Reuters US Domestic News Summary

Special Report: How a small group of U.S. lawyers pushed voter fraud fears into the mainstream For months, President Donald Trump has tried to convince Americans that the Nov. 3 election will be “rigged,” claiming without evidence that mail voting will open the door to mass cheating.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs. Portland police arrest 11 after overnight protests

Police arrested 11 people in Portland as protests continued to take place after 100 days of demonstrations in the Oregon city against racism and police brutality. Tuesday night, a group began gathering at the site of the Saturday Market and marched in the street to the area of Transit Police Department offices, the police said in a statement. (https://bit.ly/2R7CKRR) Delta CFO warns that COVID-19 vaccinations could take up to a year

Delta Air Lines has seen a moderate improvement in demand but continues to burn through around $27 million of cash each day, its chief financial officer said, and warned that any COVID-19 vaccination process could take between six and 12 months. "Vaccines don't end pandemics, vaccinations do," CFO Paul Jacobson said at the Cowen 2020 Global Transportation & Sustainable Mobility Conference on Wednesday, adding that the airline's post-crisis focus would be on reducing debt. U.S. COVID-19 deaths near 190,000; Iowa and South Dakota emerge as new hotspots

Coronavirus deaths in the United States were approaching 190,000 on Wednesday along with a spike in new cases in the U.S. Midwest with states like Iowa and South Dakota emerging as the new hotspots in the past few weeks. Iowa currently has one of the highest rates of infection in the nation, with 15% of tests last week coming back positive. Nearby South Dakota has a positive test rate of 19% and North Dakota is at 18%, according to a Reuters analysis. Top Senate Democrat says good chance coronavirus aid bill will pass

The Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said on Wednesday he believes there is a good chance Congress will pass a coronavirus relief bill and predicted Republicans will feel pressure to provide help for Americans suffering from the pandemic. Asked if he believed any bill will pass given the gap between the two parties, Schumer told CNN: "Yes. There's a good chance that they will feel the pressure, once they see the Democrats are not going to fold to this emaciated bill which leaves so much out." Biden to offer plan to fight offshoring in key battleground of Michigan

Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden will visit the battleground state of Michigan on Wednesday, where he will outline new proposals to tax companies that move U.S. jobs overseas and offer incentives for companies to invest in domestic operations. Biden and his rival, President Donald Trump, are ramping up their campaign travel with only eight weeks before the Nov. 3 election. Special Report: How a small group of U.S. lawyers pushed voter fraud fears into the mainstream

For months, President Donald Trump has tried to convince Americans that the Nov. 3 election will be “rigged,” claiming without evidence that mail voting will open the door to mass cheating. “The greatest Election Fraud in our history is about to happen,” Trump wrote on Twitter on Aug. 23. Senate aims for Thursday vote on scaled-down coronavirus aid bill

The U.S. Senate later this week aims to vote on a drastically scaled-back Republican coronavirus aid bill, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said on Tuesday, despite opposition from Democrats who are needed for any measure to be enacted into law. The bill, which some senior Republican aides described as a $300 billion package that was reduced from the $1 trillion McConnell advocated in July, would face a vote on Thursday. Biden leads Trump by 12 points nationally among likely voters: Reuters/Ipsos poll

Democrat Joe Biden leads President Donald Trump by 12 percentage points nationally among likely U.S. voters, according to a Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll that also showed the number of persuadable voters had shrunk compared with four years ago. The Sept. 3-8 poll, released on Wednesday, found 52% of likely voters planned to support Biden, while 40% would back Trump. Three percent said they would vote for another candidate, and just 5% said they remained undecided with less than two months to go until the Nov. 3 presidential election. Breaking the mold: Sculptors seek to create Black figures in bronze

The toppling of Confederate statues during nationwide protests against racial injustice brought renewed attention to the importance of U.S. public monuments, very few of which were made by Black sculptors. Empty plinths have stirred debate over who and what should replace the toppled statues. Black sculptors and historians hope the aftermath will give communities around the country a chance to honor often-forgotten African-American trailblazers. How drugmakers can keep their pledge and still deliver an October vaccine surprise

As questions mount over whether the United States will authorize a coronavirus vaccine ahead of November elections, experts say there is a slim chance that enough evidence will be available to prove one is safe and effective in that time frame. U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly said a vaccine is possible before the Nov. 3 election, and accused a “deep state” within the nation’s top health regulator of trying to slow pivotal clinical trials to hamper his chances at a second term.