Tsunami waves reach US coast
Tsunami waves reach Hawaii and the West Coast hours after magnitude 8.8 earthquake
U.S. authorities remain vigilant Wednesday morning of wave heights, as well as strong or hazardous currents, after tsunami advisories were triggered across the Pacific, Alaska and the entire U.S. West Coast.
More updates: The waves began arriving in Hawaii after 7 p.m. local time after one of the strongest earthquakes in recorded history, a magnitude 8.8 temblor, struck Tuesday off Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula.
The EPA just made the largest deregulatory action in US history
The Environmental Protection Agency will rescind the long-standing finding that greenhouse gas emissions endanger human health, as well as tailpipe emission standards for vehicles. This means wiping out two decades of regulation aimed at reducing carbon dioxide, methane and other greenhouse gases from cars, power plants, oil production and other sources. President Donald Trump's pick to run the EPA Lee Zeldin will announce the proposal Tuesday. If finalized, this action will devastate the EPA's ability to carry out its primary authority to limit climate pollution under the federal Clean Air Act.
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What's the weather today? Check your local forecast here.
New York City shooter puts focus on NFL's troubling history with CTE
The mass shooting in New York has once again put the spotlight on the National Football League's troubling history with how the league deals with head trauma and, more recently, the links with playing football and chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a degenerative brain disease linked to repeated blows to the head. New York police say Shane Tamura, a 27-year-old Las Vegas resident who played high school football in the Los Angeles area, killed four people, including a New York City police officer, before turning the gun on himself. Mayor Eric Adams said Tamura targeted the league's headquarters in New York, leaving a note claiming he had CTE.
Trump wants lower interest rates. Will the Fed make cuts?
All eyes will be on the Federal Reserve's post-meeting statement Tuesday to see if there are signs of an impending interest rate cut in September. The Fed has kept its key interest rate steady since late 2024, despite monthslong pressure from President Donald Trump to make cuts. While Trump has floated the idea of firing Fed chair Jerome Powell, the president on July 24 backed off his threats following a visit to the Fed's headquarters. Trump's ire stems from the central bank's decision to wait and see how tariffs impact prices before adjusting rates.
Today's talkers
Crack open a cold one with USA TODAY
From dive bars to hidden speakeasies, swanky cocktail lounges to beachfront watering holes, the best bars tell a story — and often serve up something tasty to go with your drink. USA TODAY's Bars of the Year 2025 are the places where locals and visitors alike gather for good conversation, warm vibes and a little slice of the city's character – whether that means savoring a Rusty Nail aboard a simulated flight in Phoenix, chasing an Orange Crush down the beach in Delaware or pairing a salty margarita with a deep-fried hot dog at a Florida dockside bar. Check out the spots chosen by USA TODAY Network journalists who know their hometown haunts inside and out.
Photo of the day: This kid from America
From New Hope, Pennsylvania, to Kawasaki, Japan: Zach Peckman, 16, is representing the best of American jump rope at the World Jump Rope Championships in Japan this week. His events are all about speed, such as the 30-second and 3-minute sprints where some athletes hit more than seven jumps per second. To keep rhythm during competition, Peckman listens to a sped-up version of Kim Wilde's 'Kids in America' — we'll be listening in support, too.
Nicole Fallert is a newsletter writer at USA TODAY, sign up for the email here. Want to send Nicole a note? Shoot her an email at NFallert@usatoday.com.
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Axios
17 minutes ago
- Axios
ICE arrests decline amid backlash to June immigration raids
Arrests by U.S. immigration agents dropped by nearly 20% in July, amid the backlash to President Trump's push to dramatically boost the number of detentions, according to new data that the Trump administration disputes. Why it matters: The decline followed protests over the waves of raids by masked immigration agents in June — particularly in Southern California — that led to court orders that have hindered some Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations, at least for now. Another factor in the falling arrest numbers: Trump's own flip-flop on whether to pause raids targeting the agriculture and hospitality industries. Meanwhile, removals of immigrants from the U.S. rose in July to an average of 84 more per day compared to June. NBC News reported that more than 18,000 immigrants were removed in June. By the numbers: ICE agents booked an average of 990 arrests per day from July 1 to July 27, according to data collected by the nonpartisan Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC). That was down from an average of 1,224 daily arrests in June — and well short of senior White House adviser Stephen Miller's stated goal of at least 3,000 immigration arrests per day. The Trump administration appears to have backed off that goal — at least in court. In a case challenging expedited removals of immigrants, a Justice Department attorney told the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals last week that ICE leadership hasn't been directed to meet any numerical quota for arrests, Politico first reported. The 56,945 people currently in ICE custody also mark a slight decrease from the 57,861 detainees reported four weeks earlier, according to the TRAC data. State of play: The stepped-up campaign of raids that began in June — dubbed the "Summer of ICE" by immigration activists — generated protests across the nation. The raids, in which masked agents in plain clothes swept into communities to make arrests, left many immigrants no choice but to abandon their children, their vehicles, work tools and family dogs and cats. U.S. citizens — many of them Latinos — reported being detained for various periods by immigration agents in what critics say were instances of racial profiling and overzealous policing. Last month, immigrant advocacy groups filed a lawsuit accusing the Trump administration of deliberately targeting brown-skinned individuals in Southern California as part of its crackdown. A federal appeals court on Friday upheld a lower court's order halting many of the tactics the administration has been using in immigration stops and arrests in Southern California. What they're saying: The Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin confirmed to Axios that arrests were down in July but said they were only down 10% — from 31,000 in June to 27,000. "Despite a historic number of injunctions — including the (temporary restraining order) in Los Angeles — ICE continues to arrest the worst of the worst," McLaughlin said. "From gang members and terrorists to pedophiles, everyday ICE is removing these barbaric criminal illegal aliens from American communities. Secretary [Kristi] Noem has been clear: nothing will stop us from carrying out the President and American people's mandate to carry out the largest deportation of criminal illegal aliens in American history."
Axios
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- Axios
Democrats go nuclear in redistricting arms race
Top Democrats are speaking — and acting — in increasingly existential terms over the audacious Trump-backed push to redraw Texas' congressional map ahead of the 2026 midterms. Why it matters: The proposed Texas map is designed to net the GOP up to five House seats — potentially enough to decide the majority for President Trump's Republicans in his final two years in office. For many Democrats, this moment is an inflection point in the party's Trump-era identity crisis — one that could determine whether "fighters" or "folders" carry the torch into 2028. "This is a war. We are at war. And that's why the gloves are off, and I say bring it on," New York Gov. Kathy Hochul declared at a press conference Monday, accusing Texas Republicans of a "legal insurrection." Zoom in: More than 50 Democratic lawmakers fled Texas on Sunday — fanning out to deep-blue Illinois, New York and Massachusetts — to prevent the GOP-controlled legislature from voting on the new map. Texas' Republican Gov. Greg Abbott has threatened them with daily $500 fines, felony bribery charges if the fines are paid for by donations, and the possibility of removal from office. The Texas state House issued civil arrest warrants for the Democrats who fled the state, though the warrants are only enforceable inside Texas. Zoom out: Outside Texas, key Democratic governors have launched an aggressive counteroffensive to try to neutralize the GOP's redistricting push. In California, Gov. Gavin Newsom is eyeing a November special election that would sideline the state's independent redistricting commission and ask voters to approve a new, legislature-drawn map favoring Democrats. In New York, Hochul said Democrats have "no choice" but to pursue a constitutional amendment to authorize new maps — though it wouldn't appear on the ballot until 2027 at the earliest. In Illinois, where the congressional map is already heavily gerrymandered, Gov. J.B. Pritzker has vowed to protect fleeing Texas Democrats and left the door open to further revisions of the state's map. Between the lines: Newsom, who's made no secret of his presidential ambitions, has openly accused Trump of "rigging" the midterms and suggested California could redraw its map to eliminate all nine GOP-held seats. His push for a referendum in just three months will be a legal and political high-wire act that — if successful — could become the defining achievement of his career. "If this works and Dems win the House in 2026 by <5 seats, 'I saved us from a second MAGA Republican trifecta' is a hell of a platform for Newsom to run [for president] on in 2028," tweeted Democratic pollster Adam Carlson. The intrigue: Hochul, who is running for re-election in 2026, has emerged as an unlikely face of the Democratic resistance. She called Monday for disbanding New York's independent redistricting commission and embracing partisan hardball, telling reporters that she's "tired of fighting this fight with my hand tied behind my back." "I cannot ignore that the playing field has changed dramatically, and shame on us if we ignore that fact and cling tight to the vestiges of the past," Hochul said. The bottom line: Both sides are keenly aware that a Democratic victory in 2026 would grind Trump's agenda to a halt and potentially lead to his third impeachment.
