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Politics · MidtermsPress ✓ 7 outlets · quotes as reported by each outlet

Three Senate debates turn personal. Candidates in Michigan, Georgia and Maine trade insults over tariffs and the Iran war

Thursday night's debates were hostile, testy and fiery, by the New York Times's own labels. Republicans in all three races were pressed to defend their ties to Trump, 25 days before the midterm elections.

Michigan mattered most. It is an open seat, and Republican Mike Rogers and Democrat Abdul El-Sayed met for the first time. CNN reported that Rogers called El-Sayed a “con man” and questioned his credentials as a doctor; El-Sayed said Rogers had “cheer-led” the Iran war from the start. The Hill said the debate went off the rails, and CBS reported insults traded over Iran and Israel. Tariffs came up too. Rogers said he phoned Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick this week about a trade deal with Canada, and El-Sayed answered that Rogers’s reversal on tariffs had “everything to do with his sagging poll numbers.” A New York Times/Siena University poll showed El-Sayed with a modest lead. Trump has attacked El-Sayed’s faith in recent days, The Hill reported, and Sen. Chuck Schumer denounced it. In Georgia, Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff opened by putting Rep. Mike Collins’s record on trial, and NBC News described a fight over Trump-era and Biden-era policies. Ossoff pressed Collins to explain how tariffs have helped Georgians; Collins said they were “making it fair.” The sharpest exchange, by CNN’s account, came when Ossoff said that if John Lewis were marching from Selma to Montgomery today, Collins “would be grabbing a billy club,” a reference to a social media post by Collins.

In Maine, the second debate between Republican Sen. Susan Collins and Democrat Troy Jackson was dominated by the Iran war and prices. ABC News reported that the two sparred over Trump, trade and abortion. Jackson accused Collins of profiting from the war and said she could use her leverage to stop it; Collins called the charge “absolutely outrageous” and demanded an apology, The Hill and CNN reported. The New York Times found that spiking heating oil costs have put her on the defensive; Collins replied that the Iran war is not the reason Maine has some of the nation’s highest electric bills. Earlier in the day, CBS and The Washington Post reported, former President Obama endorsed Jackson. Affordability, the economy and abortion also came up across the three debates, according to the roundups from The Guardian and The New York Times. The common thread is the war. Oil near $91.5 a barrel, mortgage rates at 7.40% and a president who says he will not attack Iran before Election Day are the same forces moving markets, and campaigns have turned them into a test of loyalty to Trump. Politico, CBS and The Washington Post reported on Thursday that Trump again promised no attack on Iran before the midterms, which makes the war’s timing part of the campaign. Debates rarely move polls on their own, and coverage did not point to a clear winner in any of the three. The next evidence will be the polls, especially in Michigan, and whether Collins’s numbers in Maine move as the heating season opens. Election Day is Nov. 3. Quotes here are as reported by the outlets named; we did not watch the full debates.

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By the numbers
3Senate debates held Thursday night, in Michigan, Georgia and Maine
25days until Election Day, Nov. 3
1994last year a Republican won a Michigan Senate seat, an open race this time
ImmigrationPress ✓ 8 outlets · DHS and mayor’s accounts differ

ICE shoots a man in the Bronx with a child in the car. Mamdani presses Trump to end enforcement in the city

An ICE officer shot and wounded a man in the Marble Hill neighborhood of the Bronx on Thursday afternoon, according to NBC, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Guardian, CBS, ABC, Reuters and the BBC. Mayor Zohran Mamdani said the man was in a car with a 5-year-old child when agents surrounded him and fired; he said the child appeared physically unharmed. The Department of Homeland Security, or DHS, said officers were carrying out a targeted operation to arrest a man with a prior criminal conviction, that an officer fired, and that the man is alive in a hospital. Politico and USA Today reported that Mamdani contacted Trump and demanded an end to immigration enforcement actions in New York. There was no federal response to that demand in the coverage we reviewed. Video, the officer’s account and any city or state inquiry will decide how this reads on Friday.

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Word of the day
Quid pro quoLaw

Latin for “something for something”: an exchange in which one side gives a favor or payment in return for an official act or access. It is a legal problem when public power is on offer. The word entered this week’s news through a donor’s claim about a Trump ally, which, in the coverage we saw, she has not yet answered.

