Trump Super Pac chair: Donald Trump needs 'a miracle' to win – as it happened

Only 21 more days!

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• Barack Obama has told Donald Trump to “stop whining” as Republicans continued to disown Trump’s claims that the US election is “rigged.” “If you start whining before the game’s even over, then you don’t have what it takes to be in this job, because they are a lot of things that don’t go your way,” added Obama, who called for a “peaceful transfer of power.”
  

• In three crucial states – Nevada, North Carolina and Ohio – the contest between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump remains incredibly close, according to polling data released by CNN/ORC today. The Clinton campaign seems to be well aware that they have work to do if they want to secure these three states, which together are worth 39 of the 270 electoral college votes needed to win the White House. Yesterday, Clinton’s campaign announced a $6m advertising push in these three key battleground states as well as Florida, Pennsylvania, Iowa and New Hampshire.
  
• Donald Trump’s “election protection” effort will be run by Mike Roman, a Republican operative best known for promoting a video of apparent voter intimidation by the New Black Panthers outside a polling place in 2008. Roman is to oversee poll-watching efforts as Trump undertakes an unprecedented effort by a major party nominee by calling into question the legitimacy of the popular vote weeks before election day. The Republican nominee has insisted, without evidence, that dead people and undocumented immigrants are voting in the United States.
  
• Michael Moore has announced the surprise release of a Donald Trump documentary. The Oscar-winning film-maker will bring Michael Moore in Trumpland to the big screen with an initial New York screening where tickets will be free. The film will then be officially released on 19 October. The official description reads as follows: “See the film Ohio Republicans tried to shut down. Oscar-winner Michael Moore dives right into hostile territory with his daring and hilarious one-man show, deep in the heart of TrumpLand in the weeks before the 2016 election.”
  

• Asked about allegations of sexual assault against Donald Trump, New Jersey governor Chris Christie told NBC News (video), “I can only take him at his word, and I am.” Asked whether he was proud of Trump’s campaign, Christie said it wasn’t his campaign:

  It’s not my campaign... I’m proud of everything I’ve said. And that’s all I can control. The rest of it I can’t control.

• Ecuador has confirmed that it cut off internet access to Julian Assange, the founder of the whistleblowing site WikiLeaks, stating it believed he was using it to interfere in the US presidential election. The move followed a raft of leaked emails published by WikiLeaks, including some from the Democratic National Committee (DNC) released just before the party’s convention in July, and more recently a cache of emails from the account of Hillary Clinton campaign adviser John Podesta.
  
• And one more thing:

Hillary Clinton’s newest campaign idea: Automatic donation every time Donald Trump tweets.

The largest newspaper in Florida has endorsed Democratic congressman Patrick Murphy in his run against Marco Rubio for one of the state’s seats in the US Senate, calling Rubio “a disappointment” whose work in the Senate has been overshadowed by “issues of sincerity and character” relating to his endorsement of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.

“Mr. Trump’s candidacy is a test of character, and Sen. Rubio is failing that test,” the Miami Herald’s editorial board wrote. “He endorsed Mr. Trump, whom he called a con man during the campaign. And still at this late date, he continues to stand by that endorsement, even as the Republican candidate stumbles from gaffe to insult to outrage.”

The editorial board also dismissed as cynical Rubio’s citation of the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando that left 49 people dead as the reason for his reentry into the race, noting that Rubio “has a disastrous record as far as LGBT issues are concerned, opposing marriage equality and adoption by gay parents, and voting against giving LGBT Americans workplace protections.”

Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton was launched into political activism after she gave a fiery speech during her graduation from Wellesley College. Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has often cited his attendance at the University of Pennsylvania, an Ivy League school, as evidence of his intelligence.

Fond as the candidates’ memories of their college days may be, however, the student newspapers at both schools only have eyes for one of them: Clinton.

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In a rare joint editorial published by The Daily Pennsylvanian and the Wellesley News, the opinion boards at both college newspapers released an endorsement of Clinton’s candidacy, leaning heavily on the Latin mottos of the respective schools.

“Though Clinton embodies her alma mater’s institutional values, Trump does not,” the boards concluded. “It is clear that Trump has failed to dignify the morals of his institution. Penn’s motto, ‘Leges sine moribus vanae,’ translates as ‘Laws without morals [are] useless.’ In evaluating Donald Trump through this context, the Opinion Board cannot say that his actions attest to his morals: He does not embody the spirit of the school.”

While admitting that “we cannot expect every alumni to personify the values of their undergraduate institutions,” the opinion boards conclude that “each student, alumni and faculty member is then responsible to critique that representation.”

“While the Wellesley News has endorsed its alumna, Hillary Clinton, The Daily Pennsylvanian Opinion Board can not stand behind Donald Trump as a candidate.”

