The fight for white women voters and Hezbollah strikes Israeli base: Morning Rundown

Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are in a closely divided campaign for white women. Middle-class homeownership is becoming more difficult. And what you may have missed in Week 6 of the NFL. 

Here’s what to know today.

 Trump, Harris and the battle for white women

White women helped Trump win in 2020. But, a new issue and a new opponent this time around might sway them. 

Dr. Theresa Wheeling had always been a registered Republican and voted for Donald Trump during the 2020 presidential election. After the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, Wheeling changed her party affiliation and she’s now voting for Vice President Kamala Harris. Voters like Wheeling, in states like this one — Pennsylvania, the biggest battleground state — could decide the election.

“I felt embarrassed to call myself a Republican,” Wheeling told NBC News. “Four years ago, I might have said no [to Harris], but now I do think she is more moderate. And I absolutely cannot vote for Trump.” For white voters, the economy remains the top issue followed by preserving democracy, immigration and abortion rights. And for Democrats, it’s abortion that is likely to make the most of a difference with this voting bloc. 

White women have been a key demographic to win over and since 2000, the GOP presidential ticket has won the majority of them. Now, new polling shared first with NBC News suggests that this demographic may be up for grabs in 2024. 

Follow NBC News’ live updates on the election here. 

Read more on the election: 

➡️ Donald Trump and Kamala Harris are deadlocked in the latest national NBC News poll. 

➡️ Here’s why young men have been shifting further to the right politically. 

➡️ Authorities are investigating after a man with guns in his vehicle was arrested after he was stopped at a checkpoint near a campaign rally for Donald Trump.

➡️ Kamala Harris’ team has been discussing ways to clean up her responses to questions about how she would differentiate herself from President Joe Biden.

➡️ Donald Trump said that if elected he would ask Congress to pass legislation boosting the number of border patrol agents — months after he derailed a bipartisan bill that would have included more staffing.

➡️ Harris said Trump isn’t being “transparent with voters,” and questioned why Trump hasn’t released a public report on his health during a rally in North Carolina. 

➡️ Donald Trump is ramping up his rhetoric depicting his political rivals and critics as criminals.

Fire breaks out at Gaza hospital after Israeli strike; Hezbollah strike on IDF base kills 4 soldiers

At least 20 people, including children, were killed in an Israeli strike at a Gaza school, according to two local hospitals. Meanwhile, explosions hit outside Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah, igniting a fire in an encampment housing displaced civilians there, killing three people and injuring about 50.

Last night, a Hezbollah drone attack on an IDF base in northern Israel killed four soldiers and left at least 61 injured. “The results are severe, and there are casualties,” IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari said. “At this point, we have full operational control of the situation.”

Follow live updates here. 

Middle-class homeowners are increasingly squeezed by housing costs

Homeownership in the U.S. is increasingly coming with unaffordable monthly costs, especially among middle-class homebuyers, according to an analysis of Census Bureau data.

Almost 30% of middle-class homeowners bought homes with monthly payments costing more than 30% of their income in 2022, an NBC News analysis of Census Bureau data found. That’s more than twice the share from 2013, with experts warning it leaves many households with less money for emergencies. That “cost-burdened” benchmark — in which a household devotes over 30% of income to housing costs — is a widely used measure of affordability for both homeownership and renting.

Today, in more than 30% of U.S. counties tracked by the NBC News Home Buyer Index, average-income house hunters presented with a median-priced home would end up in cost-burdened territory should they buy. Data journalist Jasmine Cui takes a look at the reality that has left many middle-class families on the sidelines.

Highlights from Week 6 of NFL

Dallas Cowboys ended up with a rough loss against the Detroit Lions, but the Lions may have lost one of their best pass rushers for the season. Chicago Bears rookie quarterback Caleb Williams helps lift a big win over Jacksonville Jaguars with four touchdown passes. NBC News sports editor Greg Rosenstein shares more highlights from Week 6 of the 2024 season.

🙌The Cincinnati Bengals topped the New York Giants in an ugly game on “Sunday Night Football.” Bengals QB Joe Burrow passed for 208 yards and no touchdowns but rushed for one in the first quarter. Giants signal-caller Daniel Jones struggled mightily, going 22 of 41 for 205 yards, no scores and an interception. Both teams are 2-4. 

🩹The Detroit Lions may have lost one of the best pass rushers in the NFL for the season. Aidan Hutchinson, who entered Week 6 with a league-leading 7.5 sacks, was carted off with a broken tibia in his team’s win against the Dallas Cowboys. The Lions announced Hutchinson would stay in Dallas for immediate surgery. 

🤠Speaking of the Cowboys, they were dominated by the Lions in a 47-9 defeat. It was their fourth straight loss at home dating back to last postseason. Dallas quarterback Dak Prescott passed for only 178 yards with no touchdowns and two interceptions before being pulled in the fourth quarter. At 3-3, they sit third in the NFC East. 

⚡ Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens (4-2) won the “Battle of the Beltway” in a 30-27 win against the Washington Commanders (4-2). Jackson was 20-for-36 passing for 323 yards with one touchdown and one interception while Derrick Henry had 132 yards on the ground and two scores. Commanders QB Jayden Daniels had 269 yards passing and two touchdowns in defeat. 

👑 The Chicago Bears took Caleb Williams No. 1 in the 2024 NFL Draft, and he proved why in a 36-10 win against the Panthers. Williams, out of USC, threw for 226 yards and four scores against the Jacksonville Jaguars in London as Chicago improved to 4-2.

Read All About It

•  NBC News got an exclusive look at Florida’s Manasota Key after Hurricane Milton, where residents are finding their homes gutted and full of sand. 
• Ye’s former assistant filed an amended lawsuit against the rapper that accuses him of drugging and sexually assaulting her.
• Actor Hugh Jackman asked for help to find missing Broadway dancer Zelig Williams, who hasn’t been seen since Oct. 3 in South Carolina. 
• Noah Lyles announced an engagement to fellow Olympian track and field medalist Junelle Bromfield.
• Eleven people were hospitalized after eating wild and apparently toxic mushrooms in Pennsylvania. 

Staff Pick: Insight into a crisis pregnancy center’s practices

Do organizations known as crisis pregnancy centers protect women’s sensitive health data? They offer free counseling and services to women who are coping with an unplanned pregnancy, but their intention is to dissuade women from having an abortion. Even as the centers have proliferated nationwide, it has been unclear what information they collect from women or what they do with the medical data. Producer Abigail Brooks obtained a client questionnaire from a center in Idaho, getting rare insight into the ambiguous language and delaying tactics typical of the centers.

— Jane Weaver, managing editor, health and medical unit

NBC Select: Online Shopping, Simplified

 A dull knife is a kitchen accident waiting to happen, so having a good knife sharpener on hand is valuable. One NBC Select reporter tested out the Tumbler Knife Sharpener for a few weeks. Here’s what he thought. Plus, these 29 Amazon kitchen gadgets will make cooking at home much easier. 

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