Harris to appear on SNL as shock poll gives her lead in Iowa: Election 2024 live

Journalist Lyz Lenz, who has spent the past 20 years writing and working as a journalist out of Iowa, has an idea as to why the state could potentially swing to Kamala Harris after this evening’s bombshell poll.

She tweeted: “People want to know how Iowa could swing towards Harris, when the state has been solidly red for so long and let me tell you, as someone who lives here & writes about this state. It’s the abortion ban. Women are furious.

“60 percent of Iowans support abortion in all or most circumstances. Many Iowans remember a time before Roe. They remember life without choice and bodily autonomy. Kim Reynolds and the Iowa republicans passed a near total abortion ban. And people are mad.

“I don’t make predictions. But last two weeks, talking to organizers and politicians who have been on the ground and door knocking were full of hope, which is no small feat. I guess we will see.”

Singer-songwriter Olivia Rodrigo has told her 38.2 million followers on Instagram in a reel posted on Saturday evening: “A vote for Donald Trump is a vote for a national abortion ban and a vote for Kamala Harris is a vote for reproductive freedom.”

Rodrigo sat down with survivor and advocate Hadley Duvall to talk about reproductive rights. Watch their conversation below:

Kamala Harris’s plane was bound for Detroit after today’s rally in North Carolina, but has been diverted to New York City for an unannounced stop.

Reporters were told of the diversion mid-flight, according to the pooler.

Citing an insider, The New York Post reports that the vice president will make a surprise appearance during tonight’s episode of Saturday Night Live.

Harris will appear during the show’s traditional cold open, the Post says, which is usually devoted to satirizing politicians. Harris is portrayed on the show by Maya Rudolph.

This week’s episode of SNL is hosted by John Mulaney and the musical guest is Chappell Roan.

Also set to appear, according to the Post are Virginia Senator Tim Kaine and former cast member Pete Davidson.

J Ann Seltzer, widely considered to be among the best pollsters in the country, has just published her final survey of Iowa for The Des Moines Register.

To the surprise of many it shows a 12-point swing to the Democratic Party ticket since 2020, putting Kamala Harris three points over Donald Trump in the Hawkeye State at 47% to 44%.

The results come as Trump and Harris have focused their attention almost exclusively on seven battleground states that are expected to shape the outcome of the election. Neither has campaigned in Iowa since the presidential primaries ended, and neither campaign has established a ground presence in the state.

A victory for Harris would be a surprising development after Iowa has swung aggressively to the right in recent elections, delivering Trump solid victories in 2016 and 2020.

The poll shows that women — particularly those who are older or who are politically independent — are driving the late shift toward Harris.

“Age and gender are the two most dynamic factors that are explaining these numbers,” Selzer said.

The poll of 808 likely Iowa voters, which include those who have already voted as well as those who say they definitely plan to vote, was conducted by Selzer & Co. from October 28-31. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.4 percentage points — so any lead Harris has is within that.

Robert F Kennedy Jr has tweeted that on the day Donald Trump takes office if he wins the election, the White House will advise all US water systems to remove fluoride from public water.

Kennedy will reportedly have a key role in health policy in a second Trump administration.

Politico cites the American Dental Association as saying that water fluoridation is “safe, effective and healthy,” and that “70 years of research, thousands of studies and the experience of more than 210 million Americans tell us that water fluoridation is effective in preventing cavities and is safe for children and adults.”