Level Headlines

Dominick Wernicke is flying solo again today. Tarah is still under the weather, and we're hoping she's back soon.

Our top story: the Justice Department has sued California, asking a federal judge in Los Angeles to keep about 20,000 mail-in ballots from being counted until those voters' citizenship is checked. The suit names the state, Secretary of State Shirley Weber and Los Angeles County registrar Dean Logan. As of this recording, no judge has ruled. We lay out what's confirmed, how outlets on the left, the right and the center covered it, and where they agree and disagree.

In Setting It Level, we check a viral video claiming "3D-printed salmon hits grocery stores." Our rating is Missing Context. 3D-printed salmon-style fillets are real, but the product is a labeled vegan alternative that contains no fish and is sold mainly in Europe, and nothing in the clip shows which product it is.

Just the Facts covers:

We close with what we don't know yet, including an update on the Rep. Ilhan Omar investigation.

Facts first, then how each side sees it. New episodes every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Full episodes are free; members get extras.

Chapters:
0:00 Cold open and intro
0:46 Top story, side by side: DOJ sues California over mail-in ballots
5:31 Setting It Level: the "3D-printed salmon" claim (Missing Context)
7:36 Just the Facts: Bend, suspicious letters, Ukraine and Pakistan
9:55 Check a post yourself, and membership
10:40 What we don't know yet, plus an Omar update
11:49 Corrections and outro

Links:
- Daily brief and episodes: https://levelheadlines.com
- Check a post or screenshot: https://levelheadlines.com/check
- Corrections: https://levelheadlines.com/contact

Sources for every story are listed in the daily brief at https://levelheadlines.com

Music: original, code-generated for Level Headlines.

Dominick Wernicke is flying solo today. Tarah is taking a sick day and will be back soon.

Our top story is the search of Rep. Ilhan Omar's home. On Monday, Homeland Security Investigations agents executed a judicially authorized search warrant at a home in the Washington, D.C. area as part of an ongoing federal criminal investigation. AP, NBC News and ABC News, citing people familiar with the matter, report it was Omar's home. No charges have been filed, and Omar denies wrongdoing. We lay out what's confirmed, how outlets on the left, the right and the center covered the search, and where they agree and disagree.

In Setting It Level, we check a viral graphic claiming Minnesota's governor signed a law "allowing murder of babies after they're born." Our rating is False. A 2023 law did change the wording of Minnesota's born-alive statute, but no Minnesota law allows killing a baby after birth.

Just the Facts covers:

- Overnight Russian strikes that left at least 600,000 people in Ukraine without power.

- Drone strikes on two cargo ships off Bulgaria. Eleven crew are still missing.

- A Saudi-led coalition strike on oil facilities near Sanaa, Yemen.

- New data showing consumer prices rose 3.7% in September from a year earlier.

We close with what we don't know yet.

Facts first, then how each side sees it. New episodes every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Full episodes are free; members get extras.

Chapters:

0:00 Cold open and intro

0:30 Top story, side by side: the search of Rep. Ilhan Omar's home

4:42 Setting It Level: the Minnesota "born alive" claim (False)

6:49 Just the Facts: Ukraine, the Black Sea, the Middle East and inflation

8:45 Check a post yourself, and membership

9:28 What we don't know yet

10:16 Corrections and outro

Links:

- Daily brief and episodes: https://levelheadlines.com

- Check a post or screenshot: https://levelheadlines.com/check

- Corrections: https://levelheadlines.com/contact

Sources for every story are listed in the daily brief at https://levelheadlines.com

Music: original, code-generated for Level Headlines.

In our first episode, Tarah and Dominick Wernicke start with Hurricane Isaias. The storm came ashore Friday near Destin, Florida, as a Category 2. AP links at least four deaths to it, two in Florida and two in Alabama. Its remnants brought flooding and landslides to western North Carolina. Out west, the former tropical storm Rachel sent big waves into Long Beach, California, then dissipated over Las Vegas, where about an inch of rain flooded streets. We lay out how outlets on the left, the right and the center covered the storm, and where they agree and disagree.

In Setting It Level, we look at a viral graphic claiming doctors "will no longer receive financial rewards for vaccinating children." Our rating is Misleading. CMS made childhood immunization reporting voluntary in Medicaid and CHIP quality measures and discouraged tying payment incentives to them. It is not a nationwide ban, and states and private insurers can still set their own incentives. Just the Facts covers President Trump's announced Russia–Ukraine "energy ceasefire," which Kyiv says Russia has not observed. It also covers the Houthi attacks on Riyadh's King Khalid International Airport, Pakistan's emergency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and a judge's order to cancel the taxpayer-funded TV ads. We close with what we don't know yet.

Facts first, then how each side sees it. New episodes every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Full episodes are free; members get extras.

Chapters:

0:00 Cold open and intro

0:25 Top story, side by side: Hurricane Isaias and Rachel

4:05 Setting It Level: the "no more vaccine rewards" claim (Misleading)

5:58 Just the Facts: Ukraine–Russia, Riyadh airport, Pakistan, Washington and money

7:48 Check a post yourself, and membership

8:34 What we don't know yet, corrections and outro

Links:

Daily brief and episodes: https://levelheadlines.com

Check a post or screenshot: https://levelheadlines.com/check

Sources for every story are listed in each brief at https://levelheadlines.com