October 16, 2026 - Deadly Shooting at Oregon Elementary

The AP reports House Democrats are already planning a 100-day agenda, to be launched in their first 100 hours in power. Hakeem Jeffries says his party will be united “right out of the gate” on restoring the Affordable Care Act tax credits, reversing the Republican Medicaid cuts, forcing votes against the Iran war and undoing the President’s tariffs. Investigations of the President, his family and his administration are being prepared. Impeachment, Jeffries says, is neither on nor off the table.

Here’s the catch. A bill needs the House, the Senate and the President’s signature. Win only the House, and Democrats hold one of three keys. Their agenda dies in a Republican Senate or on Donald Trump’s desk.

What a House majority does bring is the power of the purse, subpoenas and impeachment. Each has limits. Funding leverage runs through shutdown threats, and last year’s 43-day shutdown over those same ACA credits ended without them. Subpoenas can be tied up in court for years, as the Mazars and McGahn fights showed. And impeachment without 67 senators is a statement, not a removal.

Win the Senate too, and Democrats add a second set of investigators and, more lasting, control of confirmations, including any Supreme Court vacancy. Bills would finally reach the President’s desk. But overriding a veto takes two-thirds of both chambers, and no one is predicting that.

So is the 100-day agenda just messaging? Maybe. But forcing Republicans to vote against popular bills heading into 2028 is a strategy too.

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A 16-year-old gunman killed three children, ages 5, 8 and 11, and a teacher at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, Oregon. Two others were critically injured before a bystander, who is a parent of a student at the school, fatally shot the attacker.

The Oregonian

Kyiv hit a Ryazan refinery after President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused the U.S. of a 'dangerous' pullback on intelligence sharing and Starlink access, declaring President Donald Trump's unilateral 'energy ceasefire' over amid continued Russian attacks on Ukraine's power grid.

NBC News

White House press secretary Katie Zacharia shared at least 15 social media posts over two years identifying her as an "attorney," despite failing the California bar exam and publicly acknowledging she had been advised not to use that term.

CNN

Texas Democratic U.S. Senate nominee James Talarico raised $64 million in the third quarter, his campaign said — the largest quarterly haul on record for a Senate candidate and more than triple the $18 million brought in by his opponent, Attorney General Ken Paxton. Talarico has now raised over $134 million since launching his campaign over a year ago.

The Texas Tribune

A recent poll found 46 percent of French Muslims would consider leaving the country if Marine Le Pen wins the 2027 presidential election, compared with 21 percent of the general population and 44 percent of Jewish respondents.

Brussels Signal

AI infrastructure startup Volta’s effort to raise $5 billion for a Norwegian data center is exposing growing investor concerns about the AI financing boom, as lenders demand higher interest rates, stronger protections and greater certainty about borrowers’ financial commitments.

Semafor

Sony and director Sam Mendes are weighing releasing all four of their Beatles biopics on the same day, bundling the films' box office returns into a single figure and selling a four-pack ticket to avoid ranking the band members against each other when the movies open in April 2028.

The Hollywood Reporter

The Wall Street Journal Editorial Board argues that Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky could agree to halt strikes on Russian energy infrastructure in exchange for Starlink data access to Russian launch sites, a proposed deal that could help revive prospects for a cease-fire.

The Wall Street Journal

After more than four years of mystery, investigators have identified Edward Lelburian Jackson, an Arkansas man believed to have been in his mid-to-late 50s when he was shot and killed decades ago and found inside a barrel at Lake Mead in 2022, but the search for his killer continues.

KTNV Las Vegas

KFC will replace PepsiCo beverages with Coca-Cola products at all U.S. locations by early 2027, ending a decades-long partnership as the fried chicken chain tries to win back customers and compete with rivals like Chick-fil-A and Popeyes.

CNBC