Project Freedom Strait Of Hormuz, Louisiana Redistricting, Senate Midterm Landscape

Summary

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Up First from NPR

Episode: Project Freedom Strait Of Hormuz, Louisiana Redistricting, Senate Midterm Landscape

Date: May 4, 2026
Hosts: Leila Fadel & Michelle Martin

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Episode Overview

This episode dives into three top news stories shaping the U.S. and global politics:

1. President Trump's new "Project Freedom" military initiative to guide stranded ships through the Strait of Hormuz amidst ongoing tensions with Iran.
2. The immediate suspension of Louisiana’s House races as the state rushes to redraw congressional maps following a Supreme Court ruling that weakens the Voting Rights Act.
3. The shifting landscape of the 2026 Senate midterms: Can Democrats flip control amid Republicans’ thin majority and Trump’s poor approval ratings?

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Project Freedom in the Strait of Hormuz

Segment Start: [03:27]

Key Points:

• President Trump Launches "Project Freedom": U.S. military tasked to guide over 100 stranded ships and crews through the critical Strait of Hormuz, which has been blocked since the U.S. and Israel went to war with Iran.
• Humanitarian Framing & Military Details: U.S. Central Command says the operation includes guided missile destroyers, more than 100 aircraft, and 15,000 service members. The mission focuses on "guiding" rather than providing direct military escort.
• Iran’s Stance: Iran claims the operation violates the ceasefire; the Iranian Revolutionary Guard still controls much of the waterway.
• Economic and Political Pressure: The continued closure is pushing up U.S. gas prices and weighing heavily on Trump politically; his approval rating on the economy is at a low 34% (Washington Post poll).

Notable Quotes & Moments:

• President Trump (on military options):

  "Do we want to go and just blast the hell out of him and finish him forever, or do we want to try and make a deal? ...I’d prefer not. On a human basis, I’d prefer not. But that's the option."
  — Trump, [03:54]

• Mara Liasson (on strategic ambiguity):

  "What he’s doing is trying to give himself another 60 days before he has to seek congressional approval. So he’s trying to reset the clock."
  — Mara Liasson, [06:05]

• Mara Liasson (on military readiness & China):

  "Donald Trump has taken a lot of armaments out of the Pacific and sent them to the Middle East. That has some defense experts worried that the U.S. would not be able to defend Taiwan if China decided to invade it soon."
  — Mara Liasson, [06:39]

Important Timestamps:

• [03:27] President Trump announces Project Freedom
• [04:25] Details on humanitarian and military objectives
• [05:47] Discussion of economic impact and Trump's approval ratings
• [06:05] War Powers Act implications and Congressional approval deadline
• [06:39] Discussion of troop reallocation and China tensions
• [07:18] Withdrawal of U.S. troops from Germany and political ramifications

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Louisiana Redistricting Crisis

Segment Start: [08:14]

Key Points:

• SCOTUS Decision Fallout: Louisiana's governor suspends House races after the Supreme Court struck down the current congressional map as an unconstitutional racial gerrymander. The suspended races are part of a national GOP push to redraw districts favorably.
• Voter Confusion & Disenfranchisement: Early voting continued even though races were suspended; ballots not being counted, with minimal communication to voters at polling locations.
• Emotional & Historical Resonance: Some Black Louisianans compare the situation to Jim Crow-era suppression, with calls for a new civil rights movement.
• Legal Challenges: Multiple lawsuits have been filed, challenging the governor's power to suspend races and the logistical chaos of absentee ballots already in circulation.

