Plus: New Era Of American Political Violence & Trump's Tariffs Hit Inflation Numbers

Good evening,

Nearly 3,000 Americans were killed on this day 24 years ago. At Ground Zero in Manhattan, families of 9/11 victims gathered to read their names aloud.

It remains a day of mourning for the nation, one where many Americans recall the exact moment they learned planes had struck the Twin Towers.

Tiffany, a Mo News Premium community member, shared in our Mo News Premium Slack group that she was 12 weeks pregnant with her first child when she and her husband visited the towers during a six-week road trip in late August 2001. They met a kind college student there, who gave them tips, and two weeks later she found herself praying for his safety.

Just days before 9/11/2001, she developed the photo posted above — a picture that has been framed in her home ever since.

Mo News Team

🚨 ONE IMPORTANT THING

Officials Hunt For Suspect In Charlie Kirk’s Murder As U.S. Faces Rising Political Violence

The FBI publicly identified a person of interest in connection with the Wednesday murder of conservative commentator and Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk at a Q&A event in Utah. The FBI said it’s offering up to a $100,000 reward for any information leading to his arrest.

Authorities detained two people yesterday but released both of them after finding “no current ties to the shooting.”
The high-powered bolt action rifle used to kill Kirk was recovered, FBI Special Agent Robert Bohls said Thursday morning, along with shoe and palm prints near the scene.
Utah DPS Commissioner Beau Mason said the suspect entered Utah Valley University at 11:52 a.m., moved through stairwells and onto rooftops, and fired the fatal shot before jumping off the roof. He fled to a nearby neighborhood.
President Trump said late Thursday that he believes the investigation is making progress, adding that the assassin is “an animal and hopefully they will get him.”

🚨 We still don’t know the motive. The Wall Street Journal reported that ammunition used in the shooting was engraved with transgender and anti-fascist messages. But a senior law enforcement official told the New York Times the report didn’t match other evidence and may have been misread or misinterpreted.

Legacy: Kirk is widely credited with turning conservative student activism into a full-fledged, modern-day movement. President Trump announced Thursday that he will posthumously award Kirk the Presidential Medal of Freedom — the highest civilian honor. Vice President JD Vance posted a moving tribute to Kirk on X hours after the incident, and will be using his Air Force Two plane to bring Kirk’s body to Arizona for burial.

“He exemplified a foundational virtue of our Republic: the willingness to speak openly and debate ideas. Charlie had an uncanny ability to know when to push the envelope and when to be more conventional. I've seen people attack him for years for being wrong on this or that issue publicly, never realizing that privately he was working to broaden the scope of acceptable debate,” wrote Vance, who considered Kirk a close friend.

THE DEBATE OVER FREE SPEECH
Thought leaders and government officials across the political spectrum have praised Kirk as someone who encouraged uninhibited and necessary debate in this country. Kirk’s right-wing rhetoric often pushed buttons, but he always made a point of engaging in open conversation and an exchange of ideas with people of opposing viewpoints.

He had firmly-held traditional Christian and Conservative beliefs and actively tried to bring more young Americans into the fold. That effort made him one of the right’s most effective figures — and one of America’s most controversial.

Guns: Kirk compared gun deaths to driving deaths in a viral 2023 clip. He argued that a certain number of gun deaths (like traffic deaths) were a price worth paying for “freedom.” He said the US should focus on reducing gun deaths, and proposed having more armed guards outside of schools and public places.

College: Kirk, who dropped out of college, called higher education a “scam,” saying most universities are about liberal indoctrination rather than education.
Abortion: He was pro-life. “It is a growing consensus in the pro-life world that abortion is never medically necessary,” Kirk told a student. In response to a question about his hypothetical 10-year-old daughter being raped and becoming pregnant, he said, “the baby would be delivered.”
LGBTQ: Kirk has said young transgender people have a “mental illness.” He opposed same-sex marriage — which he briefly spoke about on CA Gov. Gavin Newsom’s podcast this year.
Civil rights: "We made a huge mistake when we passed the Civil Rights Act in the 1960s,” Kirk said in 2023, arguing it created a “permanent DEI-type bureaucracy.”
Family/religion: Kirk's faith and his family were central to his politics. He leaves behind a wife and two young children. That’s what he said he wanted to be remembered for.

Bottom line: From his social media and podcast, to guest appearances on Fox News, Kirk often tackled controversial and politically sensitive issues, vowing a dedication to free speech — a fundamental American value.

NEW ERA OF VIOLENCE
Kirk’s murder comes amid a disturbing series of politically motivated acts of violence in recent years. From the two assassination attempts on Donald Trump last summer, to the recent murder of a Minnesota state legislator, to the shooting of Rep. Steve Scalise in 2017 — political violence expert Robert Pape told The Washington Post, “It is a historically high era of assassination, assassination attempts, violent protests, and it is occurring on both the right and the left.”

Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi: In 2022, her husband was brutally assaulted at their San Francisco home by a man seeking to harm her.
Governors: In April, Gov. Josh Shapiro’s home was firebombed; in 2020, a plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer was foiled.
January 6, 2021: The attack on the Capitol left four rioters dead; five responding police officers later died.
Supreme Court: A California man pleaded guilty to attempting to assassinate Justice Brett Kavanaugh at his Maryland home in 2022.
Business leaders and scientists: From the killing of the UnitedHealthcare CEO, to the shooting that targeted NFL headquarters and left bystanders dead, and the attack on the CDC campus that killed a police officer — political violence has spread beyond politicians, into politicized topics.

War of words: “My research suggests that to de-escalate the political environment and reduce the risk of violence, America’s political leaders need to cross their political divides and make joint statements (and ideally joint appearances) that denounce all political violence, welcome all peaceful protest and call for respecting the rules, process and results of free and fair elections in the country,” Pape recently wrote for The New York Times.

On Wednesday night, President Trump condemned the attack but escalated his rhetoric, blaming the “radical left” and highlighting political violence only against conservatives.

🚰 An Easy Way To Stay Hydrated

Staying hydrated can be hard. Luckily, LMNT is here to make it a whole lot easier. And Lemonade Salt is squeezing its way into LMNT’s permanent flavor lineup.

What it is: LMNT is a tasty electrolyte drink mix that replaces vital electrolytes without sugar, artificial colors, and other questionable ingredients.
Who it’s for: LMNT is perfect for athletes, folks who are fasting, or those following keto, low-carb, whole-food, or paleo diets.

Get a free 8-count Sample Pack of LMNT’s most popular drink mix flavors on us with any purchase at DrinkLMNT.com/MoNews.

🚨 ONE THING WE’RE FOLLOWING

Trump’s Tariffs Lead To Inflation Uptick In August

Inflation was up in August as tariffs put pressure on prices for consumer goods like clothing, furniture, and coffee.

The consumer price index (CPI) was up 2.9% in August from a year earlier, according to a new report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, released on Thursday.

As economics reporter Heather Long put it: “The middle-class squeeze from tariffs is here.”

A LOOK AT THE NUMBERS
The CPI for August is an increase from 2.7% in July and the fastest annual pace of inflation since the beginning of 2025. The CPI measures the cost of consumer goods, including housing (up nearly 4% from last year), medical care (up 3.4%), and grocery prices (up 2.7%).

Some consumer products that are mostly sourced abroad – like coffee, which rose more than 20% from a year ago – have seen particularly high year-over-year price surges.

Economists say President Trump’s tariffs have forced businesses raise prices on certain products, while recovering tourist traffic — which was down over the spring and early summer during Trump's crackdown on immigration and amid tariff boycotts — has also driven up inflation.

Up next: The inflation report presents a conflict for the Federal Reserve, which was expected to cut interest rates at its upcoming September meeting amid months of weak jobs reports.

Last week’s poor jobs report has economists expecting the Fed will still cut rates, though that risks keeping inflation elevated.

High inflation typically means the Fed will raise rates; weak jobs reports would indicate they’d lower rates. The Fed is fighting both things. We wish Jerome Powell good luck.

⏳ THE SPEED READ

🚨NATION

Colorado school shooting: one student in critical condition, shooter dead of self-inflicted gunshot (MO NEWS)
Bob Menendez’s wife says she was ex-senator’s ‘puppet’ as she gets 4½ years in prison for bribery (AP)
Ryan Routh trial begins after jury seated in Trump assassination attempt case (FOX)
Senators seek last-minute deal to avert ‘nuclear option’ on GOP rules change (THE HILL)

🌎 AROUND THE WORLD

Israel strikes key Houthi targets in Yemen after drone strike on airport (EURO-NEWS)
UK fires Peter Mandelson as US Ambassador over ties to Jeffrey Epstein (BBC)
Brazil’s supreme court finds former leader Bolsonaro guilty of plotting military coup (GUARDIAN)
Massive gas tanker explosion in Mexico City injures at least 57 people, some seriously (NBC)

📱BUSINESS, SCIENCE & TECH

Scientists link hundreds of severe heat waves to fossil fuel producers' pollution (NPR)
Mortgage rates tumble, marking largest weekly drop in a year (FOX)
Paramount Skydance is preparing a bid for Warner Bros. Discovery, sources say (CNBC)
FTC investigating AI ‘companion’ chatbots amid growing concern about harm to kids (CNN)

🎬 SPORTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Comedy Central pulls planned reruns of ‘South Park’ mocking Charlie Kirk (FOX)
Israeli film on Oct. 7 premieres at Toronto film festival after initially being dropped (TIMES OF ISRAEL)
The newest Bachelorette is ‘Secret Lives of Mormon Wives’ star Taylor Frankie Paul (AP)
Anthony Rizzo retiring as member of the Cubs after 14 MLB seasons (ESPN)

ICYMI FROM THE 📲

In case you missed it… It’s not just the stuff of science fiction. A U.S. House subcommittee on Tuesday unveiled never-before-seen video of an unidentified flying object being hit by a U.S. Hellfire missile, then continuing to fly.

The video, introduced by Congressman Eric Burlison (R-Missouri), was taken from a MQ-9 drone in October 2024 off the coast of Yemen.

Burlison said the “remarkable” video shows an object shifting form with smaller objects trailing behind after it was hit. He cautioned that he isn’t an expert and that there may be a simple explanation.

Other explanations:
- Foreign adversary technology — e.g., Chinese or Russian drones
- Secret U.S. military programs or prototypes
- Natural or atmospheric phenomena — such as lightning or plasma
- Commercial or civilian objects — balloons, hobbyist drones, etc.
- Sensor or instrument errors
- False video or AI manipulation
- 👽