Trump at Madison Square Garden, NATO North Korea, World Series
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Hi, this is Steve Inskeep. Glad you're joining us for Up First. And there are other ways to make sure you don't miss any developments in this election season. Every weekday, you find a new episode of the NPR Politics Podcast with context and analysis on the big stories. And second, consider this is the podcast where NPR covers one big story in-depth individually.

every weekday evening. So up first in the morning, consider this in the evening, the NPR Politics Podcast, whenever there are big political developments. And around the clock news survival kit from NPR News. Former President Trump spoke in New York's Madison Square Garden. He spoke of the enemy within while others called Puerto Rico a floating pile of garbage and claimed Vice President Harris was low IQ. Is that Trump's closing argument? I'm A. Martinez, that's Steve Inskeep, and this is Up First from NPR News.

NATO allies are worried over thousands of North Korean troops assisting Russia in its war against Ukraine. What's at stake nearly three years since Russia's full-scale invasion? Also, the World Series shifts to the East Coast tonight for Game 3. High fly ball, indeed! The Yankees are hosting. Will they make a comeback after giving up a bunch of homers and losing the first two games? Stay with us. We've got the news you need to start your day. ♪

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Support for NPR and the following message come from Washington Wise, an original podcast from Charles Schwab that unpacks the stories making news in Washington, including 2024 election updates and potential implications for the market. Listen at schwab.com slash Washington Wise. Both presidential candidates spent Sunday at high-profile events. Yeah, Vice President Harris spoke at a Pennsylvania church and urged supporters to work to the end of an extremely close election.

But when I think about the days ahead and the God we serve, I am confident that his power will work through us because church, I know we were born for a time.

Such as this? As Harris drew on her faith, former President Trump was in New York holding a rally at Madison Square Garden. And one of the speakers described Harris as, quote, the Antichrist. That was one of many insults and grievances as Trump made his final appeal to the nation. NPR political correspondent Danielle Kurtzleben was in the arena. Danielle, good morning. Good morning. What was it like?

Well, it was a Trump rally, but it was dialed way up in intensity. It started with more than four hours of guest speakers, and the first guests of the night set what was a pretty vitriolic tone. Comedian and podcaster Tony Hinchcliffe joked that Puerto Rico is, quote, a floating island of garbage. He also said that Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelsey, quote, might be the next OJ Simpson. Kelsey, of course, is dating Harris supporter Taylor Swift.

So what we have here seems to be a joke about killing one of the most famous women in the world. And it just went from there. One speaker seemed to imply that Harris is a prostitute. Tucker Carlson made fun of Harris for being biracial. He also called her low IQ. Later in his speech, Carlson nodded to the racist great replacement theory. So just overall, a really inflammatory night. Given that Republicans are trying to appeal to all kinds of people, this doesn't sound like a unifying message.

No, and that matters. I mean, consider the gender gap in this election. Polls show Trump is ahead with men, but that he's well behind with women. Well, when one of his openers jokes about Taylor Swift being killed by her boyfriend, that arguably isn't a winning message for those women voters. And

especially think about it and contrast that with Harris's current message, which is highlighting women who have lost their lives or had their lives threatened by the overturn of Roe. That is a stark contrast. Similarly,

Talking about great replacement theory and joking about Latinos, it's easy to see how that might not endear Trump to Latino voters. Now, you talked about unifying people. Well, Trump often gestures towards unity. He did that last night. He called the GOP the party of inclusion. But he also doubled down on those comments he made recently, calling Democrats the enemy from within and suggested using the military against them. Here's what he said last night. They're smart and they're vicious. And we have to...

defeat them. And when I say the enemy from within, the other side goes crazy, becomes a sound. Oh, how can he say? No, they've done very bad things to this country. They are indeed the enemy from within. Daniel, this is one of Trump's signatures. When he's called out on something, he repeats it.

Right. Yes. And as the end of the campaign nears, he really still is very clearly showing that he is who he is. Right. He doesn't back down from anything. Now, he is adding in some new things. Last night, he rolled out a new proposal. He proposed a tax credit for people caring for family members, which, by the way, comes weeks after Harris proposed her own plan to expand Medicare to cover that caregiving. So new new things still happening. OK. NPR political correspondent Daniel Kurtzleben. Hope you get some sleep.

Thank you. Thank you.

The president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, and the South Korean government have both been warning that North Korea is sending soldiers to help Russia fight. Last week, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin confirmed the U.S. is seeing the same thing. Today, high-ranking South Korean officials are briefing at NATO headquarters to share their evidence. Let's bring in Terry Schultz, who covers NATO for us in Brussels. Hi there, Terry. Good morning, Steve. So what is happening with this meeting with South Korean officials?

Well, this new level of collaboration between Moscow and Pyongyang is really causing a lot of concern. You know, it's something we've been hearing from the Ukrainians and South Korean governments for some time, but then the U.S. and NATO would just say they didn't have evidence of it. Here's how NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte responded about a week ago. If they would be sending troops to Ukraine, that would mark a significant escalation. That would really be important.

And then last week, Defense Secretary Austin did confirm the U.S. believes at least 3,000 North Korean soldiers are in Russia. And he, too, called it a very serious escalation. A couple of other European governments have now said their own intelligence reflects this. So today's briefing is really about getting all 32 NATO allies on the same page. And representatives from Japan, Australia and New Zealand have also been invited as part of NATO's ongoing effort to have closer ties with these four Asia-Pacific countries in particular.

I don't fully understand why Russia and North Korea would go to this trouble. How much can 3,000 North Korean soldiers really affect the conflict?

