October 9, 2024, presidential campaign news

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Senate candidates Rep. Ruben Gallego, left, and Kari Lake participate in a debate in Phoenix, Arizona, on October 9, 2024, .

Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego and GOP nominee Kari Lake traded barbs Wednesday over immigration and abortion, among other issues, in their only Senate debate of the election cycle, with Lake’s attacks against Gallego sometimes turning personal.

In a sign of how contentious the hourlong debate would be, the candidates used portions of their opening remarks to attack one another. Gallego attacked Lake as having “failed the basic test of honesty” and said she “has lied to Arizona” about her 2022 election loss for governor. Lake slammed Gallego as having “undergone an extreme makeover” from a progressive House member to a moderate candidate.

Much of the debate was devoted to immigration policy – a top issue for the border state.

Questioned about his past criticism of former President Donald Trump’s border wall, Gallego said that a border wall is “important” to a border security package but it also has to be coupled with “technology, manpower and then laws that come behind that.”

He criticized Lake for opposing the bipartisan border security bill that was blocked earlier this year, claiming that Lake was against the bill “because she needs” a border problem.”

Lake attacked Gallego for being opposed to using the term “illegal alien” in legislation, arguing that Gallego is more “worried about semantics than security.” She reiterated her support for legislation to fully fund and expediate Trump’s border wall.

Another chunk of the night was focused on abortion – an issue that is posed to Arizona voters on the November ballot.

Gallego said he would codify the standards that were established under Roe v. Wade. He also attacked Lake for her past support for Arizona’s 1964 abortion ban.

Lake said that she thinks abortion “should be left to the states.”

Of the abortion initiative on Arizona’s state ballot, Lake said that “whatever the law ends up being, whatever our choice ends up being, I will respect.”

She, again, said she would not pass a federal abortion ban nor approve federal tax dollars being used for abortion.

Democratic vice presidential nominee Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz speaks in Tucson, Arizona on October 9, 2024.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz attacked former President Donald Trump and his Republican allies for wanting to “blame everything on migrants” and for failing to deliver solutions to problems with immigration at the US-Mexico border during a rally in Tucson, Arizona,?on Wednesday.

The Democratic vice presidential candidate told a crowd of hundreds of supporters at a high school gymnasium?that Republicans “want to blame everything on migrants, and they want to take no responsibility or come up with no plan.” Walz said the issue “should not divide us,” touting the bipartisan border security bill endorsed by the White House and Vice President Kamala Harris but blocked after Trump opposed it.

Walz also drew a contrast between Trump and former Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain, who Trump repeatedly criticized before his death in 2018. He highlighted the recent endorsement of former GOP Rep. Liz Cheney, former Vice President Dick Cheney, and McCain’s son First Lieutenant Jim McCain, who appeared alongside Walz at a campaign event in Arizona earlier on Wednesday.

He again?invoked McCain while criticizing Trump for reporting by journalist Bob Woodward that Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke as many as seven times since he left office?(Trump has denied the reporting.)

“You remember when Republicans were a party of freedom, real freedom. You can’t tell me that John McCain would be okay with a former president calling Vladimir Putin like a buddy every week,” he said.

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump delivers remarks at a campaign rally in Reading, Pennsylvania, on October 09, 2024.

Former President Donald Trump on Wednesday escalated misinformation about the federal response to Hurricane Helene and falsely claimed Vice President Kamala Harris “didn’t send anything or anyone at all,” turned back helicopters that were sent to help those affected and “did nothing as people struggled and drowned.”

Less than four weeks before Election Day, Trump is overtly trying to politicize natural disasters that have so far left hundreds of people dead by spreading lies about his political opponent’s response.

“Families desperately tried to escape the rising flood waters and they climbed onto roofs. They did anything they can to live but Kamala didn’t send any helicopters to rescue them. And when people sent helicopters, they turned them back,” Trump falsely claimed.

There have been numerous government and private helicopters and other aircraft involved in rescue and aid efforts in North Carolina in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene. There are residents who died before they could be rescued, but the claim that no helicopters were sent or that helicopters were turned back is false.

“She didn’t send anything or anyone at all,” Trump falsely claimed. “Days passed, no help as men, women and children drowned.”

“She did nothing as people struggled and drowned and day after day no one came,” Trump falsely claimed. “Fortunately, the private sector kicked in and they’re really helping and doing a good job.”

Trump has repeatedly falsely claimed that the Biden administration is receiving widespread criticism despite the administration’s response receiving bipartisan praise, including from Republican governors

Former House GOP Conference chair Liz Cheney and former Trump White House aides Alyssa Farah Griffin, Cassidy Hutchinson and Sarah Matthews joined together as a group for the first time?to make the case against the reelection of former President Donald Trump at an event in battleground Pennsylvania.

Cheney, who campaigned with Vice President Kamala Harris for the first time last week in Wisconsin, said, “Every single one of us has a responsibility and an obligation” to remember the facts surrounding January 6, 2021, noting, “those facts don’t come from his political opponents. They come from the people closest to him.”

Cheney, Hutchinson and Matthews have all endorsed Harris. Griffin has not, though she often uses her platforms on CNN and on “The View” to warn of the peril she sees in a second Trump term.

Griffin called the present a “moment for course correction,” saying the character of the nation “starts in the character of the person that we put in the Oval Office, and Donald Trump does not reflect the best of this nation.” She added that she remains a Republican and has never voted for a Democrat.

Matthews, who also still identifies as a Republican, acknowledged that her “sole reason” for voting for Harris in this election is because she doesn’t trust Trump to defend the Constitution, but said in the future, “I would love to be able to go back to debating policy.”

As the women gathered as a group on stage for the first time, they made clear the impact that they’ve had in each other’s lives in the wake of January 6.

Hutchinson described a call she had with Cheney before her bombshell testimony to the House select committee that investigated January 6, in which Cheney told her, “It’s important that women and little girls see me do the right thing.” Hutchinson said it made a “massive impact” on her.

Former President Donald Trump participates in a town hall in North Carolina October 4

Former President Donald Trump said Wednesday there will be “no rematch” and said, “there is nothing to debate” after Fox News proposed hosting another presidential debate in Pennsylvania later this month.

Fox said earlier in the day it had sent letters to Trump’s and Kamala Harris’ campaigns proposing another debate in Pennsylvania on October 24 or 27, with Fox News’ Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum as moderators.

The Republican nominee again claimed he “won the last two debates” and said he had accepted Fox News’ previous invitation to participate in a debate last month that Harris did not accept.

CNN has also offered to host a debate in Atlanta on October 23, as the window for a final 2024 presidential matchup narrows. Harris has accepted CNN’s invitation, but Trump has rejected her calls for a rematch. CNN has set a Thursday deadline for the candidates to formally respond to the invitation.

Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign launched a?new TV ad?on Wednesday seeking to directly confront voter frustration with inflation and the cost of living, with the Democratic nominee appearing on camera to speak to economic concerns.

“I get it. The cost of rent, groceries and utilities is too high. So here’s what we’re gonna do about it,” Harris says at the top of the ad, speaking to the camera.

The ad first began airing on ESPN in Philadelphia on Wednesday afternoon — amid coverage of the Philadelphia Phillies’ 2024 playoff run, with game 4 of the National League Division Series tonight.

The new Harris ad underscores the importance of the economy and economic messaging even as both sides continue to?adjust the content of their ads. The economy consistently ranks as voters’ top concern in polls, and criticism of the Biden-Harris economic record has been a feature of Republican attack ads targeting Harris.

Former President Donald Trump and his allies have run dozens of campaign ads blasting Harris for inflation and blaming Democratic policies for increases in the cost of living. Restoration PAC, one of several super PACs spending millions to support Trump’s campaign, has put more than $4 million over the last week behind an ad featuring multiple clips of Harris praising “Bidenomics,” juxtaposed with news coverage of inflation. It’s a comment that pro-Trump advertisers have?spent tens of millions replaying.

Pro-Trump outside groups added to a flood of attack ads targeting Vice President Kamala Harris this week, launching a wave of new spots covering a range of issues, including transgender policies – a growing point of emphasis in Republican advertising.

Preserve America – a leading pro-Trump super PAC that has received millions from megadonor Miriam Adelson – went up Wednesday with a pair of spots that included criticism of Harris for?expressing support?for taxpayer-funded gender transition surgeries for detained immigrants and federal prisoners during her 2020 presidential campaign.

“With high inflation, working families like mine are hurting and Kamala Harris helped create this mess,” says a Wisconsin voter featured in one of the ads. “Now, while Americans struggle, Kamala spent our tax dollars putting illegal immigrants up in hotel rooms and she supported spending our tax dollars to give illegals sex changes. It’s not just liberal, it’s insane.”

Other leading pro-Trump outside groups have also ramped up their advertising about LGBTQ rights targeting Harris.

MAGA Inc., the super PAC that has spent the most money supporting Trump’s 2024 campaign, launched?an ad?Tuesday that said “Kamala will give criminal illegal aliens taxpayer funded transgender surgeries,” then adding, “Crazy liberal Kamala is for they/them. President Trump is for you.”

The ads reflect a pronounced messaging shift from Republican advertisers, including the Trump campaign itself, which has ramped up its focus on LGBTQ rights and transgender health care policies with a?series?of new?ads?in the beginning of October. On Wednesday, the Trump campaign launched a?Spanish-language version?of one of its spots attacking Harris on the issue.

At a campaign rally in Scranton, Pennsylvania, on Wednesday, Trump played an anti-transgender video that he said showed the difference between military under his administration and what he described as the “woke” military under the Biden administration.

Data from the ad tracking firm AdImpact shows that LGBTQ rights have grown as a share of Republican messaging in the presidential race, as the campaign entered the final month.

In all of September, Republican advertisers in the presidential contest spent a total of about $6.9 million on ads referencing LGBTQ rights, accounting for about 8% of their total broadcast TV spending that month. In just the first week of October, that total jumped to $8.7 million, rising to a 28% share of GOP broadcast TV advertising.

