The Washington Post reports: The documents show that Trump political appointees and the contractors they hired also vetted celebrities for the public health campaign based on whether they had ever criticized the president, or supported former president Barack Obama, gay rights or same-sex marriage. Of at least 274 celebrities under consideration, only 10 appear to have been approved, according to …

The Independent reports: As Minnesota reached its highest-ever single-day coronavirus case count, Donald Trump attacked the state’s governor Tim Walz for limiting his campaign rally attendance before a brief campaign speech to the roughly 250 people in attendance. “All because the governor wants to play games,” the president said before shaking hands and tossing campaign hats to supporters in an …

Reuters reports: The United States set a new all-time high for coronavirus cases confirmed in a single 24-hour period on Friday, reporting just over 100,000 new infections to surpass the record total of 91,000 posted a day earlier, according to a Reuters tally. The daily caseload of 100,233 is also a world record for the global pandemic, surpassing the 97,894 …

Fox News reports: Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden’s lead over President Trump has narrowed a touch to 8 points from a 10-point advantage in early October, according to a Fox News national survey of likely voters. Biden is ahead by a 52-44 percent margin. It was 53-43 percent three weeks ago. His lead is outside the poll’s margin of sampling …

Variety reports: Taylor Swift approved her song “Only the Young” for a pro-Joe Biden advertisement, a source close to the situation confirms to Variety. The song, from the Netflix documentary “Taylor Swift: Miss Americana,” appears in a new Biden ad that made the rounds on social media on Friday, four days before the 2020 election. California’s Democratic representative Eric Swalwell …

The Verge reports: TikTok got another reprieve from the Trump administration’s attempted ban today, as a federal judge in Pennsylvania blocked the government from moving ahead with restrictions that would have effectively shut down the app next month. The judge granted a preliminary injunction against a series of bans by the US Commerce Department that were set to go into …

The Independent reports: SpaceX will not recognise international law on Mars, according to the Terms of Service of its Starlink internet project. Elon Musk’s space company will instead reportedly adhere to a set of “self-governing principles” that will be defined at the time of Martian settlement. Musk revealed plans to create a self-sustaining city on Mars last week, though no …

The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reports: An Illinois judge on Friday denied Kyle Rittenhouse’s request for release and ordered him extradited to Wisconsin, where he faces homicide charges in Kenosha County. He was transported to Kenosha County Jail on Friday afternoon, a sheriff’s spokesman said. During a hearing Friday morning, Rittenhouse’s attorney argued that what he called a technical error in Wisconsin’s …

The Daily Beast reports: Rep. Drew Ferguson (R-GA) on Friday announced he’d tested positive for the coronavirus, three days after stumping for President Donald Trump with Gov. Brian Kemp. In a statement, Ferguson said he had cold-like symptoms on Thursday night and took a COVID-19 test the next morning. “While the vast majority of my recent schedule has been virtual, …

CBS News reports: The U.S. passed a total of 9 million coronavirus infections Friday, a grim new milestone that has hit before a winter that is expected to push the total even higher. The U.S. has had 9,015,262 total confirmed cases since the pandemic began, the highest number of cases out of any country in the world, according to a …

The Washington Post reports: One day after announcing it had removed all guns and ammunition from store shelves because of fears of “civil unrest,” Walmart said Friday it had begun putting those items back on sales floors. The retail giant said it originally instructed store managers to move firearms and ammunition from in-store displays to a secure location in the …

The Orlando Sentinel reports: An unknown person in Columbia, S.C., submitted at least 54 new voter applications in July in the same neat handwriting to the Broward elections office, several in each of 19 envelopes. Many of the voters were elderly, and had recently died in the Northeast. Almost all of them were flagged by Broward elections office staff as …

“There will be no heating in the winter, no air conditioning in the summer, and no electricity. Whatever the hell you wanted. Right now you have it made. You are so lucky. You are so lucky that I’m your president. And your team is doing a good job, right? They’re doing a good job. Right? They’re doing a good job.” …

Mediaite reports: CNN responded Friday after Kirstie Alley accused the network of fear-mongering about the coronavirus pandemic. “I now Know why my personal friends who walk around in SHEER TERROR of contracting Covid are simply CNN viewers!” Alley tweeted. “I decided to watch CNN myself to get a their viewpoint and oh my God DID I EVER!!!!” The official CNN …

Axios reports: Republican Party officials say they’re already looking to Pennsylvania, Minnesota and Nevada as likely battlegrounds for post-election lawsuits if the results are close. The big picture: As pre-election lawsuits draw to a close, and with President Trump running behind Joe Biden in national and many battleground state polls, Republicans are turning their attention to preparations for Election Day …

Talking Points Memo reports: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) vowed Friday that he would continue his full-court press to remake the judiciary up until January 3, when Democrats may take over the Senate, depending on the outcome of next week’s election. “We’re going to run through the tape. We go through the end of the year, and so does …

The New York Daily News reports: Macy’s is preparing for the mayhem on 34th Street. Workers on Friday were boarding the windows of the iconic flagship store in preparation of possible unrest in the days before New York and the nation cast ballots for America’s next president. NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea acknowledged that business owners have expressed concerns about lawlessness …

Yahoo News reports: Joe Biden would hammer Donald Trump in the upcoming US presidential election if it were Europeans heading to the ballot box, a poll showed Friday, underscoring the incumbent’s unpopularity across the Atlantic. Among five countries surveyed by pollsters BVA — Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Spain — the Germans were the most enthusiastic Biden supporters, with 66 …

ABC News reports: President Trump on Friday teased Fox News host Laura Ingraham for wearing a mask at his Michigan campaign rally, chiding her for being “politically correct.” “I do believe Laura Ingraham is here some place. Where is Laura? Where is she?” Trump said, scanning the crowd for the Fox News host. “I can’t recognize you. Is that a …

Penn Live reports: Timely mail delivery across Pennsylvania took a drastic turn for the worse in just the last two weeks amid a glut of voting by mail, according to U.S. Postal Service data filed Wednesday in federal court. In Philadelphia, 42% of all first-class mail is taking longer than five days to be delivered. For comparison, that figure was …