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In today's issue:

▪ Trump shifts stance on Ukraine war

▪ T-minus 7 days to shutdown deadline

▪ Democrats raise the heat on Homan

▪ Tylenol announcement spurs blowback

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Jimmy Kimmel made an emotional but defiant return to his late night show on Wednesday night, ripping the Trump administration while saying he understood why his comment about Charlie Kirk’s killing left some people feeling upset.

“I have no illusions about changing anyone's mind, but I do want to make something clear, because it's important to me as a human, and that is, you understand that it was never my intention to make light of the murder of a young man,” Kimmel said during his opening monologue on ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”

“Nor was it my intention to blame any specific group for the actions of what was obviously a deeply disturbed individual. That was really the opposite of the point I was trying to make. But I understand that to some that felt either ill-timed or unclear or maybe both, and for those who think I did point a finger, I get why you're upset. If the situation was reversed, there's a good chance I'd have felt the same way.”

Kimmel went on to rip into Federal Communications Chair Brendan Carr and President Trump, who both celebrated his suspension last week after Carr threatened unspecified regulatory action against ABC and local affiliates.

Kimmel agreed with Texas Sen. Ted Cruz’s (R) remarks on his podcast saying that Carr sounded like a mobster with his threat to “do this the easy way or the hard way” in comments directed at Disney and ABC affiliates.

“Although I don't know, you want to hear a mob boss make a threat like that, you have to hide a microphone in a deli and park outside in a van with a tape recorder all night long,” Kimmel said. “This genius said it on a podcast. Brendan Carr is the most embarrassing car Republicans have embraced since this one,” he added, as a picture of a Tesla Cybertruck emblazoned with “Trump” flashed on the screen.

Kimmel called the effort by Trump’s FCC to get his show taken off the air “un-American” and showed past clips and quotes of Carr and Trump defending free speech, then showed a recent clip of Trump saying Kimmel had "no ratings."

“Well, I do tonight,” Kimmel said to cheers. “He tried his best to cancel me, instead, he forced millions of people to watch the show. That backfired bigly. He might have to release the Epstein files to distract us from this now.”

Minutes before Kimmel’s show, Trump railed against ABC lifting the suspension in a post on Truth Social, writing, "I can’t believe ABC Fake News gave Jimmy Kimmel his job back. The White House was told by ABC that his Show was cancelled!"

“I think we’re going to test ABC out on this. Let’s see how we do. Last time I went after them, they gave me $16 Million Dollars. This one sounds even more lucrative. A true bunch of losers! Let Jimmy Kimmel rot in his bad Ratings,” Trump wrote.

Tuesday night’s show was preempted by Nexstar and Sinclair, two of the country’s largest owners of local TV stations. Nexstar is also the parent company of The Hill.

At the start of his monologue, Kimmel thanked the many friends, colleagues and fans who advocated his return, but also name-checked some of the conservatives who stood up for free speech despite disagreeing with him — including Cruz and his fellow Republican Sens. Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul of Kentucky.

He concluded his monologue with a tearful acknowledgment of Erika Kirk’s speech at Charlie Kirk's memorial service in Arizona on Sunday, during which she said she forgave her husband's accused killer.

“That is an example we should follow. If you believe in the teachings of Jesus, as I do. There it was. That's it. A selfless act of grace forgiveness from a grieving widow that touched me deeply,” Kimmel said, visibly choked up.

“And if there’s anything we should take from this tragedy to carry forward, I hope it can be that, not this.”

Smart Take with Blake Burman

The U.S. Secret Service announced Tuesday it has thwarted a major threat involving cell phones. The Secret Service says it found 100,000 SIM cards and 300 SIM servers within 35 miles of the United Nations in Manhattan. That much equipment has the potential to overwhelm the city’s cell network and even potentially text every single person in the United States within minutes.

Former Secret Service Special Agent Charles Marino told me he believes this case could become one of the largest national security investigations in the country. “We're talking about well over, my sources are telling me, $3 million in equipment strategically located around the New York City metropolitan area, which, yes, if used in total, could have disbanded and taken down cell towers,” Marino said.

The big unknowns, at least publicly, are who is behind this and what was their main goal. The government hasn’t named names yet, but this serves as a major reminder of the cybersecurity threats constantly before the government.

Burman hosts "The Hill" weeknights, 6p/5c on NewsNation.

3 Things to Know Today

1. Former Pima County supervisor Adelita Grijalva (D) was projected to win the special election to fill the House seat held by her late father, former Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.).

2. The nation’s 250th birthday celebration will go on without the help of a White House-appointed director who was

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