Today's top stories, with context, in just 15 minutes.
On today's podcast:
1) Oil climbed after a report that the White House asked the Pentagon to draw up strike options against Iran that could be executed before the midterm elections. Freight rates are surging, with shipping oil from the Middle East to China costing $1.4 million a day, the most on record. Producers in the Gulf of Mexico shut in more than 510,000 barrels a day of crude output in response to Hurricane Isaias forming in the US Gulf.
2) President Trump defended his immigration policies during a visit to Texas as he sought to boost struggling GOP Senate candidate Ken Paxton ahead of November’s midterm elections. Trump’s defense of his immigration policies comes as Republicans are seeking to shore up their standing with Hispanic voters, whose support for the president has slid in recent polls due to concerns over the economy and affordability issues. Paxton is in a close race with Democratic candidate James Talarico, with recent polls showing Talarico with a narrow advantage, leaving Democrats cautiously hopeful in what has been a reliably red state.
3) Hurricane Isaias has formed in the US Gulf, with top sustained winds of 75 miles per hour, and is tracking toward the coast. Offshore producers have shut in roughly 25% of crude output and 16% of natural gas production, and workers at eight platforms and two rigs have been evacuated. Forecasters are increasingly confident that the hurricane will land east of major energy assets off the coast of Louisiana and Texas around late Friday or early Saturday.