CNN’s Kate Sullivan contributed reporting to this post.

Civil rights groups have sued Florida in an effort to reopen the state’s voter registration window, arguing that the October 7 deadline was “sandwiched between two life-threatening obstacles” that forced some residents to choose between seeking safety from the hurricanes and signing up to vote.

Southern states impacted by Hurricane Helene have been facing intense pressure by voting and civil rights groups to give residents more time to register to vote given the devastation wrought by the storm and the widespread disruption already caused by Hurricane Milton, which is expected to make landfall in Florida Wednesday evening.

Florida GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis rebuffed calls earlier this week to extend his state’s deadline, as has Georgia GOP Gov. Brian Kemp, while South Carolina extended its deadline by more than a week to accommodate prospective voters impacted by Helene.

The lawsuit brought Tuesday by the League of Women Voters of Florida and the Florida NAACP against DeSantis and Republican Secretary of State Cord Byrd asks a federal judge to temporarily block the officials from further enforcing the October 7 registration deadline and for them to “reopen Florida’s voter registration deadline for an additional ten days.”

“This year, tens of thousands of Florida residents — forced to choose between safety and exercising their fundamental right — have been denied the opportunity to register to vote,” attorneys for the civil rights groups wrote in the 30-page federal lawsuit.

“They will be deprived of that fundamental right because of the devastation caused by Hurricane Helene, the threat to safety caused by Hurricane Milton, and the resultant shutdown of all means of voter registration, including government offices, roads, the Internet, and the postal service twice within the last weeks leading up to the voter registration deadline,” they added.

In Georgia, a federal judge held a hearing Wednesday over a similar lawsuit brought by civil rights groups over the voter registration deadline in the critical battleground state. While US District Judge Eleanor Ross denied a temporary restraining order sought by the civil rights groups, she said she would consider a preliminary injunction and scheduled an evidentiary hearing for Thursday.

Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign has been consumed in recent days by Hurricane Milton, which is barreling towards the western coast of Florida, as it is working to evacuate staff and pause voter outreach across the state while continuing to keep an eye on potential early voting ramifications following Hurricane Helene.

Senior-most Harris campaign officials, including on daily campaign leadership calls led by campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon this week, have been deeply focused on the widespread ramifications of both hurricanes, which devastated regions in the Southeast last month, sources said.

The Harris campaign has paused voter outreach and contact, as is protocol, across Florida as Milton has approached the state, sources said, and has also been scrambling to ensure that any campaign staff in the storm’s path has safely evacuated.

Harris campaign officials are also continuing to monitor and discuss the potential electoral consequences of Helene in a battleground state like North Carolina, with an eye towards ensuring that voters there can cast their ballots despite the deadly storm’s damage to some polling locations and the displacement of many residents.

The campaign has launched a hotline with hundreds of operators who can answer voters’ questions about how to register to vote, or vote in person or by mail – particularly given changes to polling locations in western North Carolina in the aftermath of the storm, officials said.

Publicly, the Harris team positioned the vice president this week to remain front and center in the administration’s response efforts. Over the course of the day Wednesday, Harris beamed into a briefing with President Joe Biden and other senior officials, and later took to the airwaves to stress the severity of Milton and tell people in its path to heed advice from local officials.

With only weeks left campaign has also been mindful of using the storm recovery efforts to continue to draw a contrast between Harris and Donald Trump as leaders. A new digital ad from the campaign this week features former Trump administration officials criticizing the former president’s handling of natural disasters while he was in office.

Sen. JD Vance speaks at Tucson Speedway in Tucson, Arizona, on October 9.

At his rally in Tucson, Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance played a clip of Vice President Harris’ interview on “The View” where she said nothing comes to mind on what she would do differently than President Joe Biden.

While Vance criticized Harris in Detroit yesterday for the same comment, today the clip played on a loud speaker and screen and with an addition: “I’m Donald Trump and I approve this message.”

“That was my idea,” Vance said at the Tucson Speedway.

While sharing his concern for those in the path of Hurricane Milton, Vance continued to knock the administration for “incompetence” surrounding their response to Hurricane Helene.

Vance also again falsely accused the Federal Emergency Management Agency of using money allocated for natural disaster relief to house migrants, and urged FEMA to “take care of American citizens when a disaster strikes.”

As CNN’s Daniel Dale reported, Congress appropriated $650 million in the 2024 fiscal year to fund a?program?that helps state and local governments house migrants — and?instructed?US Customs and Border Protection to transfer that $650 million to FEMA to administer the program. But this $650 million pot is?entirely distinct?from FEMA’s pot of disaster relief funds.

Vance continued to urge Republicans to use early voting and mail-in ballot methods that Trump and his campaign previously disparaged.

Gunshots have again appeared to have been fired into a Democratic campaign office in Tempe, Arizona — the third such incident within a month, according to Tempe police.

The Tempe Democratic Party coordinated campaign office was hit by what appears to be gunfire on October 6, around 12:30 a.m. local time, