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--:-- Steve Inskeep: Weeks before Election Day, former President Trump talks of opponents not as fellow citizens, but as enemies of the country.
--:-- Michelle Martin: We have the outside enemy, and then we have the enemy from within. How Trump is appealing to extreme right voters.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: I'm Steve Inskeep, that's Michelle Martin, and this is Up First from NPR News.
--:-- Michelle Martin: A Democratic senator contends that she stands up for the people of Wisconsin. I've taken their fight to Washington and I produce results.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: But will those results be enough for the incumbent to win against her Republican opponent? The answer may decide control of the Senate.
--:-- Michelle Martin: Plus, we have the latest from the Middle East, where Hezbollah has attacked a military base in Israel, and the U.S. is sending a missile defense system to Israel, along with the troops needed to run it.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: Stay with us. We'll give you the news you need to start your day.
--:-- Michelle Martin: This message comes from BetterHelp. President Fernando Madeira describes how BetterHelp Online Therapy has helped him.
--:-- Fernando Madeira: For me, sometimes I just need to go and talk to somebody that is not going to judge me, right? Is going to be there and going to listen to me. And I can start just saying, look, I'm not feeling right today. And it feels natural.
--:-- Michelle Martin: I love it. To get matched with a therapist, visit BetterHelp.com slash NPR for 10% off your first month.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: This message comes from Mint Mobile. If you're tired of spending hundreds on big wireless bills, bogus fees, and free perks, Mint Mobile might be right for you with plans starting from 15 bucks a month.
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--:-- Michelle Martin: This message comes from Lisa. Lisa mattresses are meticulously designed and assembled in the USA for exceptional quality, and each mattress is designed with specific sleep positions and feel preferences in mind.
--:-- Lisa: Plus, they back it all up with free shipping, easy returns, and a 100-night sleep trial. Visit lisa.com for 25% off mattresses, plus get an extra $50 off with promo code NPR. That's L-E-E-S-A dot com, promo code NPR.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: With a little more than three weeks until Election Day, the two major party presidential candidates are using very different language to appeal to voters.
--:-- Michelle Martin: Vice President Harris has been appealing to Republicans, people who may not agree with the Democrat on some issues but do agree about Donald Trump.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: And as she tries to broaden her support, former President Trump goes narrow.
--:-- Michelle Martin: In an interview that aired on Fox News yesterday, Trump cast his ideological opponents as threats to the country.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: Here to talk about this campaign rhetoric is NPR political correspondent Danielle Kurtzleben.
--:-- Danielle Kurtzleben: Good morning, Michelle.
--:-- Michelle Martin: So let's start with that interview on Fox News business. What did Trump say?
--:-- Danielle Kurtzleben: Well, Trump spoke with Maria Bartiromo, and it was overall a very friendly interview that she gave him.
--:-- Michelle Martin: And at one point she asked him this question that itself portrayed undocumented immigrants as dangerous, which is not true.
--:-- Danielle Kurtzleben: But then she took a turn and she asked Trump if Election Day would be peaceful. And Trump responded by saying this. I think the bigger problem are the people from within. We have some very bad people. We have some sick people, radical left lunatics.
--:-- Michelle Martin: And I think they're the big and it should be very easily handled by, if necessary, by National Guard or if really necessary by the military.
--:-- Danielle Kurtzleben: And then later he did it again and specifically named California Democratic Senate candidate Adam Schiff also a member of the House as one of those enemies from within And he also called Schiff a sleazebag
--:-- Michelle Martin: Now, you know, Trump has always been known throughout his political career for demonizing people he doesn't agree with and calling them names.
--:-- Danielle Kurtzleben: But I take it that this really is kind of next level.
--:-- Michelle Martin: Yeah, you're absolutely right. For his entire political career, Trump has used authoritarian language, nativistic language. He praises authoritarian. So, yes, that's the baseline we're working with here.
--:-- Danielle Kurtzleben: But he has been ratcheting things up in recent weeks continually. At one rally, he said police violence could curb crime.
--:-- Michelle Martin: At a rally this weekend, he said that he'd use the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to detain or deport people.
