October 31, 2024 - PBS News Hour full episode

Abortion is a closely watched issue in this year's election, and not just in the U.S. As president, Trump cut funding for international groups that offer and counsel on abortion services. With support from The Pulitzer Center, special correspondent Neha Wadekar reports from Kenya where advocates are watching for who wins. A warning, this story contains accounts of sexual and gender-based violence.

From rampant disinformation, foreign adversaries trying to sew chaos and ballot boxes set ablaze, there are many bad actors trying to undermine our elections process. There’s also an army of non-partisan election officials who are collecting ballots and pushing back, confident that this election, like the last, will be secure. William Brangham discussed more with Juliette Kayyem.

Immigration is a key issue of this campaign. Vice President Harris says if elected, she will pass a bipartisan bill strengthening border security. Former President Trump promises a much larger crackdown including mass deportations. Paul Solman examines the potential economic impact of deportations and Trump's claims that immigrants take jobs and lower wages for other Americans.

In the final days of this election, both presidential candidates are trying to win over older voters with their plans for entitlement programs like Social Security and Medicare. Social Security is at risk of being depleted as soon as 2034 and Medicare could be insolvent by 2036. Lisa Desjardins has a look at how both campaigns say they'll tackle the issue.

In our news wrap Thursday, crews in Spain are searching for bodies in abandoned cars and swamped buildings after devastating flash floods, rocket attacks from Lebanon into northern Israel killed at least seven people, including four foreign workers and U.S. officials say about 8,000 North Korean troops are now at Russia's border with Ukraine and expected to join the fighting in the coming days.

Just days before the election, the Supreme Court ruled Virginia will be able to continue to purge people from the state’s voter rolls. The state has argued it is part of an effort to remove noncitizens from the rolls, but voting rights advocates have found several U.S. citizens were also removed from the rolls at the same time. Amna Nawaz discussed more with NPR's Jude Joffe-Block.

Both presidential candidates brought their campaigns to the Southwest on Thursday. Donald Trump stopped in New Mexico, a detour from battleground territory, while Kamala Harris jetted off to Arizona. But before she left, Harris spoke with reporters about what's on the line with five days until Election Day. Laura Barrón-López reports.