September 4, 2024, presidential campaign news

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Lawyers for Donald Trump asked a federal appeals court to stop his sentencing until the judges can hear the former president’s legal argument to move the hush money case into federal court.

The last-ditch request comes after a federal judge rejected Trump’s motion to move the state case into federal court and delay the sentencing currently scheduled for September 18.?

Trump filed a motion to appeal the decision denying the move into federal court Wednesday morning. That evening his lawyers filed motions with the federal judge and appeals court to stay the federal judge’s ruling until the appeals court can hear an argument on the merits of moving the case to federal court. The one-two effort is Trumps latest attempt to delay his sentencing.?

Trumps lawyers have argued the case should be moved into federal court following the Supreme Court’s decision this summer that granted immunity for some of Trump’s conduct that fell within his official powers.

Prosecutors with the Manhattan District Attorney’s office have opposed the challenge to move the case into federal court. They said they defer to the trial judge on Trump’s effort to postpone his sentencing until after the election.

JD Vance speaks at a campaign event in Mesa, Arizona on September 4.

Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance said it’s “hard to believe” that Vice President Kamala Harris’ recent campaign advertising shows the border wall, given the Biden-Harris administration signed an?executive order?halting American taxpayer dollars from being diverted to construct a border wall.?

“That’s hard to believe, even for me,” Vance said at a Turning Point Action event in Mesa, Arizona.?“She stopped construction of the border wall on day one, that’s what Kamala Harris did, so is it the border wall that’s laying on the ground? Because that would be appropriate, because that’s what Kamala Harris actually did.”

As CNN’s K-File?reported?earlier Wednesday,?recent Harris?TV ads?highlight her time as a “border state prosecutor” who aggressively targeted criminal cartels and drug smugglers, as well as her support for “the toughest border security bill in decades.” Despite her past criticisms, images of the border wall built during the Trump administration are featured in the ads.?

He also continued to falsely claim that Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz signed and supported legislation that allows the state to effectively kidnap children if their parents don’t consent to them seeking gender affirming care.

As CNN previously reported, Walz signed an?executive order?that directed Minnesota agencies to do whatever they could to protect and support Minnesotans seeking gender-affirming health care services. Walz also signed?“trans refuge”?legislation that?safeguarded access to such care. Part of the?law states, “A court of this state has temporary emergency jurisdiction if the child is present in this state” and “has been unable to obtain gender-affirming health care.”

Former President Donald Trump during a Fox News town hall Wednesday claimed Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz’ brother endorsed him and hit Vice President Kamala Harris over past policy reversals.

“His bother endorsed me,” Trump told Fox News host Sean Hannity.

The Minnesota governor’s brother, Jeff Walz, told NewsNation in an interview Tuesday that he doesn’t agree with his brother’s policies but expressed some remorse for inserting himself into the spotlight, after he posted on social media last week he is “100% opposed” to his brother’s political views and was considering officially endorsing former President Donald Trump.

Jeff Walz told NewsNation in an interview that he didn’t intend to “influence the general public” with social media posts that indicated his support for Trump over Harris’ and his brother’s campaign and said he has no plans to campaign “for him or against him” ahead of November’s election.

Trump during the town hall also touted the tax cuts he passed in office and criticized Harris’ economic policies — which she expanded on at an event Wednesday. Trump is scheduled to give a speech at The Economic Club of New York on Thursday.?

The former president claimed Harris was still in favor of a ban on fracking, despite her campaign saying she no longer holds that position.?

“She’s been there for 20 years, that’s what she’s been saying for a long time,” Trump said Wednesday night.

“The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania cannot even take a chance,” Trump added.

Republican presidential nominee, former President Donald Trump participates in a Fox News Town Hall with Sean Hannity at the New Holland Arena in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania on September 4.

Former President Donald Trump on Wednesday said he was “going to let her talk” when asked about his upcoming debate with Vice President Kamala Harris.?

“You know when I had Biden, you and I had the same discussion and I let him talk. I’m going to let her talk,” Trump said to Fox News host Sean Hannity during a town hall in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.?

“It depends a lot on ABC, will they be fair or not?” Trump said. “I hope they will be fair.”?

ABC News on Wednesday officially announced the rules of next week’s presidential debate between Harris and Trump, and both candidates have agreed to the format that microphones will be muted while the other is speaking.

Trump claimed Wednesday Harris’ team “wanted notes” and “wanted a desk” but that Trump objected. The rules set out by ABC News do not allow for notes, and the candidates will be standing behind podiums.?

Trump also made the baseless claim that he had “already heard” that Harris’ team would “get the questions in advance.”

Former President Donald Trump on Wednesday again stressed how much he wants to win New Hampshire in the 2024 election, and he claimed President Joe Biden “dumped New Hampshire” during the primary.?

“We really want to win New Hampshire,” Trump said during a Fox News town hall in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

Trump’s comments come after a top Trump volunteer?wrote in an email?to other volunteers in the state that “the campaign has determined that New Hampshire is no longer a battleground state,” and to instead focus on Pennsylvania.?Trump also called into a New Hampshire radio show earlier in the day and posted on Truth Social urging his supporters to turn out in New Hampshire.?

Trump referenced how Biden wasn’t on the ballot after the state defied the primary calendar set by the national Democratic Party. Biden won the New Hampshire Democratic primary after Biden loyalists launched an unofficial write-in campaign.?

Former Republican Rep. Liz Cheney participates in the last public meeting of the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the U.S. Capitol in 2022.

Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign said she is “proud to have earned” Republican former Rep. Liz Cheney’s?endorsement?on Wednesday.?

Cheney, an outspoken critic of Trump,?said she would vote for Harris in November during remarks at Duke University, according to audio obtained by CNN.

