U.S. War Crime?, Heatwave Holds On & Grades for Grabs - Friday, September 18, 2026

Erica Mandy (0:00)

Today is Friday, September 18th. We'll tell you about a new UN report that says America might have committed a war crime in Iran and how the White House is responding. Also, how much time does Congress have to get a handle on artificial intelligence? The so-called godfather of AI gives his prediction, and it's not long at all. Plus, what RFK Jr. is now saying about vaccines and children's health, where a heat wave is still breaking records just days from the start of fall, and why you can find cheap cheeseburgers all around the country today. Those stories and even more news coming up.

Welcome to The NewsWorthy, all the day's news in less than 15 minutes. I'm Erica Mandy. Thanks so much for being here. Let's do this.

The US is facing new accusations of war crimes in Iran. United Nations investigators say there are reasonable grounds to believe two US airstrikes in February were indiscriminate and violated international law. One hit an elementary school. More than 150 people were killed in that strike alone, mostly children. But the investigators say the school was clearly identifiable as a civilian building, and that it was actually America's target. The other strike hit a sports center and nearby homes, killing 22 more civilians. The issue is the report says the US did not adequately verify its targets before the strikes. Already American officials have blamed outdated intelligence for the attack on the school, and denied hitting the sports center. But the White House did not comment on the findings in this new report. Instead, it criticized the UN Human Rights Council that was behind the investigation, saying it had, quote, accomplished nothing for human rights. The report did not just focus on the US, though. It also accuses the Iranian government of crimes against humanity because of its actions during the crackdown of anti-government protests that included killings, torture and arbitrary detentions. To be clear, the UN investigation is not a court ruling and it's not binding, but its findings could be used in future legal proceedings. Meanwhile, President Trump told Axios this week, he's considering whether to restart major attacks on Iran. Or as he put it, quote, do I want to go in and annihilate them or do I not? Trump says he plans to talk with leaders of six Gulf countries next week before deciding what to do. At the same time, he says Iran is in direct contact with the US and that its government still wants to reach a deal. Stay tuned.

An ICE agent accused of shooting an immigrant who wasn't a threat, then lying about it, is now back in Minnesota. We told you about this case in May when Minnesota charged him with assault and falsely reporting a crime. It's the one where the agent shot into the front door of a Minneapolis home, then claimed the Venezuelan immigrant inside had attacked him with a broom and snow shovel. But prosecutors say those claims were later contradicted by video evidence. Still, when they charged him, the agent was in Texas. And since then, there's been a months-long fight over whether he would be extradited to Minnesota. Texas Governor Greg Abbott refused to sign the extradition warrant, and Minnesota was suing Texas over it. While the agent was eventually released in Texas, then yesterday he turned himself into federal authorities and returned to Minnesota on his own. Now a judge has set his bail at $400,000 or $200,000 with conditions like electronic monitoring. He is also facing separate federal charges accusing him of lying to FBI investigators about the shooting. He is expected back in federal court today, and his attorneys say he plans to plead not guilty. While that case plays out in court, the Trump administration is also making a change at the top of ICE. President Trump had nominated a former Oklahoma State Highway trooper to lead the agency back in June, but his confirmation has stalled in the Senate. And yesterday, the White House decided to withdraw the nomination without an explanation.

Now, ICE will continue to be led by acting director David Ventruella, who previously worked for a private prison operator. The agency actually has not had a permanent Senate-confirmed director since the Obama administration.

The researcher, who's known as the godfather of AI, is now warning Congress it may have only about a year left to regulate the technology.

Jeffrey Hinton's life work helped lay the foundation for much of the artificial intelligence we see today.

He even won a Nobel Prize for it. But in the past couple of years, he's been warning about risks of the rapidly developing technology. And this week, he met with lawmakers. Hinton told them about predictions for when AI could reach so-called superintelligence. That's when AI becomes far more capable than humans. He now says that could happen in just a few years, and that Congress should have safeguards in place well before then. Remember, just this week, OpenAI shared examples of its systems breaking rules they were given, hiding errors, seeking unauthorized credentials, and more. And now there's yet another new example of just how quickly AI is advancing, though this one with humans' permission. Anthropic announced its Claude model is now helping to build the next more intelligent version of itself, and that this trend could lead to an AI system fully developing its own successor. It's the kind of development Hinton just warned Congress about. So lawmakers are now talking about possible safeguards. But now that the House has left Washington for the midterm campaign season, any major legislation this year would have to come during the lame duck session after the election. So do we actually need to worry about an AI apocalypse? Or are these warnings overblown? I spoke with an AI expert and researcher about what could realistically happen, and what should be done about it. You can listen to that interview tomorrow on our special edition Saturday.