Today’s Top Stories from NBC News
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TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2026
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In today’s newsletter: The National Park Service warned of an elevated flood risk at the Grand Canyon after a megafire destroyed much of the area. Massachusetts primary races will test Democrats’ generational divide. And Army Secretary Dan Driscoll submits his resignation.
Here’s what to know today.
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One person remains unaccounted for after catastrophic weekend floods swept through the Grand Canyon, killing at least two people, officials said yesterday. The body of a 46-year-old man was recovered Sunday. Officials have not released his name. The recovery of a second body was announced Monday.
Texas chiropractor John Giusti, 46, died in the flood, his family and the families of two others said. According to a statement from the families, Giusti was with friends Brent Rosenkranz and Timothy Smith, who were both missing. Exploring the Grand Canyon had been a longtime dream for Giusti, his family said.
In July 2025, the Dragon Bravo megafire charred nearly 150,000 acres at Grand Canyon National Park. In February, the park started reopening the North Kaibab Trail, a route that connects the canyon’s North Rim with Phantom Ranch, a lodge inside the park. That same month, the National Park Service warned that the megafire had left parts of the North Rim more vulnerable to sudden, destructive rushes of water.
It’s still unclear how much the Dragon Bravo fire contributed to Saturday’s floods. Although the burn zone is upstream of the spot where flooding was most severe, the fire stripped away vegetation that might otherwise have slowed rainwater, said Tom Martin, who has researched the Grand Canyon for decades.
As the world warms, these types of hazards — drought that raises the risk of fire, which in turn primes hills for landslides and floods, for example — are a growing problem in the western U.S. and around the world.
A closer look at the weather and warning that preceded the flooding.
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- The death toll from last week’s Nepal-China flood disaster has passed 1,000, with around 4,000 still missing, including at least 583 foreign nationals. Hope for finding survivors is fading as rescuers race against time and quickly hardening mud. Read our latest dispatch from the flood zone.
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Several longtime Democratic legislators will face off against younger challengers today in a slate of primaries in Massachusetts.
The highest-profile test comes in the race for the Senate, where 80-year-old Sen. Ed Markey is trying to fend off a challenge from 47-year-old Rep. Seth Moulton. But will Markey’s progressive record as the author of the Green New Deal and vocal supporter of “Medicare for All” be enough to overcome Democratic voters who want a new generation of leaders? Moulton is betting that things have changed since Markey won re-election six years ago. But Mouton’s critics say he is not sufficiently progressive.
In the House, longtime Rep. Stephen Lynch, 71, is facing a primary challenge from 39-year-old Patrick Roath, and Rep. Richard Neal, 77, is up against 39-year-old high school teacher Jeromie Whalen. The Democratic contest to replace Moulton in the House will also test whether former President Joe Biden and former Vice President Kamala Harris still have some sway over Democratic voters. Both endorsed Dan Koh, the front-runner in the crowded race to fill Moulton’s open House seat as the incumbent runs for the Senate.
Here’s what else to watch in today’s primaries.
NBC News’ chief data analyst Steve Kornacki explains why Sen. Markey might have the edge and what makes Massachusetts voters unique in The Data Dive, a subscriber-exclusive newsletter on the numbers, trends and data shaping the biggest stories heading into the midterms. Read today’s edition here.
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- The Supreme Court is allowing construction to move forward on President Donald Trump’s new White House ballroom — though justices didn’t rule on whether he has the authority to carry out construction without congressional approval.
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- Trump called for tax incentives to help a TV and movie industry that has seen large chunks of its business move overseas in recent years.
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Army Secretary Dan Driscoll is expected to step down in the coming days after the White House accepted his resignation, according to a person familiar with the matter and a White House officials. Driscoll is the latest high-profile official at the Defense Department to depart after Navy Secretary John Phelan and the Army chief of staff, Gen. Randy George, were pushed out this spring.
Driscoll has served in the role since February 2025 and was well regarded by many Republicans and Democrats. He differed over a number of issues with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who blocked the promotions of several senior Army officers.
What else we know about Driscoll’s departure.
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Duane “Keffe D” Davis, the man accused of orchestrating rapper Tupac Shakur’s killing, was convicted of first-degree murder with use of a deadly weapon, nearly 30 years after the Las Vegas slaying that gripped rap fans, true-crime experts and conspiracy theories alike.
Clark County prosecutors argued Davis was a “shotcaller” for the South Side Compton Crips in Los Angeles and that he sought revenge on Shakur after he attacked Davis’ nephew. Davis was not accused of pulling the trigger, but under Nevada law, someone who helps another person commit a murder can be convicted of the crime. He faces a life sentence.
Read a recap of the trial.
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Authorities fatally shot a woman yesterday near New York City’s Times Square after she allegedly stabbed two people in a pair of attacks that officials described as “random and unprovoked.” One of the victims, a 32-year-old woman, died at a local hospital after she was stabbed in the abdomen, New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said. The second victim, a 68-year-old man, is in stable condition.
What a witness said they saw moments before the attacks.
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- Three baby goats at a North Carolina petting zoo tested positive for rabies, sparking a statewide search for people who interacted with the animals.
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- Florida officials banned license plate readers on state highways as the backlash to Flack Safety and other surveillance cameras continues to gain steam.
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- Wendell Berry, a Kentucky-born author who advocated a simpler life, has died at 92. “The old world in which our people lived by the work of their hands, close to weather and earth, plants and animals, was the true world,” he wrote in a 2006 novel.
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