each other all in the same area. they were separated, remember, through a glass. >> exactly. >> then they got reunited today. >> they could be his two sisters or his two girlfriends, we don't know. >> either way it's a win/win. we'll see you at 6:00. tonight, the final countdown, four days until the election donald trump and joe biden barnstorming the midwest where the coronavirus is raging. dueling rallies in the same battlegrounds. their closing messages on the pandemic. the president calling out a fox news host in the crowd for wearing a mask biden vowing to shut the virus down in texas record early voting already surpassing its entire 2016 turnout and in battleground ohio we ask voters were the promises of 2016 kept. the u.s. surging to new covid records 90,000 cases in a single day a new infection every second the fierce battle in

el paso after a judge ordered a two-week shutdown in europe, a 400-mile traffic jam to flee paris ahead of a new lockdown there. the deadly earthquake rocking turkey triggering a tsunami buildings crumbling. the race to rescue survivors. lori loughlin reporting to prison. to serve her sentence in the college admissions scandal how the pandemic will alter her time behind bars. we take yo inside homeland security's election command center the threat feared most. voting in a pandemic how to cast your ballot safely. trick or treating with a twist creative ways families are still having fun this halloween this is "nbc nightly news" with lester holt. >> good evening, everyone as we head into the final weekend before the votes are counted donald trump and joe biden are crisscrossing midwest battlegrounds tonight part of the president's stump speech in last critical days, mockery

of covid and mask wearing in places devastated by the pandemic biden covering some of the same turf today but vowing an aggressive attack on the virus as his campaign looks to put new states in play down the stretch hallie jackson has the latest >> reporter: the sprint to the finish running through the midwest tonight, a campaign hot spot and covid hot zone, dueling events in wisconsin and minnesota, key battleground states battling a soaring number of coronavirus cases. >> deaths are way down and where people are getting better. >> reporter: but infection rates are hitting a record in states like michigan with cases up 85% in the last 2 weeks president trump hosting a rally today with no social distancing and only some masks. >> no way! are you wearing a mask >> reporter: teasing fox news personality laura ingraham for wearing one. >> she's being very politically correct.

whoa >> reporter: that' after the president's son dismissed the severity of a pandemic that killed nearly 1,000 people yesterday alone. >> kept hearing about new infections but i was like, well, why aren't they talking about deaths but the number is almost nothing. >> reporter: joe biden on his busiest day of campaigning yet hoping his pandemic message helps build back a blue wall in the midwest. >> i'm not going to shut down the economy. i'm going to shut down the virus. >> reporter: biden's campaign also on offense in states that went red in 2016 lik iowa and texas that's where senator kamala harris became the first member of a democratic ticket in decades to campaign there this close to election day. >> today's the last day of early voting in texas. we want to make sure we see it through. >> reporter: if everything really is bigger in texas, that includes early voting. a staggering 9 million people have cast ballots already. more than everyone who voted there in all of 2016. >> go vote people need to go out and vote because that's the only way we're going to make a difference >> reporter: nationally more than 82 million people have voted early in person or or by mail. 60% of the total 4 years ago even with 4 days to go. >> this is not a joke so this is very serious for people to

get out here and vote. >> reporter: before tuesday, president trump set to hold 14 more rallies in 7 states and joe biden's looking for his own big finish with some big names. tomorrow holding his first in-person event with forme president obama, stevie wonder joining, too. lester >> all right hallie jackson, thank you. and the importance of minnesota underscored with both candidates there tonight. nbc's garrett haake is in rochester for the president, not the kind of rally he envisioned. >> reporter: lester, tonight the candidates are skirmishing in a state no republican has won since 1972 donald trump came within 44,000 votes of flipping minnesota 4 years ago. he's had his eye on the state ever since joe biden is also here tonight playing a little bit of defense. he leads by an average of about 4 1/2 points in the polls here. as in many other places, covi hangs over everything here the state broke its record for new cases yesterday. it's also forced the president to abandon his typical large scale rallies in favor

