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Trump hails rescue of American hostage in Nigeria

An American citizen kidnapped in Niger last week was rescued in a U.S. military operation early Saturday, according to the Pentagon. 

“U.S. forces conducted a hostage rescue operation during the early hours of 31 October in Northern Nigeria to recover an American citizen held hostage by a group of armed men,” said Pentagon spokesperson Jonathan Hoffman in a statement. 

“Last night, our Country’s brave warriors rescued an American hostage in Nigeria,” Trump tweeted. “Our Nation salutes the courageous soldiers behind the daring nighttime rescue operation and celebrates the safe return of yet another American citizen!”

Trump is expected to hold three campaign rallies on Saturday as he makes his final case for re-election. During a rally in Pennsylvania, the president praised the military for what he called a “brilliantly executed” operation.

“Last night our brave special forces rescued an American hostage,” he said as the crowd cheered and chanted “USA.”

“We had a mission set to a far-away land where they kidnapped an American citizen and the kidnappers wished they never done it,” Trump said, adding that there were zero American casualties. “The other side suffered greatly, I can tell you that.” 

There has not yet been a full briefing on events from officials on the rescue. 

Stores and businesses hire extra security, board up windows fearing Election Day unrest

After a spring of lockdowns and a summer of protests, storefront businesses across the country are girding for a potential wave of social unrest related to the election.

Ulta Beauty, whose stores were damaged in protests of George Floyd’s death at the hands of police in May, told NBC News that it is boarding up stores, closing early and hiring overnight security guards in certain locations.

Saks Fifth Avenue is boarded up for extra security ahead of the general election in Beverly Hills, Calif., on Oct. 30, 2020.Chris Pizzello / AP

 

Nordstrom said it is monitoring for any activity that might threaten employee or store security, and plans to close early on Election Day. In Chicago, several businesses along the Michigan Avenue shopping district have already boarded up their windows.

Walmart, which said this week it would remove all guns and ammunition from its sales floors as a precaution, announced Friday it was reversing that decision.

Leading up to the election, President Donald Trump has repeatedly suggested that he will refuse to participate in a peaceful transition of power in the event he loses to former Vice President Joe Biden. In a Friday tweet, Trump suggested that the only way Biden could become president would be if the Supreme Court intervened to “make such a ridiculous win possible.”

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Trump to campaign in Pennsylvania, as poll numbers show him trailing Biden

President Donald Trump will hold three campaign rallies in Pennsylvania on Saturday, starting off the afternoon outside of Philadelphia in Reading, then making his way to the Pittsburgh area and ending the day in central Pennsylvania. 

With 20 Electoral College votes, Pennsylvania is a top target for both Trump and Joe Biden. Only California, New York, Texas and Florida have more delegates up for grabs. 

A new poll released Saturday from Morning Call/Muhlenberg College showed Biden with 49 percent of likely state voters, compared to 44 percent for Trump. That’s marginally tighter than last week, when another survey showed Biden with 51 percent compared to Trump’s 44 percent. 

The poll’s margin of error is plus or minus 5.5 percentage points. 

Harris reflects on how election will be remembered by future generations during Texas rally

  

‘I’m not invisible’: Kentucky millennials with felony records head to the polls for first time

With the election just days away, Mirage Davis is both excited and anxious. For the first time, she will be casting a ballot, and she doesn’t take her right to vote lightly.

Davis, 29, who lives in eastern Kentucky, is enthusiastic about Democratic Senate candidate Amy McGrath, but is still undecided in the presidential election. Seeing a woman on the ticket compelled her to vote in this year’s election, Davis said, adding that she wants to see more women run for office in the state.

But Davis, a registered independent, didn’t always have a say in politics; convicted of possessing stolen property and drugs, she and tens of thousands others with felony records had been barred from voting until last year, when Kentucky’s governor gave them back that most democratic of rights.

“I’ve gone my whole life feeling like I’m invisible — and I’m not invisible,” said Davis, who is making a point to vote in person. “And it’s empowering being a woman, a felon, and having the right to vote.”

Nearly 5.2 million Americans are unable to cast a ballot in this year’s election because of felony convictions, according to the Sentencing Project, a group that advocates for criminal justice changes. Many states automatically restore voting rights to those who complete their prison sentences, but Kentucky, along with Iowa, Florida, and Virginia, until recently had permanently disenfranchised the majority of felons.

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At Iowa drive-in rally, Biden says Trump ‘has given up’ on coronavirus fight

 

Iran targeting U.S. state voter rolls and spreading election propaganda, officials say

The FBI and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency both issued advisories Friday warning that Iran is spreading propaganda and targeting U.S. state websites, including election sites, in “an intentional effort to influence and interfere with the 2020 U.S. presidential election.”

The FBI sent a FLASH bulletin to various states, saying an Iranian group is “creating fictitious media sites and spoofing legitimate media sites to spread anti-American propaganda and misinformation about voter suppression.” It added, “This group has been linked to efforts to disseminate a propaganda video concerning voter fraud and hacking of U.S. voter information. The FBI advises this video is almost certainly intended to make U.S. voter information and the voting process appear insecure and susceptible to fraud.”

The CISA advisory went further, stating that the Iranian hackers have also “successfully obtained voter registration data in at least one state.” The agency did not disclose which state.

Both the FBI and CISA confirmed that “a review of the records that were copied and obtained reveals the information was used in the propaganda video.”

There is no indication that any voter registration databases have been manipulated or any votes have been changed.

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Trump adviser Stephen Miller reveals aggressive second-term immigration agenda

President Donald Trump‘s senior adviser Stephen Miller has fleshed out plans to rev up Trump’s restrictive immigration agenda if he wins re-election next week, offering a stark contrast to the platform of Democratic nominee Joe Biden.

In a 30-minute phone interview Thursday with NBC News, Miller outlined four major priorities: limiting asylum grants, punishing and outlawing so-called sanctuary cities, expanding the so-called travel ban with tougher screening for visa applicants and slapping new limits on work visas.

 

The objective, he said, is “raising and enhancing the standard for entry” to the United States.

Some of the plans would require legislation. Others could be achieved through executive action, which the Trump administration has relied on heavily in the absence of a major immigration bill.

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Trump asked supporters to watch the polls. How states are countering fears of intimidation.

President Donald Trump’s campaign appears to be using volunteers to try and prove voter fraud while simultaneously asking courts to OK further restrictions in the key presidential battleground of Pennsylvania where Joe Biden narrowly leads, state Attorney General Josh Shapiro’s office said Thursday.

Shapiro, a Democrat, is investigating multiple “disturbances” between these Trump campaign volunteers and voters who were filmed or photographed dropping off absentee ballots, according to the communications director, Jacklin Rhoads.

She said the images have popped up in lawsuits the Trump campaign has brought to tighten voting laws, without much success, while The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that the campaign has been using such footage to pressure election officials into policy changes.

Early incidents like the ones Shapiro’s office is investigating have raised alarm about “poll watchers” — the official, party-sanctioned kind, or simply people showing up to places where voting is taking place — in part because of the president’s frequent and false claims of widespread voter fraud and repeated calls for his supporters to “watch the polls” and stop it.

NBC News is reporting on voting issues nationwide through a partnership with ProPublica’s Electionland. You can share your voting experience by texting the word VOTE, VOTA (for Spanish) or 投票 (for Chinese) to 81380 (standard text message rates apply). You can also message us on Facebook or fill out this form, so ProPublica and partners can investigate.

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Source: www.nbcnews.com