Notable Quotes & Moments:

• Saria Jackson, Voter:

  "They're literally trying to take power from the people."
  — [10:06]

• Pete Creasy, Voter:

  "Go back to where it was in the 1960s. It's doing the same thing over and over."
  — [10:20]

• Election Law Expert Rick Hasen:

  "The bottom line is this is one of the most complex, tangled web of issues."
  — [10:56]

Important Timestamps:

• [08:14] Introduction to the Louisiana redistricting crisis
• [08:45] Background on the Supreme Court's ruling and its effects
• [09:28] Voter reactions and confusion at polling places
• [10:33] Overview of the mounting legal challenges
• [11:09] Outlook on possible resolution and ongoing early voting

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The 2026 Senate Midterm Landscape

Segment Start: [11:36]

Key Points:

• Senate Control up for Grabs: Republicans have a slim three-seat majority, but the toxic electoral environment for the GOP and strong Democratic recruitment make a flip possible, albeit difficult.
• Key Races ("Core Four" for Dems): North Carolina, Maine, Ohio, and Alaska are critical battlegrounds. North Carolina looks promising for Democrats (Roy Cooper leading), while Maine, Ohio, and Alaska are tougher due to incumbents and conservative lean.
• Republican Defensive & Offensive Moves: GOP hopes to hold their traditional strongholds but are also looking to pick up seats in Michigan, Georgia, and New Hampshire.
• Progressive Discontent: Left-leaning voters are disillusioned with the Democratic Party, but opposition to Trump has kept the party relatively unified for now.

Notable Quotes & Moments:

• Domenico Montanaro (on Democratic prospects):

  "With the national environment continuing to sour for President Trump and with some Democratic recruiting wins, it’s become at least a possibility."
  — Domenico Montanaro, [12:10]

• Montanaro (on candidate matchups):

  "[Roy Cooper is] off to a good fundraising start. He's leading in the polls. He's up against Trump's former Republican National Committee Chairman, Michael Whatley."
  — [12:34]

• Montanaro (on progressive voters):

  "Polls have shown significant unease with the Democratic Party from...especially younger, more progressive voters. This divide...is mostly simmering below the surface right now this year because the left is pretty unified in their opposition to Trump..."
  — [15:18]

Important Timestamps:

• [11:57] Overview: Can Democrats flip the Senate?
• [12:31] Four target states for Democrats: NC, ME, OH, AK
• [13:13] Breakdowns of candidate strengths and weaknesses
• [14:39] Republican offense in Michigan, Georgia, New Hampshire
• [15:18] Progressive frustration with Democratic Party

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Memorable Moments & Tone

• The episode strikes a tone of urgency and uncertainty—reflecting on high-stakes global conflict, domestic election chaos, and contentious partisan battles.
• Personal voter testimonies from Louisiana powerfully highlight the emotional toll of election upheaval.
• Analysis is succinct yet leans into the complexity of both foreign policy and domestic political machinations.

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For Further Listening

For ongoing updates, subscribe to “Up First” on your preferred podcast platform and support public media at donate.npr.org.

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Transcript

[A]

Good morning, Michelle.

[B]

Good morning, Layla.

[A]

So real quick, before we start today, a reminder that we just celebrated Public Media Giving Days here at npr.

[B]

That's right. And this is a big deal for up first and all the podcasts you love from NPR because we are public media, nonprofit, independent, freely available to everybody like you.

[A]

Yeah, the whole public, if you will. We're also supported by you, the public, and up first listeners like Lauren in Oregon. She's a recent donor to the NPR network who says the world feels overwhelming sometimes, but you all provide a manageable amount of news that keeps me informed. It's so important to have engaging and accurate news sources that are accessible to all.

[B]

Well, thank you, Lauren. It is our privilege to do this work for you and we appreciate your support.

[A]

Public Media Giving Days were officially on May 1st and 2nd, but it's not too late to make your gift in support of us at Public Media. You can do [e-mail] and thank you.

[B]

President Trump says the U.S. will guide stranded ships out of the Strait of Hormuz.

[A]

Meanwhile, he's considering a proposal from the Iranians.

[C]

Do we want to go and just blast the hell out of him and finish him forever, or do we want to try and make a deal?

[B]

I'm Michelle Martin. That's Leila Fado. And this is up first from NPR News. Louisiana's governor suspends House races in his state so lawmakers can draw new congressional maps after the Supreme Court weakened the Voting Rights Act.

[D]

They're literally trying to take power from the people.

[B]

How aggressive will the redistricting get before the midterms?

[A]

And with President Trump's low approval ratings, Democrats see a narrow path to flipping the Senate this fall, which races could decide control? Stay with us. We'll give you the news you need to start your day.

