September 17, 2024, presidential campaign news

Our live coverage has ended.?Follow the?latest 2024 election news?here or read through the posts below.

Supporters listen as Republican presidential nominee, former President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign town hall meeting, in Flint, Michigan, on September 17.

Former President Donald Trump on Tuesday said he will meet with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi next week and labeled India a “very big abuser” when it comes to trade with the United States as he spoke about?his vision for a reciprocal trade policy.

Trump added that countries like India, Brazil and China are “at the top of their game and they use it against us.”

Michigan voters were able to ask questions at the town hall, all of which teed up Trump to talk about his policy promises. When a retired nurse asked how he would bring down the price of food and groceries, Trump said, “We have to start always with energy,” pledging to bring down Americans’ energy bills by 50% within his first year if elected.

“Interest rates are going to follow,” he said, adding, “actually they’re going to follow for another reason.”

Trump also referenced an expected interest rate cut announcement from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell on Wednesday.

Trump also acknowledged his rambling speaking style and pushed back on Vice President Kamala Harris’ jab during last week’s debate that people leave during his rallies.

“You know, when she said that, well, your rallies, people leave. Honestly, nobody does. And if I saw them leaving, I’d say, and ladies and gentlemen, make America great again, now get the hell out. OK, because I don’t want people leaving,” Trump told a hockey arena full of supporters in Flint, Michigan.

Last week in Philadelphia, Harris said people leave Trump’s rallies early “out of exhaustion and boredom,” which prompted Trump to defend his campaign events and then pivot to making false claims about immigrants eating pets in Ohio.

Trump acknowledged to the Michigan crowd that he uses “long, sometimes very complex sentences and paragraphs,” but he said “they come all together.”

In a screengrab taken from a video, Democratic vice presidential nominee, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz speaks in Asheville, North Carolina on September 17.

Tim Walz, the Democratic vice presidential nominee, slammed JD Vance’s defense of unsubstantiated claims that Haitian immigrants are eating pets of residents in Springfield, Ohio, suggesting the Ohio senator may be “making up stories” about other topics.

On Sunday, Vance fiercely defended to CNN’s Dana Bash the unfounded rumor about Haitian immigrants in the small Ohio town without providing evidence to support his claim, which has also been promoted by former President Donald Trump.??

“The American media totally ignored this stuff until Donald Trump and I started talking about cat memes. If I have to create stories so that the American media actually pays attention to the suffering of the American people, then that’s what I’m going to do,” the GOP vice presidential nominee said on “State of the Union,” later adding that by “create,” he meant getting the media to focus on stories coming from constituent complaints.

During a campaign rally in Asheville, North Carolina, on Tuesday, Walz jumped on Vance’s comment, claiming he “admitted” to knowingly spreading “vicious, hurtful lies about immigrants” with the intent to “spread fear” and “drum up support” for the GOP ticket.?

Walz suggested Republicans are attempting to “blame the brown man” to harness fear as a “short-term motivator,” while drawing a contrast to Vice President Kamala Harris’ vision for the country.?

“These guys focus on fear, fear of the unknown. Blame the brown man. Blame somebody else. That’s what they do,” Walz said. “It’s important to know who they are, but what really inspires people is policies and a vision like Kamala Harris is bringing that’s about the future.”

Steve Witkoff speaks with CNN's Kaitlan Collins.

Real estate investor Steve Witkoff on Tuesday detailed Sunday’s apparent assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump, telling CNN’s Kaitlan Collins that they had arrived at the fifth hole on the golf course when a US Secret Service agent fired at a man who had a rifle in the bushes along the perimeter of the Trump International Golf Club.

Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said the agent fired at the gunman, who officials said was within 500 yards of Trump. Bradshaw said no shots were fired by the gunman, who later fled in a car. The Secret Service later said the gunman had no line of sight on the former president.

Witkoff described Tuesday seeing Secret Service agents advance towards the source of the gunshots while others secured the perimeter. A group of snipers, he added, was “probably three yards away from me with their tripods on the ground.”

“Everybody doing his job, and I was mesmerized by the whole thing, Kaitlan, I really was,” he said.

Asked if he’d heard from Trump about whether he wants to be able to keep playing golf, Witkoff said, “I think what I would tell him is that he should do what makes him happy.”

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez speaks with CNN on September 17.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez argued Tuesday that the most violent rhetoric this election cycle has come from former President Donald Trump and his running mate, JD Vance, as the two seek to blame liberals’ rhetoric for Sunday’s apparent assassination attempt against Trump.

Ocasio-Cortez said Trump “absolutely” is a threat to democracy, citing his actions on January 6, 2021, and unwillingness to accept the results of the 2020 presidential election. The former president has argued Democrats’ insistence that he is a threat to democracy led to the two attempts on his life.

Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, right, on stage with Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump, during a town hall event in Flint, Michigan on September 17.

Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders told a crowd of Michigan voters Tuesday that her children keep her down to Earth, while remarking that Vice President Kamala Harris “doesn’t have anything keeping her humble.”

Sanders, who served as White House press secretary during Donald Trump’s administration, said at a town hall with the former president that the “greatest title” she has is being a mom and that her three children serve as a “permanent reminder of everything that is at stake in this country.”

She told a story of how she was getting her daughter ready for a father-daughter dance and she got emotional. “My sweet daughter reaches up, pats my shoulder and says, ‘It’s OK, Mommy, one day you can be pretty too,’” she said.

“So my kids keep me humble. Unfortunately, Kamala Harris doesn’t have anything keeping her humble,” she continued.

Some context: Harris does not have biological children, but she is stepmother to her husband Doug Emhoff’s children from a previous marriage. The family has spoken extensively about their close relationship and how Harris has played an important role in her stepchildren’s lives.

Just after being selected as Trump’s running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance faced public scrutiny for previous comments he made criticizing childless adults. Democrats have continued to link the Republican ticket to the rhetoric, including Taylor Swift, who signed off on her endorsement of Harris as “childless cat lady.”

Former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on August 19.

Hillary Clinton slammed Elon Musk for “rotten” and “creepy” comments about Taylor Swift, saying that his reaction to the pop megastar’s endorsement of Kamala Harris was “kind of another way of saying rape, I think.”?

Appearing on tech journalist?Kara Swisher’s podcast, Clinton was initially asked about the potential impact of Swift’s endorsement, and the former Democratic presidential nominee was enthusiastic. “I think Taylor Swift brings an unusual impact to an endorsement. I think her fan base is so intense and incredibly influenced by her,” Clinton said.

The conversation turned to Donald Trump’s critical reaction to Swift’s endorsement, and a social media post from Musk responding to the news, in which the tech billionaire?wrote, “Fine Taylor … you win … I will give you a child and guard your cats with my life.”

Clinton said that Trump “had his alter ego, Elon Musk, say something really rotten and creepy about her.”

Swisher jumped in, asking the former secretary of state to “please comment on that … what Elon said was he essentially would have a baby with her, or forcibly have a baby with her.”

Clinton replied, “Yeah impregnate her, which you know, is kind of another way of saying rape, I think.” She added, “I can’t understand why he says what he says.”

During the interview,?released Monday,?Clinton also accused critics demanding more policy details from Harris of holding her to a “double standard.”

She?went on to argue that Democrats needed to press a large gender gap to win in 2024, and ultimately made the case that “policy is not going to do it,” referencing her own struggles to break through to voters in 2016.

Law enforcement personnel investigate the area around Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida, after an apparent assassination attempt of former President Donald Trump on September 15, 2024

Days following an apparent assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, both presidential candidates pressed on with campaign efforts in must-win states.?

Vice President Kamala Harris spoke at a panel in Philadelphia, while Trump hosted a town hall in Flint, Michigan, this evening.?

Here are the latest developments:?

Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance, speaks at a campaign event in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, on September 17.

Former President Donald Trump’s running mate, JD Vance, slammed Senate legislation that would guarantee access to in vitro fertilization nationwide as a “ridiculous show vote bill” and accused Democrats of using the issue as a political weapon.

