USS Abraham Lincoln Returns to San Diego Today

Here are the morning’s top stories on Thursday, October 8, 2026:

• The USS Abraham Lincoln returns to San Diego today after an intense, months-long deployment to the Middle East. The aircraft carrier spent more than 260 days at sea without a port call, and there have been multiple reports of low morale for the crew.
• Chico State students rallied yesterday against sexual assault on college campuses. It’s part of a nationwide outcry following rape allegations at Cornell University in New York.
• In the San Joaquin Valley, leaders of a faith-based nonprofit in the San Joaquin Valley announced a new initiative yesterday that trains residents to become “poll chaplains.” The Merced FOCUS reports that the “poll chaplains” aim to de-escalate tensions at polling places.

The aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln is due back in San Diego today, a homecoming that marks an end to a deployment of more than 10 months that included combat operations, supply shortages and more than 260 consecutive days at sea.

The morale issues among the embarked crew brought on by the arduous nature of this deployment reportedly contributed to at least one sailor jumping overboard.

Acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao told Congress last month eight service members in the Lincoln’s battle group attempted suicide — a number that is close to the suicide attempt rate Navy-wide in 2024, according to a Defense Department report.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth spoke with sailors on the carrier’s flight deck Wednesday off the San Diego coast. He said he was responsible for twice extending their deployment and praised the crew’s resilience.

“There were a few folks in the media who tried to turn the USS Abraham Lincoln into some sort of a symbol — a symbol of dysfunction, or a symbol of low morale or a symbol of a failed mission,” Hegseth said. “I know it’s the exact opposite.”

Hegseth told the crew the news media often sees “success” as a symbol of things gone wrong.

“They see success, and they see excellence, and they see difficulty and challenge that needs to be overcome … and they want to … point at it as, as a symbol of something that was missed or wrong,” he said.

Chico State students rallied Wednesday against sexual assault on college campuses, part of a nationwide outcry following rape allegations at Cornell University in New York.

Kassandra Ramondo, a student organizer, said this is a moment to speak up.

“I’ve been a victim of sexual assault,” Ramondo said. “I just want to use my voice and my power to stand up for that community because sometimes a lot of those survivors don’t have the capacity for that.”

The protest drew more than 100 people on campus, many holding signs reading “I am Jane Doe” in reference to the Cornell case.

The nonprofit Faith in the Valley are promoting the so-called “poll chaplains” to encourage voter turnout and dispel misinformation about elections during the election season.

Madeleine Guekguezian is a poll chaplain and a pastor at the United Methodist Church in the city of Merced.

“If you feel like you want to be a presence of calm — of trust — to learn how to de-escalate when folks want to cause a scene around a voting center, then I courage you to leave your contact information,” Guekguezian said.

Faith in the Valley plans to hold several training sessions for volunteers before Election Day on Nov. 3.

The chaplains will still follow election rules, such as standing at least 100 feet away from polling center entrances.