… A blockbuster new report from CNN exactly illustrated the danger of AI and how it could cause global destruction in endless ways if left unregulated. As I said on my weekly podcast Uncovered yesterday, the danger of AI is not that it will send “robot armies” to kill people like idiot Trump said, the danger is when it is employed to select targets, choose weapons, and fire weapons outside of human control.
… And an endless number of other ways it could wreak havoc on us and the planet.
… CNN: “The intelligence report, circulated across the US military this spring in the midst of the war with Iran, immediately set off alarm bells: A Chinese ship in the Middle East was transporting components of a nuclear weapons program. The US military swung into action with plans to intercept the vessel. Armed members of the US military were preparing to board the ship. Military planes were in the air.”
… “It was only just before the planned operation that officials dug deeper into the report put together by a special operations command analyst and found it had been generated with the help of AI - and that a chatbot the analyst had used inaccurately identified the material the ship was carrying.”
… The report, according to one of the sources, was “entirely false.” But it also “almost started a war,” the source said. Any US operation against a Chinese vessel could have risked spiraling into an armed conflict between the two nations.
… Democratic nominee for TX governor Gina Hinojosa on MS NOW: “I have called on Greg Abbott to issue a moratorium and call an emergency special session so that we can pass laws to protect Texans. Right now, we have the wild west of data centers in Texas. Greg Abbott is all talk - he’s received $20 million from data center interests.”
… Washington Sun: “The Trump admin is considering proposals for at least 12 data centers and data center-related infrastructure projects to be built on federal public lands - far more than previously known. The Bureau of Land Management is reviewing data center-related proposals covering at least 17,600 acres of public land across 6 states AZ, ID, NV, OR, UT and WY.”
… “Building data centers on public lands, as well as supporting infrastructure like access roads and water pipelines, has emerged as a priority for the Trump administration, which directed BLM officials to identify lands that could be suitable. The admin has pushed to accelerate data center infrastructure development despite public backlash and mounting fears around AI.”
… Trump just banned MS NOW, CNN, and Politico from the WH:
“I am proud to announce that, effective immediately, I am banning Fake News CNN, MSNOW (who recently changed their name from MSNBC due to lack of viewership and credibility!), and Politico (The recipients of an illegal and ridiculous $8 Million Dollar subscription, an All Time Record, directly from the US Government, under Crooked Joe Biden, in order to keep them “alive.” Seems like corruption to me!), from the WH as a result of their constant “reporting” FAKE NEWS! Media Outlets shouldn’t be able to constantly write or report FICTION and LIES when they’re covering the President, the Trump Administration, or the USA. Other Fake News Media Outlets to follow.”
… WaPo: “More American service members have died in the Middle East during the ongoing Iran war than the Pentagon has disclosed publicly, according to 6 US officials familiar with DOD’s internal casualty accounting data. 5 of the officials said there have been at least 22 military fatalities - 4 more than what appears in the Pentagon’s public database. A 6th official said 23 service members have died.”
… CBS: “US bases in the Middle East have suffered severe damage as a result of Iranian attacks, images and videos show, as the Pentagon surveys the costs of a war. The images, which were recently obtained by ABC News but capture moments in time across the conflict, show damage to buildings and an aircraft at 3 US bases in Kuwait and a Saudi base that houses US assets, some of which were evacuated amid the danger.”
… “The Pentagon has not provided public information explaining the extent of the damage done by Iranian attacks to US bases in the region in Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Oman, and Jordan, but satellite imagery has consistently captured the impact of strikes.
A senior US service member: “I believe the American people are unaware of the extent of the damage that American bases are taking in right now due to the conflict with Iran. These bases have been irreparably damaged. And if we choose to rebuild them, it’s going to be a decades long undertaking.
This is not something that’s going to be fixed in 6 months. We’re talking about years and years of construction and rebuilding in order to reestablish what’s been destroyed.”
… MeidasTouch also obtained exclusive images this afternoon showing the aftermath of an Iranian attack on a US base in Kuwait, and based on what we’ve reviewed, the destruction is severe. Several structures at the base appear to have been completely destroyed, with everything surrounding them leveled as well. What were once functioning structures are now flattened, with debris scattered across the surrounding area.
