CAMP ATTERBURY, Ind. — A swarm of 49 quadcopter drones converged over an Indiana National Guard base. Suddenly, all 49 — like a flock of stricken birds — crashed into a grassy field as Leonidas, a counter-drone system the Army is pouring money into, overwhelmed their circuits with electromagnetic waves.

• The only sound during the downing of the drones: their mechanical death throes, no louder than a bug zapper, as they futilely tried to get their bearings amid Leonidas' microwave onslaught.
• Mike and Colin Demarest, author of Axios Future of Defense, were the only reporters to witness the field demo, hosted Tuesday by Leonidas' creator — Epirus, a hot defense startup based in Torrance, Calif.

Why it matters: Drone swarms are a nightmare for security officials all over the world, whether the autonomous craft are attacking a Russian air base or hovering menacingly near a U.S. airport.

• Epirus, building for a "new era of conflict," is pioneering mobile defenses against this wily, remote-controlled enemy.

⚡ Epirus was demonstrating its drone-frying Leonidas for officials and potential buyers from U.S. military services and foreign countries.

• Spectators applauded when Leonidas went 49-0.

🔭 The big picture: Drones are upending military spending and power dynamics, and disrupting domestic security for everything from power plants and transportation hubs to NFL stadiums and next year's World Cup.

• Drones are challenging tanks and battleships as the apex predators in the future of war.
• Domestically, the Northeast's drone madness late last year underscores how ill-prepared the U.S. is for a real overhead incursion.

🔬 Zoom in: Founded in 2018, Epirus has worked with the U.S. Army, Navy and Marine Corps, and tested its weapons in the Middle East and the Philippines.

• Epirus CEO Andy Lowery, a retired U.S. Navy lieutenant commander, champions a "sixth domain" doctrine, arguing that drones — "autonomous, robotic, asymmetric swarms that overwhelm traditional defenses" — scramble the traditional dividing lines of war.
• The five existing domains are air, land, sea, space and cyber.

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The CDC was engulfed in turmoil late last night when HHS announced that director Susan Monarez had abruptly departed — only to be contradicted by her lawyers, Axios' Tina Reed writes.

• The White House then said she was officially fired.

Why it matters: The dispute left CDC leadership in limbo as a wave of high-level departures gutted the top ranks of the agency responsible for protecting the nation's public health.

After HHS announced that Monarez is "no longer director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention," attorneys Mark Zaid and Abbe Lowell posted on X that Monarez "has neither resigned nor received notification from the White House that she has been fired."

• The White House quickly issued a statement saying Monarez "is not aligned with the President's agenda of Making America Healthy Again."
• Monarez clashed with RFK Jr. over COVID vaccine policy changes and attempted to get Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), who chairs the Senate health committee, to intervene, The Washington Post reports.

🔬 Zoom in: At least four other top CDC officials — including chief medical officer Dr. Debra Houry — resigned last night, according to internal emails viewed by Axios.

• "Vaccines save lives — this is an indisputable, well-established, scientific fact," Houry wrote in a separate email. "I am committed to protecting the public's health, but the ongoing changes prevent me from continuing in my job as a leader of the agency."

Share this story ... Maya Goldman and Emily Peck contributed.

Twenty days after President Trump stepped up federal law enforcement in D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser applauded much of the crackdown, Axios D.C.'s Anna Spiegel writes.

• Why it matters: It's a striking shift for a mayor who once called federalizing D.C.'s police force an "authoritarian push."

During a press conference yesterday, Bowser pledged support for Trump's $2 billion request to Congress to "beautify" D.C. parks, fountains, roadways and more.

• Bowser expressed appreciation for "the surge of officers," saying they've helped tamp down on illegal guns, carjackings and homicides.

🚔 By the numbers: Carjackings fell 87% in the 20 days since Trump's takeover vs. the same time last year, the mayor said.

• City data shows a 15% drop in overall crime from the same period last year.

Above: In Washington, a Banksy-style poster of "sandwich guy," the protester who launched a Subway hoagie at a federal officer.

• Federal prosecutors were unable to persuade a grand jury to approve a felony indictment against the man — identified as Sean Dunn, a former Justice Department employee, the N.Y. Times reports (gift link).

As armed National Guard troops patrol the nation's capital, handling crime is now a relative strength for President Trump, according to a new AP-NORC poll.

• Why it matters: Americans aren't generally happy about the president's handling of immigration and the economy, but are more positive about his tough-on-crime approach, AP reports.

The vast majority of Americans, 81%, see crime as a "major problem" in large cities.

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As they prepared for the fall semester, leaders at Annunciation Catholic School in South Minneapolis settled on a theme for the year from Jeremiah 29: "A future filled with hope."

• But just three days into the school year, a spray of bullets through a stained glass window thrust them into every educator's — and parent's — worst nightmare, Axios Twin Cities' Torey Van Oot writes.

What happened: Two young students were killed, and another 14 children and three adults were hurt, when a shooter opened fire during a morning Mass marking the start of school.

• The slain children, ages 8 and 10, were sitting in the pews when they were shot. The injured students ranged from ages 6 to 15, and the three adults were in their 80s. All are expected to survive.

The shooter, identified by authorities as 23-year-old Robin Westman, approached Annunciation Catholic just before 8:30 a.m. and shot through the side windows of the church.

• The shooter was armed with a rifle, a shotgun and a pistol, and had purchased the weapons legally recently, Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara said.

According to Dakota County Court records, the shooter's mother applied to have her child's name changed to Robin M. Westman because her child "identifies as a female and wants her name to reflect that identification."

• That detail stirred hateful online posts toward transgender people, which Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey condemned: "Anybody who is using this as an opportunity to villainize our trans community, or any other community out there, has lost their sense of common humanity."

Amid the heartbreak, there were stories of heroism. Weston Halsne, a fifth grader at the school, described to WCCO diving under the pews as bullets flew through the windows just feet away.

• He said a friend, who was shot, saved him by lying on top of him.

Get the latest in Axios Twin Cities.

Nvidia — the biggest company in the world by market cap — reported world-beating results yesterday, Axios' Madison Mills writes.

• The lead story of today's Wall Street Journal: "Nvidia's Sales Rise By 56% as AI Boom Rages On."
• But export controls to China dampened its data center revenue. That's making investors nervous.

Why it matters: Nvidia is caught in the middle of a Trump trade war that could impact its earnings growth and the trajectory of the entire stock market.

• CEO Jensen Huang sees the Chinese market as a $50 billion opportunity that could grow 50% per year.
• That's why investors want the doors to that market to be wide open.

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Support for labor unions among Republicans plunged this year, Axios' Emily Peck writes from a new Gallup survey out this morning.

Why it matters: The party traditionally opposed organized labor, but in recent years had been moving in a different direction — with the Trump campaign actively courting the union vote last year.

• The latest numbers mark a return to form.

🧮 By the numbers: 41% of Republicans said they approve of labor unions, down from 49% in 2025 and off an all-time high of 56% in 2022, when American support for unions was peaking.

• Unions got 90% approval from Democrats and 69% among independents.

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New-age tech like LED light therapy and robot masseuses are pushing the boundaries of self-care.

• But one Miami family is banking on the simple power of a back scratch, Axios Miami's Martin Vassolo writes.

Why it matters: The Scratcher Girls are pioneers in professional back scratching, an emerging trend in the wellness industry popularized by viral videos of long-nailed women scratching clients into blissful trances.

• The family-owned business, which launched around 2010, employs an all-female staff equipped with sharp, manicured nails that are cleaned and filed in between sessions.

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