U.S. Army Drone Unit Axed Despite Battlefield Advances: ReportThe U.S. Army’s drone technology unit is being wound down as a new general aligned with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth adopts a “back-to-basics” to approach to warfare, The Wall Street Journal reported.Innovations in drone technology have transformed the battlefield in Ukraine and the Middle East.During a military exercise in Germany earlier this year, Ukrainian drone units easily spotted and defeated U.S. troops.And yet the drone battalion established in Europe in January is going to be dismantled after a major exercise ends in September under Gen. Christopher LaNeve, the acting chief of staff of the Army.The specialist unit came to fruition under Gen. Randy George, who was ousted by Hegseth in April.Read more at The Wall Street Journal:DNC Narrows 2028 Convention City Finalists To Boston, Denver And PhillyDemocrats have narrowed their shortlist of potential cities for the 2028 presidential convention to Boston, Denver, and Philadelphia, as they look ahead to a wide-open contest to succeed President Donald Trump.“Each city presented strong bids to host an inspiring celebration of our party’s future nominee and a critical step on our path to retaking the White House,” DNC Chair Ken Martin said in a statement. “We look forward to continuing to work with them as the DNC makes a final selection over the coming months.” The announcement comes days after Democrats finalized changes to their 2028 presidential primary calendar that prioritizes more racially diverse states first. South Carolina is set to hold its primary first on Jan. 22, followed by Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Michigan and Virginia.Scott Jennings Sends His Best Clips To White House Staffers: ReportScott Jennings, the conservative CNN contributor, is one of the names touted as the next potential White House press secretary — and new reporting suggests he really wants the gig.Politico’s Playbook noted Thursday that some in President Donald Trump’s orbit see Jennings’ fierce defense of White House aide Natalie Harp as a less-than-subtle audition for the job.Playbook goes on to suggest the TV clips of Jennings siding with Harp, and bashing provocateur Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.), have wended their way to the White House “in part because Jennings sent them to several senior staffers.”Jennings, an aide in former President George W. Bush’s administration, stonewalled when Playbook asked if he wants to succeed Karoline Leavitt, who announced earlier this month she’s stepping down.“I don’t have anything to say about that,” Jennings said.Read more at Politico Playbook: Hundreds Attend ‘Stand In Peace’ Rallies For Lindsay Clancy, Mental Health ReformHundreds of people are attending rallies in support of Lindsay Clancy, the Massachusetts mom charged with killing her three young children amid what she’s claimed was severe postpartum psychosis, according to local news outlets. “Stand in Peace” demonstrators clad in pink gathered outside of the Plymouth Superior Court on Thursday morning where Clancy’s trial is underway, local stations Boston 25 News and WCVB reported.Similar rallies were planned in cities across the U.S. — including in Arizona, California, Texas and Minnesota — and in the U.K., according to postings on social media.“This is NOT a protest, we are simply gathering in peace and silence for Lindsay Clancy. To show her we care and she is not alone,” read one post sharing plans to gather in Colorado.The demonstrations aim to draw attention to women’s postpartum mental health and to victims of abuse, some of the organizers said. “The children are what we’re here for, too,” one participant said of Clancy’s three children in a video shared by a reporter with Los Angeles Magazine. “I’m standing here for mental health awareness, and I believe those kids would have been here if she got the help she needed.”DEA Joins Investigation Into Hayden Panettiere’s Death: ReportsThe Drug Enforcement Administration is reportedly assisting in the investigation of actor Hayden Panettiere’s sudden death over the weekend, sources told The New York Times and ABC News on Wednesday.The 36-year-old “Heroes” and “Nashville” star, who had openly spoken about her past troubles with drug and alcohol use, went into cardiac arrest and was found “unresponsive” inside a South Carolina apartment on Sunday afternoon before being pronounced dead, local authorities have said.There were no signs of foul play, authorities said, though a recording of a 911 call captured first responders discussing a possible “overdose” at the scene, according to TMZ, Page Six and People.A person credited with having knowledge of the situation also told the Times that a suspected drug overdose led to the cardiac arrest.Michael Cohen To Air Sit-Down Interview With TrumpMichael Cohen, President Donald Trump’s former attorney who has since turned on him, said he will air part of a recorded sit-down interview with Trump on Thursday evening, years after the pair’s acrimonious falling out and Cohen’s sensational testimony against Trump in his financial fraud trial.“And today, at 6 p.m. on 77WABC, you’re going to hear something I suspect many people once believed was impossible. The two of us will sit down and have a discussion,” Cohen said in an announcement on his website Thursday morning.