… AP: “The top official at the US Postal Service said that the agency has stopped work on developing a controversial computer system that was central to Trump’s effort to limit mail voting after the Supreme Court rejected his executive order this week.
… Postmaster General David Steiner: “There’s an injunction so we’re not doing anything.”
… “Trump’s efforts to largely eradicate mail voting turned the postal service into an unlikely arbiter of who is eligible to vote just months before this year’s critical midterm elections, a role Steiner seemingly had little interest in playing. Unlike Trump, who was sharply critical of the Supreme Court decision and ridiculed some of the justices, Steiner offered no assessment of the court’s action.”
… WaPo: “Democrats’ wary optimism about the midterms gave way to growing confidence this week. The party has seen strong post-Labor Day polls in key battlegrounds - and even in traditionally red areas.”
… “Recent escalations in the war in Iran, including an attack on a major pipeline in Saudi Arabia, mean the rising gas prices bedeviling Republicans will not be going down anytime soon. Republicans have not been able to bring prices under control more generally. And Trump’s unpopularity is at near-record levels. Considering all this, Democrats now think conditions are right for the party to retake control of the House and possibly the Senate later this year.”
… “Chuck Schumer said he felt ‘considerably more bullish’ about Democrats’ chances of retaking the Senate than he did a few months ago. He described the environment as uncannily similar to 2006, when discontent with the war in Iraq helped Democrats recapture the Senate and the House.”
… “Republicans are set to spend nearly $140 million more on ads than Democrats are in the 9 most competitive races in the final weeks of the campaign. The disparity is especially yawning in the Senate contest in Texas, where Republicans have reserved $39.6 million in ads and Democrats have reserved just $5.1 million.”
… Schumer acknowledged Republicans’ financial advantage but said it would not stop Democrats from retaking the Senate: “We don’t need as much money as them given the political climate, given the terrain. All we need is enough to stay in the ballpark and be able to answer them.”
… Sen. Jim Justice (R-WV) to Huff Post: “You’ve got real momentum on the Democrat side - and if we don’t watch out, everybody all of a sudden now is just awakened to the fact that we may lose in the midterm.”
… A Republican consultant on the TX governor’s race: “Gov. Greg Abbott has outspent Democrat Gina Hinojosa roughly 10-to-1 over the past month - yet polling averages have moved toward the Democrat, even as Abbott still leads. If money can’t turn some of these races around, things are going to get ugly.”
… Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA): “I’m going to KS, NE, IA to help raise money and campaign for our very good candidates. If you told me 6 months ago I was gonna be having to spend my time in those 3 states, I wouldn’t have believed you. Those ought to be fat guy layups for us - the races are close.”
… New Emerson poll on the Kansas senate race - the first reliable poll since the stories broke on Sen. Roger Marshall (R) suing his patients and living in FL, then bombing in his debate with Democrat Adam Hamilton at the KS State Fair:
Adam Hamilton: 45%
Roger Marshall: 43%
… Marshall on Fox today: “I’m sorry gas prices are going up but your national security is more important than your pocketbook.”
… Not sure that’s a winning message.
… CNN pollster Harry Enten: “There is absolutely a revolt by latino voters against Trump on the specific issue of immigration. He has seen a 44 point shift in his approval with latino voters on his handling of immigration. An absolute political disaster.”
… “This has led to a problem for Trump with his overall approval rating with latinos. January 2025 he was was +6 with these voters, now it is -34, a 40-point shift. Trump is way, way underwater with latino voters.”
… “Trump’s net popularity with latino voters in FL is now -25, he was +17 with them in the 2024 election. In TX he’s 34 points underwater. What was fertile ground for Trump to put up a historical performance with latino voters in 2024 is all gone. TX senate, TX governor and FL governor may now be in play with numbers like these.”
