Good morning! Scientists just used the yellow die in Doritos to turn mice partly invisible. This could lead to future medical breakthroughs. Or, knowing our luck, weird cosmetics trends and supervillains. TBD.

Now that Congress is back in session, they’re rushing to pass a budget before the September 30 deadline. The Republican-led House is pushing a six-month extension of current spending with a citizenship/voting bit tacked on. The Democratic-led Senate is having none of it.

WORLD

👶 China ends international adoptions

Hundreds of families around the world are stuck in limbo after China announced it is formally ending its international adoption program. The only exceptions will be families adopting the children of blood relatives in China.

China launched the program in 1992. Many families were forced to put their children up for adoption. At the time, the country enforced a strict one-child policy to curb population growth. And hoo boy did it work.

• China’s birth rate has cratered and its population is tanking. By 2100, it could shrink by an astonishing 50%.

• Part of the problem? During the one-child years, families often preferred boys. So there are tens of millions more men than women.

The blessed overlords of China dumped the policy in 2015, allowing couples the privilege of up to three children. But the damage was done. Ending the international adoption program is a small part of the proposed solution.

The sudden halt has left hundreds of American families who were in the middle of the adoption process in limbo. Many had already been matched with a child. The U.S. State Department is looking into the situation.

Related: China wants the U.S. to cool it with the tariffs.

UNITED STATES

🚘 According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), Chrysler Stellantis is recalling more than a million Ram trucks due to a software error in their braking systems. The NHTSA is the agency tasked with enforcing safety and fuel economy standards. On the darker side, they're also responsible for the destruction of countless innocent crash test dummies.

🤖 Over at the Commerce Department, the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) dropped the ban hammer on more high-end tech exports to "adversaries" (read: China). BIS says the controls line up with "like-minded" countries and make it harder for the baddies to develop advanced technology. The new restrictions hit quantum computers, semiconductor production equipment, and more things nobody really understands.

💼 U.S. job growth in August came in lower than predicted, according to the math wizards at the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). That came paired with updated, lower numbers for June and July that show job growth in the summer was less than half of that in Q1. To pile on, stocks just saw their worst week since March 2023. On the bright side, unemployment fell slightly and gas prices are at a six-month low. You win some, you lose some.

POLITICS

🗯️ Trump, Harris prep for the big game

Tomorrow night, Donald Trump and Kamala Harris will come to blows in their first head-to-head debate that could make UFC fights look tame. This is technically the second presidential debate of the year. But, barring a banana peel-induced broken hip live on stage, nobody’s dropping out after this one.

The debate starts at 9 p.m. Eastern and should finish at 10:30. ABC News is hosting but you can watch on every major network or stream just about anywhere (including Hulu, Disney+, YouTube, and ABC.com).

As with any sporting event, a coin toss ironed out the details. Trump won the flip and chose to deliver his two-minute closing statement last. In turn, Harris opted for the right-side podium (stage left).

What are the ground rules? Most importantly, much like the Biden-Trump debate, their mics will be muted when it’s not their turn to speak. And there won't be a studio audience to waste time cheering.

• Neither props nor prewritten notes are allowed. But candidates will have a pen and paper to brain-dump all the stats and one-liners they memorize backstage.

• They’ll give two-minute answers, two-minute rebuttals, and one-minute follow-ups if needed.

• There will be two bathroom commercial breaks. Best of luck to the livers of anyone turning this into a drinking game.

Traditional debate prep involves countless hours of mock debates on replica stages with aides acting as the opponent. Harris is largely following that playbook, with Hillary Clinton's old "Trump whisperer" stepping back into the role.

• Trump’s approach is more relaxed. But he’s had help from ex-Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, who took on Harris in a 2019 Democratic primary debate.

What to expect: Both candidates have rolled out economic plans recently. Since this will be a mature, policy-focused affair, expect those ideas to be a focus.

• Harris: Trump is a known quantity. So Harris needs to remind voters of what they already don't like about him. "We are not going back" has become her campaign refrain for a reason.

