September 3, 2024, presidential campaign news

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

Democratic Rep. Mark Pocan held a town hall with Wisconsin Democrats on Tuesday evening, criticizing Project 2025 and encouraging them to inform voters in the battleground state about the policy agenda linked to former President Donald Trump.

Standing alongside Dr. Kristin Lyerly, the Democratic candidate running to represent Wisconsin’s 8th?Congressional District, Pocan gave a detailed presentation on the policy blueprint organized by The Heritage Foundation think tank and developed in significant part by people who previously served in Trump’s administration.

The Wisconsin Democrat said he’s gotten pro-Trump pieces of campaign mail at his home in Madison trying to distance the former president from Project 2025, adding that “you don’t do that, right, unless you have that connection.”

Trump has repeatedly denied any affiliation with Project 2025, saying he doesn’t know who is behind it, as Democrats have leaned in heavily to warning voters about the conservative agenda, which would radically reshape the executive branch. A CNN analysis found that at least 140 people, including six cabinet secretaries, who worked in the Trump administration had a hand in Project 2025.

Asked about Trump’s attempts to distance himself from Project 2025, Pocan told reporters: “In places like Wisconsin, we call that a lie.”

Second gentleman Doug Emhoff grieved with the Jewish community of Washington, DC, following the deaths of six hostages held captive in Gaza, promising to use his voice to fight antisemitism and reach a ceasefire deal.

“This is hard. This is raw. I’m gutted, and I know you all are too,” a visibly emotional Emhoff said at the Adas Israel Congregation Tuesday night as they held a vigil for the six hostages killed and those still in captivity.

Emhoff spoke to a full synagogue, with most wiping tears from their eyes after listening to those who have lost family members or still have family held in Gaza.?

Emhoff described a call he and Harris had with the parents of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, an Israeli-American hostage who was killed.

Emhoff reiterated the administration’s support for a hostage deal, saying the president and vice president were “working around the clock” to secure a deal.

Kamala Harris waves as she boards Air Force Two at Pittsburgh International Airport in Pittsburgh, on Monday, September 2.

Vice President Kamala Harris will travel to Portsmouth, New Hampshire, on Wednesday to deliver remarks at a campaign.

As CNN previously reported, Harris is?set to propose?a handful of new benefits to entrepreneurs and small business owners to spur the creation of millions of new companies,?as part of a second wave?of?economic proposals.

Donald Trump’s campaign sought to argue in a new memo Tuesday that it “has the momentum” in the presidential race, and attacked the media for what it argued was biased coverage of the former president and his campaign.?

Wiles and LaCivita attacked Vice President Kamala Harris and called her “the same Radical Left lunatic she has always been.” They falsely portrayed her positions on several issues, including fracking, health insurance and electric vehicles.?

Wiles and LaCivita also touted support from Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp after Trump and Kemp appeared to have repaired their relationship.

JD Vance speaks at a rally in Erie, Pennsylvania on August 28.

Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance said Tuesday that military recruitment would continue to suffer if Vice President Kamala Harris were elected in November, and offered advice to those considering joining the military if she ultimately becomes president: “You’re probably not going to want to sign up.”

Claiming Harris wants to “blunder” the US into “World War III,” Vance said, “Of course, it’s not her family that’s going to be fighting that war. It’s going to be working and middle-class kids across the state of Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin.” ?

“If you’re a person thinking about joining the military, you’re probably not going to want to sign up if Kamala Harris is the potential commander-in-chief,” Vance said. ?

Vance, who served?four years in the Marines and served?a tour in Iraq in 2005 as a combat correspondent,?said the best solution to fixing military recruitment problems is to elect former president Donald Trump.?

“People trust his leadership, they also know that a military, led by Donald Trump is about what unites us as Americans and it’s not about this ridiculous division of Kamala Harris,” Vance said.

The comments were in response to a question from Fox anchor Laura Ingraham about “woke leadership” potentially prompting the need for a military draft due to low military recruitment.?

A top volunteer for Donald Trump’s political operation in New England was barred from the campaign after he told supporters in an email that the former president was effectively pulling out of New Hampshire to focus on other battlegrounds.??

Tom Mountain, a former vice chairman of the Massachusetts Republican Party, wrote in an email Sunday that the Trump campaign “has determined that New Hampshire is no longer a battleground state.”

The email, obtained by CNN and first reported by the Boston Globe, quickly circulated around New Hampshire politics. In it, Mountain advised Trump supporters to shift their energy to Pennsylvania, where the former president is mounting a more aggressive campaign.

Trump’s campaign said Mountain overstated his involvement, contending he had volunteered during the primary but hasn’t worked for them since and didn’t have knowledge of the New Hampshire operation. Mountain is no longer allowed to volunteer for the campaign following Sunday’s email.?

“What he said is not true,” Trump campaign spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt told CNN. “We have a strong ground presence in New Hampshire, including a headquarters, several paid staffers and hundreds of volunteers who love Donald Trump, have been with him since 2016 and are actively working to turn out voters on Nov. 5.”

Attempts to reach Mountain were unsuccessful.

US District Court Judge Aileen M. Cannon.

A former federal judge along with a government watchdog group and two top scholars on judicial ethics want the appeals court to reassign the classified documents case against former President Donald Trump to a new judge.

The group is seeking to file an amicus brief with the 11th US Circuit Court of Appeals, criticizing the way Judge Aileen Cannon, who dismissed the classified documents prosecution earlier this summer, has handled the criminal case.?

They also took issue with Cannon allowing Trump to slow down the federal investigation in 2022 by appointing a special master to review evidence and blocking investigators’ access to documents seized at Mar-a-Lago.

The 11th Circuit reversed Cannon’s decisions on this matter.

Ret. Judge Nancy Gertner, who was a federal trial judge in Massachusetts, along with legal ethics scholars Stephen Gillers and James J. Sample, and the government watchdog group known as Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, are seeking to file the brief with the Atlanta-based appeals court that is considering whether Cannon’s dismissal ruling should be reversed.

They pointed to how Cannon’s slowness to resolve issues in the criminal case that has been mired in delay, as well as her controversial request for lawyers on both sides to file briefs on a hypothetical jury instruction that would seem to virtually guarantee Trump’s acquittal.

Former President Donald Trump said again on Tuesday there was “no conflict” during his visit to Arlington National Cemetery last week.

The campaign has been grappling with the fallout of an incident that took place at the cemetery that led to the US Army issuing a stark rebuke to his campaign.

NPR?first reported?that there had been a “verbal and physical altercation” during the cemetery visit, and a source with knowledge of the incident told the outlet that a cemetery official attempted to prevent Trump’s team from photographing and filming in the area where recent US casualties are buried. In response, Trump campaign staff “verbally abused and pushed the official aside,” according to NPR.?

Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung previously disputed claims of a physical altercation, but said an unnamed individual decided to “physically block members of President Trump’s team during a very solemn ceremony.” Cheung suggested Trump’s team had a video to back up the claim but they have not released any such video.

Trump told Hannity that he was asked by the family members of those killed during the 2021 Abbey Gate bombing if Trump could take pictures with them during his visit to the cemetery.

“I would take pictures with the families at the different grave sites, a couple of them asked me to take it just by myself, would I take a picture.?They were as happy as you can be, I mean it was a very sad day but it was a day of honor,” Trump said.

Former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris.

The 2024 presidential race?has entered a critical stretch,?with Vice President?Kamala Harris?and former President?Donald Trump?set to debate and the first swing state ballots hitting mailboxes shortly after the Labor Day holiday?weekend.

As the?calendar?turns to September, both campaigns are focusing on on key battleground states — with Harris eyeing an expanded map and Trump digging in across the upper Midwestern states that delivered him the presidency in 2016 and ousted him from office in 2020.

Here are headlines you should know:

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Supporters of Donald Trump place their hands over their hearts during the national anthem at a campaign rally at the Georgia State Convocation Center in Atlanta, Georgia, on August 3.

Upcoming debate:

Upcoming events:

People take photos of the Reproductive Freedom Bus during the kickoff of the Harris-Walz campaign reproductive rights bus tour in Boynton Beach, Florida, on September 3.

More headlines to know:

A Michigan judge ruled on Tuesday that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. must remain on the ballot in the battleground state after he filed a lawsuit asking the court to remove him, inhibiting his plan to withdraw from key states to ease former President Donald Trump’s path to victory after endorsing him last month.?

Michigan Court of Claims Judge Christopher Yates dismissed Kennedy’s request to be removed after he qualified for the ballot through a minor party earlier this year. Kennedy had initially requested the Michigan Secretary of State’s office remove him from the ballot, but that request was denied.?

The ruling undermines Kennedy’s strategy to withdraw his name from ballots in competitive states to boost Trump’s chances of winning in those states. Kennedy is also continuing to push for ballot access in states where his name won’t likely have an impact on the outcome of November’s election.?

Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson said in a social media?post?that candidates who accept the nomination of a minor party in Michigan “shall not be permitted to withdraw.” Her statement came in response to a post from Trump ally Rudy Giuliani, who labeled the decision to keep Kennedy on the ballot in Michigan “election interference.”

Obstacles in other states: Wisconsin’s elections office ruled last week Kennedy would appear on the ballot despite Kennedy’s request to withdraw. Kennedy also filed a lawsuit last week against North Carolina’s elections board challenging their decision to keep him on the ballot.

Former President Donald Trump holds a town hall campaign event on August 29 in La Crosse, Wisconsin.?

A federal judge denied Donald Trump’s request to move the New York hush money case into federal court, finding there is nothing in the Supreme Court’s immunity ruling that alters his view of the facts that the payments were “private, unofficial acts.”

Donald Trump?previously filed a petition Thursday seeking to move his New York state criminal case to a federal court in Manhattan and push off the upcoming sentencing for his?conviction on 34 counts?of falsifying business records.

The petition asked the federal court to confirm the former president cannot be sentenced while the litigation over the removal to federal court is pending.

Judge Alvin Hellerstein said no facts have changed since he previously rejected Trump’s attempt to move the case last year. At the time the judge found that Trump’s reimbursement to Michael Cohen, who facilitated hush money payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels, were not official acts he took as president.

Trump also claimed the case should be moved into federal court because he alleged Judge Juan Merchan, who presided over the trial, was biased against him. Hellerstein said it was not his place to evaluate the New York trial.

The former president has separately asked Merchan to delay the sentencing until after the election. Prosecutors haven’t opposed that request and the judge could issue a decision as soon as this week. Trump also argued in a motion to Merchan that his conviction should be overturned in light of the Supreme Court immunity decision. The judge said he would rule on that motion on September 16.

This post has been updated with additional information.

Special counsel Jack Smith and former President Donald Trump.

Former President Donald Trump is pleading not guilty to the charges laid out in special counsel Jack Smith’s retooled election subversion indictment against him in federal court.??

The pleading came in a court filing Tuesday, which also indicates he wants to be excused from appearing in person at an upcoming court hearing in the case on Thursday.

Thursday is the first court hearing before DC District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan since the case was paused for the Supreme Court to determine the extent of presidential immunity to which Trump is entitled.

Trump’s attorneys plan to attend the hearing.

Chutkan will have to decide how to proceed with the criminal case over efforts to overturn the 2020 election, including setting a schedule. She also must decide if prosecutors can take Trump to trial and be able to call certain witnesses, such as his then-Vice President Mike Pence.?

The new indictment, approved by a grand jury last week, requires Trump to enter a new pleading. While prosecutors cut back on the some of the allegations against the former president in light of the Supreme Court ruling, Trump faces the same four criminal charges as before.

Vice President Kamala Harris?is set to propose?a handful of new benefits to entrepreneurs and small business owners to spur the creation of millions of new businesses,?as part of a second wave?of economic proposals set to be?unveiled Wednesday.

In an economic speech in New Hampshire tomorrow, Harris plans to call for expanding a tax deduction for costs associated with starting a business and removing regulatory hurdles — like filing requirements and operational licenses — for businesses of a certain size, according to a Harris campaign official. It’s an attempt by the Harris campaign to appeal to a critical middle-class constituency that could help boost her chances in November.

Harris also alluded to the forthcoming tax credit during a stop in Savannah, Georgia, last week. Small businesses are currently granted a $5,000 deduction for expenses related to their first year of operation, according to the Congressional Research Service. Harris will propose raising that to $50,000, the official said, citing the average business’ outlays of $40,000 to get off the ground.

And, advisers say Harris is expected to borrow another page from a playbook that’s traditionally been used by conservatives:?Branding herself as fiscally disciplined.

Read more about Harris’ plan

Former President Donald Trump released?a new video?Tuesday, seeking to tie Vice President Kamala Harris to President Joe Biden’s record in the White House.?

The video highlights a clip from White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre saying, “Are you aware that this is the Biden-Harris administration and she is indeed the vice president?”??

The video shows news clips showing conservative commentators and Republican officials on TV seeking to blame Harris for inflation and the chaotic withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan in 2021. It shows news coverage of the six hostages whose bodies were recently recovered by the Israeli military and written on screen is: “Kamala Harris owns foreign affairs failures.”??

“Kamala Harris’ weakness and her dangerously liberal agenda have created these crises and will simply further damage our nation in the future,” Trump campaign spokesperson Brian Hughes said in a news release.

Elon Musk’s disdain for the Democratic Party was never subtle, but in recent weeks his commentary on the upcoming US presidential election and his attacks against?Vice?President Kamala Harris have intensified, aided by a crude use of burgeoning artificial intelligence technology.

On?Monday, Musk?posted?an AI-generated image?on his social media platform?that depicted Harris as a communist, wearing a red uniform complete with a hammer and sickle emblazoned hat.?

Musk, who has endorsed former President Donald?Trump?for president?and poured millions into a super PAC supporting the Republican, captioned the image with the false assertion,?“Kamala?vows to be a communist dictator on day one. Can you believe she wears that outfit!?”?

The image, which appeared to violate?X’s policy?on manipulated content, resembled an AI-generated image posted by Trump last month during the Democratic National Convention, envisioning Harris addressing a crowd under communist symbols.

Musk’s post came a day after?he shared another post with a screenshot?suggesting?that?only?“high?status males” should be able to participate in government because women?(and?men with?“low?testosterone”) are not capable of critical thought. Musk posted it to his 196 million followers with the comment,?“interesting?observation.”

The sexist screed appears to have originated on 4Chan,?the?notorious hate-filled website that has been linked to mass shootings.

By choosing to amplify disinformation and?misogynist?views, Musk, a South African billionaire who is both the owner of X and?the?most-followed account on the platform, is?promoting?radical?content?to the masses that might otherwise languish in the darkest?corners of the internet.

By Tuesday?afternoon, less than 24 hours after Musk shared the fake image and false statement depicting Harris as a communist, the post had been viewed?nearly 60?million times, according to data from X.?Musk’s post?suggesting women shouldn’t take part in democracy had been viewed more than 19 million times.

X did not respond to a CNN request for comment.

Read Donie O’Sullivan’s full analysis

Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris speaks to the football team at Aliquippa High School during a stop on her campaign bus tour in Aliquippa, Pennsylvania, on August 18, 2024.

Vice President Kamala Harris will travel to Pittsburgh on Thursday to prepare for next week’s presidential debate, according to two sources familiar with the planning.?

Harris will remain in the city until the debate takes place on September 10, sources say.

It’s the second time the vice president will visit the city this week after campaigning with President Joe Biden on Labor Day. CNN previously reported that Harris would pare back her travel leading up to the debate to dedicate time to preparation.??

She plans to make community stops over the week while she’s in Pittsburgh and stay on the campaign trail in a critical battleground state, while also preparing for the presidential debate, according to one of the sources.??

The?September 10?debate, which has been the subject of much back and forth, will provide Harris another opportunity to speak to a large audience and draw a stark contrast with former President Donald Trump. ABC, the host network, previously announced it will be held at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia.

The Harris and Trump campaigns remain in ongoing discussions about the debate rules, according to sources. The Harris campaign has been pushing for microphones to remain on for the duration of the debate, while the Trump campaign wants the microphones turned off while the other candidate is speaking like the June CNN-hosted debate.?

Biden went to Camp David to prepare for his June debate.

Former President Donald Trump on Tuesday praised medical marijuana ahead of some states voting on the issue this fall.

Trump’s comments come after he posted on Truth Social over the weekend that he thought adults in Florida shouldn’t be arrested for carrying “personal amounts” of marijuana and that he thought the Florida ballot initiative on recreational marijuana use would pass.?

When asked on the Lex Fridman Podcast to expand on his post, Trump praised medical marijuana and said his statement was about how he thinks “we can live with the marijuana,” and that the ballot initiative in Florida would be “very good.”?

“Medical marijuana has been amazing. I’ve had friends, and I’ve had others and doctors telling me that it’s been absolutely amazing, the medical marijuana,” Trump said.?

Trump also said his campaign will put out a statement on marijuana policy later this week. CNN has asked the campaign for more specifics on the potential announcement.

Can I vote early? What deadlines should I know about? Do I need to show an ID?

People will begin casting votes for the 2024 presidential election this month. North Carolina begins mailing out ballots Friday, while early, in-person voting starts in several other states in mid-September.

There’s still time to get your voting questions answered. Check out our personalized voter guide for information on registering to vote, mail-in and early voting, and much more in your state.

The Harris-Walz campaign kicked off a bus tour focusing on reproductive health care with an event in Boynton Beach, Florida, on Tuesday — near former President Donald Trump’s Mar-A-Lago home in Palm Beach. It’s the latest effort by Democrats to center access to reproductive health care as a key issue for voters in the final weeks of the election.

The first stop on the bus tour, which the campaign said would feature “at least 50 stops” across the country heading into Election Day, featured remarks from Florida campaign surrogates, including Florida Democratic Senate candidate Debbie Murcasel Powell and television personality Ana Navarro. The event was headlined by remarks from Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez and Minnesota Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar.

Speakers throughout the event rallied support for Amendment Four, the Florida ballot initiative that would prohibit restrictions to abortion access prior to viability. Last week, Trump said he would vote against the measure.

Several speakers also criticized Trump for his role in shaping the Supreme Court that overturned abortion protections in Roe v. Wade and chastised Trump for his recent proposal to mandate either government or private insurance to pay for in vitro fertilization treatments.

“You don’t get to create a problem and then pretend you have the solution,” Navarro said. “The only IVF Donald Trump understands is ‘I violate your freedoms.’”

A federal judge has ruled former President Donald Trump and his campaign must pause on using the song “Hold On, I’m Coming.”

The decision came after the estate of the late R&B artist and songwriter Isaac Hayes sought an emergency injunction to stop the Trump campaign from using the song at campaign events, alleging the campaign does not have approval.

Judge Thomas Thrash Jr. made the ruling in Atlanta on Tuesday. He denied a motion by the Hayes estate to force the Trump campaign to take down any previously recorded uses of the song.

Ronald Coleman, an attorney for Trump, told members of the media after the hearing that “the campaign has no interest in annoying or hurting anyone. And if the Hayes family feels it hurts or annoys them, that’s fine, we’re not going to force the issue.”

Hayes died in 2008 at age 65 after suffering a stroke. The 1966 song, co-written by Hayes and David Porter, was performed by Sam Moore and Dave Prater, who were professionally known as the duo Sam & Dave. Prater died in 1988. CNN has reached out to a representative for Moore for comment.

According to court documents obtained by CNN, attorneys for the estate claimed that the campaign has not “obtained a valid public performance license” and have requested “compensatory damages for the unauthorized use” of Hayes’ music.

The estate is the first to end up in court over complaints of Trump and his campaign allegedly using music they had not properly licensed, but other artists have complained.

CNN’s Elizabeth Wagmeister contributed to this report.

This post has been updated to include the temporary injunction being issued.

Political ads have been seen in Philadelphia falsely claiming the Eagles have endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris for the presidency.

The Eagles?posted?on X that the team is “aware of the counterfeit ads being circulated” and working to have them removed.

According to CNN affiliate?WPVI, the ads?state that Harris is the “official candidate of the Philadelphia Eagles.”?They are prominently displayed in bus shelters throughout the city.?

The ad directs people to a?page?on the Eagles’ website that informs Pennsylvania and New Jersey voters of important election dates. Nowhere on the page is there an endorsement of a candidate.?

Intersection, the media company responsible for the advertising in the bus shelters, said the bus shelters were “vandalized” and that paid advertising copy at the bus stops were replaced with “unauthorized copy.”

In a statement, the city of Philadelphia noted the fake posters were not caused by a digital breach. “Whomever is responsible for the illegally placed posters, broke into the securely covered shelter ad space and somehow placed the posters in the space,” it said.

Intersection was conducting an inventory of all the bus shelters and removing any illegal posters, the city added.

Philadelphia, the largest city in the key swing state of Pennsylvania, promises to play a pivotal role in the upcoming presidential election.

CNN has?reported?on fake celebrity endorsements becoming a weapon in the misinformation wars surrounding the election.

The post has been updated with the statement from the city of Philadelphia.

Vice President Kamala Harris is planning to deliver a speech in New Hampshire on Wednesday to unveil the next tranche of her economic plan, according to three advisers.?

High prices are a top concern for many Americans who are struggling to afford the cost of living after a spell of steep inflation. Many voters give President Joe Biden?poor marks?for his handling of the economy, and Harris may also face their wrath.

Harris spoke?last month?about some of her economic proposals, including enhanced tax credits for kids, housing assistance and efforts to stop price gouging. She described her forward-looking agenda as “an opportunity economy,” where Americans are given a real chance to succeed.

What’s in Harris’ tax and economic plan:

What’s in Trump’s tax and economic plan:

Read more about Harris’ and Trump’s economic proposals.

Jimmy McCain at a memorial service for his father, Sen. John McCain at Washington National Cathedral in Washington, DC, in 2018.

When former President Donald Trump?held a campaign event?at Arlington National Cemetery last week, 1st?Lt.?Jimmy McCain says he viewed it as a “violation.”

The youngest son of the late Sen. John McCain had already been moving away from the Republican Party — just weeks ago, he changed his voter registration to Democrat and plans to vote for Kamala Harris in November, he told CNN in an exclusive interview this week.

But he is speaking out now for the first time about Trump because of the former president’s conduct at the hallowed ground where several generations of McCain’s family, including his grandfather and great grandfather, are buried.

“It just blows me away,” McCain, who has served in the?military for 17 years, told CNN. “These men and women that are laying in the ground there have no choice” of whether to be a backdrop for a political campaign, he said.

Keep reading more from McCain’s interview.

Bernie Moreno, who is locked in a tight senate race with Sen. Sherrod Brown, held a morning campaign event at the Mill Event Center in Lancaster, Ohio, on August 9.

The post-Labor Day sprint to Election Day includes several highly competitive Senate contests to decide control of the chamber, and with general election matchups formalized, both parties are set to spend hundreds of millions of dollars over the next few months.

In a few key states — Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Montana – Republicans appear poised for a fierce effort to unseat vulnerable Democratic incumbents, while in others — Nevada and Wisconsin – the GOP appears to have less appetite.

In two other open seat races where Democrats are looking to hang on after retirements —Arizona and Michigan — they’re set to have a big advertising edge. Meanwhile, in a pair of under-the-radar contests in Texas and Maryland, Republicans have bought millions in airtime, playing a bit of both defense and offense.

Here’s a look at some of the races that are set to see the most spending between now and Election Day.

Former President Donald Trump responded to the US seizure of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s airplane.

“That’s OK, he can now go out and get a much bigger and better one with all the money we pay to Venezuela for oil that we don’t need,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social, blaming the current administration for lifting the oil sanctions his administration had imposed on Venezuela’s state-owned oil company, also calling current US leaders “stupid.”

Some background: As?CNN exclusively reported,?the US seized Maduro’s plane after determining that its acquisition violated US sanctions and involved other criminal activities. This latest development marks an escalation in the already tense relationship between the countries. The plane’s seizure in the Dominican Republic underscores the ongoing investigation into what the US views as corrupt practices within Maduro’s government.

Earlier this year, the US reimposed sanctions?on?Venezuela’s?oil?and gas sector?in response to the Maduro government’s failure to allow “an inclusive and competitive election” to take place.

The situation in Venezuela has had implications for US politics as millions flee the country, many of whom have chosen to migrate to the US-Mexico border.

Manhattan prosecutors are urging the judge overseeing Donald Trump’s hush money case to rule on the former president’s motion to vacate his conviction.

Prosecutors with the Manhattan district attorney’s office said Judge Juan Merchan should decide Trump’s motion on presidential immunity and not wait until a federal judge considers a separate motion filed by Trump last week to move the case into federal court and stop the state court judge from sentencing Trump until that motion is resolved.?

Merchan previously said he will rule on Trump’s challenge to his conviction based on the Supreme Court’s immunity decision on September 16.

Last week Trump’s attorneys asked Merchan to pause his decision over presidential immunity to allow the process in federal court to play out.?

This is Trump’s second effort to move the case into federal court. He renewed his efforts after the Supreme Court’s ruling on presidential immunity. Trump has also separately asked Merchan to postpone his sentencing, which is currently scheduled for September 18. A decision is expected this week.

Read more about the hush money case.

Minnesota Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar.

Minnesota Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar discussed why the Harris campaign’s “Fighting for?Reproductive?Freedom” bus tour is kicking off Tuesday in Palm Beach, Florida, close to former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence.

Klobuchar told CNN it’s clear now that Trump is in favor of an “extreme abortion ban” in Florida, after he said last week he will not support a ballot referendum to expand abortion access in his home state just 24 hours after suggesting he might.

Klobuchar also said she “can’t wait” for the debate between Harris and Trump on September 10.

“You’re going to see clearly two different people on the split screen. One guy overturned Roe v. Wade, and then you have Kamala Harris, who protected these rights,” Klobuchar said.

More on the bus tour: CNN reported earlier that thebus tour will make at least 50 stops in key battleground states to highlight the contrasts between Harris and Trump’s stance on?reproductive?freedom. It will feature elected officials, celebrities and Republicans for the Harris-Walz ticket. The second gentleman and first lady of Minnesota Gwen Walz will also participate in the coming weeks.?

The 2024 presidential race has entered a critical stretch, with Vice President?Kamala Harris?and former President?Donald Trump set to debate and the first swing state ballots hitting mailboxes shortly after the Labor Day holiday?weekend.

As the?calendar?turns to September, both campaigns are focusing on key battleground states — with Harris eyeing an expanded map and Trump digging in across the Upper Midwestern states that delivered him the presidency in 2016 and ousted him from office in 2020.

Meanwhile, voting will begin?this week. The first ballots of the 2024 election will go out Friday in North Carolina, one of a handful of potentially critical Sun Belt states. Then, two weeks later, early in-person voting starts in Minnesota, South Dakota and Virginia.

Read about other upcoming campaign events here.

CNN’s Annette Choi and Zachary B. Wolf contributed reporting?

Vice President Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign and the Democratic National Committee will transfer more than $24 million to support down ballot races, according to an announcement made on Tuesday.?

The campaign is touting the investment as a “historic sum” that will help Democrats across the country in a number of races at the state level, campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon said in a statement.

CNN has learned that the investment will include:

Democratic National Committee chair Jaime Harrison added in a statement that the DNC is “proud to be delivering nearly $25 million in funding to our sister committees for down-ballot races in November, from boosting on-the-ground organizing power to bolstering voter protection efforts.”

CNN has previously reported that the campaign said it raised $540 million since the vice president launched her presidential bid after President Biden dropped out of the presidential race in July.?

A Republican-linked group has purchased digital ads targeting Michigan voters about Vice President Kamala Harris’ ties to Israel, as she seeks to balance her messaging on the issue and maintain outreach to Arab American voters in the critical battleground state.

Michigan has a significant Arab American population. And about 13% of the state’s Democratic primary voters, more than 100,000 individuals, chose to be “uncommitted” instead of voting for President Joe Biden when he was on the primary ballot earlier this year, largely to send a signal of disapproval of the administration’s actions on the war in Gaza.

Versions of the 30-second video have started running on Facebook and Instagram in Michigan, according to Meta?data. Similar content has also been shared in ads on Snapchat, per data from that platform.

Future Coalition PAC purchased the advertisements on all platforms. The recently formed political action committee lists Ray Zaborney, a Republican strategist, as its treasurer, according to?FEC documentation.

Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at a Labor Day event at Northwestern High School in Detroit on Monday.

Vice President Kamala Harris is planning to deliver a speech in New Hampshire on Wednesday to unveil the next tranche of her economic plan, according to three advisers.?

CNN previously reported that Harris would unveil her proposals in a series of rollouts, with the next expected to focus on innovation, entrepreneurship and small business.?

Harris told a small-business owner in Georgia last week that one of her top priorities would be instituting a tax credit to assist Americans starting and growing businesses.

Here’s a look at Harris’ and Trump’s economic plans so far.

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer speaks to CNN on Tuesday from Lansing, Michigan.

As the fall election season gets into high gear, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer predicted that more Americans will be engaged — and she said they will see why Vice President Kamala Harris is a better choice over former President Donald Trump.

“All Donald Trump offers is anger and grievance, whereas Kamala Harris has actual plans that will help people keep more money in their pockets,” Whitmer told CNN.

Whitmer joined Harris at a Labor Day event in Detroit on Monday, where she blasted the Republican ticket as disconnected from the average American.

“Look, if your most famous line is ‘You’re fired,’ you sure as hell don’t understand workers,” Whitmer said yesterday, referencing Trump’s catchphrase on his former reality show “The Apprentice.”

Whitmer today further laid out the case for Harris and her running mate, Gov. Tim Walz, who she said “worked hourly jobs, have scraped to get ahead.”

She said Trump “doesn’t get it and cares about winning an election, not necessarily what he’s going to do once he does.”

Former President Donald Trump takes the stage during a campaign rally in the 1st Summit Arena at the Cambria County War Memorial on August 30 in Johnstown, Pennsylvania.

Donald Trump?is trying to crush Democratic nominee Kamala Harris’ persona as a force of change and to destroy her credibility as a potential president as their still-fresh competition?careens into the final nine weeks?before Election Day.

In recent days, the ex-president has unveiled a broad assault using the insult-driven politics with which he won power in 2016, even as his advisers have been pleading with him to focus his attention on top voter concerns including high prices and immigration.

He is seizing on foreign tragedies to accuse the vice president of responsibility?for the deaths of US troops in Afghanistan?and claiming she’s complicit?in killings of hostages in Gaza. He and his running mate, JD Vance, implied her mixed-race heritage?is evidence of a sinister “chameleon”-like character?that also explains policy reversals on energy and immigration. In an ugly moment,?he amplified a sexually themed social media slander?against her. And his dark campaign ads allege she will slash?Social Security benefits?by welcoming millions of undocumented migrants to the country.

And in a reprise of past GOP campaigns branding Democratic nominees as extreme liberals, Trump and his supporters are trying to frame Harris as a communist and a “Bolshevik.” South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem blasted Harris’ running mate, Tim Walz,?as a “security risk”?because he once taught in China.

Read the full analysis.

Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at her Fight for Reproductive Freedoms Tour at the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades District Council 7 in Big Bend, Wisconsin, on January 22.

Kamala Harris’ campaign on Friday announced the launch of a new bus tour aimed at advocating for women’s?reproductive?rights?and warning of the stakes in the upcoming election as it remains a key issue ahead of November.

The “Fighting for?Reproductive?Freedom” bus tour will kick off Tuesday in Palm Beach, Florida, with Sen. Amy Klobuchar, Harris-Walz campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez, CNN senior political commentator Ana Navarro and?reproductive?rights?storyteller Anya Cook. They are expected to “hold Trump directly accountable for the devastating impacts of overturning Roe v. Wade, including threatening access to IVF.”

The bus tour will make at least 50 stops in key battleground states to highlight the contrasts between Harris and former President Donald Trump’s stance on?reproductive?freedom. It will feature elected officials, celebrities and Republicans for the Harris-Walz ticket. The second gentleman and first lady of Minnesota Gwen Walz will also participate in the coming weeks.?

According to the campaign, each stop will make the case that Harris and her running mate, Gov. Tim Walz, will restore protections of Roe, while warning of Trump and Sen. JD Vance’s?“dangerous Project 2025 agenda to ban abortion nationwide, restrict access to birth control, create a national anti-abortion coordinator, force states to report on women’s miscarriages and abortions, and jeopardize access to IVF.”

Under the Biden administration, Harris specifically has become the administration’s foremost voice on?reproductive?rights, both in public events and behind the scenes. Earlier this year she kicked off the “reproductive?freedoms tour” in an effort to focus on an issue the former Biden campaign believed would be critical to mobilizing voters in November.

The bus tour, according to the campaign, also aims to serve to grow the campaign’s organizing infrastructure by energizing and mobilizing supporters and volunteers, including through direct voter contact at field offices, canvass launches and phone banks. The campaign will also host influencers to engage online audiences, specifically young voters.

Vice President?Kamala Harris?and former President?Donald Trump?are taking two different paths to prepare for their September 10 debate, the first time the nominees will face off since Democrats upended their ticket this summer.

The week leading up to the debate, hosted by ABC News in Philadelphia, represents the candidates’ last chance to set the agenda before they meet. It may also offer a preview of what attacks the two will level against each other.

Since President?Joe Biden?ended his reelection bid, Trump has struggled to land on a message to blunt Harris’ momentum. Trump has tested out personal attacks and nicknames, criticized her lack of press conferences and new interviews, blamed Biden administration policies for inflation and high costs, and hammered Harris and Biden over the 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Harris, meanwhile, has focused on moderating many of the positions she laid out during her 2019 Democratic presidential primary campaign. In an?interview with CNN, her first since becoming the Democratic nominee, she argued that her values have stayed the same even if her stance on issues such as fracking has not.

For much of this week, Harris will take a step back from the trail ahead of the debate after?spending?yesterday campaigning?in the so-called “blue wall” states with labor leaders.

Trump, meanwhile, is ramping up his appearances after skipping Labor Day campaigning. He will virtually headline the Republican Jewish Coalition’s Annual Leadership Summit in Las Vegas on Wednesday and deliver a speech at the Economic Club of New York on Thursday before holding a rally in Mosinee, Wisconsin, on Saturday.

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Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign is launching an ad Tuesday zeroing in on inflation and the economy ahead of her Wednesday speech in New Hampshire that will roll out her next tranche of economic proposals.

The ad is titled “Focused” and includes a voiceover narrator over images of the grocery store and the gas pump — while acknowledging that “costs are too high.”

The economy and inflation are two issues where the vice president is down to her rival, former President Donald Trump, by several points in recent polling.

A poll from ABC News and Ipsos?released Sunday shows that more Americans say they trust Trump than Harris to handle the economy (46% Trump to 38% Harris), inflation (44% Trump to 36% Harris), and immigration (45% Trump to 36% Harris). Harris is more trusted on abortion (47% Harris to 31% Trump) and protecting American democracy (45% Harris to 38% Trump).?

In the new ad, Harris is seen saying: “Building up the middle class will be a defining goal of my presidency.” The ad will air on TV and digital as part of the campaign’s previous $370 million advertising commitment from Labor Day to Election Day.

Former President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign event at Alro Steel on August 29 in Potterville, Michigan

Donald Trump?claimed?last week that he was the president who “created” the Veterans Choice health care program and got it “passed in Congress” after others had wanted to do so “for 57 years.”

In reality, President Barack Obama was the president who?signed?the program into law in 2014. The law Trump signed in 2018, the VA MISSION Act, expanded the Veterans Choice program but didn’t create it.

I could fact-check this Trump lie half-asleep — because he’s been?telling it for more than six years.

Trump’s lying is most exceptional in its relentlessness, a never-ending avalanche of wrongness that can?bury even the most devoted fact-checkers. But it’s also notable for its repetitiveness. He has found his hits, and he’ll keep playing them no matter how many times they are debunked.

As Trump enters the?post-Labor Day sprint?of his 2024 presidential campaign, his commentary is filled with many of the same false claims he made as president from 2017 to 2021. He’s even repeating some false claims he used during his 2016 presidential campaign.

As a fact-check reporter for CNN, I?watch or?read the transcript of every public appearance by Trump and his Democratic opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris.

While Harris’ campaign remarks to date have been heavy on thematic rhetoric and light on assertions of fact, with a smattering of?false?or?misleading claims, Trump’s 2024 interviews and speeches are littered with old falsehoods I’ve come to call “the repeats” — assertions I have fact-checked as false over and over for years.

Read the full analysis.

Vice President Kamala Harris and President Joe Biden attend a Labor Day campaign event in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on September 2.

Vice President?Kamala Harris’ campaign held a string of Labor Day-themed events in Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania on Monday, marking the unofficial launch of?the fall campaign sprint?in the states that will determine the November election.

While the Democratic presidential nominee has sought to expand the map of states where she is competitive, the Labor Day stops point to the importance of winning those three “blue wall” states that propelled President Joe Biden to victory in 2020.

Biden joined Harris for a rally in Pittsburgh, the president’s first joint campaign appearance with the vice president since ending his reelection bid and endorsing her.

Harris used the Pennsylvania event to say that US Steel should be owned domestically and that she opposed the company’s purchase by the Japanese-owned Nippon Steel.

Harris’ remarks largely echoed an earlier event in Detroit, where she emphasized the “dignity of work” and vowed to strengthen protections for collective bargaining to a crowd of union members and leaders, drawing sharp contrasts with her opponent, former President Donald Trump.

Harris was joined by national union leaders, including United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain, American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten and National Education Association President Becky Pringle.

Trump has been critical of labor leaders, including the United Auto Workers’ Fain, but has sought the support of workers in the same Rust Belt states Harris and Gov. Tim Walz campaigned in. The former president has focused his attention on the Biden administration’s efforts to boost the production and purchase of electric vehicles, which Trump has argued will come at the expense of autoworkers.

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Vice President Kamala Harris emphasized the “dignity of work” and vowed to strengthen protections for collective bargaining in remarks to a crowd of union members and leaders in Detroit on Labor Day.

Harris praised the labor movement for worker protections, saying, “You better thank a union member” for the five-day workweek, sick leave, and vacation time.

Recalling her upbringing attending marches and meetings in California with her progressive parents, Harris reiterated that she learned “when people stand together,” they can “drive extraordinary change.”

Harris also criticized Donald Trump for actions she said were harmful to workers, prompting some members in the room to chant, “Trump’s a scab,” a critique popularized by United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain, who has sparred publicly with the former president.

Harris was joined onstage by national union leaders, including Fain,?American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten and National Education Association President Becky Pringle.

As Harris talked about what she would do to fight for Americans’ future, she vowed to ensure the “PRO Act,” legislation safeguarding workers’ rights to unionize and collectively bargain for workplace changes, and to “end union busting once and for all.”