… Two Miami-based Republican commentators posted their takes on Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar’s (R-FL) video denouncing Trump’s immigration policy:
Giancarlo Sopo: “When people in Miami hear ‘illegal immigrant,’ they tend to picture someone who crossed the border illegally while trying to evade immigration authorities. By and large, that’s not who Maria is talking about. Many of the people caught up in immigration enforcement proceedings in Miami entered the US LEGALLY and are getting lumped in with people who entered unlawfully. Immigrant communities understand these distinctions.”
“The media environment for Republicans in heavily Hispanic areas is absolutely brutal right now. Spanish-language television has spent the past year and a half airing story after story about sympathetic families facing detention or deportation. You can argue about the framing, but politically, those images are incredibly powerful.”
Erik Suarez: “100% accurate depiction of Miami right now. Its going to be a brutal wake up for Republicans in the midterms when they realize they lost the Hispanic vote by a landslide.”
“There is a huge difference between Yerickson Guerra who crossed the border illegally and has ties with Tren de Aragua and Renzo Colmenarez, Catholic father of two who entered legally and has been working on his asylum case following the rules waiting for a decision. When both are treated the same way then the discussion and portrayal changes drastically.”
… Trump was asked about Salazar’s video: “Without me she wouldn't have gotten elected. She got a little bit soft on the border.”
… Politico reporter Kimberly Leonard: “One GOP canvasser in Miami-Dade has observed ‘people are mad as hell at us’ over mass deportations The person said Rep. Salazar’s ad showed she understood she’s the ‘canary in the coal mine’ when it comes to Hispanics abandoning the GOP.”
… “In this district, where I live, it’s not just about affordability. People are watching neighbors and family get deported/profiled. Businesses losing workers. Schools seeing lower enrollment, churches losing members. Pets of deported owners brought to already-overwhelmed shelters.”
… CBS: “Matt Bell has been farming for more than half his life in central NC. He grows soybeans, corn and wheat and raises beef cattle on more than 1,000 acres. But Bell, who voted for Trump, says soaring prices for fuel, fertilizer, and equipment are hurting his farm and leading some of his fellow farmers to consider calling it quits once this growing season ends.”
… “I’ve done this 34 years. I have never worried and stressed like I have the last year. We’ve cut everything we can cut. The last several years in agriculture have been terrible, and we have just cut the fat anywhere we could. But we’re just getting to the point now there’s nothing left to cut. You cannot run without fuel. You cannot run without fertilizer. You have to have that.”
… Bell said he blew through his yearly fuel budget of $35,000 in August. Now, he expects his total for the year to be closer to $50,000 to $60,000: “Every piece of equipment on this farm runs on diesel.”
… Bell said tariffs are also killing his business: “Everything we’re touching, the fertilizer, fuel, chemicals, seed, parts - the whole 9 yards, everything that we touch has gone up. We were sold a bill of goods that agriculture was going to be on the forefront, and there was going to be some policy that would put America’s farmers and ranchers first. And right now, that has not happened.”
… This Nov, Bell says he’ll be voting for candidates who he says have “common sense,” and listen to Americans’ concerns. “I’m a Republican, but I’m probably going to vote a split ticket.”
… NYT: “She voted repeatedly to protect Trump’s war powers. She defended his tariffs. She promised to be his ‘top ally’ if she wins a pivotal Senate seat this year. For most of the past year, Rep. Ashley Hinson of Iowa has been a staunch Trump supporter. Then came the beef.”
… “After Trump said he would slash longstanding tariffs on foreign ground beef, arguing that it would curb rising grocery costs, Hinson said the plan would hurt American cattle ranchers who were already struggling. ‘We need to focus on affordability, but I think this isn’t the way to do that,’ she said on Fox.”
… “The rare public fissure reflects the shifting economic and political headwinds that Hinson is facing in her agriculture-heavy state. A third-term House Republican, she is shouldering the responsibility of defending her party’s control of IA’s open Senate seat, which could decide the balance of power in Washington.”
… “After frequently supporting Trump’s agenda, she has downplayed her alignment with him in the last stretch before the election. She stayed off the stage at his midterm convention in Dallas last week, in contrast with most other red-state Republican Senate nominees in tossup races.”