--:-- Danielle Kurtzleben: And now he's threatening to use the military on his political or ideological opponents.
--:-- Michelle Martin: And ratcheting up insults recently as well. He's been calling Kamala Harris mentally disabled and just continually insulting her intelligence.
--:-- Danielle Kurtzleben: Now, I want to add here, by the way, I asked the campaign for clarification on what he meant about using the National Guard or military against his opponents and have not heard back.
--:-- Michelle Martin: Let's talk about Vice President Harris then. How does this language compare with what she is saying to voters?
--:-- Danielle Kurtzleben: The differences simply could not be more stark. And they were already stark before any of this.
--:-- Michelle Martin: Now, she has said, for example, that she wants a Republican in her cabinet.
--:-- Danielle Kurtzleben: And when I was out with her in Arizona last week, she spoke to a group of Republicans for Harris there.
--:-- Michelle Martin: And she announced that she wants a bipartisan council to advise her on policy as president.
--:-- Danielle Kurtzleben: In fact, she's reached across the aisle so much that some in her base progressives are annoyed.
--:-- Michelle Martin: Now, Trump, on the other hand, he's saying there's an invasion of dangerous immigrants.
--:-- Danielle Kurtzleben: And not only that, but his political opponents are even more dangerous and may have to be dealt with by force.
--:-- Michelle Martin: And I want to be clear here. I'm not just talking about electoral strategy. Trump is using this rhetoric at a time that we know people are very willing to commit political violence, whether it's January 6th or would-be assassins.
--:-- Danielle Kurtzleben: Amid all of that, he's turning up the temperature.
--:-- Michelle Martin: That is NPR's Danielle Kurtzleben on the campaign trail.
--:-- Danielle Kurtzleben: Thank you.
--:-- Michelle Martin: Both Vice President Harris and former President Donald Trump are focused on Wisconsin.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: That's a swing state where Democratic Senator Tammy Baldwin is locked in a tight race for re-election that could determine whether Democrats maintain their majority in the Senate.
--:-- Michelle Martin: Baldwin says she has won in the past, thanks in part to what she calls Trump-Tammy voters, who voted for the Republican presidential candidate, but also for her.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: They see that I've showed up, I've listened, that I've taken their fight to Washington, and I've produced results.
--:-- Michelle Martin: The question is whether she can rely on them in 2024.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: Joining us now to talk about these dynamics is Wisconsin Public Radio's Anya von Wagten-Dank.
--:-- Anya von Wagten-Dank: Good morning.
--:-- Michelle Martin: So let me set the table here. Baldwin won her last race in 2018 by 11 points, and things look very different this time around. Why so different?
--:-- Anya von Wagten-Dank: Yeah, that outcome was really an unheard of landslide by Wisconsin standards.
--:-- Michelle Martin: Part of the change since then just has to do with sort of nitty gritty politics.
--:-- Anya von Wagten-Dank: So previous Republican challengers had nasty primary fights. This time around, her opponent, Eric Hovde, avoided that.
--:-- Michelle Martin: And so he started with a pretty clean slate.
--:-- Anya von Wagten-Dank: But then part of it is also just the realities of partisan politics.
--:-- Michelle Martin: Those have gotten more entrenched everywhere in the country.
--:-- Anya von Wagten-Dank: And so in Wisconsin, which is about as 50-50 as it gets, you're seeing people just go into their camps.
--:-- Michelle Martin: Baldwin has always run as a different kind of Democrat, really a workhorse who just knows Wisconsin.
--:-- Anya von Wagten-Dank: And she's done really well with independents and even in counties that also support Trump as a result
--:-- Michelle Martin: But this time around Hovde is closely aligned with Trump
--:-- Anya von Wagten-Dank: And that plus that ever polarization means Baldwin is expecting many fewer Trump voters
--:-- Michelle Martin: Can you just tell us a bit more about those Trump counties What are you seeing there?
--:-- Anya von Wagten-Dank: Yeah, I spent a day out on the trail with Baldwin, including a stop in Richland County, which is an example of this.
--:-- Michelle Martin: It's a rural county that went for Trump in his past two elections and for Baldwin in her last two elections.
