More people watched Biden on ABC than Trump on NBC, MSNBC and CNBC  —  New York (CNN Business)Joe Biden's town hall on ABC averaged 13.9 million viewers on Thursday night, easily surpassing the Nielsen ratings for President Trump's town hall on NBC.  That alone was a result virtually no one in the TV business expected.

Bolton Warned His Staff To Stay Away From Russia-Aligned Rudy Giuliani  —  NYET … As early as the spring of 2019, the former New York mayor was seen as a conduit for Russia's evolving efforts to manipulate the forthcoming election.  —  Former National Security Adviser John Bolton repeatedly told …

Scoop: Trump's advisers brace for loss, point fingers  —  Three senior Trump advisers who recently talked to campaign manager Bill Stepien walked away believing he thinks they will lose.  —  The big picture: The Trump campaign is filled with internal blaming and pre-spinning of a potential loss …

Former White House chief of staff tells friends that Trump ‘is the most flawed person’ he's ever met  —  (CNN)Former White House chief of staff, retired Marine Gen. John Kelly, has told friends that President Donald Trump “is the most flawed person” he's ever known.  —  “The depths of his dishonesty is just astounding to me.

Exclusive — ‘This is China, Inc.’: Emails Reveal Hunter Biden's Associates Helped Communist-Aligned Chinese Elites Secure White House Meetings  —  Newly obtained emails from a Hunter Biden business partner lay out in detail how the Vice President's son and his colleagues used their access …

He's 32.  He's Joe Biden's Press Secretary.  And He Has Stage 4 Cancer.  —  TJ Ducklo found out what it's like to work a presidential campaign while you're battling a devastating personal health crisis.  —  Everybody on the Biden campaign remembers the day that TJ Ducklo got back on the trail.

Donald Trump Has At Least $1 Billion In Debt, More Than Twice The Amount He Suggested  —  The president's liabilities are spelled out in dozens of documents, published here.  —  No aspect of Donald Trump's business has been the subject of more speculation than his debt load.

In Ohio, a Printing Company Is Overwhelmed and Mail Ballots Are Delayed  —  The company was until recently flying a “Trump 2020” flag over its Cleveland headquarters.  The problems it has had underscore the stress that mail voting has put on the nation's election process amid the pandemic.

With Gardner trailing Hickenlooper, national GOP groups scale back spending in Colorado  —  “It's over,” Republican pollster says of Colorado's U.S. Senate race  —  Faced with a consistent stream of polls showing U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner headed for a loss next month, national Republican groups …

Ex-Washington cheerleaders shaken by lewd videos: 'I don't think they viewed us as people'  —  The contracts for the Washington Football Team's cheerleaders held them to a strict moral code.  “Inappropriate” conduct or online content, including nude or seminude appearances in “tasteless” …

Supreme Court will review Trump plan to exclude undocumented immigrants from calculations for congressional seats  —  The Supreme Court announced Friday that it will review President Trump's attempt to exclude undocumented immigrants when calculating how congressional seats are apportioned among the states.

Teacher in Paris suburb decapitated, allegedly after showing cartoons of prophet Muhammad in class  —  PARIS — A high school teacher in a Paris suburb was decapitated Friday afternoon, French authorities said, in an attack that occurred after the teacher had allegedly shown caricatures of the prophet Muhammad to his students.

Trump administration rejects, then approves, emergency aid for California fires, including biggest blaze in state history  —  SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — Fueled by extreme heat and dry, windy conditions, wildfires ravaged California in September, blazing through almost 1.9 million acres …

In Reversal, Twitter Is No Longer Blocking New York Post Article  —  The latest change underlined how rapidly social media platforms are shifting their positions in the days leading up to the election.  —  SAN FRANCISCO — It is the 11th hour before the presidential election.

Susan Collins Backs QAnon Believers for Maine Legislature  —  Candidates advocate “God-declared executions” for “traitorous” Jews, Catholics, Black Lives Matter and environmental activists  —  Sen. Susan Collins is financially supporting the state legislative campaigns of two fellow Maine Republicans …

Who Was ‘El Padrino,’ Godfather to Drug Cartel?  Mexico's Defense Chief, U.S. Says  —  Drug enforcement agents had long tried to solve the mystery of “El Padrino,” a shadowy, powerful force.  They've now identified him as Salvador Cienfuegos, Mexico's defense chief from 2012 to 2018.

