Good morning!🙋🏼♀️ I'mNicole Fallert.Who's your "Dancing with the Stars"Season 34 favorite? Some Kentuckiansbracefor Medicaid cuts. Victims of Jeffrey Epsteinurgedthe House to force the release of more investigative files. When is yournext chanceto win an eye-popping $1.4 billion? In the heart of Appalachia in Eastern Kentucky, many residents are beneficiaries of the state's 2014 Medicaid expansion to low-income adults, which brought an outsized boost to some of America's poorest counties beset by disproportionately high rates of chronic disease, disability and opioid abuse. Medical visits increased. Hospital budgets eased. Health clinics expanded and hired workers, buoying local economics. And drug treatment increased. But it's now gearing up for a test of its staying power: President Trump's "Big Beautiful Bill" signed in July cuts nearly $1 trillion from Medicaid and a related children's health program over a decade, with a new 80-hour-a-month work requirement. Cuts to a federal program that Kentucky uses to pay providers means the state is projected to see a nearly $11 billion decline in rural Medicaid spending, one of the largest drops in the nation.USA TODAY examinedhow some Kentucky medical providers are already tightening services. Women who say they were sexually abused by the late, disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein spoke out in an emotional press conference where they called for the full release of the criminal investigative files in the case on Sept. 3. What this means:The demands pose a challenge for President Donald Trump and Republican congressional leaders who for years demanded more information about Epstein, a former friend of the president, but now say full disclosure could hurt Epstein's victims. Documents will help "put the pieces of my own life back together." A newly disclosed Brazilian accuser of Epstein, Marina Lacerda,called onlawmakers and the Justice Department to not only release all of the Epstein files but to give her and other victims unredacted copies of everything connected to their cases. A House divided:House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana,said a voteto force the Justice Department to release more documents is no longer necessary. Meanwhile, Reps. Thomas Massie, R-Kentucky, and Ro Khanna, D-California are rallying an effort for a House vote. A coincidience?During the news conference, a military flyover of the U.S. Capitoldrowned outsome of the Epstein accusers' remarks. Lisbon, Portugal,mourns17 victims of a funicular crash. A TikTok influencerwas found slainwith her husband and two young children in Mexico. Florida's state surgeon generalcalled vaccine mandates"slavery." A judge ruled the Trump administrationunlawfully cut Harvard's funding. What's the weather today?Check your local forecast here. The Army announced the cancellation of its flagship officer selection program Sept. 2 after officials in Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's office directed its review. The Army's Command Assessment Program, anNFL Combine-style program, known as CAP, that put prospective battalion and brigade commanders through a series of physical and mental tests, was cancelled "effective immediately." A senior defense official familiar with CAP but not authorized to speak publicly told USA TODAY that Hegseth's office ordered the cancellation without meaningful consultation with the Army.Army expertstold USA TODAYthe move to cancel CAP doesn't make sense. Two hurricanes are spinning in the Pacific Ocean, with Hurricane Kiko more than 1,500 miles east of Hawaii and Hurricane Lorena potentially set to cause flooding in northwestern Mexico. Kiko was centered about 1,560 miles east of Hilo, Hawaii, as of the 11 p.m. ET advisory from the National Hurricane Center on Sept. 3. Kiko had maximum sustained winds near 145 mph with higher gusts, making it a Category 4 hurricane. The storm is expected to move westward through Thursday, Sept. 4, and then begin a turn toward the west-northwest.TrackKiko's path. Travis Kelce isgiddy. Are you obsessed with "Wednesday"?We are. "Wuthering Heights"erotic teaser trailerwith Jacob Elordi is driving lit fans mad. 2025 is the year ofnonrefundabletravel. ~ Pablo Pratt, 28, was one of millions enrolled in the Biden administration's Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) plan who were charged interest for the first time in a year. His family in Texas was already living paycheck to paycheck when the surprise interest charge added additional stress.Gen Ztold USA TODAYhow they're navigating a quickly-changing student loan landscape. The Powerball lottery jackpot hit $1.3 billion as of Sept. 2, and a lot of people want in: But how? The odds of winning the jackpot in the drawing Sept. 3, according to the Powerball website, are 1 in 292.2 million.Here's the secret formulafor some picking winning numbers. Nicole Fallert is a newsletter writer at USA TODAY,sign up for the email here. Want to send Nicole a note? Shoot her an email at NFallert@usatoday.com. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Daily Briefing: America's poorest brace for Medicaid cuts
