NPR News Now - NPR News: 10-31-2024 9AM EDT

Episode Date: October 31, 2024

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KOROVA-COLEMAN, NPR NEWS ANCHOR, NPR NEWS ANCHOR, NPR NEWS ANCHOR, NPR NE in Washington, I'm Koriva Coleman. There are only a few days left until Election Day and both presidential candidates are campaigning for votes in swing states. NPR's Jambor Keith reports Vice President Harris is urging her supporters to vote early. At a get out the vote rally in Madison, Wisconsin, Harris said there is hard work ahead. But we like hard work. Hard work. Hard work is good work. Hard work is joyful work.

Hard work is good work. Hard work is joyful work. Hard work is good work. Hard work is joyful work. Hard work is good work. Hard work is joyful work. Hard work is good work. Hard work is joyful work. And make no mistake, we will win. And for Harris, that means back-to-back days with multiple stops in multiple states. She'll campaign in Phoenix, Reno, and Las Vegas today. Former President Trump is campaigning out West as well.

Polls show the race remains incredibly close in all seven swing states. Tamara Keith, NPR News, Madison. A top cybersecurity official says there's no evidence any foreign adversary has broken into the U.S. election infrastructure. However, NPR's Jenna McLaughlin reports the threat is not completely neutralized. Just days before polls close, federal officials are working to reassure Americans that elections are secure. Jen Easterly is the head of the Department of Homeland Security's cybersecurity agency, CISA. We have not seen any evidence of foreign adversaries getting into our election infrastructure. Easterly says she will speak up if that changes.

She also says it would be nearly impossible to change the outcome through hacking, thanks to the decentralized diverse nature of election infrastructure, near-universal paper ballots and auditing systems. However, she warns that foreign adversaries might try to falsely claim that results were compromised. Jenna McLaughlin, NPR News. A Facebook ad campaign backed by billionaire Elon Musk is spreading false messages that pretend they're from Vice President Harris.

The group called Building America's Future is falsely claiming Harris says she wants to institute a mandatory gun buyback program and make it easier for undocumented migrants to get driver's licenses. Federal health officials say they have found the source of the recent E. coli outbreak that affected people eating at McDonald's. They say it is fresh, slivered onions. NPR's Ping Huang reports they say the risk to the public is now very low, since the onions have been pulled from the supply chain.

Federal health authorities say they've traced the problem to slivered onions sourced from a large produce supplier called Taylor Farms. The onions were processed in Colorado and sent out to 900 McDonald's restaurants, mostly in the West and Midwest. The onions were mostly used on quarter-pounder hamburgers. McDonald's stopped serving the burger in several states during the investigation. Now, they say it's coming back this week, but without the onions in some places.

Ping Huang, NPR News. You're listening to NPR News from Washington. Authorities in Spain say that unprecedented heavy flooding has killed at least 95 people, mostly in the eastern Spanish city of Valencia, part of the city of Inrect. Cars and other debris fill streets, homes are buried in mud, train service has been suspended. The region got a year's worth of rain in a single day. One of Ukraine's top defense officials says the military is planning to draft another

160,000 men in the country over the next few weeks. NPR's Joanna Kikissus reports from Kyiv, Ukraine needs more troops to hold back Russian forces who are now advancing. Olexandr Litvinenko, who is the secretary of Ukraine's National Security Council, told parliament about the new conscription drive. He said more than a million Ukrainian men have already been drafted, but units on the front line are understaffed. Ukraine badly needs more troops. Russian forces are breaking through Ukrainian defenses in the east. The Pentagon says North Korea has deployed troops to Russian regions bordering Ukraine. Forced conscription is already very unpopular in Ukraine. Draft officers patrol the streets and enter concerts, restaurants, and cafes looking for new soldiers. Joanna Kekesis, NPR News, Kiev. Today is

Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights. It represents hope and the victory of NPR News, Kaif.