One day out from Tuesday's midterms, President Trump delivers his closing argument Monday at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, capping a weeks-long sprint of more than 30 in-person appearances across 20-plus states since August. He wrapped the weekend with back-to-back rallies in Iowa and Kansas, telling a crowd of roughly 5,000 to vote like he's on the ballot. Control of both chambers is still genuinely in play, with Kansas and South Carolina sliding to toss-up and Ohio drifting toward the Democrats.
Democratic Rep. Haley Stevens endorsed Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers roughly 48 hours before Election Day, after saying she was told she was "no longer welcome" on nominee Abdul El-Sayed's campaign. Her chief of staff Justin German and several aides resigned, calling themselves "shocked and heartbroken." Bernie Sanders said the departing staffers were "right to resign in disgust," and Rep. Summer Lee accused Stevens of defecting to a "MAGA Republican."
A Learjet 60 flying from Austin to the Bahamas crashed into a residential area near Cresthaven in Palm Beach County around 12:50 p.m. Sunday, about nine miles from Mar-a-Lago, killing all nine people on board. Pilots had reported turbulence, icing and precipitation and requested a climb before the jet entered a dive that reached 30,000 feet per minute, well beyond its design limits. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy called it a "horrific tragedy"; Gov. Ron DeSantis said it "looked like a missile going down." FAA and NTSB are investigating.
Cost of living is the top issue for 34% of voters heading into Tuesday, with the national average for gas near $4.50 a gallon and diesel topping $6.50. Consumer prices are up 3.7% over the past year, and only about a quarter of voters approve of Trump's handling of inflation and prices. The Fed held its benchmark rate at 3.75% to 4.0% on October 28, with two officials dissenting in favor of a hike, and traders widely expect a quarter-point increase in December.
Tehran warned of an "earth-shattering blow" against the US and Israel over the weekend, declaring that "red lines are a thing of the past," with Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei reportedly ordering his forces to prepare for retaliation without geographic limits. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Saturday that Trump "hasn't made a decision" on resuming strikes, and the president signaled renewed action is unlikely before Tuesday's vote. Washington has alerted Gulf governments, reinforced regional defenses and replenished munitions.
Ukraine's Air Force says its air alert system was compromised Sunday, pushing false radiation-hazard and chemical-attack warnings that sent panic rippling through Kyiv. Officials blamed Russia for the cyberattack. It lands just as the Kremlin confirms US-brokered trilateral talks with Kyiv and Washington are set for Abu Dhabi in the first half of November, possibly as early as the 10th.
Israeli strikes across Gaza killed eight people Sunday, including a boy killed alongside two others in a Gaza City strike. Separately, Qatari officials reported a vessel struck in the Gulf, adding to maritime jitters as the Iran confrontation grinds past its 200th day. Iran also designated Britain's Royal Navy and Royal Air Force as terrorist organizations and labeled MI6 a hostile entity.
After a $30 million commercial rescue attempt was aborted, NASA's 22-year-old Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory is now expected to make an uncontrolled reentry as early as Tuesday, with forecasts ranging through Friday, November 6. Elevated solar activity puffed up the upper atmosphere and dragged the 1,500-kilogram spacecraft from its 600-kilometer orbit down below 275 kilometers. Most of it should burn up, though dense parts like its internal tungsten shielding may survive the fall. Final tally: more than 2,000 gamma-ray bursts and 1,400 exploding stars.
The War Department unveiled roughly $350 million in new quantum computing commitments, advancing four companies to the final stage of its Quantum Benchmarking Initiative with about $200 million in funding. The Office of Strategic Capital added a roughly $150 million conditional loan commitment to expand PsiQuantum's prototyping and manufacturing inside the United States. It's the hardware end of a push that also runs through Trump's quantum executive orders with IBM and Google.
Newly released records describe FBI personnel reporting a dark, nonreflective triangular object with no visible engines, exhaust or conventional propulsion rising above a mountain ridge before vanishing into a canyon. The former head of the Pentagon's UFO investigation office says the account simply lacks the evidence needed to determine what the witnesses actually saw. NASA chief Jared Isaacman has separately said no alien bodies have been found, though some sightings still defy explanation.