of the smaller event tapped at 250 people to comply with local regulations. lester >> all right garrett, thank you despite the president's almost constant claim that we're rounding the turn in this pandemic, the numbers speak for themselves wit another 90,456 cases reported just yesterday. miguel almaguer today on the deepening crisis. >> reporter: tonight as coronavirus cases surge across the country, hospitals are on the brink filled with patients like carmen lurma in hot spot wisconsin. >> gave me covid in both of my lungs >> reporter: she is recovering after battling covid-19 for months and undergoing a rare double lung transplant. >> some people are lucky and blessed to just have those symptoms as a flu. some of us are not so lucky. >> reporter: each day the numbers are more staggering some 90,000 new cases reported yesterday a new infection every

second >> we're facing a surge in the midst of people telling us that we shouldn't be afraid of covid. >> reporter: in chicago restaurants shutting down indoor dining again and in el paso, texas, where hospitals are overwhelmed, a legal battle over a judge's order to close all nonessential services for two weeks. it is not just lives but livelihoods on the line today california governor gavin newsom taking a rapid test at this new facility that will double the state's testing capacity why is testing in your view key to opening schools and opening businesses again >> it's the fastest route to know where you are. what gets measured gets done and th fundamental challenge we have in this nation is we don't have a national testing protocol. >> reporter: but it's taken months to ramp up testing, time stacy silva didn't have she lost her father gary in march. >> i took it for granted my dad would be here for who knows

how long and now i don't have him. >> reporter: an empty seat at the holiday table as more americans share in immeasurable heartbreak miguel almaguer, nbc news. across europe new lockdowns went into effect today as covid cases surge there. and in france, there's been a mass exodus from paris causing hour's long backups. matt bradley is in paris. matt, what's it like >> reporter: lester, we are less than 24 hours into france's month-long lockdown and before it all began there was a sea of taillights as parisians flocked to the countryside. now this time, schools and offices will remain mostly and similar lockdown light in germany on monday and in response some anti-lockdown protests here in france have turned into riots and all this comes as covid cases in europe spike. france seeing as many as 50,000 new cases per day. lester

>> all right matt, thank you very much. still overseas tonight in turkey at least 17 people reported dead and hundreds injured after a powerful earthquake. nbc's richard engel with late details now. >> reporter: this is one of at least 20 buildings that crumbled like sand castles in the turkish city of izmir. the deadly quake hit just before noon sending this video gamer scrambling the epicenter was shallow between turkey and the greek island of samos it raised a small tsunami that rushed ashore turning izmir city and areas nearby into rivers clogged with debris. at least one death was caused by drowning but some good news tonight. several people have been rescued from the rubble the region is prone to earthquakes. the danger tonight aftershocks. lester >> all right richard engel tonight, thanks. in california, actress lori loughlin reported to

a federal prison today to begin serving her sentence for the college admissions cheating scandal. our stephanie gosk tonight on what she faces. >> pay for my tuition, lori >> reporter: if lori loughlin ever felt it was a good idea to scam the college admission process those days are surely over. today the "full house" actress turned herself in to serve two months in a california federal prison, part of a sentence that includes $150,000 fine and 100 hours of community service. she and her husband pleaded guilty to conspiracy and wire fraud after paying $500,000 to get thei daughters into usc and lying on their applications falsely touting the girls as elite crew recruits loughlin among the most high profile defendants charged in the criminal case. fellow actress felicity huffman pleaded guilty to her role and served 11 days in the same prison the college admissions scandal triggered outrage across the country and implicated some of the most prestigious schools.

many called the scheme a symptom of a failed system that has long favored the wealthy. in august loughlin told the court, i went along with a plan to give my daughters an unfair advantage i'm profoundly sorry the judge accused her of living a charmed life and still grabbing for more. loughlin says she is ready to make amends stephanie gosk, nbc news. in kentucky, a police officer involved in the raid that left breonna taylor dead has sued her boyfriend kenneth walker sergeant jonatha mattingly claims walker inflicted battery, assault and emotional distress by shooting him walker says he thought the officers were intruders. no charges were brought against any officer in connection with taylor's death. a new warning from federal authorities that iran ha successfully obtained voter registration data in at least one state. and there's alarming new evidence russian hackers may be trying to meddle again. tom costello takes us inside the u.s.'s

command center and their effort to prevent interference. >> reporter: u.s. sources say the russian military intelligence hackers known as fancy bea that targeted the clinton campaign in 2016 are at it again this time targeting democratic state party email accounts in california and indiana, and u.s. think tanks. at homeland security's cyber security election command center in virginia, analysts coordinate with the fbi, the military and 8,800 election officials nationwide. >> i'm concerned about everything i'm a bit paranoid and so until this thing is gets put to bed i'm, you know, hair on my neck is standing up. >> reporter: last week the dhs unit said a russian state sponsored attacker had conducted campaign, stealing data from at least two servers though the fbi says it has no evidence to date that integrity of elections data has been compromised. cyber intrusion detention sensors sit on every state

election network looking for hackers. >> we are looking for any kind of tremor in the force as it were. >> reporter: because the u.s. elections systems are so dispersed, cyber pros believe it's unlikely a single attack would be successful but if hackers altered just a hand of voter party afi affiliations it coul undermine public confidence in the vote the good news, more than 92% of the country's ballots will have paper backups. >> if there's any question about the accuracy of the vote count as a nation we have now paper records and the ability to roll back the tape >> reporter: the biggest hack threat continues to be on election workers somewhere will open a suspicious email and click on a bad link letting hackers in lester >> all right tom costello, thanks. now to concerns over how difficult it can be for some to vote we spoke with a man who's been pushing to expand voting rights for 60 years our cynthia mcfadden asked how worry is he about voter suppression. >> reporter: tonight,

a question do all eligible voters regardless of their race have an equal shot at casting their ballots? we turned to 92-year-old reverend james lawson voter suppression isn't, sadly, a thing of the past. >> it is a continuation of usa history. >> reporter: reverend lawson says long lines, i.d. requirement and th purge of voter lists and reduced access to ballot drop boxes makes sorting harder than it should be, especially for people of color. >> it's a form of racism. >> our power has always been in ourselves. >> reporter: racism is something he's fought against, nonviolently, his whole life martin luther king jr. called him one of the nobleman in their quest for equality. >> registering to vote became a primary issue from day one a black person could lose everything by registering to vote. >> reporter: including their lives which is why he says it hurts so much to see that voter suppression is

still with us 55 years after the passage of the voting rights act. he cites texas governor greg abbott's october decision that voters will have one place to return their mail-in ballots in each county. the governor says it will enhance ballot security lawson says it will hamper minority voting as some of the counties with huge minority populations are as big as eastern states. >> it's absolute suppression, regression it follows the plantation owners of the 1870s who used bullets and guns to stop the voting. he's using the technique of voting to stop the voting. >> reporter: governor abbott's order was struck down by a texas state court but three federal judges all appointed by president trump approved the governor's plan as did the texas supreme court earlier this week ruling it doesn't disenfranchise anyone.

>> democracy like ours is the dependent upon the character and the courage of the people. >> reporter: and yet, with the anger in the air this year, on both sides, reverend lawson offers this reminder to each of us. >> eye for an eye increases blindness. it doesn't therefore increase sight and vision evil for evil escalates and increases evil. >> reporter: which is why he says everyone must do all they can to cast their ballot cynthia mcfadden, nbc news. in just 60 seconds, how to vote safely on election day.

with early voting still in progress in many places and election day around the corner, gabe gutierrez reports on how to stay safe casting your ballot. >> reporter: these aren't lines for covid testing. it's politics during a pandemic. >> it's very secure. >> reporter: sheryl

mcaffey was among the first to vote early in battleground wisconsin. she got covid earlier this year. her brother died from it. >> nothing was going to stop me i'm here for me and my brother. >> reporter: as we head into the final stretch many others are still questioning whether going to crowded polling places is safe. the cdc offers some guidelines before. you vote plan do go to the polling place during off-peak hours such as mid-morning. and fill out a sample ballot first at home so you spend less time here while you vote, of course, wear a mask, make sure your polling place is well ventilated bring your own pen or stylus for touch screens. don't try to disinfect a voting machine yourself some cleaning products can damage them. how big of a concern is the pandemic for you right now? >> big concern because i have a lot of health issues. >> reporter: an unprecedented election requiring voters to be socially distanced while being socially responsible. gabe gutierrez, nbc news, milwaukee. coming up, were 2016 promises kept

how it could impact the critical battleground vote.

