Thursday, August 20th, 2026 - mRNA Skin Cancer Vax Works, Elon's Buying the TX Senate, New White House Helipad

Today's Headlines: Trump spent yesterday morning showing off his new White House helipad and giving an unprompted infomercial for Scott's Miracle-Gro that spiked the company's stock — a useful distraction from reporting that his aide Natalie Harp, the Human Printer, worked at the White House for a year without a security clearance because she refused until Trump personally intervened. He also TACO’d again, the Canada tariffs Trump announced at 50% were paused before they went into effect because they're "probably going to make a deal," and the US national debt hit $40 trillion for the first time, doubling in a decade, so the economic situation is going great.Surprise! We’ve got some great news, an mRNA vaccine to prevent skin cancer from recurring was successful in clinical trials, with Moderna and Merck potentially launching commercially next year and with possible applications to other cancers. Violent crime also dropped nearly 10% in 2025, the largest single-year decline since the FBI started tracking in 1936, with murder down 18% and robbery down 18.5%, which is the kind of news that deserves more attention than it's getting. Now back to regularly scheduled shenanigans. The Army is offering soldiers four days off to play Grand Theft Auto 6 as a re-enlistment incentive, and at least 20 have signed up, which says something about both the state of military recruitment and the anticipation for GTA 6. Elon Musk is reportedly planning to spend $100-200 million on the midterms, with a focus on helping Ken Paxton win a Texas Senate seat — Paxton has raised $9 million to James Talarico's $69 million, so Elon's money is going to be doing a lot of heavy lifting. In primary results, Trump's preferred Wyoming governor candidate lost to an experienced state legislator, and Alaska's jungle primary produced a genuinely chaotic situation where two Dan Sullivans are running — the incumbent Republican senator and a retired schoolteacher who argues he's been Dan Sullivan longer, which is technically true. And finally, Harry and Meghan are reportedly moving back to the UK with Archie and Lilibet, not as working royals, which means those HRH titles are about to get a workout. Resources/Articles mentioned: WaPo: Trump shows off his new helipad, brags about construction projects MS Now: Trump aide Natalie Harp worked at the White House without security clearance for a year  Reuters: US could cut key tariffs as part of proposed Canada deal, source says CNBC: U.S. government debt passes $40 trillion, more than doubling in a decade Variety: US Army Offering Soldiers Four Days Off to Play 'GTA 6' if They Reenlist Axios: Moderna and Merck shares soar on mRNA cancer vaccine Axios: FBI: 2025 had biggest violent-crime drop in 90 years WaPo: 8 takeaways and surprises from Florida, Wyoming and Alaska primaries Wired: Elon Musk Is Expected to Point His Money Machine at Texas Politics AP News: Prince Harry and Meghan are returning to the UK with their children, British newspaper says** Subscribe to the Betches News Room and join the Morning Announcements group chat. Go to: betchesnews.substack.com Morning Announcements is produced by Sami Sage and edited by Grace Hernandez-Johnson Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices