Covid-19 Live Updates: 4 Pence Aides Test Positive  —  Six states broke records as the virus surged at an alarming pace.  Dr. Anthony Fauci suggested the U.S. might need a national mask mandate.  —  RIGHT NOW Pence's chief of staff and three other aides test positive for the virus.

Health Agency Scraps Coronavirus Ad Campaign, Leaving Santa Claus in the Cold  —  The $250 million federally funded effort had aimed to ‘defeat despair, inspire hope’ on pandemic  —  A federal health agency halted a public-service coronavirus advertising campaign funded by $250 million …

Our choice is Joe Biden*  —  This year's general election ballot presents the voter with a dilemma.  We have wrestled with this year's choices, as we imagine many voters have.  Up and down the ticket we are faced with choices in political ideologies, personalities, backgrounds and governing styles.

Biden rebounds to edge over Trump in Texas, as Hegar slightly narrows Cornyn's lead in Senate race  —  A new Dallas Morning News/UT-Tyler poll shows Texas is up for grabs, with the former vice president posting gains among independents, Hispanics.  —  AUSTIN — Former Vice President Joe Biden …

Pope Francis Appoints First African-American Cardinal  —  Wilton Gregory, the archbishop of Washington, who led the Roman Catholic Church's response to the sexual abuse crisis in the early 2000s, was among 13 new cardinals named on Sunday.  —  ROME — Pope Francis said on Sunday that Wilton Gregory …

Tumult at home, ailing alliances abroad: Why Trump's America has been a ‘gift’ to Putin  —  ‘The 45th President’: One in a series looking back at the Trump presidency  —  Under President Trump, the United States has abandoned international climate and nuclear arms agreements.

Trump privately tells donors it would be ‘very tough’ for GOP to hold Senate  —  President Trump privately told donors this past week that it will be “very tough” for Republicans to keep control of the Senate in the upcoming election because some of the party's senators are candidates he cannot support.

Trump, Biden favorability unchanged as 2020 race heads into final week: POLL  —  The new ABC News/Ipsos comes just over a week until Election Day.  —  Polling 101: Should You Trust The Polls In 2020?  FiveThirtyEight  —  FiveThirtyEight database journalist Dhrumil Mehta explains why you shouldn't give up on polling.

'Deep down, he's a terrified little boy': Bob Woodward, John Bolton and others on Trump  —  The authors of recent exposés, including Mary Trump and Anthony Scaramucci, on the president, his time in office - and what they expect to happen at the polls  —  Interviews by Jude Rogers and Andrew Anthony

Why Trump could face a Jimmy Carter scenario  —  Harry Enten polling analysis: Trump is dragging down GOP  —  (CNN)The last president facing re-election troubles like Donald Trump's was Jimmy Carter in 1980.  Injured by recession and impotent against a national crisis, Carter lost big.

The Last Temptation of NeverTrump  —  A voice in my head makes the case to re-elect the president.  —  Last Sunday this section was turned over to essays making the case against the re-election of Donald Trump.  I read all of the pieces, and found more than a few points with which I disagreed.

Why Trump Can't Take Red Counties in North Carolina for Granted  —  Even some people in Gastonia, N.C., are a little perplexed about why the president was holding a rally in a small community that's already in his camp.  —  GASTONIA, N.C. — Republicans in Gaston County still have pictures …

Trump-Biden race is tight in Florida, Georgia and North Carolina — CBS News Battleground Tracker poll  —  In the final stretch of the campaign, we find three Southern battlegrounds that could still go either way.  Our estimates show Joe Biden with just a two-point edge over President Trump in Florida …

Here's Who Biden Is Considering for Top Jobs in His Administration  —  For a few months now, senators, ex-lawmakers, donors, operatives, local leaders, investors, and activists have quietly been nudging a small group of Democratic officials in D.C. and Delaware.

Biden grilled on ‘transition’ away from oil and gas comment in Pennsylvania TV interviews  —  Several interviews in the key battleground state focused on Biden's debate comment  —  Biden admits to Trump: ‘I would transition from the oil industry’  —  Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden …

Americans Are Losing Sight of What Fascism Means  —  How do Americans decide what to be outraged about?  It seems like ancient history now, but that was one of the questions The New York Times inadvertently raised in June when it appended an editor's note to an op-ed by Senator Tom Cotton …

Coronavirus bears down on a small Montana town  —  When Steve Qunell won a seat on the City Council last year in this town of 8,000, he figured he'd be dealing with potholes and affordable housing.  —  Instead, he finds himself at the center of a raging debate over how to fight the coronavirus …

Brad Pitt narrates new Biden campaign ad airing during World Series  —  (CNN)Actor Brad Pitt narrated an ad for Joe Biden's presidential campaign that's airing Saturday night during the fourth game of the World Series.  —  The 60-second spot during Major League Baseball's highly watched …

Why I voted for Trump in 2016 and will vote for him again  —  In March of 2016, I wrote that I would likely support Donald Trump because he was the only presidential candidate speaking for working-class Americans.  I also viewed the contempt for Trump by the media and elite of both parties as contempt for his supporters as well.

AOC: “Extremely important” that Biden offer Bernie Sanders a Cabinet position  —  Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) said on CNN's “State of the Union” Sunday that she believes it's “extremely important” that Joe Biden offer Sen. Bernie Sanders and other progressive leaders Cabinet positions if he's elected president.

Appeals court stops more paper backups of Georgia voter records  —  A federal appeals court on Saturday ruled against requiring up-to-date paper copies of voter registration and absentee voting information at Georgia polling places on Election Day.  —  The three-judge panel …