Trump town hall: President rages against Savannah Guthrie and protesters arrested as Biden holds rival event

NBC’s biggest stars sign open letter demanding network to cancel Trump town hall

More than 100 Hollywood celebrities have signed an open letter to NBCUniversal to implore the network to cancel its town hall with Donald Trump on Thursday evening. 

The town hall, which was scheduled after the cancellation of the second presidential debate, will compete directly with Joe Biden’s own town hall on ABC, which will be airing at the same time. 

In the letter addressed to Comcast CEO Brian Roberts, NBCUniversal chairman Jeff Shell, and NBCUniversal News Group chairman Cesar Conde, the celebrities said they were “devastated” by the network scheduling the town hall at the same time as Mr Biden’s 

“This is not a partisan issue. This is about the political health of our democracy,” the letter read. 

Celebrities who signed the letter include Law & Order stars Mariska Hargitay and Christopher Meloni; This Is Us stars Sterling K. Brown, Mandy Moore, and Milo Ventimiglia; and former stars for the network including Debra Messing, Allison Janney, and Aubrey Plaza. 

NBC has faced backlash since it was announced Mr Trump’s town hall would air at the same time as the former vice president’s. Reasoning behind the backlash is concern that having the town halls on at the same time would do more of a disservice to voters, as they would be unable to watch both. 

“We believe this kind of indifference to the norms and rules of our democracy are what have brought our country to this perilous state,” the letter read. Rather than push to completely cancel the Trump town hall, the signees requested it shift time slots. “We are simply asking that NBC air the President’s town hall either before or after Vice President Biden’s so that American voters can have the opportunity to watch both,” the letter read. “We understand the necessities of business, especially in this difficult time. But we believe there are larger issues of civic responsibility at stake here.”

‘They have a gun to my head’: Kayleigh McEnany claims she’s been ‘permanently' banned from Twitter for sharing Biden story

White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany on Wednesday night claimed Twitter is holding a "gun to my head" after she posted a link to a critical story about Joe Biden.

Ms McEnany told Fox News's Hannity that she has been “permanently” banned from her personal account after redistributing the article, which both Facebook and Twitter have restricted access to over concerns about its veracity.

"It’s not a temporary blockage," said Ms McEnany. "When I log on to my Twitter account, it says I'm permanently banned".

Matt Mathers with the report: 

Dr Fauci says Americans should consider cancelling Thanksgiving plans as Covid-19 cases surge

As coronavirus cases and hospitalisations continue to rise in many parts of the US, top government health adviser Dr Anthony Fauci has warned Americans that Thanksgiving gatherings could present a serious transmission risk.

Calling it an “unfortunate fact” that Thanksgiving gatherings could kick the spread of the virus into an even higher gear, Dr Fauci expressed his regret that Americans might have to choose between coming together as a family and their own and others’ safety.

“That is unfortunately a risk,” he told CBS News on Wednesday, “when you have people coming from out of town, gathering together in an indoor setting, you don’t know what the status of it is – it is unfortunate because that’s such a sacred part of American tradition, the family gathering around Thanksgiving, but that is a risk.”

Andrew Naughtie reports: 

Live: Donald Trump campaign rally in North Carolina

Trump aide who tested positive for Covid-19 to travel with president to North Carolina

Hope Hicks and Ronna McDaniel, both of whom previously tested positive for Covid-19, will be traveling with President Donald Trump to North Carolina today, CNN reports. 

Ms Hicks, a senior White House aide, and Ms McDaniel, the RNC chairwoman, reportedly completed their isolation period and would now be returning to the side of the president as he hosts another campaign rally. 

Reports of Hope Hicks testing positive for the novel virus surfaced two weeks ago and started a long series of people within the White House also testing positive – including Mr Trump, Melania Trump, Barron Trump, and White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany. 

It has not been revealed who might be patient zero, but Ms Hicks positive results did send the White House into a flurry of testing to find who else might have the novel virus. 

Trump targets Dr Fauci during his campaign rally

Donald Trump brought up Dr Anthony Fauci during his campaign rally in North Carolina on Thursday while boasting his administration’s response to the coronavirus pandemic. 

“We've done a great job,” Mr Trump said about his administration’s response. 

He then said Dr Fauci was a “nice guy”, amid loud boos from the crowd, while also slamming the nation’s top doctor for his comments earlier in the pandemic. 

“He's a nice guy... he said 'this is not a threat, this is not a problem,' and he said ‘do not wear a mask under any circumstances,'" Mr Trump said. 

Dr Fauci implored the pubic to not wear a mask at the start of the pandemic due to the PPE shortage in hospitals across the US. Health experts called for the masks to be left for hospitals to purchase so they could properly protect their employees working to treat Covid-19 patients. 

This directive was later changed as health experts learned more about the novel virus and determined masks could help curb the spread of the virus. 

Even with the criticism from the president, Mr Trump said: “He's a nice guy so I keep him around.” 

Mr Trump then accused Dr Fauci of being “a Democrat” and being “Cuomo’s friend”, referring to the New York governor. 

Dr Fauci has never publicly endorsed any politician through his decades-long career. As the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Dr Fauci has worked under six sitting presidents. 

The president choosing to label Dr Fauci under a political party could be after the health expert spoke out agains the Trump campaign for using his words in a recent campaign ad. 

Trump admits exposing Chief of Staff Mark Meadows to Covid-19: 'He didn't care. He's from North Carolina'

Donald Trump admitted to exposing his chief of staff to coronavirus by allowing Mark Meadows to fly with him to Walter Reed military hospital two weeks ago.

“He followed me. I said, you know what? ‘I just tested positive,’” the president told a rally crowd in Meadows’ home state. “He didn’t care. He’s in that helicopter. Hey, he’s from North Carolina.”

John T Bennett with the breaking news: 

Trump claims he will jail people for one year if they burn the American flag

Another claim Donald Trump made during his campaign rally on Thursday was that he would jail people who burned the American flag if he was re-elected. 

“You burn an American flag, you get one year in jail,” he said.

The North Carolina crowd cheered the loudest for this statement made by the president. 

But the statement disregards the First Amendment of the Constitution, which offers citizens the right to freedom of speech. Flag burning, based on a Supreme Court decision, has been labelled as symbolic speech. 

If Mr Trump actually pushed to jail people for burning flags, he would face a Supreme Court battle. 

President jokes about Hillary Clinton failing to break “glass ceiling” during rally

Donald Trump brought up Hillary Clinton during his campaign rally in Greenville, North Carolina. 

His rally turned into Mr Trump detailing Election Day in 2016 after he exceeded expectations and won the electoral college. Reminiscing on this moment included Mr Trump mentioning his competitor, Mrs Clinton. 

“They talked about the woman breaking the glass ceiling. And it didn't work out that way. The glass ceiling broke her.,” Mr Trump said against Mrs Clinton. 

He added: "But there will be a woman who breaks the glass ceiling. It just won't be Hillary. And you know who else it won't be? It won't be Kamala!"

Trump says Jesus Christ is more famous than him 

In an effort to boast his popularity, Mr Trump has made a comparison of himself to Jesus Christ. 

“Someone said to me the other day, 'you're the most famous person in the world by far.' I said, 'no I'm not' ... they said, 'who's more famous?' I said, ‘Jesus Christ,’" Mr Trump said. 

The president then joked he was not trying to compete against the religious figure for popularity.