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Today's top stories
It is the final stretch before Election Day on Tuesday and candidates are making final campaign stops and delivering closing arguments. President Trump has been campaigning for at-risk Republicans, but he has abruptly switched to virtual rallies.
- 🎧 Trump's tour to boost voter turnout has focused largely on competitive Republican-leaning states, NPR's Saige Miller tells Up First. He's hosting 19 telerallies alongside in-person events. The shift in strategy, plus polling data, suggests that Republicans may face challenges, at least in the House, Miller says. Trump knows he's a key motivator for his party, but his strategy could also backfire by energizing Democrats.
- 🎧 Alaska's governor has ordered an investigation following a New York Times report on the state's toss-up U.S. Senate race. The article revealed that Democratic campaign operatives were attempting to recruit a candidate, whom Republicans claim could confuse voters and siphon support from GOP incumbent Dan Sullivan. The candidate also shares the name Dan Sullivan. Democrat Mary Peltola, a former congresswoman, aims to flip the seat. Alaska Public Media's Liz Ruskin spoke with election law experts, who found no applicable laws but noted that the conduct described crosses moral and ethical lines.
- ➡️ The Department of Justice subpoenaed election workers in Los Angeles amid rising tensions with California officials over the Trump administration's efforts to identify noncitizens on voter rolls.
- ➡️ At the start of this election cycle, Democrats appeared unlikely to gain Senate seats because many races were in red states. But the ongoing war in Iran has changed the landscape. Here are the key Senate races to watch.
- ➡️ NPR member stations are compiling essential info for voters, from guides to local races. Discover resources in your community here.
- ➡️ The NPR App has all of NPR's election coverage in one place — from the biggest stories across the country, to the issues that matter close to home. Browse headlines, playlists, podcast episodes, videos and more, all on the 2026 Election tab.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has dismissed Army Lt. Gen. Brett Sylvia, who oversaw planning at the Pentagon. Sylvia was also part of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. His removal comes as the U.S. and Israel prepare for a new potential round of attacks against Iran. Although Sylvia held a senior position in strategy, planning and policy, he was not directly involved in day-to-day operations regarding the Iran conflict.
- 🎧 The Pentagon is investigating a leak but has not provided details, NPR's Greg Myre says. Hegseth has dismissed several generals and admirals, often without explanation. These firings have disrupted senior military operations, Myre says. The U.S. currently has two aircraft carriers in the Arabian Sea, with a third, the USS Theodore Roosevelt, en route. According to Myre, it is unusual for the U.S. to have multiple carriers in one region. The last time it stationed three in the Middle East was during the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
Thousands of military veterans with VA-backed mortgages have faced higher interest rates and monthly payments since last year, after the Trump administration shut down a key part of the VA's home loan program. Before it was shut down, the Veterans Affairs Servicing Purchase (VASP) program, created under the Biden administration, helped tens of thousands of veterans who had fallen behind on their payments by rolling missed payments into a new, low-interest mortgage. The mortgage industry and housing groups warned the administration not to kill the program without first creating a viable replacement. Without one, vets had to modify loans at higher interest rates. An NPR investigation found that more than 15,000 veterans experienced monthly payment increases of at least $150 after their loans were modified due to financial hardship. More than 700 veterans saw their payments rise by $1,000 or more.
Behind the story
by Rob Stein, NPR's science desk correspondent and senior editor
I've been doing stories about the organ transplantation system for decades. One of the most fundamental guiding ethical principles in organ donation has long been the "dead donor rule." That rule, stated simply, says: Organs should only be retrieved for transplants from a person who is dead, and death should never be accelerated to try to boost the chances their organs will be usable. To make sure that's the case, there's long been a strict firewall between the doctors and nurses trying to save patients in the hospital, and the organ retrieval teams standing by to try to procure their organs.
But over the years, I've heard many stories from family members who nevertheless felt pressured to donate their loved one's organs. So when I got a tip that the Organ Procurement & Transplantation Network, which runs the nation's organ system, was planning to relax that firewall, I instantly knew that was a big story.
I rushed to confirm the documentation that the network's board of directors had indeed endorsed the change, which would go into effect Nov. 18. I then reached out to bioethicists and others for their reaction to this major change. The revision was part of a set of new policies designed to boost donations and improve patient safety. Those changes were spurred by disturbing revelations about mistakes, including patients literally being wheeled into the operating room to remove their organs when they were still alive. Some of the changes were praised as improving safety. But many bioethicists and even some transplant surgeons and patient and organ donation advocates say relaxing the firewall between care and organ retrieval teams is dangerous. The fear is it could lead to families and caregivers discontinuing treatment too soon, and deepening distrust in the organ donation system.
I explored what these rule changes will mean for organ donors. You can read about it here.
Weekend picks
Check out what NPR is watching, reading and listening to this weekend:
🍿 Movies: It's officially Halloweekend a.k.a. the perfect time to watch a horror movie. Clayface embraces body horror to tell the origin story of the eponymous Batman villain. Tom Rhys Harries stars as an actor who turns to AI and nanotechnology for a radical solution after a mob boss disfigures him.
📺 TV: HBO's War features Dominic West and Sienna Miller as a British couple battling it out in a high-stakes divorce. Their fierce legal teams intensify the drama.
📚 Books: Elizabeth McCracken's Seven Stories About Tammy weaves together interconnected short stories about a family's experiences with the eldest son's girlfriend.
🎵 Music: Slovakian singer Adéla has spent her life preparing for pop stardom. She has recently gained attention with her hit song "Nicole Kidman." In this interview with NPR's World Cafe, she discusses the music industry and her debut album, PRIMA.
❓ Quiz: This week brought pre-midterm drama. Plus, the rest of the world also held elections. Stay sharp — you'll nail at least three questions.
3 things to know before you go
- Sir Patrick Stewart, who played Professor X in the X-Men franchise and the captain of the starship USS Enterprise on Star Trek: The Next Generation, died on Wednesday at 86.
- A new study in Science shows that a species of bird called the Manx shearwater experiences jet lag similar to humans. Researchers found that during long flights across the Atlantic, these birds become disoriented as their internal clock falls out of sync with the sun.
- In this week's installment of Far-Flung Postcards, NPR's Jane Arraf sends greetings from the former home of English mystery novelist Agatha Christie, located on the banks of the Tigris River in Baghdad. The house now stands abandoned and crumbling.
This newsletter was edited by Suzanne Nuyen.
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