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Good morning and Happy National Coffee Day. For free coffee today, bring a reusable cup into Starbucks or show up at any Wawa. For a free newsletter, just keep on reading. —Neal Freyman, Max Knoblauch, Jamie Wilde, Sherry Qin

MARKETS Nasdaq 14,546.68 -2.83% S&P 4,352.63 -2.04% Dow 34,299.99 -1.63% 10-Year 1.543% +5.8 bps Bitcoin $41,796.58 -2.10% Amazon $3,315.96 -2.64% *Stock data as of market close, cryptocurrency data as of 5:00pm ET. Here's what these numbers mean. Markets: Stocks crumbled, and the tech-focused Nasdaq posted its worst day since March due to a spike in bond yields. We’ll unpack that in just a bit. Economy: Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the US needs to do something about the debt ceiling by October 18, or else risk defaulting on its loans shortly after. Senate Republicans blocked a Democrat-proposed bill to raise the debt ceiling on Monday, which will likely force the Dems to tack on the debt ceiling measure to their budget bill.

MARKETS Talking the Birds and the Bonds Spencer Platt/Getty Images 10-year Treasury yields rose for their sixth straight day on Tuesday to their highest level since June. And while the 10-year note may not be the main conversation topic in your group chat, investors pay close attention to it as a benchmark for borrowing costs and future economic growth. Quick note: Bond yields move inversely to prices, so yields increase when investors sell bonds. So what is the 10-year trying to tell us? By selling off bonds, investors are preparing for the Fed to wind down its economic stimulus measures later this fall and an interest rate hike in the not-too-distant future. Surging yields also signal that higher inflation could last longer than expected, a reality that Fed Chair Jerome Powell acknowledged in remarks on Capitol Hill yesterday. (Don’t look now, but used car prices are on the rise again, too.) Tech companies were hit the hardest Despite all three major indexes tumbling yesterday, one was not like the rest. The Nasdaq, which is more focused on the tech sector than the S&P or Dow, got bruised the most. Wall Street’s top tech names, such as Nvidia, Facebook, and Amazon, lost more than $200 billion in market value. Rising yields don’t necessarily spell doom for stocks. In fact, right now they appear to be signaling that a more “normal” economy—one that doesn’t require unprecedented government stimulus—is arriving. But high-growth tech stocks can take a hit when yields spike. These companies are expensive relative to their current earnings, and are priced based on their growth prospects five or 10 years down the road (see: Tesla’s mammoth $770 billion market cap). Rising yields, and the higher returns they offer investors, can make bonds more attractive relative to riskier stocks. Big picture: Some market watchers were concerned about a choppy September, and they’ve been proven right—the S&P is on pace for its first monthly loss since January.—NF

ENERGY That Energy Crunch Energy Francis Scialabba If you’re not experiencing an energy crisis, are you even a country in 2021? As the UK confronts its own gas shortages, a widespread energy crunch in China has led to power cuts and forced a chunk of its muscular manufacturing sector offline. Goldman Sachs became the latest bank to cut China’s GDP forecast on account of the energy shortages. It calculates that up to 44% of the country’s industrial activity has been affected. What’s going on? A couple of things. Beijing has instituted tougher emissions standards to curb the country’s coal use, which accounts for more than 70% of China’s electricity generation. Current production is not meeting demand. The soaring price of coal has made producing electricity an unprofitable endeavor, so utilities aren’t exactly rushing to make more. Why it matters: Add China’s electricity shortage to the laundry list of problems crimping the global supply chain, which is about to come under even more pressure ahead of the holiday shopping season.—SQ

TECH Amazon Has Created the Robot From 'Rocky IV' Amazon At its fall product event on Tuesday, Amazon announced its first home robot: a distinguished little gentleman named Astro that looks kind of like a Kindle glued to a travel toaster oven. Astro can keep a watchful eye on pets, children, and would-be home invaders, all while topping out at speeds of 2 mph. Users will be able to set boundary limits on which rooms Astro can enter, and even make it beatbox. It’s basically a very slow guard dog that can’t use the stairs and also has a cupholder. Astro is $999 for Day One purchasers, and will cost $1,499 once widely released. Other products announced at the event: The Always Home Cam: a security drone that will fly around your home when you aren’t there and have a will-they-won’t-they thing with Astro, probably The Halo View: a fitness band à la Fitbit Hey Disney: a Disney-themed voice assistant working alongside Alexa Alexa Together: a subscription service aimed at helping users care for elderly loved ones A $60 smart thermostat to take on Google’s Nest—MK

