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Today’s top stories

Vice President Harris delivered the closing arguments of her campaign yesterdayexactly one week before election day. She spoke at the same place where former President Donald Trump held his rally on January 6, 2021, addressing his supporters before they stormed the Capitol. More than 40,000 people passed through security for the Harris event yesterday, her campaign said, as additional attendees gathered outside the perimeter.

Vice President Harris speaks during a campaign rally at the Ellipse on October 29, 2024 in Washington, DC.

Kent Nishimura/Getty Images

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Kent Nishimura/Getty Images

• 🎧 This was the largest rally crowd of her campaign to date. But the intended audience was the swing states while Harris is still trying to reach undecided voters, says NPR’s Tamara Keith Up first. Much of her speech focused on her policy proposals, such as the child tax credit and Medicare reimbursement for home care for seniors. She also promised to listen to the needs of Americans — even if they don’t vote for her. Now Harris will travel to all seven swing states again in the short period that remains of the campaign.

Trump has promised that if he is elected president, he will deport millions of people. There are more than 11 million undocumented immigrants in the US. And Trump has said he would invoke the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, which allows the president to detain and deport noncitizens from a hostile country during wartime.

• 🎧 NPR’s Jasmine Garsd says Trump is interested in using local police for immigration enforcement. However, the president cannot legally force police forces to cooperate in such efforts. During his presidency, Trump tried to force police to cooperate with immigration enforcement, but this was deemed unconstitutional. Civil rights groups are prepared to challenge Trump’s proposals, including his plan to invoke the Insurrection Act and send troops to the southwest border. Some states are working to implement their own immigration enforcement measures. And under Trump’s presidency, those efforts are likely to intensify, with his Justice Department likely to support them.

The Biden administration is working to address the low pay of teachers in the federal Head Start preschool program by entering a new line. Many Head Start centers struggle to hire enough staff to keep their classrooms open because of these low wages. Nationally, the average salary for Head Start teachers is around $41,000. In perspective, a public school kindergarten teacher earns an average of about $53,000.

• 🎧 Pay at Head Start, a program designed to help children living in poverty, is so low that staff are forced to live in povertysays NPR’s Cody Turner. Nationally, nearly one in five Head Start teachers quit last year, according to the Biden-Harris administration. The rule the administration has put in place requires these teachers to receive a pay increase of as much as $10,000 per person. The problem is that without new funding from Congress, local programs would have to cover the cost of the wage increases, which could potentially lead to some programs cutting back on services.

Deep dive

Hershey Co. introduces more non-chocolate sweets into its range, as expensive chocolate sweets limit the company’s sales revenue.

Chris O’Meara/AP

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Chris O’Meara/AP

If you’re like me, you may have experienced sticker shock when walking into a store to buy candy for Halloween. Chocolate seems more like a trick than a treat at the checkout. This year’s price increase is mainly due to rising cocoa prices, which have soared due to several poor harvest seasons that have reduced the supply of this key ingredient in chocolate bars. According to the Producer Price Index, the cost of producing chocolate and confectionery from cocoa increased by 45% from January to September. Here’s a closer look at why this is happening and how the industry is fighting back:

• 🍫 The high cocoa prices are the result of this volatile weather conditions in the world’s major cocoa-producing regions, such as Ivory Coast and Ghana.
• 🍫 As a potential future-proof methodfarmers have expanded planting of cocoa trees in regions with more productive orchards.
• 🍫 Chocolate candy manufacturers are diversifying their offering due to disappointing sales, expanding to a selection of sweeter, gummy and sour treats.

Photo show

Photographer Woosler Delisfort documents ceremonies from the Vodou, Ifa and Santeria traditions that are actively practiced today

Woosler Delisfort

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Woosler Delisfort

The “Our Sacred Place” exhibit at the HistoryMiami Museum recently opened, with the aim of highlighting faith practices and ceremonies among Haitian Americans and others associated with the Caribbean and Africa. During this political season, Haitian Americans have become targets of misinformation, much of it rooted in long-standing stereotypes about their religious beliefs and spiritual practices. The exhibition features the work of photographer Woosler Delisfort, who documents some of Miami’s vodout traditions. It contains nearly 150 photographs documenting ceremonies that have their origins in West African Yoruba culture.

3 things you need to know before you go

Sean “Diddy” Combs speaks at a press conference on October 24, 2007, announcing an alliance with Ciroc Vodka in New York. Sean Combs Enterprises will make branding decisions for Ciroc and will share in future profits from Diageo’s vodka.

STAN HONDA/AFP via Getty Images

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STAN HONDA/AFP via Getty Images

1. Two more lawsuits have been filed against Sean “Diddy” Combs this week, accusing him in separate incidents of grooming and coercing 10- and 17-year-old boys.
2. Teri Garr, an actor and comedian known for roles in Live Las Vegas, Young Frankenstein And Toetsiedied yesterday at the age of 79. After her diagnosis with multiple sclerosis in 1999, she became an ambassador for the disease.
3. JPMorgan Chase has started filing lawsuits against customers who exploited an “infinite money glitch” this summer. This technical glitch allowed people to deposit fake checks and withdraw money from their accounts.

This newsletter has been edited by Trey Green.