‘Shipwreck’: GOP grows fearful about losing Senate as candidates struggle, Trump support tumbles  —  Republicans have grown increasingly worried about losing control of the Senate, as President Trump's approval rating tumbles and Democrats gain steam in key battleground races.

Cops: Castro Valley man tried to stab congressional candidate Rudy Peters with switchblade after ‘disparaging’ GOP  —  A Castro Valley man was arrested after he tried to stab congressional candidate Rudy Peters with a switchblade knife after approaching a booth at a public festival and making …

Manafort in talks with prosecutors about possible plea, according to people familiar with the discussions  —  Days before in-person jury selection is set to begin in his second trial, President Trump's former campaign chairman Paul Manafort is in talks with the special counsel's office …

Exclusive: Three-quarters of the secret money in recent elections came from 15 groups  —  WASHINGTON - Just 15 groups account for three-quarters of the anonymous cash flowing into federal elections since the Supreme Court paved the way for corporate and union money in candidate races eight years ago …

Trump eyes life under subpoena  —  President Trump, who rarely focuses beyond the moment before him, is starting to acknowledge the growing chance Democrats could very well win in November — and very well try to impeach him.  —  The big picture: A few months ago, he was scoffing at midterm consequences for him.

Another hurricane is about to batter our coast.  Trump is complicit.  —  YET AGAIN, a massive hurricane feeding off unusually warm ocean water has the potential to stall over heavily populated areas, menacing millions of people.  Last year Hurricane Harvey battered Houston.

Laura Ingraham's Brother Goes to War Against Her  —  Curtis Ingraham wants people to know that his sister, the right-wing Fox News host Laura Ingraham, is the ultimate ‘hypocrite.’  —  Curtis Ingraham uses Twitter to vent his political frustrations—like many left-leaning users in the Trump era.

Washington, DC  —  Pursuant to Section 1290 of the John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019 (NDAA), I certified to Congress yesterday that the governments of Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates are undertaking demonstrable actions to reduce the risk of harm …

George W. Bush Raising Money to Maintain Trump Cover-up  —  George W. Bush, who declined to endorse Donald Trump (or anybody) in 2016, and made muttered elliptical criticisms of the 45th president, has thrown himself into the task of covering up Trump's many crimes.

There's Never Been a President This Unpopular With an Economy This Good  — Trump's unpopularity poses problems for Republican candidates  —  President Donald Trump's unpopularity is unprecedented given the strength of the economy.  —  That's according to a Bloomberg analysis of polling data.

Email from Cuomo aide casts doubt on claims over anti-Semitic mailer  —  Gov. Andrew Cuomo said he was blindsided by an “inappropriate” political mailer tying Cynthia Nixon to anti-Semitism — but just a day before the inflammatory literature surfaced, one of his top campaign aides pitched …

This Week in Julia Salazar She had a trust fund, her ancestors were Catholic elites, and she has a new version of her conversion story.  —  A state senate race that was once hailed as a test of the rising strength and power of insurgent socialists has devolved into a full-fledged New York City tabloid circus …

Government borrowing soars despite robust economy  —  The U.S. budget deficit is reaching levels that are abnormally high for a robust economy, and lawmakers from both parties are proposing ideas that would make the deficit swell even further.  —  The government spent $895 billion …

CNN Poll: More approve of Mueller than of Trump  —  (CNN)Special counsel Robert Mueller's approval rating for handling the Russia investigation stands at 50% in a new CNN Poll conducted by SSRS.  That outpaces President Donald Trump's approval rating on the matter by 20 points.  —  CNN'S SEPTEMBER POLL

Trump administration took nearly $10 million from FEMA's budget to support ICE, documents show  —  WASHINGTON — The Trump administration took nearly $10 million from the Federal Emergency Management Agency's budget this summer to help boost U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, according to budget documents shared with USA TODAY.

FDA chief calls youth use of Juul, other e-cigarettes an ‘epidemic’  —  Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Scott Gottlieb dramatically escalated his efforts to stop an “epidemic” of teenage vaping, announcing Wednesday a massive enforcement action against retailers for allegedly selling e-cigarettes …

Sheldon Whitehouse Asks Brett Kavanaugh If He Has A Gambling Problem  —  No senator has asked the Supreme Court nominee about his debts until now.  —  Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) wants to know if Judge Brett Kavanaugh, President Donald Trump's nominee to the Supreme Court, has a gambling problem.

25 years ago this week, Mideast peace seemed inevitable.  Now it's further away than ever.  —  I thought the 1993 Oslo Accords would put the Middle East on an irreversible path to peace.  Not only was I wrong, Trump is making it harder than ever.  —  CONNECT

Despite Trump's promise to protect them, Christian refugees struggle to enter U.S.  —  Trump vowed to aid Mideast Christians.  But under his administration the number of Christian refugees admitted to the U.S. has fallen more than 40 percent.  —  WASHINGTON — Despite vowing …

Japan's New Ship-Based Interceptor Shoots Down a Ballistic Missile in Test  —  It's the fifth successful test of Japan's ability to intercept ballistic missiles from warships.  —  As the State Department presses North Korea to give up its nuclear ambitions, one neighbor isn't taking any chances.

The Afghanistan war has gone on so long that people born after 9/11 can now enlist  —  A day after hijacked planes destroyed the World Trade Center towers, tore into the Pentagon and cratered a Pennsylvania field, thousands of babies were born in the United States.

Nearly 600 Russia-Linked Accounts Tweeted About the Health Law  —  The majority of the nearly 10,000 tweets on the Affordable Care Act seem intended to pit one side against the other  —  On the March 23 anniversary of the Affordable Care Act becoming law, Democrats attacked Republicans …

‘Black-ish’ Creator Kenya Barris Breaks Silence on That Shelved Anti-Trump Episode, His ABC Exit and “Unapologetic” Netflix Plans  —  The Emmy-nominated showrunner details the battle all of Hollywood has buzzed about, including the Spike Lee-narrated episode that led to his departure …

Americans Want to Believe Jobs Are the Solution to Poverty.  They're Not.  —  U.S. unemployment is down and jobs are going unfilled.  But for people without much education, the real question is, Do those jobs pay enough to live on?  —  Vanessa Solivan and her three children fled …

How Anti-Trump Leakers Moved From Offense to Defense  —  A trail of evidence appearing in major news outlets suggests a campaign to undermine President Trump from within the government through illegal leaks of classified information, and then to thwart congressional investigators probing the disclosures.

Newspaper doubles down with front page response to Serena Williams cartoon critics  —  THE paper behind the controversial Serena Williams cartoon has published an extraordinary front page response to its critics.  —  Serena Williams fined for US Open outburst1:28

Education Dept. Reopens Rutgers Case Charging Discrimination Against Jewish Students  —  The new head of civil rights at the Education Department has reopened a seven-year-old case brought by a Zionist group against Rutgers University, saying the Obama administration, in closing the case …

Surprisingly, the Senate Is Now in Play  —  ANALYSIS — I have argued repeatedly that while the House is up for grabs — and indeed likely to flip to the Democrats in November — the Senate is not in play.  I now believe that it is, so I must revise and extend my remarks.

BREAKING: Page and Strzok Texts Reveal They Discussed Writing a “Folksy” Op-ed on Russia  —  Strzok and Page discussed writing an oped on Russia about two months before the 2016 presidential election  —  The pair also discuss how a September 2016 article on Russian election meddling was “100 percent authorized” and “well sourced”

‘Tremendously big’: Trump reaches for superlatives in the face of calamity  —  The Debrief: An occasional series offering a reporter's insights  —  Flanked in the Oval Office by charts showing the path of Hurricane Florence, President Trump on Tuesday issued a warning …

Trump doesn't drink booze.  D.C. weighs whether to let him serve it.  —  A group of residents complained that the owner of the Trump International Hotel fails the “good character” test required of anyone who wants to sell wine, beer or spirits in the city.  —  Donald Trump is president, but is he fit to run a bar?

Scott jets around on secrecy-heavy ‘bus tour’  —  Gov. Rick Scott used his private jet Tuesday to commute to a Senate campaign stop for his “bus tour,” marking his second stumble since announcing he was traveling the Florida highways this week to “Make Washington Work.”

In an Increasingly Diverse House, Aides Remain Remarkably White  —  WASHINGTON — House aides write federal policy and multitrillion-dollar budgets, oversee the administration of government and shape the public's view of Congress, but the top staff members of the House of Representatives …

Stay Out of Venezuela, Mr. Trump  —  President Maduro needs to go, but an American-backed coup is not the answer.  —  The editorial board represents the opinions of the board, its editor and the publisher.  It is separate from the newsroom and the Op-Ed section.  —  America shouldn't be in the coup business.