Trump’s special envoy is set to meet with Putin who has shown little signs of compromise in talks to end the war in Ukraine. It’s Election Day in Tennessee after two pricey campaigns garnered some big political cameos. And, the Watergate scandal gets the MAGA treatment.
Here’s what to know today.
Ukraine warns issues remain as U.S. team arrives in Russia
President Donald Trump said there’s a “good chance” for a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine as his negotiators head to the Kremlin today, although officials in Kyiv have said key details still need to be ironed out.
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Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, is set to meet with President Vladimir Putin today, the Kremlin said, after what U.S. officials described as “very productive” talks with Ukraine. He is expected to lay out for Putin a version of the peace plan that has been agreed with Kyiv, hoping the Russian leader will compromise on his hardline demands.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was rallying European support in Paris, though he cautioned that some “tough issues” still have to be worked out with Washington.
It could be a pivotal week for diplomacy, said Kaja Kallas, the European Union’s foreign affairs chief. “It is clear that Russia does not want peace, and therefore we need to make Ukraine as strong as possible in order then to be ready to stand up for themselves in this very, very difficult time,” Kallas told reporters Monday.
Putin signaled last week that he was ready to have a “serious” conversation after Kyiv and its allies demanded changes to the peace plan, but he has shown little sign of stepping away from hard-line demands that formed the basis of the original 28-point proposal backed by Trump.
White House confirms a second strike was ordered on an alleged drug boat
The White House confirmed the U.S. did launch a second strike on an alleged drug boat from Venezuela in early September. The follow-up attack killed the survivors of an initial U.S. strike on the vessel, which the Trump administration has said originated from Venezuela.
Some lawmakers and legal experts said that the second attack could constitute a war crime. The confirmation comes amid widespread criticism and bipartisan investigations in the House and Senate into the second strike on the same boat. The leaders of the Senate Armed Services Committee — chairman Roger Wicker, R-Miss., and ranking member Jack Reed, D-R.I. — said in a statement that they will be “conducting vigorous oversight to determine the facts related to these circumstances.”
Similarly, the leaders of the House Armed Services Committee said they were taking “seriously the reports of follow-on strikes on boats alleged to be ferrying narcotics in the SOUTHCOM region and are taking bipartisan action to gather a full accounting of the operation in question.”
What to know about Tennessee’s expensive special election
Today’s special election for the district west of Nashville has turned into a more contested campaign than some predicted. National party figures and big money have been pouring into parts of Nashville and the counties to the south and west that make up the 7th Congressional District, which was represented by Rep. Mark Green until the Republican resigned earlier this year.
Trump, who won the district by 22 points in 2024, joined GOP nominee Matt Van Epps for a tele-rally, while former Vice President Kamala Harris and Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin have canvassed with the Democrat, state Rep. Aftyn Behn. And the ad war between Van Epps and Behn has gotten more heated by the day, with about $6 million in candidate and super PAC spending, according to AdImpact.
Though the district leans heavily Republican, Democrats see a confluence of factors turning this race more competitive than usual, as the GOP faces a number of challenges. Trump’s approval rating has declined throughout the first year of his second term, while Democrats are energized after election wins last month.
More politics news: The White House released a summary of the results of an MRI scan Trump underwent with the president’s doctor saying he’s in “excellent” health.Costco has sued the Trump administration, asking the Court of International Trade to consider all tariffs collected under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act unlawful.Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said that several of his New York offices have faced bomb threats via an email with the subject line “MAGA.”At least 11 Republicans in Indiana have been the targets of swatting attacks and other threats in the weeks since Trump publicly pressured state lawmakers to approve a new congressional map.In a loss for the Trump administration, an appeals court upheld a ruling disqualifying Alina Habba from her position as acting U.S. attorney for the District of New Jersey.Read All About ItRapper Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, who executive-produced an upcoming Netflix documentary about Sean “Diddy” Combs, addressed his ongoing feud with the hip-hop mogul and the secret video he obtained of Combs.A federal jury sided with Megan Thee Stallion and agreed that a blogger defamed and harassed the rapper — but limited damages to less than six figures.Luigi Mangione was on “constant watch” after his arrest in part because the state prison where he was held wanted to avoid an “Epstein-style situation,” a corrections officer testified.A man who climbed over 18 feet to enter a lion’s enclosure was fatally attacked in front of horrified zoo visitors.Federal authorities joined the search for a fugitive high school football coach being sought in connection with a child sex abuse image and solicitation probe in Virginia — and warned he may be armed.Apple’s top artificial intelligence executive is stepping down and will retire in 2026, the company announced.Staff Pick: Water(gate) under the bridge
The late president, who resigned in disgrace in 1974, actually wasn’t a crook, pundits on the right argue.Leila Register / NBC News; Getty Images
The Watergate scandal is a defining moment in U.S. history, presidential corruption and accountability. It prompted a series of government transparency reforms and influenced generations of journalists. It became a shorthand comparison for political scandal and lent the omnipresent “-gate” suffix to many that followed.
But those lessons are now being flipped by some of the most influential right-wing figures, including people known to have Trump’s ear, who insist that Watergate was actually an underhanded scheme by the “deep state” and the press to take down a popular Republican president.
Reporters Tyler Kingkade and Ben Kamisar looked at a crusade to vindicate former president Richard Nixon. – Christian Orozco, newsletter and platforms editor
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