Israel And Hezbollah, Venezuela Election Results, Trump/Vance Campaign

I missed all the news on my vacation. I was like, Oh, Trump got shot. A whole new presidential race has happened.

Wait, have you been gone two weeks? Oh my God, Oh my God. Wow. I was like, you've returned to a different world.

Hundreds of people gathered at a soccer field where a rocket fell over the weekend.

Israel says that rocket came out of Lebanon, raising the risk of a wider war. Our correspondent visits the village that was struck.

I'm Leila Faldin, that's Steve Inskeep, and this is up first from NPR News.

So what now in this country? Some analysts talked of Donald Trump as a changed man after he survived an assassination attempt. So let's ask the candidate. No, I haven't changed, maybe I've gotten worse.

I think I'm going to roam in a few places. yes, I'm going to manifest and roam.

All that and more on the Bullseye podcast from MaximumFun.

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Listen to the LifeKid podcast from NPR New from the embedded podcast. Female athletes have always needed grit and talent, but for decades, they've also needed a certificate. There was chit-chat about, Is that really a woman?

We have an eyewitness account of the scene where a rocket struck near Israel's border with Lebanon.

That rocket killed 12 children and wounded many more. Israel blames the Lebanese group Hezbollah, and they're deciding how to respond now. Hezbollah denies responsibility. But the incident has again raised concerns of an even wider war in the Middle East.

NPR's Kat Lonsdorf traveled to the Golan Heights, the Israeli-occupied area where the rocket fell. Hi there Kat. Hey Steve, what did you see?

So the strike happened in the town of Majdal Shams. It's very close to the border with Lebanon. Like you said, you know, the community there is largely Druze, that's an Arab minority population, they're not Jewish.

Well, Israel is deciding how to respond to this, The United States will have its advice and its opinions. How did people on the ground want Israel to respond?

Yeah, people are really angry, you know, they say this is one of the biggest tragedies their community has ever seen. Here's 52-year-old Nasser Abousala. He rushed to the scene after it happened and tried to help. You know, he spent all night there.

Well, what are the early signs as to what that price might be?

So we're still waiting to see. I mean, last night we were waiting to see if that response would come after that Security Cabinet meeting. You know, there were reports in Lebanon of limited Israeli airstrikes, but that's kind of par for the course. These days, it does seem like neither side really wants a full out war to begin.

Kat Thanks so much for your reporting. really appreciate it.

Thanks, Steve.

That's NPR's Kat Lonsdorf. She is currently in northern Israel.

The electoral authority declared President Nicolas Maduro the winner. Opponents of the socialist leaders say they won and were blocked from monitoring the vote count.

U.

We have serious concerns that the result announced.

Does not reflect the will or the votes of the Venezuelan people.

During the campaign, opponents mounted a serious challenge to the long-running rule of Maduro and his predecessor, the late Hugo Chavez. The political and economic crisis is so serious that in recent years, nearly a quarter of the population has fled.

NPR's Keri Kahn is covering all this from the Venezuelan city of Caracas. Keri, welcome back.

Good morning.

Okay, let's start with the official results such as they are. What does the electoral authority say?

They say that they have 80 percent of the vote counted, and Maduro had won 51 percent to opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez's 44 percent. Right after that declaration, fireworks just lit the sky over downtown Caracas. Maduro then came out and he spoke. He told a sizable crowd that they all had won against powers attacking Venezuela's dignity.

Okay, so that is the official view of events. What does the opposition say?

They declared victory themselves, and they cried foul, denouncing violations, they said. In hundreds of voting stations, the biggest accusation is that the authorities kicked opposition observers out of those stations and refused to print or even transmit voting tallies. Edmundo Gonzalez, who was the last minute candidate for the opposition, said Venezuelans and the entire world know what happened. And Maria Corina Machado, the opposition's most popular leader who was banned from running, called the fraud a gross disregard and violation of popular sovereignty.

I'm just trying to think about what happens now, Carrie. There have been multiple elections where the opposition has tried to vote out Maduro's government. Each time they're told by the government they failed, I covered one of those elections. So what happens now?