--:-- Anya von Wagten-Dank: Other Democrats, including Kamala Harris, are focused just on losing those kinds of rural areas by less.
--:-- Michelle Martin: But Baldwin has this record she can point to that's really focused on things like manufacturing and the dairy industry, and that makes her stand out out there.
--:-- Anya von Wagten-Dank: I think we're seeing some of that shared strategy across the blue wall states of Wisconsin and Pennsylvania and Michigan not writing off those areas.
--:-- Michelle Martin: And when I was out there, so was Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro.
--:-- Anya von Wagten-Dank: I asked him what he made of all the pro-Trump yard signs nearby.
--:-- Michelle Martin: Senator Baldwin and I show up in communities like this, and we treat voters with respect.
--:-- Anya von Wagten-Dank: No matter what signs might be on a neighbor's lawn or what past election results have shown.
--:-- Michelle Martin: Okay, finally, Ami, tell us the kinds of messages you're seeing in the final few weeks of this campaign.
--:-- Anya von Wagten-Dank: Yeah, the Baldwin campaign has really sought to paint Hufty as a wealthy outsider.
--:-- Michelle Martin: He's from Wisconsin, but he also has a home in California and he manages a bank that's based in Utah.
--:-- Anya von Wagten-Dank: So they're really focused on drawing that contrast.
--:-- Michelle Martin: And then Hufty is trying to tie Baldwin to the Biden White House and its economic policies.
--:-- Anya von Wagten-Dank: Recently, too, we've been seeing a lot more ads that are kind of based in the culture wars, so attacking her approach to transgender issues, for example.
--:-- Michelle Martin: And both parties are also just focused on the national stakes of this election and, of course, control of Congress.
--:-- Anya von Wagten-Dank: That is Wisconsin Public Radio's Anya von Wagtendonk.
--:-- Anya von Wagten-Dank: Thank you.
--:-- Michelle Martin: A drone attack launched by Hezbollah on an Israeli army training base killed four Israeli soldiers and injured several more.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: It's one of the more serious acts of retaliation after Israel's attacks on the armed group, which is based in Lebanon.
--:-- Michelle Martin: And the Pentagon says it's sending an advanced anti-missile system to Israel, along with about 100 U.S. troops to operate it, all to help bolster the country's defenses against Iran.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: NPR International Affairs correspondent Jackie Northam has been following these developments, and she's with us now from Tel Aviv.
--:-- Jackie Northam: Good morning, Michelle.
--:-- Michelle Martin: First of all, just tell us what we know about this drone attack.
--:-- Jackie Northam: Well, as you said, it was against an army base in a place called Binyamina in central Israel, about 40 miles from the Lebanon border.
--:-- Michelle Martin: And it's one of the deadliest Hezbollah attacks in this past year.
--:-- Jackie Northam: Israel's military said the drone hit the roof of a dining hall full of soldiers and that, in fact, there were two drones launched.
--:-- Michelle Martin: One was shot down, but this one hit the base.
--:-- Jackie Northam: And the military is looking into why the drone wasn't intercepted and why no warning sirens were activated, as is usually the case.
--:-- Michelle Martin: Hezbollah said the attack was in response to Israeli strikes in Beirut last week, which killed more than 20 people.
--:-- Jackie Northam: And, you know, Israel's been pushing deeper into southern Lebanon and Beirut, killing militants and destroying their arsenal.
--:-- Michelle Martin: But as this attack shows, Iranian-backed Hezbollah still has firepower to reach Israel.
--:-- Jackie Northam: And, Michelle, of course, the war in Gaza continues.
--:-- Michelle Martin: And just this morning, an Israeli strike targeted a large hospital there, killing four people, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
--:-- Jackie Northam: And then there was another deadly Israeli strike that hit a Gaza school.
--:-- Michelle Martin: So the Pentagon announced Sunday that it is sending a missile defense system to Israel to help with its defense.
--:-- Jackie Northam: What can you tell us about this?
--:-- Michelle Martin: It's an advanced mobile defense system called Terminal High Altitude Area Defense Battery.
--:-- Jackie Northam: It's usually referred to simply as THAAD.
--:-- Michelle Martin: And it's designed to shoot down ballistic missiles.
