Flash flooding, heavy rainfall and tornadoes have forced election officials in three different regions across the United States to move polling locations, scrambling Election Day plans in hot-button races.
At least 18 polling locations were moved across seven Florida counties — including Brevard, Highlands, Indian River, Martin, Okeechobee, Palm Beach and St. Lucie counties — after intense rainfall caused flash floods Monday and into Tuesday morning.
Roads were impassable in several parts of the state’s Atlantic coast after a storm dumped as much as 22 inches of rain in 24 hours in a storm that “exceeded everyone’s expectations,” as one forecaster put it.
Severe storms were moving across Oklahoma, Texas and Arkansas overnight. Forecasters issued a tornado watch that lasted until about 2:45 a.m. local time Tuesday.
Forecasters were also predicting possible flash flooding in parts of Alabama, Tennessee, Arkansas and Mississippi on Tuesday, as that storm systemcontinued to travel east. A flood watch remained in effect in some parts of Florida, though rainfall rates were slowing.
“Areas affected by catastrophic flooding remain extremely sensitive to any additional rainfall,” forecasters wrote in a Tuesday morning discussion.
In Oklahoma, a tornado Sunday forced Cimarron County officials to change one of its polling locations. The tornado, which had peak winds of about 100 mph, snapped tree branches, damaged the roof of the Keyes Community Center and collapsed a wall, according to a damage survey report from the National Weather Service.
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In an emergency request, county election officials said the tornado caused “considerable structural damage” to the community center “rendering the polling location unsafe.”
And after historic flooding in the Four Corners region, Utah Lt. Gov. Deidre M. Henderson declared a state of emergency and issued a special accommodation that will allow voters registered in San Juan County who are isolated by floodwaters to request and return ballots electronically.
The Colorado secretary of state is allowing a similar measure for voters — allowing votes online — in La Plata and Archuleta counties, according to 9 News.
More election day surprises could be in store.
Experts say inclement weather has suppressed voter turnout in past elections. In research of elections from 1948 to 2000, researchers observed a modest drop in turnout during unusually intense rain storms.
“What we found was that for every inch of rain that a county received above its average amount of rainfall, voter turnout went down about eight-tenths of 1 percentage point,” said Brad Gomez, an associate professor of political science at Florida State University.
But experts said the effect of rain on turnout is diminishing over time as more people choose to vote early or vote by mail, and they said it’s hard to predict what effect the inclement weather will have, if any, on key races.
In Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency in seven counties along the Atlantic seaboard that are being hit with flash flooding and extreme precipitation.
Damage in parts of Colorado remains widespread after heavy rain and flooding, with first responders searching for people who may be stranded across the area, including by helicopter.
People with homes along the Animas River in southwestern Colorado were also facing evacuation.
Record rainfall was also reported in usually dry Arizona, causing deadly flooding and power outages.
The brief closure of two voting centers in Maricopa County sparked a chorus of conspiracy insinuations online Monday. Two out of the 254 polling locations in the county had to be temporarily shuttered “due to power related issues,” election authorities announced on social media.
The two polling locations have since been reopened, authorities said, but some online used the shutdown to allege impropriety in the competitive swing state.
Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs issued a statewide emergency declaration Monday after recently issuing an emergency for Navajo and Coconino counties. The governors of New Mexico and Colorado also asked President Donald Trump to declare a major disaster to receive federal funding assistance.

HULL, England (AP) — Karl Bushby embraced his weeping mother in his arms Monday as he returned to his northern England home to complete a 28-year odyssey to walk around the world.
“Where have you been?” his mother, Angela, asked as he arrived outside the home he left in 1998 that was now decked with a banner saying “Welcome Home Son.”
He didn’t need to tell her.
Bushby set out from Punta Arenas, Chile, on Nov. 1, 1998, and walked 31,000 miles (50,000 kilometers) across four continents and 30 countries to get home. He navigated shifting ice over the Bering Strait and swam across the Caspian Sea and English Channel to avoid taking a boat or plane — or any transport — to propel him forward.
He vowed not to return until he could complete the journey on foot. It was an eye-opening adventure full of danger and drudgery that was interrupted for years at a time by the unexpected: the 2008 financial crash that sapped funding from sponsors, the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic and mountains of bureaucratic red tape to get across international borders.
A trek made possible by kind strangers
On the final day of the journey, Bushby pushed his cart toward a hero’s welcome at City Hall before setting off for the last stretch to see his mother.
“Sorry to keep you waiting,” he joked to the crowd of hundreds who cheered his arrival. “Is that it, is it done?”
The ex-paratrooper said he looked like he was 10 years old when he left his mother’s row house at the age of 29. He returned at 57 — softer, grayer and weathered, but far more worldly.
“They say it takes a village but literally it took a world to get me here,” Bushby said. “The kindness of strangers, so many, from individuals to nation states to get me back here today. I didn’t do this alone. There was a big team. The biggest team. Earth.”
The idea started with a birthday card from his dad
Bushby had a thirst for adventure, but his mission only came into focus when his father, Keith, sent him a birthday card in the mid-90s. His dad, an army veteran himself, mentioned an argument two special forces troops had about the possibility of walking from London to New York over the Bering land bridge, believed by some scientists to have been used by early humans to migrate from Asia to the Americas at a time of lower sea levels.
Perilous jungles, scorching deserts and frozen tundra slowed him down, but bureaucratic holdups brought his adventure to a halt for long periods.
Bushby originally calculated the distance could be covered in about five years, but he knew that was unrealistic.
“You just dump a whole bucket full of reality on that,” he said. “We suspected that it was 12 years plus. And the plus was a big plus. But never in our wildest dreams would we ever have imagined 28 years.”
Danger on land and sea followed by border problems
He dodged Colombia’s armed conflict in the dangerous Darién Gap, the roadless and rugged jungle, rainforest and mountains between South and Central America in 2001, and was then jailed for 18 days after crossing a restricted border zone in Panama.
After being airlifted to safety during the 56-mile (90-kilometer) Bering Strait crossing in 2006 with American adventurer Dimitry Kieffer, they started again and faced a standoff with a polar bear, survived near-death plunges into freezing waters and almost lost all their supplies when their sleds plunged in the sea. After managing the rare crossing, the pair were jailed and faced deportation for entering Russia illegally.
It took Bushby almost 10 years to make his way through Russia in fits and starts because of visa struggles and weather that only allowed travel a few months a year. When Russia denied him a visa in 2012, Bushby walked in protest from Los Angeles to the Russian Embassy in Washington, D.C., which eventually led to him getting the proper paperwork.
Family firsts and a long-awaited reunion
Bushby has met several times over the decades with family members who have met up with him on his journey. He was greeted on the beach in Dover by his father and brothers after crossing the channel last month.
He reunited with Adam, his 36-year-old son from an early marriage whom he had rarely seen, and he met his 12-year-old granddaughter for the first time, which he said was amazing.
Bushby hadn’t seen his mother in a decade, setting the stage for an emotional and somewhat awkward reunion captured amid a throng of cameras and a documentary film crew.
“Behave yourself, mother,” he joked, as his mother wrapped her arms around him and wept. “Get yourself together.”
He said he had long tried to imagine that moment he would return to find his mother at the gate where he left her so long ago. He said it was an emotional reunion that was “one great, big, blurry mess” he was trying to process.
“It was kind of almost shocking to see my mother after so long,” he said at a news conference later. “She’s changed a lot. We’ve all changed a lot in that time.”
Next steps for a man who walked millions
In the final days of his trip, Bushby spoke of his anxiety over the trip ending, not knowing what he would do next and coming to terms with having to live in his mom’s basement.
“It’s like stepping across the event horizon into a black hole,” he told The Associated Press. “I have no idea what’s about to happen in my life.”
There will be plenty to keep him busy. Six speaking engagements are scheduled in the next two months, a sequel to his memoir “Giant Steps” is due and German filmmaker Werner Herzog is making a documentary on his trek.
He expects to struggle with the ups and downs other adventurers have experienced after long journeys.
“The only way I think, you know, you get over that is just get another mission, another passion and get busy,” he said. “That’s what I intend on doing.”
Melley reported from London.

Kentucky Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear says Democrats could pick up as many as six governorships on election night. Beshear, who is the chair of the Democratic Governors Association, seemed optimistic about the party’s chances even in deep-red states.
Beshear also defended the DGA’s slow investment in state Rep. Gina Hinojosa’s gubernatorial campaign in Texas, calling it “one of the last states to become really competitive.”
The Kentucky governor, who has openly toyed with a presidential run, left the door open for 2028.
“I’m going to get through November 3. I’m hopefully going to get a little bit of sleep, celebrate with a whole lot of new governors, and then when I’m done being DGA chair, maybe take my family on vacation and we can have a conversation about it then,” he said.
Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin said he is prepared for lawsuits after Election Day if Democrats are victorious, adding that President Donald Trump will do “anything he can” to keep Republicans in power.
“Truly, and so we’re prepared for that. We’re prepared for all sorts of crazy chicanery after the election, and we’ll have to protect the outcome as much as we’re working to protect the vote,” Martin said in an interview on NewsNation Sunday.
But Martin emphasizes he believes the election will be “free and fair.”
“I believe we will have a free and fair election, but I do believe that there will be lawsuits after this election, and we’re prepared for that. And we’re prepared to protect not only the vote but protect the outcome of this election,” he added.
This comes as the Justice Department has accelerated a criminal probe into whether Alaska Democrats sought to confuse voters by recruiting a Senate candidate to siphon votes from the Republican candidate.
Michigan Rep. Haley Stevens commended Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed for denouncing an outside group’s controversial ad about US aid to Israel, a topic that has loomed over his candidacy in recent days.
“Michigan is at its best when we stand up for each other: Jewish families, Black congregations, Arab American neighbors, all of us,” Stevens said in a statement Saturday night. “I was glad to see our Senate nominee say he does not agree with the content of the vile Rebellion PAC ad, which claimed Israel and Jews were to blame for the high costs of groceries. Whenever anyone tries to set us against each other, we have an obligation to stand up and fight back. This is what our constituents deserve from those of us in elected leadership. Go vote!”
Speaking to reporters at a campaign stop in Sterling Heights earlier on Saturday, El-Sayed said his team had no involvement in the ad, adding: “I do not agree with the contents of that ad.”
The ad, which blamed the high cost of living in Michigan on US aid to Israel, reopened a rift between the two Democrats who waged a sometimes contentious primary election battle, particularly over Israel. Stevens pressured El-Sayed on Friday to denounce the ad. El-Sayed responded in a statement Friday night that Stevens “seems intent on relitigating a primary that ended three months ago.”
“I just really don’t think any of this matters,” he told reporters Saturday, arguing that voters are more concerned with the cost of living than the dispute between the two Democrats.
Amid widespread economic dissatisfaction and a desire for change, registered voters nationally say, 52% to 45%, that they’d prefer a Democratic-controlled Congress to one controlled by Republicans, an NBC News poll released Sunday finds.
NBC’s findings echo the dynamics seen in national polling throughout most of this midterm campaign season. President Donald Trump’s approval rating is well underwater: 40% among registered voters in the NBC poll, and 34% among the broader public in CNN’s Poll of Polls average.
Half of voters in the NBC poll say they’d like to see a great deal of change in the way Trump has been leading the country. Nearly half call cost-of-living concerns one of the top two issues facing the country. And the 51% who say they’re dissatisfied with their own personal financial situation marks a record high in NBC’s polling.
At the same time, views of both political parties are net negative. And voters who’d rather see Democrats take control of Congress are roughly as likely to say that their preference is borne out of anti-Republican sentiment (48%) as they are to say it’s primarily out of support for the Democrats (51%) — a shift from 2018.
The NBC News poll surveyed 1,000 registered voters from October 28-30, using a combination of live telephone interviews and online surveys sent via text message. Results among the full sample have a margin of sampling error of +/-3.1 percentage points.
Alaska GOP Sen. Dan Sullivan slammed the campaign of his Democratic opponent Mary Peltola over its alleged involvement in recruiting another man named Dan Sullivan to run for Senate. But the incumbent senator did not say during an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union” that aired this morning whether the alleged actions constituted a crime, as many other Republicans, including President Donald Trump, have suggested.
“I’ll let the lawyers figure that out,” Sullivan said told CNN’s Jake Tapper. “Whether or not this is legal or not, and I think you know there’s some good arguments on both sides… the key thing I’m focused on is looking at Peltola and her team — and the Democrats in DC, and how they treat Alaskans with disdain.”
Sullivan floated a more than 150-year-old law, which was originally passed to combat the Ku Klux Klan, as a possible legal argument implicating Peltola’s campaign. The statute says it is illegal for any two people to conspire to deprive anyone of their constitutional rights, including the right to vote.
Trump in recent days has called for Peltola, as well as the other Dan Sullivan, to be prosecuted.
Sen. Sullivan did not directly address whether his campaign has evidence that Peltola knew about the alleged plan. Instead, he frequently referenced last week’s New York Times’ report which, quoting Peltola’s former campaign manager, says the former Alaska congresswoman “definitely aware,” but not directly involved in the project.
Despite all the attention the controversy has received, the senator said that the other Sullivan’s inclusion on the ballot may still confuse some Alaskans.
“I’m sure I’m going to lose a lot of votes to that trickery,” he said.
Some context: In Alaska’s Senate primary in August, the other Sullivan received 2.4% of the vote.
He seemed to do better in Democratic-leaning precincts, suggesting he got support from Democratic-leaning voters who wanted him to advance, but who may ultimately vote for Peltola in the general election.
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Sen. Dan Sullivan says he will accept election results of Alaska Senate race
1:34 • Source: CNN
Sen. Dan Sullivan says he will accept election results of Alaska Senate race
1:34
Incumbent GOP Sen. Dan Sullivan says he will accept the outcome of his Senate race in Alaska, even if he loses, amid the controversy surrounding an alleged Democratic plot to recruit another man named Dan Sullivan as a spoiler candidate.
When asked by CNN’s Jake Tapper on “State of the Union” in an interview that aired this morning if he will only accept the results if he wins, Sullivan said, “No, I’m going to accept the election results.”
The senator’s comments come as Alaska’s GOP Gov. Mike Dunleavy has launched an investigation into whether Democrats sought to confuse voters, and said last week that if the probe finds “wrongdoing,” then certification of the Senate race results could be “stopped or changed.”
The Justice Department has launched a similar probe, which accelerated after the New York Times published a report last week detailing the plan and the alleged involvement of Democrat Mary Peltola’s campaign.
Meanwhile, others, including Republican Sen. Tim Sheehy, have said Peltola should not be seated if she wins the election.
Despite Sullivan’s commitment to accepting the results, he concluded the interview by saying, “To all the Alaskans out there, get out there and vote. Don’t let this election be stolen.”
The White House falsely claimed it is not normal for electoral results to shift as ballots are counted, in the latest effort by the Trump administration to sow mistrust in the electoral process ahead of Tuesday.
The comment came in response to a post on X by PBS News, which read: “If you go to bed on election night and don’t know who won a midterm congressional race, that’s normal. And if you wake up the next morning and find that a candidate who was behind hours earlier has since pulled ahead, that’s normal, too.”
The post was accompanied by a link to an explainer on why election results can sometimes take hours, days or even weeks to become final.
Writing above PBS News’ X post, the White House’s Rapid Response account said: “No, it isn’t.”
It comes as President Donald Trump has set the stage to contest the midterms. Throughout campaigning, he has repeated chronic and unfounded rhetoric about widespread fraudulent voting.
A reminder: In fact, the information shared by PBS News is correct.
When we find out the results of the elections will depend on how long it takes for states to announce the results of their races.