SPONSORED BY PIESTRO The Future of Pizza Draws Near Have no fear, your favorite food isn’t in jeopardy. Quite the contrary, in fact, thanks to Piestro.  Piestro is the robotic pizzeria you knead (sorry) to know about. Not only does it make artisanal pies at a fraction of the cost of traditional pizzerias, it also thinks you should join the pizza revolution as an investor. Seems that plenty of others are excited about Piestro’s potential too, considering their robots have received $580M in pre-orders via commercial contracts. That’s a lotta cheese...and a delicious investment opportunity. Your chance to invest ends TOMORROW, 9/30. Get in on the future of artisanal pizza with Piestro here.

GRAB BAG Key Performance Indicators Candidates stand in line before taking the Rajasthan Eligibility Exam for Teachers. Vishal Bhatnagar/NurPhoto via Getty Images Stat: India shut down the internet for more than 25 million people across the state of Rajasthan on Sunday. Why? To prevent cheating at a time when hundreds of thousands of candidates took a standardized test to become eligible for teaching roles. Quote: “You have acted to make our banking system less safe, and that makes you a dangerous man to head up the Fed and that is why I will oppose your renomination.” At a Senate hearing yesterday, Sen. Elizabeth Warren told Fed Chair Jerome Powell to his face that she doesn’t think he deserves another four years in the position. President Biden must decide whether to reappoint Powell, who has broad bipartisan support, before his term expires in February. Read: Is going to the office a broken way of working? (New Yorker)

PEOPLE Meet 2021 MacArthur Fellow: Joshua Miele MacArthur Foundation Every year, the MacArthur Foundation awards $625,000 apiece to 25 individuals doing remarkable things in their respective fields—and no field’s off limits: Winners range from poets to humanitarians to, in Miele’s case, a designer at Amazon. In a nutshell, Miele creates accessible technology for blind people like himself. When he was four, he was blinded by a neighbor who poured sulfuric acid on him, and he’s been advocating for the blind community since. “I want to be famous for the right reasons, for the work I’ve done, and not for some stupid thing that happened to me 40 years ago,” he told the NYT in 2013. Here are some of the amazing projects Miele has led: Fire tablets that are Braille-compatible, and a “Show and Tell” feature on Echo devices that can identify different foods and pantry items “Tactile maps” for the Bay Area’s BART train—known for ferrying tech workers to and from San Francisco and the suburbs—that users can explore with their fingers and an audio smart pen “YouDescribe,” a platform that crowdsources audio descriptions for popular videos + Read Miele’s backstory here, and learn more about the 24 other 2021 MacArthur fellows here.—JW

WHAT ELSE IS BREWING US home prices continued to stay white hot, jumping the most ever in July from a year earlier. Japan is lifting its Covid-19 state of emergency this week to juice the economy as cases decline. 131 federal judges in the US violated the law by overseeing cases involving companies they or their families had invested in, according to the WSJ. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said former President Trump’s threat to ban TikTok, and the ensuing acquisition talks by Microsoft, was the “strangest thing I’ve ever sort of worked on.”

BREW'S BETS The great (safe) outdoors. With SimpliSafe’s new Wireless Outdoor Security Camera, you can easily extend your home’s perimeter of defense. And with 1080p HD resolution and 8x digital zoom, you’ll see it all—everywhere. Right now get 30% off when you sign up for the interactive monitoring plan.* Bye-bye, bloat. Sakara’s Metabolism Super Powder is...Back. In. Stock. Sakara’s tasty super powder is on the market and ready to break your habit while eliminating bloat and boosting metabolism. No wonder supplies are low. Get 20% off now with code SEPTEMBERBREW.* Can’t sleep? Try the 4-7-8 breathwork technique then let us know if it works for you. Anyone can cook: In honor of the Ratatouille movie getting a ride at Disney World this Friday, Eater’s writing a delightful series of Ratatouweek articles and we’re cooking this Remy-inspired recipe. *This is sponsored advertising content

FROM THE CREW Sup, HR Brew Introducing Morning Brew’s newest newsletter, HR Brew. There are huge stories to tell in HR—seismic cultural changes amid a pandemic, the new era of remote work, demands for systemic change in pay disparity and racial equity, and transformative workplace tech and tools. HR Brew will bring you expert advice on all that and so much more. Subscribe to get the newsletter that’s made for the people in the people profession.

GAMES The Puzzle Section Word Search: Today's theme? None other than Broadway. Play the puzzle and try not to sing along. National Coffee Day Trivia Can you identify the following six espresso drinks?

SHARE THE BREW The Met Gala's Hottest Look Did you know? Next year's Met Gala theme is "Newsletters." And if you want to rock the same look as this definitely not not Photoshopped pic of Kim K., we're here to make your dream a reality. To get Brew joggers, all you need to do is refer 5 people to the Brew this week using your unique link. The details: Regardless of how many people you’ve already referred, you need to get at least 5 new confirmed referrals by October 3rd to win joggers. Only the first 2,000 people to hit this threshold will get joggers, so lock them in now. Only participants with a US address can win. Grab your joggers here.

ANSWER 1. Americano 2. Cappuccino 3. Irish Coffee 4. Macchiato 5. Affogato 6. Mocha

September 29

FEATURED BIOGRAPHY Enrico Fermi Italian-American physicist READ MORE FEATURED EVENT 1923 British mandate in Palestine READ MORE

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MORE EVENTS ON THIS DAY

2005: American jurist John G. Roberts, Jr., was sworn in as the 17th chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. [Why are there nine justices on the U.S. Supreme Court?]

1988: Discovery was launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, marking a resumption of NASA's space shuttle program, which had been suspended following the Challenger explosion in 1986. [Sort fact from fiction in our quiz about space exploration.]

1961: Julia Gillard, who in 2010 became Australia's first female prime minister, was born in Wales. [Test your knowledge of Australia's government and political system.]

1938: The American harness racehorse Greyhound, widely considered the greatest trotter to ever have raced, established a trotting record for 1 mile in 1:551/4 (it was broken in 1969). [Take our quiz about horse racing.]

1938: Poland demanded the cession of Teschen, a rich region that had been contested and then divided between Poland and Czechoslovakia following World War I. [Read about eight hotly disputed borders of the world.]

1918: German Chancellor Georg von Hertling tendered his resignation on the day of the Bulgarian armistice and the British attack of the Western Front during World War I. [Sort fact from fiction in our quiz about World War I.]

SEE ALL EVENTS ON THIS DAY

ALSO BORN ON THIS DAY

1988 Kevin Durant American basketball player

1935 Jerry Lee Lewis American musician

1936 Silvio Berlusconi Italian media magnate and prime minister

1571 Caravaggio Italian painter

1758 Horatio Nelson British naval commander

-106 Pompey the Great Roman statesman

SEE ALL BIOS ON THIS DAY

Breaking News: Mark Levin Is In Big Trouble After Revealing This

No One Expected This! {READ MORE} Breaking News: Donald and Melania Trump Expose Shocking Secret Today The Rumors Were True! {READ MORE}  Tomatoes, despite being botanically a fruit, are classified as a "vegetable," according to the Supreme Court. The high court issued this 1893 tomato ruling in the case Nix v. Hedden. Nix filed the suit under the Tariff of 1883, which required taxes on imported vegetables — but not fruit. Nix challenged the tax on the grounds that tomatoes are not technically vegetables. The Court's unanimous opinion held that people neither eat nor prepare tomatoes like fruits — and they should be taxed accordingly. While the Court acknowledged that although the tomato is botanicaly a fruit, they should be viewed as vegetables because they are usually eaten as a main course instead of eaten as a dessert.

Ga. Video Shows 24 People Dropped 19K Ballots in ZuckerBox

MAYORKAS: 1 in 5 Illegals Showing Up Sick at the Border

SPECIAL: Why Are Thousands of Brand-New Ford Trucks Parked Here?

Wisc. Gov. Calls GOP-Ordered Election Probe a ‘Boondoggle’

Judge Dismisses Charges Related to Female Genital Mutilation

Axios AM

By Mike Allen ·Sep 29, 2021

Happy Wednesday! Smart Brevity™ count: 1,196 words ... 4½ minutes. Edited by Zachary Basu. Axios wins first Emmy. Details @ item 10. Join Axios' Bryan Walsh today at 12:30 p.m. ET for a virtual event on AI's Industrial Revolution. Guests include Pittsburgh Mayor William Peduto and Intel #SmartCities expert Sameer Sharma. Sign up here.

