President Donald Trump prepares to address the United Nations on Tuesday morning, as the war with Iran looms over his speech and his meetings with world leaders.
Plus, CNN, MS NOW and Politico sue to restore White House access, with a federal judge taking up their request Wednesday.
And flights resume across the Northeast after a communications outage caused more than 1,000 cancellations, with delays still lingering.
These stories and more highlight your Unbiased Updates for Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2026.
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Trump to address United Nations as Iran war looms over gathering of world leaders
Trump takes the world stage Tuesday morning to address the U.N. General Assembly in New York, and the leaders have plenty to talk about.
The U.S. nears seven months of war with Iran, oil prices are still hovering around $100 a barrel and governments are wrestling with how or whether to put global rules around AI. Trump also attends the meeting after scaling back U.S. financial support for the U.N., an organization he has repeatedly criticized.
Iran will be a big part of his day.
After the speech, Trump is set to meet with leaders from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, with the war and recent Iran-backed Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia on the agenda.
He’ll also meet with British Prime Minister Andy Burnham and Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi.
He’ll have a more informal meeting with Venezuela’s acting president, Delcy Rodríguez. Then on Thursday, Trump meets Chinese President Xi Jinping in Washington.
A group of Democratic lawmakers is calling on Trump to confront Xi over what they say is Beijing’s support for Iran during the war.
Judge to hear request to restore media access at the White House on Wednesday
CNN, MS Now and Politico will return to court Wednesday, seeking to get their reporters back inside the White House. The three outlets have sued the Trump administration after it revoked their credentials over the weekend.
They have asked a federal judge for a temporary restraining order that would restore their access while the case plays out.
The outlets said the White House revoked their credentials because Trump objected to their reporting, and they argue this violates the First Amendment and their due process rights.
Vice President JD Vance said the White House isn’t stopping any of them from reporting; it’s taking away what he calls “special access.”
“So he’s not banning media outlets. What he’s doing is saying, ‘We’re not going to give you special access to the White House if you engage in what is effectively propaganda.’ We have to remember those three outlets account for about 92% of the stories that they have on the president of the United States, on the administration are negative.
They can still report on the Trump White House. They can still get the public reports. They can still, of course, talk to people in the administration and outside the administration. What the president has said is we’re not going to give you special access inside the White House.”
Vice President JD Vance
Trump himself called it a ban when he announced it Friday, saying the three outlets report what he calls “fake news.” The White House said access is a privilege, not a right.
The outlets said the White House revoked their credentials “because it objected to our reporting.” Their reporters have been working from outside the White House complex since the weekend.
CNN was also removed from its turn in the TV pool Monday.
The Trump administration has until Tuesday to respond to the lawsuit. Then, Wednesday afternoon, U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly will hold a hearing on the outlets’ request to restore their access.
Kelly is a Trump appointee, and he’s handled a White House press-pass fight before. In 2018, he ordered the Trump White House to restore CNN reporter Jim Acosta’s credentials after finding he had not been given proper due process.
Flights resume after northeast outage with airports working to clear thousands of delays
Airports across the Northeast are still working through a backlog after a damaged communications line canceled more than a thousand flights Monday and delayed thousands more.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the problem at a key air traffic control facility in Philadelphia is fixed, and flights are moving again.
But the backlog isn’t gone yet. Newark took the biggest hit, with more than 600 flights canceled to and from the airport. Philadelphia International canceled 200 additional flights, with further disruptions at LaGuardia and Kennedy.
Duffy said it will take time to clear the remaining delays and urged anyone flying Tuesday to check with their airline before heading to the airport.
Grand jury finds no charges in Nolan Wells’ death, says evidence consistent with drowning
No criminal charges have been filed in the death of Nolan Wells, the Mississippi teen who disappeared during a Fourth of July trip with friends. A grand jury found no evidence that anyone committed a crime.
The 18-year-old’s body was found in waters off Horn Island two days after he went missing. Authorities had previously said they believed the college football player had drowned.
Now, the 23-person grand jury said the location and condition of Wells’ body, along with the time and manner of its discovery, were “consistent with drowning.” The panel also said it found “no credible evidence” supporting public allegations that anyone engaged in criminal conduct related to his death.
Wells’ family attorney, Ben Crump, said the grand jury’s decision still doesn’t clarify the circumstances surrounding his death.
“The public still deserves a clear account supported by records, evidence and independent scrutiny,” Crump said.
No True Bill Does Not Resolve How Nolan Wells Died pic.twitter.com/50jexP6XSB
— Ben Crump (@AttorneyCrump) September 22, 2026
Newsom declares El Niño emergency as California mobilizes for winter storms
California isn’t waiting for winter to act. Gov. Gavin Newsom has declared a statewide emergency months before the worst of this El Niño is expected to hit.
The order allows the state to begin moving resources now, including sandbags and pumps, and to position road, flood and snow equipment. It also prepares the National Guard to assist with flood response and search and rescue if needed.
California has already had a preview. Earlier this month, a tropical storm brought heavy rain and strong surf to Southern California, damaging homes from Orange County to Malibu. Laguna Beach and Dana Point declared local emergencies. And in Long Beach, the storms destroyed parts of a seawall and the historic boardwalk.
Now, forecasters predict there’s a 75% chance this El Niño reaches historic strength.
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Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times/Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu/Getty Images
El Niño begins with unusually warm water in the eastern Pacific, and for California, it can mean more frequent and intense storms. That doesn’t guarantee a wet winter or any particular storm. But Newsom has prepared for the possibility of heavy rain, flooding, mountain snow and additional coastal damage in the months ahead.
At raccoon boot camp, baby rescues learn survival skills
How do you prepare baby raccoons for life on their own? Apparently, send them to boot camp.
At Woodside Wildlife Rescue in Pass Christian, Mississippi, rescued raccoons learn to make it on their own. Many arrive sick or injured. Without their mothers, staff must teach them what a mother raccoon normally would.
“Raccoon boot camp. It’s ah, it’s fun,” said Raquel Priest, the director of Woodside Wildlife Rescue.
“They learn from their calls, their predator calls, all the way to foraging for food,” Priest said. “Swimming, lots of swimming, lots of swimming and climbing. And they kind of get to know the terrain, what’s safe and what’s not.”
Woodside opened in 2019, and the Associated Press reported it has rescued more than 70 kits so far this year.
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AP Photo/Sophie Bates -
AP Photo/Sophie Bates
One of their final lessons is a good one. The raccoons have to escape from a volunteer they don’t know, teaching them to steer clear of people and traps once they’re back in the wild.
So, swimming, climbing and escaping from strangers. Pretty solid education for a raccoon.
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