Though unofficial results can start to be posted by election officials once polls close, results need to be double checked in the days and weeks following this, according to the Bipartisan Policy Center. Results are then also certified at the local and state level afterwards, according to the center.
With the election only two days away, and more than 50 million early votes already cast, President Donald Trump will end his midterm campaign blitz today with rallies in Dubuque, Iowa, and Salina, Kansas.
The president won the two states handily in 2024, but both are now home to tight Senate races that are seen as critical to Republican hopes of maintaining control of the upper chamber.
Trump will stop first in Iowa, where more than 430,000 early ballots have been cast as of Saturday morning, according to data from the Iowa Secretary of State. So far, registered Democrats make up the largest share of the early vote, having cast more than 46% of pre-election ballots in the state, while Republican voters account for 34%.
Iowa Republicans make up more of the early vote than they did during the last midterm – running about three points ahead of where they were six days out in 2022, according to data from Catalist.
After stopping in Iowa, the president will head to Kansas, where voters have already cast more than 420,000 ballots, according to data from the Associated Press.
Republicans have a lead in the Kansas early vote, but it’s smaller than it was at a similar point in the last midterm.
The Democratic share of the early vote is six points ahead of where it was five days out in 2022, according to data from Catalist, while Republican early voters make up a smaller share than during the last midterm – dropping eight points.
The 2026 midterm elections mostly revolve around deeply serious business. There’s a war going on. Polls show Americans are worried about the economy and affordability, like they’ve rarely ever been. And the results will determine whether and how much Democrats can provide a check on President Donald Trump’s attempted consolidation of power.
But as is often the case, the final stages of the campaign have been chock full of things that have nothing to do with all of that — and some of it has been rather silly and even corrosive.
One of the most substantial is, of course, a New York Times report on Democratic Alaska Senate candidate Mary Peltola’s campaign’s role in recruiting the other Dan Sullivan to apparently try to confuse Alaska voters intending to vote for Sen. Dan Sullivan.
Separately, the Ohio governor’s race was already known as somewhat nasty, but then GOP nominee Vivek Ramaswamy decided to up the ante when he featured Democrat Amy Acton’s mother criticizing her in an ad.
This happened despite Acton having said she has had no contact with her mother since she was 12-years-old, around the time the man her mother married was indicted for allegedly sexually abusing Acton.
Meanwhile, Republicans have strained to make a culture-war issue of a quip from former President Barack Obama that Trump has “got the White House looking like Saddam Hussein opened a Cheesecake Factory.”
Take a full look back at the many sideshows here.
Election Day always takes place on the Tuesday after the first Monday in November in even-numbered years, according to the Congressional Research Service, taking place halfway through a president’s four-year term.
Notably, voters do not make any direct electoral decisions related to the president or vice president in the midterms, but instead elect members of the US House of Representatives, as well as a third of their country’s Senate members. States can also add local races to their voters’ ballots.
This year, Election Day will be this Tuesday, November 3.
Early voting began in some states though as early as mid-September, with at least 52 million ballots already cast so far.
Early voting has opened in other states in recent weeks, though some, namely Mississippi, Alabama and New Hampshire, do not offer in-person early voting.
When we find out the results of the elections will depend on how long it takes for states to announce the results of their races.
Though unofficial results can start to be posted by election officials once polls close, results need to be double checked in the days and weeks following this, according to the Bipartisan Policy Center. Results are then also certified at the local and state level afterwards, according to the center.
When the last midterms took place in 2022, Joe Biden was president, the Supreme Court had recently overturned Roe v. Wade, and the Russia-Ukraine war had begun less than nine months previously.
Biden and the Democrats had one of the best midterms for a party controlling the White House in the last century.
Republicans were unable to turn economic discontent and frustration with Biden into a broad mandate, although there were bright spots for them, such as turning Florida red and overperforming in Long Island congressional races.
Voters were broadly discontented with the state of the nation, the economy and Biden, a national exit poll conducted for CNN and other news networks by Edison Research showed.
But other factors, including views on abortion and Biden’s predecessor, current President Donald Trump, may have helped keep Democrats competitive across the country.
Roughly 28% of voters in 2022 said they intended their vote to express opposition to Trump, only a few points lower than the roughly one-third who said they were expressing opposition to Biden.
Biden credited, in part, “historic” turnout by younger Americans for the strong Democratic performance.
A look at the data suggests there probably wasn’t a surge of youth participation relative to the rest of the electorate. But it does suggest that Democrats defied election expectations because of a historically large age gap that saw young voters overwhelmingly back Democratic candidates.
CNN’s Harry Enten, Ariel Edwards-Levy, Tami Luhby and Zachary B. Wolf contributed to this reporting.
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The other Dan Sullivan: inside Alaska’s senate race controversy
8:08 • Source: CNN
The other Dan Sullivan: inside Alaska’s senate race controversy
8:08
Alaska is at the center of a roiling political controversy this week over how a second Dan Sullivan ended up on the state’s Senate ballot. It has sparked lawsuits, criminal investigations and threats to block certification of the election if incumbent GOP Sen. Dan Sullivan is defeated.
The uproar about the Alaska Senate race could ratchet up to 11 if control of the Senate comes down to who wins in the state, one that election officials and experts say is unlike any other when it comes to voting. That’s because it might take two weeks before a winner can be determined.
