1 big thing

What's it like to fly into the eye of a hurricane? Niala joins a team of NOAA Hurricane hunters tracking Hurricane Lee to understand the science gathered on these missions, and how it helps create the forecasts that millions depend upon. Plus, monitoring AI for hate speech. And, the FDA approves updated COVID-19 vaccines. Guests: Axios' Russell Contreras and Adriel Bettelheim; NOAA's Alan Hough, J...

A 6.8 magnitude earthquake hit Morocco late Friday night near Marrakech. More than 2,100 people were killed and over 2,400 injured, as of Sunday. The death toll is expected to rise as rescuers continue to search through the rubble for survivors. Plus, how local governments are handling the humanitarian crisis for migrants across U.S. cities. And, what to know about the weekend's G20 summit in Indi...

The 2024 presidential election is looking different from elections past for a number of reasons. A former president is running against a current president, which has only happened a handful of times in U.S. history, and each of the frontrunners has a distinctly low-profile campaign for now. Plus, your car has the power to gather and sell data about your life. And, your experiences with Narcan. Gue...

It's been about a month since the Lahaina wildfire broke out on Maui, and now the local community is facing another hardship: a severe economic downturn. The big picture: Most of Hawai'i's residents depend on tourism to pay the bills. With the drop in travel to Maui, locals and government officials are now urging people back. Plus, a new era for Airbnb. And, the latest from Ukraine and Blinken's s...

It's been a rocky start to the school year when it comes to COVID. A late summer surge has already led to class cancellations in places like Kentucky and Texas. We dig deeper on how schools are dealing with this latest COVID wave. Plus, women are closing the labor force gap with men. And, the fallout continues from Spanish soccer's "MeToo" moment. Guests: Axios' Adriel Bettelheim and Emily Peck; P...

There's been a focus on the restriction or attempted restriction of voting rights in the last several years. But as Axios' Eugene Scott reports, there have been even more state led moves to expand voting access. Why it matters: Voting could look different for many people in 2024. Plus, low-quality health care is costing employers -- and workers -- big. In-flight telemedicine is coming soon. And, N...

Republican presidential candidates are starting to distinguish themselves in the week following the first debate. And this week it was all about Vivek Ramaswamy and Nikki Haley. For our politics State of Play, we check the status of the GOP presidential primary contenders. Plus, testing the resilience of our oceans. And, ransomware hackers on the prowl over Labor Day weekend. Go deeper (7 min. rea...

Senator Mitch McConnell once again seemed to freeze up during a press conference yesterday, for the second time since late July. This time, he was in his home state of Kentucky and the incident sent ripples of worry through the Republican Party in Washington. Plus, the rise of the apocalyptic seed vault. And, hate crimes are still increasing in the U.S. Guests: Axios' Hans Nichols, Russell Contrer...

West Virginia University announced this month it would eliminate 32 of 338 majors, or about 9% of its course catalog. While WVU is staring down a 45 million budget deficit, some of the biggest proposed cuts are to the languages program. And humanities scholars and others are worried this could be a blueprint for attacks on higher education. Plus, the new business boom. And, the latest on Hurricane...

The Department of Transportation is fining American Airlines $4.1 million for tarmac delays, the largest ever fine of its kind against an airline. The big picture: Between 2018 and 2021, American Airlines kept 43 domestic flights stuck on the ground for at least three hours, without giving passengers a chance to exit the plane. As summer comes to an end , we take a look at airline travel. Summer r...

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said at the Jackson Hole Economic Symposium in Wyoming on Friday that inflation remains too high. He added that the central bank is prepared to raise interest rates further in the coming months. The big picture: Mortgage rates are already at a two-decade high and so far this year has had a record number of media layoffs. Why does this strong economy feel so weak...

Former President Donald Trump turned himself in to the Fulton County Jail on Thursday evening. Trump was booked on 13 state felony charges for his interference in the 2020 election. The big picture: All this is happening on the backdrop of the 2024 presidential election. Even though former President Trump wasn't at the first GOP primary debate on Wednesday night, he certainly dominated the convers...