The former congresswoman is the latest Republican to publicly back Harris’ presidential bid, joining former Rep. Adam Kinzinger, former Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan and former Trump White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham. Last week, more than 200 former GOP presidential staffers also signed an open letter endorsing Harris.

Republican Senate candidate Larry Hogan of Maryland on Wednesday touted his pushback to Donald Trump and contrasted himself with the former president over their response to the January 6, 2021, US Capitol riot.

The popular former Maryland governor also touted his response on January 6, 2021, when Trump’s supporters attempted to stop Congress’ certification of the 2020 election results and stormed the US Capitol.

“On January 6th, when the president was watching the chaos on television, I was the first leader in America to send in the National Guard to protect our nation’s capital and our democracy,” he said.

The comments build onto Hogan’s new campaign ad launched earlier today, in which he condemns the violence on January 6 as he looks to defeat Democratic Senate candidate?Angela Alsobrooks.

Hogan has been a longtime critic of Trump. He?previously said?that he has “no interest” in an endorsement from Trump for his Senate bid as he has been working to distance himself from the national GOP in the blue state.

Vice President Kamala Harris arrives on Air Force Two at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, on September 4.

Vice President Kamala Harris will travel to Pittsburgh on Thursday, according to her campaign, where she is expected to remain as she prepares for the presidential debate next week.?

CNN previously reported that Harris intentionally pared back her travel leading up to the upcoming presidential debate at National Constitution Center in Philadelphia to dedicate time to preparation. While in Pittsburgh, she will prepare with her team, according to two sources familiar with the planning, and will stay for several nights until the debate Tuesday.

It’s the second time the vice president will visit the city this week after?campaigning with President Joe Biden?on Labor Day.?She plans to make community stops while she’s in Pittsburgh and stay on the campaign trail in a critical battleground state, according to one of the sources.

Meanwhile, her running mate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz will travel to Erie, Pennsylvania, on Thursday. In Erie, he will participate in “a series of campaign engagements” before speaking at a rally at 6 p.m., according to a news release from the Harris campaign.

CNN’s Priscilla Alvarez,?Kristen Holmes?and?Kevin Liptak contributed to this report.

This post has been updated with details of Tim Walz’s Thursday schedule.

Republican vice-presidential candidate JD Vance?ripped into?Republican former Rep.?Liz Cheney who said Wednesday she would vote for Vice President Kamala Harris over former president Donald Trump.

Cheney, who has been outspoken against Trump and his efforts to overturn the 2020 election, threw her support behind Harris during remarks at Duke University earlier Wednesday, according to audio obtained by CNN.

“This is a person whose entire career has been about sending other people’s children off to fight and die for her military conflicts and her ridiculous ideas that somehow we were going to turn Afghanistan, a country that doesn’t even have running water in a lot of places, into a thriving liberal democracy. And for that, Liz Cheney was willing to kill thousands of your children. Liz Cheney, you know what? I think it’s the best thing in the world that she’s supporting Kamala Harris,” Vance continued, appearing to knock Cheney’s opposition to the Trump administration making a deal with the Taliban for the US to pull out of Afghanistan.

Minnesota first lady Gwen Walz speaks at an event in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on September 4.

Minnesota first lady?Gwen Walz, the wife of Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz, mourned a school shooting in Georgia on Wednesday that left four dead and nine injured, calling for an end to gun violence in schools.

Georgia officials confirmed on Wednesday that two teachers and two students were killed in the shooting at Apalachee High School.

Walz told the Michigan teachers that they “deserve the right to go to school every single day without fear of gun violence in their classrooms.”

Walz, a former English teacher, also looked to draw a contrast between the policies proposed by Democrats and Republicans, connecting Vice President Kamala Harris’ economic policy rollout earlier in the day with teachers, saying “we are the middle class” that the policies are meant to uplift.?

On the other hand, Walz argued, “Trump and Vance see this differently. Their Project 2025 agenda would devastate a generation of students,” referencing the far-right policy blueprint written by several people close to Trump that would drastically overhaul the federal government.

ABC News has officially announced the rules of next week’s presidential debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump — meaning both candidates have agreed to the format,?including that microphones will be muted while the other candidate is speaking.

Additionally, a virtual coin flip held this week was won by Trump,?to determine podium placement and order of closing statements. Trump chose to offer the last closing statement, and Harris chose the right podium position on screen.?

Whether microphones would be cut was the last sticking point for the Harris campaign, after Trump’s team had already agreed to the rules last week.?

Over the weekend, Harris posted on X that Trump is “surrendering to his advisors who won’t allow him to debate with a live microphone. If his own team doesn’t have confidence in him, the American people definitely can’t.”

“We are running for President of the United States. Let’s debate in a transparent way — with the microphones on the whole time,” she added.?

Last week Trump said at a campaign stop that while they had already agreed to the rules, he didn’t mind if the mics were on.??

The ABC News debate rules largely mirror those used by CNN in its presidential debate between President Joe Biden and Trump in June, when the Biden campaign, at the time, was the one that advocated for muted microphones.?

In addition to the muted microphones, the rules state there will be no audience, the candidates will not be permitted to have written notes, no staff can visit them during the two commercial breaks and they cannot ask questions of one another.

The unnamed Tennessee-based company that the Justice Department alleges was being funded by Russian operatives working as part of a Kremlin-orchestrated influence operation targeting the 2024 US election is Tenet Media, which is linked to right-wing commentators with?millions of subscribers on YouTube and other social media platforms, according to a US official briefed on the matter.

The indictment unsealed in New York’s Southern District accused two employees of RT, the Kremlin’s media arm, of funneling nearly $10 million to an unidentified company, described only as “Company 1” in court documents.

