Good morning. You're reading the Up First newsletter. Subscribe here to get it delivered to your inbox, and listen to the Up First podcast for all the news you need to start your day.
Today's top stories
The Republican party has published its 2024 platform, calling for a "return to common sense." The brief document offers an aggressive legislative agenda that would upend immigration, the economy and other facets of American life. Read the full document here.
- 🎧 The whole thing sounds like one of former President Donald Trump's rally speeches and reads like a Truth Social post, NPR's Stephen Fowler tells Up First. Fowler points out some contradictions, like calls for same-day voting, even though the GOP is pushing people to "swamp the vote" and cast ballots early. Notably absent are mentions of abortion, which only came up once. Trump's official stance is that states should decide on abortion restrictions. While some anti-abortion groups are unhappy about the softened language, Fowler says Republicans are still united behind Trump.
Global leaders are gathering in Washington, D.C., for the annual NATO summit on the 75th anniversary of the alliance's founding. The conference comes one day after Russia launched a series of strikes in Ukraine, killing dozens of people, injuring more than 149 and destroying a children's hospital in Kyiv, according to the state emergency service.
- 🎧 The attack will likely reinforce support for Ukraine, NPR freelance reporter Teri Schultz says. Leaders are expected to approve handing over the coordination of soldier training and the logistics of delivering weapons to Ukraine to NATO — something the U.S. has largely headed. The allies are also set to collectively pledge to continue sending arms and ammunition to Ukraine at current levels for at least another year. Schultz says these proposals were made partly due to concerns about Trump potentially cutting off aid to Ukraine if he is re-elected.
A new method some surgeons are using to retrieve organs for donation is generating excitement from supporters who say it will increase the number of organs available. Normothermic regional perfusion (NRP) involves hooking an external pump to the donor to restore blood flow and sometimes a heartbeat after the donor is declared dead. This keeps the liver, kidney and heart from getting damaged. Critics say the procedure raises major ethical issues. An NPR team recently followed a transplant team on two attempts to perform NRP. See photos and read about the long, intense process here.
- 🎧 NPR's Rob Stein says it was "powerful and eye-opening" to witness the procedure unfold. He spoke with bioethicist Alexander Capron, who called the procedure "disturbing." One of the ways a person can be declared dead is if their heartbeat and circulation cease permanently. NRP critics say restarting circulation reverses this condition, Stein reports. He adds the debate around this procedure won't end soon.
Columbia University has removed three deans for text messages they sent during a panel about Jewish life on campus that "touched on ancient antisemitic tropes," according to a letter sent by Columbia officials to the university community on Monday. Columbia says the three are on indefinite leave and won't return to their positions.
Deep dive
Caregivers and child care are a vital part of the economy, whether paid or not. Child care can look different for many families, with informal arrangements allowing millions of parents to be able to go to work. Kith and Kin is a program in Arizona that teaches mothers, grandmothers, aunts, friends and neighbors who watch other people's children the skills they need to provide care. The pandemic showed how fragile the child care industry is, as well as the need for policymakers and businesses to ensure access to affordable, high-quality child care.
- ➡️ A previous study, which led to the launch of the program, found that over half the children in the south Phoenix area from birth to 5 years old were being cared for outside of a licensed childcare setting.
- ➡️ Immigrant communities and communities of color, where many parents hold jobs with nontraditional hours, tend to utilize informal caregiving as an option and prefer caregivers who share language and culture.
- ➡️ Kith and Kin's 12-week program aims to provide the kind of training and help required of licensed caregivers. This includes CPR and child development topics.
- ➡️ The state pays for the program using its tobacco tax. Around 1,000 caregivers are trained each year. Melinda Gulick, CEO of Arizona’s early childhood agency First Things First, says the funding is recognition that all children, regardless of where they spend their first years, deserve a high-quality early childhood experience.
Life Advice
In a serious romantic relationship and thinking about taking the next big step, more specifically — combining finances? There could be a lot of factors that determine what is right for you and your partner. Lindsay Bryan-Podvin, financial therapist and author of The Financial Anxiety Solution, shares some more advice and questions:
- 💰 Have money conversations. Try to get a sense of what matters to your partner and understand their relationship with money.
- 💰 Experiment. For a few months try having money together to see what it's like to have bills on autopay, then evaluate how that feels.
- 💰 Make sure you and your partner are on the same page financially and emotionally. Things can be adjusted as the new dynamics are explored — nothing is set in stone.
3 things to know before you go
- The Louisiana plantation home where one of the largest slave revolts in U.S. history began has Black owners for the first time. They say the 1811 uprising can inspire a new generation to fight racism.
- Businessman Michael Bloomberg has gifted $1 billion to Johns Hopkins University to make tuition free for most medical students.
- Jury selection begins today for Alec Baldwin's trial in connection to the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of Rust. The actor is charged with involuntary manslaughter.
This newsletter was edited by Majd Al-Waheidi. Brittney Melton contributed.
Copyright 2024 NPR
