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Republicans are getting nervous about the midterms, AI is making significant decisions in government, and Bad Bunny threw a party at the super bowl halftime show. That's some of what we'll get to on the Seven from the Washington Post, I'm Hannah Jewell. It's Monday, February 9th. Let's get you caught up with today's seven stories. Number one, President Donald Trump is leaving Republicans guessing on his plans for the midterms. Many Republicans are worried about their party's dimming prospects in November's midterm elections. Republicans currently hold the narrowest possible majority in the House, and they will be defending more seats rated as toss ups than the Democrats. So Republicans are looking to the White House for guidance. But but they're not getting much of it. For example, the party's flagship campaign committee and super PACs have no indication of how Trump will deploy his $300 million plus war chest. That's because the president has not approved a spending plan. People who have spoken with Trump say he at times can sound detached and non committal about his plans for spending and endorsements. One person close to the White House said some days the president seems not to care. That's even though the president's approval ratings are sagging and Democrats have recently overperformed in special elections, the White House is rapidly accelerating AI adoption across the government. That's number two. In April, the White House Budget Office urged every corner of the government to deploy artificial intelligence, according to a new analysis from the Post. Officials answered that call agencies across government have launched hundreds of AI projects in the past year. Many are in sensitive roles in law enforcement, immigration and healthcare. For example, the Department of Homeland Security has adopted new, more sophisticated facial recognition tools. The FBI has purchased novel systems to sift through reams of images and text to generate leads for investigators. And the Department of Veterans affairs is developing an AI program to predict whether a veteran is likely to attempt suicide. In total, there are around 1300 new ways AI is being used in government. You can search through them all in today's newsletter. NUMBER 3 the Seattle Seahawks beat the New England Patriots to win Super Bowl 60. Yesterday, the Seahawks put on one of the most dominant defensive performances in super bowl history. Seattle throttled New England at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California, 2913 to win the franchise's second Lombardi Trophy. The defensive grind, though, squeezed the life out of the game, leaving most of the entertainment for Bad Bunny at halftime. The Puerto Rican star had promised a huge party, and he delivered. There was even a proposal and a real wedding. Congratulations to the happy couple. There were also cameos from Ricky Martin, Lady Gaga, Pedro Pascal, Jessica Alba and Cardi B. The show also nodded to historic injustices in Puerto Rico. At one point, Bad Bunny climbed the set of a power line alongside dancers dressed as repair workers. That was an allusion to the alleged corruption and setbacks that have plagued infrastructure repairs on the island in the wake of Hurricane Maria.
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The Prince and Princess of Wales made their first public remarks on the Epstein files Kensington palace said today that Prince William and Princess Catherine have been deeply concerned by the continuing revelations from the latest release of files related to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The palace also said the royal couple's thoughts remain focused on the victims. The latest release of documents by the Justice Department has reverberated through the highest echelons of Britain's political and royal worlds. The files appeared to provide further evidence of a long running association between Epstein and Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, the now former Prince and Duke of York. Andrew was stripped of his royal titles in October. 5 the US won two gold medals yesterday at the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics. The first two medals for the US at these Olympics didn't come about exactly as expected. Yesterday morning, skier Lindsey Vaughn's pursuit of a downhill medal in her fifth Olympic Games ended violently. Just 13 seconds into her run, she clipped the fourth gate with her right arm, sending her spinning. She was evacuated from the mountain by helicopter and is in stable condition. Just 10 days before, she had torn the ACL in her right knee. Yesterday, her teammate Breezy Johnson ended up winning the gold. Then, in the evening, the US Won gold again in the figure skating team event. Ilya Malinin stepped in with a free skate filled with just enough quadruple jumps to live up to his nickname, Quad Go. He will compete again in the singles competition starting tomorrow. A new Post database can help you find colleges with free tuition. That's number six. Americans are increasingly questioning whether college is worth the price. Student loan debt tops $1.6 trillion and the average tuition has doubled in the past 30 years. At the same time, new federal caps on how much parents can borrow for college could place higher education further out of reach for some families. But also a growing number of schools are providing free tuition to undergraduate students from low and middle income families. So the Post set out to catalog free tuition programs and found nearly 1,000 of them. They're in 45 states at two year colleges, four year universities, vocational schools and elite private private campuses. You can look up these schools using the tool in our newsletter find that, as always, in our show notes. And at number seven, if you want to lose weight, exercise probably won't help. Dr. Jordan Metzl is a sports medicine physician. He wrote a column for the Post about a pattern he has seen among his patients. Many will come to him frustrated that their weight remains the same even though they're working out. But that is what frustrates Metzl, because the health of his patients is improving through exercise. But they are too focused on the wrong number, the one on the scale. The truth is, our bodies will correct for the extra activity by increasing our appetites or by lowering the calories burned for other bodily functions. But that doesn't mean we should stop moving. The evidence is overwhelming that exercise lowers cardiovascular risk. It improves blood sugar control, strengthens bones and preserves cognitive function. It even reduces the risk of depression, cancer and early death. So those are some pretty good reasons to stick to that workout. It really is doing you good. And while you're at it, consider throwing your scale off a bridge and into the sea. Alright, you're all caught up. If you haven't already, you should sign up for the seven's newsletter. It has links to all the stories I talk about here on the podcast and a lot more. It's totally free and it sends early every weekday morning. Just Google the seven Morning Briefing from the Washington Post or follow the link in our show Notes to sign up. I'm Hannah Jewell. I'll meet you back here tomorrow.
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