“We believe the world should accept some bad things happening for the benefits of this technology.” In a conversation for the first edition of Decoded, a new daily newsletter and podcast, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman talked with POLITICO’s @BrendanBordelon about trade-offs, AI safety, and how his company is different from Anthropic. Subscribe to Decoded for the full conversation with Sam Altman: politi.co/4yxilIS

The US State Department directed millions of dollars originally earmarked to promote human rights to promote far-right causes including Afrikaner rights in South Africa, safeguarding "Western civilizational norms," and documenting "backsliding" in Europe related to mass migration, a source familiar with the matter told CNN. cnn.it/471EYZQ

The day that Biden grew so angry at Netanyahu that he nearly cut him off: "He was just completely fed up with everything and I think at that moment he was ready to just say, 'I’m done,'" @brett_mcgurk recalls as he releases "Brink," his memoir of Gaza war. nytimes.com/2026/10/01/us/po…

The Bulwark to show solidarity for Springfield’s Haitian community with live podcast in Dayton. “Democrats don’t want to focus on this issue around election season because it may not be as potent as high gas prices… But you need to continue to change the public narrative and response to get the politicians to change their actions.” springfieldnewssun.com/tncms…

Netanyahu says Mamdani has "Hamas buddies" who wanted to kill all Jews in his remarks at the UN. "Shame on you for distorting the facts, for inverting victim & aggressor... Mr. Mamdani, you try to stop me from coming here, you try to silence me. Well, you can't silence me."

SCOOP: Inside the tumult of Mary Peltola's Senate campaign in Alaska and her time on Capitol Hill. Peltola is known publicly as kind and affable. But aides recall angry outbursts, slurs and a shove. (She also required staff to feed a pet chameleon.) nytimes.com/2026/09/23/us/po…

Now that he won’t stop talking, the folks who told us Hasan Piker is a serious voice who should be listened to ought to let us know which of these positions we’re supposed to take seriously: 1. That “pound for pound,” America is worse than al-Qaeda - a ridiculous statement on a normal day, but particularly vile the same week we’re reflecting on the loss of 3,000 Americans on the 25th anniversary of 9/11. 2. That Communist China’s repressive regime is the “model” for America. 3. That Mao was “a great man of history” while the collapse of the Soviet Union was "one of the greatest catastrophes of the 20th century." The great thing about America is that everyone is entitled to their opinions and free to express them, however dumb or immoral. That includes ‘Comrade’ Piker. The rest of us are just as free - obligated even - to call out this vile, hateful speech that only divides America. axios.com/2026/09/17/hasan-p…

Trump on the Supreme Court ruling against him: "These are not the people I interviewed to serve on the United States Supreme Court, they are merely a shell of their original selves ..."

My 9-11 memories center on two fallen firefighters I knew at different points in life. Michael Carroll went to school in Yorkville with me. Fantastic athlete. David Fontana was my neighbor in Bklyn. Gentle giant who was a gifted sculptor. Our sons played together. Heroes both

That @matthewstoller needs to be paid or oriented to hate McKinsey is one of the dumbest conspiracy theories the NYT has ever published. In the 15 years I've known Matt: if he's awake he's spouting venom toward the McKinseys of the world. Sometimes even when he's not awake.

NYT Visual Investigation: U.S. airstrike turned a wedding in a small coastal town in Iran into a deadly tragedy. The bomb that hit the residential area was American, it killed five people and wounded 67 others, the Iranian authorities said. Details & witness accounts: w/ @ErikaSolomon @trbrtc @malachybrowne nytimes.com/2026/09/02/video…