Final Michigan Senate debate takeaways and rural America’s data center boom: Morning Rundown

Key Points:

• Key Senate and gubernatorial debates in Michigan, Kansas, and Wisconsin focused heavily on the economy and the Iran war, with candidates sharply contrasting their positions and affiliations ahead of the November 7 election.
• Big tech companies like Amazon, Microsoft, and Google are rapidly expanding data centers in rural America due to land and resource availability, sparking mixed reactions from local communities about the economic benefits and environmental impacts.
• Former President Trump is employing flattery toward Vladimir Putin, including praising him as a humanitarian, in an attempt to bring Russia to the negotiating table to end the Ukraine war, though experts remain skeptical about the strategy's success without clear U.S. leverage.
• Investigative reporting has revealed past tensions between Cornell University investigators and the local district attorney’s office regarding evidence requests in a 2019 student death case, raising concerns about accountability in related campus investigations.
• Additional news highlights include a teacher's survival story from an Oregon school shooting, Pope Leo's successful lung cancer surgery, and a U.N. report citing the U.S. as a significant factor in global climate change setbacks.