Wagner group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin was listed as a passenger on a private plane that crashed north of Moscow on Wednesday, killing all 10 passengers according to Russian authorities. The big picture: In June, Prigozhin led a rebellion against the Russian military leadership. It was seen as the biggest challenge to President Vladimir Putin's rule since he came to power more than two decades ago....

The first Republican presidential primary debate is Wednesday night in Milwaukee. Fox News is moderating the event and eight candidates will hit the stage at 9 p.m. ET. But, former president Trump isn't one of them. The big picture: Trump said on his Truth Social on Sunday he will "not be doing the debates." Which begs the question – do debates even matter anymore? We take a deeper look at the ans...

At least 100 million Americans have some sort of medical debt. But, the group with the highest rates of medical debt might surprise you. The big picture: Nearly 1 in 4 middle-class Americans, people who earn $50,000-$100,000 a year, have unpaid medical bills, according to a new report from the think tank Third Way. We take a look at why middle-class Americans have the highest rates of medical debt...

The school year is once again beginning without enough teachers. Turnover rates are high and fewer young people want to go into the profession. The big picture: According to research from the Kansas State University's College of Education, there are more than 30,000 teacher vacancies in the US, and more than 160,000 jobs that are filled by teachers who aren't qualified. Axios' Erica Pandey shares...

A coup in Niger and its violent aftermath has Western powers including the US scrambling to keep an anti-terrorism presence in the region, and the turmoil is also affecting China's relationship with the West African nation. As one of the largest investors in Niger, China has put billions into its oil sector, for one. But across the continent in Tanzania, China's role looks different. There, the Ch...

This week saw former President Trump's fourth indictment, this time in Fulton County, Georgia. And for this racketeering indictment Trump's tweets are coming back to haunt him. The big picture: Just as things are heating up for the 2024 election cycle, the former president has five trials scheduled between now and May. We take a look at why these indictments seem to be happening all at once and wh...

At least 106 people are confirmed dead and an estimated 1,300 are still missing, a week after Hawaii's deadly wildfires which almost completely razed the town of Lahaina on Maui. Hawaii Governor Josh Green said earlier this week that there will be no survivors left. The big picture: Officials are still recovering and identifying human remains. And teams involved in recovery efforts for 9/11 and th...

Illinois is the first state in the country to pass legislation to protect child social media influencers. The new law ensures children under 16 featured in online videos and platforms are compensated for their work. The big picture: Most social media platforms don't allow children to have an account until they are 13. But, TikTok, YouTube and Instagram are flooded with pages, run by adults, gainin...

Last night an Atlanta grand jury indicted former president Trump and 18 of his allies in the probe into efforts to flip Georgia's 2020 election results. Fulton County DA Fani Willis told reporters: "The indictment alleges that rather than abide by Georgia's legal process for election challenges, the defendants engaged in a criminal racketeering enterprise in order to overturn Georgia's presidentia...

All signs point to a big week ahead for the probe into former president Trump's 2020 election subversion efforts in Georgia. The Fulton County DA looks set to put the case before a grand jury this week. The big picture: Sources told CNN that new evidence directly ties Trump's team to a January 2021 breach of voting systems in Coffee County, Georgia. We dig deeper into how this connects to the othe...

Catastrophic wildfires across Maui have left at least 53 people dead, at least one thousand others are unaccounted for, hundreds of structures destroyed and thousands homeless. President Biden approved federal disaster relief for Hawaii yesterday, and Governor John Green said it's the largest natural disaster in the state's history. Plus, another trial date has been announced for former President...

Zoom has a lot of people worried this week over its use of customer data to train artificial intelligence. The company's CEO Eric Yuan said Zoom's March update to its terms of service — which started the backlash — was a mistake. The big picture: Distrust for the companies creating AI technology is growing. 82% of American voters said they don't trust tech executives to regulate AI, according to a...

The push for electric vehicles to become more mainstream has gained serious momentum in recent years, with climate change, fluctuations in gas prices, and tax incentives. But the broader transition to EVs looks like it will be longer and bumpier than expected. The big picture: General Motors announced on Tuesday it plans to equip all its electric cars and trucks with two-way charging technology, s...