The Democratic consultant who has been accused of hiring activists to incite violence at Donald Trump’s campaign rallies has announced that he is “stepping back” from aiding the Democratic Party, according to CNN.

Robert Creamer announced the move after conservative activist James O’Keefe released an edited video in which Creamer was purportedly seen discussing ways of disrupting Trump’s rallies with activists aiming to incite violence.

“I am unwilling to become a distraction to the important task of electing Hilary Clinton, and defeating Donald Trump in the upcoming election,” Creamer said. “As a result I have indicated to the Democratic National Committee that I am stepping back from my responsibilities working with the campaign.”

Creamer, the husband of Illinois congresswoman Jan Schakowsky, denied the allegations made in O’Keefe’s video. “Contrary to the outrageous claims of the notorious right wing blogger James O’Keefe, we have always adhered to the highest standards of transparency and legality in our work for the DNC.”

A self-styled “entrapment journalist,” O’Keefe has been accused of selectively editing video footage in the past. In March 2013, O’Keefe agreed to pay $100,000 to settle a lawsuit with a former employee of a social welfare agency who accused him of misrepresentation.

Regardless, Creamer said in the statement, he regrets what he characterized as “unprofessional and careless hypothetical conversations” that took place.

“We regret the unprofessional and careless hypothetical conversations that were captured on hidden cameras of a regional contractor for our firm, and he is no longer working with us,” Creamer said. “While none of the schemes described in the conversations every took place, these conversations do not at all reflect the values of Democracy Partners.”

A preview of tomorrow’s closing arguments?

19 Oct 201620.56 EDT

David Smith

Donald Trump has said he would use the US presidency to impose term limits on members of Congress as part of a drive to “drain the swamp” of Washington corruption.

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Currently, House members can serve an unlimited number of two-year terms, while senators can serve an unlimited number of six-year terms. The Republican candidate told cheering supporters in Grand Junction, Colorado, that he would push for a constitutional amendment.

“Six years for members of the House and 12 years for members of the Senate,” Trump said at the rally in an airplane hangar. “Collusion must and will come to an end. It’s time to sweep the corruption out of Washington.”

Trump on Monday issued a five-point plan for “ethics reform” in government to underline his status as an outsider taking on the political establishment, which he claims Hillary Clinton personifies.

The celebrity billionaire’s pledge came as he warmed up for Wednesday’s third and final presidential debate with Clinton in Las Vegas, needing a convincing performance to change a race that seems to be inexorably slipping away.

Trump also spoke in racially charged terms as he defiantly reiterated his warning about potential voting fraud. He urged his supporters to “watch” cities with big African American populations on election day to prevent a “rigged” election.

“They even want to rig the election at the polling booths,” Trump said. “Take a look at St Louis. Take a look at Philadelphia. Take a look at Chicago. Look. Look. If nothing else, people are gonna be watching on November 8. Watch St Louis. Watch Philadelphia. Watch Chicago.”

The remarks came hours after Barack Obama, himself an African American from Chicago, scolded Trump for making the groundless claims that subvert traditions of American democracy, insisting that he had no evidence.

Former secretary of state Condoleezza Rice told CNN this evening that she “can’t wait until November 9!” after news broke that Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump called her a “bitch” in a 2006 speech.

“Condoleezza Rice, she’s a lovely woman, but I think she’s a bitch,” Trump said at the time, according to a story in the New York Daily News from 2006, initially resurfaced by Deadspin. “She goes around to other countries and other nations, negotiates with their leaders, comes back and nothing ever happens.”

Asked to respond to the comments, Rice said: “Exactly. Can’t wait until November 9!”

Rice disavowed Trump’s presidential run after video was released showing him brag about sexually assaulting women in a 2005 conversation with an entertainment journalist.

The head of the largest pro-Donald Trump Super Pac told a radio host today that the Republican presidential nominee needs “a miracle comeback” to win the upcoming presidential election, a departure from the triumphant confidence exuded by the candidate himself on the campaign trail in recent weeks.

“If somehow Trump pulls a miracle comeback here, which would take a miracle at this point, then obviously it’s his party, he can do what he wants with it,” Ed Rollins, the chair of Great America Pac, told Laura Ingraham on her radio show. “If not, I think we begin from ground zero and with lots of different factions and lots of different candidates.”

19 Oct 201619.35 EDT

Ecuador confirms it cut internet access for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange

Nicky Woolf

Ecuador has confirmed that it cut off internet access to Julian Assange, the founder of the whistleblowing site WikiLeaks, stating it believed he was using it to interfere in the US presidential election.

The move followed a raft of leaked emails published by WikiLeaks, including some from the Democratic National Committee (DNC) released just before the party’s convention in July, and more recently a cache of emails from the account of Hillary Clinton campaign adviser John Podesta.