“Just two people confronting fifteen years of history and finding out whether something once considered unbreakable can survive something that nearly destroyed it,” he went on.In a separate post on X Wednesday, Cohen said “the rest” of his interview will air on Sunday at 5 p.m. ET on his radio program, also on 77WABC. Trump’s schedule for Thursday lists him as recording a pretaped interview at 9 a.m.Cohen in 2018 was sentenced to three years in a federal prison for tax evasion and campaign finance crimes he committed while working for Trump.Ahead of the interview’s release, check out some of Cohen’s most jaw-dropping lines from his 2019 testimony against Trump, including how the president is “a racist” “a con man” and “a cheat,” and how Cohen said he helped lie to the first lady to cover Trump’s alleged affair with an adult film star.Plans Show The Proposed Changes To The Kennedy Center: Washington PostThe Washington Post published a deep dive on some of the proposed changes to the Kennedy Center that were recently presented to the institution’s Board of Trustees. Among them are structural renovations to its three major theaters, as well as a refresh of public spaces that will include new carpeting and draperies. The projects were contracted in “strict accordance” with the Kennedy Center’s procurement policies, one of its spokespeople claimed to The Post. That purportedly enabled the institution to rapidly bring on qualified contractors at competitive rates. Read more in The Washington Post: ‘I’ll Learn’: Darline Graham Does Clean-Up On Stunning Debate AnswerWhile meeting with voters on Wednesday, Sen. Darline Graham (R-S.C.) attempted to spin her eyebrow-raising answer to a question at the South Carolina Senate debate on Tuesday night. Graham was asked if Taiwan or the South China Sea was a national security issue for the U.S., and she admitted that she was “not that informed on national security.” At a Wednesday campaign event, one attendee asked Graham if her debate response undermined her credibility since senators would have to cast votes on issues like declaring war. Graham again acknowledged that she was not a “national security expert” like her late brother, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), but said she would work to bolster her understanding of the issues. Graham also said that the voters she spoke with at the event cited the “price of groceries, the price of gas, rising health care costs,” and not Taiwan, among their concerns. “Is national security important? Absolutely. Can I learn? I’m smart. Yes, I’ll learn. I’ll become informed,” she said. “President Trump, was he a politician?” Graham asked the crowd. “Has he done a good job?”Sen. Darline Graham (R-SC) on her credibility: "Is national security important? Absolutely. Can I learn? I'm smart. Yes, I'll learn. I'll become informed." pic.twitter.com/1vBmki1wL2— CSPAN (@cspan) August 20, 2026Trump Admin Knew About Peeling Reflecting Pool Liner Before Vandalism ChargesThe Trump administration was told about the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool’s peeling liner weeks before it brought vandalism charges against a former Olympian.Those charges were later dropped, much to the president’s dismay. NBC News reported Wednesday that a National Park Service engineer warned administration officials in June that the pool’s floor liner was peeling, but President Donald Trump still pushed claims that vandalism was to blame.While dropping her case against former Olympic canoeist David Hearn, U.S. Attorney for D.C. Jeanine Pirro admitted in court documents that a botched installation job was to blame for the pool’s peeling liner and that evidence showed vandalism likely had nothing to do with it. Read more:Raw Pet Food Company Recalls Products In 11 States Over Salmonella ConcernsA raw pet food company recalled thousands of pounds of frozen dog food over concerns it contained salmonella, according to an FDA warning issued this week. Connecticut-based Oma’s Pride, a pet food company specializing in fresh, raw ingredients, issued a recall for one lot of its Woof Complete Canine Chicken Recipe after the FDA received a consumer complaint. The recalled food was sold in Arizona, California, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, New Jersey, Nevada, New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia, according to the FDA notice.Handling the contaminated food also poses a risk to humans, especially if they do not thoroughly wash their hands. Salmonella in dogs and humans can cause diarrhea, fever and vomiting.Natalie Harp Repeatedly Declined To Obtain Routine White House Security Clearance: ReportNatalie Harp, President Donald Trump’s close aide, worked at the White House without a security clearance for more than a year, sources familiar with the matter told MS NOW.Harp, who was thrust into the spotlight this week after she was mentioned in a speech by Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.), repeatedly refused to complete the process of obtaining the routine security clearance for unknown reasons. She only did so after Trump intervened, one source told the outlet.Some staff have been making “subtle moves” to limit Harp’s unfettered access to Trump, another source said, but they have not been successful.“She is just persistent and not realizing that’s what they were trying to do,” this source said.Several people in Trump’s orbit have reportedly raised security concerns about Harp, who has an oddly close relationship with the president. Media reports in recent days have uncovered unusual letters she sent him, as well as one incident in which she rode in the trunk of Trump’s motorcade to stay close to him.When reached for comment about the security clearance matter, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said: “Natalie Harp has a security clearance like everyone else, and she is a loyal and hardworking member of President Trump’s team.”Read more from MS NOW: See All Updates