NPR News Now - NPR News: 10-27-2024 11AM EDT

Episode Date: October 27, 2024

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Noor Rahm. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Noor Rahm. With Election Day approaching, the Democratic presidential candidate, Vice President Kamala Harris has argued that Republican Donald Trump is unfit for office, citing comments made by members of the first Trump administration. His former chief of staff, John Kelly, in on-the-record interviews said Trump meets the definition of a fascist and has praised dictators. Trump's running mate, Senator J.D. Vance, says that's not true.

I know the people who have attacked Donald Trump the most vociferously on foreign policy. They'll say, well, he's a dictator when what they really mean is they won't listen. Donald Trump wouldn't listen to the leadership of the military when they wanted him to start ridiculous conflict. Vance was interviewed on CNN's State of the Union. One of Trump's biggest supporters is billionaire Elon Musk. It's been two years since Musk took control of Twitter and renamed it X.

NPR's Shannon Bond reports. Since taking over Twitter, Elon Musk has welcomed back previously banned users, including former President Donald Trump, and tweaked the algorithm to boost his own posts. Now, Musk has become one of Trump's biggest political surrogates. He's put more than $100 million into his own pro-Trump super PAC and is campaigning for the former president in Pennsylvania. Musk is also using Axis as megaphone, posting frequently to

his 200 million followers in support of Trump and amplifying unverified rumors and false claims about election fraud. Another one of Musk's companies, SpaceX, is a major government contractor. Trump has said if elected, he may give Musk a role auditing federal spending. Shannon Bond, NPR News. President Biden campaigned for Vice President Harris in the swing state of Pennsylvania yesterday. He told union workers in Pittsburgh this election is about decency and character. Trump has no character. He's not demonstrated it. Whether he was having the people working in the, you know, I mean, I won't, I shouldn't get going. But, you know, but the thing he

doesn't give a damn about union workers. Biden said this is the most important election of our lifetime. Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has made his first comments on Israel's air attacks against Iran early Saturday, saying they should neither be downplayed nor exaggerated. The BBC's Sebastian Usher reports from Jerusalem. Iran has been downplaying the extent of it, saying that there hadn't been major impact. It may give a sense that Iran is not preparing at the moment for any major, major response,

but any response that would come from Iran, I think, would take quite a long time. We saw after the killing of the Hamas political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, in Tehran several months ago, Iran threatened very, very strong revenge against Israel then. It took a long time before that actually happened on October the 1st. The BBC's Sebastian Usher reporting from Jerusalem. You're listening to NPR News in Washington. Residents of the northern Philippines are cleaning up after a deadly storm last week that triggered floods and landslides. Officials say at least 126 people are dead or missing. Large areas are still underwater, hampering rescue and relief operations.

In Los Angeles, the Dodgers beat the New York Yankees 4-2 last night to take a two-games-to-none lead in baseball's best-of-seven World Series. But there is concern about Dodger star Shohei Otani who suffered a shoulder injury. Steve Flutterman was at last night's game. The injury to Shohei Otani occurred in the seventh inning as he was attempting to steal second base. Otani was called out but stayed on the ground in obvious pain. L. A manager Dave Roberts says Otani appears to have suffered a partial dislocation. Some initial tests, he says, were performed on the shoulder. The strength was great. The range of motion good. So we're encouraged.

Roberts says he's optimistic Ohtani will play in game three on Monday. Meanwhile, in game two, the Dodgers jumped out to a 4-1 lead, then had to hold off the Yankees in the ninth when New York loaded the bases with just one out. For NPR News, I'm Steve Futterman at the World Series in Los Angeles. The Marine Corps Marathon is underway. Tens of thousands of runners start in Virginia near Arlington National Cemetery and the Pentagon, then cross the Potomac River and run by the National Marl. The event is open to everyone. It attracts runners from all 50 states and 50 countries. I'm Nora Rahm. NPR News in Washington.

Who's claiming power this election? What's happening in battleground states? And why do we still have the electoral college? All this month, the Throughline Podcast is asking big questions about our democracy and going back in time to answer them. Listen now to the Throughline Podcast from NPR.