reasoning, as is typical in emergency appeals. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the U.S. Supreme Court decision. Earlier Thursday, Missouri’s top court convened a hearing on whether to hold Republican Secretary of State Denny Hoskins in contempt for not following its orders to use the districts passed after the last census. Hoskins had instead told local election authorities to use the new Trump-backed map, pointing to a competing order from a federal judge on Tuesday that forbade him from using anything other than the new districts.

25 years later, 9/11 fades from Congressional memory

About 10 hours after a pell-mell evacuation from the Capitol building, more than 100 members of Congress returned to send a message that the republic had withstood the most deadly terrorism attack on U.S. soil. “We, Republicans and Democrats, House and Senate, stand strongly united behind the president and will work together to ensure that the full resources of the government are brought to bear in these efforts,” said Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, a Democrat pledging his loyalty to the Republican president, George W. Bush.

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After the remarks concluded at dusk on Sept. 11, 2001, they held hands and sang “God Bless America.” Twenty-five years later, the anniversary will go largely overlooked at the Capitol. Memorial services will be held at the Pentagon and Ground Zero in New York, as well as in southwestern Pennsylvania where a hijacked plane crashed. Twenty-five years later, the anniversary will go largely overlooked at the Capitol. Memorial services will be held at the Pentagon and Ground Zero in New York, as well as in southwestern Pennsylvania where a hijacked plane crashed. The House and Senate are out of session for an extended summer break. Many Republicans are waking up in Dallas after an unusual party convention ahead of the November midterms, a hyperpartisan event in which speakers compared Democrats to the mortal enemy. The House held six minutes of speeches and a brief moment of silence on Sept. 3 honoring the anniversary. “We were a different country then. Our country has changed,” Jane Harman, who retired in 2011 after serving 16 years in the House as a moderate Democrat, told The Washington Sun. “I can’t picture us saying the same things now.”

9/11 TV specials & documentaries to mark the 25th anniversary: How to watch

The broadcast networks and cable news channels will have special coverage today of the 25th anniversary of the attacks of Sept. 11. Most of the networks will have reporters and anchors at Ground Zero in New York for special events and observances. In many cases, that programming will continue into the primetime schedule. Here’s a brief rundown, but note that this list doesn’t include the myriad of options on streaming sites. All times are ET. On ABC, Special reports on 9/11 observances will air across “Good Morning America” (7 a.m.) and “World News Tonight with David Muir” (6:30 p.m.). “9/11 Tribute in Light: Live from Lower Manhattan” (8 p.m.) — A look back on 9/11 honors the victims killed, reflects on the lasting impact of the day and commemorates the resilience of the survivors, families, first responders and communities forever. David Muir, Robin Roberts and Diane Sawyer “9/11: United We Stand – 25 Years Later” (9 p.m.) — This new documentary, led by Michael Strahan, talks to iconic athletes, entertainers, journalists, first responders and cultural figures who were instrumental in our collective healing about their experiences with 9/11, and how sports, music, comedy and the arts helped Americans rediscover hope, unity and a sense of normalcy.

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Special reports on 9/11 observances will air across “CBS Mornings” (7 a.m.) and “CBS Evening News” (6:30 p.m.). “9/11: We Remember” (8 p.m.) – Tony Dokoupil reports from Ground Zero in New York City to mark the 25th anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks. The hour features three stories of survival, loss, and hope. “Daughters of 9/11” (9 p.m.) - Twenty-five years after the deadliest terrorist attack on American soil, Elizabeth Miller, Jessica Trant and FBI special agent Frank Pellegrino confront whether the man accused of masterminding the attacks, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, will ever face justice. CNN special coverage: “9/11: 25 Years Later” (7 a.m.) – Throughout the day, the network’s anchors, correspondents and reporters report from sites impacted by the terrorist attacks 25 years ago to remember the thousands of victims and reflect on how that day forever changed the country. Kate Bolduan will anchor from Memorial Plaza at the National September 11 Memorial & Museum in Lower Manhattan, with Brynn Gingras providing real-time reporting from the commemoration ceremony, as CNN carries the day’s events, honors the victims and examines the attacks’ continuing impact 25 years later.

While Trump goes big in Dallas, Collins goes small in Maine to save her seat

Hours before many of her Republican colleagues and those seeking to join their ranks convened in a hulking Dallas arena for a two-day political rally headlined by President Trump, Senator Susan Collins stood in a 10,000-square-foot recreation center in central Maine on Wednesday and examined the ceiling. Instead of the balloons and klieg lights that adorned the rafters hundreds of miles to the south at Mr. Trump’s extravagant midterm convention, Ms. Collins looked up and saw fluorescent bulbs and water stains that prompted her to ask the town’s manager if the building had a leaky roof. “We did,” the manager, Dylan Lajoie, told her. But, he said, because of a $935,000 grant Ms. Collins had secured in a federal spending bill for the town of Newport, it had been possible to renovate and “refresh” the facility.