CNN has independently confirmed that “Company 1” is Tenet Media, a platform for independent content creators.?It is a self-described “network of heterodox commentators that focus on Western political and cultural issues,” according to its website, which matches language contained in the newly-unsealed indictment.

The goal of the operation, according to prosecutors, was to fuel pro-Russian narratives, in part, by pushing content and news articles favoring Donald Trump and others who the Kremlin deemed to be friendlier to its interests.

The indictment also says that Company 1’s website identifies six commentators.

Among the commentators listed on Tenet Media’s website are right-wing personalities Benny Johnson and Tim Pool. Both have millions of subscribers on YouTube and other social media platforms.?Pool interviewed Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump on his podcast in May.

In separate statements released Wednesday, Johnson and Pool say they were victims of the alleged scheme and said they maintained editorial control of the content they had created.?

Then-Rep. Liz Cheney attends a meeting of the US House Select Committee investigating the January 6 attack on the US Capitol in Washington, DC, in 2022.

Republican former Rep. Liz Cheney is voting for Vice President Kamala Harris, she said during remarks at Duke University, according to audio obtained by CNN.

Cheney previously said she is committed to doing what’s necessary to stop former President Donald Trump from returning to the White House.

She joins a number of Republicans and former Republicans who have come out against Trump in support of Harris, including 1st?Lt.?Jimmy McCain — the youngest son of the late Sen. John McCain — who told CNN he changed his voter registration to Democrat and plans to vote for Harris in November.

This post has been updated with more details.

Vice President Kamala Harris takes the stage during a campaign stop at the Throwback Brewery on September 4 in North Hampton, New Hampshire.

Vice President Kamala Harris said debate preparations are “so far, so good,” as she boarded Air Force Two in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.?

Harris was responding to a question from a pool reporter who asked her how debate prep is going as she departed the Granite State back to Washington, DC.

CNN previously reported the vice president will hunker down in Pittsburgh beginning Thursday to prepare ahead of next week’s presidential debate.?The debate at National Constitution Center in Philadelphia next week will be Harris’ and Donald Trump’s first in-person encounter.

A young girl and her mother watch as law enforcement and first responders surround Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia, on September 4 after a shooting was reported.

Former President Donald Trump said Wednesday “our hearts are with the victims” after officials said four people were killed in a shooting inside Apalachee High School and nine others were transported to hospitals with injuries.

Law enforcement officials at a news conference on Wednesday afternoon identified the 14-year-old student who killed two fellow students and two teachers at the high school.

Later Wednesday, Trump during a Fox News town hall was asked about the Georgia shooting and the recent assassination attempt on his life, and he said, “It’s a sick and angry world for a lot of reasons.”

Republican vice presidential candidate Sen. JD Vance also reacted to the shooting Wednesday afternoon.

“Our hearts go out to everyone affected by this despicable violence just days into the new school year.?We are keeping the victims, their families, and the whole community of Winder, Georgia in our prayers this evening,” Vance said in a message on X.

Follow live updates about the shooting here.

This post has been updated with additional comments from Donald Trump.

Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign has accepted in a letter sent to ABC News the terms of Harris’ debate with former President Donald Trump next week, including the fact that the candidates’ microphones will be muted when it is not their turn to speak, according to a person familiar with the debate negotiations.?

However, in their letter to the network, the Harris campaign again laid out their objections to the muted mics condition, insisting that they believe the vice president will be “fundamentally disadvantaged by this format.”

ABC News has offered assurances to the Harris campaign that if there is significant cross talk between Harris and Trump, the network may choose to turn on the mics so that the public can understand what is happening, the moderator would discourage either candidate from interrupting constantly and the moderator would also work to explain to viewers what is being said, according to the source familiar. In addition, there will be pool reporters in the room who can also hear and report on what both sides are saying, the source added.??

The campaign went on to write in the letter: “Notwithstanding our concerns, we understand that Donald Trump is a risk to skip the debate altogether, as he has threatened to do previously, if we do not accede to his preferred format. We do not want to jeopardize the debate. For this reason, we accept the full set of rules proposed by ABC, including muted microphones.”

CNN is reaching out to ABC News for comment.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton at Manhattan Criminal Court on April 30 in New York City.?

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton?filed a lawsuit?Wednesday trying to stop one of the biggest counties in his state from mailing voter registration forms to large swaths of unregistered voters.?

On Tuesday, the county judge and commissioners in Bexar County, which includes San Antonio, approved a contract with a vendor to mail the unsolicited forms to approximately 210,000 people, with the goal of registering about 75,000 voters.

Paxton had previously warned of legal action if Bexar County moved forward with its plan to work with the vendor, Civic Government Solutions. In the new complaint, Paxton argues that it’s illegal for county officials to arrange for unsolicited, mass mailing of voter registration forms.

Paxton’s lawsuit is the latest step in a large-scale effort by Republican leaders in Texas against largely-Democratic cities that are trying to make voting easier and more accessible. Paxton’s office also launched an?election integrity unit in 2018?investigating allegations of voter fraud, but the unit has yielded few convictions.?

The company contracted by Bexar County is run by a known progressive activist, Jeremy Smith, but Smith sought to reassure county leaders on Tuesday that his company (CGS) is strictly nonpartisan, saying it’s in the company’s financial interest to register as many voters as possible on both sides of the aisle.

Reached for comment after the lawsuit was announced, county leaders indicated they still plan to move forward with the registration effort. In a statement, Bexar County Judge Peter Sakai said he and the commissioners sought their own legal opinion and feel the county still has the right to mail out registration forms.

This post has been updated with a statement from Bexar County Judge Peter Sakai.