18 minutes ago
Sen. Elizabeth Warren touts investigations into Trump administration's federal cuts
As the Trump administration says it's continuing its effort to reduce waste, fraud and abuse in the federal government through cuts at key agencies such as the Social Security Administration and the Education Department, Sen. Elizabeth Warren is touting her ongoing investigations that she said work to protect millions of Americans from restricted access to higher education and retirement benefits. "We cannot stand by and let Trump abuse his power by ripping away the programs that help people breathe a little easier," Warren said in an exclusive interview with ABC News. "People voted Democrats into office to fight for them, and they do not expect us to roll over and play dead." The Massachusetts Democrat, a former teacher and fierce defender of public education, launched her Save Our Schools campaign this spring to investigate the administration's attempts to shutter the Department of Education. The investigations probe the Department of Education's cuts including downsizing the Federal Student Aid (FSA) office and changes to the student loan system. Democrats contend slashing FSA's workforce will hinder low-income Americans' access to college and urged the agency to rehire employees critical to its financial aid operations. In April, Warren launched the Social Security War Room, a coordinated effort to combat the administration's so-called "attack on Americans' Social Security" at the Social Security Administration (SSA), which is responsible for distributing retirement disability, and survivor benefits to more than 70 million Americans. So far, Warren said her campaign has worked to cut down Social Security wait times on the phone and in person at regional offices. Warren urged President Donald Trump and the Department of Government Efficiency to take their "hands off" Social Security. She said her pressure campaign -- which included an inspector general review of the agency -- has impeded Social Security Commissioner Frank Bisignano from making additional layoffs after the agency announced it was aiming to cut roughly 7,000 people from its workforce. Warren said if Democrats do nothing, the Trump administration will "go ahead with no pushback." "There's a lot of anger over what Trump and the Republicans are trying to do to the Social Security Administration," she said. "We will push back with everything we've got." While Trump has vowed to safeguard Social Security and Medicare, some actions from the administration have raised concerns about potential impacts on the program -- including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's recent comments that the so-called Trump savings accounts for newborns could be a "back door" to start privatizing Social Security. Bessent later walked back the comments. The Trump administration says its workforce restructuring is part of the president's efforts to cut waste, fraud and abuse and improve Americans' lives, White House Principal Deputy Press Secretary Harrison Fields told ABC News. He added that the president's success through DOGE is "undisputed and legal." Republicans argue the SSA changes will ensure fraudsters won't tamper with retirees' benefits and streamline the experience by utilizing artificial intelligence. Warren said large-scale changes to these agencies could have dire consequences for Americans. "Save Our Schools and the Social Security War Room are two ways that, internally, the Democrats are fighting back against administration cuts that undermine people all across this country," Warren said. SSA has said the focus of its workforce reduction and organizational restructuring is to eliminate things that don't provide "mission critical" services. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon also stressed she is not defunding federal programs and will continue to perform all of the agency's "statutory duties." Through a combination of federal investigations, oversight, storytelling and even lawsuits, Warren told ABC News her campaigns have worked to provide the administration with checks and balances. Warren took credit for recently helping millions of students receive roughly $6 billion in FY25 title funding that is typically allocated on July 1, but was withheld for more than three weeks by the Office of Management and Budget for a "programmatic review" of education funding. During the funding freeze, McMahon told ABC News that the administration wanted to ensure that student programs had "the right focus" and funds weren't being misused. "We organized groups and individuals to pressure the department to release those funds...," Warren said. "This matters because that's the money that's often used for our kids with special needs, for after-school programs and others who help our kids get a high-quality education." Despite union criticism that the Education Department is carrying out unlawful layoffs, the department's spokesperson, Madi Biedermann, told ABC News the agency followed all applicable laws and regulations when implementing its reduction in force. Before the Senate left town, Warren vowed to continue fighting for the federal workforce. "The Trump administration is committed to undercutting Social Security and eliminating the Department of Education," she said. "This is not going to be a one and done."
