10 things you need to know today: November 8, 2022

1. Candidates hold final rallies ahead of Election Day

Candidates made their closing appeals for votes Monday night ahead of Tuesday's midterm elections, with Republicans emboldened by improving poll numbers calling for new leadership in Washington and Democrats fighting to avert big losses in the House, and possibly hold onto their razor-thin majority in the Senate. President Biden and former president Donald Trump continued their last-minute campaign swings. Biden, facing low approval ratings, stuck to blue states, steering clear of hotly contested races. He slammed election deniers, saying, "you can't only love your country when you win." Trump campaigned for GOP Senate nominee J.D. Vance in Ohio. Vance said Republicans are fighting to keep the American Dream alive. "I think we're going to win big," he said.

The Washington Post

2. COP27: Al Gore tells world leaders no room for 'moral cowardice' in climate fight

Former Vice President Al Gore on Monday joined leaders at the United Nations' COP27 climate conference in Egypt, urging nations around the world to make hard decisions and act fast to fight climate change. "It is not time for moral cowardice," Gore said. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged world leaders to "cooperate or perish" in the effort to drastically reduce carbon emissions that are leading to a "climate hell." He singled out the two worst polluters, China and the United States. Leaders of poor nations called for the world's leading economies to shoulder the costs of reducing emissions. "Africa should not pay for crimes they have not committed," Central African Republic President Faustin Archange Touadera said.

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The Associated Press

3. Trump promises 'very big announcement' next week in hint at White House bid

Former President Donald Trump said Monday night at an election eve rally in Ohio that he will make "a very big announcement" on Nov. 15 at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida. Trump stopped short of confirming that he would be launching a campaign for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, after dropping hints for months. Trump said he didn't want to "detract from the importance of tomorrow's very important, even critical election." Trump told voters in a rally for Ohio Republican Senate candidate J.D. Vance that the United States is a "nation in decline" under President Biden's leadership. Biden framed Tuesday's midterm elections, which will decide whether Republicans or Democrats control Congress, as "an inflection point" with "our democracy at risk."

Reuters The Washington Post

4. GOP officials push to disqualify mail ballots in key states

Republican officials in the battleground states of Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin are fighting to get thousands of mail-in ballots disqualified in what Democrats call attempted voter suppression. GOP leaders in all three states urged Republicans to cast their ballots in person on Election Day. A Michigan judge on Monday rejected a request from Republican Kristina Karamo, who's running to be the state's top election official, seeking expanded observer access and tighter rules for voting in Detroit. Pennsylvania's Supreme Court, siding with the Republican National Committee, ruled that officials in the state can't count ballots without a date on the outer envelope, even if they arrive before Election Day. Wisconsin Republicans won a court ruling barring mail ballots from being counted without the required witness address.

The Washington Post Detroit Free Press

5. Pelosi says attack on her husband will affect retirement decision

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) told CNN's Anderson Cooper in an interview clip released Monday that the recent violent attack against her husband, Paul Pelosi, in their San Francisco home would factor into her decision on retirement. "I have to say, my decision will be affected [by] what happened the last week or two," Pelosi told Cooper, seemingly alluding to the break-in and assault on her husband. When Cooper clarified by asking the speaker, "Will your decision be impacted by the attack in any way?" Pelosi immediately responded: "Yes." A man broke into the Pelosi home and woke up Paul Pelosi, asking where Nancy Pelosi was and beating him with a hammer. The suspect, David DePape, told police he planned to kidnap Nancy Pelosi and break her kneecaps.

CNN

6. Uproar over mass troop losses prompts rare response from Russian Defense Ministry

The Russian Defense Ministry made a rare public statement in response to a public outcry over heavy casualties among recently conscripted soldiers in key battles in eastern Ukraine's Donetsk region. The ministry, in its first response to reports of mass casualties and complaints about commanders in Ukraine, downplayed reported deaths in the 155th Separate Guards Marine Brigade, the lead unit in the area, saying "the losses ... do not exceed 1 percent of the combat personnel and 7 percent of the wounded." The statement came after pro-Kremlin military correspondents on Sunday posted the text of a letter members of the 155th Brigade sent complaining that 300 soldiers were killed when the "great generals" sent them into "an incomprehensible offensive" in Pavlivka, a village in the Donetsk region.

The Washington Post Insider

7. Subtropical Storm Nicole on track to reach Florida as possible hurricane

Subtropical Storm Nicole formed Monday in the Atlantic Ocean on a path toward Florida's east coast, where it could hit near hurricane strength late Wednesday, according to National Hurricane Center forecasters. The storm was hundreds of miles east of the northwestern Bahamas, with top sustained winds of 45 miles per hour early Tuesday. "On the forecast track, the center of Nicole will approach the northwestern Bahamas on Tuesday, move near or over those islands on Wednesday, and approach the east coast of Florida by Wednesday night," said NHC senior hurricane specialist Robbie Berg. Florida is still recovering from Hurricane Ian, which devastated the Fort Myers area in southwest Florida in late September.

Orlando Sentinel National Hurricane Center

8. Judge denies Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes' request for new trial

A federal judge on Monday denied Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes' request for a new trial, according to court documents. Holmes, 37, was convicted in January of defrauding investors in her blood-testing startup, although she was acquitted on three counts of defrauding patients who paid for Theranos blood tests. Her lawyers filed for a new trial based on alleged government misconduct and "newly discovered" evidence from the government's closing arguments at the trial of former Theranos President Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani, who was convicted in July of defrauding Theranos investors and patients. U.S. District Judge Edward Davila said in Monday's ruling that Holmes' lawyers didn't provide enough evidence to prove alleged government misconduct, and prosecutors' statements at Balwani's trial wouldn't clear Holmes.

Reuters

9. Tyson Foods CFO arrested after falling asleep in wrong house

Tyson Foods Chief Financial Officer John Tyson, son of the meat giant's chairman, was arrested over the weekend for allegedly falling asleep in someone else's house. Tyson, 32, was charged with criminal trespass and public intoxication after he was found asleep in a woman's bed in Fayetteville Arkansas, according to a preliminary arrest report from the Fayetteville Police Department. Tyson apologized in a companywide email. "I am embarrassed for personal conduct that is inconsistent with my personal values, the company's values, and the high expectations we hold for each other here at Tyson Foods," Tyson said, adding that he was getting counseling on his alcohol consumption.

The Wall Street Journal

10. Last total lunar eclipse in 3 years visible in North America

The moon slipped into the Earth's shadow early Tuesday in the last total lunar eclipse for three years. The moon dimmed and darkened, then turned blood red as it lined up with the Earth and passed through its shadow. "To me, the most significant thing about a lunar eclipse is that it gives you a sense of three-dimensional geometry that you rarely get in space — one orb passing through the shadow of another," said Bruce Betts, the chief scientist at the Planetary Society, as quoted in The New York Times. The eclipse was visible in North and Central America, Asia, Australia, the Pacific Islands, and parts of South America. The next total lunar eclipse will occur on March 14, 2025, according to NASA.

NBC News The New York Times