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Today’s best stories
Los Angeles County election officials say Justice Department’s list of 20,000 ‘probable’ non-citizens registered on the electoral lists are “unreliable”, according to their preliminary analysis. They also say some of the people on the list indicated they were born in the United States and may be citizens. State and local officials disclosed the new details yesterday in court filings, in response to a federal lawsuit demanding that California survey thousands of voters before their ballots are counted. The DOJ wants the state to separate ballots associated with these individuals. California officials say the DOJ’s request is unworkable as the election approaches and could violate federal and state election laws.
People vote at a polling place at Metro headquarters during the California state primary election in Los Angeles, California, June 2, 2026.
Frédéric J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images
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Frédéric J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images
A new report from United Nations scientists says countries are not doing enough to reduce their emissions. that lead to climate change, and the United States plays a significant role in climate pollution. The United States was the only major economy to see an increase in pollution linked to global warming last year. The report also finds that among G20 countries, the United States is tied with Russia for the highest per capita emissions. While China emits more greenhouse gases annually than the United States, its population is more than four times that of the United States. The increase in U.S. emissions has been fueled by rising electricity demand and Trump administration policies that support the burning of fossil fuels.
Arrests for minor crimes, including vagrancy and drug possession, have increased in the United States from 2024 to 2025, according to a new analysis of federal data from the criminal justice and immigration reform advocacy group FWD.us. The report also highlights a 188% increase in immigration violations. This comes as violent crime rates, including homicides, have fallen to historic lows. The report reviewed publicly available arrest data from the FBI and immigration authorities and did not include details on whether charges were dropped or whether people served jail or prison time. This data covers the first full year of Trump’s second term, during which his administration emphasized a tougher approach to crime. Zoë Towns, executive director of FWD.us, told NPR before the report’s release that the upward trends signal a “really troubling return to some of the extreme law-and-order policies that defined the American criminal justice system in the 1980s and ’90s.” Check out NPR’s analysis.
President Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff is in St. Petersburg today to meet with Kremlin officials and explore potential solutions to end Russia’s war against Ukraine. Witkoff also met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Norway this week. Trump accused Zelensky of obstructing a peace deal. The Ukrainian president says he is seeking direct talks again with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
- 🎧 Norwegian and Finnish leaders believe in a fair deal to end the war requires U.S. involvement, says NPR’s Joanna Kakissis First. They hope that Witkoff’s Russia will lead to something constructive. But Ukrainians Kakissis spoke with say they don’t trust the White House and believe the United States is siding with Russia. Concerns grew among Ukrainians when President Trump announced he would lift sanctions on Russian diesel. Many argued that the move would not lower fuel prices, but rather would help Russia continue its war against Ukraine.
On the ground
The results of the 2026 midterm elections will shape the final two years of President Trump’s second term and serve as a precursor to the 2028 general election. This month, Morning edition takes stock of six states that could shift the balance of power in Washington.
This week, Morning editionSteve Inskeep traveled to North Carolina and Georgia. The two states are among those Trump visited this week as he continues to campaign for Republicans fighting to keep control of the Senate and House. Inskeep explored the impact of Trump administration policies on public research in both states. Trump cut hundreds of jobs at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which is headquartered in Atlanta. Universities and research companies in North Carolina’s Research Triangle lost millions of dollars in federal grants last year. Inskeep spoke with people affected by these changes. Listen to what they had to say.
Hear more from voters in both states:
- 🎧 Inskeep collected personal thoughts from random Georgia voters by knocking on doors and meeting people along walking trails.
- 🎧 In North Carolina, he visited communities devastated by Hurricane Helen in 2024 to assess changes two years after the federal response became a campaign issue.
- 🎧 In Stokes County, North Carolina, Inskeep explores how AI data centers have divided the community. In 2024, 79% of voters in the county supported Trump. The president supported these centers.
The NPR app brings together 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 in the Election 2026 tab.
Follow the report: Coverage from Ohio and Michigan will air October 27. You can follow Morning editionNPR.org, in the NPR app and in this newsletter.
Presentation Machine Gods
by Tommy EvansNPR editor-in-chief
To cover a transformation as broad as AI, which raises profound questions about work, culture, the environment, cybersecurity, education and more, we teamed up with veteran technology journalists Casey Newton and Kevin Roose to present their flagship AI podcast, Machine Godsto the NPR audience. Starting today, the video program will be offered twice weekly across NPR’s platforms and will provide front-row access to the people and issues shaping this new era of AI.
The show will examine things like how AI could be applied to the medical field, potentially helping us discover new drugs and improve healthcare in general, as well as questions that keep Casey and Kevin up at night, like what happens when AI eventually builds and improves itself beyond what humans understand. With each episode, we’ll make sure you get the news you need to know about AI – both the technology’s capabilities and its very real risks – without buying into industry hype or treating catastrophe as an inevitability.
Machine Gods is the culmination of years of reporting by Casey and Kevin from the front lines of Silicon Valley. While it represents an ambitious new format for public media, its core philosophy fits seamlessly with NPR’s mission: to provide audiences with independent, trusted journalism that inspires, engages and keeps them informed so you can navigate the world with confidence.
You can watch the first episode here.
Follow and subscribe Machine Gods on the NPR app, NPR.org or wherever you get your podcasts.
3 things to know before you leave
Actress Christina Applegate arrives for the 29th Screen Actors Guild Awards at Fairmont Century Plaza in Century City, California on February 26, 2023.
Valérie Macon/AFP via Getty Images
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Valérie Macon/AFP via Getty Images
- Actress Christina Applegate has revealed she was misdiagnosed with multiple sclerosis five years ago.
- The World Health Organization’s new special envoy for health resilience, Dr. Vanessa Kerry, says building more responsive health systems is the goal of her new work.
- Utah is suing Kalshi, alleging its yes/no event contracts resemble traditional sports betting. The state claims the prediction market website is operating illegally because of Utah’s constitutional ban on gambling. (via KUER)
This newsletter was published by Suzanne Nuyen.
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