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This is how Ms. Collins, at 73 seeking her sixth term in the Senate, is working to defend her job in a state that Mr. Trump lost, at a time when Republicans face strong political headwinds because of his flagging approval ratings. To win re-election in November, Ms. Collins, a moderate who has been critical of the president and opposed some elements of his agenda, is deploying the same strategy that has kept her in the Senate for decades. She is keeping her distance from Mr. Trump and her party’s national brand and message, and instead highlighting local issues and how she has used her position in Washington, including as the chairwoman of the powerful Appropriations Committee, to deliver for her tiny state. It is a matter of political survival for Ms. Collins, who is viewed as the most vulnerable Republican incumbent and is facing harsh criticism from Democrats who accuse her of failing to stand up to Mr. Trump even as she often expresses grave concern about his policies and actions. Her Democratic opponent, Troy Jackson, a former State Senate president, has tried to make the election a referendum on the president and tag Ms. Collins as “a puppet” for him. He has pointed to her voting record as he works to persuade moderate and independent voters who have backed her in the past that she has not done enough to thwart Mr. Trump’s agenda.

It’s time to rein in Mamdani’s Influencer Army

As a mayoral candidate, Zohran Mamdani employed social-media influencers with great skill and success, and he brought the strategy to City Hall. His administration regularly works with influencers — some of them paid with public funds — to disseminate information about sanitation, public health, or how to navigate New York’s labyrinthine municipal agencies. Asking people with large digital audiences to post timely reminders on their Instagram or YouTube accounts about when to get a flu shot or how to safely dispose of hazardous waste can be an efficient way to connect with hard-to-reach corners of the city: According to Pew Research, over half of all Americans say they regularly get news from social media, including 38 percent of adults ages 18 to 29. But it’s critical that city-government collaborations with influencers are nonpolitical and fully disclosed to the public in compliance with state law.

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“Influencers have multiple hats, and so they may be sometimes acting a bit like a journalist but they may also be making money off another campaign,” says Anya Schiffrin, a researcher at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs who recently started a firestorm by publishing a paper examining City Hall’s use of influencers. “What I’d like to see is more clarity and disclosure and transparency so we know exactly what these people are doing and when they’re in journalism and when they’re not.” Team Mamdani has done itself no favors by blurring the boundaries and then refusing to disclose the names of the estimated 250 influencers it regularly collaborates with. Some of the group chats are run on the Signal messaging app, which set off alarm bells about whether pro-Mamdani political campaigning is being indirectly supported with public funds and whether City Hall is hiding or deleting public information that, by law, must be preserved. In some cases, the New York Times notes, the same influencers being paid to advance nonpolitical messages for a city agency are also apparently getting talking points geared toward campaign-style promotion of the mayor and his administration. Some of the influencers may not understand the distinction. (“It’s kind of like our role is amplifying all the good things they’re doing,” one 34-year-old parenting influencer with 169,000 followers told the Times.)

Elon Musk threatens legal action over Alex Gibney documentary, calls it a ‘hit piece’

Elon Musk responded to the debut of Alex Gibney’s four-hour documentary “Musk,” which had its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival this week, by slamming it as a “hit piece” and threatening legal action over claims that he used his Starlink satellites to influence the 2024 presidential election. In the letter, addressed to Jigsaw Productions and dated Sept. 3, Spiro says they tried to contact the team “multiple times” and “requested an opportunity to present the facts in the normal fact-checking process that is the hallmark of ethical journalism. You have refused to engage.” The letter continues: “While we are ardent supporters of the First Amendment, and respect the reporting process, it has become abundantly clear that the motivations behind this piece are not the pursuit of truth, but something far different. This project did not begin as an inquiry. It began with a conclusion.”

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“You are on notice, before release, that the insinuation is false, that the material refuting it is public, and that you chose not to be told the rest,” Spiro wrote. “Starlink was not connected to vote tabulation. Election officials in multiple states, independent cybersecurity researchers, and fact-checkers publicly refuted the Starlink vote-rigging claim in November 2024, and nothing since has revived it,” Spiro said in the letter, which was first reported by THR. “Defamation does not require an express accusation.” The letter alleges that the film hinges on “the accounts of witnesses with acknowledged personal grievances against Mr. Musk” and that “nothing in the available reporting indicates that their consequential claims were independently corroborated,” adding that “the people in a position to contradict them were neither unknown nor unavailable. They came to you and asked to be heard, and you refused them, as you refused us. That is not a gap in the reporting. It is a conscious decision to disregard the truth.” The letter says litigation is “reasonably anticipated.”

Copyright September 11, 2026, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved