Abdul El-Sayed’s path to victory and FDA approves first mRNA flu shot: Morning Rundown

A younger and higher-educated base were pivotal to Abdul El Sayed’s Senate Primary win, an analysis shows. The CDC says a salmonella outbreak has spread to 27 states. And, how a head-turning trade by the Los Angeles Dodgers rocked the MLB.

How Abdul El-Sayed beat the Democratic establishment in Michigan

Adbul El-Sayed’s Senate primary win in Michigan dealt another blow to a slumping Democratic establishment that faces an uncertain future headed into midterms.

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He overcame Rep. Haley Stevens, who was endorsed by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and benefited from $33 million in TV ads, per AdImpact, from a group linked to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC.

El-Sayed made Stevens’ support for Israel and her backing from the AIPAC-linked group a cornerstone of his campaign, capitalizing on plummeting support for the country and increasing frustration with corporations and those in power who voters feel are doing little to address the affordability crisis. With his win, El-Sayed proved the progressive left could find success in a purple battleground state. (Perhaps one exception to Israel as a central issue: Wisconsin’s Democratic gubernatorial primary race .)

An analysis of county voting patterns shows El-Sayed’s younger and higher-educated base were pivotal on his path to victory. One of these strong performances was in Washtenaw County, home to Ann Arbor and the University of Michigan, where he won about 61% of the vote. Ingham County, home to Michigan State University, and Kalamazoo County, home to Western Michigan University, were also among his strongest counties.

The results — particularly a closer look at the counties where Stevens excelled and the people who live in those places — also show exactly where El-Sayed has work to do if he wants to beat Republican Rep. Mike Rogers in November.

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Pentagon holds crisis meeting on weapons shortfall, sources say

After receiving an angry phone call from President Trump, the Department of Defense’s second in command gathered top military and defense acquisition officials for a crisis meeting last Friday night to quickly address a shortfall of U.S. weaponry, four sources with knowledge of the meeting said. The meeting followed one that Trump held earlier in the day at Camp David, where he discussed the munitions shortage with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, which ended without a definitive path, sources said.

Sources said the president called Deputy Defense Secretary Stephen Feinberg to express frustration that the shortfall is now a factor in whether he’ll expand combat operations in Iran. He asked Feinberg how the Pentagon plans to address the issue and even suggested he should be fired.

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For subscribers: Hundreds of civilians were killed or wounded by U.S. airstrikes in Yemen last year, sources say. The Pentagon has remained publicly silent .

Salmonella outbreak linked to jalapeños expands to 27 states

A distributor whose jalapeños were tied to a nationwide salmonella outbreak has agreed to issue a recall, the CDC said, while Chipotle and Qdoba said they removed the peppers from their restaurants. The outbreak has sickened at least 345 people in 27 states, with Minnesota and Colorado accounting for the vast majority of cases at 110 each.

The jalapeños were supplied by California-based Coast Citrus Distributors and sourced from Mexico, the CDC said. The FDA is working to determine whether the jalapeños went to grocery stores in addition to restaurants.

What else we know about the salmonella outbreak.

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Staff Pick: Why one Los Angeles Dodgers trade ignited a league-wide frenzy

The baseball world was in a frenzy last weekend in the final days of the MLB trade deadline. While more than 30 trades were made on deadline day alone and over 40 were made in the weeks leading up to the final bell, there was only one trade that had the potential to drastically alter the future of Major League Baseball: the Los Angeles Dodgers acquiring two-time American League Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal.

Immediately after the trade was announced on Saturday night, hysteria swept through the baseball world . Calls for a salary cap intensified. Predictions of a lockout that would mean no baseball in 2027 were rampant. Yet, ESPN’s Jeff Passan said the Dodgers are “just doing what the system encourages them to do.” The bigger question then becomes: Could this trade be the final straw in drastically altering, or even shutting down, the system that made it possible? — Eric Samulski , NBC Sports writer

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