Transcript of Democratic Surrogates Campaign, US & Israel Plan Iran Strikes, Tesla SpaceX Merger

Former Vice President Kamala Harris campaigns in Mississippi today.

President Trump announced he's heading there, too, a state he comfortably won in 2024. Can Democrats' biggest names help flip Senate seats in deep red states?

I'm Amy Martinez, that's Leila Fadel, and this is Up First from NPR News. Trump promised no strikes on Iran before the midterms. Now the U.S. and Israel are preparing plans for a possible attack after both countries hold elections.

Is this pressure for a deal or the start And Elon Musk's Tesla and SpaceX are discussing a merger.

Do I think it would be a good idea? Yes.

Could combining the 2 companies give one of the richest men in the world even more power? Stay with us. We'll give you the news you need to start your day.

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It's been since 1994 that a Democrat, any Democrat, has won any statewide office here.

We break down the odds and the stakes as candidates make their closing arguments before Election Day. Listen this week on the NPR Politics Podcast.

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It's not just President Trump barnstorming key states in the closing days of the midterms.

Yeah, Democrats have several high-profile surrogates hitting the campaign trail as well. One example: former President Barack Obama will be in Ohio and Michigan this weekend and Georgia next week.

And today, former Vice President Kamala Harris will visit Mississippi in what has become another surprisingly competitive Senate race. NPR's Stephen Fowler is following all this and joins me now. Good morning, Stephen.

Good morning.

So you've been tracking all this travel. Where are Democrats going?

You know, since there's not really a, quote unquote, leader of the Democratic Party right now, it's a little bit everything, everywhere, everyone all at once. In the midterm cycle, Democrats are on offense. So there are a lot of people sitting in safer blue states and sort of purple states that are now safe that are being deployed to the competitive toss-up races and into deep red territory where it makes sense. And a lot of people seeking out their ideological compatriots. For example, New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez going to Michigan for Abdul El-Sayed. You've got the independent Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders for candidates in Maine, Florida, and Texas. And of course, the big one, former President Obama going to final pushes in Ohio, Michigan, Georgia. He's cut campaign ads for many, many more candidates. And as we've seen in previous cycles, he is the go-to get-out-the-vote closer.

Now, Obama obviously can't run again, but others can. So how much of this is about potential 2028 presidential candidates laying some groundwork right now.

We are certainly seeing a shadow primary of sorts with this I'll scratch your back, you scratch mine, and maybe vote for me in 2028 undertone, especially here in the South. To me, it's worth pointing out all of this is happening for Democrats against a backdrop of a huge surge in Black voter turnout during early voting so far. Today alone, you've got New Jersey Senator Cory Booker in Alabama, former DNC Chair Jaime Harrison in Arkansas, and, of course, former Vice President Harris in Mississippi. I'm heading there to cover her rally for Senate nominee Scott Colombe. He's seeking to be the first Black senator from Mississippi since Reconstruction. There have been plenty of pilgrimages to the places, the New Hampshires and the Nevadas of the primary calendar, but 2028 starts for Democrats in South Carolina, and there have been a ton of people sending millions of dollars and making a campaign splash across the South.

Let's talk about Mississippi a little more because Trump just announced he will hold a rally there Monday in a state he won by more than 20 points in 2024. What's the story there?

It's just the latest in a series of deep red areas where polls show the bottom could fall out for Republicans in the next few weeks, like Kansas was before it, and even Iowa, Ohio, and Texas before that this cycle. Cindy Hyde-Smith, the incumbent senator, has performed worse than Trump. Calhoun is a strong, moderate Black candidate in a state with the highest share of Black voters in the country, but it's also super racially polarized, meaning that white voters don't typically support Democrats. It's also just as likely that Mississippi and some of these other final Trump campaign stops could stay Republican, and the president gets to visit with friendly crowds and tout the wins because of his involvement in what otherwise might not necessarily turn out to be a good year for him politically.

That's NPR's Stephen Fowler on his way to Mississippi. Thank you, Stephen.

Thank you.

The U.S. and Israel are preparing plans for a possible attack on Iran early in November. A person briefed on the matter told NPR this today. That would place the potential strikes after midterms in the U.S. and elections in Israel next week.

Israel has also seen a surge of settler violence in the occupied West Bank. That's where Israeli security forces detained about 80 people yesterday, including a U.S. congressional nominee and over a dozen American rabbis.

Here to talk about all this is NPR's Ruth Sherlock, who joins us from Jerusalem. Good morning, Ruth.

Good morning, Leila.

So let's start with these possible strikes. What do we know?

Well, a source who spoke on condition of anonymity so they could discuss the preparations with NPR says Israel had initially planned to strike Iran in mid-October, about 2 weeks before Israeli elections, but President Trump objected. The source said the U.S., though, is now amassing forces in the region to be ready for an attack by early November after the U.S. midterms. But, you know, nothing here is for certain. They also said these preparations could be part of a campaign to pressure Iran to reach a diplomatic deal. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is campaigning for re-election on a promise to topple Iran's regime, and the polls here are extremely tight. If by early November the results are still unsettled, Netanyahu could try to leverage the prospect of military action against Iran to convince his rivals to try to join him in a unity government to manage that war.

