Twenty-five years ago today, America lost 2,977 people in the deadliest terrorist attack in our history. Today, I remember that day, then turn to Trump's economic pitch for the midterms, court fights over election rules, and new scrutiny surrounding Elaine Chao's China ties.

On September 11, 2001, al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners and murdered 2,977 people in attacks on New York, Virginia, and Pennsylvania. America remembers the victims, the first responders who ran toward danger, the service members who answered the call afterward, and the families whose lives changed forever.

Question: How many amendments make up the Bill of Rights?

Answer at the very end of today's briefing.

Twenty-five years ago today, nineteen al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners and turned them into weapons. Two struck the World Trade Center's Twin Towers in New York, which later collapsed. One struck the Pentagon. Passengers aboard United Flight 93 fought back against their hijackers, forcing the plane down in a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, before it could reach its intended target in Washington. In total, 2,977 people were murdered that morning, including 343 New York City firefighters and 71 law enforcement officers who ran into burning buildings to save others.

It remains the deadliest terrorist attack in human history and the deadliest foreign attack ever carried out on American soil.

The images from that day are seared into a generation's memory. Smoke over lower Manhattan. Strangers helping strangers down stairwells. A nation that, for one unforgettable stretch, set aside every division it had. Twenty-five years is long enough that many young Americans today were not alive to witness it. That makes remembering it correctly, and passing it on honestly, more important, not less.

The attacks reshaped how America defends itself, from airport security to a new Department of Homeland Security to two decades of war. Reasonable people still debate whether every choice made in response was the right one. What should never be debated is the debt owed to the innocent people murdered that day and the responders who gave everything trying to save them. Today, that means pausing, remembering their names, and teaching the next generation what was lost and why it still matters.

The World Wildlife Fund was founded 65 years ago today. With 35 million supporters and offices in nearly 100 countries, the organization has helped protect habitats and animals including pandas, tigers, rhinos, and elephants. Its decades of conservation show what people can accomplish through steady work.

For more stories like this, follow @feelgoodnewsusa — real good news, no partisan spin.

Republican convention attendees want party leaders to make President Trump's economic record the centerpiece of the November midterms, pointing to lower inflation, employment gains, and stock market growth. The Epoch Times reported the push on September 10. Voters experience the economy at the gas pump and grocery store, not in government reports. Republicans who connect specific household costs to policy will make the election personal; those who lean on stock indexes alone risk losing families who still feel squeezed.

The Fourth Circuit ruled 2-1 against an ICE policy allowing certain immigrants to be detained without individual bond hearings. One majority judge cited the World War II internment of Japanese Americans while rejecting automatic detention. The appeals court decision limits the Trump administration's enforcement authority within the circuit. The larger issue is headed toward the Supreme Court because federal appeals courts now disagree over detention rules.

A federal appeals court kept President Trump's mail-voting executive order on hold while litigation continues. Challenges in Massachusetts and the Washington, D.C., area have produced a string of shifting stays. That leaves USPS officials planning election operations without settled rules. The court fight now reaches the Supreme Court as November deadlines approach. Voters deserve one standard before ballots enter the mail, not judicial whiplash during an election.

A federal audit found that USPS mishandled some ballots during a recent primary. Election mail operates under firm state deadlines, so one postal failure can erase a lawful vote. The audit documented failures as the Supreme Court considers litigation involving Trump's election-integrity order. Congress and USPS need public tracking, firm procedures, and consequences for repeated mistakes.

The Supreme Court temporarily stopped Missouri from using a Republican-backed congressional map for the November midterms. The emergency action paused a September 8 directive from Chief U.S. District Judge Stephen Clark. The Supreme Court's order does not decide whether the map is legal, but it creates another deadline problem for candidates and county officials. District lines can determine House control before voters cast a single ballot.

ICE and Homeland Security Investigations agents reportedly arrested a noncitizen in Kansas over an alleged 2024 presidential vote. Federal law bars noncitizens from voting in federal elections. The reported Kansas arrest leaves several unanswered questions, including how the registration passed review and whether the ballot was counted. Officials must identify the broken safeguard and check whether similar registrations remain active.

Laura Ingraham asked Trump whether he had second thoughts about ordering military action against Iran. Trump replied that he does not believe in the word "regret." The Fox News exchange showed a president unwilling to retreat from his decision as the midterms approach. Strength is not measured by rhetoric alone. It is measured by whether American interests are safer afterward.

Vice President JD Vance appealed directly to young men and independent voters at the RNC convention in Dallas. The speech came after six months of war with Iran and rising gasoline prices. Vance targeted voters who previously supported Republicans but now oppose parts of Trump's agenda. Vance must explain the war's objective, cost, and end point while defending the administration's economic record.

Elaine Chao served as labor secretary under George W. Bush and transportation secretary under Trump. A new report says she also held roles connected to China State Shipbuilding Corporation, a Chinese state-owned defense and shipping enterprise. The reported connections deserve documented answers. Chao's family owns Foremost Group, which has long operated in China. Cabinet officials must fully disclose foreign institutional and business ties before receiving sensitive authority.

On a day like today, I try to remember what actually matters. Not the news cycle. Not the next election. The people who never came home, and the ones who ran toward the fire to save them. Everything else in this briefing can wait one day for that.

Today's trivia: How many amendments make up the Bill of Rights?
Answer: The Bill of Rights contains 10 amendments, ratified in 1791.

Never forget.

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Stay free,

Brett Lee
Editor, Project Liberty
projectlibertyus.com

Follow: @projectlibertyus | @real_brett_lee