Senate Republicans voted to block the measure earlier Tuesday. The bill sought to make IVF treatment more affordable by mandating coverage for fertility treatments under employer-sponsored insurance and certain public insurance plans.

Vance argued the legislation “highlights one of the problems” he has with Vice President Kamala Harris’ “entire approach to government,” and criticized her and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer for “ridiculous show votes so that they can win elections.”

Vance reiterated his argument that the issue Republicans have with the Democrats’ bill is that it would “a huge infringement on religious liberty.”?

Asked to clarify his stance on same-sex marriage, Vance said that “the Supreme Court ruled that same-sex marriage is the law of the land, and nobody is trying to change that.”

“Whether you’re gay or straight, you are welcome in Donald Trump’s Republican Party so long as you believe in commonsense,” he added.

?Law enforcement secure the area around Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida, after an apparent assassination attempt of former President Donald Trump on September 15.

Former President Donald Trump said Tuesday that the Secret Service “did a hell of a job” in stopping Sunday’s apparent attempted assassination in Florida.

He praised the agents who identified and stopped the would-be assassin.

“Now, they do need more people, and they’ve been complaining about that for a long time. But he did a great job,” he said at a town hall in Flint, Michigan.?

His comments came amid scrutiny of the Secret Service in recent weeks — particularly over its failure to stop a shooter from firing at the former president at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, in July.?

Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal, who chairs the Senate Homeland Security subcommittee leading the investigation into that shooting, said Tuesday he is “on the verge of outrage” with the Department of Homeland Security’s lack of cooperation. Republican Sen. Josh Hawley said that “the problem right now” is that the DHS and Secret Service “are refusing to give us almost any documentation.”

“Why not? I mean, what do they — why don’t they want the accountability?” Hawley said.?

Trump also praised a witness who took pictures of the Florida suspect’s license plate and sent them to the sheriff’s office.?

“She saw something and decided it was bad,” he said of the witness. “Think of it — who would do this? If you took 1,000 of these incidents, would even one person have done it?”?

Republican presidential nominee, former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign town hall meeting in Flint, Michigan, on September 17.

Former President Donald Trump?recounted his calls with President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris following Sunday’s apparent assassination attempt on him, repeatedly saying both Democrats were “nice” to him.

“I have to say that President Biden called me yesterday,” he said at a town hall in Michigan on Tuesday, calling it a “very nice conversation.” Trump said he “appreciated” that Biden called about “what happened the other day.”

Trump also brought up his call earlier on Tuesday with Harris, saying that he “got a very nice call from Kamala.?It was very nice.” Still, while repeating that he appreciated the calls, he told the crowd that “we have to take back our country. We have to win. We’re going to win, and we’re going to make America great again.”

As Trump said his call with Harris was nice, the crowd in Flint booed, and a few people shouted “liar.”?

Later, while answering a question about the auto industry and railing against the Biden administration, Trump said he wanted to “be nice” because Biden “was so nice to me yesterday,” but he mused that he wished the call hadn’t happened so he didn’t have to praise his political rivals.

Republican presidential nominee, former President Donald Trump holds a campaign town hall meeting, moderated by Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders, in Flint, Michigan, on September 17.

Donald Trump told a Michigan crowd Tuesday night that steep tariffs he would impose on products imported from China, Mexico and other countries would rejuvenate the state’s automotive industry and drive an economic boom.?

The former president, in his first campaign event since Sunday’s apparent assassination attempt, said in Flint he would slap a 200% tariff on cars imported from Mexico. He said doing so would make those cars “unsellable in the United States.”?

He also criticized the United Auto Workers’ president, Shawn Fain, who he said is too supportive of President Joe Biden’s efforts to transition to electric vehicles. Trump claimed those vehicles are “all going to be made in China and Mexico,” despite union contracts negotiated late last year intended to guarantee those vehicles are built in the United States.?

Trump claimed he would impose “reciprocal” tariffs matching those that other countries slap on US imports — and said tariffs are a “beautiful word.”?

Harris’ campaign has said Trump’s proposed tariffs would effectively amount to an inflation-driving national sales tax. Tariffs are paid by the companies that import foreign goods — and Harris’ campaign has noted that companies are all but certain to pass those additional costs on to consumers.?

Trump linked his economic proposals to the apparent assassination attempt Sunday and one at a July rally in Pennsylvania.?

Former President Donald Trump waves to supporters as he is introduced for a town hall event in Flint, Michigan, on Tuesday.

Former President Donald Trump walked out through the crowd and shook hands with supporters at his first campaign event since Sunday’s apparent assassination attempt against him.?

Trump emerged from a curtain in a hockey arena in Flint, Michigan, and walked down a long pathway lined with metal barricades and flanked by security agents. People leaned out to greet him and shake his hands.?

Oftentimes at rallies, Trump walks onto the stage from an elevated platform and waves at supporters in the crowd without getting close.

“They think race-car driving is dangerous.?No, they think bull-riding — that’s pretty scary, right? No, this is a dangerous business, so we have to keep it safe,” Trump remarked to?Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, his former White House press secretary who is hosting a town hall with Michigan voters.?

As she introduced Trump, Sanders said, “The left has tried everything they can think of. They’ve tried to impeach this president. They’ve tried to throw him in jail,?and not once, but twice, two would-be assassins have tried to take this president down.”

The crowd chanted “fight, fight, fight,” a rallying cry popularized in the wake of the assassination attempt on Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, in July.

Members of a Secret Service counter assault team arrive ahead of former President Donald Trump at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on July 17.

The Biden administration submitted a special request to congressional committees in August asking for a boost to funding for the US Secret Service in the weeks leading up to and after the 2024 election, according to sources familiar with the matter, warning of “insufficient resources” for the agency if the request isn’t granted.?

The Office of Management and Budget submitted the so-called anomaly request, which includes the White House’s proposed additions to the standard contents of a short-term government funding bill, after the July assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, the sources told CNN.?

Congress and the White House are largely expected to negotiate a deal in the coming weeks to fund the government for a period of several months, lasting at least through the election, through a package known as a continuing resolution, or “CR.”?

The White House’s funding request, sources said, notes that if the change is not granted, the Secret Service would have “insufficient resources to sustain and enhance protective operations” during that period.??

A detailed amount of ramped-up spending was not specified in the request, which called instead for more flexible language that allows the Department of Homeland Security to provide funding “at a rate of operations necessary to continue protective and presidential campaign operations during the CR period.”?

Federal agencies customarily submit such requests to the Office of Management and Budget ahead of negotiations over short-term government funding.

The language proposed by the Biden administration for enhanced Secret Service funding through the 2024 election has appeared in at least one Republican-sponsored funding bill, lending credence to the belief that such an effort would see bipartisan support on the Hill.

Read more on the White House’s request here

Hunter?Biden leaves federal court in Los Angeles on September 5.

Hunter Biden asked a judge Tuesday to delay his gun sentencing from November 13 to late November or early December, in part because his family members are preoccupied with the presidential campaign and election, according to court filings.

President Joe Biden’s son is set to be sentenced for three gun felonies after he was convicted on all charges at a June trial in Delaware. Separately, he pleaded guilty to nine federal tax offenses and is scheduled to be sentenced for those crimes in December in California.

In all, he could face a maximum of 25 years in prison for the gun case and 17 years for the tax case, though it’s rare for people to get the most severe punishment available.

Hunter Biden’s lawyers said “it will be very difficult for Mr. Biden’s counsel to be ready for sentencing on November 13,” even though his legal team has been “diligently preparing for sentencing, including working with Delaware’s Chief Probation Officer to assemble the necessary financial paperwork, arrange pre-sentencing interviews, and prepare appropriate pre-sentencing submissions.”

Special counsel David Weiss opposes any delays, according to emails made public as part of Hunter Biden’s request to postpone the sentencing.

Biden’s lawyers also told the judge that they want more time because some members of the Biden family, who want to write and submit supportive letters for sentencing, are busy on the campaign trial.

They also raised the possibility that they might want to bring in witnesses to testify on Hunter Biden’s behalf at his gun sentencing. But they said these people “may not be available until after November 5 and the events that could occur right after that date,” referring to the presidential election.

Minnesota Governor?Tim?Walz delivers remarks at a campaign event in Superior, Wisconsin, on September 14.

Minnesota Gov. Tim?Walz?swiped?at?Georgia’s state government during a meeting with young voters in?Atlanta over voting?laws?that?he says “make it harder to vote.”

?Walz?met with students from four historically Black colleges and universities?at?a coffee shop in?Atlanta on Tuesday as part of a two-state swing through?Georgia?and North Carolina. He said he believes?Georgia?should have same-day voter registration, as he has approved in Minnesota.

?“We’ll compete on the field of ideas and policies, but all of these policies?that?make it more difficult is because they fear the voter. And they should this time, because we’re coming to vote,” he continued.

House Speaker Mike Johnson is seen surrounded by reporters and security guards at the Capitol on Tuesday.

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise told reporters Tuesday that lawmakers are making a few “minor” changes to a bill that would mandate that two candidates for president — Republican nominee Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Kamala Harris — receive the same level of Secret Service protection that President Joe Biden receives, and are aiming to put it on the floor this week.?

Meanwhile, House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters that the safety of candidates is a bipartisan issue and that “we’re going to do everything we can.”

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine speaks at a press conference at Springfield City Hall in Ohio on Monday.

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine on Tuesday welcomed presidential candidates to visit Springfield as “they have the right to be here,” but he emphasized “resources are really stretched” in the city right now.

Springfield, a town of nearly 60,000 in southwestern Ohio, has been thrown into chaos since Donald Trump and his running mate, Sen. JD Vance, began to spread false claims about Haitian immigrants eating pets. DeWine has deployed state troopers to monitor schools in the city after they received 33 bomb threats since late last week. Local colleges have moved to remote classes due to threats.

When asked whether Trump’s campaign has reached out to express support for Springfield, DeWine told reporters he hasn’t spoken with either Trump or Vance recently.

Vance said Tuesday there aren’t any explicit plans for Trump or himself to visit Springfield.

Vance said later Tuesday that he would like to visit the city and “talk with folks on the ground,” but said he wants to avoid overwhelming local law enforcement.

Springfield Mayor Rob Rue stressed that it would be very difficult on city resources if a candidate were to visit. “It would be fine with me if they decided not to make that stop right now,” he said at the news conference with the governor.

Rue also thanked DeWine for believing local leadership, adding that national leaders should “temper their words and speak truth.”

This post has been updated with remarks from JD Vance.

Microsoft said Tuesday that Russian operatives have in recent weeks intensified their online attacks on Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign by producing and disseminating videos promoting “outlandish conspiracy theories” aimed at stoking US racial and political divisions.

One of the inauthentic videos, which Microsoft said had been viewed millions of times, claimed to show Harris supporters attacking an attendee of a Donald Trump rally. Another video falsely claimed that Harris paralyzed a young girl in a 2011 hit-and-run accident. Russian operatives promoted the latter story through a website pretending to be a San Francisco media outlet, Microsoft researchers said.

Both videos were still accessible on X as of Tuesday afternoon, with one post of the video garnering 1.5 million views on its own. CNN has requested comment from the social media platform.

The report is the latest evidence that Kremlin-linked trolls and digital operatives are ramping up their efforts to denigrate Harris’ campaign just weeks before the presidential election. US intelligence agencies warned in July that Russia planned to “covertly use social media” to try to sway public opinion and undermine support for Ukraine in swing states.

CNN has requested comment on the Microsoft report from the Harris-Walz campaign and from the Russian Embassy in Washington, DC.

Read more here

Sen. JD Vance speaks at the US-Mexico border in Hereford, Arizona, on Thursday, August 1.

A week after President Barack Obama won reelection in November 2012, JD Vance, then a law student at Yale,?wrote a scathing rebuke?of the Republican Party’s stance on migrants and minorities.

He criticized the Party’s stance for being “openly hostile to non-whites” and for alienating “Blacks, Latinos, (and) the youth.”

Four years later, as Vance considered a career in Republican politics, he asked a former college professor to delete the article. That professor, Brad Nelson, taught Vance at Ohio State University while Vance was an undergraduate student. After Vance graduated, Nelson asked him to contribute to a blog he ran for the nonpartisan Center for World Conflict and Peace.

Nelson told CNN that during the 2016 Republican primary he agreed to delete the article at Vance’s request, so that he might have an easier time getting a job in Republican politics. However, the article, titled “A Blueprint for the GOP,” remains viewable on the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine.

More background: Vance has spread and defended false claims?about Haitian immigrants eating the pets of?residents in Springfield, Ohio.

Asked to support his claims in an interview with CNN, Vance pointed to what he said are firsthand accounts from constituents who have told him this is happening — though he didn’t provide the evidence.

Read more here

?A group of GOP senators sent a letter to acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe demanding former President Donald Trump receive the same level of protection as a sitting president, after the apparent assassination attempt against him over the weekend.

Sens. Tommy Tuberville, Roger Marshall, Bill Cassidy, Bill Hagerty, Mike Lee, Jim Risch, Marco Rubio and Rick Scott signed the letter, which stated:

In a news conference Tuesday, several of these senators reiterated their call for greater protection for Trump. However, Marshall said the Secret Service does not need more funding. “They’ve got plenty of personnel, they’ve got plenty of money, they need to prioritize where to be placing these Secret Service agents. They’ve got the people to do it,” he said.

Some background: The letter comes amid renewed scrutiny of the Secret Service and its ability to protect Trump. As?CNN reported, Trump on Monday said he needed more people on his security detail and suggested he told Joe Biden that when the president called him earlier in the day.?

Trump’s running mate, JD Vance, said Tuesday that the former president “ought to have the same” level of Secret Service protection as Biden.

This photo from the Martin County Sheriff's Department shows former President Donald Trump with the Martin County Sheriff's deputies who apprehended Ryan Wesley Routh.

Donald Trump met with the Florida sheriff’s deputies who took the suspect in Sunday’s apparent assassination attempt against him into custody, according to the Trump campaign.??

Trump campaign spokeswoman Margo Martin posted a video to X on Tuesday and said, “President?@realDonaldTrump?meets with the Martin County Sheriff’s Office Deputies who activated the traffic stop on I-95 and took Ryan Routh into custody.”

In the video, Trump is seen greeting the deputies at his Mar-a-Lago residence and says, “That’s good-looking human beings.”

“Great job. Thank you very much,” Trump says as he shook the hand of every officer.?

The suspect, Ryan Wesley Routh, was taken into custody by deputies from the Martin County Sheriff’s Office after fleeing Trump’s golf course and being detained on a nearby highway. He faces two gun-related charges.

Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance said Donald Trump “ought to have the same” level of Secret Service protection as President Joe Biden after a second apparent assassination attempt against the former president.?

Vance said he did not know whether Trump has specifically requested additional protection. However, he said he has spoken to allies on Capitol Hill who are working on appropriating funds “so that he has the security detail that maps up with President Biden’s.”

As CNN reported, Trump on Monday said he needed more people on his security detail and suggested he told Joe Biden that when the president called him earlier in the day.?

Vance said he has not personally requested additional Secret Service protection, saying that “I think we have what we need” and that “these guys are doing a great job.”

An April 2021 file photo shows an aerial view of Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida.

Acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe told former President Donald Trump on Monday that substantial security enhancements are needed for him to continue golfing safely at his private clubs,?three people familiar with the meeting told CNN.?

Trump asked Rowe during the meeting at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida whether the Secret Service believed it was safe for him to continue golfing — a favorite pastime of the former president’s. Rowe said the private courses raised concerns, given the large amount of space that need to be secured and their proximity to public roads and spaces, the sources said.?

