Republicans wave white flag in KEY battleground state

Top Stories for October 3:

Top GOP groups retreat from North Carolina Senate race as hopes fade
Leading Republicans are pulling back from the North Carolina Senate race, sending a clear message: What was a top-tier battleground at the start of the cycle is no longer worth the money. The foremost Senate GOP super PAC, Senate Leadership Fund, is pausing its future spending in North Carolina and instead launching a seven-figure ad buy in deep-red Kansas, according to one person familiar with the move.

The dramatic change in strategy — less than four weeks before the midterms — comes after SLF previously spent more than $30 million to boost GOP nominee Michael Whatley. It also comes as public polling has continued to show Whatley unable to close the gap against popular former Gov. Roy Cooper, the Democratic candidate.

Take Action: Demand Pete Hegseth stop firing our top military leaders!

Trump faces tons of empty seats as rally crashes and burns
Day 2 of the Trump Tour of States He Should Be Winning Easily went about as poorly as the first.

Mike Johnson FLEES when confronted by media over the Iran War
Democratic Veterans for Congress: Speaker Johnson was just asked if Congress should hold an up or down vote authorizing Donald Trump to put troops on the ground in Iran — and Johnson predictably refused to answer. He’s entirely abdicated Congress’ constitutional responsibility to dictate when and where America goes to war, and with an unhinged and volatile president like Trump, our fighting men and women are in serious danger. Will you chip in to help elect Democratic veterans and make sure we have a Congress who will treat decisions of war with the seriousness it demands?

Anthropic nearly walked out on Pope Leo XIV’s AI encyclical — then lobbied his advisers
Anthropic co-founder Chris Olah saw an advance copy of Pope Leo XIV’s first encyclical days before its May 25 launch and proposed pulling out of the event because of what it said about AI consciousness. Two participants told the Times that Olah and his team then privately lobbied the pope’s advisers to take the possibility of machine consciousness seriously. Leo did not move.

Paragraph 99 of Magnifica Humanitas says that so-called artificial intelligences “do not undergo experiences, do not possess a body, do not feel joy or pain.” Nor, the pope writes, “do they have a moral conscience.”

DA did not review witness statements and other evidence Cornell police collected in alleged gang rape of student
Cornell University police spoke to witnesses and received anonymous tips about an alleged gang rape at a fraternity house in the first weeks of its investigation two years ago, but the local prosecutor did not review the additional information before deciding not to bring charges.

Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten said he based his decision not to pursue charges on the accuser’s initial six-page statement given to police. Van Houten, along with police and university officials, has come under intense fire for their handling of the matter. Jane Doe’s attorney has argued that she was failed by authorities who did not conduct a thorough investigation and who prejudged the events based on her earlier statement that she consented to parts of the night.

“In what world does the district attorney not even interview her or anyone else involved, or even request the full transcript” of the victim’s interview, Gov. Hochul asked Friday at a news conference.

A gut punch in Ohio: Nearly 1,400 laid off at truck factory just days before Trump rally
Sipping tea from beer mugs with his coworkers, Kyle Bos listed the ways his life is changing. Bos has two daughters, with a third due in January. At the grocery store, five items cost as much as a full cart once did. And on Wednesday, Bos and nearly 1,400 other people were laid off from their jobs at what had been the Navistar truck factory in southwestern Ohio.

The layoffs — occurring just three days before Donald Trump’s rally on Saturday at a nearby high school — were large enough to basically erase an entire year of job growth in the greater Dayton, Ohio area. And they are one reason why Bos, 30, plans to spend the final weeks before the November election canvassing votes for Democrats. Asked how many times he voted for Trump, Bos held up three tattooed fingers. But he said he’s done with the president.

Inside Ken Paxton’s jet-setting lifestyle: California wineries, European hot spots and ski resorts
When Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton launched his campaign for Senate last year, he skipped the local pageantry. Instead, records show, the conservative firebrand announced his bid on Fox News, cleared his calendar and booked a hotel in Augusta, Georgia, during the storied Masters golf tournament, a trip that cost Texas taxpayers at least $25,000.

The trip reflected a transformation that has unfolded over Paxton’s 11 tumultuous years as Texas’ top law enforcement official: His focus has increasingly extended beyond state lines. As he steadily built a national political profile and became a star in President Donald Trump’s MAGA universe, Paxton traveled frequently and spent less time in Texas, according to an Associated Press review of state and campaign records.

Since assuming office in 2015, Paxton left about 730 workdays blank on his official calendars and took over 275 out-of-state trips to places such as the California wine country, Caribbean resorts and European tourism hot spots. The travel cost Texas taxpayers a minimum of $1.9 million to cover expenses charged by his security detail, records show. It is unclear how Paxton has financed much of his portion of the travel.