Alaska has long been one of the slowest states for reporting election results. Why this is so:
Geography: The state is massive, with residents in far-flung areas where ballots have to be flown in to be counted because communities aren’t on the state’s roadway network. That remoteness is why the state gives mail ballot deadlines of 10 and 15 days after the election, so long as they are postmarked by Election Day.
Ranked choice voting: Alaska uses a system called ranked choice voting to count votes, a process where results won’t be finalized until after that 15-day period if no candidate receives 50% of the vote on the first ballot. The state waits for the 15-day deadline to run out before running the ranked choice tabulation. How it works: The votes of the fourth-place finisher are distributed among the top three vote getters, based on how voters rank the four candidates on the ballot. Then the votes of the third-place finisher are distributed to the top two vote-getters, which will put a candidate above the 50% threshold.
Read more on this here.
Same-name ballot stacking is age-old election trick that’s in the spotlight again because Sen. Dan S. Sullivan is on the ballot alongside Daniel J. Sullivan, a retired teacher, in the Alaska Senate race.
Longtime Republican election lawyer Ben Ginsberg told CNN this isn’t even the first time Sen. Dan Sullivan has been joined on a ballot by another Dan Sullivan.
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2 Dan Sullivans on the ballot? It’s actually happened before
1:12 • Source: CNN
2 Dan Sullivans on the ballot? It’s actually happened before
1:12
Some past elections with same-name candidates:
3 Bob Fergusons in primary race
In 2024, Washington’s Democratic state Attorney General Bob Ferguson was joined in the gubernatorial primary race by two other Democratic hopefuls with the same name.
A Republican activist had paid the other two Bob Fergusons to run in the hopes that their names on the ballot would confuse voters and weaken the attorney general’s candidacy.
The decoys dropped out after just a few days when the first Bob Ferguson, who went on to be elected governor, threatened legal action.
George W. Norris vs George W. Norris
In the 1930 Nebraska Republican Senate primary, incumbent George W. Norris was dismayed to see another George W. Norris, a grocery clerk, running.
It was a technicality that spoiled the candidacy for the grocer. Just as Sen. Norris prepared to withdraw from the Republican primary and run as an independent, the chief justice of the Nebraska Supreme Court ruled that the other Norris was ineligible because his petition had not been filed in time.
The “other JFK”
John Francis Kennedy, a Gillette razor factory stockroom supervisor, was a private citizen who capitalized on the Massachusetts name recognition of then-Sen. John Fitzgerald Kennedy. John Francis filed for state treasurer in 1954 and won without any party endorsement or public campaigning.
He went on to win three terms. During his 1956 reelection bid, he was challenged by another political newcomer who entered the race because he was outraged that someone would pirate the good name of the Massachusetts senator. That candidate’s name was John M. Kennedy.
Read more about the history of ballot stacking here.
Flying on Thursday to South Carolina to headline his 25th midterm rally this month, President Donald Trump and his political team made a decision, according to one of his advisers: Instead of holding an in-person rally this weekend in Kansas, Trump would deliver his closing argument there over the telephone.
A few hours later, another weekend rally in Iowa was similarly scrapped.
Trump told reporters he didn’t “feel I have to go to Kansas” because GOP Sen. Roger Marshall was “doing really well.”
The decision relieved some political operatives on the ground, who were happy to hear Trump would be engaging in telerallies that tend to be more scripted.
Less than 24 hours later, the plans changed again. The rallies in Kansas and Iowa were back on, both now scheduled for Sunday.
Speaking at the White House on Friday afternoon, Trump said he’d received calls from friends in Iowa and Kansas asking him to reconsider the cancellations.
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Trump said his voice is operating at “about 49.2%” as he talks about participating in upcoming rallies in Iowa and Kansas
1:08 • Source: CNN
Trump said his voice is operating at “about 49.2%” as he talks about participating in upcoming rallies in Iowa and Kansas
1:08
Officials said the schedule had merely been rearranged to allow more time for Trump to dial into virtual events. But people familiar with the matter described different motivations to CNN.
After signing off on the changes, Trump had grown irked over the media coverage about his decision to cancel his final rallies, those people said. His irritation was apparent when he returned from South Carolina and lashed out at a reporter who questioned why he called off the events.
Trump lashes out when asked about his health after scrapping Kansas rally
President Donald Trump said Thursday his decision to scrap a planned rally in Kansas this weekend had nothing to do with Sen. Roger Marshall’s electoral prospects — or his own stamina after a month of nonstop travel. When a reporter asked Trump about his health and followed up with a question about whether the cancelation was because he was sick of traveling, Trump lashed out.
0:53 • Source: CNN
Trump lashes out when asked about his health after scrapping Kansas rally
0:53
The president demanded the rallies be reinstated, the people familiar said, sending staff who had just worked to pull the events off the calendar scrambling to put them back on.
Read the full story here.

What is a keyboard if not the original brain-computer interface? You can tap on a touchscreen or talk to the computer, but if your work involves getting information out of your head and into the computer, you’re probably spending a lot of time using a keyboard.
We’ve written about many keyboards over the years, from the legendary Optimus Maximus to the ultra-luxe Seneca to even stranger fare. But I wanted to know what my coworkers actually use. As I’d hoped, there’s a wide range. Some of us are strictly utilitarian, optimizing for ergonomics or functionality. Others obsess over every detail of feel, sound, layout, and looks. Still others — maybe the most enlightened — just use whatever’s in front of them.
