Editor’s Note: The Unbiased Updates team experienced technical difficulties this morning. However, today’s episode is now available as an audio-only file. Your favorite morning rundown will return Monday.
Reports of low morale and depression are surfacing aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln as another ship heads to the Gulf to provide relief.
Plus, massive flooding has destroyed homes and turned roads into rivers across parts of Indiana, with damage to critical utilities adding another challenge.
And the Kennedy Center has approved a new way to display President Donald Trump’s name on the building, reopening a fight just two months after a federal judge ordered it removed.
These stories and more highlight your Unbiased Updates for Friday, Aug. 14, 2026.
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USS Lincoln’s record stretch could come to an end as USS Washington heads to Middle East
A new carrier strike group is heading to the Middle East, as reports of supply and mental health issues grow aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, now in a record-setting stretch at sea.
The Lincoln has been supporting the U.S. war against Iran, and has now spent more than 260 straight days at sea without a port call. The extended deployment has raised concerns about the toll on sailors and the strain on the ship and its equipment.
In recent months, there have been reports of food shortages, water and plumbing problems and mental health concerns on board. The Navy has acknowledged the war disrupted traditional supply hubs, leading to shortages, but said sailors now have access to clean water and healthy meal options.
Now, the USS George Washington heads west from the Asia-Pacific and is expected to replace the Lincoln in the Middle East. But that would leave the Pacific without a U.S. aircraft carrier for an unknown period.
Meanwhile, Democratic lawmakers have demanded answers from the Pentagon about conditions aboard the Lincoln — reports that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth called “completely misrepresented.”
“So I want to be clear that I don’t expect for an aircraft carrier to be the Holiday Inn, right? I don’t expect for it to be a luxury lifestyle,” Rep. Mike Levin, D-Calif, said. “Our Marines and our sailors, they are the best of the best. They sign up for hard duty. But we also should expect basic habitability. We should expect running water and clean drinking water, enough food to eat, working plumbing, the basics.”
Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, sent a letter to Hegseth and acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao on Wednesday, demanding answers about conditions on board and how the Navy is supporting sailors’ mental health during the extended deployment.
Hegseth pushed back again Thursday in an interview with Newsmax, saying “some deployments are longer than others,” and insisting the Pentagon ensures every ship and crew has everything it can provide.
US threatens economic pressure on Iran, saying new measures will come next week
As the war with Iran continues, the U.S. threatens to tighten the economic squeeze on Tehran even further. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the U.S. is preparing what he calls unprecedented economic isolation, working in tandem with the blockade of Iranian ports.
“We are going to apply measures like have never been seen in the history of economic isolation on a country,” Bessent said. “And I think the reason we are succeeding is because it is a one-two punch.”
He added, “So, it will be a combination of economic isolation, like the world has never seen before, and the continued blockade in the Strait of Hormuz that will keep anything from going in or out of the Iranian ports.”
Bessent said to watch for “coming announcements next week,” but didn’t say what those new measures will be.
Vice President JD Vance, meanwhile, said the administration’s “goal number one” is keeping oil and gas prices down for Americans and that the president is using diplomatic, military and economic pressure to get there.
“I think what is really happening is that you’re seeing a president of the United States at the height of his authority with a lot of tools — diplomatic, military and economic,” Vance said. “What I think is really going on from the inside is that we’re using those tools very selectively, very strategically to get the outcome that the president of the United States needs to get for the benefit of the American people.”
But for now, disruptions to oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz are still keeping global oil prices elevated. Brent crude, the global benchmark, was above $83 a barrel early Friday morning, with U.S. crude around $82 a barrel. Those prices are well below the highs reached after the war began, but American drivers are still feeling the pinch.
The national average for a gallon of gas remains above $4, according to AAA.
Midwest floods force rescues as more rain threatens already-soaked communities
Days of relentless rain have turned parts of the Midwest into a flood zone, and the water continues to rise.
In Cambridge City, Indiana, floodwater rose near the roofs of some homes, covering cars and forcing dozens of people to be rescued by boat.
Michelle Wilson, one of the people dealing with the aftermath, was at work when her son called to say their home was flooding. By the time she got back, she said about eight feet of water had filled the basement, and the garage was flooded, too.
“I don’t know when we can turn our power back on,” Wilson said. “ If it would be safe to even turn it back on without our house catching on fire because it was sparking and stuff like that from the outlets downstairs.”
