NPR News: 09-07-2026 9PM EDT

0:00Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Janine Herbst. Labor Day traditionally marks the unofficial start of the general election campaign, and voting is already getting underway. The first mail-in ballots went out Friday. Impierce Steven Fowler looks at where both parties stand, heading into the final stretch. The party in power tends to lose seats in midterm elections, and this year is poised to be no different. President Trump's second term agenda and performance is historically unpopular, but the GOP is holding a midterm convention this weekend Dallas, hoping to inspire the base and convince independent voters to give them two more years to get things done in Congress. Polls and primary results have shown Democrats are especially motivated to vote, and thanks to Trump's unpopularity and strong nominees and states like Ohio, Texas, Iowa, and Alaska, control of both the House and the Senate could flip this year. Steven Fowler in P.R. News. A privacy group has filed the latest lawsuit to challenge the Trump administration's unprecedented

1:00efforts to compile lists of adult U.S. citizens in each state. As Impierce Hansi-Lawong reports, that effort stems from a key part of an order by President Trump that a federal judge found to be likely unconstitutional. Part of President Trump's order that's attempting to restrict mail-in voting calls for U.S. citizenship and immigration services and the Social Security Administration to compile lists of people who the federal government decides are adult U.S. citizens eligible to vote in each state. Those lists were supposed to be available to state officials by September 4, according to court filings and two lawsuits led by the Electronic Privacy Information Center and Democratic groups, the Trump administration has pushed back that deadline indefinitely. A federal judge had blocked this project in June after finding the federal agencies have no authority to maintain voter lists or control federal elections, which the Constitution says are left to the states and Congress. Last month, the Supreme Court paused that judge's ruling after finding it was too early for courts to weigh in. Hansi-Lawong and Piair News. Russia is calling this weekend's shuttle diplomacy by White House envoy Steve Whitkopf

2:03and President Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, to Moscow and Ukraine's capital Keeva, quote, small step toward ending that conflict. But as Impierce Charles Mainz reports, the fighting continues. Whitkopf and Kushner's travels to the region took place amid an agreed pause in attacks that extended to Moscow and Keeva, yet fighting continued elsewhere, with Russia again taking advantage of Ukraine's depleted air defenses and Ukraine, against striking oil facilities that have led to gas shortages across Russia this summer. Separately Russia reported at least six people killed in a series of Ukrainian drone strikes, including one that flew directly into an apartment building in the param region. The ongoing attacks come as both sides of signal the war will continue at least through the winter, although the Kremlin said it didn't rule out or return to three-way peace talks with the U.S. and Ukraine at some point. Charles Mainz and Pyaar News, Moscow. And you're listening to NPR News from Washington. As Shrey talks between the United States and Canada's stall, Canadian Prime Minister

3:05Mark Carney says retaliatory tariffs on U.S. products start tomorrow absent last minute negotiations. This after President Trump imposed an additional 50 percent tariffs on some $20 billion worth of Canadian products. Carney says the tariffs will target U.S. sectors, including steel, dairy, agricultural equipment, and paper. Last week, Trump signed an executive order to rename part of Lake Ontario as Lake America. While this long weekend marks the unofficial end of summer, amid the officials start to school around the country, Mpures' Genaki method reports she visited an elementary school in Los Angeles to see how they kick off the year. At Mitchell-Turina Street Elementary, kindergarteners are starting the year with some big feelings. I'm excited to learn about kindergarten. I'm nervous. Excited! That's why Mitchell-Turina has a long-standing tradition of older and wiser fifth graders.

4:07While coming, new kindergarteners tell a entry school. Fifth graders like Gerald Gomez-Rena, who says part of his job is to help the new students with the transition by accessing emotional tools like... Breathing and quiet safe place and garbage can. With garbage can. Garbage can is when you throw away feelings if you get sad or not. And he said the idea is to make sure kindergarteners start the year off hand-in-hand with a built-in friend. Genaki Mpetha and Pair News Los Angeles. And I'm Janine Herfst, NPR News in Washington. This week on Newsmakers, after more than a decade in comedy, I wasn't sure that we would get here. Robbie Hoffman is fearless. I had a small feeling I wasn't sure. And fully herself. My line, Lord. Hello? You can go out and flash. Well I'm not home now. I'm doing something. We plunge into comedy and success with Robbie Hoffman on NPR's Newsmakers.