Russian President Vladimir Putin. Photo: Mikhail Svetlov/Getty Images

Pentagon spokeswoman Dana White said in Saturday's Pentagon briefing that there has been a "2,000% increase in Russian trolls in the last 24 hours," following the coordinated strike against Syria on Friday night.

The bottom line: The problem of Russian actors generating division and conflict among Americans isn't going away. As Axios' Sara Fischer and David McCabe reported last year, they aim to sow confusion and capitalize on political divisions. Senator Ben Sasse said in a statement on Saturday that this illustrates what "the wars of the future will look like...The fog of war will not be limited to our situation rooms and battlefields."

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Updated 20 mins ago - Politics & Policy

Coronavirus dashboard

Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios

  1. Politics: Chris Christie released from hospital.
  2. Health: U.S. sees third day of 50,000 new coronavirus casesHow genes might predict the risk for severe COVID-19.
  3. Business: As job losses continue, doubts are rising about unemployment data.
  4. Poll: 26% of Americans know someone who went to work while sick.
  5. Sports: Guidelines may have caused college football's sloppy start.

The Pence-Harris debate was a big hit on the right

Photos: Justin Sullivan/Pool/AFP

Mike Pence's performance at the vice presidential debate set conservative media on fire, generating high interaction numbers on favorable coverage of him and critical coverage of Kamala Harris, according to data from NewsWhip provided to Axios.

The big picture: The debate was more notable for its return to civility than for generating strong emotions — but the NewsWhip data shows that the breakout moments saw more traction on the right.

Top 5 mail voting mistakes (and how to avoid them)

Map: Danielle Alberti/Axios

If you're planning to cast your ballot by mail this year rather than voting in person, these are the most common mistakes to avoid so you can ensure your vote is counted.

Why it matters: About 1% of absentee ballots that were cast in the 2016 and 2018 elections were ultimately tossed, according to the U.S. Elections Assistance Commission (EAC). That could translate to hundreds of thousands of uncounted ballots this year — enough to potentially change the outcome of the presidential race.