In nearby New Castle, more than 11 inches of rain fell in just over a day, an amount with only about a one-in-a-thousand chance of happening in any given year.
And the water is still moving through the region.
Dozens of people have been impacted by catastrophic flooding that tore through parts of the Midwest, with Cambridge City, Indiana, among the hardest-hit areas.
— NewsNation (@NewsNation) August 13, 2026
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Authorities ordered evacuations along the Whitewater River Thursday night as it rose to dangerous levels.
Indiana Gov. Mike Braun has declared a statewide disaster emergency and mobilized the National Guard.
“So every state agency involved has been on alert since we watched it happening in real time,” Braun said. “We’ve got the National Guard involved up in the northwest because of all the debris — trees down everywhere. Here, there’ll be a black hawk helicopter on call because, sadly, the forecast says we could get 2 to 4 more inches down here, so be prepared. Beware.”
At least three storm-related deaths have been confirmed across the region, two in Ohio and one in Indiana. Communities already soaked are still dealing with rising rivers and the threat of more flooding.
Mangione expected to plead guilty as lawyers seek dismissal of state murder charges: Reports
Luigi Mangione is expected to plead guilty in federal court Friday in connection with the 2024 killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in New York City, according to The New York Times.
Negotiations are ongoing, and NBC reported that nothing is final until Mangione enters his plea in court.
Prosecutors accuse Mangione of stalking Thompson, then fatally shooting him outside a Midtown Manhattan hotel in December 2024. Surveillance cameras captured the killing.
He is not charged with murder in the federal case, and it remains unclear which of the two remaining stalking-related charges he is expected to plead guilty to. A conviction could carry a life sentence.
However, Friday’s anticipated plea might also impact Mangione’s separate murder case, set for trial next month. NBC reported that if he pleads guilty at the federal level, his lawyers will likely seek to dismiss some or all state charges, claiming that prosecuting him again would breach double jeopardy laws.
State prosecutors are likely to oppose that, arguing the two cases involve different crimes. The case has gained national attention, with a vocal group of supporters consistently attending Mangione’s court dates.
Kennedy Center board votes to restore Trump’s name
Trump’s name could soon be back on the Kennedy Center, just two months after a federal judge ordered it removed. The Kennedy Center board voted Thursday to add a new inscription beneath the building’s name reading: “Restored and renovated by President Donald J. Trump.”
Crews added Trump’s name to the building in 2025 after the board voted to rename it the Trump-Kennedy Center. But a federal judge later ruled that only Congress can change the institution’s name, and workers removed the Trump letters in June 2026.
This time, the board said it would leave the Kennedy Center name in place, but directed officials to honor Trump for his work on the center by “all legal means.”
Ohio Rep. Joyce Beatty, D, who challenged the earlier name change, said in a statement: “This latest development is a transparent effort to circumvent the Court’s ruling, and flies in the face of the statutes that Congress passed.”
The board also voted to move forward with closing the Kennedy Center’s main building for renovations. A newer part of the campus, known as The Reach, would remain open for limited programming and as an active memorial to John F. Kennedy.
The judge who blocked the closure plan is now set to review the board’s latest decision.
Drought reveals Tiber River ruins normally hidden underwater in Rome
Extreme drought in Rome has brought a piece of ancient history back to the surface. Parts of Nero’s Bridge, named for the Roman emperor, have emerged from the Tiber River as water levels drop.
The bridge dates to the first century A.D., near where the Vatican sits today.
Rome has been grappling with prolonged hot, dry weather, pushing the Tiber lower than it typically falls in summer.
The bridge once connected the center of Rome to the right bank of the Tiber. Now, with parts exposed, archaeologists are getting a rare look at a piece of Rome’s ancient infrastructure.
The ruins are usually hidden beneath the Tiber, but this summer they’re back in view.
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Your phone isn’t really eavesdropping. But it still knows all about you
We’ve all had this experience. You’re having a private conversation about a specific topic, and suddenly, ads begin appearing on your devices for the very thing you were discussing.
It’s why many people are convinced that our devices are listening to us in real time, especially when an ad pops up for something we’re certain we never searched for online.
They’re not listening — as confirmed by a 2018 study that analyzed the network traffic for thousands of Android apps and found that your audio isn’t being continuously collected or analyzed.
But the devices still know all about you: your interests, your desires, your habits, maybe even your secrets.