Immigration · BusinessPress ✓ 8 outlets · fraud claims are the administration’s

The administration suspends Microsoft, Adobe and IT outsourcers from the green card labor program, citing fraud

Vice President JD Vance announced Thursday that Microsoft is suspended from PERM, the labor certification step employers use to sponsor workers for a green card, according to ABC, The Guardian, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Reuters, AP and CNBC. Politico and CNBC reported that Adobe is also barred, and Axios said several IT firms were included; Reuters reported that India’s TCS sees no impact on its workforce plans. Vance accused Microsoft of abusing the system while cutting American jobs and said the suspension will last as long as needed. His layoff and visa figures are the administration’s claims, and Microsoft, which said it looked forward to giving the government more information, has disputed the framing, according to one report we read.

The suspension does not end H-1B visas themselves; it blocks the next step toward permanent residence for those firms. Politico also reported that the administration is probing colleges for potential visa fraud. Watch for company statements, a legal challenge, and the Labor Department’s evidence, which was not released in the coverage we saw.

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Justice · WorldPress ✓ 8 outlets · allegations, not findings

A new indictment accuses Maduro and his wife of overseeing torture of Americans and political opponents

Federal prosecutors unsealed a superseding indictment against former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, adding conspiracy to commit torture, according to CBS, AP, The Washington Post, PBS, NPR, ABC and Reuters. Prosecutors allege Maduro oversaw a system of arbitrary detention and torture used against political opponents, and that Americans were among the victims. The couple were first charged earlier this year after U.S. forces took them into custody; Maduro’s lawyer says he denies the new charges.

The Guardian reports Flores will appear in a New York court to push for release. A trial date and the evidence against each defendant were not settled in the coverage we saw. The indictment is an accusation, and both defendants are presumed innocent.

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PoliticsPress ✓ 6 outlets · claim by a donor, response not seen

A Trump donor says Kimberly Guilfoyle asked him to pay a $100,000 bill. Vance and Rubio brush off questions

A donor, identified by The Hill as Eric Deters, says Kimberly Guilfoyle, the U.S. ambassador to Greece, asked him to wire $100,000 to pay a credit card bill, CBS, ABC, PBS and The Washington Post reported. CBS said the donor claimed it was tied to access to Trump, and an associate called it a “quid pro quo.” House Democrats have asked Guilfoyle for records, PBS reported in an exclusive. Vance and Rubio brushed off questions on Thursday, The Washington Post and The Guardian reported, and Sen. Thom Tillis said she and others “need to answer a lot of questions,” by The Hill.

These are allegations. We did not find Guilfoyle’s own response in the coverage we reviewed, and no charge or official finding has been reported. The next step is whether she provides the records.

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In brief
  • Meta bars TikTok from advertising on its apps, Bloomberg News reportsReuters (citing Bloomberg)
  • Top Goldman Sachs executives to share a bonus pool worth up to $500 millionGuardian · Bloomberg
  • Margaret Hamilton, who led the software team for NASA's Apollo program, dies at 90ABC · Washington Post · NYT
  • Curtis Flowers, tried six times for the same Mississippi killings and wrongly imprisoned for 22 years, dies at 56CBS · NYT · Guardian
  • China to resume October fuel exports after a brief halt, four trade sources sayReuters
  • Health Secretary Kennedy launches a new push on vaccine injuriesReuters
  • Arlington County sues to block Trump’s planned triumphal archNew York Times
  • Surveillance startup Flock Safety to cut several hundred jobs amid backlash, sources sayReuters (exclusive)
Seven minutes every morning, one front page — see About

Unverified — what we could not confirm

"Trump agreed to curb ICE in New York." Mamdani says he contacted the president and demanded it. No White House response or change in enforcement has been reported.
"Guilfoyle sold access to Trump." A donor alleges it and an associate called it a quid pro quo. No charge, finding or reply from her was in the coverage we saw.
"Microsoft committed visa fraud." The administration alleges it and cites its own figures. Microsoft disputes the framing, and the investigations are open.
Glossary · dotted words — economics, law, security and science terms explained in the context of the story. The list grows every day.
INSIDEThree Senate debates turn personal. Candidates in Michigan, Georgia and Maine trade insults over tariffs and the Iran warPolitics · MidtermsICE shoots a man in the Bronx with a child in the car. Mamdani presses Trump to end enforcement in the cityImmigrationThe administration suspends Microsoft, Adobe and IT outsourcers from the green card labor program, citing fraudImmigration · BusinessA new indictment accuses Maduro and his wife of overseeing torture of Americans and political opponentsJustice · WorldA Trump donor says Kimberly Guilfoyle asked him to pay a $100,000 bill. Vance and Rubio brush off questionsPolitics

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Statements as posted, not fact-checked.