Vice President Kamala Harris visits Sandfly Bar-B-Q restaurant in Savannah, Georgia, on August 28.

Vice President Kamala Harris is adding tax relief for small businesses to her economic policy platform aimed at helping middle-class and working Americans.

Harris unveiled Wednesday a proposal to massively increase the existing small business tax deduction for startup costs and cut the red tape that impedes small businesses’ formation and growth.

Her goal: 25 million new small business applications by the end of her first term, up from the record 19 million received under the Biden administration as of mid-August.

Harris on Wednesday also proposed?raising the capital gains tax rate, though not by as much as President Joe Biden has called for.

Here’s what we know about Harris’ economic proposals:

Find out what else Harris is proposing for the economy here.

This post has been updated with the policies Harris unveiled on Wednesday.

Former President Donald Trump’s campaign announced Wednesday it raised $130 million in the month of August, ending the month with nearly $300 million cash on hand.?

Vice President Kamala Harris by the end of July had surpassed Trump for the amount of cash each campaign had on hand, reporting $219.7 million to Trump’s $151.3 million. While Harris’ campaign has not yet shared its August fundraising numbers, a Harris campaign official said last month it was nearing $500 million in fundraising.

Trump’s campaign said in a news release that 98% of the August donations were under $200.

“These fundraising numbers from August are a reflection of that movement and will propel President Trump’s America First movement back to the White House so we can undo the terrible failures of Harris and Biden,” said Brian Hughes, a senior advisor for the Trump Campaign.

CNN’s David Wright?and?Alex Leeds Matthews contributed to this report.

Law enforcement and first responders work as students wait to be picked up after a shooting at Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia, on September 4.

Vice President Kamala Harris called a deadly school shooting in Winder, Georgia, a “senseless tragedy” in her first public comments on the incident.

On Wednesday, at least four people were killed at Apalachee High School, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. Another nine people have been taken to hospitals with injuries, the bureau said.

“It does not have to be this way, and this is one of the many issues that’s at stake in this election,” Harris said.

Harris’ running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, also reacted to news of the shooting Wednesday.

He called the incident “tragic” and “a situation that’s all too common.”

“Our hearts are out there right now, but our work needs to do to prevent these in the future, as we know,” Walz said during a visit to a Lancaster, Pennsylvania Democratic field office.

Follow live updates about the shooting here.

Vice President Kamala Harris speaks in North Hampton, New Hampshire, on September 4.

Vice President Kamala Harris proposed a smaller increase in taxes on capital gains?during an economic speech?in New Hampshire on Wednesday, breaking with the policy laid out by President Joe Biden in his 2025 budget.

The current capital gains tax rate – 23.8%?for higher earners?– is paid when an investment is sold, or gains are realized. The Biden budget?proposes raising that rate to the top rate he wants to levy on ordinary income – 39.6% –?for households with taxable income over $1 million. Harris, the people familiar with the matter say, believes 39.6% is too high and outlined her proposal in New Hampshire.

While Harris still supports?taxing the wealthiest individuals and corporations?at higher rates – as Biden’s budget also calls for – she believes that a lower capital gains rate would incentivize investors to put more money into startups and small businesses. Advisers said Harris supports allowing?many?Trump-era tax cuts?for the wealthy and big corporations?to lapse in favor of funding more targeted programs for families and small businesses.

Biden’s budget proposal also contains other tax increases on the wealthy, including raising the top marginal income tax rate to 39.6%, up from the 37% rate established by the 2017 Trump tax cuts law, and levying a 25% minimum income tax on households with more than $100 million in net worth.

The move comes as Harris attempts to establish herself as more moderate in some areas of economic policy while still embracing some elements of a more populist platform, like a $25,000 credit for first-time homebuyers, a $6,000 child tax credit?for newborns and federal investigations into retail grocery pricing.

Read more about Harris’ proposal.

This post has been updated with a quote from Harris’ speech Wednesday.

Former President Donald Trump arrives at a rally in Greensboro, North Carolina, on March 2.

Former President Donald Trump posted a short video on TikTok and his social media platform, Truth Social, ahead of North Carolina’s early voting.

North Carolina is the first battleground state to begin the voting process, sending out absentee by mail ballots on Friday.

“So whether it’s mail-in ballots, early voting, or voting on Election Day, you’ve got to get out and vote.” Trump added.

“We’ve got to save our country, we’re the only ones that are going to save it. That other group of people, they’re going to destroy our country. We can’t let that happen.” Trump continued.?

This comes as Trump has recently stated in an interview with Dr. Phil, and repeatedly during some of his rallies, that mail-in ballots “shouldn’t be allowed.”

The battle for control of the House of Representatives will come down to a few dozen of the most competitive races, and the parties and their allies are honing in on those battleground districts, booking tens of millions worth of ad time over the coming weeks.

These top battleground districts are spread across the country. But a few states, like California and New York – which typically see little competitive action at the presidential or senate level – are home to buckets of key races that could be decisive. On the frontlines are several freshman GOP members, many facing rematches of extremely close 2022 contests.

Five districts from California and three from New York populate the list of the 20 House races with the most ad buys remaining between this week and Election Day, while a fourth New York district makes the top 30.?

Here’s a snapshot of some of the key races in California and New York:

California: Top California House races feature several freshman or second-term GOP incumbents, multiple rematches, and an open seat race in a competitive district formerly held for Democrats by Katie Porter, who left to unsuccessfully run in the Senate primary earlier this year.

Voters in the 22nd District are set to see $16.9 million worth of advertising as GOP Rep. David Valadao looks to fend off repeat challenger Rudy Salas, and Republicans have more future ad bookings there, about $10.2 million to $6.7 million. The parties are placing similar bets on the 27th District, where another Republican, Rep. Mike Garcia, is seeking reelection, and Republicans have about $10.1 million booked here, while Democrats have $6 million reserved.?

New York: In New York, a trio of freshmen Republican incumbents are also on the frontline of their party’s effort to retain its slim House majority. Rep. Marc Molinaro in the 19th District, Rep. Mike Lawler in the 17th District, and Rep. Anthony D’Esposito in the 4th District are all among the 20 races set to see the most ad spending through Election Day.

In the 19th, Molinaro’s district, Republicans have about $10.3 million booked, while Democrats have about $8.9 million reserved, hoping to lift challenger Josh Riley after his extremely narrow loss to Molinaro in 2022. It’s currently ranked third overall among House races set to see the most ad spending through Election Day.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz speaks during a campaign rally in Philadelphia on August 6.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s brother said in an interview Tuesday he doesn’t agree with his sibling’s policies but expressed some remorse for inserting himself into the spotlight after making political comments on social media last week.

Jeff Walz, the older brother of Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate, told NewsNation he didn’t intend to “influence the general public” with his social media posts. He said he has no plans to be campaigning “for him or against him” ahead of November’s election.

Jeff Walz’s comments come after he wrote in the comment section of an old Facebook post on Friday that he hasn’t spoken to his brother in eight years, but is “100% opposed to all his ideology.”?

In another comment Friday, he responded to someone suggesting he “get on stage” with Trump and offer his official endorsement.

“I’ve thought hard about doing something like that!,” he wrote in response to the idea of formally endorsing Trump. “I’m torn between that and just keeping my family out of it. The stories I could tell. Not the type of character you want making decisions about your future,” he said of his brother.

He has since said he regrets sharing his views on Facebook, and explained he made the posts to clarify his views to people in his life who thought he was aligned with his brother politically.??

Jeff Walz lamented the distance between him and his brother, saying “it’s too bad” they’ve grown apart and expressed hope for the possibility they can “disagree and still be civil brothers.” He added that any “stories” he had to share about Tim Walz wouldn’t reveal anything “hidden” about him.?

Jeff Walz declined to share with NewsNation who he would be voting for in November. But he has a history of supporting Trump dating back to his first presidential campaign in 2016.?

CNN has reached out to the Harris-Walz campaign for comment.

Attorney General Merrick Garland hosted a meeting of the Justice Department’s Election Threats Task Force on Wednesday, September 4, in Washington, DC.

The Biden administration announced a sweeping set of actions to tackle a major Russian government-backed effort to influence the?2024 US presidential election?on Wednesday, including unveiling criminal charges against two Russian nationals, sanctions on ten individuals and entities, and the seizure of 32 internet domains.

At Russian President Vladimir Putin’s direction, three Russian companies used fake profiles to promote false narratives on social media, US Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said in a statement.

Two employees of RT, the Russian state media?network, were indicted in a US court for allegedly being part of a scheme that funneled nearly $10 million to set up and direct a Tennessee-based front company to produce online content aimed at sowing divisions among Americans, according to the Justice Department.

Taken together, the actions represent the Biden administration’s most significant public response yet to alleged Russian influence operations targeting American voters. After the US?accused?Iran of trying to hack both the Trump and Biden-Harris campaigns last month, Wednesday’s expected actions are a reminder that US officials continue to see Russia as a prominent foreign influence threat to November’s election, the sources said.

CNN first reported on the pending US actions earlier Wednesday. The Russian disinformation operation is being laundered through?both?Americans and non-American voices, four of the sources said.

On Wednesday afternoon, Attorney General Merrick Garland hosted a meeting of the Justice Department’s Election Threats?Task?Force that was attended by senior law enforcement leaders,?including FBI Director Christopher Wray.

Read more about these developments here.

This post has been updated with more details on the US actions.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz visited a produce market before meeting volunteers in the first stops on his two-day swing through battleground Pennsylvania on Wednesday, his first solo visit to the state since joining the Democratic ticket.

Walz and his daughter Hope purchased some baked goods at the Cherry Hill Orchards Outlet produce market in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, including some “whoopie pies” and apple cider donuts, according to pool reports.?

Walz then brought the baked goods to campaign volunteers at a “volunteer appreciation” event in Lancaster, where he thanked them for working on behalf of the Harris-Walz campaign, according to pool reports.

Why Pennsylvania is key: The destiny of the White House may hang on a deadlocked fight between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris for Georgia and Pennsylvania, two battlegrounds that have been decisive in crowning the last two presidents.

The evolving electoral map is revealed in new CNN/SSRS polls out Wednesday?of six swing states that captured the transformation in the race since the vice president replaced President Joe Biden as the Democratic nominee.

The polling data suggests that Harris is two-thirds of the way to consolidating, at least for now, the critical midwestern “Blue Wall” states of Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania that have long been the most credible route back to the White House for a Democratic nominee. But the tied race at this point in Pennsylvania suggests that Harris still faces a massive task in putting away a state that Biden won by only 1.2% of the vote four years ago.

CNN’s Stephen Collinson contributed reporting to this post.

The 2024 presidential race?has entered a critical stretch,?with Vice President?Kamala Harris and former President?Donald Trump?preparing to debate in less than a week and the first ballots going out Friday in North Carolina.

Read about?other upcoming campaign events here.

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

Former President Donald Trump continues to juggle his campaign and the multiple legal challenges he faces.

The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office on Wednesday again expressed its opposition to Trump’s request to pause the proceedings in his New York state criminal case.?

After filing a petition to remove Trump’s hush money case to federal court last week, his lawyers asked Judge Juan Merchan to let that litigation play out before ruling on Trump’s pending motion to vacate the conviction over the Supreme Court’s presidential immunity ruling.??

