Monday, November 7 top stories
It is Monday, November 7. Here are today’s top stories.
Day before Election Day
It is the day before the midterm elections on Tuesday. We may know by tomorrow night into Wednesday morning whether Democrats will maintain control of the House and Senate or if Republicans win enough seats in a “red wave” to control either one or both chambers of Congress. There are also multiple gubernatorial races that are important to the direction our country will go in the next two years.
The key states to watch are Georgia, Arizona, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin.
President Biden was in New York on Sunday evening to show support for Gov. Kathy Hochul as she tries to defeat a strong challenge from Republican Lee Zeldin.
Former President Trump was in Florida on Sunday to show support for Sen. Marco Rubio as he seeks to win re-election over his Democratic challenger Val Demings.
There is already controversy over mail-in ballots. The Washington Post reported that Republican officials and candidates in at least three battleground states had filed lawsuits to disqualify thousands of ballots.
In Pennsylvania, the state Supreme Court agreed with the Republican National Committee to have mail-in ballots that do not have a date on the outer envelope put aside, even if they arrive before Election Day.
In Michigan, there was a lawsuit from a Republican candidate for Secretary of State that sought to toss absentee ballots in Detroit if they were not cast in person with an ID. That lawsuit was rejected by a judge today.
In Wisconsin, Republicans won a court ruling that will prevent some mail ballots from being counted if a witness address is not complete.
News analysts said it appears that Republicans are using a strategy to eliminate as many mail-in ballots votes as they can since it is more likely that a Democrat would use a mail-in ballot compared with Republicans, who are more likely to go to a polling location on Election Day.
Axios news said some of the closest election races may not be decided for days or even weeks after voting concludes because of the time it takes to process and counts ballots or due to election rules in certain states. Axios said some candidates who have openly denied the results of the 2020 election may use these delays to point to a rigged election. So there may be controversy.
Aaron Carter dead at 34
Musician Aaron Carter was found dead at his home on Saturday. He was 34 years old. He was the younger brother of Nick Carter of the Backstreet Boys. News reports said Aaron may have drowned in his bathtub.
When Aaron was younger, he had some success as a solo artist but later struggled with substance addiction and mental health issues.
Nick tweeted that his heart is broken and that he will miss his brother more than anyone will ever know.
Musk’s Twitter permanently suspends Kathy Griffin
Comedian Kathy Griffin’s Twitter account was permanently suspended after she changed her Twitter name and profile picture to make it seem like she was Elon Musk, the new owner of Twitter.
Griffin tweeted as “Elon Musk" to encourage people to vote for Democrats in the midterm elections. That “fake” tweet looked authentic because others saw the words, “Elon Musk” with a verified blue checkmark and Musk’s face.
The real Musk announced yesterday that going forward, any Twitter accounts that impersonated others without clearly specifying that it’s a parody will be permanently suspended.
All this has to do with Musk’s plan for Twitter to charge users $8 a month to have a “verified” blue check. There is also a wider controversy over Musk’s leadership style.
In separate news, Musk — the real one — tweeted today that he recommends “independent-minded voters” to vote for a Republican Congress to provide balance because the presidency is Democratic.
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U.S. asking Ukraine to be open to negotiating
The Washington Post reported that the Biden administration is privately encouraging Ukraine’s leaders to signal an openness to negotiate with Russia and also to drop Ukraine’s previous demand for Putin to be removed from power before any negotiation can happen. The U.S. wants that demand to be dropped.
The Post said it is not the Biden administration’s aim to push Ukraine to the negotiating table. Instead, they want to see Ukraine send a signal to the world that they are willing to consider peace talks because the U.S. wants to see Ukraine continue to get support from other countries to be able to continue to defend themselves from Russian attacks.
The Post explained that it is a complex balancing act for the Biden administration as it seeks to support Ukraine but at the same time hopes for a resolution to the conflict due to the toll on the world economy and fears of nuclear war. Polls in the U.S. show that there is a decreasing level of support for the U.S. to continue to send billions of dollars worth of military aid to Ukraine.
Astros win World Series
The Houston Astros won the World Series by defeating the Phillies on Saturday night in Game 6. Astros manager Dusty Baker became the oldest manager in MLB history to win the World Series and the third Black manager to do so.
A Houston-area furniture businessman, Jim McIngvale, as known as Mattress Mack, won a total of $75 million after making $10 million worth of bets before the season that the Astros would win the championship. He used the bet as a part of a marketing plan for his furniture stores by offering customers in Houston who spent $3,000 or more their money back if the Astros won. He made that offer and then made that bet, so, this means McIngvale will be giving a lot of happy customers their money back.
Logano wins NASCAR Cup title; LAFC wins MLS Cup
On Sunday, race car driver Joey Logano won the NASCAR Cup championship after winning a race in Phoenix, which gave him enough points to secure the title. It is his second championship.
On Saturday, Los Angeles Football Club won the Major League Soccer Cup for the first time in history by defeating the Philadelphia Union in a hot game that was tied at 3-3 after the end of extra time and had to be decided by a penalty shootout.
That is all the top stories for today. See you tomorrow and stay with the light.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-desantis-gop-rallies-florida-2024/
https://www.axios.com/2022/11/07/midterm-election-results-battleground-states
https://ktla.com/news/local-news/singer-aaron-carter-dies-at-34/
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/kathy-griffin-twitter-elon-musk-suspended-blue/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/11/05/ukraine-russia-peace-negotiations/
https://www.axios.com/2022/11/06/astros-world-series-champions-2022-phillies-lose
https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/05/sport/major-league-soccer-cup-los-angeles/index.html