--:-- Jackie Northam: As you mentioned earlier, it'll be operated by U.S. troops.
--:-- Michelle Martin: And this is the first time since the war in Gaza started just over a year ago that the U has sent a significant number of troops to Israel
--:-- Jackie Northam: Which means greater involvement by the U in defending Israel but also means there are concerns about the conflict broadening throughout this region.
--:-- Michelle Martin: And the decision to deploy that comes as Israel is planning a strike against Iran, and that's in retaliation for Iran's ballistic missile attack.
--:-- Jackie Northam: In early October, they launched 200 missiles towards Israel. Most were intercepted.
--:-- Michelle Martin: But there's concern if Iran launches another attack, it could be far more deadly for Israel.
--:-- Jackie Northam: And as this fighting between Israel and Hezbollah intensifies, there are also UN peacekeepers getting caught up in the conflict.
--:-- Michelle Martin: At least four soldiers have been wounded in the past few days in Lebanon.
--:-- Jackie Northam: Has the UN said anything about that?
--:-- Michelle Martin: Yeah, there's this growing rift between Israel and the UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon.
--:-- Jackie Northam: It's known as UNIFIL.
--:-- Michelle Martin: And it's an international force that's been there since 1978.
--:-- Jackie Northam: And it helps secure the Lebanon-Israel border.
--:-- Michelle Martin: But yesterday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made a direct appeal to UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres to evacuate UNIFIL troops from southern Lebanon, claiming that Hezbollah is using peacekeepers as human shields.
--:-- Jackie Northam: Guterres doesn't have the authority to do that, by the way.
--:-- Michelle Martin: But later in the day, UNIFIL said two Israeli tanks forcibly entered one of its posts and some shells were exploded and released smoke that sickened some peacekeepers.
--:-- Jackie Northam: Israeli military disputes that version of events saying Hezbollah fired anti-tank missiles and, you know, the tanks, the Israeli tanks were just trying to get their troops out of the area.
--:-- Michelle Martin: It's hard to say how this situation is going to, you know, between UNIFIL and Israel is going to play out as Israel continues its increasingly aggressive campaign into Lebanon, you know, to root out Hezbollah militants.
--:-- Jackie Northam: That is NPR's Jackie Northam.
--:-- Jackie Northam: Thanks very much.
--:-- Michelle Martin: And that's Up First for Monday, October 14th.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: I'm Steve Inskeep.
--:-- Michelle Martin: And I'm Michelle Martin.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: For your next listen, consider, consider this from NPR News.
--:-- Michelle Martin: One-fifth of the salmon Americans eat comes from Norway, where the salmon industry is considered a model of modern aquaculture, but is it sustainable, really?
--:-- Steve Inskeep: Listen to Consider This from NPR.
--:-- Michelle Martin: Today's episode of Up First was edited by Krishnadev Kalamur, Hannah Block, Lisa Thompson, and Alice Wolfley.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: It was produced by Paige Waterhouse, Christopher Thomas, and Katie Kline.
--:-- Michelle Martin: We get engineering support from Andy Huther, and our technical director is Carly Strange.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: We hope you'll join us again tomorrow.
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--:-- MidiHealth: Book your visit today at joinmidi.com.
--:-- Michelle Martin: That's joinmidi.com.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: This message comes from Lisa. Lisa mattresses are meticulously designed and assembled in the USA for exceptional quality, and each mattress is designed with specific sleep positions and feel preferences in mind.
--:-- Lisa: Plus, they back it all up with free shipping, easy returns, and a 100-night sleep trial.
--:-- Michelle Martin: Visit lisa.com for 25% off mattresses, plus get an extra $50 off with promo code NPR.
--:-- Lisa: That's L-E-E-S-A dot com, promo code NPR.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: This message comes from Capital One. The Capital One VentureX Business Card earns unlimited double miles on every purchase.
--:-- Capital One: Capital One. What's in your wallet?
--:-- Michelle Martin: Terms and conditions apply. Find out more at CapitalOne.com slash VentureX Business.
--:-- Steve Inskeep: [Theme music starts]
--:-- Michelle Martin: [Theme music continues]
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