*By Christian Smith*
Taylor Swift's decision to break her political silence and urge her followers to register to vote is an incredibly valuable gift to organizations trying to get out the younger vote on Nov. 6, said DoSomething.org CEO Aria Finger.
"It does matter when young people see other people voting, other celebrities get involved," Finger said Wednesday in an interview on Cheddar. "We want to make it cool for young people to get out and vote."
After the pop star posted a message to [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/p/BopoXpYnCes/?taken-by=taylorswift) encouraging her over 112 million followers to vote ー and effectively endorsing two Democratic candidates in Tennessee ー registering platform Vote.org said it received a surge in new registrants numbering in the thousands.
At stake in this year's midterms are all 435 U.S. House seats and 33 U.S. Senate seats.
Voter registration has been an essential goal for DoSomething.org, which has registered over 70,000 new voters this year alone.
Beyond voter registration, Finger said there has been a general boost in civic engagement from millennials and Gen Z since Donald Trump was elected president almost two years ago.
"They just want solutions," Finger said.
"Young people say, 'What can I do in my local community to make a difference because the old people, they're not helping us.'"
For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/the-issues-uniting-millennials-going-into-the-midterms).
The Biden Administration has officially extended a ban on a Trump-era policy that prohibits traveling with a U.S. passport to North Korea. The extension is expected to last until August 2022. The ban was initially enforced after the death of Otto Warmbier, who entered a vegetative state while in North Korean custody. Advocates against the ban argue that it has caused crippling impacts on Korean Americans who have not been able to reunite with their families back home. Senior Fellow at The Foundation For Defense of Democracies Anthony Ruggiero joined Cheddar's News Wrap to discuss more.
There has been a series of violent attacks in Afghanistan in the past week as U.S. troops withdrawal deadline approaches. The evacuation effort is winding down with 1,200 people evacuated in the last 24 hours, compared to last week's 24-hour span high of 21,000, and it is reported that there are around 250 people still waiting to be airlifted.
Dan Lamothe, national security reporter at The Washington Post, joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss more on what is going to happen when all evacuation and withdrawal missions are completed.
Futures pointed to a slightly higher open on the heels of Fed Chair Jerome Powell saying the central bank is on track to taper its asset purchases later this year. Milton Ezrati, Chief Economist at Vested joined Wake Up with Cheddar to discuss.
