Happening Today: California Wildfires, Las Vegas Massacre, Amazon, Jason Aldean

What to Know

  • People are trying to find lost loved ones and mourn the dozens dead — all while the wildfires in North California rage on
  • Almost 40 percent of American adults are obese, the highest rate ever recorded for the U.S., according to a report by CDC
  • Jason Aldean brought the party back in his return to the stage following the deadly mass shooting that broke out while performed in Vegas

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Trump to Halt Subsidies to Health Insurers

In a brash move likely to roil insurance markets, President Trump will "immediately" halt payments to insurers under the Obama-era health care law he has been trying to unravel for months. "We will discontinue these payments immediately," said acting HHS Secretary Eric Hargan and Medicare administrator Seema Verma. In a statement, the White House said the government cannot legally continue to pay the so-called cost-sharing subsidies because they lack a formal authorization by Congress. However, the administration had been making the payments from month to month, even as Trump threated to cut them off to force Democrats to negotiate over health care. The subsidies help lower copays and deductibles for people with modest incomes. Halting the payments would trigger a spike in premiums for next year, unless Trump reverses course or Congress authorizes the money. The next payments are due around Oct. 20.

Murky Timeline Is a Focus of Las Vegas Shooting Probe

Nearly two weeks after one of the deadliest shootings in modern U.S. history, authorities have yet to sort out the basic facts surrounding the case of a high-stakes video poker player who murdered 58 people from his high-rise hotel room in Las Vegas. What drove Stephen Paddock to open fire on the country music festival? Police and the FBI say they're still at a loss to explain his motive. When did he fire his first shots in his Mandalay Bay hotel room? Those facts are still in dispute amid a constantly shifting timeline of events. Why did Paddock stop firing into the concert? Authorities do not know, but police apparently had not reached his hotel room by that point. Las Vegas police are expected to release new information about the case Friday after a week that has seen the timeline of the shooting change almost daily.

Northern California Remains Under Siege Amid Deadliest Wildfires

People are trying to find lost loved ones, to sift through the remains of lost homes, to count, identify and mourn the dozens dead — all while the fires rage on. The communities of Northern California were preparing for another day under siege, despite being driven to exhaustion by evacuations, destruction and danger amid the deadliest week of wildfires the state has ever seen. The death toll had climbed to an unprecedented 31, and was expected to keep rising. Individual fires including the Oakland Hills blaze of 1991 had killed more people than any one of the current fires, but no collection of simultaneous fires in California had ever led to so many deaths, authorities said. Hundreds more were injured or missing. Real recovery would have to wait for firefighters to bring under control the 21 wildfires spanning more than 300 square miles. Most were less than 10 percent contained. New evacuations were still being ordered for fires that broke out on Sunday night.

America's Obesity Epidemic Reaches Record High, Report Says

Almost 40 percent of American adults are obese, the highest rate ever recorded for the U.S., according to a report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Nearly 20 percent of adolescents are obese, also a record high, NBC News reported. That comes out to one in five adolescents aged 12-19. Meanwhile, one in five kids aged 6-11 and one in 10 preschoolers aged 2-5 are obese. "It's difficult to be optimistic at this point," said Dr. Frank Hu, chair of the Department of Nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health. "The trend of obesity has been steadily increasing in both children and adults." Obesity is medically defined as having a body-mass index of more than 30. Overweight and obese children have a higher risk to stay obese and childhood obesity is linked to a higher chance of early death in adulthood.

Amazon Studios Chief on Leave of Absence Amid Sexual Harassment Claim

Amazon said Amazon Studios chief Roy Price was on a leave of absence and the company was reviewing its projects with The Weinstein Company. "Roy Price is on leave of absence effective immediately. We are reviewing our options for the projects we have with The Weinstein Co," an Amazon spokesperson told CNBC. The Hollywood Reporter had reported that an Amazon TV producer was claiming Price had sexually harassed her. Additionally, the announcement came soon after actress Rose McGowan went after Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos for his company allegedly ignoring her warnings about Harvey Weinstein.

Country Star Jason Aldean Resumes Tour After Mass Shooting

Country star Jason Aldean brought the party back in his return to the stage following the deadly mass shooting that broke out while he was performing in Las Vegas, but the fun was tempered by the sting of the tragedy. Three songs into his show in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the singer launched into a five-minute speech that honored the 58 killed and nearly 500 hurt in the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history. But Aldean took a defiant tone in telling concertgoers to resist living in fear, and he called for more of the national unity he's seen since the attack. "These people are going to continue to try to hold us down," Aldean said. "To those people that keep trying to do that, I say (expletive) you, we don't really care." Fans agreed. They pumped their fists and held up American flags as Aldean continued. "I want to play the show for you guys that the people in Las Vegas came to see and didn't get a chance to," he said.

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