1 big thing: Biden won't beg

An ice-cream truck serves near the Capitol on Monday. Photo: Samuel Corum/Getty Images President Biden has kept a public distance from Hill fights that'll help define his legacy, based on confidence that Dems will ultimately be with him despite bucking and bellyaching. "He's not gonna beg," said an official with firsthand knowledge of the president's mindset. "His view is: 'You're Democrats, and you're with your president or you're not.'" The hardball is driven by several factors, according to people who have discussed the negotiations with Biden: He's from a generation of politicians for whom party loyalty is automatic. He's confident Speaker Pelosi will deliver. He believes he'll ultimately get a big win. Backstory: Biden's approach is shaped partly by his 36 years as a senator — and sense that presidents should demand outcomes rather than details, Axios' Margaret Talev reports. Another twist is Biden's place in the shifting Democratic Party. For decades, he was on the liberal end. But in the 2020 primary field, he was centrist. So it'd be politically risky for him to be the tip of the spear on tangling with progressives. His approach: Let Pelosi and Bernie do it. Biden advisers say he's lobbying LBJ-style: making his case on merits, loyalty, politics — and arm twisting. Biden met separately at the White House yesterday with Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.). The president postponed a vaccination-themed trip to Chicago today so he can stay back to lobby. Besides Biden's meetings, White House aides report 260 "engagements" on the legislation with members and top advisers. Share this story.

2. Workplace fights over shots

Illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios

A surge of searchers on the job site Indeed are hunting for roles that don't require COVID vaccination — mostly health-care jobs, Erica Pandey writes for Axios What's Next. Job postings requiring the shot are on the rise. Expect even more as forthcoming federal rules on vaccines at work become clearer. Corporate America has become a central vaccine enforcer: United Airlines said yesterday it'll begin terminating 593 employees who are vax refusers. 96% of United's U.S. workers complied. What's next: Companies are raising questions about who'll pay for administration-ordered testing, and how OSHA will determine which businesses must comply. Several GOP lawmakers, including Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas), are encouraging businesses to push back. Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) tweeted that businesses should "openly rebel." In a Gartner survey of 272 legal, compliance and HR executives at companies across the country, 15% of companies said they'd fire workers who refuse the shot. New vaccination rules may add to the "great resignation": 69% of firms fear increased turnover with vaccine mandates, Gartner found. Share this story.

3. Explainer: "White replacement theory"

Some elected Republicans have begun promoting "white replacement theory," a decades-old concept that was invoked by white nationalists in Charlottesville in 2017, Axios' Dan Primack and Russell Contreras report. Why it matters: This mainstreams what once was the sole provenance of white supremacists. What it is: "White replacement theory" posits the existence of a plot to change America's racial composition by methodically enacting policies that reduce white Americans' political power. The current context is anti-immigration. Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) last week tweeted an endorsement of "Replacement Theory." Gaetz later tweeted that he doesn't "think of replacement solely on race/ethnicity terms," and blamed "the Left/Media." Keep reading.

A message from Google

Google is committing $10 billion to advance cybersecurity

Widespread cyber attacks continue to threaten the private information of people, organizations, and governments around the world. That’s why Google is investing $10 billion to expand zero-trust programs, help secure the software supply chain, and enhance open-source security. Learn more.

4. Pic du jour

Photo: Drew Angerer/Getty Images Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) holds a prop representing Dems' $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation package, as he speaks to reporters after a Senate GOP lunch at the Capitol yesterday. The White House says that with pay-fors, the package nets to $0.

5. COVID rage prompts hospital panic buttons

Keith Mathis holds a panic button he helped create. Photo: Sara Karnes/Springfield (Mo.) News-Leader via AP Nurses and hundreds of other staff members will soon begin wearing panic buttons at a Missouri hospital where assaults on workers tripled after the onset of the pandemic, AP reports. Cox Medical Center in Branson is adding buttons to ID badges for 400 employees in the emergency room and inpatient hospital rooms. Pushing the button alerts hospital security and launches a tracking system that will send help. Context: Delta hit hard in southwestern Missouri. The Branson hospital has been at or near capacity for four months.

