Alaska's Senate race faces claims of spoiler candidate.
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race → face → candidate
And, Hegseth ousts Army general
Good morning.
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Hegseth → oust → general
You're reading the Up First newsletter.
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You → read → newsletter
Subscribe here to get it delivered to your inbox, and listen to the Up First podcast for all the news you need to start your day.
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you → subscribe → day
It is the final stretch before Election Day on Tuesday and candidates are making final campaign stops and delivering closing arguments.
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candidates → make → arguments
President Trump has been campaigning for at-risk Republicans, but he has abruptly switched to virtual rallies.
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he → campaign → rallies
- 🎧 Trump's tour to boost voter turnout has focused largely on competitive Republican-leaning states, NPR's Saige Miller tells Up First.
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Miller → boost → states
He's hosting 19 telerallies alongside in-person events.
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He → host → events
The shift in strategy, plus polling data, suggests that Republicans may face challenges, at least in the House, Miller says.
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Miller → suggest → House
Trump knows he's a key motivator for his party, but his strategy could also backfire by energizing Democrats.
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strategy → know → Democrats
Alaska's governor has ordered an investigation following a New York Times report on the state's toss-up U.S. Senate race.
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governor → order → 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.
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Republicans → reveal → Sullivan
The candidate also shares the name Dan Sullivan.
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candidate → share → name
Democrat Mary Peltola, a former congresswoman, aims to flip the seat.
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Peltola → aim → 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.
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conduct → speak → 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.
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Department → subpoena → rolls
- ➡️ At the start of this election cycle, Democrats appeared unlikely to gain Senate seats because many races were in red states.
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races → appear → states
But the ongoing war in Iran has changed the landscape.
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war → change → landscape
Here are the key Senate races to watch.
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races → watch → ?
- ➡️ NPR member stations are compiling essential info for voters, from guides to local races.
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stations → compile → races
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.
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that → have → home
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has dismissed Army Lt. Gen. Brett Sylvia, who oversaw planning at the Pentagon.
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who → dismiss → Pentagon
His removal comes as the U.S. and Israel prepare for a new potential round of attacks against Iran.
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U.S. → come → 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.
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he → hold → conflict
🎧 The Pentagon is investigating a leak but has not provided details, NPR's Greg Myre says.
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Myre → investigate → details
Hegseth has dismissed several generals and admirals, often without explanation.
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Hegseth → dismiss → explanation
These firings have disrupted senior military operations, Myre says.
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Myre → disrupt → operations
The U.S. currently has two aircraft carriers in the Arabian Sea, with a third, the USS Theodore Roosevelt, en route.
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U.S. → have → route
According to Myre, it is unusual for the U.S. to have multiple carriers in one region.
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U.S. → accord → region
The last time it stationed three in the Middle East was during the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
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it → station → 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.
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administration → back → 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.
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who → shut → mortgage
The mortgage industry and housing groups warned the administration not to kill the program without first creating a viable replacement.
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industry → warn → replacement
Without one, vets had to modify loans at higher interest rates.
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vets → have → 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.
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loans → find → hardship
More than 700 veterans saw their payments rise by $1,000 or more.
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payments → see → 1,000
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.
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I → do → decades
One of the most fundamental guiding ethical principles in organ donation has long been the "dead donor rule."
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One → guide → donation
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.
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organs → state → chances
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.
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that → make → organs
…and 31 more, not listed.
The Aporia
