It’s Thursday, October 22nd - and NBC 6 has the top stories for the day.
No. 1 - Iranian intelligence was behind the threatening emails that were sent to voters in Florida, warning "we will come after you" if the recipients didn't vote for President Donald Trump, the FBI announced Wednesday.
The email, falsely purporting to be from the neo-fascist group Proud Boys, was part of an apparently widespread targeted spamming operation to intimidate voters in at least four battleground states. The email also claims they have the recipients' personal information and demands them to change their party affiliation to Republican. It ends with "I would take this seriously if I were you." A University of Florida senior was one of the recipients and provided the email to NBC 6.
No. 2 - A South Florida lawyer has been arrested for his involvement in at least five robberies or attempted robberies of local banks, FBI officials said Wednesday.
Aaron Honaker, 41, was arrested Tuesday night as he was attempting to enter a bank in Coral Gables, officials said. Coral Gables police said a detective who was in the downtown area had spotted Honaker, who matched the description of the bank robbery suspect. FBI officials said Honaker was involved in robberies or attempts dating back to at least Sept. 30, when he robbed a Citibank branch at 396 Alhambra Circle in Coral Gables.
No. 3 - President Donald Trump and his Democratic challenger, Joe Biden, are set to square off in their final debate Thursday, one of the last high-profile opportunities for the trailing incumbent to change the trajectory of an increasingly contentious campaign.
Worried about losing the White House, some advisers are urging Trump to trade his aggressive demeanor from the first debate for a lower-key style that puts Biden more squarely in the spotlight. Biden, who has stepped off the campaign trail in favor of debate prep, expects Trump to get intensely personal. Live coverage of the debate, moderated by NBC News’ Kristen Welker, begins at 8:30 pm on NBC 6.
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No. 4 - Former President Barack Obama will travel to Miami on Saturday to campaign for his former vice president Joe Biden.
Details on where he will travel have not been released by the Biden/Harris campaign. Obama's visit to South Florida is just one of many appearances he is making across the country ahead of Election Day. With 29 electoral votes, Florida is crucial to both presidential candidates but especially Trump, who moved his official residence to his Palm Beach estate Mar-a-Lago from New York last year. A Florida loss would make it nearly impossible for Trump to reach the 270 electoral votes needed to retain the White House.
No. 5 - The number of weapons being intercepted at Miami International Airport is up even though the number of people flying is not close to what it was before the coronavirus pandemic.
Whether it's a mistake or intentional it's landing those who show up armed at the checkpoints at MIA in hot water and the Transportation Security Administration is on alert to halt anyone from getting on board a plane with a weapon. This time last year at MIA 32 guns had been intercepted at checkpoints. This year that's up to 42, which is almost the total for all of 2019. To hear the message TSA officials want you to remember, click here for the story from NBC 6 investigator Willard Shepard.
No. 6 - Weatherwise, South Florida remains under a flood watch Thursday with showers and storms sticking around, but relief could be coming by the weekend. Keep your NBC 6 app handy for push alerts on any severe weather as well as First Alert Doppler 6000.
