War Notes: End of Summer ☀️😎

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NewsNation Chief Washington Anchor and On Balance host Leland Vittert was a foreign correspondent for four years in Jerusalem. He gives you an early look at tonight's 9 p.m. ET show, delivered straight to your inbox.

Bittersweet goodbye 👋: Shannon Stanton, "War Notes" editor, organizer and emoji chief is headed for NBC News.

Confession: Shannon in her free time also serves as my assistant, so this is a particularly meaningful loss – all politics are truly local.
Seriously: Shannon's contribution over the past 10 months has been incredible. We as a team have gone from teaching her to her teaching us.
- Her work ethic, attention to detail and focus on the mission are inspiring.
Godspeed: I say the goodbye is bittersweet – bitter because we are losing her and sweet because of the excitement for what she is going to do in the world of journalism or whatever path she chooses!!!

Going to the chapel 💒: Huge congratulations to Matt Castellini, who is marrying my sister-in-law, Alexa Putnam, next weekend.

As they say in the South, "best wishes" to Alexa.
💍 The second best part of marrying Rachel – aside from marrying her – is gaining a wonderful second family, and now that (officially) includes Matt – it's going to be a great week.
🚨 "War Notes" will be off next week as Rachel (maid of honor) and I (honored groomsman) partake in the festivities – and I hear it's going to be quite the party.
- ☀️Wishing you a wonderful "unofficial" end of summer.
- 🗓️I'll see you back here Sept. 9.

Matt and Alexa at my wedding in June.

Eyes on Latin America ⚠️: While most of the media's attention is on Russia and Ukraine, there's another country quietly becoming a new danger for America: Venezuela.

🚨As we head into Labor Day weekend, U.S. leaders are scrambling after President Trump ordered several warships and missile destroyers to Venezuela's coast.
- Read more 📰: "Inside Trump's gunboat diplomacy with Venezuela," headlines Axios.
  - ✍️ "The U.S. has never been closer to armed conflict with Venezuela, with a fully loaded U.S. flotilla sitting off its coast and dictator Nicolás Maduro living under a $50 million bounty," they write.
Watch tonight 📺: Joel Rubin, formerly of the Obama administration, breaks down whether we should be worried about Venezuela – and how Russia ties into this conflict.

ICE in the Windy City 🚔

The Windy City is "bracing" for a wave of new ICE raids as President Trump's battle with city and state officials over law enforcement continues.

📰 "The Trump administration is preparing to launch major immigration enforcement operations in Chicago next week employing tactics that sparked protests in Los Angeles," CBS News reports.
- Noteworthy that Chicago moved decidedly more red in the 2024 election – immigration was a huge part of that.
Zoom out 🚔: These expected raids come after President Trump has repeatedly said that Chicago will be his next target in his crackdown on crime, following Washington, D.C.
- 🎤 "Chicago – everybody knows how bad it is. Everyone standing there knows. We know. You don't have to be doing any studies. They should be saying 'please come in.' Pritzker should be saying that. … We're going to have to see what happens," the president told reporters earlier this week in the Oval Office.
- 🙄 Democratic Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson say that the city is safe and vibrant – and the problem is Trump.
🥊 Trump is trying to pick a fight here – he wants that fight.
- He issued ICE raids in a sanctuary city where the mayor and governor have made it clear they care more about fighting Trump than enforcing the law.
Prediction 🔮: We can tell you what's going to happen as the new ICE raids begin in Chicago as early as next week.
- 🪧 There will be protests.
- 🥊 ICE agents will be attacked.
- 🚔 The protests and attacks will give Trump a reason to send in the National Guard.
  - ✅ Which is exactly what he wants to do.
- By this time next week, all we'll be talking about are the ICE raids, protests and National Guard being sent to Chicago.

$100 Chicken Nuggets 💰🍗

Match point 🏓: Heading into this Labor Day weekend, most Americans are feeling the effects of price jumps at the grocery store.

🎾 But at the U.S. Open in New York City, America's elite are oblivious to the economic suffering impacting the rest of the country.
🍽️ Just take a look at the Open's menu:
- $100 caviar-topped chicken nuggets.
  - I wish I was kidding.
- $39 drink with a watermelon slice, literally called the Watermelon Slice.
- $19 for a small cup of frozen yogurt.
  - 💵 That's a few dollars more than NYC's minimum wage.
- $23 for the U.S. Open's signature drink, the Honey Deuce, made of vodka, raspberry liquor and lemonade topped with a skewer of honeydew melon balls.
  - 💰 $12.8 million worth of Honey Deuce drinks were sold last year.
  - 🛒We did the math – that's nearly 800 years of groceries for a family of four.
🥤 Well, what if you just get a water bottle because fans aren't allowed to bring in outside drinks?
- A bottle of water will cost you a whopping $9.
Thought bubble 💭: We've been telling you that there is a serious disconnect between the elite and average Americans with how they view prices.
- 🚨 The rich indulging in $100 chicken nuggets while watching a tennis match as hard working families are forced to skip a meal is the epitome of this disconnect.
Insult to injury 🙄: The same celebrities at this event are the same ones crying about how bad the Trump economy is.
- Our producer Andrew Roberts put together a list of some of these hypocritical celebrities:
- ⬆️ Click on the links above and you'll find example after example of these rich people blasting Trump on tariffs and the economy.
  - 🏓 It's hard to take them seriously when they roll through the red carpet at the U.S. Open.
Big picture 📸: One of the great things about America is that we are not a jealous society.
- We're OK with people being rich because we feel they had a fair shot – it's called the American dream.
- 🤷‍♂️ Belief in the American dream is dwindling – that won't end well for the folks washing down $100 chicken nuggets with $23 Honey Deuce cocktails.

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