NuPhy came up a lot. So did Keychron. The Apple Magic Keyboard has its stalwarts. The Kinesis Freestyle split is surprisingly well represented. And there are other, odder entries.
These are the keyboards of The Verge.
Jay Peters, senior reporter
I currently use the Kinesis Freestyle Pro, and I’ve used it for so long that I’ve forgotten when I first got it. In the late 2010s, I had wrist pain that led me to try a lot of ergonomic keyboards so I could keep using computers. The Freestyle Pro — with its optional tenting add-ons that give the keyboard a significant angle and the palm rest accessories — just feels the best under my hands. If this keyboard broke, I’d buy another one the same day.
Kallie Plagge, senior copy editor
For work, I use a simple Keychron K2. But for my gaming PC, I use the Logitech G713 wired mechanical keyboard — the one that comes with the cloud wrist rest. Did I mostly buy it for the wrist rest? Perhaps. But I do love the tenkeyless layout. My previous gaming keyboard had a number pad and two rows of programmable keys, which was cool, but I mostly used the number pad to type the alt code for em dashes. The G713, on the other hand, meets my gaming requirements without taking up half my desk. I’m not playing anything competitive on my PC that requires adjustable actuation points, so the GX red linear switches do the trick. (And they’re the right amount of clicky, unlike the overly loud ones on my K2.) So yeah, maybe I bought it for the sleek all-white look and the cute wrist rest, but it’s also a great keyboard, too.
Danielle Steussy, product manager
I’m using Apple’s Magic Keyboard with the numeric keypad. Some version of Apple’s keyboard has been on my desk for over 20 years, starting with the Apple A1048 that came with my first Mac in college. I loved that keyboard (the sound of my fingertips hitting the keys — swoon!) and I wore it down to the point of keys falling off. Since then, I’ve stuck with Apple’s wireless keyboards. Honestly, it’s a pretty keyboard, but otherwise unremarkable, and blends in with my desk setup (which also is kind of the point, right?). My biggest complaints are that the key legends wear off faster than I’d like and the Bluetooth connection isn’t totally reliable. It’s not my favorite Apple product (by far), but after two decades of muscle memory, I’m not switching anytime soon.
David Pierce, editor at large
I really want to be a mechanical keyboard guy. I love typing on mechanical keyboards! I love the clackiness, the way they look on my desk, the huge personality upgrade that comes with them. But then I start typing notes during a call, and someone goes, “Sorry, what’s that noise in the background?” and I bail on my mechanical keyboard. I used Logitech’s MX Keys S for the last few years, and love that keyboard, but recently replaced it with an Apple Magic Keyboard (black keys, number pad) because I got tired of typing my 1Password password all the time. I bought a $200 keyboard for the Touch ID button. Ugh.
Jacob Kastrenakes, executive editor
My keyboard is probably the single dumbest thing I have ever spent money on, but it brings me joy every time I look at it. The setup matches a Boop Redux case with the GMK Dots keycaps and Silent Bluish White (V2) switches. I didn’t so much want to get deep into the mechanical keyboard hobby as I wanted to have this exact keyboard after I saw images of the Dots keycaps on the (original) Boop case floating around in around 2022. It looks cool, right? (Right?) From a practical standpoint, this is fully a downgrade from the Apple Magic Keyboard I was using before: It’s bigger and louder, with fewer keys, and I probably type a bit slower on it, too, owing to the longer key strokes. It’s also a few hundred dollars more expensive. But you know what? I think it looks really cool.
Antonio G. Di Benedetto, laptop reviewer
Since I review laptops and occasionally mechanical keyboards, I’m constantly changing what I type on. But one of my personal keyboards that remains close to my heart is my TM680 (aka the Gamakay LK67). It’s a cheap bare-bones 65-percent kit I bought from AliExpress in 2021. I was inspired by the video that YouTuber Scott “Keybored” Kim did on it, so I dabbled in modding it.
I started with basic Gateron Milky Yellow linear switches and some crummy knockoff Evangelion keycaps, but I later upgraded to a much nicer MT3 3277 keycap set. I then spent hours individually lubricating and adding switch films to each of the Gaterons, lubing the stabilizers, inserting some foam into the base of the chassis, and adding layers of painter’s tape to the bottom of the PCB. This combination made my basic build sound and feel much better, and it shaped my preference for deeper, “thockier”-sounding boards that I still have today.
My old TM680 is easily outdone by just about any budget board these days. Many switches now arrive pre-lubed from the factory, and even a sub-$100 keyboard can sound and feel nicer right out of the box. But doing the mods myself felt special. I doubt I’ll ever bother with all that work again, because lubing and filming switches is just too tedious and time-consuming, but I’m glad I at least experienced it once. And no matter how many new keyboards I test, I intend on keeping my TM680.
TC Sottek, former senior editor
I used to buy pretty expensive gaming keyboards that I can’t even name now without digging deep through email archives for receipts. I know I once spent nearly $200 on a full-size Razer mechanical keyboard with a numpad that took up a ton of desk space. The key travel felt amazing and it had a great sound. But what I really remember was knocking over a full glass of water on it. Oops! Farewell, keyboard.
