NPR News: 09-15-2026 6AM EDT

0:00Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Corv. Coleman. President Trump continues to insist that the artificial intelligence industry does not need strong guardrails. Well, that's not what AI leaders think. They're calling for a global slowdown on AI research. But NPR's Emily Fang says President Trump sees the U.S. strength in AI as a matter of national security. He's really framed AI as a race against China. And I can briefly summarize his arguments as if the U.S. doesn't build it, then China's going to do it first. But there's serious debate right now in the global AI industry on whether Chinese companies actually can get ahead of the U.S. on AI because the U.S. maintains a lead right now. And also whether Beijing really would want to create a super powerful AI that might destroy all of humanity. Because arguably that's not in China's interest, either. NPR's Emily Fang reporting. U.S. Supreme Court has rejected President Trump's push for new restrictions on mail in ballots. Trump had wanted the new rules imposed right before the midterm elections.

1:03Former Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell returned to the U.S. Capitol yesterday. He's been away for three months, recovering from a serious fall. And he has Claudia Grisillas has more. The 84 year old returned to the Senate in a wheelchair with a staff by his side. I'm ready to see you. John, be back to work. McConnell casts his first vote since his hospitalization in June and subsequent treatment. His vote was needed to vote a judicial nomination forward along a Republican party line. The Kentucky GOP Senator said in a statement he is not yet 100 percent, but plans to continue physical therapy and return when his conference needs him for the quote, tough votes. He also said his recovery has been long and frustrating. And the lingering effects of childhood polio have not made it any easier. McConnell has the remainder of this year left to finish his final term in Congress. Claudia D. Salis and PR News. For the past 10 months, NASA has been moving engineers out of their labs at the Goddard

2:05Space Flight Center in Maryland near Washington, D.C. And PR's Kiera Eisner spoke with NASA employees who say that has been hurting the center's work. Seven current and former scientists who worked at Goddard told NPR that moving scientists out of their labs has been stalling work on some of NASA's space missions. Not all the labs were ready for us just to move into. And that then delays that entire project. One engineer said they couldn't do their work last month on a spacecraft being made to explore Venus because they didn't have room to lay out their materials. NPR said they weren't able to test that a satellite could communicate with Earth before it launched this summer. That engineer said NASA's management carted off their equipment during a move. NPR tracked down some of the last year and found some of it was thrown away, auctioned, and even donated to a university. Kiera Eisner and PR News. You're listening to NPR. President Trump is nominating Texas Republican Congressman Wesley Hunt to be the next US ambassador

3:06to Saudi Arabia. Hunt came in third in the Texas Republican Senate primary this year behind winner Attorney General Ken Paxden and incumbent Senator John Corne. There was a big winner during last night's Emmy Awards for the Best in Television. And Piers Mandelite Del Barco says the horror comedy Widow's Bay picked up 14 trophies. Matthew Reese was crowned best lead actor in a comedy for his role as the mayor of Widow's Bay, the haunted New England Island. It's filled with eccentric characters like his assistant Patricia, played by Kate O'Flynn, and a grizzled fisherman played by Stephen Root. They both won supporting actor awards. When Reese picked up his Emmy, he joked about the show's creator. This is purely because of the depraved and twisted mind of Katie Dippold. And her genius really does live in the recesses of her disturbed brain. Reese also made history by winning two lead actor Emmys at the same ceremony. The Welsh actor also won for playing a rich real estate magnet and prime murder suspect

4:09in the series The Beast in Me. Mandelite Del Barco and Piers News Los Angeles. In other Emmy wins, Jean Smart picked up her fifth Emmy Award in a Row for Best Comedy Actress in the Show Hacks. The best male dramatic actor was Noah Wiley for his star role in the show The Pit. The best variety show winner was The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. That was cancelled by CBS. I'm Corva Coleman, NPR News.