NPR News: 07-08-2026 11PM EDT
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Live from NPR News, I'm Giles Snyder.
Why did Maine Senate candidate Graham Plattner suspend his campaign after a rape allegation?
Democrat Graham Plattner is suspending his campaign for Senate in Maine after a former girlfriend accused him of rape. Plattner denies the allegation, but NPR's Barbara Sprunt reports he faced growing calls to drop out.
Within hours of a report from Plattner's former girlfriend alleging rape, the Maine Democratic Party and top congressional Democrats called on Plattner to withdraw from the race. The progressive campaign had long been marked by scandal, from a tattoo of a Nazi emblem to reports of him exchanging sexually explicit messages with multiple women near the beginning of his marriage. After the latest allegation, the campaign arm for Senate Democrats vowed to not invest in the race if Plattner remained on the ballot. The party will now begin a process to select a new nominee. And the clock is ticking. They have until July 27th. Barbara Sprint and Peer News, Washington.
The main Democratic Party says it is planning to hold a convention to choose a candidate to run against incumbent Republican Senator Susan Collins. On his way back from the NATO summit in Turkey, President Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One that Iran has been hit hard by the latest U.S. military strikes.
We just hit them very hard. And I say we hit them 20 to 1. Every time they hit us, we're going to hit them 20.
Trump said the strike center responds to Iranian attacks on three commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz.
What past scandals and party reactions influenced calls for Plattner to withdraw?
Before leaving the NATO summit, Trump said the interim agreement aimed at ending the war is over. But he now says he's not sure if the U.S. and Iran will return to a full-scale war. Following the fresh U.S. attacks, missile alert sirens went off early Thursday in Kuwait and Bahrain, both home to U.S. military bases. Before leaving the NATO summit, President Trump gave a boost to Ukraine. Trump announced that the US will grant Ukraine a license to manufacture Patriot missile interceptors. Permission to produce the air defense system came after Russia launched a third ballistic missile attack on the Ukrainian capital in less than a week. A new study from Johns Hopkins University finds gun homicides dropping after hitting record highs during the pandemic.
But the study shows a rise in other gun deaths. Scott Macione from member station WYPR has more.
Researchers with the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions tracked U.S. gun mortality data from 2024. And they found that while firearm homicides dropped about 16 percent from the previous year, the U.S. still notched the fifth ever highest total gun deaths that year. The reason is because gun suicides are reaching record levels. In total, there were about 44,500 gun deaths in the U.S. that year. The study found that black women experienced the highest increase in gun suicides over the past 10 years, with a 169 percent increase in the rate. Overall, gun suicides among the Latino population and Asian women also dramatically increased. For NPR News, I'm Scott Massioni in Baltimore.
This is NPR News. Former Wisconsin Judge Hannah Dugan has avoided prison time. Instead, a federal judge Wednesday fined her $5,000 for helping a Mexican defendant escape her courtroom as immigration and customs enforcement agents waited in the hallway. Dugan resigned as a Milwaukee County judge after her obstruction conviction. and had to move because of threats against her family. She had faced up to five years in prison, but the judge cited her lifetime of public service. A team of doctors and bioethicists raising the prospect that surgeons could ethically obtain organs while euthanizing patients who wish to end their lives.
How will Maine Democrats choose a replacement nominee before the July 27 deadline?
NPR's Rob Stein reports that idea raises many concerns.
...for transplantation... Some bioethicists say death by organ donation could be ethical, but others condemn the idea, saying it's unethical and dangerous. Rob Stein, NPR News.
HBO's emergency room drama The Pit leads this year's Emmy nominations. The pit received 25 nominations, and the final season of HBO's Hacks landed 24, a single-year record for a comedy.
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Chapters
4 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–0:04
2
Why did Maine Senate candidate Graham Plattner suspend his campaign after a rape allegation?
0:04–1:27
3
What past scandals and party reactions influenced calls for Plattner to withdraw?
1:27–3:38
4
How will Maine Democrats choose a replacement nominee before the July 27 deadline?
3:38–5:03