A spokesperson for the Secret Service did not immediately respond to a request for comment.?

The New York Times first reported?on the exchange between Rowe and Trump.?

Rowe also acknowledged that it was easier to secure the golf course at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, where past presidents such as Barack Obama played while in office, given it is a military course. He also acknowledged Trump’s security detail, as a former president, is not as comprehensive as when he was in office.

Some of Trump’s advisers have argued the former president should be able to continue golfing, noting it’s one of the few activities he uses to blow off steam and socialize with allies.

During the meeting, Rowe also walked Trump through current security protocols as well as security enhancements that are available to his campaign, CNN previously reported. One source familiar with the meeting described it as “very direct, very matter of fact, and it was very cordial.”

Ryan Wesley Routh, the suspect in the apparent assassination attempt of Donald Trump,?pleaded guilty to possessing an explosive device stemming from an arrest in April 2002 in North Carolina.??

According to Guilford County records, Routh was in possession of an explosive device with a 10-inch detonation cord and a blasting cap. It’s unclear what lead to Routh’s arrest.

This incident is separate from another arrest in December of 2002, when?Routh drove off during?a traffic stop and barricaded?himself inside his office. Routh has?a lengthy criminal record?with charges including?burglary, larceny, arson and multiple charges of driving without a license.?

Vice President Kamala Harris addresses members of the National Association of Black Journalists in Philadelphia, on Tuesday.

Vice President Kamala Harris said she has full confidence in the Secret Service following Sunday’s apparent assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump.

“I do,” Harris responded when asked whether she feels safe with her Secret Service protection.

Speaking to a panel held by the National Association of Black Journalists on Tuesday, she then shifted her answer to address Springfield, Ohio, which has received threats after Republicans promoted false rumors about immigrants there.

“But I mean, you can go back to Ohio,” Harris said. “Not everybody has Secret Service, and there are far too many people in our country right now who are not feeling safe.”

“I feel safe,” Harris added. “I have Secret Service protection. But that doesn’t change my perspective on the importance of fighting for the safety of everybody in our country and doing everything we can to again lift people up and not beat people down.”

She said she spoke with Trump earlier today and told him there is no place for political violence in the United States

The 2024 election is now less than 50 days away, and clear messaging trends are emerging in the hundreds of millions worth of campaign advertising airing across the country. Democrats are leaning into messaging focused on abortion, taxes, and health care, while Republicans are emphasizing immigration, crime, and inflation.

Democrats are pouring money into campaign ads about abortion. Out of a total of $279 million spent on broadcast TV by all Democratic advertisers between August 15 and September 15, $83.8 million went to ads that referenced or discussed abortion.

Democrats also spent more than $70.1 million on ads about taxes, part of a concerted effort in the presidential race?to pitch middle-class tax cuts and blunt the persistent edge that voters give Trump on the economy. In addition, Democrats spent more than $52 million on ads about health care, many focused on Medicare, while ads about character, many featuring sharp personal attacks, accounted for about $36.5 million.

Some Democratic advertisers have placed a greater emphasis on abortion than others. In the presidential race, the Harris campaign and its allies have focused more on economic issues, such as taxes and housing; in congressional races, meanwhile, abortion rights have been a dominant issue.

Out of a total of $69.3 million spent on broadcast TV between August 15 and September 15, the Harris campaign spent $19.9 million on ads about?abortion, while at the same time spending $33.9 million on ads about?taxes, and $18.6 million on ads about?housing.

Republicans, by contrast, have almost totally avoided abortion — the main focus of Democratic attacks — in their campaign advertising, spending $0 on ads about abortion in the presidential race between August 15 and September 15, and just $6.4 million across all other races.

Instead, Republicans have emphasized competing issues: immigration and crime, which are often linked in their ads, and the economy, frequently criticizing the rising cost of living and progressive tax policy.

Reflecting those messaging priorities, out of a total of $275.4 million spent on broadcast TV over the last month, Republicans have spent $114 million on ads about immigration; $95.2 million on ads about crime; and $87.6 million on ads about inflation

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, while speaking to Georgia Tech students in Atlanta at an event celebrating National Voter Registration Day, urged young voters there to avoid becoming cynical as they engage in politics ahead of November’s election and beyond.

“It’s nothing secret to you, and you haven’t seen it — for many of us, this pessimism in our electoral system, this has not always been there. There had been joy in this, and we had a bunch of people shake hands and then they work together for a common good. This is something somewhat new, and it’s really, really scary,” he said.

“My fear is that you become cynical and check out. Maybe this is where we need you to work with your friends, where they say, ‘Oh, it’s not worth it. Not worth it. Both sides are the same. I’m really not into politics,’” Walz continued. “My response to that is, too damn bad. Politics is into you.”

Walz also made another reference to the apparent assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump on Sunday, again condemning the attack and calling for the end of gun violence broadly, linking the attempt on Trump’s life to the shooting at a Georgia high school earlier this month.?

Vice President Kamala Harris denounced the false rumors about migrants in Springfield, Ohio, being promoted by former President Donald Trump and vice presidential nominee JD Vance, calling the rumors “a crying shame.”

She added that “most people in this country, regardless of their race, are beginning to see through this nonsense,” which she said “we should not have the tolerance for.”

Some background: Republicans including Vance fueled a firestorm of misinformation this month when they spread?false claims about Haitian immigrants eating pets?in Springfield, injecting the town with chaos.

The claims, which have been widely discredited, have made their way onto the national stage. Trump further pushed the false narrative?during his first debate?against Harris, when he falsely claimed, “In Springfield, they’re eating the dogs. The people that came in, they’re eating the cats.”

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre defended President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday against comments from former President Donald Trump blaming their rhetoric for a second apparent assassination attempt against him over the weekend.?

In a Monday interview with Fox News, Trump blamed Biden and Harris for Sunday’s failed assassination attempt, saying, “their rhetoric is causing me to be shot at.”

“He believed the rhetoric of Biden and Harris, and he acted on it,”?Trump?claimed in an interview with?Fox News?of the suspect who came to his property in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Sunday.?

In a follow-up exchange, Jean-Pierre criticized comments from GOP vice presidential hopeful JD Vance, who said Monday that the “big?difference” between conservatives and liberals is that “no one has tried to kill Kamala Harris.”?

“It’s dangerous to have that type of rhetoric out there,” Jean-Pierre said. The White House press secretary also emphasized the need to “bring that temperature down of that political violent rhetoric.”

A?Monmouth University poll?released on Tuesday finds “practically no change” in voters’ support for either of the leading presidential candidates following their debate last week.

In the survey, 49% of registered voters say they will “definitely” or “probably” support Harris, while in a separate question, 44% say they will “definitely” or “probably” support Trump. In August, those numbers were 48% for Harris and 43% for Trump. These questions were not?asked in the format of a horserace poll – voters could say they were likely to support both or neither — and?should not be reported on as such.

On the issues: Majorities of registered voters say they feel they have a good idea about the specific policies that Trump (59%) and Harris (54%) respectively would pursue to help American families if they were elected president, the poll finds. About half (52%) say they’re at least somewhat confident that the federal government would be in safe hands if Harris were president, with 48% saying the same of Trump.

More about the poll: Monmouth University surveyed 803 registered voters by telephone and online on Sept. 11-15. Results for the full sample have a margin of sampling error of +/- 3.9 percentage points.

Pressed on whether her policy on the Israel-Hamas war differs from President Joe Biden’s, Vice President Kamala Harris offered no specific divergence — but said she believed it is time for a lasting ceasefire and hostage deal.

Asked about a specific policy that would end the war, Harris responded, “We need to get this deal done, and we need to get it done immediately, and that is my position, and that is my policy.”

More background: Harris’ answer reflected a position entirely in line with Biden’s approach to the conflict. She allowed no daylight between herself and her boss, who has unsuccessfully worked to secure an agreement that would pair a release of hostages held by Hamas with an end to the fighting in Gaza.

