Today’s Headlines: Trump kicked off his Asia trip with stops at the ASEAN Summit and meetings with China’s Xi Jinping and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un, bragging that a trade deal with China is “close” while hinting—again—that he might go for a third term. He also casually revealed he had an MRI and dementia test at Walter Reed that somehow didn’t make it into his official health report (but don’t worry, he says the scan was “perfect”). Meanwhile, Venezuela accused the U.S. of staging a “military provocation” after a U.S. warship docked in Trinidad and Tobago—an accusation that started sounding less wild after Lindsey Graham said Trump is considering “land strikes” against Venezuela and Colombia. A new study found that major chatbots—including ChatGPT, Gemini, and Grok—have been echoing Russian propaganda from sanctioned media outlets, while another report revealed that a leaked database exposed personal data from over 450 Americans with top secret clearances tied to Democratic House offices. The government shutdown drags on, threatening food benefits for nearly 50 million people and hiking health insurance premiums nationwide. In Indiana, Governor Mike Braun called a special session to fast-track a redistricting plan that could add two GOP House seats. Elsewhere, Hurricane Melissa is bearing down on Jamaica after killing several people in Haiti and the Dominican Republic, Amazon is reportedly laying off 30,000 workers in its biggest job cut ever, and—because it’s apparently 1975 again—the Trump administration just ordered the FBI to dig through its files for anything related to Jimmy Hoffa’s disappearance.

Resources/Articles mentioned in this episode:

NYT: Trump’s China Deal May Avert a Crisis of His Own Making

Axios: Trump underwent previously undisclosed MRI during Walter Reed visit

Axios: Venezuela calls U.S.-Trinidad and Tobago military exercises a "provocation"

Axios: Graham predicts Trump's war on "narco-terrorists" will expand to land strikes

Wired: Chatbots Are Pushing Sanctioned Russian Propaganda

Wired: Hundreds of People With ‘Top Secret’ Clearance Exposed by House Democrats’ Website

The Guardian: Food benefits set to expire for 41 million people as US shutdown continues

Axios Indianapolis: Indiana Gov. Mike Braun calls special redistricting session

Axios: Jamaica braces for direct hit from potentially "catastrophic" Hurricane Melissa

CNBC: Amazon to announce largest layoffs in company history, source says

CNN: Amazon to announce largest layoffs in company history, source says

Morning Announcements is produced by Sami Sage and edited by Grace Hernandez-Johnson

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