And let's talk about another big issue, the surge in settler violence in the occupied West Bank. Now, you saw these detentions yesterday of, of people that weren't being violent, right? What happened?

The rabbis there were hoping to be a protective presence for Palestinians trying to harvest their olives in a grove right beside an Israeli settlement. They were joined by Brad Lander, the American Democratic congressional nominee from New York.

I know that a majority of the American people don't want to keep sending their money for Netanyahu's wars and for Israel's human rights violations and for the destruction of Gaza and for ethnic cleansing in the, in the West Bank.

Israeli security forces came and detained pretty much everybody, including the Americans. The Israeli military said it saw the presence of so many activists as a, quote, provocation. Most people were later released, but this does seem to fit a trend. In July, the US Congressman Ro Khanna was detained, and American journalists have been attacked by Israeli settlers as they report on the unprecedented levels of violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.

What has the US response been?

A State Department spokesperson issued a boilerplate statement saying the Trump administration has no higher priority than the safety and security of Americans, but so far this hasn't grown into any kind of public diplomatic row. President Trump has warned Israel against annexing the West Bank, as some far-right ministers in this government have threatened to do, but at the same time he endorsed Netanyahu for next week's general elections, and Netanyahu's government actually depends on the support of some of these most extreme The U.S. ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, he's been critical of some of the settler violence, calling the people who besieged a Palestinian-American family's home this summer, for example, terrorists. But at the same time, when it comes to the West Bank, his views align with those of Israeli hardliners. He's called a Palestinian state, quote, irrational and unworkable.

That's NPR's Ruth Sherlock in Jerusalem. Thank you, Ruth.

Thank you.

2 huge companies run by Elon Musk, Tesla and SpaceX, are exploring becoming one company.

If they merge, it could concentrate even more power in the hands of one of the richest men on Earth.

NPR tech correspondent Jon Ruwetch is here to tell us about it. Good morning, Jon.

Good morning.

So these companies seem to do very different things, rockets and cars. Why would they merge?

The 2 companies actually have a lot of overlap, and the idea of merging them has been floating around for a while. It came up in this week's earnings calls by SpaceX and Tesla. Here's Elon Musk, who was asked about it on Tuesday's SpaceX call.

Do I think it would be a good idea? Yes. But at the end of the day, the shareholders have to be supportive of this.

He says special committees have been set up at each of the companies to discuss it, and analysts say it actually could make some business sense. You know, for example, Tesla makes solar panels and batteries that are used in SpaceX satellites. SpaceX runs the Starlink satellite internet system that Tesla's self-driving cars use. They're working on a chip factory together. Brian Mulberry is chief market strategist for Zacks Investment Management, which holds shares in both companies.

Combining the balance sheets and making one company allows Tesla to use that intellectual property, that design and engineering without having to lease it or, you know, write a check, if you will, from the right hand to the left hand in order to be able to use that type of technology.

Both companies are developing AI too and spending a lot of money on it. And analysts say there could be advantages to putting all that under one roof.

What would be in it for Musk?

Well, these are both essential parts of Musk's vision for a tech-enabled future that involves things like robots and space-based data centers. So a merger could give him more control over that. Musk holds nearly half of SpaceX shares and over 80% of shareholder voting power. With Tesla, he has a lot less voting power. And so if these companies merge into one, analysts think he could come out of it with a controlling share. The other thing for Musk, of course, is money. In November, Tesla shareholders approved a $1 trillion pay package for him contingent upon meeting some growth targets in the next decade. Analysts think a merger could make it easier for him to hit those targets and get the payout.

What could it take to make this merger happen?

Shareholders would have to approve any deal. That might be a challenge on the Tesla side, where half of all shareholders would have to be in favor of it. Analysts think they could demand a higher share price. You know, some institutional investors might not love the idea of forfeiting more control to Musk. Also, Tesla has bigger revenues than SpaceX, so those would be diluted in a combined company. And shareholders who invested in Tesla because they like EVs would have to get really comfortable owning shares in a company with a lot more businesses like rockets, Starlink, the Grok chatbot, the social media site X. Seth Goldstein, a senior equity analyst at Morningstar, says there are also regulatory hurdles. Tesla makes cars in China. SpaceX does work with the The US government may not like having a US defense contractor that's relying on the Chinese government for its key manufacturing operations. And likewise, Beijing may also not be so keen on an American defense contractor operating in China or running self-driving cars there.

With even more money concentrated in one person's hand, if this merger goes through, what could it mean for the public?

Well, the company would instantly be one of the biggest in the world. The combined market capitalization of Tesla and SpaceX now is about $3.7 trillion. And then And of course, it means Musk may have more power. I mean, he's someone who has not been shy with, for instance, his willingness to get involved in politics.

That's NPR's Jon Ruwetch. Thank you, Jon.

You're welcome.

And that's Up First for Thursday, October 22nd. I'm Leila Faldin.

And I'm Emil Martinez. Today's episode of Up First was edited by Megan Pratz, Tina Craya, Cara Platoni, Mohammad El-Bardisi, and Alice Wolfley. It was produced by Iman Mahani and Nia Dumas. Our director is Christopher Thomas. We get engineering support from Nisha Hynes. Our technical director is Zach Coleman, and our deputy executive producer is Kelly Dickens. Join us again tomorrow.

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