The Afternoon Update audio brief for Saturday, September 26, 2026 — tap play above to listen with slides and subtitles. Here's what happened: a major nor'easter is flooding the East Coast, the White House rejected Iran's bid to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, and the administration is moving to claw back over $800 million in spending Congress already approved.
A powerful nor'easter is battering the East Coast through the weekend, and the water is already winning. Coastal roads in New Jersey are flooded and some homes have been inundated, while thousands of customers are without power across the Northeast. Forecasters warn of four to six inches of heavy rain through Sunday, with onshore winds pushing storm surge of one to four feet onto the coast. Live coverage from the New York Times, USA Today, and The Washington Post tracks the storm from the mid-Atlantic up through New England.
President Trump has turned down Iran's newest proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, keeping the world's most important oil artery closed as the standoff grinds on. Tehran says it will make no nuclear concessions, and the Wall Street Journal reports the President expects renewed bombing after the midterms. The rejection lands as record-high diesel prices squeeze American shippers — one more sign of how far the conflict's shockwaves reach into the US economy.
The White House is invoking a rarely used "pocket rescission" to cancel $810 million in spending Congress already approved, targeting certain federal programs outright. The move triggered immediate bipartisan pushback: Senator Susan Collins called it a clear violation of the law, and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are slamming it. Expect the courts to weigh in — it's the sharpest test yet of Congress's power of the purse.
A rough week for household budgets closed out rougher: the 30-year fixed mortgage rate jumped sharply Thursday to 7.45%, delivering another blow to a frozen housing market, while gas and diesel prices climb with the Iran conflict unresolved. Investors grew jittery as well, and the New York Times reports the cost squeeze is intensifying a political maelstrom weeks before the midterm elections. Republicans, as Slate puts it, are running away from an unpopular price environment and toward whatever safety they can find.
An explosion destroyed a building housing a holiday rental in the Plaka district, in the shadow of the Acropolis, and Greek rescue workers recovered six bodies from the ruins on Saturday. Among the dead are four American tourists, according to CBS News; a British national is also confirmed killed. Investigators are still working to determine what caused the blast. The Guardian and the BBC have continuing coverage.
The White House excluded CNN from the press pool traveling aboard Air Force One with President Trump to Tennessee — the latest escalation in the administration's standoff with CNN, MS NOW, and Politico over access to the president. It comes days after a federal judge ordered the media ban lifted, a ruling the administration is openly defying in practice. The New York Times traces the seven-day standoff and what it signals about the future of press access.
The Stateside Beat Audio · 2026-09-26 · afternoon · Narrated edition, compiled from AP News, CNN, The Wall Street Journal, Fox News, ABC News, The New York Times, CNBC, CBS News, Politico, and Reuters.