Joe Kennedy III campaign says it improperly spent $1.5 million in Senate primary  —  The campaign of Representative Joseph P. Kennedy III said Friday that it improperly spent $1.5 million of donations intended for the general election during the final weeks of his bitter and ultimately …

Fearing a ‘Blood Bath,’ Republican Senators Begin to Edge Away From Trump  —  The statements offer an answer to the question of when Republicans might begin to repudiate the president after years of embracing him: the moment they believed he threatened their own political survival.

More Than 1,000 Current and Former CDC Officers Condemn U.S. Covid-19 Response  —  An open letter calls for the federal agency to play a more central role in addressing the pandemic  —  More than 1,000 current and former officers of an elite disease-fighting program at the U.S. Centers …

Sex banned indoors for Tier 2 couples living apart, Number 10 confirms  — {{#singleComment}}{{value}} comment{{/singleComment}}{{^singleComme nt}}{{value}} comments{{/singleComment}}  —  ES News email  —  The latest headlines in your inbox twice a day Monday - Friday plus breaking news updates

Third Justice Dept. Prosecutor Publicly Denounces Barr  —  The prosecutor also said he retired after staying on to protect a public corruption case against a Republican congressman.  —  WASHINGTON — A 36-year veteran of the Justice Department this week accused Attorney General William P. Barr …

State Department signals it will keep most details of its spending at Trump's properties hidden until after election  —  The State Department says it has about 450 pages of records showing government spending at President Trump's properties.  But this week, it signaled that it plans to release …

What About the Rest of the Constitution?  —  Amy Coney Barrett's originalism ignores the significance of the second American Revolution.  —  On Tuesday, Judge Amy Coney Barrett took a few minutes during her confirmation hearing to discuss her judicial philosophy, best known as originalism.

How the GOP learned to love QAnon … - The far-right QAnon conspiracy theory — which holds that a cabal of Satan-worshiping, child-trafficking Democrats is plotting to oust President Donald Trump — has grown increasingly mainstream in the GOP base.  — At an NBC News town hall on Thursday night …

End Our National Crisis  —  whose views are informed by expertise, research, debate and certain longstanding values.  —  It is separate from the newsroom.  —  THE VERDICT  —  Donald Trump's re-election campaign poses the greatest threat to American democracy since World War II.

Appeals court rejects counting Michigan's late ballots … The Court of Claims “abused its discretion” by granting injunctions that allowed for the lifting of those provisions, appellate Judges Thomas Cameron, Mark Boonstra and Michael Gadola ruled in a 3-0 opinion.

Alaska Is More Competitive, but Republicans Still Lead  —  A fondness for minor-party candidates injects some uncertainty, making the state an unlikely late-stage battleground.  —  New York Times/Siena College poll of likely voters in Alaska  —  Trump  —  45%  —  Biden  —  39%  —  Jorgensen

Twitter Shuts Down Entire Network To Slow Spread Of Negative Biden News … SAN FRANCISCO, CA—In a last-ditch effort to stop negative stories about Joe Biden and his family from spreading, Twitter shut down its entire social network Thursday.  —  After seeing account after account tweet …

New book by former Trump aide alleges early racist comments  —  Nearly four decades ago, after erecting his eponymous skyscraper on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, Donald Trump would sit behind his rosewood desk and muse about working in an even more powerful office.  —  “These politicians don't know anything,” he said.

Neo-Nazi and Proud Boys groups push Trump campaign poll watching operation online: Reports  —  “Some of these groups will be listening to his false claims of fraud.”  —  Oregon governor says Trump ‘is stoking the fires of hatred and division’  —  Kate Brown on her state's political unrest, mail-in voting system and wildfire aid.

The Latest: Topics for 3rd presidential debate are released  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — The latest on the presidential campaign (all times local):  —  President Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden will face questions on the coronavirus, race issues and climate change in the final presidential debate next week.

Trump billboard in Houston goes viral after being vandalized  —  A Donald Trump billboard located off Houston's Telephone Road has been vandalized, sparking a viral response on social media.  —  Personal injury lawyer Rogelio Garcia, 61, said he first spotted the billboard located …