Reuters US Domestic News Summary

Reuters/Ipsos poll shows Biden leading in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden appeared to lead President Donald Trump in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania less than a month before the Nov. 3 election, according to Reuters/Ipsos opinion polls released on Monday.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs. White House blocking strict new guidelines for emergency release of coronavirus vaccine: NYT

Senior officials at the White House are blocking strict new federal guidelines for the emergency release of a coronavirus vaccine, the New York Times reported https://nyti.ms/36DGIdI on Monday, citing people familiar with the approval process. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration proposed stricter guidelines for emergency approval of a COVID-19 vaccine, but the White House chief of staff objected to provisions that would push approval past the country's elections on Nov. 3, according to the report. Reuters/Ipsos poll shows Biden leading in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden appeared to lead President Donald Trump in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania less than a month before the Nov. 3 election, according to Reuters/Ipsos opinion polls released on Monday. The polls showed the former vice president ahead by 5 percentage points in Pennsylvania, matching the poll's credibility interval. Biden led Trump by 6 points in Wisconsin. In both states, Biden improved his position relative to mid-September. New York governor closes schools in coronavirus hot spots

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo on Monday agreed to New York City's plan to close schools in nine coronavirus "hot spots" in Brooklyn and Queens, but said he was still discussing whether non-essential businesses should be shut down again in those areas. The closing of both private and public schools in those areas will begin on Tuesday, Cuomo said, bringing forward the plan announced by New York Mayor Bill de Blasio by a day. Trump's medical status unclear as doctors say he could be discharged on Monday

President Donald Trump could be discharged from the hospital where he is being treated for COVID-19 as soon as Monday, according to his doctors, although his condition remains unclear and outside experts warn that his case may be severe. Sequestered at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center outside Washington since Friday, Trump has released a series of videos in an effort to reassure the public that he is recovering from a pandemic that has infected 7.4 million Americans and killed more than 209,000. COVID-19 cases surge in U.S. Midwest and Northeast

After crushing their COVID-19 outbreaks in the spring and keeping them in check all summer, states in the U.S. Northeast are now seeing infections accelerate, with New York reporting nearly 10,000 new cases last week. Compared with the previous seven days, new cases in New York rose 102% in the week ended Oct. 4, while new cases in Connecticut rose 61% to 1,710 and new cases in New Jersey rose 23% to 4,650, according to a Reuters analysis of state and county reports. (Open https://tmsnrt.rs/2WTOZDR in an external browser for a Reuters graphic with state-by-state details) Up in smoke: California wine country counts cost of wildfire damage

When a wildfire swept down California's Napa Valley in August, winemaker Patrick Elliot-Smith stayed put, fighting the encroaching flames with water pumps and laying fire breaks around his vines in a battle with nature that lasted three days. He and his son managed to save their family-run Elan winery in the valley's Atlas Peak appellation. Uber, Lyft spend big in California to oppose even costlier gig-worker law

Uber Technologies Inc and Lyft Inc together are spending nearly $100 million on a November California ballot initiative to overturn a state law that would compel them to classify drivers as employees. That sum looks less huge, however, than the potential costs of complying with the existing law, according to a Reuters analysis. Biden campaigns in crucial Florida as Trump plans end to hospital stay

As President Donald Trump announced he would leave a military hospital on Monday after three days of COVID-19 treatment, challenger Joe Biden attacked the president for downplaying the seriousness of the disease even after contracting it. "Now that he's busy tweeting campaign messages, I would ask him to do this: listen to the scientists," Biden said during a campaign speech in Miami's Little Havana neighborhood. "Support masks." Pelosi, Mnuchin talk coronavirus aid as presidential illness complicates picture

U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin spoke by phone for about an hour on Monday on coronavirus economic relief and were preparing to talk again Tuesday, continuing their recent flurry of activity working towards a deal on legislation. "The two discussed the justifications for various numbers and plan to exchange paper today in preparation for another phone call tomorrow," Pelosi's spokesman Drew Hammill wrote on Twitter. U.S. Supreme Court conservatives revive criticism of gay marriage ruling

Two conservative justices mounted a fresh attack on Monday on the landmark 2015 ruling that legalized gay marriage nationwide even as the U.S. Supreme Court rebuffed a bid by a former Kentucky official to avoid lawsuits over her refusal to grant marriage licenses to two same-sex couples. The court turned away an appeal by Kim Davis, who had served as Rowan County clerk, of a lower court ruling that let the lawsuits accusing her of violating the constitutional rights of the couples proceed.