• Trump: President Biden is wildly unpopular. Before she won the nomination, Harris was too. Voters don't trust the current administration on just about anything. Trump's goal will be to kindly remind them that his opponent is half of the Biden-Harris administration.

Will there be another? Arguments over another debate or two are ongoing and probably depend on how things settle after Tuesday's battle royale. A vice presidential debate is scheduled for October 1.

In non-debate news, Trump notched another legal victory when the judge postponed sentencing for his felony hush money conviction until after the election.

• Harris received a weird endorsement from Republican ex-Vice President Dick Cheney.

• But her honeymoon period seems to be over. Trump's cut her polling lead in half, she's faced backlash from Gold Star families, and has taken hits for the administration's Israel policy.

TRIVIA

We’ve got our fair share of problems here in the U.S. of A. Well, until the winning presidential candidate magically fixes ‘em all next year, that is. But we are still undisputed economic champs — the U.S. economy is by far the world’s biggest. To the nearest trillion, how big was the U.S. economy in 2023?

Hint: More than 20. But less than the national debt.

POLLS

📊 Polling the big states

If you’d told someone in 2004 that Florida and Ohio would soon vote more Republican than Texas, they'd have had a hernia. But life comes at ya fast. New polls from Emerson show a tighter presidential race in the two primo swing states of yesteryear than in Bush country. California, though? Not much has changed.

• 🔵 Harris leads by 24% in California

• 🔴 Trump leads by 5% in Florida

• 🔴 Trump leads by 10% in Ohio

• 🔴 Trump leads by 4% in Texas

🏛️ Senate: All four states also have Senate seats up this year. The last remaining Democrat in Ohio is hanging on for dear life. Florida may be Democrats’ only chance at a pickup this year — but they’re used to losing by 1%. Ted Cruz is more secure than he was in 2018. And California is... still California.

• 🔵 Rep. Adam Schiff (D) leads Steve Garvey by 24% in California

• 🔴 Sen. Rick Scott (R) leads ex-Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell by 1% in Florida

• 🔴 Sen. Sherrod Brown (D) leads Bernie Moreno by 2% in Ohio

• 🔴 Sen. Ted Cruz (R) leads Rep. Colin Allred by 4% in Texas

Hometown polls from the University of Texas give Republicans a bit more breathing room. They’ve got Trump up by 5% and Cruz up by 8%.

BRIEFS

• U.S. to provide another $250 million in military aid to Ukraine, says Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin

• OnlyFans owner Leonid Radvinsky earned $1 billion cash since 2021

• Selena Gomez becomes paper billionaire based on value of Rare Beauty makeup line

• New York law now requires panic buttons for retail employees

• Oklahoma City Apple retail workers to vote on becoming second unionized Apple Store

• "Genuine risk" in 2022 that Russia would nuke Ukraine, CIA Director William Burns says

• Google back in court today, defending ad tech after Search declared illegal monopoly

QUOTE

SNACKS

🏈 Football: The return of the NFL is good news for football fans and network execs alike. In 2023, over 30% of NBC’s annual viewership was NFL-related. CBS was even more dependent, at more than 40%. Fox won (lost?) this war, though, with over 60% of the network’s viewing hours coming from NFL games and related shows.

🛥️ Yacht: Those network execs can now show their thanks to at least one NFL owner directly. The 400-foot superyacht of Shahid Khan, the billionaire owner of the Jacksonville Jaguars, is available for rent. It’ll cost you a cool $3 million per week. But the virtual tour is free.

🍂 Leaves: If yachts aren’t your cup of tea, check out this adjustable map showing when to expect peak fall foliage in your area.

ANSWER

In 2023, the U.S. economy led the world with $27.4 trillion in economic output. China came in a distant second with $17.8 trillion and Germany took an even more distant Bronze with $4.5 trillion.

If the European Union were a country, it would’ve just beat out China for second place. Its 27 member nations produced $18.3 trillion in value last year.