After months of painstaking negotiations, American officials have been unable to bring the talks over the finish line. CNN reported Tuesday that Biden’s national security advisers have no imminent plans to present him with?an updated proposal?in the?negotiations, the latest indication that talks to end the conflict have seriously stalled.

Yet Harris, in her comments Tuesday, did not offer a new approach.

This post has been updated with more on Harris’ comments on her Israel policy.

Vice President Kamala Harris acknowledged she has to work to earn the vote of Black people — especially Black men.

She continued: “So I’m working to earn the vote, not assuming I’m going to have it because I am Black, but because the policies and the perspectives I have.” She added she intends to be president for all Americans.

Vice President Kamala Harris offered few specific plans when pressed on her plan to lower child care costs for American families.

Speaking to the National Association of Black Journalists on Tuesday, the first question the vice president fielded was about the economy. Harris acknowledged the American dream feels “unattainable” for many young people and touted her vision for an “opportunity economy” that benefits all.

One of the panelists, “Fresh Air” co-host Tonya Mosley, pressed Harris for specifics on lowering child care costs, aside from the child tax credit she has already pitched.

Harris responded: “It is, sadly, the state of affairs in our country that working people often have to decide to either be able to work or be able to afford child care.”

She said no family should be paying more than 7% of their income on child care, but did not say what policies she would implement to achieve that goal.

Vice President Kamala Harris called former President Donald Trump this afternoon to speak with him directly to express that she is grateful that he is safe following the apparent assassination attempt against him, a White House official said.?

The conversation was cordial and brief, the official said.

Biden and Trump spoke yesterday: President Joe?Biden?and Trump had a “cordial conversation” on Monday, White House spokesperson Emilie Simons?wrote on X.?

Biden?also conveyed his relief that?Trump?was safe and the former president expressed his thanks for the call, Simons said.

CNN’s Sam Fossum?contributed reporting to this post.

Vice President Kamala Harris holds a discussion hosted by the National Association of Black Journalists in Philadelphia on September 17.

Vice President Kamala Harris is participating in a panel discussion with members of the National Association of Black Journalists.

The panel is taking place at the WHYY studios in Philadelphia.

This comes several weeks after former President Donald Trump also participated in an interview with NABJ at their conference in Chicago. During that contentious interview, Trump questioned Harris’ racial identity and falsely claimed she only recently began presenting herself as Black.

The FBI is currently searching the home of Ryan Routh, the suspect in the apparent assassination attempt of former President Donald Trump, in Hawaii.

CNN can see multiple federal vehicles outside the home on the beachfront community of Kaawa on the east side of the island of Oahu.

Agents are going in and out and a public information officer on site said they are executing a court-authorized search warrant.

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Tuesday praised the Secret Service’s response to the apparent attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump over the weekend.

The agency “did its job” and “eliminated a threat,” Mayorkas said at Politico’s AI & Tech Summit in Washington, DC.

The Secret Service, which is part of DHS, has been under intense scrutiny after the second apparent assassination attempt aimed at Trump in three months, amid questions about whether the agency has the resources it needs in an elevated threat environment.?

The Secret Service has “enhanced” the security posture around Trump, Mayorkas said, “so that he is receiving a level of security commensurate with the fact that he is a former president and on the campaign trail.”

Mayorkas reiterated DHS’s assessment that the US is in a “heightened” threat environment that includes potential threats from foreign terrorists and domestic violent extremists.??

“It is a threat environment that is of deep concern, and it requires vigilance at every level of government, and frankly on every block of each community across this country,” Mayorkas said.

US officials, Mayorkas said, are also “concerned about the situation” in Springfield, Ohio, where schools were evacuated Monday after bomb threats that came in the wake of a viral and false claims about Haitian immigrants that Trump and his running mate, JD Vance, helped propagate.

“The community is feeling extraordinary threatened,” Mayorkas said. “They’ve received bomb threats and other threats of violence based on false statements.”

In the wake of the?apparent assassination attempt?against Donald Trump on Sunday, the former president’s running mate, JD Vance,?argued?in a speech in Georgia on Monday that the two recent attempts to kill Trump are evidence that “the left needs to tone down the rhetoric and needs to cut this crap out; somebody’s going to get hurt by it.”

What Vance didn’t mention was that Trump has repeatedly told the American people that his opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, is a fascist whose election would mean the end of the country itself.

In fact, Trump called Harris a fascist at least twice last week alone.

“She’s a Marxist, communist, fascist, socialist,” Trump?said?at an Arizona rally on Thursday.

“This is a radical-left, Marxist, communist, fascist,” Trump?said?while attacking Harris at a news conference on Friday.

This wasn’t new rhetoric. “We have a fascist person running who’s incompetent,” Trump?told Virginia residents?during a campaign stop in August; at an Arizona rally that month, Trump?said?the true divide in American politics is between patriots with traditional values and “these far-left fascists led by Harris and her group.”

A Vance spokesperson did not immediately respond to CNN’s request Tuesday to explain whether the Ohio senator is calling on Trump to tone down his language, and, if not, what Vance sees as the difference between Trump’s words and the words from “the left” he was denouncing.

Read more of the analysis here.

Former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick speaks during the Oakland County Republican Party’s Lincoln Day Dinner at the Suburban Collection Showcase in Novi, Michigan, on Wednesday, August 21.

The Michigan Republican Party is running a radio ad supporting former President Donald Trump in Detroit featuring the city’s former Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick.

Kilpatrick was sent to a federal detention facility in 2013 after he was convicted on federal charges of racketeering conspiracy, extortion and filing false tax returns.

Trump commuted Kilpatrick’s sentence as one of his last acts in office. The former Democratic mayor endorsed Trump earlier this summer.

In the one-minute radio ad, Kilpatrick talks about how he’s had to challenge his previous beliefs, including on “identity politics.”

Sen. Chris Murphy at the National Constitution Center on September 10 in Philadelphia.

Sen. Chris Murphy, chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said his panel has asked the US Secret Service to “get creative” in its requests for additional resources, saying “they can’t hire new Secret Service agents to make a difference between now and the inauguration” in January.

The Connecticut Democrat told CNN’s Manu Raju that Senate appropriators and the Biden administration are in talks about how much money to add for the Secret Service in the upcoming stop-gap government funding bill.

He said it could be “hundreds of millions of dollars” to beef up the agency’s budget, or it could be language allowing the Secret Service to spend its existing money faster.

Murphy said Congress doesn’t “necessarily need” to include additional Secret Service funding in the impending bill, but “we could for now give them the ability to spend at an accelerated rate between now and the inauguration.”

Some background: Murphy’s comments come as the?second apparent assassination attempt?against?Donald Trump?in as many months is raising new questions about whether the Secret Service can adequately protect the former president.

After a second close call, President?Joe Biden?recognized a problem still persists. “The Secret Service needs more help,” he told reporters Monday.

The sounds of blasting and bulldozing in the hills overlooking Las Vegas are proof change is a constant here, with the new $5 million homes evidence of the vibrant, upscale demand.

It is progress, longtime Las Vegas real estate agent Zoila Sanchez says, as she points out new construction from the patio of her own home in suburban Henderson. But it is also a reminder of a major economic and political issue here.

Rents are on the rise, and starter homes are scarce. The wealthy can find what they want — or build it — but working-class families face a housing crunch.

Sanchez says a Federal Reserve interest rate cut would help, and she is counting on one soon not only to help her business and local families but also her candidate for president: Kamala Harris.

Donald Trump narrowly lost Nevada in both 2016 and 2020. Sanchez concedes she hears more support for him this time among Latino voters, especially men.

Rogelio Regalado and Rafael Cerros Jr. both said the economy is by far the biggest reason people they know who were solid Democrats are at least open to supporting Trump.

“It is 100% that,” Cerros said.

