NPR News: 07-17-2026 6PM EDT

Libby Casey· Host0:00

Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Libby Casey. Smoke from wildfires in Canada and Minnesota prompted more air quality alerts today in the upper Midwest, Northeast, and Mid-Atlantic US. Air quality levels spiked in places including Minnesota and Washington, D.C., to the hazardous code purple level, which is worse than red level. And the smoky conditions will likely stick around as fires burn unchecked across a remote region of Canada. Meteorologist Mandy Falhubert with MPR News.

Mandy Falhubert· Soundbite0:31

Wildfire smoke, they can, it can travel incredible distances because they're just tiny little smoke particles, and they're so small that they stay suspended in the air for days. And the intense heat that these large fires produce, uh, it lofts that smoke thousands of feet into the atmosphere. And, you know, once it's high enough, strong winds, including our jet stream- Mm-hmm ... we kinda like to think of it as like a highway, it kinda carries it hundreds or even thousands of miles.

Libby Casey· Host0:57

Which areas will stay smoky depends on wind directions in the coming days. Secretary of Homeland Security, Mark Wayne Mullen, is warning state officials that if they don't implement the Trump administration's election security measures, they could face penalties. NPR's Jude Joffe-Block reports his remarks follow the president's speech Thursday evening.

Jude Joffe-Block1:18

Mullen says DHS will roll out an updated election infrastructure plan for states, and they will lose access to grants if they don't follow it. The Trump administration wants states to use a federal data system known as SAVE