Today’s Top Stories from NBC News

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2026

In today’s newsletter: Legal experts say the Justice Department’s lawsuit targeting Alaska’s Senate race faces hurdles. The man credited with stopping the Oregon school shooter recalls his experience. And this year’s World Series is without a key player: the live organist.

Here’s what to know today.

▼ The Lead

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Trump administration’s election lawsuits are on shaky legal ground, experts say

Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. and Sen. Daniel S. Sullivan.

(AP; Getty)

The Justice Department has sued Alaska election officials seeking to block the results of the state’s Senate race from being certified unless the Republican incumbent wins. But the DOJ’s argument for the case is flimsy, experts said, because nothing in the National Voter Registration Act gives the department the authority to intervene in election certification.

In its court filing, DOJ attorneys argued that the presence of Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. on the ballot could mislead supporters of the Republican incumbent senator, Daniel S. Sullivan. The Trump administration wants to block the results from being certified if Sullivan loses the election or if Sullivan would have won the election if all the votes for Sullivan Jr. had been cast for the sitting senator instead.

President Donald Trump said he directed the suit to be filed.

“Most people don’t know this, but the Department of Justice cannot bring a case saying X or Y violates the Constitution. There has to be a statute that provides it specific authority,” said Justin Levitt, an NBC News contributor who worked in the Justice Department during the Obama administration.

Another expert pointed out that the DOJ doesn’t have the authority to get involved in ballot counting.

What else about the DOJ suit alarmed experts.

Dive deeper into the 2026 election:

See the latest polling and the battleground states in play.

Track early voting tallies by age, gender and more.

Find out how candidates are polling in competitive Senate races.

Who else is running for Alaska Senate? See the candidates, as well as a breakdown of other big races in the state. Then, scroll to the end of the page to explore data in other states.

More politics news:

For subscribers: Who will win control of the House? Find out how Democrats could win, how the GOP could hang on and where to look for a wave. Plus, explore our interactive graphic to see how a vote shift could tip the scales.

For subscribers: These focus group participants’ preferred candidates lost in the Texas and Michigan primaries. How do they feel about Ken Paxton and Abdul El-Sayed?

The Trump administration canceled some tariffs on Canadian imports, an implicit acknowledgement that Trump’s signature trade policy could be hurting Republicans in the midterm elections.

Have a question about the midterm elections? Send them to NBC News’ chief data analyst Steve Kornacki, and he’ll answer them in a Q&A for subscribers on Monday.

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On the day a mass shooter killed a teacher and three young children at school in Bend, Oregon, Kaylub Giamanco made a string of innocuous choices that brought him to Silver Rail Elementary School as the incident unfolded. In an emotional interview with Oregon Public Broadcasting, he recalled that series of choices, which kicked off when he decided to go home to eat lunch with his wife.

Outside Silver Rail, Giamanco said he saw a “man in black” open fire and decided to act. “I told myself, ‘This is probably the last thing that I’m ever going to do,’” he said.

Police have credited Giamanco’s quick thinking and decisive action for confronting 16-year-old Griffin J. John II and stopping his carnage on Oct. 15.

But he said he can’t get that terrible day out of his head. “I relive, I see faces, I hear voices, I hear screams,” he said.

Related coverage:

For subscribers: Court documents involving the parents of the shooter paint a picture of a family in turmoil.

How the Starlink slowdown hit Ukraine’s front line soldiers

Ukrainian officials said yesterday it was not seeing any lifting of restrictions on its Starlink internet service, despite President Trump’s insistence that Elon Musk, whose company SpaceX runs Starlink, restored the service. Kyiv has also warned of gaps in intelligence sharing from the U.S., something the White House has denied.

The apparent withdrawal of U.S. support is “like a knife in the back,” said a drone unit commander who wanted to be identified by his calling sign Flint. NBC News spoke with five soldiers, mostly drone operators, who said they felt betrayed by the U.S., and Trump in particular.

Before the latest collapse in relations with Washington, one major offensive, dubbed Operation Vivaldi, saw Ukraine reclaim more than 100 square miles of territory and 16 settlements. But if Starlink restrictions continue in the medium to long term, one analyst said, Russian forces will be able to restore their logistics and resume their advance.

Ukrainian soldiers described their experience on the front lines.

▼ Quiz Time

What province rejected a referendum that would have moved it toward independence from Canada?

Alberta
Manitoba
Nova Scotia
Saskatchewan

Find out the answer and test your knowledge of this week's most-read stories. (The answer to the question is also at the bottom of this newsletter.)

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▼ Staff Pick

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This year’s World Series is missing a key player

When you think of the sounds that encapsulate baseball, the crack of a wood bat and music from a live organ come to mind. But the latter is mostly non-existent today after years of being a mainstay in the sport. And you won’t see one in Milwaukee or Tampa Bay during this year’s World Series.

Only 10 of the 30 MLB teams have a full-time organist, NBC News learned, and the rest either use one on occasion or only feature a DJ. We spoke with a handful of organists still playing today for their thoughts on why live music is still integral to the game and how their roles have shifted in recent years.

— Greg Rosenstein, sports editor

▼ Read All About It

Severe flooding in parts of Colorado, New Mexico and Utah has led to rescues and impassable roads, with more storms forecast this weekend.

A new personalized mRNA vaccine for melanoma reduced the risk of cancer recurrence and death in a late-stage trial, results that one expert called a “game changer.”

For subscribers: Lori Vallow Daybell’s only surviving target describes what it was like to be caught in the crosshairs of the “Doomsday Mom.”

For subscribers: As Hollywood warms to AI, the movie “Wildwood” makes the case for handmade animation, featuring work from more than 1,000 artists who crafted 233 puppets and 132 sets.

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