Today’s Top Stories from NBC News
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WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2026
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In today’s newsletter: Trump tells world leaders he could “annihilate” Iran. ICE under scrutiny again after incidents in Texas and Illinois. And authorities investigate the deaths of two University of Mississippi students that could be linked to “gas station drug” kratom.
Here’s what to know today.
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(John Lamparski / Bloomberg via Getty Images)
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President Donald Trump said he was considering whether to “annihilate” Iran, called the U.S. economy “the envy of the world” and suggested a name change for AI, in a speech at the United Nations General Assembly.
The wide-ranging speech came ahead of several anticipated meetings on the sidelines with world leaders, including his first with Venezuela’s interim president, Delcy Rodríguez, since the administration’s capture of Nicolás Maduro earlier this year. Today, Chinese President Xi Jinping is set to arrive in Washington, D.C., to meet with Trump to talk trade, Taiwan and AI.
On Iran, Trump said the Islamic Republic could make a deal with the U.S. that would allow it to rebuild but predicted a deal won’t happen until after November’s midterm elections. Most important, Trump said to applause, is ensuring that “Iran will never have a nuclear weapon.”
Less than a minute into his remarks, Trump called the U.S. economy “the envy of the world” and pointed to his administration’s tax policy and stock market records. But gas prices remain high at an average of $4.47 per gallon and diesel prices are currently over $6.
Trump declined to endorse guardrails on AI but pushed to change its name to “superintelligence.” He also touted his record on immigration, tying his crackdown on the southern border to a drop in violent crime in the United States.
Read the recap of Trump’s speech.
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The Department of Justice said in a court filing late yesterday that the president has the right to ban media outlets CNN, MSNOW and Politico from the White House, calling their access a “privilege” and citing national security concerns.
The filing urges a federal judge not to block the ban, ahead of an emergency hearing Wednesday on the news organizations’ request for a temporary order restoring their access.
The Trump administration argues that the ban does not violate First Amendment protections on press freedom. “Access to the White House is a privilege — not a right,” the DOJ says in the filing.
The DOJ said the three news organizations were sent individual letters from the White House Press Office earlier yesterday laying out the reasoning for the revocation of their passes, and citing a “non-exhaustive list of reporting incidents” the White House said it had found “threatened national security and spread falsehoods.”
The letters cite stories on construction details related to the East Wing bunker, funding for the White House ballroom, munitions stockpiles impacted by the Iran war and sanctions against Russia.
Here’s what else we know.
Analysis: The Trump administration now finds itself defending the media ban as some Republican candidates in competitive races are increasingly distancing themselves from the president.
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- The Trump administration removed roughly 750,000 people from their Affordable Care Act plans, claiming that many were receiving subsidies they didn’t qualify for.
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- Health care has become a vulnerable topic for Republicans in the midterms — but they’re still leaning in, even though they don’t expect to win on the issue.
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The ICE officer who shot a Venezuelan man in Austin, Texas, wasn’t wearing a body camera during the shooting on Sunday, two Department of Homeland Security sources said. It wasn’t clear why the officer was not wearing his body camera even though another ICE officer who was in the same vehicle wore one, the sources said. An off-duty Austin police officer also captured part of the encounter. Here’s what the Austin police video shows.
Deportation proceedings against the man, Wilber Rafael Garcés Pérez, 28, were blocked yesterday in an emergency order, his lawyer, Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch, said.
Meanwhile, police in Evanston, Illinois, are investigating an incident in which a man reported injuries to his head, neck and teeth after ICE officers mistakenly targeted him. An ICE agent told Evanston police that he was attempting “identify a man who resembled a person they were seeking,” but the man refused to provide identification and “resisted detention.” ICE released the man after they learned he was a U.S. citizen and not the person they were seeking. See video from the incident.
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Authorities are warning the public to avoid kratom and other medications or substances that aren’t from a trusted source after two University of Mississippi students were found dead this week. Packaged kratom was found during the separate death investigations, though authorities said they have not confirmed whether it or any other substance was a contributing factor in the deaths.
Both Ole Miss students were found dead Monday — one on campus and the other in the city of Oxford, Mayor Robyn Tannehill said. Neither student has been publicly identified.
Kratom has gained popularity as an unapproved treatment for pain, anxiety and drug dependence. It’s banned in Oxford but can still be obtained in surrounding cities. It is sometimes sold at gas stations or online.
Here’s what else we know.
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Last month, Vicky Hernandez went viral on TikTok for her allegations that her husband had an affair with one of her closest friends, and she’d been preoccupied with the fallout. But viewers quickly questioned her framing of the relationship and hurled allegations against her husband to the point that she deleted all but one of her videos. I began digging into what actually happened.
Over the last three weeks, I spoke with more than half a dozen former Trinity United Presbyterian Church members, reviewed court filings and internal church records and looked back at years of online posts to piece together a saga that was far more complicated than the viral videos suggested. What emerged was a yearslong conflict and competing accounts of the same events to create a story examining how an insular church controversy in Southern California became one of TikTok’s most closely followed dramas — and what gets lost when deeply personal allegations unfold before an audience of millions.
— Pilar Melendez, breaking news editor
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- The Supreme Court declined to intervene in a custody battle involving a surrogate who gave birth despite the newborn’s biological parents asking her to get an abortion after a heart defect was discovered.
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- Actor Hayden Panettiere’s death was ruled an accident caused by the toxic effects of multiple drugs, including fentanyl.
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- For subscribers: Paramount Skydance’s settlement with the states that sued to block its merger with Warner Bros. Discovery has divided Hollywood.
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- For subscribers: A 25-year-old United Airlines passenger said the airline “trapped” her next to a man who masturbated on a flight. Then, the airline let him leave.
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- Ella Langley’s “Choosin’ Texas,” a simmering, midtempo, country song released last October, has become the longest-running No. 1 hit in the U.S., having spent 23 weeks at the top spot on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100.
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Thanks for reading the Morning Rundown. Today’s newsletter was curated for you by Elizabeth Robinson and Josh Feldman.
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