Ben Pershing@benpershing

Supervising Editor @CNN Washington Bureau. Former @WSJ, @nationaljournal, @washingtonpost & @rollcall. @UCBerkeley alum. L.A. native. Vin Scully forever.

 Washington, DC
cnn.com/politics
Joined January 2010
3,959 Photos and videos
Finally, we hit back.
FOX Business
@FoxBusiness
14 Sep 2017
.@Sbarro to open new pizza outlets in Russia fxn.ws/2eXJDSw
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Josh Billinson
@jbillinson
8h
people who own kayaks love to performatively kayak in a storm. they pull those bad boys out the moment they see standing water
Nicholas Isabella
@NycStormChaser
9h
The water is so high people are kayaking to the train station in Queens.
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Alec MacGillis
@AlecMacGillis
3h
What a perfect, like, pull-quote for story on the site selection for the new tech-utopia "cryptocracy" in Uruguay:
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Russia Said These Foreigners Wouldn’t Have to Fight. Then It Sent Them to the Frontlines. politi.co/4dD3kg5

Russia Said These Foreigners Wouldn’t Have to Fight. Then It Sent Them to the Frontlines.

One wounded Peruvian escaped and made his way home.

politico.com
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A horse named Austrian Painter drew connections to Hitler. The colt had a new name 2 days later nytimes.com/athletic/7630457…

A horse named Austrian Painter drew connections to Hitler. The colt had a new name 2 days later...

The horse’s owner denied the Nazi connection, but his social media history includes misogynistic and antisemitic commentary.

nytimes.com
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Trump’s disruption to TV coverage during Xi visit frustrates Chinese officials cnn.com/2026/09/25/politics/…

Trump’s disruption to TV coverage during Xi visit frustrates Chinese officials | CNN Politics

President Donald Trump spent months plotting ways to impress Xi Jinping.

cnn.com
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Ben Pershing retweeted
Seamus Hughes
@SeamusHughes
Sep 25
Honestly, I’d quit lawyering if I got this order courtwatch.news/p/192-holy-l…
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The New York Times
@nytimes
23h
Breaking News: OpenAI’s technology went rogue and meddled with three U.S. government websites this summer without the A.I. lab’s knowledge. nyti.ms/3VenFlD

OpenAI’s A.I. Went Rogue and Meddled With U.S. Government Websites

The company did not learn until recently that its technology had meddled with websites for the Education and Commerce Departments and the Securities and Exchange Commission.

nytimes.com
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Sen. Susan Collins
@SenatorCollins
23h
Without warning or consultation, Congress just received an $810 million package of pocket rescissions from the Administration.  This is the most recent attempt by this Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to undermine Congress’s Constitutional power of the purse.    This move shows that OMB intentionally withheld these funds for months to execute this unlawful cancellation of appropriations that were approved on a bipartisan basis and signed into law.     Not only is the delay itself an impoundment that was not reported to Congress, but also it is a usurpation of Congress’s appropriations powers.  OMB is an agency of the executive branch.  It does not get to decide which programs are worth funding.   The independent Government Accountability Office has concluded that pocket rescissions are unlawful and not permitted by the Impoundment Control Act. Any effort to rescind appropriated funds without congressional approval is a clear violation of the law.   I will work with my colleagues to address these illegal actions.
Community note
Senator Collins voted to confirm OMB Director Vought, despite Vought’s known support for the President’s efforts to impound Congressionally-approved funds. thehill.com/homenews/senat… thehill.com/homenews/senat…
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Griff Witte@griffwitte
Sep 25
Exclusive: Egypt’s top spy flew to Israel shortly before October 7 with a dire warning about Gaza, @vmsalama reports: theatlantic.com/national-sec…

Egypt’s Warning to Israel

Cairo’s intelligence chief visited Tel Aviv shortly before October 7 with a dire message about Gaza.

theatlantic.com
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Honky Chonk Beardonkadonk⁣⁣
A large bear sitting in water fishing for salmon.

