Democracy Now!

This election season, Black Lives Matter co-founder Alicia Garza says President Trump is "stoking fires he has no intention of controlling" and inciting far-right extremists. She was recently approached by the FBI after agents found her name on a list in the home of a white supremacist in Idaho who was arrested on weapons charges. "Racial terror has always been used as a form of control, particularly during periods of people fighting for social change," she says.

As right-wing judge Amy Coney Barrett is sworn in as the ninth justice to the Supreme Court of the United States, just 30 days after President Trump announced her nomination and eight days ahead of the November 3 election, we speak with Black Lives Matter co-founder Alicia Garza, who says the rushed confirmation shows that the Supreme Court "is not a neutral body — it is incredibly political." Barrett's confirmation to replace Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg just six weeks after her death seals the court's 6-3 conservative majority potentially for decades to come and could have major consequences for reproductive rights, civil rights, environmental protections, the Affordable Care Act and the 2020 presidential election. "It is concerning that Amy Coney Barrett was confirmed yesterday, particularly given her complete lack of qualifications for the role, but also considering her extreme views on everything from reproductive justice and reproductive rights to civil rights and racism," says Garza, the principal at Black Futures Lab and co-founder of Supermajority.

Amy Coney Barrett Sworn In, Giving SCOTUS Heavy Conservative Majority Ahead of Pivotal Cases, SCOTUS Rules Wisconsin Cannot Count Ballots Received After Election Day, Surging COVID-19 Cases Trigger Curfews; Doctors Say 800,000 Children Have Been Infected, China Testing 5 Million People After One Asymptomatic Case in Xinjiang, New Lockdowns in Germany, Mask Orders in Russia as COVID-19 Cases Surge, Oxford Vaccine Shows Promising Results as New Data Suggests Antibodies in Recovered Cases Don't Last, U.S. Imposes Harsh New Sanctions on Iranian Oil, Airstrikes Kill Dozens at Training Camp in Idlib, Syria, Explosion at Religious School in Pakistan Kills at Least 7 People, Injured 120+, Bolivian Court Dismisses Terrorism Charges and Arrest Warrant Against Evo Morales, Mexico Reaches Disputed Deal with U.S. in Water Debt Case, Thai Protesters Ask Germany to Probe King's Activity as Protests Show No Sign of Slowing Down, China Imposes Sanctions on U.S. Military Contractors After U.S.-Taiwan Arms Deal, Japan Says It Will Become Carbon Neutral by 2050, Climate Activists Arrested in NYC After Shutting Down Construction of North Brooklyn Pipeline, Protests Erupt in Philadelphia After Police Killing of a Black Man, Walter Wallace Jr., Illinois Police Officer Fired After Fatally Shooting a Black Teenager, Activists Demand Probe into Fatal Shooting of Mexican Man by Border Patrol, Jared Kushner Makes Racist Comments About Black People "Complaining" About Systemic Problems, 100,000 SoCal Residents Evacuated as New Blaze Explodes in Size, Diane di Prima, Feminist Utopian Beat Poet and San Francisco Poet Laureate, Dies at 86

As the presidential race enters its final full week, we speak with filmmaker Nadine Natour about "Natours Grocery," her new documentary short that tells the story of her Palestinian American family living in Trump's America. Natour's immigrant parents own a store in the highly conservative town of Appomattox, Virginia, which voted overwhelmingly for Donald Trump in 2016. The Natours say they don't talk about politics or religion with their customers to avoid confrontation, but as they strive to build bridges with their neighbors, President Trump's anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim rhetoric inspires a backlash in Appomattox. "In the election of Donald Trump we saw a lot of that bubbling racist sentiment toward immigrants, towards Muslims, become part of the mainstream discourse," says Natour. "You really could see a shift in attitudes." "Natours Grocery" premieres tonight as part of "POV Shorts" on PBS.

An independent medical review team has submitted a report to Congress on a lack of informed consent and "disturbing pattern" of questionable gynecological surgical procedures at the Irwin County Detention Center in Georgia, after an account from a nurse whistleblower in September prompted congressional and federal investigations. At least 19 women, most of whom are Black and Latina, have come forward to allege they were pressured into "unnecessary" gynecological treatment and surgeries — including procedures that left them sterile — while they were detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. We speak with Jaromy Floriano Navarro, a survivor of medical abuse and neglect at Irwin who was the original source of the information about medical abuse by Dr. Mahendra Amin that was eventually included in the whistleblower report. "From day one that I met Dr. Amin, he said, 'OK, you need surgery,'" Navarro says. "They were really trying to do the surgery on me, for whatever reason. They wanted to take my womb out." We also speak with Dr. Maggie Mueller, an assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Northwestern Medical Center who was part of the independent medical review team that produced the new report, and Adriano Espaillat, Democratic congressmember from New York who visited the Irwin County Detention Center in September as part of a delegation from the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.

Pence Remains on Campaign Trail Despite COVID Outbreak in Inner Circle as U.S. Cases Surge, Trump Administration Pressures CDC to Sign Off on Locking Up Migrant Children, Citing Pandemic, Illinois Public Health Official Breaks Down in Tears While Reporting Coronavirus Toll, New Wave of Restrictions in Europe as COVID-19 Cases Explode in Spain, Italy, France, GOP-Ruled Senate Set to Confirm Amy Coney Barrett, Trump's Third SCOTUS Justice, Early Voting Brings Huge Turnout as New York Voters Face Hours-Long Lines, TX Court Reinstates Limit on Drop Box Sites; PA Court Allows Ballots with Mismatched Signatures, Sudanese Political Parties Reject U.S.-Brokered Deal to Normalize Sudanese-Israeli Relations, Nigerian Police Orders Further Crackdown on Protests as Death Toll Mounts, Security Forces Kill at Least 10 Protesters in Guinea During Post-Election Unrest, 3rd Ceasefire Between Armenia and Azerbaijan Breaks Down Within Minutes, Opposition Launches Nationwide General Strike in Belarus, Suicide Bomber Kills 24, Including Children, in Kabul, Afghanistan, Iraqis Rally to Mark First Anniversary of Anti-Government Protests, Libyan Government Signs "Permanent Ceasefire" with Khalifa Haftar's Forces, Palestinian Teen Dies After Beating by Israeli Forces, Chileans Overwhelmingly Approve Rewrite of Pinochet-Era Constitution, Pope Francis Names Wilton Gregory as First African American Cardinal, Far-Right "Boogaloo" Gunman Arrested for Shooting Minneapolis Police Precinct, Black Lives Matter Leader Alicia Garza Says FBI Warned Her About White Supremacist, Colorado's Two Largest Fires on Record Continue to Burn, Power Cut to Hundreds of Thousands in California to Prevent Wildfires, 50th Nation Ratifies Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons

During the second and final presidential debate in Nashville, Tennessee, moderator Kristen Welker asked Trump and Biden about immigration and family separation. Trump deflected questions during the debate, repeatedly stating that the Obama-Biden administration "built the cages" and falsely claiming that kids seeking asylum in the U.S. are "well taken care of." However, the Trump administration's "zero tolerance" policy "took children away from their families at the border," says Erika Andiola, advocacy chief at RAICES Action, the Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services. "He's not owning up to that."

President Trump and Joe Biden sparred on their records over race and criminal justice in Thursday's presidential debate. Trump simultaneously promoted his criminal justice reform efforts while continuing to lean on "tough on crime" rhetoric. Trump also criticized Biden for authoring the 1994 crime bill and supporting other laws that intensified mass incarceration in the U.S., which Biden acknowledged was "a mistake." Rashad Robinson, spokesperson for Color of Change PAC, says Biden's admission highlights the importance of continued pressure on politicians on racial justice issues. "The Democrats can't just make this about hating Trump. They also have to continue to fight and build and put out the policies that are going to change lives and remove barriers and systems that have stood in people's way," Robinson says.

President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden met in Nashville, Tennessee, on Thursday in the second and final debate of the 2020 campaign. It was a more subdued debate than their first clash, when Trump refused to abide by the rules and interrupted Biden at least 128 times. Thursday's debate was moderated by NBC's Kristen Welker, who began by asking the candidates about COVID-19. Biden criticized Trump for repeatedly downplaying the severity of the pandemic, while the president boasted about his handling of the crisis, falsely claiming a vaccine was "ready" to be deployed within weeks. Epidemiologist Dr. Ali Khan, dean of the College of Public Health at the University of Nebraska Medical Center and former director of the CDC's Office of Public Health Preparedness and Response, says the political divide on how to deal with COVID-19 would be "unimaginable" for any other disease. He also says the Trump administration's aims of reaching "herd immunity" by letting the virus run rampant in the U.S. is cruel and scientifically unsound. "That is the most unethical, disastrous approach possible," he says.

Donald Trump and Joe Biden Meet for Final Debate of 2020 Campaign, U.S. Confirms Over 71,000 Daily Coronavirus Cases as Some Hospitals Near Capacity, FDA Approves Remdesivir for COVID-19 Despite WHO Study Showing No Benefit, France Extends Curfew and Czech Republic Locks Down as COVID-19 Surges Across Europe, India's BJP Party Promises Free COVID-19 Vaccines But Only If It Wins Regional Election, Senate Democrats Boycott as Judiciary Committee Advances Amy Coney Barrett's Confirmation, Rocky Mountain National Park Closes as Colorado Experiences Two Largest Wildfires on Record, Asylum Seekers Say ICE Agents Tortured Them into Signing Deportation Orders, 19 Women Now Say ICE Subjected Them to Invasive Surgeries Including Sterilizations, Google Artificial Intelligence Technology to Aid "Virtual Wall" on U.S.-Mexico Border, Florida Officials Accused of Voter Suppression over Last-Minute Changes to Ballot Drop Box Rules, SCOTUS Allows Alabama to Ban Drive-Up Voting During Pandemic, U.S. Billionaires' Wealth Jumped by $931 Billion During Pandemic, Federal Workers Call Trump Executive Order a "Declaration of War on the Civil Service", Venezuelan President Calls on National Assembly to Pass Marriage Equality Bill, Poland's Highest Court Outlaws Almost All Abortions

As fighting continues between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, we look at the roots of the conflict that has already killed at least 700 people since fighting began in late September and which threatens to escalate despite two ceasefire attempts brokered by Russia. Nagorno-Karabakh, which lies inside Azerbaijan but is controlled by ethnic Armenians, was the site of a bloody conflict in the wake of the collapse of the Soviet Union. This latest spike in violence is the worst since the 1990s and holds the risk of spiraling into a regional war, with Turkey openly supporting Azerbaijan while Russia has a mutual defense pact with Armenia. "You enter into the capital, Stepanakert, and the lights are off. The city is in complete darkness, and everyone is in bunkers and shelters," says reporter Roubina Margossian, who has been reporting from the region. We also speak with UC Berkeley professor Stephan Astourian, author of the forthcoming book "At the Crossroads of the Armenian-Azerbaijani Conflict: History, Territory, Nationalisms."

Mass protests against police brutality continue in Nigeria after security forces shot and killed 12 peaceful protesters in Lagos this week. Video widely shared on social media shows security forces firing directly into a crowd of demonstrators in Lagos singing the country's national anthem. Authorities have imposed a curfew to clamp down on the growing demonstrations, which started as a demand to disband the notorious police unit known as the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, or SARS, but which have since grown into a wider movement against police brutality and official impunity. "We are asking for justice. We are asking for our lives to be preserved, not to be killed arbitrarily by these officers of state," says lawyer and human rights activist Aderonke Ige, who has taken part in the protests. We also speak with Omoyele Sowore, who says young people in the streets are also confronting other systemic issues. "They are fighting against police brutality, but they are also fighting against army brutality, they are fighting against unemployment, they are fighting against the incompetence and indifference of the regime that has been in power," he says.

Columbia Researchers Say Trump's Failures Led to at Least 130,000 Coronavirus Deaths, California to Slash San Quentin Prison Population After Massive Coronavirus Outbreak, Obama Blasts Trump's Record as Candidates Head to Nashville for Final Presidential Debate, NYT: Trump Maintains Chinese Bank Account and Paid Nearly $200,000 in Taxes to China, DNI John Ratcliffe Claims Iran Is Meddling in 2020 Election to "Damage President Trump", Democrats to Boycott Senate Committee Vote on Amy Coney Barrett's SCOTUS Nomination, Billionaire Sackler Family Gets No Jail Time in $8 Billion OxyContin Settlement, In Historic Shift for Catholic Church, Pope Signals Support for LGBTQ Civil Unions, Protesters at U.S. Border Decry Trump's "Remain in Mexico" Policy for Asylum Seekers, Leaders of National Strike in Colombia Demand Meeting with President Iván Duque, Mass Grave Discovered in Tulsa May Be Linked to 1921 Racist Massacre, Trump Rape Accuser E. Jean Carroll "Stunned" by DOJ's Handling of Defamation Lawsuit

We speak with legendary Mexican investigative journalist Anabel Hernández about a case that has sent shockwaves throughout Mexico: the U.S. arrest of Mexico's former defense secretary for allegedly working with a major drug cartel while heading Mexico's military. General Salvador Cienfuegos served as secretary of defense from 2012 to 2018 in the former government of President Enrique Peña Nieto and has long been accused of human rights abuses, including refusing to allow investigators to interview soldiers who may have been involved in the 2014 disappearance and likely massacre of 43 students from a teachers' college in Ayotzinapa, Guerrero. Hernández's book "Narcoland: The Mexican Drug Lords and Their Godfathers" links top Mexican government officials to the world's most powerful drug cartels, and she has received so many death threats that the National Human Rights Commission assigned her two full-time bodyguards. Despite the danger, she has continued to report. We are also joined by John Gibler, author and independent journalist based in Mexico, and examine how Mexican soldiers were involved in the 2014 disappearance and apparent massacre of the 43 students in Ayotzinapa.

Fordham law professor Zephyr Teachout says Senate Democrats can still block the confirmation of President Trump's Supreme Court nominee, Amy Coney Barrett, if they use every possible procedural method available to them to slow and frustrate the process. "A Barrett confirmation is a catastrophe," Teachout says. "A 6-3 majority on the court is basically a bomb coming at what is left of our protections against corruption in politics, against corporate money, against what is left of the Voting Rights Act."

The Department of Justice and 11 states have filed a major antitrust lawsuit against Google in a move that could lead to the breakup of the company's business and holds major implications for other tech giants. The lawsuit accuses Google of engaging in illegal practices to maintain a monopoly on the search market, which fuels its dominance in online advertising. Fordham law professor Zephyr Teachout, who has long advocated for breaking up Big Tech monopolies, says it's "an incredibly important lawsuit" that should be the start of a wave of legal and legislative action to tackle "this incredible democratic crisis we have of Big Tech really becoming a form of private, for-profit government that is taking over so many parts of our lives."

Nigerian Soldiers Open Fire on Protesters Opposing Police Brutality, As U.S. Faces Third Coronavirus Surge, CDC Reports 300,000 Excess Deaths in 2020, Pope Wears Mask at Public Event for First Time as EU Coronavirus Cases Surge, Justice Department and 11 States Sue Google in Biggest Antitrust Lawsuit in Decades, ACLU Can't Find Hundreds of Asylum-Seeking Parents Separated from Children by Trump Admin, L.A. Times: Just Three of 265 Reported Crimes at California ICE Jails Led to Prosecutions, Early Voting Opens for Pretrial Prisoners in Chicago's Cook County Jail , Armed Poll Watchers Deploy to Democratic Precincts as Trump Jr. Calls Up "Army for Election Security", Joe Biden Vets Republicans for Cabinet Positions, Won't Disclose Names of Major Fundraisers, First Lady Skips Campaign Rally in Erie, PA, Due to "Lingering Cough" from COVID-19, Trump Cuts Short "60 Minutes" Interview, Demands AG Barr Investigate Bidens, Fiancée of Slain Journalist Jamal Khashoggi Files Suit Against Saudi Crown Prince , Two Colombian Social Leaders Assassinated in Latest Politically Motivated Killings, Venezuelan Tanker Idled by U.S. Sanctions Puts Caribbean at Risk of Massive Oil Spill, Grand Jurors in Breonna Taylor's Killing "Not Given the Opportunity" to Bring Homicide Charges, SCOTUS Nominee Barrett Was Trustee of School That Bans LGBTQ Students, Faculty, Study Finds Lead in Tap Water of 80% of U.S. Homes, with African Americans Most Affected

As tens of millions of people across the U.S. cast their ballots in early voting ahead of the November 3 election, we look at voter suppression efforts with journalist and academic Jelani Cobb. His new "Frontline" documentary "Whose Vote Counts" examines the long lines, record number of mail-in ballots and the legal fights that have marked voting during the pandemic, with a focus on Wisconsin. "This is a state where the presidency was essentially decided in the last election," says Cobb, a professor of journalism at Columbia University and a contributor to The New Yorker. He describes voter suppression as "a fire that has spread across the country."

Former Bolivian President Evo Morales's political party MAS has claimed victory in the country's presidential election, with Morales's handpicked successor Luis Arce securing over 50% of the vote, according to exit polls. If confirmed, the result will put the socialist party back in power almost a year after a right-wing coup that ousted Morales and installed Jeanine Áñez as president. The election was postponed twice, and protests rocked Bolivia for months leading up to the vote, calling out the government's use of military and police repression and violence against Indigenous communities. "It's an extraordinary election," says Ollie Vargas, a reporter for Kawsachun News. "In 2019, Evo Morales won by a margin of just over 10%, and now we have a margin of over 20% with which the left is ahead." We also speak with Leonardo Flores, Latin America campaign coordinator of CodePink, who calls the election results "a huge, huge victory" for Bolivian people and for democracy itself. "It's a blow against neoliberalism and fascism in this country," says Flores.

Trump Continues Attack on Fauci as U.S. Coronavirus Cases Surge and Death Toll Mounts, SCOTUS Deadlock Hands Victory to Voters in Pennsylvania as Floridians Break Early Voting Record, Debate Commission Announces Changes Ahead of Final Presidential Face-Off, Evo Morales Celebrates Victory of MAS Party, Says He Will Return to Bolivia, Trump Admin to Remove Sudan from U.S. List of Terrorist States, At Least 15 People Killed as Nigerian Protests Against Police Violence Continue, WSJ: U.S. Held Talks with Syrian Intelligence About Missing U.S. Citizens, Palestinian Prisoner in Critical Condition After Nearly 3 Months of Hunger Strike Against His Detention, 10,000s Displaced, at Least 115 Dead in Vietnam and Cambodia After Intense Storms, Indigenous Communities in Colombia Demand an End to Murders, Join in National Strike, DOJ Announces Hacking Charges Against Russian Military Intelligence, Tax Fraud and Evasion Probe Launched Against Euro Pacific Bank, SCOTUS to Hear Cases on Funding of Trump's Border Wall and "Remain in Mexico" Policy

As President Trump campaigns in swing states that are also coronavirus hot spots, The Intercept's Jeremy Scahill argues he is directly responsible for the poor U.S. response to the coronavirus pandemic, which has killed almost 220,000 people in the country so far and sickened millions. "I don't know how else to describe what Trump has done except homicidal," says Scahill, host of a new seven-part audio series that examines the Trump era.

Donald Trump ran for president in 2016 with a mixed message of attacking the legacy of the Iraq War and U.S. military adventurism, while simultaneously pledging to commit war crimes and promote imperialism. As we look back at Trump's record, Jeremy Scahill, co-founder of The Intercept, says his flouting of international norms and bullying of other countries is in keeping with how U.S. presidents have long behaved. "Donald Trump is not the root of the problem. Donald Trump is a product of American imperial history," Scahill notes.

In Part 2 of our discussion of the Trump era with The Intercept's Jeremy Scahill about his new seven-part audio documentary "American Mythology," he examines how Trump's xenophobic immigration policies have been a "methodical, surgical operation" to make life miserable for both current and prospective immigrants, including asylum seekers fleeing violence. He also notes that while Trump's policies have been particularly vicious, "this country has had a racist immigration policy for a very long time, and it's bipartisan."

As the 2020 presidential campaign enters its final two weeks, we look at the past four years of the Trump presidency with investigative journalist Jeremy Scahill of The Intercept. His podcast "Intercepted" has just released the fourth chapter in a seven-part audio documentary titled "American Mythology," which critically examines the Trump presidency and places it within a larger historical context. Scahill says Trump has empowered white supremacist vigilantes and given permission to law enforcement to act extrajudicially to enforce a racist status quo, but he cautions that "Donald Trump is not an aberration of U.S. history or some anomaly, but he's a very overt representation of many of the absolute most violent, destructive, racist, xenophobic trends in U.S. history."

