10 things you need to know today: September 25, 2016

1. Washington State mall shooting suspect, Arcan Cetin, arrested unarmed

A 20-year-old man named Arcan Cetin was arrested by police at 7 p.m. Pacific time Saturday evening on suspicion of the mass shooting at a Macy's in a Washington State mall that took five lives Friday night. Cetin was unarmed and was described as quiet, even "zombie-like," at the time of his arrest. Though originally described by police as Hispanic based on a blurry surveillance image, Cetin is a permanent resident of the United States from Turkey. At present, the Seattle branch of the FBI says there is no evidence this was an act of terrorism or that there were any other shooters. Cetin was prohibited from owning a firearm after charges of domestic violence and drunk driving, but he was in compliance with court-ordered mental health counseling. His former girlfriend once worked at the department store where he attacked, but she no longer works there or lives in the area.

USA Today KIRO 7 Seattle

2. Clinton, Trump pull even in polls ahead of first debate

Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump are separated by less than the 4.5 percent margin of error in a Washington Post/ABC News poll released Sunday morning. Among likely voters Clinton scores 46 percent support to Trump's 44 percent, while Libertarian Party nominee Gary Johnson takes 5 percent and the Green Party's Jill Stein has 1 percent national support. Among registered voters, Clinton and Trump are tied at 46 percent in a two-way race. More than 100 million people are expected to watch Monday's first general election debate between the two candidates, the largest debate audience in U.S. history.

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The Hill Politico

3. Police footage of Keith Lamont Scott's death released Saturday

One day after The New York Times published cell phone footage of the moments preceding Keith Lamont Scott's fatal shooting at the hands of police in Charlotte, North Carolina, Chief Kerr Putney of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department announced he would release footage from the dash and body cameras of the officers involved on Saturday. Putney said his decision was not influenced by five days of protesters in Charlotte calling for the film to be made public, and protests continued after the video was released. The footage does not settle the issue of whether Scott had a gun or whether he was holding it while interacting with officers, a major point of contention between police and the Scott family. The graphic video is available via the Charlotte Observer.

Associated Press Charlotte Observer

4. New York Times endorses Clinton

A New York Times editorial published Saturday announced the paper's official endorsement of Democrat Hillary Clinton for president. The article did not offer a comparison of Clinton to her rival, Republican Donald Trump, instead promising to "explain in a subsequent editorial why we believe Mr. Trump to be the worst nominee put forward by a major party in modern American history." As for Clinton, the editorial board insisted their rationale centered on her merits — "intellect, experience, toughness, and courage" — and not her position as the sole viable alternative to Trump. Clinton should be seen as a realist rather than an opportunist, the endorsement essay argued, running through a record of her accomplishments while dismissing Clinton's negatives as "occasional missteps."

The New York Times

5. Heaviest bombing of Syrian civil war continues in Aleppo

An onslaught considered to be the heaviest bombing campaign of the Syrian civil war continues in Aleppo after the aerial attack by government forces began buffeting rebel-held parts of the city with airstrikes on Friday. More than 200 strikes have pounded Aleppo's eastern neighborhoods since then, killing more than 100 civilians, including children. Rescue workers are still attempting to free people from the rubble of their flattened homes. United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Sunday condemned the assault as the "most sustained and intense bombardment since the start of the Syrian conflict," calling it "appalling" in advance of a U.N. meeting on Syria cease-fire efforts.

Associated Press Politico

6. Ted Cruz stumps for Trump but declines to say whether he is fit to lead

After a surprise endorsement of Donald Trump on Friday, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) took on the role of a Trump campaign surrogate in an interview Saturday but carefully avoided answering an explicit question of whether Trump is fit to be president. Much of the conversation centered on Trump's past insults of Cruz's wife and father. "Heidi and my dad and I we talked about it and we made a decision together — that we are going to choose to forgive him," Cruz said, adding that Trump has not apologized for any of his jabs and Cruz has not requested he do so. Cruz's condition for endorsement "was not a personal ask to apologize to my family," he said, but rather, "give a commitment of something meaningful on the Supreme Court."

CNN The Hill

7. Gennifer Flowers accepts Donald Trump's invite to the debate

Gennifer Flowers, the actress and Penthouse model who claims to have had a 12-year affair with former President Bill Clinton, has agreed to take a front-row seat at the first debate between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton Monday night. The arrangement was suggested by Trump on Twitter Saturday in response to news that Clinton supporter Mark Cuban said he would sit in the front row. Whether Cuban or Flowers will get those seats remains to be seen; the candidates do have tickets to distribute, but the Commission on Presidential Debates said it will "frown upon" prominent placement of either person.

Politico Washington Examiner

8. Jordanian writer assassinated before trial over ISIS caricature

A Jordanian writer named Nahed Hattar was shot dead outside a courthouse he was entering to be tried on contempt of religion charges for sharing on social media a caricature mocking the Islamic State's interpretation of Islamic beliefs. The gunman, described as a 39-year-old imam, was arrested at the scene of the murder. Hattar's arrest was a point of controversy in Jordan, with some defending his right to free speech and others arguing the post, which depicted a man in heaven expecting God to cater to his every need, was insulting to God.

Reuters Associated Press

9. The world's largest radio telescope begins operations in China

China's giant radio telescope, featuring a bowl measuring 1,640 feet across, began operations Sunday after five years of construction. The telescope will now complete three years of testing to properly calibrate its instruments. Once testing is complete, the $180 million telescope will search for gravitational waves, alien life, and more. "As soon as the telescope works normally, a committee will distribute observation time according to the scientific value of the proposals," said Nan Rendong, the professor in charge of the project. "Proposals from foreign scientists will be accepted and there will be foreign scientists on the allocation committee."

BBC News Associated Press

10. Michigan State football players join Kaepernick's protest

Three members of the Michigan State University football team on Saturday joined NFL player Colin Kaepernick's silent protest of racial inequality and police misconduct in America. While the national anthem played in advance of a home game against Wisconsin, the three players, who are all African-American, raised their fists instead of putting their hands over their hearts. "Time to represent this movement publicly!!" wrote one player, defensive end Gabe Sherrod, on Twitter before his protest. "Our lives matter too and even us privileged college students fear for our lives around the police."

Reuters