The Takeaway

Marc Short, the chief of staff to Vice President Mike Pence, tested positive for the coronavirus on Saturday, making him the closest aide to Pence and the latest senior White House official to contract the virus. The confirmation comes as Pence who tested negative on Saturday criss-crosses the country for rallies in swing states as he and President Trump fight to win reelection in the remaining days of the campaign.

Since 2016, millions of Latino voters have become eligible to vote, making young Latino voters a powerful political force. Takeaway host Tanzina Vega joins Politics with Amy Walter to discuss what she's observed from the conversations she’s had with this group ahead of Election Day.

As some Wisconsin neighborhoods have already surpassed turnout levels from 2016, Congresswoman Gwen Moore of Wisconsin shares on Politics with Amy Walter how the level of enthusiasm compares to four years ago.

WEIGH IN: Has affording food become a bigger challenge for you during the pandemic? Have you been able to get any assistance? Call us at 877-869-8253.

This week marked the second and final debate between Joe Biden and President Donald Trump. What has felt like a never-ending election cycle is taking place against the backdrop of a pandemic, an economic crisis, and a groundswell for racial justice and police reform. Listen to the latest Politics with Amy Walter:

It’s been three years since the Trump administration started separating families at the U.S.’s southern border. Today, lawyers say they’ve been unable to reach the parents of at least 545 children. That’s according to new court documents filed by the American Civil Liberties Union this week.

Today, as the next part of our series A Votar, we speak to three young Latinos about this political moment and their place in it. Since the 2016 elections, some 3.6 million Latinos have become voting age, making them a powerful force in the Latino vote this November.

The debates this election cycle have been some of the most fraught and controversial in history. The first was labeled a disaster by nearly every commentator nationwide, thanks largely to President Trump’s constant interruptions. Last week, what should have been a second debate became two competing town halls, when President Trump refused to precipitate when the debate was moved to virtual instead of in-person.

The Senate Judiciary Committee advanced the nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court with solely Republican support Thursday, as Democrats boycotted the vote in protest of what they viewed as an illegitimate confirmation process. The vote was 12-to-0, with no Democrats present to officially register their objections.

Polling from Pew found that the percent of white evangelical Protestants who plan to vote for President Trump fell from 83 to 78 percent between August and October. But that still means that a significant portion of white evangelicals are standing firm with the president, in large part because of his track record of appointing conservative judicial nominees.

Donald G McNeil Jr., a science and health reporter for the New York Times, recently wrote an article called A Dose of Optimism, as the Pandemic Rages On, where he outlines the strides and advancements we have already made fighting the coronavirus since the pandemic began and how this rapid progress may indicate the pandemic could be over sooner than we thought.

Evangelicals: how is your faith affecting your vote? Tell us who you support for president and why. Leave a message at 877-869-8253.

While faith is not at the center of Donald Trump’s personal life, Christian voters, and particularly white evangelicals, make up a significant portion of the president’s base. Roughly 80 percent of white evangelicals voted for Trump in 2016.