--:-- Tracy Mumford: From the New York Times, it's the headlines. I'm Tracy Mumford. Today's Friday, November 1st. Here's what we're covering.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: The U.S. presidential campaign is about to get a new talking point this morning, the jobs report, and what it says about the American economy. Any time significant economic data comes out this close to an election, it's inevitably going to be picked over and dissected and exploited for political gain. And this jobs report might be more so than usual.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: My colleague Lydia DePilis covers the economy for The Times. She says recent data shows things are in pretty good shape. There's high consumer spending and inflation has come back down. But the jobs report may not be so rosy.
--:-- Lydia DePilis: It's probably going to come in lower than we've seen in recent months. And that isn't necessarily a sign that the labor market has hit a pothole. Rather, there's a couple things that happened over the last month that we know are going to take a big bite out of the jobs numbers.
--:-- Lydia DePilis: Number one, two giant hurricanes that hit in late September and early October, Helene and Milton, that really had a devastating impact on Florida, Georgia, and western North Carolina, especially in sectors like leisure and hospitality.
--:-- Lydia DePilis: The second big thing that we know is going to impact the jobs report is a massive strike at Boeing, which has put 35,000 workers approximately on the picket lines.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: And so if you see a report this morning that appears unusually weak, and if you hear people saying that the labor market has taken a big downward turn, there are some outside factors that are causing that.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Very nice to meet you. Yeah nice to meet you too. What is it like running for vice president of the United States? How crazy is this experience?
--:-- J.D. Vance: It's pretty weird. It's pretty weird.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Just a week after Donald Trump sat down with Joe Rogan, the country's biggest podcaster, his running mate, J.D. Vance, also went on Rogan's show. The Trump campaign has been trying to reach young men, a key part of Rogan's audience.
--:-- J.D. Vance: The other thing is, like, if you were encouraging.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Vance talked about fatherhood, his political career, and he leaned into what's been a flashpoint for conservatives, what he called gender transition craziness.
--:-- J.D. Vance: Like my four-year-old will come and say, Daddy, I'm a dinosaur, right? I'm going to take him to like the dinosaur transition clinic and put scales on him.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Vance condemned transition care for minors and even suggested some teenagers are transitioning so that they'll have a better chance of getting into Ivy League schools.
--:-- J.D. Vance: Vance also claimed some liberal women are celebrating their abortions by baking birthday cakes and posting about it on social media.
--:-- Joe Rogan: I don't think that's common.
--:-- J.D. Vance: Vance conceded.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Within hours, the Harris campaign moved to highlight some of Vance's more provocative statements, which could become part of the soundtrack of the final days of the race.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Meanwhile, Vance and Trump have been escalating their baseless claims about voter fraud, particularly in Pennsylvania. There are more Electoral College votes up for grabs there than any other battleground state.
--:-- J.D. Vance: Yesterday, Vance seized on posts claiming that Democrats were impersonating election officials at polling sites, calling it fraud.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: But the Pennsylvania Secretary of State clarified that the workers were properly identified partisan volunteers.
--:-- Josh Shapiro: Our system is run by Republican and Democratic clerks of elections in our 67 counties. It's overseen by my secretary of state, Brett, who is a Republican.
--:-- Josh Shapiro: I think everybody needs to take a deep breath and understand that it is our fellow Pennsylvanians who are running these elections. And we will again have a free and fair, safe and secure election.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Some political scientists warn that the efforts to sow doubt about the election, even before all the votes are in, could be an effort by Trump and Vance to justify challenging the results if they lose.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: All right, Mr. Williams, is there anything that you want to say?
--:-- Jeffrey Williams: Yes, ma'am. I take full responsibility for, you know, my crimes or my charges. Really, everybody that got something to do with this situation, I want to say sorry.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: The rapper Jeffrey Williams, known as Young Thug, pleaded guilty to criminal street gang activity on Thursday, a major development in a case where rap lyrics were presented as evidence of a crime.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Prosecutors say Williams' record label, YSL, overlapped with the criminal street gang Young Slime Life, and they cited some of the label's songs in their arguments.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Critics of the case pushed back, saying the charges were part of a moral panic over rap music.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: The case, which involved 28 defendants, was chaotic from the start. Jury selection alone dragged on for 10 months, a judge was replaced mid-trial, and one of the rapper's co-defendants was stabbed in jail.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Ultimately, Williams' lawyers say he pleaded guilty because he felt he was being held, quote, hostage by the lengthy trial.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Williams was sentenced to 15 years probation and released from prison. He's been ordered to stay away from the Atlanta area for the next decade, and he'll have to make anti-gang presentations to groups of children.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: The case had been closely watched, not just because of the arguments over whether lyrics could be considered evidence, but also because it hinged on the same Georgia racketeering law that was used to charge Donald Trump and his allies with trying to overturn the 2020 election.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: And many looked to this trial as essentially a preview for how Trump's case is still ongoing.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: And finally, she's one of the most powerful women on the planet, Martha Stewart. More than you've probably ever wanted to know about Martha Stewart is now waiting for you on Netflix.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Didn't you have an affair early on?
--:-- Martha Stewart: Yeah, but I don't think Andy ever knew about that.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Titled Martha, it takes a look at the life of the entrepreneur who some say is America's first self-made woman billionaire.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: It shows how she built an empire promoting a picture-perfect lifestyle of fabulously cooked foods and just-so home decor.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: It's part of a boom of celebrity documentaries lately, where stars open up their lives in exchange for a chance to shape the story the public sees.
--:-- Martha Stewart: But with the movie now out, Stewart says she did not get the control she wanted, and she's not happy.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: In a call with the Times, she had thoughts, saying it spends way too much time on her trial and prison sentence for insider trading.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: She also thought the camera angles were unflattering, and that some scenes made her look old.
--:-- Martha Stewart: Stewart is 83.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: She said she gave the director, R.J. Cutler, pages and pages of notes, but he only made a few of her suggested changes.
--:-- R.J. Cutler: Cutler defended the project, saying, quote, Those are the headlines.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Today on The Daily, a look at the local election officials, entrusted with certifying the vote, who are prepared to reject it.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: That's next in the New York Times audio app, or you can listen wherever you get your podcasts.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: This show is made by Robert Jemison, Jessica Metzger, Jan Stewart, and me, Tracy Mumford, with help from Isabella Anderson.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Original theme by Dan Powell. Special thanks to Larissa Anderson, Jake Lucas, Zoe Murphy, and Paula Schumann.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: The headlines will be back on Monday.
