A contrast in closing messages

In today's newsletter: Kamala Harris and Donald Trump offer sharply different closing arguments. High childbirth costs leave insured middle-class families with crippling debt. And an ancient Mayan city is discovered beneath the jungle.

Here's what to know today.

Harris promises to 'seek common ground' in closing arguments while Trump resorts to attacks

With a week until Election Day, Vice President Kamala Harris gave her closing arguments in a speech at The Ellipse, the same site where former President Donald Trump spoke on Jan. 6, 2021. At the heart of her speech was Trump’s authoritarian rhetoric. She characterized her Republican rival as “unstable, obsessed with revenge, consumed with grievance and out for unchecked power.” Drawing a contrast with Trump, Harris promised to “seek common ground” and “always put country over party.”

However, Harris’ message of unity was overshadowed by President Joe Biden, who appeared to criticize either Trump supporters or comedian Tony Hinchcliffe over racist jokes made during Trump’s New York City rally last weekend. “The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters,” Biden said during a video call for Latino voter outreach. The White House quickly went into damage control mode and claimed Biden was referring to the “hateful rhetoric” uttered at Trump's rally.

Also in Harris’ speech was an economic pitch, in which she promised to ban grocery price gouging, cap insulin and prescription drug costs and assist first-time home buyers with down payments.

Read the full story for more on Harris’ speech.

Whereas Harris tried to paint a picture of a brighter economic future under her leadership, Trump has focused much of his closing argument on illegal immigration. He has said he wants to abolish sanctuary cities, close the southern border and conduct mass deportations if he wins.

But Trump threatens to drown out his own closing argument by resorting to attacks on his rivals and off-topic zingers. In the past few weeks, he has insulted Harris’ intellect, threatened to jail political opponents and compared himself to the inventor of the paper clip. More recently, Trump has worked to tamp down anger over Hinchcliffe’s jokes. At a rally yesterday in Allentown, Pennsylvania, a majority-Latino city, Trump called to the lectern Puerto Rico’s Republican shadow senator, who proclaimed, “The people of Puerto Rico trust you.”

Read more about Trump’s closing arguments.

More election coverage:

➡️ While we wait for Election Day, NBC News chief political correspondent Chuck Todd wants to share his thoughts. Specifically, “I want to essentially brain-dump everything I’m thinking" about how the campaign could end and what he's looking for on election night. Read the full analysis.

➡️ Trump’s team is considering asking local law enforcement to help with mass deportations and threatening to withhold federal grants to those that decline to take part, sources said.

➡️ When will NBC News’ Decision Desk know who has won the presidential race? If it’s a close race, don’t expect a quick resolution.

➡️ Nikki Haley was critical of Trump world, taking aim at the language used in recent ads and at his New York rally, saying “this bromance and masculinity stuff” is “going to make women uncomfortable.”

➡️ House Speaker Mike Johnson said there would be “massive” health care changes if Trump wins the election.

➡️ The Supreme Court rejected a long-shot bid by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to remove his name from the ballot in Wisconsin and Michigan.

➡️ Three-term Rep. Colin Allred is out to unseat Sen. Ted Cruz in Texas. Allred, a civil rights lawyer and former NFL player, is leaning into bipartisanship while touting progressive policies.

They're middle-class and insured. Childbirth still left them with crippling debt.

The health care costs for Jessica Hurley's pregnancy, the delivery of her twin boys and the twins' stays in the NICU totaled nearly $38,000. Though the Hurleys' bills were eventually reprocessed and they were granted some financial assistance, they still were responsible for nearly $11,500. Hurley said she puts off going to the doctor to address her own health care needs, as well as her sons', fearing "what bills I might get."

Becky Munge nearly died when she gave birth to her daughter in 2021. The Munges wound up paying $8,000 for a complicated delivery and a NICU stay, after insurance covered around $1 million in medical expenses. They still owe $4,000 for a bone infection treatment. In prioritizing their medical expenses over other costs, the Munges have amassed around $55,000 in credit card debt and drained their retirement accounts.

The Hurleys and the Munges are among those who belong to a vulnerable category of middle-class families: They earn too much for Medicaid but can't afford or access insurance plans that sufficiently cover costly births. In the last few years, this group has been left behind by major health care reforms.

Several families who spoke to NBC News about the medical debt they have faced after childbirth said the expenses have put strains on their marriages and made it difficult to afford clothing and toys for their kids. And they all found it nearly impossible to be certain of what they owed and why.

Read the full story here.

How North Korea could benefit from helping fight Russia's war

The Pentagon confirmed this week that around 10,000 North Korean troops have been sent to Russia and are presumed to be joining the fight in the Kremlin's war against Ukraine within "the next several weeks." It's a watershed moment that complicates an international web of interests and, some observers say, risks escalating conflict by connecting rising tensions in Europe and the Asia-Pacific.

It's clear how Russia benefits from the influx of troops after Ukraine seized a swath of Russian territory in the Kursk region in August. But what does North Korea stand to gain? Analysts point out a few things.

Because it has been years since North Korea has engaged in on-the-ground conflict, having its military on the battlefield would give troops and generals a chance to study modern warfare. But more importantly, an intensified partnership between Russia and North Korea is a likely boon for Kim Jong Un's nuclear ambitions.

A vast ancient city is found by accident

Imagine looking at a map and realizing you're looking at an entire ancient city, one that might have been home to up to 50,000 people at its peak. That’s what happened to a Ph.D. candidate at Tulane University in New Orleans, who “stumbled across” a huge ancient Mayan city in Mexico while browsing through drone data. His find led researchers to uncover 6,674 structures that had long been hidden in the jungle. The findings are surprising on their own but also lead me to wonder: What other relics are out there that we don’t yet know about?

— Elizabeth Robinson, newsletter editor

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Thanks for reading the Morning Rundown. Today's newsletter was curated for you by Elizabeth Robinson.

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