Russia Rejects Peace Proposal, Hegseth Defends Boat Strikes, Tennessee House Election

A five-hour meeting between Vladimir Putin and U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff ends without a breakthrough, as the Kremlin rejects key parts of the updated Ukraine peace plan. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth shifts his account of the U.S. strike on an alleged drug boat, saying he didn’t order the second, lethal attack as lawmakers press for answers. And a special House election in deep-red Tennessee district tightened far more than expected, offering both parties clues about voter energy heading into the 2026 midterms. Want more comprehensive analysis of the most important news of the day, plus a little fun? Today’s episode of Up First was edited by Rebecca Rossman, Jason Breslow, Megan Pratz, Mohamad ElBardicy and Alice Woelfle. It was produced by Ziad Buchh, Nia Dumas and Christopher Thomas. We get engineering support from Stacey Abbott. And our technical director is Carleigh Strange. Our Supervising Producer is Michael Lipkin. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy