Day 1699: "im sorry for all of this."

1/ Utah authorities booked Tyler Robinson on suspicion of aggravated murder in the killing of Charlie Kirk. He surrendered after a 33-hour manhunt, but Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said he was “not cooperating,” while friends and family were. FBI Director Kash Patel said DNA from a towel wrapped around the rifle and from a screwdriver matched Robinson and that investigators recovered a destroyed note saying he had the “opportunity to take out” Kirk and “I’m going to take it.” A Discord message, reportedly from Robinson’s account, also said: “It was me at UVU yesterday. im sorry for all of this.” It was sent about two hours before he surrendered. Formal charges are expected Sept. 16. Authorities still don’t have a motive, but officials confirmed that Robinson acted alone, and online records showed he was an inactive voter with no party affiliation. (NPR / New York Times / Washington Post / CNN / CNBC / Associated Press / NBC News / New York Times)

2/ Trump and his aides, providing no evidence, continue to blame the “radical left” for Charlie Kirk’s killing and threatened to investigate liberal groups. Trump claimed “a lot of the people that you would traditionally say are on the left [are] already under investigation” and vowed to “beat the hell out of” “radical left lunatics,” while at the same time saying he wanted the country to “heal.” Meanwhile, JD Vance, hosting Kirk’s podcast from the White House, blamed “an incredibly destructive movement of left-wing extremism” was “part of the reason” for the shooting, urging listeners to “call their employer” if people celebrated the death, while targeting various foundations as “terrorist sympathizers.” Stephen Miller said the administration would use the Justice Department and Homeland Security to “identify, disrupt, dismantle and destroy” alleged “terrorist networks.” (ABC News / Washington Post / New York Times / Axios / ABC News / CNN / Washington Post / New York Times / The Guardian / Politico / NBC News / Daily Beast / New York Times)

3/ Trump said the U.S. military carried out a second strike on a Venezuelan boat in international waters, killing three people. Trump, posting video showing a speedboat and a fireball, claimed the boat was “transporting illegal narcotics” from Venezuela and said forces “conducted a SECOND Kinetic Strike,” but he gave no location or evidence. Later, however, Trump told reporters: “We have proof […] big bags of cocaine and fentanyl all over the place.” The first strike on Sept. 2 killed 11. Officials said that boat had turned around. (ABC News / New York Times / CNN / Reuters / Associated Press / Bloomberg)

4/ The U.S. and China agreed to a “framework” deal on TikTok, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent confirmed after Trump said on Truth Social that a deal was reached on a “certain” company that “young people in our Country very much wanted to save.” Bessent said the terms were agreed “between two private parties,” but gave no details, while Chinese negotiator Li Chenggang said both sides reached a “basic consensus.” The agreement comes ahead of Wednesday’s deadline for ByteDance to sell TikTok or face a U.S. ban, a deadline Trump has already extended several times. (Axios / Wall Street Journal / Bloomberg / CNN / NBC News / Semafor / Politico / Washington Post / New York Times)

5/ Two House Republicans said they’ll oppose Speaker Mike Johnson’s short-term funding bill, putting Republicans’ plan to avoid a Sept. 30 shutdown at risk. The short-term bill would extend current funding levels through late November. However, Rep. Thomas Massie said, “I am a ‘no’ unless it cuts spending,” while Rep. Victoria Spartz said she “cannot support [a CR] that ends funding right before a major holiday.” Trump, meanwhile, urged Republicans to “vote ‘YES!’” on the “clean” bill. Democrats, however, warned they won’t support a bill written only by Republicans and want health care subsidies extended. (Semafor / Politico / The Hill)

⏭️ Notably Next: Congress has 15 days to pass a funding measure to prevent a government shutdown; and the 2026 midterms are in 414 days.

✏️ Notables.

• The Trump administration ordered the National Park Service to remove exhibits on slavery, including the 1863 photo “The Scourged Back,” under a directive to erase “corrosive ideology.” Officials flagged dozens of signs at Harpers Ferry and Philadelphia’s President’s House, with one historian calling it “an enormous increase in federal power and control over the things we learn.” (Washington Post)

• The EPA proposed ending its Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program, which since 2009 has required about 8,000 facilities to disclose their emissions. EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin dismissed the program as “nothing more than bureaucratic red tape.” The change would block the public and policymakers from tracking major polluters, even as the agency delays required oil and gas reporting until 2034. (Associated Press / Bloomberg / New York Times)

• Trump health officials plan to claim Covid vaccines caused 25 child deaths, drawing from the VAERS database that the CDC warns contains unverified reports and experts say VAERS “would not show” causation. The CDC panel reviewing the claim was recently purged and replaced by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. with members critical of vaccines. (Washington Post / NBC News / CNBC)

• One in six U.S. parents skipped or delayed routine childhood vaccines, including 9% who skipped polio or MMR shots. 46% of parents who home-school and 36% of very religious White parents were most likely to skip or delay vaccines. 49% of parents said they trusted the CDC and FDA on vaccine safety. (Washington Post)

• Maurene Comey sued the Justice Department and the Office of the President in Manhattan federal court to overturn her July 16 firing. She said DOJ gave no reason and cited Article II of the Constitution, which outlines the powers of the president, as the basis for her firing, alleging she was fired “solely or substantially because her father is former FBI Director James B. Comey, or because of her perceived political affiliation and beliefs.” Comey led the criminal sex-trafficking cases against Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. (Politico / Bloomberg / The Hill / Reuters)

• Trump threatened to pull federal funds from New York after Gov. Kathy Hochul endorsed Zohran Mamdani for mayor, calling the move “a rather shocking development, and a very bad one for New York City.” Trump labeled Mamdani a “‘Liddle’ Communist” and warned, “No reason to be sending good money after bad!” Hochul, meanwhile, said she backed Mamdani to “stand up to Donald Trump” and make the city more affordable. (CNN / Politico / Fox News / Bloomberg)

• Fox host Brian Kilmeade apologized after saying on air that mentally ill homeless people should face “involuntary lethal injection” and “Just kill ’em.” Kilmeade, who made the remark during a “Fox & Friends” segment on a North Carolina stabbing, later called it an “extremely callous remark.” (Associated Press / Variety / Reuters)