Nevada was crushed during the Covid-19 pandemic because of its heavy reliance on tourism. The state had the highest pandemic unemployment rate, at one point just shy of 31% — more than twice the national average.

The statistics now are clear: The jobs are back, and then some. But the bruises linger, and working families trying to put the pandemic stress behind them have faced housing and inflation pressures.

Read more here

Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell are seen backstage during the 96th Annual Academy Awards at Dolby Theatre on March 10 in Hollywood, California.

Pop megastar Billie Eilish and her collaborator and brother, Finneas O’Connell, on Tuesday said they would be voting for Vice President Kamala Harris, marking the latest major celebrity endorsement for the Democratic ticket.

“Today is National Voter Registration Day, and we are asking you to please join us in going to?iwillvote.com?to check your status and vote early like we do,” O’Connell

“We can’t let extremists control our lives, our freedoms and our future. The only way to stop them and the dangerous Project 2025 agenda is to vote and elect Kamala Harris,” O’Connell said.?

“Vote like your life depends on it, because it does,”?Eilish said.?

The pair urged supporters to cast their ballots early. “Today is National Voter Registration Day, and we are asking you to please join us in going to?iwillvote.com?to check your status and vote early like we do,” O’Connell said.

Eilish is the latest pop artist to endorse Harris, after Taylor Swift announced last week she is supporting the vice president, ending months of speculation over whether the superstar would share her views ahead of the election.

Vice President Kamala Harris again condemned political violence during her first radio interview following former President Donald Trump’s second apparent assassination attempt.?

Harris made the remarks during an interview taped on Monday with Nueva Network’s radio host Stephanie Himonidis, also known as “Chiquibaby.”

Harris previously said she was “deeply disturbed” and condemned violence on Sunday following the security incident that occurred while Trump was golfing in Florida.

What Trump has said: The former president on Monday?unleashed a series of attacks, blaming Harris and Biden for this latest apparent attempt on his life. He told Fox News Digital on Monday, that “their rhetoric is causing me to be shot at” and that they are “the real threat.” He similarly lambasted the Democratic president and vice president on his Truth Social website.

A senior embryologist at West Coast Fertility Centers in Fountain Valley, California, adds media to petri dishes containing embryos before freezing the embryos on February 29.

Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign and Senate allies used the chamber’s expected vote on a bill to guarantee access to in vitro fertilization nationwide to draw contrasts between their Republican rivals, former President Donald Trump and Ohio Sen. JD Vance.

Vance will spend Tuesday campaigning in Michigan and Wisconsin as the Senate is expected to vote on the bill.

Senate Democrats are bringing the bill back to the floor after Republicans blocked the measure from advancing in June. The legislation is likely to again be blocked by GOP senators.

Sen. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, one of the legislation’s sponsors, said “we know exactly how (Vance) would vote, because he voted against this bill just a couple of months ago.”

Duckworth, who had her own children using IVF, said Trump and Vance “spent weeks lying about their records on IVF, and pretending to champion this cause, but we know time and again, when given the chance, they’ll never actually do anything to support IVF.”

Trump’s stance: The former president is due to campaign in Michigan on Tuesday evening. The last time he was in the battleground state, he pledged to implement a policy as president that would pay for IVF, without specifying how the treatments would be paid for.

He has said multiple times that his administration would be “great” for women’s reproductive rights, despite regularly touting his role in eliminating the constitutional right to an abortion that had been upheld for nearly half a century.?

During the second presidential debate, Trump would not directly say whether he would veto a national abortion ban, though he has said his position is that the issue should be decided by states.

Former President Donald Trump on Tuesday again?threatened prosecution and “long term prison sentences” for election officials and political operatives, whom he suggested could cheat in the 2024 election, if he wins the presidency.

Trump posted the same message, word for word, on September 7 on Truth Social.

It falsely claims Democrats engaged in fraudulent behavior in 2020 and says that Trump, attorneys and legal scholars are “watching the Sanctity of the 2024 Presidential Election very closely.”

Some background: Trump has been ramping up efforts to cast doubt on the integrity of the 2024 election and has routinely suggested he would weaponize the justice system to go after his political opponents if voters return him to the White House — threats that began after he was first indicted in his Manhattan hush money case more than a year ago.

Despite Trump’s repeated claims, the?2020 election was highly secure, and he lost to Joe Biden by more than 7 million votes. There is no evidence of voter fraud even close to widespread enough to have changed the outcome of the election in any state.

Trump still faces his own charges over election interference?stemming from efforts to subvert the 2020 election, including?a four-count indictment in his?federal?case. A separate election interference case against him in Fulton County, Georgia, has been?indefinitely paused.

Republican Sens. Lindsey Graham from South Caroline and Bill Cassidy of Louisiana argued that former President Donald Trump should steer clear of debunked rumors of migrants eating pets in Springfield, Ohio, as threats against local officials and others in the city continue.?

“I think the better attack on the broken immigration system is the women who’ve been raped and murdered. We know that’s true,” said Graham. “We know that the leading cause of death for young people is fentanyl poisoning coming through a broken border coming through Mexico. I’d rather talk about that.”?

He added, “I don’t know about dogs and cats, but I know about raped women. I know about people who are dying from fentanyl poisoning directly related to Mexican drug cartels who are running amok to the southern border.”

Cassidy said of the rumor: “it turns out it’s not true,” and when pressed on whether Trump should continue to repeat it, he replied, “I prefer not to say things which are not true.”

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz visits H&H Soul Food Restaurant in Macon, Georgia, on Tuesday.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz visited a soul food restaurant in Macon, Georgia, where he met with voters and made brief remarks amid his two-state swing through Georgia and North Carolina on Tuesday.

Walz, the Democratic vice presidential nominee, walked into the restaurant by joking about “the perks of being on this ticket,” referring to making stops at local restaurants like H&H restaurant, a historic comfort food diner in Macon.

At one instance, he spoke about the aftermath of his son Gus’ emotional reaction to seeing him speak at the Democratic National Convention last month. He told one voter, “It’s like the whole country kind of wrapped their arms around him.”

“It’s scary, and it was scary. We’ve been really protective over the years,” he said. “There’s a few people that nothing is off limits, but the majority … my faith in humanity, was so restored, they wrapped their arms around that kid.”

At the end of the event, Walz was introduced for brief formal remarks by Stanley Stewart, a Macon city commissioner, who spoke about Walz’s place in the legacy of Democratic politicians and mentioned meeting Vice President Kamala Harris in Selma, Alabama earlier this year.?

Attorney General Merrick Garland pledged Tuesday that the law enforcement community will “work together to tirelessly determine accountability” in the apparent assassination attempt of former President Donald Trump last weekend.??

He continued: “The entire Justice Department — including in particular, the FBI, the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida, the National Security Division — are all coordinating closely with our local state law enforcement partners on the ground. We will all work together to tirelessly determine accountability?in this matter. We will spare no resource in this investigation.”??

Ryan Wesley Routh, the suspect in Sunday’s incident, was charged on Monday with two gun-related crimes. Additional charges could be brought as the investigation continues, law enforcement officials have told CNN.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal during a hearing in Washington, DC, on Tuesday, September 10.

Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal, who chairs the Senate Homeland Security subcommittee leading the investigation into the first assassination attempt of former President Donald Trump, said he is “on the verge of outrage” with the Department of Homeland Security’s lack of cooperation.?

Blumenthal added that they have refused to provide “documents, witnesses, other evidence that is important,” and said he is open to issuing subpoenas if this continues.?

“I know how to do subpoenas. I’m very willing and able to use the subpoena process, if necessary, to get information from the Department of Homeland Security, and we have told them repeatedly about our frustration,” he said. “I’m deeply dissatisfied and disappointed.”??

GOP Sen. John Kennedy from Louisiana declared that the Secret Service should not receive more funding until they answer Congress’ questions. “We need answers more than the Secret Service needs money,” he insisted.

Senate Intelligence Committee Chair Mark Warner, a Democrat from Virginia, acknowledged that the Secret Service might need more resources, but he noted that they haven’t asked for any extra funding. “I’m wide open, as I think everyone is, to the notion that the Secret Service will need more resources,” he said. “I don’t see that case being presented, but of course, if there’s more resources needed, Congress needs to act.”?

Sen. Josh Hawley in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on July 30.

Republican Sen. Josh Hawley voiced frustrations with the Department of Homeland Security and the Secret Service, saying the agencies are again “stonewall(ing)” the committee investigating the first assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump.?

The Missouri senator pointed to the lack of cooperation when asked if the committee would also be investigating Sunday’s assassination attempt, saying “the problem right now” is that the DHS and Secret Service “are refusing to give us almost any documentation.”

Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal, who chairs the Senate Homeland Security subcommittee leading the investigation into the first assassination attempt of former President Donald Trump, also said he is “on the verge of outrage” with the Department of Homeland Security’s lack of cooperation.?

Acting Director Ronald Rowe Jr. of the US Secret Service attends a press conference regarding an apparent assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump on September 16, 2024 in West Palm Beach, Florida.

Former President Donald Trump’s meeting with acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe on Monday was brief and matter of fact, two sources familiar with the meeting told CNN.

Rowe walked the former president through their current security protocols as well as security enhancements that are available to his campaign.?

CNN previously reported that Trump is expected to maintain his campaign schedule in the aftermath of the apparent second assassination attempt, on Sunday. The advisers told CNN security enhancements are being made in response to the incident, and such measures will likely be noticeable on the ground during his political events this week.

The?advisers would not go into detail over what exactly those enhancements will look like, citing the heightened concerns over the former president’s security. Trump and his advisers continue to praise the former president’s Secret Service personnel on the ground, with the former president having privately remarked that his day-to-day secret service detail, which he has worked with for years and knows personally, as “heroes.”

“On a systematic level, there’s obviously some things that need to be changed and adjusted. That’s what we’ve always said. It’s not the people on the ground, it’s the system in place” that might not be well-equipped to handle the current environment, one of the advisers said.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz called for the end of gun violence in the wake of a shooting at a Georgia high school earlier this month while speaking to volunteers at a Georgia field office on Tuesday.

Walz told supporters in Macon, Georgia that Vice President Kamala Harris would work to reduce mass shooting incidents in his first trip to the state since the Apalachee High School shooting in Winder, Georgia, that left four people dead and nine others injured.?

Walz also made a reference to a comment Ohio Sen. JD Vance made in the aftermath of the shooting lamenting that school shootings are “a fact of life.”

He also made reference to the two apparent assassination attempts on former President Donald Trump in calling for the end of gun violence.

“That is not just a fact of life people, that is not just a fact of life,” he said. “And as Donald Trump would know, this violence across the country has got to end. Gun violence has got to end.”

President Joe Biden said “everything is frightening” in the wake of the second apparent assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, telling a radio show that more resources should be provided to the US Secret Service.

Biden described the climate as “up across the board” in an interview airing Tuesday with the Dallas-based radio show DeDe in the Morning.

Biden, who called into the show Monday night, said “just got off the phone” with Trump.

“We had about a five-minute call and I told him what we’re doing,” Biden said. “He thanked me very much for the call, told me he really appreciates what I was doing, etcetera.”

Biden also extolled his “smart as hell” Vice President Kamala Harris, describing their “close” work together in the interview.

“We work really closely together,” Biden told the outlet. “Every major initiative that we’ve been credited for from cyber security, stuff we’ve done.”

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks during a news conference in the aftermath of the apparent assassination attempt of Republican presidential nominee and former President Donald Trump on Tuesday, September 17, in West Palm Beach, Florida.

Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced an executive order to launch a state investigation into the apparent assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump on Sunday at his West Palm Beach golf course.

DeSantis said the Office of Statewide Prosecution would lead the investigation since there appear to be potential law violations in multiple counties. The state may be able to file stronger charges against suspect Ryan Wesley Routh than federal prosecutors, he said.

“The state of Florida has jurisdiction over the most serious, straightforward offense, which is attempted murder,” DeSantis said.

DeSantis waded into political territory during the news conference, saying he has doubts about the ability of federal law enforcement to be fair while investigating the threat to Trump.

“In my judgment, it’s not in the best interest of our state or our nation to have the same federal agencies that are seeking to prosecute Donald Trump leading this investigation,” the governor said.

The state investigation will be supervised by Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody, who also suggested that criticism of Trump is contributing to the threats against him. DeSantis said the investigation will not only be focused on pursuing charges against Routh, but also answering more questions about the case.

“This guy had red flags. I know he’s been looked at by federal law enforcement,” DeSantis. said. “How the heck did it end up where he’s in West Palm Beach in those bushes?”

More context: DeSantis, who has wielded executive power unlike any of his predecessors, has repeatedly leveraged state resources to thrust Florida into the national conversation, often by challenging the federal government or other conservative targets. It’s a playbook DeSantis has tapped into repeatedly in ways that have maximized his exposure, often in furtherance of his political ambitions.

In 2022, as Congress and the federal government wrestled with a surge of border crossings, his administration lured migrants in Texas onto planes with promises of jobs and then dropped them off in Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, without telling locals, setting off a national firestorm and a wave of glowing coverage from conservative media. Later, as he weighed whether to challenge to Trump for the Republican nomination for president, he pushed the Florida Supreme Court to empanel a statewide grand jury to investigate the Covid-19 vaccine developed under the former president’s Operation Warp Speed.

CNN’s Steve Contorno contributed reporting to this post.

Walz speaks at a campaign office in Macon, Georgia, on Tuesday.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz condemned the apparent assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump on Sunday and said he’s “grateful” Trump is safe in his first on-camera reaction to what he called a “horrific situation.”?

The Democratic vice presidential nominee addressed the incident at the beginning of his remarks to volunteers at a campaign field office in Macon, Georgia, on Tuesday, telling supporters “We don’t solve our difference in this country with violence.”

Walz said that he was “thankful to Secret Service, the folks you see, law enforcement and grateful that the (former) president is safe,” Walz said. “I think all of us know, we don’t solve our differences in this country with violence. We condemn it in all its forms. We solve our differences at the ballot box. That’s how we get this done.”

Walz is also set to campaign in North Carolina later today.

Real estate investor Steve Witkoff, who was playing golf with former President Donald Trump during his second apparent assassination attempt, on Tuesday described his experience and shared his gratitude toward the Secret Service.

He continued, “I was almost mesmerized by everything that was happening.”

Trump’s round of golf with Witkoff on Sunday was ahead of the presidential candidate’s livestreamed announcement on Monday that he would be launching a new cryptocurrency venture, which Witkoff helped spearhead.

“Our whole system, our whole country, runs on the availability of credit. And there are many who have been locked out of the marketplace, as I was when I first had a dream and wanted to be in the real estate business, and so that’s the reason we went into this business,” Witkoff explained.

Ryan Wesley Routh

The man suspected of trying to assassinate former President Donald Trump on Sunday depicted himself on social media as a globe-trotting freedom fighter: tweeting at world leaders, traveling to Ukraine to support its war effort, and professing his willingness to die for the causes he believed in.

Ryan Wesley Routh, a 58-year-old living in Hawaii, told news outlets that he had spent months in Ukraine working to bring foreign fighters to the country from Afghanistan.

But the grandiose image that Routh painted online didn’t seem to match up with his reality. In?one interview?last year, he acknowledged that he hadn’t secured a single visa for the Afghan fighters he claimed he was ready to send to the country, and a Ukrainian military official told CNN that Routh’s ideas seemed “delusional.”

In the years before Routh’s alleged assassination attempt, he posted messages online criticizing Trump. Routh claimed in a 2020?post?that he supported Trump in 2016 but had changed his tune on the former president.

Away from his keyboard, Routh ran a small company that built tiny homes in a Honolulu suburb, and he spent his time writing letters to his local newspaper about homeless encampments, graffiti on an Oahu highway tunnel, and a dispute about a hiking trail.

Read the full story.

As the investigation over the apparent assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump continues, the 2024 presidential candidates are hitting the campaign trail this week to make their pitch to voters in the final sprint to Election Day.

Vice President Kamala Harris is visiting key swing states, while Trump is holding events in the Midwest.

Here’s what the campaigns are up to:

Tuesday:?Harris will participate in a “fireside chat” hosted by the National Association of Black Journalists in Philadelphia. Harris’ running mate, Gov. Tim Walz, will deliver remarks at a political event in Macon, Georgia, and then travel to Atlanta. Walz will then travel to North Carolina and deliver remarks at a Harris-Walz campaign rally in Asheville.

Trump will host a town hall in Flint, Michigan, and his running mate JD Vance will deliver remarks at events in Michigan and Wisconsin.

Wednesday:?Trump will host a rally in Uniondale, New York, while Vance will speak at a rally in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Thursday:?Trump will address the Israeli American Council’s summit in Washington, DC, as a featured speaker. Harris, meanwhile, will be in Michigan, where she will join Oprah Winfrey for a livestreamed event with grassroots groups.

Friday:?Harris will campaign in Wisconsin.

Saturday:?Trump will hold a rally in Wilmington, North Carolina, while Vance will join Tucker Carlson in Hershey, Pennsylvania, as part of the former Fox News host’s tour across the country.

Donald Trump?and his children unveiled a new cryptocurrency business Monday night in a virtual address from his Mar-a-Lago estate, the latest venture that stands to benefit the former president as he seeks another four years in the Oval Office.

Details on the new business, which will be called World Liberty Financial, remain limited, but his son Donald Trump Jr. suggested the new company will provide opportunities for people who cannot get financing from traditional banks.

The GOP nominee has teased the latest expansion of his family’s business empire from the same social media account that carries his political messaging and shared vague thoughts Monday about the perceived upside.

No major party nominee has ever leveraged their candidacy for personal profit quite like Trump has during his third White House bid. Since entering the race nearly two years ago, Trump has netted millions of dollars selling new items featuring moments from his political life while also generating billions of dollars in wealth through a social media site where he speaks directly to supporters.

Read the full story.

A law enforcement officer walks after reports of shots fired outside former President Donald Trump's Trump International Golf Course in West Palm Beach, Florida, on September 15.

Donald Trump was walking down the fifth hole of the championship course at the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida, preparing for his birdie putt, when the all-too-familiar sound of gunfire prompted his Secret Service detail to pounce on the former president.

Here’s a timeline of how the attempted shooting played out on Sunday:

Read more about how the attempted shooting played out here.

Kamala Harris holds a campaign rally at the McHale Athletic Center in Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania on September 13.

The Harris campaign and the Democratic National Committee have launched a new initiative to mobilize young voters across key battleground states.

To mark National Voter Registration Day, the campaign and DNC announced a “Youth Week of Action” to encourage young voters to register to vote ahead of November’s election.

The initiative consists of organizing on college campuses, paid maid media and an “aggressive campaign blitz across battleground states anchored by events with Gov. Tim Walz to ensure every eligible voter has a chance to make their voice heard by November 5.”

Top surrogates will be deployed this week including Gov. Josh Shapiro hosting an event at Penn State University and Bill Nye speaking at a Climate Voters for Harris-Walz event in Durham, North Carolina. The campaign will support over 130 youth voter registration events this week alone.

The week of action will also dedicate resources to target Black and Latino students in Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Hispanic-Serving Institutions where they will highlight “Trump’s Project 2025 would roll back student debt relief, monitor pregnancies and ban abortion and slash funding for these critical institutions.”

The DNC has also unveiled the National Voter Assistance Text Line, which aims to provide information in English and Spanish so that voters can access information needed to register to vote.

One of the best pollsters in America recently came out with?its latest survey, and it’s good news for?Kamala Harris.

The Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa poll, conducted by Selzer & Co., found?Donald Trump?at 47% to the vice president’s 43% – within the margin of error – in a state the former president has?twice won comfortably. (The poll was conducted last week, before Sunday’s?apparent assassination attempt?against Trump.)

While the Hawkeye State is unlikely to be pivotal in November, the fact that Selzer found a close race in a state Trump has dominated could signal good things for Harris, both in terms of the accuracy of polling and for her chances in next-door Wisconsin.

What makes the Selzer survey so important is that it’s been accurate in an era?when other pollsters have struggled.

This Selzer poll could also be an outlier, and much could change between now and Election Day. Selzer’s September 2020 poll was a lot more favorable to Biden (showing a tie) than?its final survey?that year.

But the current poll is a far better result than the previous Selzer survey from June – when Biden was still in the race. It had Trump up by 18 points.

The bottom line: You’d much rather have the Selzer poll in your corner than not. And right now, the survey shows a better result for Harris than it did in the end for either Clinton or Biden.

Read the full analysis here

Former President Donald Trump is set to hold his first rally Tuesday night since the?second apparent assassination attempt?of the former president, traveling to Flint, Michigan, for what’s being billed as a town hall hosted by his former White House press secretary, Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders.

Vice President Kamala Harris, meanwhile, will sit for an interview in Philadelphia?with the members of the National Association of Black Journalists?– a major unscripted moment for a candidate who has largely stuck tightly to her message. It’s the same group to whom Trump falsely said weeks ago that Harris only?“happened to turn Black” in recent years.

The events come in the wake of the Secret Service on Sunday?preventing a potential shooter from firing at Trump?at his West Palm Beach golf course — stopping what could have been the second attempt on the former president’s life.?They’ll offer a window into how the next phase of the campaign could play out — particularly for Trump, who is traveling to Michigan for an event that had been aimed at criticizing President Joe Biden and Harris’ record in one of the nation’s most important swing states.

Read more about the state of the 2024 race here.

Ex-President Donald Trump responded to a?second apparent assassination attempt?that he blames on incendiary political rhetoric by inflaming the situation even more.

When a bullet grazed his ear in a horrific shooting that killed a rally goer in July, Trump initially acted like a changed man, telling The Washington Examiner’s Salena Zito he had a chance to bring the country and the world together — although that aspiration did not last any longer?than the opening paragraphs of his convention speech.

After the Secret Service thwarted a gunman who had apparently lain in wait for the ex-president at one of his Florida golf courses Sunday, Trump’s reaction was different. He accused President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris of inviting assassins to target him when they warn that he is a threat to democracy.

Trump’s claim that their warnings about his supposed threat to democracy risk getting him killed is particularly stark.

By implication, he’s saying that it is illegitimate for his opponents to point out the truth: that his past behavior — in seeking to steal the 2020 election and spreading false claims that this year’s voting will be corrupt — suggests that he poses a danger to America’s democratic system.

His position, which looks like an attempt to stifle free speech, may also be a dark harbinger of how he would behave if he won a second term.

Read the full analysis here.

Mayor of Springfield Rob Rue on CNN on September 13.

Rob Rue, the mayor of Springfield, Ohio, said he didn’t think it was a good idea for former President Donald Trump to hold a campaign event in the city as Trump had suggested during a news conference Friday.?

“It would be extremely difficult if either one of the candidates came to our community right now, and I would discourage it if I had the opportunity, just because this is not a time to campaign in our community at the national level,” Rue told CNN’s Anderson Cooper Monday.?

Springfield has become a political flashpoint as Republicans, including Trump and his running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, have spread?false claims?that Haitian immigrants are eating pets in the town.

Donald Trump speaks to reporters in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on September 10.

Former President Donald Trump is still planning to attend scheduled campaign events this week following the?apparent assassination attempt, two sources familiar with the schedule tell CNN.

The schedule:?Trump is expected to be in Flint, Michigan, today, Uniondale, New York, on Wednesday, and Washington, DC, this week.