That is the biggest question. The opposition has called for calm and says they're determined to make sure all votes are counted, but they didn't specify how they're going to do that. In the past, like you said, they called for massive street protests that were put down with violence.

NPR's Carrie Khan is in Caracas, Venezuela. Carrie, thanks very much.

You're welcome.

Wow, it seems like longer. But Vice President Harris has been the likely Democratic presidential nominee for barely a week. We heard enthusiasm for Harris among Democratic voters in Pennsylvania last week, and her campaign raised hundreds of millions of dollars in donations.

Former President Donald Trump is trying to reclaim the spotlight. In recent days. He told a gathering of Christian voters that if they just support him one time, he would have things quote fixed, so they quote won't have to vote anymore. He also attacked his new opponent, whose name is pronounced Kamala.

If a crazy liberal like Kamala Harris gets in, the American dream is dead. So how is Trump trying to claw back attention? NPR White House correspondent Franco Ordonez is covering the Trump campaign. Franco, Good morning.

Good morning Steve.

He's in our studios here, Studio 31 in Washington, D.

Well, he's still looking to tie Harris to Biden's most unpopular policies, including inflation and especially the border, which is a vulnerability for her. But, as Leila mentioned, he's also escalating his attacks and getting personal. He's calling her sick and unhinged. He's attacking her past her time as a district attorney in California and charging that she would impose San Francisco values on the country.

Kamala Harris was the original Marxist district attorney. She destroyed San Francisco, and she will destroy our country. She will be the worst president we've ever had. She will be worse than crooked Joe Biden.

And Steve, listening to that? I'll just point out that. Harris was criticized on the left as well for her time as a prosecutor, you know, and she's not hiding from the fact that she was a prosecutor. Even framing the race as one between prosecutor and convict, she's emphasizing how she took on predators, including predators who abuse women, which is a clear reference to Trump's multiple convictions.

34 of them, to be exact. I am thinking about how the former president was said to have a unity message for a minute after his assassination attempt. Has that lasted?

Yeah, it really didn't last that long. I mean, Trump seemed to kind of joke about it, actually. You know how people thought he'd change after the assassination attempt two weeks ago?

No, I haven't changed. Maybe I've gotten worse, actually, because I get angry at the incompetence that I witness every single day.

On Friday, he called Harris a bum and went into detail about how he didn't care about mispronouncing her name.

Now, the Harris campaign, however you pronounce her name, has raised $200 million since she emerged as a likely Democratic presidential nominee. Which, I guess we should just note that that's a lot. How does that affect Trump, though?

I mean, I don't think he's happy about it. I mean, it is a lot of money, but the Trump campaign will tell you that it is simply a honeymoon period. I spoke with Brian Lanza, a former campaign official who is still in contact with the team. And Trump, he says, Democrats are experiencing a sugar high.

And what do we know about sugar highs? That the crash eventually happens.

But when the sugar runs out, when the sugar high evaporates, as it always does. They're going to realize they're even in a worse position than they were with Joe Biden.

You know, most polls taken after she entered the race show her about, even with Trump at the same time, this is not territory that Trump is so familiar with. I mean, he doesn't like to give up the spotlight and usually doesn't have to. And they're also having to play some defense, as some of J.D. Vance's past comments have drawn controversy.

Franco, Thanks very much for the insight. Always a pleasure to see you. Thank you Steve, NPR White House correspondent Franco Rodonis.

And I'm Laila Faulden. Your next listen is Consider this from NPR. Likely Democratic nominee Kamala Harris has a matter of days to choose a running mate. The list of possibilities is long, and each person delivers a different electoral advantage. Listen to consider this.

And our technical director is Zach Coleman. Join us tomorrow.

On this week's episode of Wildcard.

Soccer legend Abby Wambach says the transition from professional athlete to normal person.

Can be tough.

There's this innate narcissism that is almost required in order to be a high-level athlete.

I'm Rachel Martin.

Join us for NPR's Wildcard podcast, the game where cards control the conversation.

The Constitution, our founding document, says a lot about how our country has evolved and who we want to be. But it's not set in stone. So for the next month, we'll be digging into the history behind some of its most pivotal amendments. Listen to We the People on the Thruline podcast from NPR.