U.S. COVID-19 Cases Surge as Trump Continues Unmasked Campaign Rallies, Cases Mounting Across Europe as New Restrictions Enacted, Top Palestinian Official Saeb Erekat in Critical Condition with COVID-19, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer Accuses Trump of Inspiring, Incentivizing and Inciting Terrorism, White Supremacists Indicted for Arms Trafficking, Murder and Plotting to Bomb Synagogue, Death Toll in Nagorno-Karabakh Fighting Mounts as New Ceasefire Falls Apart, Kyrgyzstan Installs New President, Who Will Also Serve as Prime Minister, Alexei Navalny Calls on Trump to Denounce Use of Chemical Weapons, Car Bomb in Central Afghanistan Kills at Least 12, Injures Over 100 People, Thailand Protests Continue in Face of Government and Police Crackdown, Evo Morales's MAS Party Set for Outright Victory in Bolivia, One Year After His Ouster, Chileans Take to Streets One Year After Start of Mass Protests & Ahead of Constitutional Referendum, Mexican Ex-Defense Sec. Indicted on Laundering and Drugs Charges, Has History of Rights Abuses in Mexico, Tens of Thousands of Pakistanis Rally to Demand PM Imran Khan Resign, Iran Arms Embargo Expires Despite U.S. Objections, New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern Wins Landslide Reelection After Stamping Out Coronavirus, Rallies Around the Country Call on People to Vote in U.S. Election, Colorado Fires Shatter Records as Trump Reverses Course on California Wildfire Aid, SCOTUS to Decide Whether to Exclude Undocumented Immigrants from Census Count

During confirmation hearings this week for Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett, Democratic Senator Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island opted not to ask the judge any questions. Instead, he gave a 30-minute presentation on how right-wing groups, including the Federalist Society and Judicial Crisis Network, use dark money to shape the nation's judiciary. We air excerpts from his presentation and get reaction from Kristen Clarke, president and executive director of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law.

The Senate Judiciary Committee heard testimony this week from Crystal Good, who spoke about her experience of having an abortion and expressed concerns that Amy Coney Barrett's confirmation to the Supreme Court would limit access to safe, affordable care. During three days of hearings, Judge Barrett has repeatedly refused to answer questions about her views on abortion and the future of Roe v. Wade, despite her public record opposing reproductive rights. "If confirmed, Judge Barrett will be a fifth vote to eviscerate the important protections that have been afforded by Roe v. Wade," says Kristen Clarke, president and executive director of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, who also testified in the Senate this week.

The Senate confirmation hearing for President Trump's Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett ended Thursday with Republicans on the Judiciary Committee scheduling a vote on her nomination for October 22, with a full Senate vote to follow shortly thereafter — less than two weeks before the presidential election, in which the Supreme Court could play a decisive role. The right-wing judge's confirmation looks all but assured, after four rushed days of questioning in which Barrett refused to state her position on abortion rights, gay marriage, the Affordable Care Act, voting rights, climate change, and even if President Trump could delay the election. If confirmed, she gives conservatives a 6-3 majority on the high court. "We have never had a president put forth a nomination and commence confirmation hearings in the middle of an ongoing presidential election," says Kristen Clarke, president and executive director of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law.

COVID-19 Hospitalizations on the Rise Across U.S. as Confirmed Cases Hit 8 Million, French Police Raid Homes of Government Officials in Probe of Failed Coronavirus Response, WHO Finds Remdesivir Fails to Prevent COVID-19 Deaths, World Health Organization Warns Many Will Have to Wait Until 2022 for Vaccine, Senate on Track to Confirm Far-Right Supreme Court Nominee Amy Coney Barrett on Oct. 26, Joe Biden Defends 1994 Crime Bill and Calls for More Police Funding, President Trump Refuses to Disavow Far-Right Anti-Semitic QAnon Conspiracy Theory, Trump Celebrates Apparent Extrajudicial Killing by U.S. Marshals Carrying Out His Orders, Chris Christie Says "I Was Wrong Not to Wear a Mask" at White House, After Release from ICU, Pandemic Forces 8 Million Americans into Poverty Amid Mass Unemployment, Kansas City Housing Activists Chain Themselves to Doors of Eviction Court, Chicago Police Department Rejects Use-of-Force Reforms as Ex-Chief Accused of Rape, L.A. Lakers Fan Loses Eye as Police Fire "Less Lethal" Rounds into Crowds of Revelers, University of Miami Reportedly Used Facial Recognition to Discipline Student Protesters, GOP Sen. Ben Sasse Says Trump Coddles Dictators and Racists While Profiting from Presidency, Cameron Peak Fire Becomes Largest in Colorado's History, Yemen's Saudi-Backed Government Swaps Prisoners with Houthi Rebels, Mexican Ex-Defense Secretary Arrested in L.A. on Drug and Money Laundering Charges, Jesuit Priest Sentenced to 33 Months for Peaceful Anti-Nuclear Protest in Georgia

We air highlights from the second day of questioning of President Trump's Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett, who faced eight hours of questions on Wednesday about her views on issues ranging from climate change to voting rights to gay marriage and abortion, as Republicans race to confirm her ahead of the election and secure a 6-3 majority on the Supreme Court for conservatives.