Unfortunately, this happened not once, not twice, but three times for me with relatively expensive keyboards over the years. Yes, I should have learned to contain liquids in bottles on my desk. But now I’ve settled for cheap–but–still-good options the same way I’ve done with the several pairs of earbuds I’ve ruined over the years. (Former serial AirPods Pro user here, now fully on board the Nothing Ear train.)
I’m currently rocking a Keychron K2 with a 75-percent layout. It took me a minute to get my 120-plus WPM back on a cramped keyboard, but now it works just fine and I like the look. I’ll probably splurge again someday on a really compelling set of keycaps.
Meredith Haggerty, senior reports editor
I use the laptop that is attached to the M2 MacBook Air I was issued by my employer. It’s right there whenever I need it, but I think they should make a version that’s covered in way fewer crumbs.
Emma Roth, news writer
I have a toxic relationship with my keyboard, a Corsair K55 RGB Pro that I picked up for half the price at a thrift store a few years ago. It’s a decent, budget-friendly keyboard that’s fine to use for gaming and writing. But recently, it’s been getting on my nerves. The keys no longer light up when I turn my computer on, and it sometimes doesn’t sync properly with my Corsair iCUE software. I can’t see what I’m pressing unless the keyboard is lit up (the keys are translucent), so I’ve had to resort to unplugging the keyboard and plugging it back in when I turn on my computer, which usually does the trick. The issue is probably software-related, but I might just get fed up enough to buy myself a fancy new mechanical keyboard.
Andrew J. Hawkins, transportation editor
$ 140
The latest version of a Verge favorite, this low-profile mechanical keyboard has long battery life, tri-mode wireless, hot-swappable low-profile switches, and remappability.
I have never been a keyboard guy. I was content to use the one attached to my laptop or whatever wireless Apple version I could get for cheap. But I changed when a coworker turned me on to the NuPhy Air75 mechanical keyboard. The keys feel great, the “clack-clack” sound is so satisfying, and the overall design is retro without seeming outdated. That big yellow spacebar, the delightfully orange Enter button, the subtly aquamarine Escape key — chef’s kiss. Connectivity is robust and the battery lasts for days before needing to be recharged. It took some getting used to, but I chalk it up to not being able to use my left ring finger while typing since breaking it in a freak scooter accident years ago. But that’s a different story.
Nathan Edwards, senior reviews editor
$ 136
A 65 percent gasket-mounted wired mechanical keyboard kit. Use the Design Lab to customize its top, bottom, switchplate, and accent colors, plate materials, and mechanical or electrocapacitive PCBs. (Switches, stabilizers, and keycaps sold separately)
These days I mostly swap between a Leopold FC660C and a couple of Omnitype Bauer Lites. The Leopold is a Topre board I’ve had since 2017; I’ve modified it a fair bit over the years, with silencing rings, a new controller board, and Ursa keycaps. I fell in love with the unbeatable tactility of Topre switches early, but I love the customizability of regular mechanical keyboards too, so I’ve spent a lot of time over the past decade trying to find something that combines the best of both.
I got most of the way there with my first Bauer Lite a couple years ago; its Kailh Deep Sea Silent Islet switches are linear, but they’re the closest to Topre I ever found in an MX-compatible switch. (They’re basically identical to the ones in the HHKB Studio). It’s also fluorescent orange, which just makes me happy. I built another one recently with DynaCap electro-capacitive switches and MTNU Space Cadet keycaps. Do I need three wired 65-percent keyboards with very similar layouts and pretty similar typing feel? Probably not. But I have them anyway. Also several other keyboards.
Stevie Bonifield, news writer
I love trying out new mechanical keyboards (and have reviewed dozens of them), but for the last year straight I’ve been using a NuPhy Halo75 V2 as my daily driver. I’ve built several custom mechanical keyboards over the years, but I haven’t changed anything on this one yet. I may swap out the switches and keycaps at some point. NuPhy’s tactile Mint switches are fairly good, but I miss the Leobog Juggle V2 switches I have on a wired keyboard that used to be my daily driver.
I’ve been pretty happy with how the Halo75 sounds and feels out of the box. I also appreciate that the design’s simple enough to not be distracting while still having a few pops of color. The battery life could be a bit better, but there’s not much to complain about overall — the build quality feels solid, the keycaps and switches have held up well over months of heavy typing, and the Halo75 works smoothly with both Mac and Linux. It also has Bluetooth and 2.4GHz wireless connectivity, which was a must-have for me since I like to hop between multiple devices from the same keyboard.
I’ve had a great experience with the Halo75 so far, but I’d recommend it mainly for Mac users — macOS is where it really shines. It works fine for gaming, but I’d suggest configuring it with linear switches if you want to use it for gaming, rather than the tactile switches I went with.
Brad Bourque, commerce writer
I started building mechanical keyboards a few years ago, and have a few in my quiver, but the one I use most often is a NovelKeys NK65 in white. This 65-percent keyboard is sturdy and compact, with just enough extra buttons for work or surfing the web, and arrow keys in case I want to sneak in some gaming. It’s a hot-swap board, so I change up the setup occasionally, but it’s currently equipped with SA Mizu keycaps and C3Equalz x TKC Dragonfruit tactile switches, with a matching desk pad and metal Escape key.