Well, taken as part of Russia's fighting force, you're right. They've got hundreds of thousands of troops on the field. It doesn't seem like 3,000 would be a lot. But Ukraine says there are signs up to 12,000 are already being trained for this purpose from North Korea. And the concern is that there may be many more North Koreans who could be deployed. Meanwhile, Ukraine, of course, is struggling to recruit more of its own people to fight.

And I guess that is part of this. It's a game of numbers. It's a war of attrition. And so it's one more source of soldiers for the Russian side. That's true. And that's the first thing. Anything that's bad for Ukraine is also bad for NATO allies who support Ukraine. That's why they're taking more notice. So these North Korean troops, as of this weekend, are said to already be sent to the front line in Russia's Kursk region. And you'll remember this is where Ukraine seized some territory in August.

And that incursion has given Kiev some leverage, which Russia wants to reverse. But there are other concerns. North Korean troops getting battlefield experience, which they haven't had since 1953, is very disturbing for South Korea. They're, of course, most worried about an attack from North Korea, but also other Western partners in the region. And then there's this point. Nobody knows exactly what else Russia and North Korea might increasingly be exchanging. Ballistic missiles, nuclear know-how. They've recently signed a mutual defense treaty, so it could be basically anything.

And North Korea is already believed to have sent Russia a million rounds of artillery and other military equipment. Okay, so NATO is talking about this, but what can NATO do about all of this?

Yeah, that's one point. They can't really do much. They can issue a statement about how this cooperation is unacceptable, messages they've already been sending. But NATO doesn't have the authority to tell North Korea or Russia what to do. The South Korean intelligence officials will also be briefing the European Union, though. And on the EU side of things, they can put more sanctions on these already heavily sanctioned countries. It's unclear whether that would stop them from doing anything like this.

Unfortunately for Ukraine, it's hard to imagine there'll be any dramatic change for the better. South Korea, though, is thinking of directly providing weapons for the first time, but no NATO countries are considering sending troops to help the Ukrainians the way that North Korea is aiding Russia. Oh, interesting about South Korea. Terry, thanks so much. Sure, Steve. That's reporter Terry Schultz in Brussels.

Okay, we're two games in, and the 2024 World Series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the New York Yankees is already one for the history books. Yeah, it's been fun to watch. Friday's Game 1 ended in the 10th inning with a dramatic first-ever walk-off Grand Slam. Here are Fox announcers' reactions. High fly ball! Deep back! Good enough!

You seem a little excited. Hopefully he's got a voice right for the rest of the series. Dodgers won both the first games in L.A. And tonight, the series goes to the East Coast. That's where the Yankees will host games three, four, and, if necessary, Steve, five. Okay. Reporter Steve Futterman was at Dodger Stadium for the first two games.

Steve, they pay you for this. You're at the game. They pay you for this. Yes. Amazing. Anyway, I hope it was a lot of fun. Let's get to one of the more pressing issues, though, as we head toward Game 3. The Dodgers' great Shohei Otani got hurt in Game 2. So what did he play tonight?

Well, yes, all signs certainly point to Otani playing here tonight at Yankee Stadium. He hurt himself in Game 2 trying to steal second base. As he was sliding, he braced himself with his left arm on the infield dirt. That apparently caused a partial shoulder separation. It was quickly apparent that he was in pain. The announcers on Fox quickly noticed. And he's in some pain. Otani's grabbing his left arm.

That is not a good sign. Definitely not when you have the highest paid player in maybe sports history. But the Dodger manager, Dave Roberts, told reporters yesterday that in New York, Otani has pretty much gotten back his normal range in his shoulder, is feeling better, and he does expect him to play. Guys have had this before and played, and again, it's just everyone's tolerance. How compromised do you think he might be? I don't see him being compromised. It's...

It's the left shoulder, which is the back shoulder. So I don't see how that affects his hitting. If he's able to go, I really don't. So if Otani is indeed in the lineup, he'll be in that familiar position leading off for the Dodgers in the very first inning. Okay, so the Yankees lose twice. The Dodgers win twice. We've still got a ways to go, but what does history tell us about this position?

Well, historically, teams that win the first two games, not a surprise, go on to win the series more often than not, 80% of the time. But there have been many times, 10 times, in fact, that teams have come back from those O2 deficits. In fact, the last time these two teams met, the Dodgers and Yankees,

That's exactly what happened. In 78, the Dodgers won the first two games. They're all excited. Then they go back to New York and the Yankees win four straight. Three in New York, the last one in L.A. Three years later, just the opposite.

The Yankees take the first two games in the Yankee Stadium, come back to L.A., the Dodgers sweep them there, and then wrap it up in New York. So it's obvious. You have to win four, not two. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I was just a little kid when that 81 series. I still have some memories of that.

But let's talk about the series over the weekend. Aaron Judge kept coming up to the bat, and I'm like, wow, Aaron Judge is up there. Something's going to happen, and then nothing would happen. What's going on? Yeah, listen, he's having a tough postseason, which sometimes great players do.

He's been New York's everything throughout the season. Best batting average among the Yankees. Best number of home runs, not just in the American League, in all of baseball, more than Otani. But here in the World Series, so far, just one for nine. And at bats, he's struck out six of those nine at bats. And some of them have come at some very critical situations where he could really have brought home some runs with a solid hit.

Just having a bad postseason, he's hoping playing at home might give him that spark to change things. Ain't over till it's over. Steve Futterman, thanks so much. Thank you, Steve. And that's up first for this Monday, October 28th. I'm Steve Inskeep. And I'm A. Martinez. How about giving Consider This from NPR a listen? Conservative Christian support for former President Donald Trump seems to be unwavering. A North Carolina pastor says there's a simple reason why. Listen to Consider This from NPR.

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