Axios

Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.) apologized on Thursday after photos emerged of him wearing blackface while dressed as Michael Jackson during a college Halloween costume party in 2006.

The big picture: The New York Times first reported on the photos of the 38-year-old Lawler, who is up for re-election in one of House Speaker Mike Johnson's (R-La.) most vulnerable House seats.

Special counsel Jack Smith's latest account of Jan. 6 is full of vivid new details of then-President Trump inflaming a violent insurrection despite knowing he had lost.

⚖️ Why it matters: Smith and his team are pulling out everything they can muster to keep their case against Trump alive in the face of the Supreme Court's recent ruling on presidential immunity, Axios' Sam Baker writes.

• That includes new evidence designed to bolster the case that Trump's conduct was personal, not official.

👀 The new details: A White House staffer overheard Trump telling family members: "It doesn't matter if you won or lost the election. You still have to fight like hell," according to Smith's latest filing, which was unsealed yesterday.

Fewer young people are using condoms, prompting public health experts to rethink their approach to promoting safe sex, Axios' April Rubin reports.

• 52% of sexually active high school students surveyed by the CDC in 2023 said they used a condom the last time they had sex — a 7-point drop over the past 10 years.
• A slew of experts and young adults told AP condoms just aren't the mainstay they used to be.

🩺 Yes, but: Teens and young adults are having less sex, and contracting fewer sexually transmitted infections, than previous generations.

• Teen pregnancy is also down.

Go deeper.

1. 🇮🇱 The Israeli military expanded its evacuation orders in southern Lebanon, possibly signaling a bigger incursion. Go deeper.
2. 📱Texas sued TikTok, accusing it of violating children's privacy, Reuters reports.
3. 📺 "Saturday Night Live" star Michael Che is workshopping a new late-night show (working title: "Don't Sleep With Michael Che"), in a Manhattan comedy club, per the Hollywood Reporter.

This combination image shows stages of the "ring of fire" solar eclipse as seen from Isla de Pascua, Chile, yesterday.

Special counsel Jack Smith's latest account of Jan. 6 is full of vivid new details depicting then-President Trump inflaming a violent insurrection despite knowing he had lost.

Why it matters: Smith and his team are pulling out everything they can muster to persuade the courts that their case against Trump should go forward.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas warned the Federal Emergency Management Agency does not have enough funding to cover the rest of the hurricane season.

The big picture: Hurricane Helene carved a path of destruction through six southeastern states, leaving unprecedented devastation totaling tens of billions of dollars across communities, several of which officials said Thursday will need a full rebuild.

Tina Peters, a prominent election denier and Trump supporter, was sentenced Thursday to 8 ½ years in prison and six months in jail for election tampering after prosecutors and witnesses blamed her for fueling a national movement to undermine trust in U.S. elections.

Why it matters: The prison sentence is one of the first for perpetrators of "the big lie" that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from then-President Trump.

The total economic output of U.S. Latinas has grown by more than 51% since 2010 and is now larger than all but three states, per a new report.

Why it matters: Despite facing significant economic disparities, Latinas are a driving force in the U.S. economy.

Former President Trump said Wednesday he would revoke immigration status for Haitian migrants who are living legally in the U.S.

Why it matters: The comments mark yet another escalation in the GOP presidential nominee's rhetoric about immigration — this time targeting legal immigrants — and come after he repeatedly shared false claims about Haitian immigrants eating pets in Springfield, Ohio.

With Americans groaning under the weight of high rents and home prices, the Republican vice presidential nominee sees a primary culprit: immigrants, who he says are pushing up housing costs. It's certainly a plausible story, but a more complicated one than Vance suggested.

The big picture: Some academic work points to immigration inflows increasing housing prices, and a top Federal Reserve official has raised the possibility that it is a factor at play in rising rents. But the recent home price surge's timing and geography don't align with a tidy immigration-driven story.

A new Harris campaign ad says former President Trump is "not fit" to serve as commander-in-chief as it uses his own former top officials to support its case.

The big picture: The ad, titled "Unstable Threat," which launched Thursday and is airing across battleground states, seeks to paint Trump's presidency as chaotic at a time when national security is in the spotlight, according to a senior official with Vice President Kamala Harris' campaign.

Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) went into the vice-presidential debate with a plan to surprise Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz by being shockingly ... super-duper nice.

Why it matters: It worked. The result was a refreshingly substantive, even cheery debate — a flashback to a less polarized America, and a preview of what's possible if the nation's current rage subsides. But it was a premeditated political maneuver to rattle Walz.

Former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) will join Vice President Kamala Harris on Thursday for a campaign event in Ripon, Wisconsin, aimed at appealing to Republican and independent voters, according to a senior campaign official.

Why it matters: The event – which will take place at the birthplace of the Republican Party — is Cheney's first campaign appearance with Harris since she endorsed the VP last month.

Residents in more than half of America's counties now draw a substantial share of their total income — more than a quarter — from the government, according to an Economic Innovation Group analysis. In 2000, that was the case in just 10% of counties.

Why it matters: America's reliance on government programs has soared in the past half-century — with a stunning acceleration in the past 25 years (charted above).

Former President Trump's campaign said Wednesday it raised $160 million in September, five weeks out from Election Day.

The big picture: Vice President Kamala Harris' campaign September figures had yet to be released, but she's raised more than Trump every month since she replaced President Biden in the 2024 race.

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) raised $180,000 to split among three frontline New York Democrats over the weekend, Axios has learned.

Why it matters: Gillibrand wants to lead the Senate Democratic fundraising arm for Majority Leader Chuck Schumer in 2025, as Axios first reported.

Senators are privately (and publicly) saying they hope Donald Trump stays out of the internal election to replace Mitch McConnell as Senate GOP leader.

Why it matters: None of them know — or it's a damn good secret — whether the former president will make an endorsement. But senators and advisors fear a Trump intervention could turn the secret ballot leader election into a public feud.