Adi Robertson, senior tech & policy editor
I’ve upgraded my writing equipment since 2021, when I proudly displayed an Apple Magic Keyboard on top of a piece of cardboard on top of a MacBook with several nonfunctional butterfly keys. And as much as I love collecting dedicated typing machines — I’ve got a Freewrite, a 1990 Smith Corona word processor, a beautiful 1930s Underwood manual typewriter, and an impressively awful faux-vintage one from the zombie-brand era of Royal, among others — I discovered my perfect work setup is low-profile mechanicals: clicky enough to be satisfying, short enough travel to not hamper my typing speed. (I’m still slightly faster on a chiclet keyboard, but I’ll take the hit.) I spent a few years with a NuPhy Air75, but fell victim to its fairly well-known swollen battery issues, so I’ve since switched to the Iqunix MQ80 — which has less of a fun retro color scheme, but a more satisfying heft. I love the idea of giving it a cool custom keycap makeover someday, but for now I’m too cheap and lazy, and perfectly satisfied with its Mirror’s Edge-y sci-fi white.
Sean Hollister, senior editor
$ 100
Keychrons are the equivalent of Toyotas in the mechanical keyboard world, offering reliability and a great value for the money. The 75-percent V1 Max features RGB backlighting, USB-A and USB-C 2.4GHz dongles, and modifier keycaps for both Windows and Mac. Plus, it offers simple customization that lets you remap any key to your favorite macro command.
I noped out of mechanical keyboards for years because they were too clicky! No good for my shared office space. Then, Verge alum Dan Seifert clued me into the near-silent Boba U4 switches, which I installed in a Keychron V1 (love the small size, love the QMK programmable lighting, love the volume dial!) and I almost never looked back.
I did have to re-spring and lube all the switches to get a familiar level of spring action, which was easy enough. Some of the switches have spontaneously stopped working over the past four years, but it only takes seconds to hot-swap another one in. And a family member bought me 8BitDo’s awesome Nintendo-themed wireless mechanical numpad, so I’m covered there too.
But I don’t think it’s endgame. When I switch back from my laptop, I often miss the faster, more effortless typing I can do on its lower-profile keys. Maybe it’s time for something new.
Robert Hart, AI reporter
I should preface this by saying I know absolutely nothing about keyboards. My standards for what I want are pretty modest: It should work, move easily around my desk, and not hurt my wrists. Looking cool doesn’t hurt.
I’ve cycled through a few over the years, mostly geometric oddities — sorry, ergonomic — like the Microsoft Sculpt Ergonomic Desktop and Logitech Ergo K860, which were rather unwieldy. I also tried ordering the Kinesis Freestyle Pro Jay uses, but gave up after the supplier tried to pass off clearly damaged kit (read: tangled hair clogging everything) as brand-new.
I’ve been using the Keychron K2 Pro for a few years now. It’s compact, looks great, and holds a charge well. It has no number pad, but that keeps things nimble, and it handily switches between multiple computers I use on the go. There are also fancy lights, though I usually turn them off. The main downsides are having to regularly Google the key commands needed to control it — a pain when those lights won’t stop strobing like a hyperactive Christmas tree. It supports key remapping, so I may attempt a new layout like Dvorak sometime soon.
Elizabeth Lopatto, senior internet typist
First of all, keyboards should be clacky. I want to sound like I am firing a machine gun while I write. Second, due to assorted repetitive stress injuries, my keyboard needs to be split. So I am typing with a light-up gaming keyboard — the lights are optional, I just like them — called the Kinesis Gaming Freestyle Edge RGB. Do I game? Uh, well, I do crossword puzzles. But the Cherry MX Blue switches guarantee I sound fucking productive while I do them.
Nilay Patel, editor-in-chief
Very boring Apple keyboards. Every five years the right side of the spacebar stops working and I buy a new one. Full-size. Numpad for life.

There were 17 Disney World and Universal Studios employees among 281 suspects arrested during a human trafficking and child sexual predators enforcement operation, the Polk County Sheriff’s Office said Friday.
Sheriff Grady Judd said in a press conference Friday that the joint operation, which took place over seven days, focused on nabbing predators who prey upon and travel to meet children for unlawful sexual activity and human trafficking.
He said 31 of the suspects traveled to the county to attempt to have sex with a child.
Judd said during the press conference that 13 of the suspects arrested were Disney employees and four were Universal Studios employees.
“It is extremely disturbing when we encounter nasty child predators like these who are very eager to have sex with children. This is why we conduct these types of undercover operations,” Judd said in a statement.
Judd said 32 suspects were undocumented immigrants and so far 16 have been transferred over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Additionally, he said that 24 of the suspects brought firearms with them to the meetings, and nine were on probation.
The sheriff highlighted details from some of the suspects arrested.
One of the suspects arrested is the head coach of the Florida team, Davenport Titans, where he coaches kids between the ages of 11 and 14 years old, the sheriff said. He thought that he was traveling to meet a 14-year-old girl, the sheriff said. Another suspect was on active Navy duty.
Another, the sheriff said, a former Disney employee, worked as a Mickey Mouse character and had a diaper fetish. Law enforcement caught him with two backpacks full of diapers, the sheriff said.
The sheriff said they also arrested a Disney employee, who had his uniform in the car, to meet an undercover detective posing as a 13-year-old boy.
Disney cooperated with law enforcement, the sheriff said during the news conference, and told him they have since fired all the employees. CBS News has reached out to Disney and Universal Studios for further comment.