NPR News Now - NPR News: 11-03-2024 8PM EST

Episode Date: November 4, 2024

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Janene Herbst. Just days to go to the election and both candidates hit swing states today. Vice President Harris' closing message in Michigan was a positive one. She made no mention of her opponent, former President Trump, as she spoke to a crowd in East Lansing, home of Michigan State.

NPR's Deepa Sivaram reports. Harris spoke directly to students in the crowd, telling them not just to vote, but to knock on doors and send out texts during these last two days of her campaign. She also spoke directly to the issue of Israel's war in Gaza and Lebanon, an issue that's been a major focus in Michigan. This year has been difficult,

given the scale of death and destruction in Gaza, and given the civilian casualties and displacement in Lebanon and given the civilian casualties and displacement in Lebanon, it is devastating. Harris said that she would do everything she can as president to end the war in Gaza while also ensuring Israel's security. Harris next heads to Pennsylvania on Monday for a slew of rallies across the state. Deepa Sivaram, NPR News, Detroit.

And at a Pennsylvania rally today, Donald Trump promoted the baseless idea that election cheating and fraud are widespread. With two days to go to the election, it raises the question of how he and his supporters might react if he loses. And Piers Danielle Kurtzlaven has more. As he has at other rallies, Trump continued to sow doubt about Pennsylvania's voting system. There's only one reason you don't want voter ID. There's only one reason, and that's to cheat. There is no other reason. There's no other reason.

And they do cheat. Again, there is no evidence of this. Opponents of voter ID laws argue that they cause voter suppression, particularly in marginalized communities. Trump also suggested that he didn't have to leave the presidency after losing in 2020. Speaking of a rise in border crossings under Biden, Trump said, quote, I shouldn't have left. Danielle Kertzleib in NPR News, Lidditz, Pennsylvania. Danielle Pletka And tensions over this week's presidential election is seeping into the workplace. NPRiers Maria Aspen reports employers are reporting distracted

workers. Piers Maria Aspen We spend about a third of our lives at work. So it's often hard to leave our feelings about politics at home. But in this contentious election, disagreements over politics have sent workplace incivility to an all-time high. John E. C. Taylor Jr. It's getting hot out here. That's Johnny C. Taylor Jr. He runs a group of human resources managers called SHRM, which is tracking the skyrocketing workplace tensions over politics. It estimates that employers are losing more than $2 billion a day in productivity as a result. The solution? That has to come from within. HR executives say it might not be

practical to ban political conversations at work. Maria Aspin, NPR News, New York. US futures contracts are trading lower at this hour. Dow futures down about three-tenths of a percent. This is NPR. Negotiators for more than 150 countries will meet later this month in an effort to finalize a global treaty to end plastic pollution. To meet that goal, a group of state attorneys general is pushing for limits on plastic manufacturing. But as MPR's Michael Copley says, that approach has been a sticking point.

Plastics made from fossil fuels, and the industry doesn't want limits on how much it can make. It says the solution is better recycling. But scientists and environmentalists say the world simply produces too much plastic to manage, and that recycling has never lived up to its promise. Attorneys General from New York, California, and eight other states agree. They say in a letter to the State Department that cutting production of new plastic is essential to stem the flow of waste into the environment. A spokesperson for the White House Council on Environmental Quality didn't respond to a message seeking comment. Michael Copley, NPR News.

In Nevada, conservationists and a Native American tribe are suing to block a lithium mine they say will drive an endangered wildflower to extinction, disrupt ground water flows, and threaten cultural resources. The Center for Biological Diversity promised the suit when the U.S. Interior Department approved Ioneer's lithium boron mine. At the only place, the team's buckwheat is known to exist in the world. It's the latest in a series of legal fights over projects President Biden's administration is pushing under his clean energy agenda that's intended to cut reliance on fossil fuels. Lithium is used to make electric vehicle batteries and

solar panels. You're listening to NPR News.