[E]

Support for NPR and the following message come from Washington Wise Decisions made in Washington can affect your portfolio every day. Washington Wise from Charles Schwab, is an original podcast that unpacks the stories making news and how they may affect your finances and portfolio. Host Mike Townsend and his guests explore policy initiatives for retirement, savings, taxes, trade and more. Download the latest episode and [e-mail] WashingtonWise or wherever you listen. This message comes from. Sleep number Life changes. Your body changes and so does your sleep. It's time your mattress changes with you. Sleep number introduces new mattress collections designed for personalized comfort. Sleep number Beds are made to adapt to your changing needs for just right comfort that lasts. And you can adjust your comfort and support whenever you like. Every Bed and Base is on sale at the Everything on Sale Memorial Day event from Sleep Number. Visit a Sleep Number store near you or learn [e-mail] support for NPR and

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[A]

President Trump says the US Will guide stranded ships through the Strait of Hormuz starting today.

[B]

He called the operation Project Freedom and described it as a mission to free hundreds of ships and their crews who have been stuck in the waterways since the start of the US And Israeli war with Iran. US Task force is asking ships to reroute through Omani waters. Trump says he's also reviewing a new offer from and has left the option of war on the table. Here he is talking to reporters on Friday.

[C]

I mean, do we want to go and just blast the hell out of him and finish him forever, or do we want to try and make a deal? I mean, those are the opposite. Do you want to go blast the hell out of them? I'd prefer not. On a human basis, I'd prefer not. But that's the option.

[A]

We have NPR senior political correspondent Mara Liasson here to try to make sense of where things stand today with the war. Good morning, Mara.

[D]

Good morning.

[A]

Okay, let's start with Sunday's announcement. What more do we know about how the president plans to safely escort ships through the Strait?

[D]

Well, we don't know a whole lot. Donald Trump has described this as a humanitarian mission to help ships that are stuck in the straight and running low on supplies. U.S. central Command says it will involve guided missile destroyers, more than 100 aircraft, 15,000 service members. But this is not so much an escort service, a military escort, rather than it's to guide them, in other words, to show them where the safe routes are without sea mines. Iran says the whole thing violates the ceasefire.

[A]

Now, President Trump also said he is reviewing a new offer from Iran. What do we know about that?

[D]

We don't know much about that either. Donald Trump says he's been briefed on the concept of a deal, but that the Iranians are going to give him the exact wording soon, as we heard earlier, he is saying that the war is officially terminated, but he's not ruling out future military action. The war is at a stalemate. It's been that way for some time. The bombing of Iran did not cause Iran to renege on their nuclear ambitions. And they seem to have attained a new power that they didn't have or didn't use before the war began. And that's control of the Strait of Hormuz. There is a US Blockade, but the Revolutionary Guard still controls the waterway. So those are like two different blockades. And unless it's opened, President Trump will not see gas prices lowered in the United States.

[A]

How much is that economic impact weighing on Trump at this point?

[D]

Well, it is weighing on him politically. The new Washington Post poll shows that his approval rating on the economy is 34%. That's very low. His approval ratings are down across the board. And there are more and more Republicans in Congress that want this war to end.

[A]

And where do things stand with seeking approval from Congress?

[D]

Well, Congress is on recess this week. That gives lawmakers a bit of a break. But the War Powers act gives the President a 60 day deadline to seek congressional approval for military hostilities. That's why the president has told Congress that hostility have officially been terminated. Hostilities began on February 28th. So what he's doing is trying to give himself another 60 days before he has to seek congressional approval. So he's trying to reset the clock.

[A]

Now Trump is also preparing for a trip to China, a trip that was previously delayed because of this war. How does that play in here?

[D]

Well, it's complicated. Donald Trump has taken a lot of armaments out of the Pacific and sent them to the Middle East. That has some defense experts worried that the US Would not be able to defend Taiwan if China decided to invade it soon. China gets a lot of oil through the Strait of Hormuz, so the war is hurting them. But it's also been a boost to China because they control over 70% of the supply chains for solar energy equipment and EVs. So in that sense, it's been a boost for China.

