At Least 68 Killed in Spain Train Crash, and Democrats’ Secret Effort to Stack Alaska’s Ballot

From The New York Times, it's The Headlines. I'm Tracey Mumford. Today is Thursday, October 29th. Here's what we're covering. In Spain, The Times has been speaking with survivors of the train crash that killed at least 68 people there, making it one of the deadliest train accidents in the country's history. The crash occurred yesterday morning when one high-speed passenger train traveling from Madrid to Seville rear-ended another that was stopped on the same track. A passenger who was sitting a few cars back in the train that was moving said he was jolted awake by the impact and turned to see that a piece of metal had shot through the carriage, killing people seated to his right. Another passenger, who was sitting farther back, described climbing out of the train and rushing to help those who were near the front. He said people were using parts of the wreckage as makeshift stretchers and that the almond groves alongside the tracks became a kind of field hospital. The accident is the second major train crash this year in Spain. In January, 46 people died in a collision involving the same rail operators on the same line. In a press conference, Spain's transportation minister said the aging safety system that controls train signals, which is the most important thing in the world, is the most important thing in the world. in that area went down yesterday morning, forcing multiple trains to stop. Then, in what the minister called an inexplicable decision, the traffic control operators allowed one train to continue its journey and did not tell the driver to brake, even as it closed in on another train still stopped ahead. The back-to-back deadly accidents have rattled the country and deepened concerns about the safety of Spain's high-speed rail system, which is the largest in Europe and second largest in the world. In Washington, The Times has learned that even as President Trump has been weighing renewed strikes on Iran, Vice President J.D. Vance has taken a step to try and restart peace negotiations. Last week, Vance sent a letter to a deputy secretary of state, a top official in Iran, proposing that the two sides meet soon for talks that Vance would lead, according to officials from both countries. The letter did not specify where or when those talks might be held, but the officials said they could start as early as next week. And Vance made clear that Iran's nuclear program must be on the negotiating table from the start. When asked about the letter yesterday by reporters, President Trump said he did not direct Vance to restart, but he did sign off on him doing so. A spokesman for the vice president declined to comment. According to an official in Iran, Vance's proposal was well-received there, and the country was expected to reply by today. Now, two updates on the midterms. First, The Times has learned that Democrats in Alaska worked in secret to try and stack the states' ballot in hopes of boosting the party's Senate candidate, Mary Peltola, over the Republican incumbent, Dan Sullivan. My colleague, Kellen Browning, walks through what he found on today's episode of The Daily with Michael Barbaro. Last summer, top Peltola aides huddled up with senior Democratic operatives. They came up with a plan to recruit other candidates onto the Senate ballot, and the goal was to divide Republican voters and hope that some of them would vote for these alternative candidates, depriving Senator Sullivan of a vote, and indirectly benefiting Mary Peltola, the Democrat. As part of that effort, a Peltola staff member was instructed to create a list of the Dan Sullivans in Alaska. All of the Dan Sullivans in Alaska? Yeah, as many of them as they could find. Ultimately, two Dan Sullivans ended up on the ballot, the Republican incumbent and another, a retired teacher from a tiny, fishing village. Ballot-stacking tactics are common in politics and generally considered legal. They've been employed by both parties in Alaska. But this operation reveals the lengths Democrats went to in a race that could determine which party will control the Senate. And the Justice Department has already sued, trying to block the certification of election results if Senator Sullivan narrowly loses. You can hear Kellen's full report on The Daily. Now, a second update on the midterms. Recently, members of Trump's cabinet have become a familiar sight on the campaign trail. Woke trainings, political indoctrination, diversity quotas, climate seminars. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's been stumping for candidates in Iowa and Kentucky. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick was just in Alaska at a rally, talking up the Republican Senate candidate there. And Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has personally endorsed the Republican Senate candidate in Michigan. Mike Rogers, if elected, will make sure that we don't have Chinese cars sold in America. These kinds of appearances have become commonplace. But they have alarmed government ethics experts who say the administration officials are violating the Hatch Act, a nearly 90-year-old law that limits how executive branch employees can participate in political activities. It's supposed to be a law that's going to be a buffer against partisan politics influencing government operations. In the past few months, at least nine of Trump's cabinet secretaries and several other senior Trump officials have been formally accused of Hatch Act violations, such as using official government titles while engaging in campaign activities or using taxpayer funds to pay for political ads. In response to questions from The Times, a representative for the Transportation Department said, Duffy abided by all ethics laws. The Pentagon said Hegsess appearances were thoroughly vetted and cleared by lawyers, and the Commerce Department did not respond to a request for comment. Enforcement of the Hatch Act has noticeably slowed during President Trump's second term, something experts fear is eroding the foundational ethics law. And finally, We have so much work that we need to do, so, you know, we can't really stop. We've got to keep on organizing and make people understand that they've got the power. The labor leader and civil rights activist Dolores Huerta died yesterday at age 96. She's best known for founding what became the United Farm Workers, leading strikes and boycotts in the 60s and 70s that ultimately changed laws and changed the lives of migrant workers. She was second in command to Cesar Chavez, who, who became the face of the movement. Earlier this year, reporting from The Times revealed Chavez had been abusive, with allegations he assaulted young girls. And Huerta came forward to say she had been raped by Chavez, something she kept a secret for decades. She told The Times, I never talked about it to anybody, and the reason I didn't is because I just didn't want to hurt the movement. In her time on picket lines and at protests, Huerta practiced the nonviolent civil rights strategies of Martin Luther King, Jr. She was arrested 22 times, taking beatings from police and strike breakers. She was also the mother of 14 children, sometimes changing diapers in between organizing meetings. And she kept working on political organizing right up into her 90s. The last time I talked to her, we sort of had to cut the interview short because she had to rest up because she was traveling somewhere to give a speech. My colleague, Manny Frenany, has covered Huerta and her work extensively. One of the most concrete sort of legacies that she leaves behind is she helped coin si se puede, which in the rough English translation means yes, we can. She coined it, you know, when she was in the middle of the UFW movement, but it caught on. And that idea of yes, we can, that sort of like positive slogan, President Obama, when he was running for president, he sort of adopted that slogan. And to this day, you couldn't go to a place to any progressive rally or march and not at some point have a group of people start chanting si se puede. And the moment they would start chanting that, that's a sign of Dolores Huerta's legacy. Those are the headlines. And real quick, with the midterms right around the corner, for a limited time, all of the New York Times election coverage is free in the Times app. Everything. You can download the app today. And follow along. I'm Tracy Mumford. The headlines will be back tomorrow with the latest and the Friday News Quiz.