Good morning, it's Friday, Oct. 2. Tennessee tried to execute Christa Pike on Wednesday night, she survived, and now the state has halted executions while it figures out what went wrong.

Also in today's issue: Iran strikes after Election Day?, Supreme Court takes detention case, School-choice credit gets its rules, SNAP's new math.

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On Wednesday night, Tennessee tried to execute a woman named Christa Pike, and she is still alive. Whatever you think about the death penalty, that sentence should make you stop. And there's a detail in the state's own rulebook that we'll come back to in a moment.

Pike, 50, is the only woman on Tennessee's death row. She was convicted of the brutal 1995 murder of a classmate, Colleen Slemmer, when Pike was 18. Around 8 p.m., staff gave her two doses of pentobarbital, a powerful sedative meant to stop the heart. An Associated Press witness said Pike asked officials if it was supposed to feel that way. Nearly an hour later, witnesses were sent out while she could still be heard snoring. She was taken to a hospital, where her lawyers say she is getting lifesaving care.

Now look, this reaches past one prisoner's fate. The Eighth Amendment bans "cruel and unusual punishment," and that protection belongs to everyone. But Tennessee, like many states, keeps the details of its execution drugs secret. So a Tennessee taxpayer, whose money buys those drugs, can't learn where they came from or how they were tested.

Hours before the attempt, the Supreme Court lifted an appeals court's short pause on the execution. Its three liberal justices dissented. On Thursday, Gov. Bill Lee, a Republican, canceled the state's last execution scheduled this year and ordered a third-party review into exactly what happened.

Here's the thing: this was not a first. In May, staff spent more than an hour failing to find a vein for another inmate, Tony Carruthers. In July, Lee said the state's method still stood. A 2022 pause, after officials failed to test their drugs, produced today's single-drug method.

Now, the detail we promised. After Wednesday, the Department of Correction said it followed every step of its protocol. It added that the protocol allows nothing beyond what was done. In plain English, the rulebook had no next page for a prisoner who lives. The Death Penalty Information Center tracks executions but takes no side. It says this is the first time a person has survived after receiving the lethal drugs.

Supporters of the death penalty make a serious point. Lee said Tennesseans expect lawful sentences to be carried out in a way that is legal and effective. Slemmer's mother has said she waited decades to see this sentence carried out. Opponents say two failures in four months show the system can't be trusted with life and death. Both sides now need the same thing from the review: an honest account.

What happens to Pike is unclear. Her lawyers want Lee to commute her sentence, meaning swap death for prison time. Watch who runs the review, and whether its findings are made public. If the state tries again, expect a new court fight over whether a second attempt is itself cruel and unusual. If officials change the method instead, that tells you Tennessee sees the problem in the process, not the punishment.

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President Trump said Thursday that U.S. strikes on Iran could resume after the Nov. 3 midterms if the two sides fail to reach an acceptable agreement. In an interview with TIME, he also said he doesn't think peace with Iran is possible. The same day, a U.S. official said about 9,000 more sailors and Marines are heading to the region. That could put three aircraft carriers there by the end of October. Trump said he rejected Iran's latest offer partly because it would reopen only parts of the Strait of Hormuz. That narrow waterway carried about a fifth of the world's oil before the war. What happens there shows up at American gas pumps.

The Supreme Court agreed Thursday to decide whether the Trump administration can deny immigrants a bond hearing for their entire deportation case. A bond hearing is where a judge decides if someone can go home while their case plays out. The policy covers people who have lived here for years. The man at the center of the case, a Brazilian immigrant, has been in the U.S. more than 20 years, has no criminal record and held a work permit. Nine federal appeals courts have ruled against the policy, and two have backed it. The answer will reach tens of thousands of people; ICE detained more than 46,000 in July alone.

The Treasury and Education departments released the rules Thursday for a new federal school-choice tax credit created by last year's Republican tax law. Starting Jan. 1, taxpayers can cut their federal tax bill dollar for dollar by donating to groups that fund K-12 scholarships. The credit tops out at $1,700, or $3,400 for married couples. Families can use the money for private tuition, public school supplies, tutoring or homeschooling. The catch: it only works in states that opt in, and governors have until Jan. 1 to decide. Democratic governors in North Carolina, Virginia, Colorado and New York say they'll join. Supporters say it widens choices for families. Critics say it pulls money from public schools.

SNAP, the food aid program that helps about 37 million Americans, changed in two ways when the new federal budget year began Thursday. Maximum benefits rose with food prices, so a family of four can now get up to $1,023 a month, up from $994. But states now pay 75% of the cost of running the program, up from 50%, under last year's tax-and-spending law. Republicans say giving states more "skin in the game" will cut costly payment errors. The National Governors Association warned the shift could threaten the program, and budget analysts expect some states to tighten eligibility. The change moves about $3.4 billion a year onto states, according to USDA estimates.

That was the national average for a gallon of regular gas on Thursday, according to AAA. It's $1.25 more than a year ago. Diesel, which fuels the trucks that stock grocery shelves, averaged $6.39. That cost rides along into nearly everything you buy.

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