NPR News Now - NPR News: 11-04-2024 10AM EST

Episode Date: November 4, 2024

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Otograph Collection is part of the Marriott Bonvoy portfolio of hotel brands. Find the unforgettable at autographcollection.com. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Korova Coleman. After months of speeches and rallies, this is the final full day of campaigning for Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump. NPR's DPR news is brought to you by the National Television of America. The American Journal of the World is a this is the final full day of campaigning for Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump.

NPR's Deepa Sivaram reports Harris will spend the day crisscrossing the swing state of Pennsylvania. Harris will campaign in Pittsburgh and make stops in Allentown and Redding, which both have a large Puerto Rican population. It's a group whose vote Harris has been trying to court since a comedian made disparaging remarks about the island at a recent event for former President Trump. Several celebrities will join Harris throughout the day, including Lady Gaga, Fat Joe, and Katy Perry. Harris will end the night with a rally in Philadelphia late Monday before heading back

to Washington. She'll be at Howard University, her alma mater, on election night. Deepa Sivaram, NPR News Detroit. Donald Trump will visit three swing states today, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and he will end his day in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He held a rally yesterday in Lidditz, Pennsylvania. Trump again raised false claims about election interference, including in his loss in 2020. We had the safest border in the history of our country the day that I left.

I shouldn't have left. I mean, honestly, because we did so, we did so well. Trump also talked about being behind bulletproof glass after the assassination attempts against him. But he also said any potential new attacker would have to shoot through the, quote, fake news to get him and that he didn't mind that. Trump's campaign says the president was saying the press was protecting him and that he was looking out for the media's welfare.

The Israeli government has officially told the United Nations that it will cut ties with the U.N. agency that provides aid to Palestinians. The U.N. is warning this could have devastating consequences for Palestinians living in Gaza and the West Bank. Israel says several Palestinian U.N. staff members participated in the October 7th attack on Israel last year. The U.N. dismissed several staff members. Stocks opened lower this morning at the start of a week of big decisions. NPR's Scott Horsley reports the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped about 170 points in early trading. Federal Reserve officials gather in Washington this week, and the central bank is widely

expected to cut its benchmark interest rate by a quarter percentage point. The announcement will come on Thursday, two days after voting ends, in the presidential contest. Striking machinists at Boeing are casting votes today on a tentative contract to end their walkout, now in its eighth week. The proposal calls for 38 percent pay raises over the next four years. OPEC and its allies are extending caps on oil production through the end of the year. The news gave a modest lift to crude oil prices, but retail gasoline prices in the U.S. continue to fall. Triple A says the average price of regular gas is now $3.10 a gallon, 32 cents lower

than this time last year. Scott Horsley, NPR News, Washington. And you're listening to NPR News from Washington. Voters in a record number of states are weighing in on ballot measures that could enact far-reaching changes to how their elections are run. This includes key swing states such as Arizona and Nevada. NPR's Ashley Lopez has more. Half a dozen states across the country are considering swapping out their party primaries

with nonpartisan primary contests. That's where all candidates, regardless of political party, appear on the same ballot and some number of candidates move on to the general election. Advocates for nonpartisan primaries say closed nominating contests often exclude unaffiliated and independent voters, which they argue leads to more extreme candidates. Currently, five states in the U.S. have nonpartisan primaries. If these ballot measures pass this election cycle, that number would more than double. Ashley Lopez, NPR News.

Hurricane watches are posted in the Cayman Islands for a tropical disturbance brewing in the Caribbean Sea. It could soon become Tropical Storm Rafael. The National Hurricane Center says the storm could pour heavy rain on parts of Florida and the southeast later this week. Officials in Barcelona, Spain say about six inches of rain have fallen there today. More is coming. This is coming as the eastern city of Valencia recovers from deadly flooding last week that

killed more than 200 people. Authorities in Indonesia say that at least 10 people have died after several volcanic eruptions on the island of Flores today. The volcano released hot ash high into the air that burned down several houses. Rescuers say people are trapped in the rubble. I'm Korva Kuhlman, NPR News.