… Asked last week if a vote for her would be a vote for Trump, she would not say, adding only that “a vote for me is a vote for common-sense policies.”
… JD Vance held a rally today in IA for Hinson. Except that Hinson didn’t show up: "I know she couldn't be here today, but are we going to elect Ashley Hinson!”
… She could be there. But she didn’t want to take the stage with Vance because the Trump admin is so unpopular in Iowa now that she’s hiding from him.
… Cook Political: “A new Battleground District Project poll of the most competitive House districts in the country finds Democrats in a strong position to flip control of the chamber this fall. It also finds an electorate eager to see a new Congress do more than simply hold Trump to account, but also to make fundamental changes to the political system.”
… “The poll, which was conducted for The Cook Political Report by Democratic firm New River Strategies and Republican firm GS Strategy Group, surveyed voters in the 37 districts we rate as Toss Up, Lean Republican or Lean Democrat. In those competitive districts, which Trump won by an average of 5 points in 2024, Democrats now hold a 2-point advantage on the generic congressional ballot, 49% to 47%.”
… “Not only is the president unpopular in these districts - he’s 16 points underwater (42% approve, 58% disapprove) - but Democrats are also more trusted to handle the economy, inflation and the cost of energy.”
… House GOP Whip Tom Emmer on Fox: Q - “You’ve got a problem. $4 gas, $6 diesel, 7% mortgages. It’s hard to argue that you’re better than Democrats when it comes to the economy. Emmer: Well, we do have a lot to sell. We have accomplished a ton. Somebody just sent me a meme that said, ‘$4 gas, $6 diesel - not acceptable, but it’s not gonna get me to vote for a communist.’”
… Who needs polls when you can just rely on anecdotal evidence like a MAGA cultist sending you a meme on the internet?
… WSJ: “Mortgage rates close to 7%. Gas prices near their highest levels since 2022. A Fed interest-rate hike for the first time in 3 years. Everything from buying a house to filling up your gas tank now costs more than even a week ago—putting affordability back in the spotlight just before midterm elections that will determine control of Congress.”
… “For 5 months, wage gains haven’t kept pace with inflation and, especially with the sharp increase in gas prices over the past few weeks, they aren’t likely to keep up this month, either. That could be consequential in congressional races across the country, especially in places where Democrats have made affordability central to their messaging.”
… David Winston, a veteran Republican strategist and adviser to congressional leadership: “We’ve seen some increase in wages. But it hasn’t been enough for voters to get to a conclusion that they’re in a better position to handle current prices.”
… Patrick De Haan: “This morning finds the national average at $4.472/gal and is expected to rise into the day as further increases get passed along. Diesel also continues to climb at $6.441/gal and could rise to nearly $6.50/gal by the end of the day.”
… Trump’s counterterrorism director Sebastian Gorka: “I don’t really care about the price of gas because the price of gas will be cheap when we win, which will be soon. And it’s not about the midterms. It’s about dealing death to those who wish to kill Americans. If you think that’s less important than the price of gas, you’re not an American. End of story.”
There is no Bulletin tomorrow because I’m off Saturdays. We are doing our last kayak excursion of the season on the Saco River before we head into my favorite time of the year here in Maine - the fall foliage and fall fair/festival season. I have some great events to attend and a fantastic foliage one-day road trip planned through some mountain valleys.
The Weekend Bulletin will be out on Sunday night. If you missed the last Bulletin, you can find it here.
… Trump had another batshit crazy press gaggle in the Oval Office with the governor of South Dakota. First he told him to get going on putting his face on Mount Rushmore:
“Maybe he’ll get my face on that beautiful wall that I’ve been looking at. Come on, let’s get going. You got to get going on it.”
"How a Jewish person could vote for a Democrat is not even believable. It is not possible that somebody who is Jewish, that somebody who is Black, could vote for a Democrat."
Q: “You posted that you intend to ban CNN, Politico, and MS Now from the WH. Every president takes an oath to uphold the Constitution, which includes the First Amendment. How do you justify this? Trump: Because they're fake news. There