But a federal judge denied Trump’s request to move the case to the Southern District of New York?Tuesday evening.?Trump’s attorneys filed a notice of appeal of that decision hours later.?

In a letter filed with the state court Wednesday the DA’s office says Trump now has no basis for his request to pause the state proceedings because of that federal ruling.?

The letter does not reference Trump’s notice of appeal filed late Tuesday night.??

Judge Merchan has not ruled on Trump’s separate request to delay the sentencing until after the election. Merchan could issue a decision as soon as this week.

Trump could face as much as four years in prison when he is sentenced. He was?convicted earlier this year?of 34 counts of falsifying business records.

This is one of four criminal cases the former president faces while running again for president.

Vice President Kamala Harris will deliver a speech in New Hampshire today where she is expected to unveil the next tranche of her economic plan.?

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.

In new CNN polling of six swing states, economic issues remain the topic most often chosen by voters when asked what matters in their choice for president. Harris now trails Trump on trust to handle the economy by relatively smaller margins than Biden did; across the current polls, former President Donald Trump is more trusted than Harris on the economy by 8 points on average.

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.

Highlights of Harris’ economic promises

Highlights of Trump’s economic promises:

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

You know the feeling you have the second you step off a Tilt-A-Whirl? That moment when your foot finally hits terra firma after your body’s been through a spin cycle?

That’s kind of where the US economy lives right now — a little dizzy from the ride, vision blurry, feet stepping cautiously forward and trying not to take a tumble.

Meanwhile, everyone at the fair is watching to see what happens next.

Here’s the deal: The next two weeks will bring unusually close attention to the US monthly jobs report (due Friday morning) and the Federal Reserve policy decision (streaming live from Washington, DC, on September 18).

Those two events are the kind of thing that, in normal times, are tracked mostly by economists and Wall Street types.

Of course, we’re not in a normal time — we’re in election time. That means even the stodgiest of reports could force the presidential candidates to recalibrate their message on the issue voters have repeatedly told pollsters is their top concern.

For former President Donald Trump and the Republicans, the narrative is simple: Anything bad you’re feeling about inflation or the job market? That’s the Biden administration’s fault.

For Vice President Kamala Harris, who moved to the top of the Democratic ticket in late July, the message about the economy has had to be more nuanced, recognizing consumers’ legitimate frustrations about high prices and inflation, while touting Democrats’ success in keeping the labor market afloat and avoiding a recession.

Keep reading here.

Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump have a busy schedule today as they prepare for next week’s presidential debate and hit the trail in this last critical stretch of the 2024 campaign.

Harris and Trump, along with their respective running mates Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Ohio Sen. JD Vance, are visiting multiple states to make their case.

Here’s a look at what the candidates are up to today:

A sign directs people to the voting site at Bronx County Supreme Court House during the Democratic primary on June 25 in New York City.

The Biden administration on Wednesday plans to accuse Russia of a sustained effort to influence the 2024 US election by using Kremlin-run media and other online platforms to target US voters with disinformation, six sources familiar with the matter told CNN.

It’s expected the US will make a series of moves on Wednesday aimed at addressing the Kremlin’s efforts including the White House publicly condemning the actions and the Justice Department announcing law enforcement action targeting?the covert Russian, the sources said.

RT, the Russian state media?network, is a major focus of the US announcement, the sources said. US officials see the Russian outlet as a key piece of Kremlin propaganda efforts.

The Russian disinformation operation is being laundered through?both?Americans and non-American voices, four of the sources said.

Taken together, the actions would be the Biden administration’s most significant public response yet to alleged Russian influence operations targeting American voters. After the US?accused?Iran of trying to hack both the Trump and Biden-Harris campaigns last month, Wednesday’s expected actions are a reminder that US officials continue to see Russia as a prominent foreign influence threat to November’s election, the sources said.

Read more about these developments here.

Former President Donald Trump on Wednesday attacked Vice President Kamala Harris’ intelligence and claimed Democrats coalesced around Harris — who is the first Black woman and first Asian American to lead the ticket of a major political party — because they “wanted to be politically correct.”?

Trump’s call into a New Hampshire radio show comes as Harris is expected to campaign in the state on Wednesday. It also comes the day after he posted on Truth Social urging his supporters to turn out for him in that state after the?Boston Globe?reported that a top Trump volunteer wrote in an email to other volunteers in the state that “the campaign has determined that New Hampshire is no longer a battleground state,” and to instead focus on Pennsylvania.?

Trump said he’s having meetings in preparation for next week’s debate with Harris but said “there’s not a lot you can do.”??

“I’ve been preparing all my life for this debate,” Trump said.?

New CNN polls conducted by SSRS in six battleground states show a mixed outlook on the upcoming presidential election, with voters chiming in on how they view each candidate’s policies and how they would handle important issues.

Across nearly all of these states, likely voters are more apt to describe former President Donald Trump than Vice President Kamala Harris as having clear policy plans to solve the country’s problems (voters split about evenly on this question in Wisconsin and Michigan), but voters in these swing states largely describe Harris’ views and policies as mainstream and Trump’s as too extreme.

About half in each state (between 46% and 51%) say Trump’s views and policies are so extreme that they pose a threat to the country, while around 4 in 10 (between 37% and 42%) say the same about Harris’ positions.

Focus on the economy and democracy: An average of 39% of likely voters across states choose the economy as their top issue, with protecting democracy next at an average of 25%. But Harris now trails Trump on trust to handle the economy by relatively smaller margins than President Joe Biden did; across the current polls, Trump is more trusted than Harris on the economy by 8 points on average. (In?New York Times/Siena College polls?of the same six states this spring, the same calculation yielded a 20-point Trump advantage over Biden.)

Trump maintains a broad advantage as more trusted to handle immigration, while Harris has built on Biden’s lead as more trusted to handle abortion and reproductive rights, with women across these six states preferring her by an average of 27 percentage points on the issue.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz speaks at Laborfest on September 2 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz will deliver the keynote address at the Human Rights Campaign’s National Dinner in Washington, DC on Saturday

Former President Donald Trump participates in a question and answers session at the National Association of Black Journalists convention at the Hilton Hotel on July 31 in Chicago.

Former President Donald Trump will continue to fight to?move his New York hush money case into federal court — and delay his sentencing on that conviction — now appealing to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, according to a notice of appeal filed?Tuesday night.?

A federal judge in Manhattan denied his initial request to move the case to the Southern District of New York?on?Tuesday. Trump’s attorneys filed a notice of appeal of that decision later that night.??

Trump’s legal team filed the petition last week to move the state case to federal court in the wake of the Supreme Court’s presidential immunity decision. They also asked the federal judge to postpone Trump’s sentencing, currently set for?September 18.

Judge Juan Merchan still has not ruled on Trump’s separate request to delay the sentencing until after the election.

The judge could issue a decision as soon as this week.

When?former President Donald Trump?and Vice President Kamala Harris walk onstage at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia on Tuesday, it will be their first in-person encounter — a moment each has been mulling as they prepare?with advisers for the high-stakes moment.

For Harris, a stand-in for the former president — wearing his signature red tie — has helped her visualize the scene ahead of time. Trump, meanwhile, has eschewed a sparring partner in the role of Harris, choosing instead to replicate the informal “policy time” that formed his preparation ahead of June’s debate with President?Joe Biden.

That debate ended in disaster for the incumbent president, who ended his reelection bid three weeks later and thrust the presidential race into uncharted waters. Sources close to Trump insist not much had changed in terms of how he will prepare for upcoming debate, despite a switch at the top?of the Democratic ticket.

One difference: the enlisting of one of the vice president’s ex-rivals,?Tulsi Gabbard,?the former representative from Hawaii who ran for president?as a Democrat?in 2020 in a crowded field that also included Harris.

The addition of Gabbard is particularly notable given the tense exchanges she had with the vice president during their 2020 race that left?Harris rattled.

Whether Trump’s approach with a new, younger candidate will prove as effective remains an open question. Harris’ team, for its part, views her as an underdog given Trump’s lengthy experience in general election debates — this will be his seventh?in total, more than any candidate in history.

Find out more about Harris’ and Trump’s preparations ahead of the Tuesday face-off.

The destiny of the White House may hang on a deadlocked fight between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris for Georgia and Pennsylvania, two battlegrounds that have been decisive in crowning the last two presidents.

The evolving electoral map is revealed in new CNN/SSRS polls out Wednesday?of six swing states that captured the transformation in the race since the vice president replaced President Joe Biden as the Democratic nominee.

The surveys show Harris has vastly improved her party’s chances in November and could open several paths to the 270 Electoral College votes needed to win. But they suggest any stalling of her momentum could be disastrous to her hopes.

Trump, despite weeks of failing to find a coherent anti-Harris message, still has a serious chance nine weeks out of pulling off one of the most stunning political comebacks in US history. Strong showings in a few key states could land him back in the Oval Office.

More broadly, the new polls show that Harris has at least made a strong start on her extraordinary task of turning around an election that looked lost within the space of a few months. But they also reflect Trump’s stunning and enduring strength among millions of Americans in his third presidential election — eight years after he won his first.

Continue reading Collinson’s analysis.

Vice President Kamala Harris speaks to the Aliquippa High School football team 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 CNN debate in June.?

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

Democratic Rep. Haley Stevens urged the Harris campaign to “not take anything for granted” in her home state of Michigan, even as?new CNN polling?shows the Democratic presidential nominee leading former President Donald Trump there.?

Calling Vice President Kamala Harris “the underdog,” Stevens said, “we’re not leaving anyone behind.”

Stevens — who represents Oakland County — said that her Michigan district previously backed Republicans two decades ago, but that the area has since “turned” — a positive sign for the Harris campaign. She pointed to the district’s “trajectory of strong, Democratic female leadership” along with “incredibly exercised volunteers.”

Asked about the vice president’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war, Stevens called it an “incredibly painful issue” and noted that she spoke with Harris about the recent killing of six Israeli hostages during her visit to Michigan on Labor Day.?The congresswoman emphasized that the Biden-Harris administration is focused on reaching a ceasefire deal and remembering the hostages.

Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott on Tuesday appeared supportive of former President Donald?Trump’s proposal?for the federal government or insurance companies to cover the cost of in vitro fertilization.

Abbott also spoke about?Texas resident Amanda Zurawski, who nearly died when she was denied an abortion and went into septic shock. Zurawski has now been campaigning on behalf of Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign against restrictive abortion measures. Abbott said her medical case was a “a complete false application of the Texas law.”

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 today.

In an economic speech in New Hampshire today, 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.

Mark Meadows and Jeffrey Clark.

While former President Donald Trump faces a?fresh indictment?over efforts to overturn the 2020 election, some of his biggest allies are hoping the revised charging document helps them evade professional consequences and criminal prosecution for their roles nearly four years ago.

Special counsel Jack Smith?rewrote Trump’s federal indictment?after the US Supreme Court ruled this summer that the president can’t be prosecuted for “official acts” taken while president.?Smith not only narrowed the allegations against Trump but also removed references to communications between?Trump and federal government officials.

Now former White House?chief of?staff Mark Meadows and former Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark are trying to use their onetime boss’ winnowed indictment to their advantage.

Trump is the only one charged in the federal case, but several of his allies and members of his administration are facing state-level criminal charges over their meddling after the last election, including Clark and Meadows. Clark and others also are facing professional disciplinary proceedings that could disrupt their ability to practice law.

Meadows, in particular, could stand to benefit from the?new Trump?indictment handed up in federal court last week.?Meadows was?cut from much of the document, except for some interactions he had with Trump as the then-president sought to reach the secretary of state in Georgia on the phone to pressure him into aiding his election reversal gambit.

Keep reading.

The 2024 presidential race?has entered a crucial 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?gets into 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.

Here are headlines you should know:

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A gala at former President Donald Trump’s Bedminster golf club for those who?were incarcerated for their participation in the January 6?attack on the US Capitol has been postponed indefinitely, according to the?event’s website.

The “J6 Awards Gala,” hosted by First Class Label Group and Vote Your Vision, was initially scheduled for Thursday at Trump National Golf Course in Bedminster, New Jersey. The event date is now “postponed” and the location and time are “to be announced,” the event’s website says.

Trump was invited to the event but has not confirmed whether he plans to attend.?

Some background:?Trump said if he becomes president, he would pardon January 6 rioters who were convicted in an interview in July at the National Association of Black Journalists conference.

“Oh absolutely, I would. If they’re innocent, I would pardon them,” Trump said. “They were convicted by a very tough system.”

Trump has regularly referred to those jailed for their role in the riot on the Capitol on January 6 as “hostages.”

Yard signs with blue dots are seen in Omaha, Nebraska.

The battlegrounds of Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania may be pivotal in the race for the White House, but winning those blue wall states alone does not guarantee?a campaign victory?without something else: Omaha’s blue dot.

Yard signs with blue circles have begun appearing on lawns across town here, a hopeful symbol for Democrats in a sea of Nebraska red, with one of the state’s lone electoral votes likely critical for?Kamala Harris?or?Donald Trump?in the closing two months of the campaign.

Nebraska and Maine are the only states that award electoral votes by congressional district rather than statewide winner. Republicans have long sought to change the law here, but for Democrats, it’s a point of pride. Barack Obama in 2008 and Joe Biden in 2020 are the party’s only two candidates to reap a single electoral vote reward.

The Harris campaign and?its?Democratic allies are investing millions to follow suit.

For all of the pathways for Harris and Trump to reach the White House, the race for 270 electoral votes could come down to Nebraska’s sprawling 2nd?District covering Omaha and parts of two nearby counties, which hold many similarities to suburban areas across the country.

Here’s why: If Harris carries the three “blue wall” states of Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin and Trump wins?the?sunbelt states of North Carolina, Georgia, Arizona and Nevada, the race could become a 269-269 tie, decided by the House of Representatives. A single electoral college vote in Nebraska could change that, providing no other states deliver surprising results.

Read the full story.

Both Georgia and Pennsylvania remain thoroughly up for grabs, according to new CNN polls conducted by SSRS in each state, with tight margins overall and double-digit shares of likely voters — 12% in Georgia and 16% in Pennsylvania — saying they haven’t yet decided on a candidate, or that they might change their minds.

Black voters are a key bloc in both states, particularly in Georgia, and according to these polls, Harris stands at 85% among Black likely voters in Georgia and at 84% in Pennsylvania. In both states, though, Black registered voters express less motivation to vote in this year’s election than White voters do.

In Georgia, 61% of Black registered voters say they are extremely motivated to vote compared with 70% among White voters, and in Pennsylvania, just 56% of Black voters say they are deeply motivated to vote compared with 72% of White voters.

Both states see significant gender gaps in presidential preference, with Harris ahead by double-digits among female likely voters in both states while Trump has similarly large leads among male likely voters. Harris widens her margin slightly in both states among suburban women, topping Trump by 16 points with that group in Georgia and 18 points in Pennsylvania.

Harris carries a majority of likely voters younger than 35 in both states, leading 59% to 36% in Pennsylvania, and 54% to 41% in Georgia.

White likely voters without college degrees in both states break broadly for Trump, particularly in Georgia, where roughly 7 in 10 support him. White likely voters who do have four-year college degrees, though, split in opposite directions across the two states. In Pennsylvania, they broadly favor Harris, 59% to 37%, while in Georgia, they are solidly in Trump’s camp, 65% to 32%. That dynamic is similar to the divide seen in 2020 exit polling.

Read more here.

The 2024 presidential campaign’s home stretch kicks off with a mixed outlook across six key battlegrounds, according to?new CNN polls conducted by SSRS in each state.?

Vice President?Kamala Harris?holds?an advantage over former President?Donald Trump?among likely voters in Wisconsin and Michigan, while Trump has the edge in Arizona.?The two split likely voters almost evenly in Georgia, Nevada and Pennsylvania,?the state with the largest electoral vote prize that’s widely seen as up for grabs.

Across each of them, an average of 15% of likely voters say they have not yet firmly decided their choice, suggesting a sizable share of voters could shift their views on the race as attention to the campaign rises and campaign activity, especially in these states, hits a fever pitch in the final nine weeks before Election Day.

Likely voters in Wisconsin break 50% for Harris to 44% for Trump, and in Michigan, it’s 48% Harris to 43% Trump. In Arizona, Trump lands at 49% to Harris’ 44%. In Georgia and Nevada, 48% back Harris to 47% for Trump, and in Pennsylvania, the candidates are tied at 47%.

The polls, conducted after the Democratic National Convention in August, reflect results among likely voters determined through a combination of past vote behavior and current intention to vote.

Read more here.