Above the Fold

GOP SECURES NORTH CAROLINA: “In a major victory for both President Trump and national Republicans, North Carolina GOP state Sen. Dan Bishop was projected to win a fiercely contested special U.S. House election for the 9th District that was widely seen as a bellwether for the president’s chances in the 2020 election,” Fox News reports. “And another Republican House candidate, Greg Murphy, decisively won a separate special election in North Carolina’s more solidly GOP-leaning 3rd District earlier Tuesday evening — frustrating Democrats who spent millions trying to make a splash in the state.” Democrats couldn’t make headway even into marginal Trump territory.

BOLTON OUSTED: According to NBC News, “President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he had fired national security adviser John Bolton after a string of disagreements, removing one of the most hawkish voices in Trump’s inner circle on a number of issues, including Taliban negotiations and China trade talks.” Trump declared that he “disagreed strongly with many of [Bolton’s] suggestions, as did others in the Administration.” Both Trump and Bolton are similarly headstrong. There clearly wasn’t enough space in the White House for the both of them.

National Security

EMBASSY ATTACKED: “A rocket exploded at the U.S. Embassy in Afghanistan just minutes into Wednesday, the anniversary of the 9/11 attack on the United States. A plume of smoke rose over central Kabul shortly after midnight and sirens could be heard. Inside the embassy, employees heard this message over the loudspeaker: ‘An explosion caused by a rocket has occurred on compound.’ About an hour later the all-clear was given, with no injuries reported. … It was the first major attack in the Afghan capital since President Donald Trump abruptly called off U.S.-Taliban talks over the weekend, on the brink of an apparent deal to end America’s longest war.” (Associated Press)

CNN’S FAKE-NEWS FALLOUT: “U.S. intelligence officials past and present offered harsh criticism Tuesday of a CNN report on the handling of a high-level U.S. informant in the upper reaches of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s Kremlin, warning that even discussing sensitive details of the case put U.S. security and future intelligence operations at risk.” (The Washington Times)

Government & Economy

FEMA FRAUD: “The FBI arrested one of the top administrators of FEMA and the CEO of a contractor on wire fraud and bribery charges, along with a lower-level FEMA official … for fraud and bribery involving Hurricane Maria relief. The contractor got a $1.8 billion contract for rebuilding Puerto Rico’s notoriously unreliable electrical infrastructure, which the Department of Justice says came by way of bribery.” (Hot Air)

OLIVE BRANCH? “China’s Ministry of Finance announced plans to exempt 16 types of U.S. products from additional tariffs on Wednesday, including food for livestock, cancer drugs and lubricants. The exemption, which is scheduled to go into effect from September 17, will be valid for a year through to September 16, 2020. The announcement comes as high-level trade officials from China and the U.S. prepare to meet in Washington next month.” (CNBC)

SEEING THE WRITING ON THE WALL: “Background checks for gun sales, concealed-carry permits, and security spiked in August as congressional Democrats renewed their push for expanded gun control in the wake of several mass shootings. The National Instant Criminal Background Check System recorded a 15.5 percent uptick in background checks last month, according to the National Shooting Sports Foundation.” (National Review)

UNINSURED RISES: “The number of Americans without health insurance climbed to 27.5 million in 2018, according to federal data that show the first year-to-year increase in a decade, before the Affordable Care Act began reducing the ranks of the uninsured. … The number of uninsured rose by nearly two million people overall, the Census Bureau said, which is about how many fewer people were covered under Medicaid compared with 2017. The number of people covered by private insurance didn’t significantly change.” (The Wall Street Journal)

Culture

MONOPOLY GOES WOKE: “Hasbro officially brought the gender pay gap to game night with its new feminist version of Monopoly called ‘Ms. Monopoly.’ The new version of the classic board game comes with new rules: Women players will collect $240 in Monopoly money while male players will only collect $200. Women also collect $1,900 in Monopoly money from the banker player at the beginning of the game while men collect $1,500.” (The Daily Caller)

‘ANGEL MOM’ DISRESPECTED: “Last week, Boston mother Maureen Maloney was booed while testifying about the death of her son Matthew Denice, who was killed in 2011 by a drunk-driving illegal with a criminal history. Maloney was testifying at the State House in opposition to a bill seeking to grant driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants. ‘At the start of her testimony, Maloney held up a photo of Matthew and recalled how he was killed by an illegal immigrant drunk behind the wheel. About halfway into her 3 minutes of testimony, a man behind Maloney booed the grieving mother,’ the Boston Herald reported.” (The Daily Wire)

Closing Arguments

POLICY: ObamaCare caused premiums to spike. Here’s how states are lowering them again. (The Daily Signal)

POLICY: Congress needs to get its act together for defense funding (The Hill)

HUMOR: Trump cancels Taliban meeting after learning it’s THAT Taliban (The Babylon Bee)

For more of today’s editors’ choice headlines, visit In Our Sights.

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