ALT A large bear sitting in water fishing for salmon.

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Deepa Seetharaman
@dseetharaman
Sep 25
New from @reuters: OpenAI agents posted images belonging to ChatGPT users online, introducing a new area of privacy risk for the company. Story w/ @JeffHorwitz and @razhael. reuters.com/world/openai-wor…

EXCLUSIVE: OpenAI works to understand full scope of agent activity as user data leak emerges

Two months after OpenAI disclosed the accidental hacking of Hugging Face, the ChatGPT maker is still working to understand the full scope of its rogue agent activity, two people briefed on the matter...

reuters.com
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Josh Dawsey
@jdawsey1
Sep 25
First excerpt of the Evan Gershkovich book is out: wsj.com/world/russia/evan-ge…

Exclusive | Did Putin Really Think I Was a Spy?

In an exclusive excerpt from his new book, “This Cursed Beautiful Land,” Evan Gershkovich searches for answers about his arrest while reporting in Russia.

wsj.com
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Andrew Solender
@AndrewSolender
Sep 25
this has to be a contender for one of the most insane visuals I have ever seen in a political ad:
Dan Osborn
@osbornforne
Sep 24
This is the most honest Pete Ricketts ad we’ve seen.
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Trump’s arch observation deck alarms military families over intrusive view to Arlington National Cemetery funerals cnn.com/2026/09/25/politics/…

Trump’s arch observation deck alarms military families | CNN Politics

President Donald Trump’s proposed triumphal arch did not originally include the idea for an open-air observation deck that would tower 161 feet above the surrounding landscape.

cnn.com
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The Supreme Court on Friday said states can use a controversial citizenship data collection tool for reviewing voter rolls. cnn.com/2026/09/25/politics/…

Supreme Court revives DHS citizenship data tool for voter audits in win for Trump | CNN Politics

In a major win for President Donald Trump’s efforts to find non-citizen voters, the Supreme Court on Friday said states can use a controversial citizenship data collection tool for reviewing voter...

cnn.com
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Rock legend Rick Wakeman has a new audience — a crowd of Vietnamese bears cnn.com/2026/09/25/entertain…

Rock legend Rick Wakeman has a new audience — a crowd of Vietnamese bears | CNN

As part of legendary prog rock band Yes, Rick Wakeman saw some pretty wild gigs in his time — but perhaps none quite as untamed as his most recent concert.

cnn.com
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Ben Pershing@benpershing
Sep 24
Candidates obsessively monitoring their odds. Election officials warning workers not to bet on races. Read @MarshallCohen & @PatrickSvitek on how prediction markets are scrambling nearly every aspect of the midterms. cnn.com/2026/09/24/politics/…

‘The first prediction-market election’: How Kalshi and Polymarket scrambled the midterms | CNN...

Wagering is affecting nearly every aspect of the midterms — from campaigns to election officials, voters, donors and traders — according to interviews with 20 people involved in elections and...

cnn.com
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Mortgage rates top 7%, dealing a further blow to the frozen housing market cnn.com/2026/09/24/economy/m…

Mortgage rates top 7%, dealing a further blow to the frozen housing market | CNN Business

Mortgage rates reached a grim milestone this week, topping 7% for the first time since January 2025 and reaching their highest level during either of Donald Trump’s presidential terms.

cnn.com
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CNN Poll: Nearly 9 in 10 Americans say they’re more concerned than excited by the possibility that AI could one day surpass human intelligence. About 8 in 10 express negative sentiments about the rapid pace of AI development. cnn.com/2026/09/24/politics/…

Majority of Americans express ‘fear and concern’ about AI, say government should regulate it more:...

Americans regard the growth and development of AI technology with far more fear and concern than hope and excitement, according to a new CNN poll conducted by SSRS, with broad partisan agreement that...

cnn.com
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