As coronavirus cases increase across much of the United States, the Trump administration has reportedly adopted a policy of deliberately letting the virus infect much of the U.S. population in order to attain "herd immunity" — despite warnings from the World Health Organization against such an approach. We host a debate on the contentious issue of herd immunity and how best to confront the virus with two Harvard medical experts: epidemiologist Martin Kulldorff, a professor of medicine at Harvard University and one of the lead signatories of the controversial Great Barrington Declaration arguing for an easing of lockdowns, and Dr. Abraar Karan, an internal medicine doctor at the Brigham and Women's Hospital and at Harvard Medical School who has worked on the COVID-19 public health response in Massachusetts since February.

Hospital Beds Grow Scarce as U.S. Faces Another Surge of Coronavirus Cases , University of Alabama Football Coach Tests Positive as Coronavirus Cancels SEC Games, White House Gave Wealthy Donors Private Briefing on Pandemic's Threat to Markets, First Lady Says Barron Trump Tested Positive for Coronavirus, Trump Campaign Rally Flouts Public Health Measures in Iowa, Where COVID-19 Is at Record Levels, France to Impose Curfew on Paris as European Coronavirus Cases Hit Record Highs, SCOTUS Nominee Amy Coney Barrett Won't Say Whether She Believes in Climate Change, Amy Coney Barrett Failed to Disclose Past Anti-Choice Speaking Events, Reports CNN, California GOP Defiant over Order to Remove Falsely Labeled Ballot Collection Boxes, Videos Show Conservative Activists Opposing Mail-in Ballots in "Good Versus Evil" Campaign, Northern California Faces Blackouts and Red Flag Warnings as Hot, Gusty Winds Return, Pentagon to Host Indonesian General Tied to Mass Murder, Kidnappings and Torture, Thailand Imposes State of Emergency to Quell Student-Led Anti-Government Protests, Honduran Environmentalist Who Opposed Open-Pit Mine Assassinated, Vatican Holds First-Ever Sexual Abuse Trial for Clergy, Breonna Taylor's Boyfriend Says Police Never Identified Themselves During Fatal Raid

As Republicans race to confirm President Trump's Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett prior to Election Day and cement a conservative majority on the top court for a generation or more, calls are growing for Joe Biden to increase the number of justices on the Supreme Court if elected president. But Yale legal scholar Samuel Moyn argues that beyond "packing the court" and other measures commonly proposed to rebalance the Supreme Court's ideological makeup, the institution as a whole must be weakened in order to safeguard democracy. "This country was founded on minority rule and the rejection of democracy, and the Supreme Court has long been a part of that picture," says Moyn. "Now that the right is on the brink of establishing control, it's a dangerous institution."

In the second day of confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett, the federal judge's refusal to answer basic questions on voter intimidation and whether a president can delay elections did her "no favors" and was part of an aim to "present herself as neutral; she's an open book; whatever she was before, whatever she ruled on the bench before, is immaterial," says Dahlia Lithwick, senior legal correspondent and Supreme Court reporter for Slate.com. "There are some issues that don't need to be approached with an open mind. … She could have allayed a lot of fears."

Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett faced 11 hours of questioning in the Senate Tuesday but refused to provide clarity about her views on the Affordable Care Act, Roe v. Wade, voting rights and even if President Trump could delay the election. Republicans are racing to confirm the 48-year-old federal judge before Election Day, which would give conservatives a commanding 6-3 majority on the high court. We air highlights from the marathon session.

White House Pursuing "Herd Immunity" Strategy Condemned by WHO as "Unethical", Trump Holds Packed Campaign Rallies in Defiance of Social Distancing Orders, "Potential Safety Concern" Halts Clinical Trial of Eli Lilly Antibody Treatment, Amy Coney Barrett Won't Commit to Recusing Herself If 2020 Election Is Decided by SCOTUS, FBI Says Far-Right Anti-Government Group Plotted to Kidnap Virginia Governor, More Witnesses Corroborate Claims of Extrajudicial Killing by U.S. Marshals, Trailing in Polls, Trump Appeals to White Suburban Women and Farmers, Supreme Court Will Allow Trump Admin to Halt Census Count a Month Early, Virginia Voter Registration Website Crashes on Last Day to Register for November Election, Federal Judge Will Allow Texas to Restrict Ballot Drop Box Sites to One Per County, 100+ Cameroonian Asylum Seekers Deported Despite Fear of Being Killed, Mexican Government ID's 2 Women It Says Had Nonconsensual Surgeries in ICE Custody, U.S. Border Agents in Guatemala Deported Honduran Asylum Seekers in Unauthorized Operation, DOJ Ends Probe of Alleged "Unmasking" Conspiracy with No Charges and No Public Report, Belarus Officials Threaten to Kill Anti-Government Protesters

Amy Coney Barrett's involvement in the court fight over the 2000 presidential election, when she was a member of George W. Bush's legal team, shows she is willing to bend the law to benefit Republican candidates, says Mother Jones reporter Ari Berman. "That's what's so disturbing about Amy Coney Barrett, because that's exactly what President Trump wants to do right now," says Berman. "He wants a justice who will rule his way on the vote count, no matter what the facts or the law actually says." Berman also looks at challenges voters are facing nationwide as early voting is underway from Georgia to Arizona, where the Pascua Yaqui Tribe filed a lawsuit Monday to reinstate the only early in-person voting site on the reservation, which was shut down in 2018.