[A]

Meanwhile, the Pentagon says it will withdraw 5,000 US troops from Germany over criticisms of his handling of the war. What is happening?

[D]

Well, what's happening is the president was very angry at German Chancellor Frederick Mertz for saying that the US had no real strategy in Iran. Right now There are about 38,000 U.S. troops in Germany, and the president says he wants to bring home about 5,000 of them. Defense experts say that could hurt the United States even more than Germany because the US Needs those troops in Germany to run US Bases or stage operations in the Middle East. And that announcement about pulling out troops has gotten some push back from Republicans in Congress. The chairman of the House and Senate Armed Services Committee issued a joint statement saying that reducing America's forward presence in Europe sends the wrong signal to Vladimir Putin.

[A]

That's NPR's Mara Liason. Thank you so much, Mara.

[D]

You're welcome.

[A]

Republicans in several Southern states are racing to pass new congressional maps in time for the midterms.

[B]

They are responding to a recent ruling by the Supreme Court that gutted the Voting Rights act in Louisiana. The governor suspended U.S. house races so the legislature can draw a new map. Early voting actually started there this past weekend.

[A]

Aubrey Uhas of member station WWNO is following the situation in Louisiana where the Supreme Court case originated and joins us now. Good morning, Aubrey.

[G]

Good morning, Leila.

[A]

So where do things stand right now?

[G]

Yeah. The day after the Supreme Court threw out Louisiana's congressional map as an unconstitutional racial gerrymander, state officials suspended House races, arguing they had to do it in light of the ruling, though the court didn't tell them to do that. That map had been drawn under court order in 2024 to create a second majority Black district out of six. Black residents make up about a third of the state's population. This comes amid an unprecedented redistricting race that President Donald Trump set off in an effort to help the GOP hold the House in the midter. So when Louisiana's Governor Jeff Landry put the state's US House races on hold, Trump thanked him for doing that. This week, lawmakers are expected to start working to pass a new map that could eliminate one or both of the state's majority black districts.

[A]

How are voters reacting?

[G]

Yeah, I was out in New Orleans on Saturday, the first day of early voting, to visit an early voting site, and there were people who honestly weren't sure what to do. Since the House races are still on the ballot, it was too late to take them off. And officials have said votes cast won't be counted. At the poll I went to, there wasn't any big signage explaining the change, just a sheet of all the races that were supposed to be happening that was up on the wall and it had been updated in pen. Someone had written canceled next to the House races and crossed them out. So some voters said they cast votes anyway, just in case. I asked Saria Jackson if she felt it was reasonable for the state to suspend races at the last minute, nowhere near reasonable.

[D]

They're literally trying to take power from the people.

[G]

I also spoke with Pete Creasy and he used language I've been hearing from some older black people in Louisiana. They feel like we're in a new Jim Crow era.

[D]

Well, the thing is, go back to

[C]

where it was in the 1960s. It's doing the same thing over and over.

[G]

Creasy said there needs to be another civil rights movement, and that's something several people told me.

[A]

Have there been any legal challenges to the suspension of these House races?

[G]

Yes. Voters, voting groups and candidates have filed multiple lawsuits in state and federal courts. They say the governor doesn't have the right to put things on hold, that it should be up to the legislature. They also argue it was too late since absentee ballots were already sent out and in some cases returned and that there are, you know, lots of other potential legal problems. Rick Hassan is an expert in election law at UCLA's law school. He's not involved in the cases.

[D]

The bottom line is this is one of the most complex, tangled web of issues.

[A]

Aubrey, any idea on how or when this may get untangled?

[C]

Yeah.

[G]

Some judges have already denied requests to force the House races to happen as scheduled with the old map, and they're expected to start weighing in on some of the larger legal questions as early as this week. Meanwhile, early voting will continue until election day on May 16.

[A]

Aubrey Yuhas is with member station WWNO in New Orleans. Aubry, thank you for your reporting.

[G]

You're welcome.

[A]

Republicans face a challenging political environment in this year's midterms. A difficult economy, a war in Iran and a president suffering from low approval ratings.

