Monday, November 2, 2020

The AM Rundown: Trump, Biden Hitting Battleground States


➤LAST DAY OF PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN: As the the presidential campaign finally draws to its close, President Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden will be running through the tape as they make their final appearances in battleground states today on the last day of the campaign before Election Day tomorrow. Trump will be doing five rallies in North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, while Biden will be appearing in Pennsylvania and Ohio. The two candidates will be trying to turn out their voters on Election Day, after more than 93 million people have already cast their ballots in early or absentee voting, much more than usual amid the coronavirus pandemic. Polls continue to show Biden with a national lead over Trump in the upper single digits, but are closer in the battleground states that are likely to decide the election. Widely viewed as most pivotal of them is Pennsylvania, and Trump yesterday threatened legal battles over votes there, saying that as soon as the polls close in the state tomorrow, quote, "we're going in with our lawyers."

➤TRUMP SUGGESTS HE WILL FIRE FAUCI AFTER ELECTION: President Trump suggested Sunday that he will fire Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert and a member of the coronavirus task force, after tomorrow's election, even as the country is experiencing a fall surge of the virus. As Trump complained during a campaign rally in Florida yesterday about the pandemic continuing to be prominently covered in the news, the crowd began chanting, "Fire Fauci!" The president responded by saying, "Don’t tell anybody, but let me wait until a little bit after the election." 


Trump's comments came after Fauci made his strongest criticism to date of the White House response to the coronavirus and expressed concerns about the months ahead if more isn't done to slow its spread in a Washington Post interview this weekend. Fauci said the U.S., quote, "could not possibly be positioned more poorly" to tackle rising cases as more people gather indoors during the colder fall and winter months, saying the country will have to deal with, quote, "a whole lot of hurt" ahead and saying there needs to be what he called an "abrupt change" in public health precautions. Fauci also said he believed Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden is, quote, "taking it seriously from a public health perspective," while Trump is, in his words, "looking at it from a different perspective" that emphasizes the economy. White House spokesman Judd Deere charged that Fauci had decided, quote, "to play politics" right before the election. 

The Wall Street Journal 11/2/20

➤JUDGE ORDERS POSTAL SERVICE TO TAKE 'EXTRAORDINARY MEASURES' AS BALLOT PROCESSING SLOWS DOWN: A federal judge yesterday ordered the U.S. Postal Service to mandate some of the "extraordinary measures" it announced earlier in the week to address the slow down of ballot processing in key election battleground states. Judge Emmet Sullivan's order, issued two days before Election Day, requires the Postal Service to use the Express Mail network, which guarantees delivery in one to two days, for all ballots that are traveling longer distances, even after Election Day. Ballots traveling locally are required to be processed and delivered to local post offices on the same day they arrive, or the next morning at the latest. Sullivan's order came as new court filings showed that, for the third day in a row, the Postal Service moved fewer ballots on-time in critical battleground states than it did the previous day.

➤MAN ARRESTED AFTER KILLING TWO WITH SWORD IN QUEBEC CITY: A 24-year-old man was arrested Sunday on suspicion of killing two people and wounding five others, one day after a man dressed in medieval clothing and wielding a Japanese sword attacked random victims near the Chateau Frontenac hotel in Quebec City, Canada. The attack lasted for nearly two-and-a-half hours as police chased the man through the city's downtown on foot. Carl Girouard, who is from the Montreal area, is facing two counts of first-degree murder and five counts of attempted murder. Police said Girouard didn't have a criminal record, but had shared his intention to carry out this type of attack over five years ago, quote, "in a medical context."


🏈NFL SCORES -- WEEK 8: Here are the results of this weekend's NFL games:
  • Buffalo Bills 24, New England Patriots 21
  • Cincinnati Bengals 31, Tennessee Titans 20
  • Las Vegas Raiders 16, Cleveland Browns 6
  • Indianapolis Colts 41, Detroit Lions 21
  • Minnesota Vikings 28, Green Bay Packers 22
  • Kansas City Chiefs 35, New York Jets 9
  • Miami Dolphins 28, Los Angeles Rams 17
  • Pittsburgh Steelers 28, Baltimore Ravens 24
  • Denver Broncos 31, Los Angeles Chargers 30
  • Seattle Seahawks 37, San Francisco 49ers 27
  • New Orleans Saints 26, Chicago Bears 23 (OT)
  • Philadelphia Eagles 23, Dallas Cowboys 9
Tonight's Monday Night Football game on ESPN:
  • Tampa Bay Buccaneers at New York Giants (8:15 pm ET)

🏈STEELERS REMAIN UNBEATEN, LAST TEAM WITH NO LOSSES: The Pittsburgh Steelers remained unbeaten with their 28-24 win over the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday, the last NFL team that has yet to lose a game this season. The Steelers are currently 7-0, matching their best start in franchise history from 1978.

🎌ELLIOTT WINS AT MARTINSVILLE, HARVICK OUT OF CHAMPIONSHIP RACE: Chase Elliott won the last NASCAR Cup Series race before the finale yesterday at Martinsville Speedway in Virginia, earning himself a spot in the four-driver championship race next week at Phoenix. But Kevin Harvick, who won a Cup series-high nine races and the regular-season title was stunningly eliminated from the playoffs with a 17th-place finish. Brad Keselowksi and Denny Hamlin will join Elliott and Joey Logano -- who'd already clinched his spot -- in next week's finale. Eliminated in addition to Harvick were Alex Bowman, Kurt Busch and Martin Truex Jr.

🏈49ERS QB GAROPPOLO, TIGHT END KITTLE OUT IN FOURTH WITH INJURIES, UNCERTAIN FOR THURSDAY: San Francisco 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo and tight end George Kittle both left with injuries in the fourth quarter of the team's 37-27 loss to the Seattle Seahawks yesterday. Garoppolo left with an ankle injury after seeming to tweak it earlier in the game, and Kittle injured his foot on a play. Head coach Kyle Shanahan said the status of both players for Thursday's game against the Green Bay Packers is uncertain until they undergo more testing today.

🏈DOLPHINS QB TAGOVAILOA WINS FIRST NFL START: Miami Dolphins rookie quarterback Tua Tagovailoa won his first NFL start yesterday 28-17 against the Los Angeles Rams. He went 12 of 22 for 93 yards and one touchdown, with no interceptions. Tagovailoa was taken by the Dolphins with the fifth overall pick in April's NFL draft, after his career at Alabama had ended prematurely the previous November because of a hip injury. 



🏈PATRIOTS QB NEWTON CALLS LATE FUMBLE 'UNACCEPTABLE': New England Patriots quarterback Cam Newton called his fumble late in the fourth quarter of yesterday's 24-21 loss to the Buffalo Bills "unacceptable." The fumble cost the Patriots a chance at a game-tying field goal and possibly a chance to win. Newton had the ball stripped away by the Bills at Buffalo's 14-yard line with 31 seconds left. He said after the loss: "I am still jeopardizing this team's success because of my lackluster performance of protecting the football. Coach trusts me with the ball in his hand and I wouldn't want it any other way. I just have to do a better job protecting it."
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