Today's News with Larry Schweikart

TODAY'S NEWS, September 8-9, 2026

Episode Summary

The roundup highlights Republican momentum in U.S. politics, including a setback over Missouri redistricting, strong GOP voter-registration gains in Wyoming, competitive Republican polling in Oregon and Minnesota, Supreme Court wins, and Trump administration moves targeting race-based DEI programs and immigration policy. AI developments include West Virginia’s economic gains from data centers and ChatGPT-6 reportedly passing an exceptionally difficult Korean college entrance exam. Immigration enforcement features arrests, fired immigration judges, a crash involving an undocumented immigrant, and the recovery of 79 missing children. Economic stories emphasize a strong jobs report, a nuclear-plant restart, tighter visa scrutiny, and faster carbon-carbon manufacturing, while international news focuses on China’s credit intervention, AfD gains in Germany, India’s anti-corruption crackdown, European migration and financial policies, and Antarctic ice growth. Entertainment includes an SEC dispute with LSU, a third Burning Man death, Lori Loughlin’s divorce, and Baker Mayfield’s massive contract, ending with the discovery of Denmark’s largest-ever Viking silver hoard.

Episode Notes

IN POLITICAL NEWS

• Missouri redistricting: The Supreme Court rejected Missouri’s request to use its new Republican-favoring congressional map without a public referendum, prompting a downward revision of the House prediction to R 220. A separate federal judge subsequently ruled that the earlier 7-1 map was permissible, creating conflicting rulings.
• Democratic Party: A Fox News opinion piece gives five reasons for expecting Democrats to continue moving further left.
• Wyoming: Republicans have reportedly gained roughly 69,000 net registered voters since 2020.
• Democratic politics: Ruy Teixeira and other moderate Democrats are criticizing the modern DSA left as increasingly cult-like. The Democratic national organization is reportedly pressuring Texas candidate James Talarico to stay quiet as Greg Abbott's Republican challenger Ken Paxton gains ground. Republican candidates are also reportedly leading or closing the gap in the Oregon governor and Minnesota Senate races.
• Elaine Chao: A report alleges that Elaine Chao held positions associated with Chinese Communist Party organizations while Mitch McConnell was a senator.
• Airline incident: An American Airlines passenger was reportedly duct-taped to his seat and the flight diverted after an onboard disturbance involving fellow passenger Rabbi Jonathan Cahn.
• Republican advertising: The Supreme Court sided with Republicans in an emergency dispute involving television advertising rates ahead of the midterms.
• DEI: The Trump administration is proposing to strip tax-exempt status from schools that use race-based DEI programs.
• New Mexico: A Democratic state legislator who allegedly ran naked through a hotel and banged on doors has resigned.

IN AI NEWS

• West Virginia: A new analysis argues that data centers are generating substantial economic benefits for the state.
• ChatGPT-6: OpenAI’s model reportedly aced an extremely difficult eight-hour Korean college entrance examination.

IN ILLEGAL CRIMINAL ALIEN NEWS

• USCIS corruption: A senior immigration-services official was arrested in an alleged green-card pay-for-play scheme that reportedly operated for six years.
• Immigration judges: The administration has reportedly fired 137 immigration judges described by the source as far left.
• New Jersey crash: An undocumented immigrant reportedly fleeing ICE crashed into a vehicle carrying the wife of a Democratic New Jersey mayor.
• Missing children: U.S. Marshals reportedly recovered 79 missing children during an Ohio-based operation.

IN CULTURAL NEWS

• Smithsonian: Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie Bunch is reportedly stepping down.
• Texas education: The Texas Board of Education approved textbook changes linking radical Islam to the 9/11 attacks.

IN ECONOMIC NEWS

• Jobs: The latest jobs report is presented as evidence of continued economic strength under the Trump administration.
• Nuclear power: The Trump administration facilitated a loan supporting the restart of an Iowa nuclear power plant.
• Cognizant: The Department of Labor has reportedly suspended nearly all India-based Cognizant visa filings.
• Advanced materials: Johns Hopkins researchers reportedly developed a method to dramatically reduce manufacturing time for carbon-carbon composites, potentially lowering the cost and production time of materials useful for hypersonic and aerospace applications. The source connects the breakthrough to earlier work on the X-30/National Aerospace Plane program.

IN INTERNATIONAL NEWS

• China: Beijing reportedly injected $56 billion into credit markets to prevent a severe contraction in lending.
• Germany: The AfD is continuing to make major electoral gains and is reportedly only three seats short of an outright majority in one relevant parliamentary context. Alice Weidel argues that Germany is effectively broke.
• India: A major anti-corruption operation reportedly has 8,000 investigations underway and more than 1,100 arrests, targeting cryptocurrency, human trafficking, drugs, and terrorism networks.
• United Kingdom: The Home Office reportedly plans to resettle 3,500 migrants in small towns where migrants could outnumber local residents by 10 to 1. Separately, UK police reportedly made more than 62,000 arrests over five years related to online speech.
• Antarctica: A report claims the Antarctic ice sheet is growing, challenging some interpretations of current climate trends.
• Spain: The government is reportedly considering higher gas and oil taxes amid migration and energy concerns.
• Europe: European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is reportedly advocating policies that could place private bank deposits under greater state direction.

IN ENTERTAINMENT NEWS

• College football: The SEC is reportedly seeking legal authority to remove LSU from the conference over its decision to bring former professional players back onto its football roster.
• Burning Man: A third attendee has reportedly died following this year's festival.
• Lori Loughlin: The actress and husband Mossimo Giannulli are reportedly divorcing after nearly 30 years of marriage. Loughlin previously pleaded guilty in the Varsity Blues college-admissions scandal.
• NFL: Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield signed a three-year, $165 million extension, making him the NFL's third-highest-paid quarterback.

AND FINALLY . . .

• Viking treasure: Yard work in Denmark unexpectedly uncovered the largest silver hoard ever discovered in the country, dating to the Viking era.