Amid Senate confirmation hearings for Amy Coney Barrett, we look at how conservatives have used dark money to push to seat her on the Supreme Court before the November 3 election, following a decades-long project by conservatives to install right-wing judges across the federal judiciary. "There's no doubt that what we're facing is, increasingly, rule by a minority," says former Senate Judiciary Committee staffer Lisa Graves, executive director of True North Research. "When people say that the court needs to be packed, it really needs to be unpacked."

Hundreds protested outside the Senate Monday against the confirmation hearing for President Trump's Supreme Court nominee, Judge Amy Coney Barrett. At least 21 were arrested after staging a sit-in to oppose the Senate pushing through Barrett's nomination in the middle of the presidential election. Senate Democrats warn the federal judge's record suggests she would overturn the Affordable Care Act and threaten reproductive rights if she takes the seat left vacant by the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. "Trump and the Republicans are trying to execute a power grab," says Ana María Archila, co-executive director of the Center for Popular Democracy, who joins us from the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court ahead of another day of protests. Amid the coronavirus pandemic, she says lawmakers should instead focus on doing "everything they can to provide urgent relief to millions of people."

Dems Warn of Threat to ACA, Roe v. Wade, as Hearing Begins for Trump SCOTUS Nominee Amy Coney Barrett, Trump Returns to Campaigning as COVID Status Remains Unclear, COVID-19 Cases Soaring in Europe, Russia, as India Becomes Second Country to Hit 7 Million Cases, Johnson & Johnson Halts Vaccine Trials; More Evidence of Reinfection Revealed, GA Early Voters Face Long Lines; CA Officials Warn GOP over Illegal Drop Sites, Pascua Yaqui Tribe Sues in Arizona over Voter Suppression Efforts, WH Moves Forward with Taiwan Weapons Sales as U.S. Officials Tell Taiwan to Ramp Up Defense, Bangladeshi Government Approves Death Penalty for Convicted Rapists, Trump Children Cost Taxpayers $238,000+ for Secret Service Room Rentals at Trump Properties, O'odham Land Defenders Arrested After Blocking Traffic to Protest Border Wall, New Mexico Protesters Topple Civil War-Era Monument on Indigenous Peoples' Day, Head of Energy Transfer, a Major Trump Donor, Steps Down as CEO, "The Ice Is Dying": Researchers Warn Climate Crisis Is Irrevocably Changing Arctic Landscape, Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences Awarded to U.S. Researchers for Auction Theory, Princeton to Back Pay $1 Million in Wages After Federal Gender Discrimination Probe, Mother of Black Teen Killed by Police in Wauwatosa, WI, Arrested During Protests, Jim Dwyer, Pulitzer-Winning Reporter Who Chronicled Injustice & the Lives of New Yorkers, Dies at 63

As 14 states and more than 130 cities across the U.S. celebrate Indigenous Peoples' Day in place of Columbus Day, we go to Arizona, where Indigenous communities are leading resistance against the construction of the U.S.-Mexico border wall near a sacred spring inside the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument. People's "lives have been so severely impacted by not only this border wall, but the complete militarization of our homelands due to this irrational fear of folks on the other side, which are our relatives," says Nellie Jo David, an O'odham water and land defender. This campaign of nonviolent protests comes as a federal appeals court issued an order Friday to halt the border wall construction in some areas of Arizona, along with Texas, New Mexico and California.

Charles Allen, whose father Eugene Allen worked as a butler at the White House for 34 years, says President Trump's reckless actions following his COVID-19 hospitalization are threatening the health of the domestic staff at the White House. "As my dad used to say, they were the little people that made it possible for the big people to do what they did," he says. Eugene Allen, who served eight presidents, from Harry Truman to Ronald Reagan, died in 2010, but his life story became the basis of the 2013 film "The Butler," starring Forest Whitaker.

President Trump's return to the White House and defiant mask removal despite still being treated for COVID-19 has threatened the health of the mostly older, Black and Brown household staff, says domestic worker advocate Ai-jen Poo, senior adviser to Care in Action. "These are essential workers who have been keeping him and his family safe and caring for them, and he showed a complete and utter disregard for their health and safety," she says. At least three White House housekeepers and one other member of the residence staff were recently infected, according to The New York Times. Meanwhile, thousands of domestic workers face dire consequences from the failure to pass a new coronavirus stimulus bill, and have organized to support each other in the meantime.