Assange’s internet access was cut off on Monday morning. It was not immediately clear who was responsible, though a tweet from the site’s official account claimed it had been “intentionally severed” by a “state party”.

It is not known who perpetrated the hacks that brought the emails to WikiLeaks. Assange’s organization styles itself a whistleblowing outfit and claims not to do or encourage any hacking itself.

Yet cybersecurity experts have linked the hack of the DNC emails to hackers linked to the Russian government, leading many – including Clinton’s campaign manager Robby Mook – to allege that Russia is using both hackers and Assange as tools to help rig the presidential election in favour of Donald Trump.

A clip from The Howard Stern Show, obtained by the Washington Post, shows Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump relaying a story from his seldom-discussed affair with Marla Maples (later Trump) during his first marriage to Ivana Trump, the mother of his three eldest children:

“This is a story I’ve never told about that mountain, because it was sort of a horrible thing,” Trump said in the tape, about a fight between Maples and Ivana on a ski slope during the waning days of his first marriage.

“I’m standing there putting on my skis, and I’m with one or the other, I didn’t know who,” Trump said, referring to one of the two women. “And the other one comes over, and they start screaming at each other. ‘I love him! I love him! Don’t you understand! I love!’ And they’re both screaming that I love them.”

“And this big fat bald guy is standing next to me,” Trump continues. “Guy weighs like 325 pounds, and I’m standing there mortified. Everybody’s looking, like a thousand people watching these two women screaming at each other, and this big fat guy is looking at me and he said, ‘Mr. Trump, that’s not the worst thing that could happen. I have never had a thing like that happen in my life.’ And I see this guy and I think, ‘You know, maybe this could be worse.’”

During the final presidential debate on Wednesday, 19 October, the Guardian Mobile Innovation Lab, along with the Guardian US Opinion and News desks will send experimental web notifications with real-time reactions and live fact-checks from the Guardian US newsroom.

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To sign up: Open this page in a Chrome browser from an Android phone (Samsung included) and tap to subscribe.

What you should know about our notifications:

• They’re currently only available on Chrome on Android devices.
• They’re meant for mobile but will also work on desktop Chrome browsers, too.
  
• They supplement the news alerts sent from the Guardian’s Android and iOS apps.

More about tonight’s experiment:

• The notifications are supposed to make it easy for you to keep listening to what the candidates and moderators are saying during the debate, while providing easy and convenient access to analysis, fact-checks and reactions from our experts on your phone throughout the night.
• We’ll send three alerts. Each will auto-update on your lockscreen with the following:
• Reactions from Guardian opinion editor David Shariatmadari and commentatorKate Aronoff. We’ll send their quick takes about the candidates’ policy statements, their debating styles, and who’s winning and who’s losing.
• Fact-check alerts for each of the two candidates, by Guardian reporter Alan Yuhas. The notifications will be color coded to indicate the degree of accuracy of the candidates’ statements.
• This project is the latest installment in ongoing experimentation with notifications, part of the Mobile Lab’s mission to learn more about mobile storytelling. After the experiment, we’ll send out a survey soliciting feedback on the experience.
  

Questions, suggestions or observations? Drop us a note: innovationlab@theguardian.com

How do you one-up bringing Bill Clinton’s accusers to the second presidential debate? By bringing President Barack Obama’s Kenyan half-brother to the third presidential debate.

Malik Obama, the president’s half-brother, reportedly stopped supporting the Democratic Party - a moot point since he’s not a US citizen and cannot vote, as it happens - when Obama (the president) came out in support of same-sex marriage rights.

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has outlined his proposed term limits for members of Congress, telling a crowd of supporters in Grand Junction, Colorado, that under the constitutional amendment he envisions, members of the House of Representatives will be limited to serving six years, or three terms, while members of the Senate will be limited to serving twelve years, or two terms.

“Six years for members of the House and twelve years for members of the Senate,” Trump told the cheering crowd. “Collusion must and will come to an end. It’s time to sweep the corruption out of Washington.”

Donald Trump continued, pledging a ban on former lawmakers becoming lobbyists for five years, telling his supporters in Colorado that he wants to “drain the damn swamp” in the nation’s capital.

“Her international donors control her every single move,” Trump said, of Hillary Clinton’s “rigged” campaign. “If we let the Clinton cartel run this government, history will record that 2017 was the year America lost its independence. It’s true.”

“When it comes to Washington, DC, it is time to drain the damn swamp.”

Speaking in Grand Junction, Colorado, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump urged his supporters to “watch” cities with large African-American populations on election day to prevent a “rigged” election.

“They even want to rig the election at the polling booths,” Trump said. “Take a look at St. Louis. Take a look at Philadelphia. Take a look at Chicago.”

“Look. Look. If nothing else, people are gonna be watching on November 8. Watch St. Louis. Watch Philadelphia. Watch Chicago.”

Watch it live here: