NPR News: 09-15-2026 8AM EDT

0:00Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Corv. Coleman, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders and former Trump advisor Steve Bannon will lead a rally today in Washington. They'll point to growing concern. Artificial intelligence could harm humanity. But NPR's Emily Fang reports that contrasts with President Trump's view of AI. President Trump called these existential concerns about AI, quote, a hoax and a scam in a flurry of social media posts this week. He has argued AI is a race against China. Effectively, if the US does not build the most advanced model, China will first. But Chris McWire, the senior director for tech on the National Security Council during the Biden administration, points out this administration has also enabled China to buy more advanced American semiconductor chips that Beijing needs for its AI development. We are actively enabling China's AI development. At the same time as we're saying, this is the reason that we can't regulate our own labs. As the US has rolled back some export controls on some Nvidia chips in particular, Emily

1:00Fang and Piers News Washington. A Homeland Security whistleblower alleges federal agents may have broken state laws to pursue President Trump's voter fraud priorities, and Piers Miles Parks has more. The Department of Homeland Security has been ramping up its search for voter fraud in recent weeks. That's been combing state voter rolls the department acquired and checking them against other federal data sources that track citizenship. But the whistleblower reports has been a rush process that has not taken state law into account. Investigators are supposed to review dozens of cases per day, and the whistleblower says those investigators were instructed to make false claims on state government websites in order to access data that is only supposed to be accessed by the voter themselves. The report was made public by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senator Alex Padilla of California. Miles Parks and Piers News Washington. The US Supreme Court blocked President Trump's push to restrict the use of mail-in ballots. The decision stops the US Postal Service from carrying out Trump's order ahead of the midterm elections to limit the use of the ballots.

2:03President Trump claims Ukraine and Russia have agreed to stop attacking each other's energy infrastructure. But Ukraine's president says while his country is ready to make an agreement, he doesn't trust that Russia will stick to one. Piers-Juana Kikisis reports from Kiev. Writing on social media, Zelensky said his country had proposed an agreement with Russia to stop the destruction of critical infrastructure. This includes energy facilities, ports, and food and pharmaceutical warehouses. Zelensky writes that if Ukraine's allies can ensure Russia does not strike these sites, then Ukraine will also stop its attacks. That he adds, Ukraine is not confident that Russia has any desire to abide by any agreement. Earlier on Monday, the Kremlin welcomed Trump's demands that Ukraine and strikes on Russian energy sites but did not comment on any deal. Piers-Juana Kikisis reporting. This is NPR. FBI Director Cash Patel is set to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee today.

3:07Piers-Juana Kikisis are expected to question him about his personal travel, apparently, with taxpayer funding. Republicans are expected to ask about the FBI's investigation probing officials who looked into the January 6th attack. Separately, Treasury Secretary Scott Becant will testify before the House Financial Services Committee this morning. He will likely be asked about inflation in the United States and the cost of the U.S. war against Iran. The rapper, Macklemore, has been dropped from singer-ed Shearance U.S. tour, and Piers-Isabel Agoma-Sermiento reports the move stems from Macklemore's comments supportive of Palestinians. Macklemore already opened for several shows of Ed Shearance Stadium tour. While on stage, the rapper made comments in support of people in Gaza and the West Bank and used the phrase, free Palestine. He has now been dropped from the remainder of the tour. Shearance promoter, Messina Turing, told Rolling Stone that several U.S. venues refuse

4:10to host concerts with Macklemore on the bill. In a statement posted on his Instagram, Macklemore claims that Gillette Stadium owner, Robert Kraft, called Ed Shearance and told him Macklemore would not be allowed at his venue. Kraft allegedly also rallied other venue owners against the performer over his political statements. In his social media post, Macklemore writes that he is not a victim and doubles down on his support for Palestinians. Isabel Agoma-Sermiento and Piers News? This is NPR. Up first from NPR News is your way to slow down a fast-moving world and make sense of it, which is just what tech leaders say they need right now. One of the big stories this week is that tech leaders say they want to slow down AI development. Also, the latest fighting in the Middle East could push oil prices even higher. Start your day with what you need to know on up first. Listen on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts.