Twenty Thousand Libyan Surface-to-Air Missiles Are Missing

What We Know About the Final Trump-Biden Debate: Time & How to Watch

By Margaret Hartmann and Matt Stieb

A brief guide to watching the final presidential debate, plus the latest batch of controversies.

7:53 p.m.

U.S. Intelligence Accuses Iran and Russia of Interfering in 2020 Election

By Justin Miller

Tehran reportedly imitated the Proud Boys to send threatening emails to Democrats by obtaining voter information, as Russia did.

6:20 p.m.

amy coney barrett

Judiciary Committee Democrats Won’t Show Up for Final Vote on Barrett

After Dianne Feinstein’s lovefest with Graham last week, Dems feel the need to demonstrate their opposition more forcefully.

Most Popular

6:02 p.m.

the emperor's new props

13 Times President Trump Had the Best, Most Beautiful Props

By Margaret Hartmann

From giant stacks of blank paper to Sharpie-scrawled notes on a scandal, no one shows off dubious documents and diagrams like our commander-in-chief.

5:59 p.m.

Trump’s Demonization of Mail Voting Could Be His Doom

By Eric Levitz

As Democrats dominate early voting, the GOP is increasingly banking on huge in-person Election Day turnout in the middle of a pandemic.

5:50 p.m.

america's mayor

Everything We Know About Rudy Giuliani’s Borat 2 Encounter

By Intelligencer Staff

The Borat sequel features the president’s attorney sticking his hands down his pants during an encounter with a woman he believed to be a reporter.

5:27 p.m.

Democratic Upstart Jaime Harrison on What He Really Thinks of Lindsey Graham

By Gabriel Debenedetti

The South Carolina politician began as a long shot to upset a GOP Senate fixture. Now he’s breaking fundraising records.

4:12 p.m.

Polling consistency in PA

Latest Pennsylvania polls via @CNN:

CNN/SSRS - Biden +10
Quinnipiac - Biden +8
Monmouth - Biden +12
CBS News - Biden +7
NYT/Siena - Biden +7
ABC/Post - Biden +9
Fox News - Biden +7

—@ryanstruyk

3:40 p.m.

satire

All the Surprise Guests Trump May Bring to Thursday’s Debate

By Chas Danner

No one loves televised surprises more than President Trump. Here’s who he might invite to the debate to mess with Biden on Thursday night.

2:56 p.m.

catholic church

What Does the Pope’s Support for Civil Unions Really Mean?

It’s unclear whether he’s blurring the line against same-sex marriage or drawing it more clearly.

2:33 p.m.

opioid crisis

OxyContin Maker Will Plead Guilty to Criminal Charges, Again

By Sarah Jones

A new federal settlement holds itself out as justice. Reality is more complicated.

2:11 p.m.

Surely Trump won’t go after Romney over this

Mitt Romney tells @mkraju he has already voted in this year’s election: “I did not vote for President Trump.” He wouldn’t say if he voted for Biden or wrote someone else in.

—@passantino

1:41 p.m.

supreme court

The Supreme Court Is Waging War on Democracy — and Voters Approve

By Eric Levitz

A 6-to-3 conservative court would work to entrench minority rule. Polls suggest it could have majority support while doing so.

12:23 p.m.

coronavirus stimulus

Will McConnell Really Blow Up a Trump-Blessed Stimulus Deal?

It’s unlikely that McConnell would defy Trump over something he really wanted, but time itself could prevent pre-election passage of a bill.

11:24 a.m.

A dreadful poll for Trump and Ernst

🚨New Monmouth poll of IOWA (change from 9/18-22):

Trump 47 (-2)
Biden 50 (+4)

Senate
Ernst (R-inc) 47 (+1)
Greenfield (D) 49 (-)

(Oct. 15-19, High turnout LVs)https://t.co/pNpBVKsOGL

—@JacobRubashkin

9:37 a.m.

fake news

Trump Team Keeps Whining About 60 Minutes Interview Two Weeks Out From Election

By Matt Stieb and Benjamin Hart

After cutting short an interview with Lesley Stahl, the president threatened to publish his own video from the “fake and biased” encounter.

9:34 a.m.

More details in the Ghislaine Maxwell case are coming on Tuesday

Transcripts of interviews lawyers conducted with the ex-girlfriend of the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein must be released by Thursday morning, a judge said Tuesday.

U.S. District Judge Loretta A. Preska’s order allows the public release of transcripts of two days of depositions in 2016 of British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell and related documents, along with the deposition transcript of an anonymous accuser.

Judge OKs release of Ghislaine Maxwell transcripts

—Ap

9:02 a.m.

This is Obama’s first in-person campaign event for Biden

Former president Barack Obama is hitting the campaign trail Wednesday, with plans to appeal to Black voters in Philadelphia on behalf of Democratic nominee Joe Biden. President Trump is scheduled to return to the battleground state of North Carolina.

Biden’s running mate, Sen. Kamala D. Harris (D-Calif.), is also campaigning in the Tar Heel State, while Vice President Pence has stops planned in New Hampshire and Ohio. Biden has advertised no events of his own as he prepares for Thursday’s final debate with Trump.

Obama hitting campaign trail for Biden; Trump returning to North Carolina

—Washington Post

8:29 a.m.

Trump’s absurd attack on Democratic officials may wind up hurting the most vulnerable

The White House is considering slashing millions of dollars for coronavirus relief, HIV treatment, screenings for newborns and other programs in Democratic-led cities that President Donald Trump has deemed “anarchist jurisdictions,” according to documents obtained by POLITICO.

New York, Portland, Ore., Washington, D.C., and Seattle could lose funding for a wide swath of programs that serve their poorest, sickest residents after the president moved last month to restrict funding, escalating his political battle against liberal cities he’s sought to use as a campaign foil.

The Department of Health and Human Services has identified federal grants covering those services, which are among the nearly 200 health programs that could be in line for cuts as part of a sweeping government-wide directive the administration is advancing during the final weeks of the presidential campaign and amid an intensifying pandemic Trump has downplayed.

… The HHS list offers the most detailed picture yet of the administration’s efforts to quickly comply with the Trump directive and the potentially large cuts facing these cities even as the pandemic strains local budgets. It isn’t immediately clear what criteria the budget office will use to evaluate the grants — or how or when cuts may be made.

White House looks at cutting Covid funds, newborn screenings in ‘anarchist’ cities

—Politico

7:00 a.m.

trump country

The Mask Backlash That Could Oust a Democratic Congressman

By Miranda Green

Why the pandemic might be a winner for Republicans in Orange County, California.

New Studies Show Major Drop in COVID-19 Mortality Rates

covid-19

By Matt Stieb

Two studies shared ahead of print publication show that mortality rates of hospitalized patients dropped by around 20 points between March and June.

Alleged China-Fighter Donald Trump Has Secret Chinese Bank Account

the national interest

By Jonathan Chait

Another big scandal — and huge conflict of interest — has surfaced from the tax returns obtained by the New York Times.

What Is Biden’s Actual Position on Court-Packing?

By Matt Stieb

Biden has been reluctant to say if he is considering expanding the Supreme Court, though he claimed he would provide an answer before the election.

GOP Hopes That Amy Coney Barrett Would Fire Up the Base Fizzled

It’s unclear that killing Garland’s confirmation or forcing Kavanaugh’s did electoral magic for the GOP. The non-fight over Barrett sure won’t.

The Pandemic Has Men Shaving Less, But Not Women

the top line

By Josh Barro

Proctor & Gamble sales — and beards — have grown during the pandemic.

10/20/2020

Tentative good news as hospitalizations spike around the country

Two new peer-reviewed studies are showing a sharp drop in mortality among hospitalized COVID-19 patients. The drop is seen in all groups, including older patients and those with underlying conditions, suggesting that physicians are getting better at helping patients survive their illness.

“We find that the death rate has gone down substantially,” says Leora Horwitz, a doctor who studies population health at New York University’s Grossman School of Medicine and an author on one of the studies, which looked at thousands of patients from March to August.

The study, which was of a single health system, finds that mortality has dropped among hospitalized patients by 18 percentage points since the pandemic began. Patients in the study had a 25.6% chance of dying at the start of the pandemic; they now have a 7.6% chance. That’s a big improvement, but 7.6% is still a high risk compared with other diseases, and Horwitz and other researchers caution that COVID-19 remains dangerous.

Studies Point To Big Drop In COVID-19 Death Rates

—NPR

10/20/2020

Klain played a key role in the Obama administration’s economic recovery efforts and its response to the Ebola crisis

Longtime Democratic aide Ron Klain is the leading candidate to be presidential nominee Joe Biden’s chief of staff if Biden wins the election, according to several people familiar with the situation. …

He’s widely respected by Democrats across the party’s ideological spectrum and progressives say they would be comfortable with him in that role.

Others under consideration include Steve Ricchetti, also a former Biden vice presidential chief of staff and chairman of his presidential campaign, and Jeff Zients, a co-chair of Biden’s transition team. But Klain, who first worked for Biden during his short-lived 1987 presidential campaign, has the candidate’s trust and more pertinent experience than anyone else who might be considered for the job, the people said. Another name that has been floated is Louisiana Congressman Cedric Richmond, an early Biden endorser and campaign co-chair.

Biden Looking to Longtime Aide Ron Klain for Chief of Staff

—Bloomberg