Trump Resumes Rallies, Declares He Is "Immune" as WH Doctors Refuse to Say If He Tested Negative, Fauci Says His Words Taken Out of Context in New Trump Ad, WH Blocks CDC Order on Face Masks on Public Transportation as U.S. COVID-19 Cases Continue to Rise, Stimulus Talks Still at Impasse After Dems and GOP Reject Latest WH Offer, SCOTUS Hearings Kick Off in Senate as Amy Coney Barrett's Anti-Abortion Beliefs in Spotlight, Trump-Biden Debate Canceled After Trump Refuses to Participate in Virtual Format, SC Senate Debate Turns into Candidate Forum After Lindsey Graham Refuses Coronavirus Test, Judge Rejects Trump Effort to Remove PA Ballot Boxes; TX Court Stays Reversal of Gov. Abbott Drop Box Order, Ceasefire in Nagorno-Karabakh Breaks Down as Civilian Casualties Mount in Disputed Area, Mass Protests Lead to Dismantling of Nigerian Police Squad Accused of Violence, Robberies, Armed Groups in Iraq Agree to Conditional Ceasefire, NYT: Trump Tax Records Reveal Cash Windfall in Lead-up to 2016 Election, Federal Court Rules Trump's Diversion of Military Funds to Build Border Wall Is Illegal, 2 Cameroonian Asylum Seekers Who May Have Been Forcibly Sterilized Are Set to Be Deported, Hurricane Delta Batters Louisiana as Residents Still Reeling from Hurricane Laura, Killer Mike Launches Black-Owned Online Bank, Named After Greenwood, Site of Racist Massacre in 1921

The foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan are in Moscow for talks following two weeks of fighting over the disputed territory Nagorno-Karabakh. At least 300 people have already died in what could turn into a wider regional conflagration, with Turkey openly supporting Azerbaijan and Russia backing Armenia. Nagorno-Karabakh lies inside Azerbaijan but is controlled by ethnic Armenians. "Turkey's intervention on the side of Azerbaijan is very destabilizing," says Anna Ohanyan, professor of political science and international relations at Stonehill College. "It creates the conditions of transforming this conflict into a proxy war."

As the World Food Programme wins the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize for its efforts to combat hunger around the world, we speak with Vijay Prashad, director of Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research, who says the United Nations body is doing vital work around the world. "I couldn't be happier that the World Food Programme won the Nobel Prize for peace, because this hunger pandemic is paralyzing perhaps 2.7 billion people," he says.

Just months after President Trump tweeted for his supporters to "LIBERATE MICHIGAN!" the FBI has foiled an alleged plot to kidnap and take hostage Democratic Governor of Michigan Gretchen Whitmer. Authorities arrested six men Thursday involved in the kidnapping plot, and seven others who were said to be planning to storm the state Capitol in Lansing with the intent of starting a civil war. "It came as a surprise to many, but not necessarily here in Michigan, because the state has a long history of militia and white nationalist ties," says Russ McNamara, a reporter at WDET, Detroit's NPR affiliate. We also speak with Michigan state Representative Kyra Harris Bolden, who says local Democrats have been warning for months about the threat posed by far-right extremists. "It's very important to note that this could have been prevented," she says.

13 Charged in Far-Right Terror Plot to Kidnap Michigan Governor & Attack State Capitol, Sickened with COVID-19, Trump Rejects Remote Debate and Plans New Rallies, Trump's Erratic Behavior Sparks Fears over His Physical and Mental Health, House Speaker Pelosi Questions Trump's Fitness as Vice President Pence Returns to D.C., North Dakota Hospitals Fill to Capacity as Coronavirus Cases Surge Nationwide, White House Superspreader Event May Have Exposed Thousands to Coronavirus, Whistleblowing Vaccine Specialist Calls Out Trump's "Reckless and Deadly" Misinformation, Trump Received COVID-19 Drugs Developed Using Human Fetal Tissue, World Logs Record One-Day Coronavirus Toll Amid Exponential Rises in Europe, Ohio Federal Judge Blocks Order Limiting Number of Ballot Drop Boxes, Friends of Trump Accuser Amy Dorris Confirm 1997 Sexual Assault , Human Rights Report Condemns Violence Against LGBTQ Central Americans, Guatemalan Feminists Demand Justice for Two Women Recently Murdered, ICE to Allow Arrest & Expedited Deportation of Undocumented People Without Due Process, Hurricane Delta Bringing "Life-Threatening Storm Surge" to Louisiana Gulf Coast, Iran Blasts "Crime Against Humanity" as Latest U.S. Sanctions Threaten Food Supply, World Food Programme Wins 2020 Nobel Peace Prize, Former Trump Fundraiser Elliott Broidy Charged with Acting as Foreign Agent, Pioneering Transgender Activist & Journalist Monica Roberts Dies at 58

During Wednesday's debate, Vice President Mike Pence refused to commit to a peaceful transition of power if Biden wins the election. Instead, he referenced the Trump administration's legal efforts to restrict mail-in voting. Rev. William Barber says the Republican Party's voter suppression efforts ahead of the November election, aimed primarily at Black and Brown voters, amount to "surgical racism with surgical precision." The Poor People's Campaign, of which Barber is co-chair, is leading a major voter mobilization effort to combat voter disenfranchisement. "They know they cannot win if everybody votes. They are terribly afraid of poor and low-wealth Black and Brown people voting," he says.

Rev. William Barber says the 2020 election debates have steadfastly ignored the subject of poverty, even though it affected almost half the United States population before the COVID-19 pandemic and millions more people are struggling since then. "We have to stop saying that things were well before COVID," Barber says. "The reality is, Wall Street was well." Barber is co-chair of the Poor People's Campaign and president of Repairers of the Breach.