6. Richard Haass: Foreign policy "woefully inadequate"

Richard Haass — president of the Council on Foreign Relations and the author of "The World: A Brief Introduction" — writes in the Nov./Dec. issue of Foreign Affairs that the new U.S. foreign-policy consensus is "not an across-the-board isolationism — after all, a hawkish approach to China is hardly isolationist — but rather the rejection of ... internationalism." "The problem with the emerging American approach to the world," Haass writes, "is that the consensus is woefully inadequate, above all in its failure to appreciate just how much developments thousands of miles away affect what happens at home." "It is also rife with self-defeating contradictions, especially when it comes to China." Keep reading. Also in this issue ... "The Kremlin’s Strange Victory: How Putin Exploits American Dysfunction and Fuels American Decline," by Fiona Hill, former NSC senior director for Europe and Russia. Her book, "There Is Nothing for You Here: Finding Opportunity in the 21st Century," will be out Tuesday.

7. Obama: "This day has been a long time coming"

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, former President Obama, Michelle Obama and Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot break ground yesterday. Photo: Kamil Krzaczynski/AFP via Getty Images The Obama Presidential Center, scheduled to open in 2025, will include a museum, forum building with community space, branch of the Chicago Public Library and an athletic center. The grounds will include a vegetable garden, sledding hill, playgrounds and open space for community events — farmers' markets, family reunions and picnics, the Obama Foundation said. Groundbreaking video.

8. Astro, your home robot

Photo: Collin Hughes/Amazon via AP

Astro — a $1,000 robot from Amazon that begins shipping later this year — can check if you left the stove on, or send an alert if a stranger enters. Astro (the name of the Jetsons' dog) uses cameras and sensors to avoid dogs and walls.

Photo: Amazon via AP Snacks or a soda can be placed on its back to be carted to someone across the house, AP reports.

9. ️ Congress at the bat

Cheerleaders for Rs and Ds show their spirit before the Congressional Baseball Game of 1966. Photo: Mickey Senko/CQ Roll Call via Getty Images Washington's partisan divide moves to Nats Park tonight for the 86th Congressional Baseball Game, which graduated from C-SPAN to Fox Sports 1 (7 p.m. ET), Axios' Jeff Tracy writes for Axios Sports. The backdrop: The inaugural contest was played in 1909, when former MLB player and then-Pennsylvania congressman John Tener organized a game among his colleagues. The Democrats beat the Republicans that day, 26-16, but the all-time series couldn't be any tighter, with one tie and 42 wins apiece. Wild coincidence: When President Biden played as a senator in the 1970s, he wore a Phillies jersey ... No. 46.

10. "Axios on HBO" wins first Emmy

Screenshot from National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences

Jonathan Swan and "Axios on HBO" won the News & Documentary Emmy Award for "Outstanding Edited Interview" for "President Donald J. Trump: An interview." Congrats and thank you to DCTV's Perri Peltz and Matthew O’Neill — the co-creators, directors, producers, maestros, magicians of "Axios on HBO." The show received two other nominations. "A matter of facts": "Axios on HBO" returns Sunday at 6 p.m. ET/PT on HBO and HBO Max. Watch the trailer ... Watch a clip from the Swan interview.

Via Twitter

A message from Google

Training 100,000 Americans on topics such as data privacy and security

Robust cybersecurity depends on having the people to implement it. Google is pledging to train 100,000 Americans in fields like IT Support and Data Analytics through the Google Career Certificate program, where they’ll learn in-demand skills including data privacy and security. Learn more.

Columnists Sentimentality in Politics Is a Loser’s Game Kurt Schlichter 'No. No One Said That to Me' Larry O'Connor Brian Stelter Is Bothered By the False Horse Whips Story, But Not CNN's Coverage Brad Slager Smeared John Stossel The Democratic Cave Begins Byron York 'No-Win' Kamala Still Has Fans in the Press Tim Graham America Is Still Working Star Parker It’s Time For Americans To Go Back To Work Jonathan Ingram Biden's Afghanistan Disaster: Predictable and Not Over Terry Jeffrey		Tipsheet ESPN Host Rails Against Her Company's Vaccine Mandate Leah Barkoukis ABC Edited Out Obama Trashing Biden's Open Border Policy Matt Vespa Candace Owens and Brandon Tatum Get Called the 'Bonnie and Clyde of Negro Republican Brigade' Landon Mion Unvaccinated NBA Players Say Getting the COVID Vaccine Should Be a Personal Choice Landon Mion Chuck Todd Loses Control of VA Gubernatorial Debate to Heckling Liberation Party Candidate Spencer Brown Here's What Secretary of Defense Austin Thinks About Dishonorably Discharging Unvaccinated Troops Spencer Brown Kamala Harris: Election Laws in Texas and Georgia are 'Inhumane' Landon Mion
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