Today’s Top Stories from NBC News
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FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2026
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In today’s newsletter: Trump rolls out the red carpets for Xi Jinping’s visit to Washington. Democrats have their biggest polling lead yet in the race for Congress. And Pennsylvania doctors say some babies are now being born with measles.
Here’s what to know today.
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(Saul Loeb / AFP via Getty Images)
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President Donald Trump has accused China of hacking America’s elections and plundering its wealth, yet he has showered the visiting Chinese leader, Xi Jinping, with tributes and affection during their summit this week at the White House. In fact, Trump has rolled out the red carpet not once but twice for Xi. And yesterday evening, Trump feted Xi at a state dinner and gave his guest a statue of a bald eagle as a gift.
The two presidents were set to discuss trade, the Iran war and AI, among other issues, though foreign policy experts expect no substantive breakthroughs.
Those trying to view the summit live may have faced difficulties after Trump imposed a media ban last week on three outlets, prompting others to suspend “pool” coverage of the president’s public events. Journalists from CNN, MS NOW and Politico were allowed back at the White House yesterday, but pool coverage hadn’t resumed by the afternoon.
All the pomp and ceremony may seem confusing considering Trump’s past critiques. He has accused China of meddling in the 2020 election. He has spoken out against communism — but welcomed the leader of the world’s largest communist country. And China may have provided Iran with missiles and technology in the ongoing war.
But Trump, who has long believed that personal relationships are key to managing political tensions, has set out to charm the Chinese leader.
Read the full story here.
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- Facing global isolation, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu defended the war in Iran and accused New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani of antisemitism in his speech at the United Nations General Assembly.
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- Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian suggested his government was willing to make a deal with the U.S. to end the war before the midterm elections.
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Democrats have a 9-percentage-point advantage, the party’s largest lead yet over Republicans in the race for Congress, according to NBC News’ newly released polling averages. The party’s lead, which stands at 52% to 43%, is part of a steady deterioration of the political environment for the GOP, as independent voters have gradually begun to prefer a Democratic-controlled Congress and have soured on Trump.
The president’s approval rating has slid to 39% in the NBC News polling average, with 59% disapproving of his job performance so far.
Individual polls can bounce around, but an average gives a broad sense of where surveys are trending, and it controls for outliers. At a time when a flurry of polls are released, averages can be valuable tools for tracking what’s happening in the election.
Inside NBC News’ polling averages.
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- For subscribers: At least a dozen Republican candidates have distanced themselves from Trump in the past two weeks, a move that would have been unthinkable for much of the past decade.
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- For subscribers: In the fight for control of Congress, one issue is dominating ads, transcending partisan divides and pitting challengers against incumbents: members of Congress trading stocks.
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Doctors in Pennsylvania are sounding the alarm as they encounter a disease that many don’t have experience treating: congenital measles.
At least six babies in the state have been born infected with the virus, with two so sick they had to be admitted into intensive care. The lack of experience treating the disease is “because up until a couple of months ago, it didn’t occur,” an infectious disease expert explained.
At least 800 people across most of the state have been infected with measles so far this year. Congenital measles was uncommon before the measles vaccine was introduced in the early 1960s because, at the time, most women had been infected as children. It’s only now emerging as vaccination rates have taken a dive.
What to know about congenital measles symptoms in newborns.
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Microsoft co-founder and billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates called on U.S. lawmakers to regulate the development of artificial intelligence, weeks after the CEOs of some of the nation’s biggest AI labs agreed on the need to slow the pace of progress. “No one thinks self-regulation is enough,” Gates told NBC News’ “Meet the Press” in an interview set to air in full on Sunday.
Gates didn’t downplay the risk that AI could wipe out humanity in several years, saying “there’s never been a weapon as powerful as the combination of people with ill intent using the latest AI tools.”
See more of Gates’ comments.
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This story started with a tip from a concerned community member in the Bakersfield area. Zack Scrivner was granted a mental health diversion in December after authorities said he sexually abused his 12-year-old daughter and physically abused his other children while intoxicated. Although the incident happened in 2024, the tipster and others in the community were still deeply bothered by the outcome.
“There was so much evidence and it was such a horrendous situation that it never occurred to me that there would not be some level of justice served,” his estranged wife Christina said in an interview.
As I looked further, it became clear that the Scrivner controversy was part of a much bigger issue across California. Diversion has been used as a “get out of jail free card,” as one source put it. But legislative changes are coming, and advocates hope the reforms will direct treatment options to offenders who need them while weeding out others who might take advantage of it.
— Shayna Jacobs, breaking news reporter
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- Jim Copenhaver, the man who was injured two years ago in an assassination attempt on Trump at campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, has died. He was 76.
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- For subscribers: McDonald’s, in the midst of one of the worst years in its history, unveiled a turnaround plan. Here’s what’s in it — and why some investors and analysts are skeptical.
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Thanks for reading the Morning Rundown. Today’s newsletter was curated for you by Elizabeth Robinson.
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