[B]

Republicans are clinging to a razor thin majority in the House and Democrats still have good odds to take control of the lower chamber. But what about the Senate? Do Democrats actually have a chance at flipping it, too?

[A]

NPR's senior political editor and correspondent Domenico Montanaro has a new analysis out on these races and he joins me now. Good morning, Domenico.

[H]

Hey, Layla.

[A]

Okay, so what about it? Can Democrats take control of the Senate

[H]

at the outset of this cycle? I would have said that's highly unlikely a year ago. You know, Republicans have a three seat majority, which may not sound like a lot, but considering where the competitive seats that are up are, it's a lot of traditionally Republican turf. But with the national environment continuing to sour for President Trump and with some Democratic recruiting wins, it's become at least a possibility.

[A]

Okay, so what are some of the states you are watching?

[H]

Well, for Democrats to pull it off, they actually need a net gain of four seats because with Trump in the White house, Vice President J.D. vance would come in to break ties. Democrats see what they call a core four states that can get them there. That includes North Carolina, Maine, Ohio and Alaska. All of those, except for Maine, are states Trump won in 2024. Democrats are already favored in North Carolina because they got a pretty good recruit there in former Governor Roy Cooper. He's off to a good fundraising start. He's leading in the polls. He's up against Trump's former Republican National Committee Chairman, Michael Whatley.

[A]

Okay, that's North Carolina. What about Maine, Ohio and Alaska?

[H]

Well, Maine has a nearly 30 year incumbent in office, Republican Susan Collins. So this isn't the easiest path for Democrats. The current governor, Janet Mills, was a big recruiting win for Democratic leader Chuck Schumer. She was his preferred candidate, but she dropped out of the race last week because she was way behind in the polls and fundraising to Graham Platner, who's a progressive upstart. He's an oyster farmer and progressive favorite who's never won an elective office. Democrats do have two more strong recruits in Ohio and Alaska. Former Senator Sherrod Brown is back in Ohio. He's running against Republican incumbent John Husted. In Alaska, former Congresswoman Mary Peltola is making it a very local race. Her slogan is Fish family freedom, but she's running against an incumbent Republican and Dan Sullivan in a state Trump won by 13 points. So pardon the pun here, but it might not be so easy for Democrats to reel this one the boat.

[A]

So how do Republicans see things?

[H]

Well, they acknowledge the difficult environment. They point to the history that parties out of power usually pick up a seat or two or three. They're hoping for an improved economic landscape, certainly for states like Ohio and even Iowa, which have been hit hard by tariffs. Ohio's race, by the way, will be set tomorrow after the primary there. But Republicans maintain that at the end of the day, they will retain control, even if it's narrowly. And they point out that they're on offense in some places, too.

[A]

Like where?

[H]

Well, at the top of their list is Michigan. They like their candidate there. And Mike Rogers, former congressman, cuts a moderate profile. He came up just short in 2024 against then Congresswoman Alyssa Slotkin. Now he's competing for an open seat with Democrat Gary Peters out of the race. He's retiring. A win there would throw a serious monkey wrench into Democrats takeover plans. But you know, they think that places like Georgia and New Hampshire could also be very close. In the end for Republicans. So still a lot to be decided here.

[A]

Domenico, we' also been hearing that left leaning voters are not exactly thrilled with the Democratic Party. How is that showing up in the campaigns?

[H]

Well, polls have shown significant unease with the Democratic Party from the kinds of voters who should be voting for them, especially younger, more progressive voters. This divide, though, is mostly simmering below the surface right now this year because the left is pretty unified in their opposition to Trump and his policies. But this is going to become a major theme to watch in 2028.

[A]

That's NPR senior political editor and correspondent Domenico Montanaro. Thank you, Domenico.

[H]

You're welcome.

[A]

And that's up first for Monday, May 4th. I'm Leila Falden.

[B]

And I'm Michelle Martin. Today's episode of up first was edited by Kelsey Snell, Susanna Capilouto, Mohamed El Bardisi and Arzu Rezvani. It was produced by Ziad Butch and Nia Dumas. Our director is Katie Klein. We get engineering support from Nisha Hyness. And our technical director is Carly Strange. We hope you'll join us again tomorrow.

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