back now with battleground ohio. the state that's picked the winner in every presidential election for nearly six decades. our kate snow spoke to voters there and found the key that could swing this election is all about jobs >> reporter: voters in northeast ohio remember a rally back in 2017 with people weary from job losses. >> don't move. don't sell your house. we are going to get

those jobs coming back. >> reporter: but in march 2019 gm closed its plant in lordstown. the president said don't move, don't sell your houses. trisha motto, a single mom of two, lost her job. she watched families split and friends move away. >> what were these people supposed to do? >> reporter: who did you vote for last time you mind me asking >> trump. >> reporter: you did >> yeah. >> reporter: now she is undecided she blames trump for relaxing emissions standards which pushed gm away from the smaller chevy cruze it made in lordstown. >> it allowed for gm to more easily shift to the large car market i think that's what killed us. >> reporter: you don't blame the presiden for losing the gm plant here. >> not at all. i feel that was a business decision. >> reporter: the mayor of lordstown, arnold hill, is a trump supporter and focused on all the new jobs. >> very exciting. >> reporter: he took us to the old gm plant bought by lordstown motors the ceo ramping up to

produce electric pickups. could there be thousands of people working here one day >> oh yes. thousands and thousands. >> reporter: gm and lg plan to make battery cells for electric vehicles, creating 1,100 jobs. distribution center for the home goods chain will bring a thousand more. >> we have had a drain of jobs here for 40 years and you won't get them all replaced in 4 years but maybe in 8 years we may get a pretty good jump on it. >> reporter: more than 53,000 people voted in this county, one that went big for obama in 2012 but flipped to trump in 2016. guy and lynn bloom voted for obama twice and now trump twice. >> we can make this economy boom like it's never boomed before if we can just stop china right now. >> reporter: in this swing county, in a crucial swing state, perception of jobs past and present could trump everything else. kate snow, nbc news, lordstown, ohio. >> join kate and jose diaz-balart tomorrow as they report from the battlegrounds of north carolina and

ohio up next, spirit and a lot of creativity this halloween.

a rare sight this halloween, not only will it be the first full moon on the holiday in 76 years, it is also a blue moon, the second full moon of the calendar month. while this will be a halloween like no other, many families are finding creative ways to get into the spirit here's kevin tibbles. >> reporter: this halloween spooky and

safety are riding the broomstick together as children prepare for socially distant freaks in the dark for those who are trick or treating, a brave new world of covid creativity in the costume department with many kids opting to be a new kind of super hero if you decide to stay home, well, celebrate with your pet. >> the kids need something, they've lost so much this whole year. >> reporter: new ingenious ways of handing out the treats, too. hooking plastic tubing to the porch. >> trick or treat! >> reporter: helps with social distancing or how about a candy zipline? >> trick or treat. >> all right. >> reporter: even a self sanitizing frankenstein treat dispenser. >> using uv lights to kill any germs sanitize things. >> reporter: i'm using a hockey stick to shell out the treats just to keep things safe our little ghouls and goblins have done a good job being cooped for months it is about time they had something to scream about

>> social distancing >> reporter: let's just help them stay safe out there kevin tibbles, nbc news, chicago. >> real ingenuity this year that's "nightly news." before we go, a programming note a special "nightly news" kids edition will air tomorrow morning on nbc check your local listings you never know who will show up in a costume. thank you for watching everyone i'm lester holt. please take care of yourself and each othe right now at 6:00, putting on the brakes. the reason san francisco is scaling back reopening plans. plus, santa clara county sues a san jose church. i'm willing to be obedient to god. >> the covid protocols pastors are not following and where this fight leads to next. millions of early votes already kasa cross california. the bay area braces for a busy weekend ahead of tuesday's

election. the news at 6:00. good friday. i'm jessica aguirre. raj ma nigh is with us as well. >> we chat with one of california's top republicans and she tells us why the polling is wrong and why voters will choose the economy over character. we'll see in about three minutes. >> thank you, raj. not backing down. a south bay pastor will keep welcoming parishioners into his church without restrictions even though the church has been fined hundreds of thousands of dollars. tonight that battle is heating up and headed to court. robert handa reports from the calvary chapel of san jose and why that pastor sais standing his ground. >> this is definitely a fight over principle. because both sides acknowledge the legal wrangling could have been avoided. services need to be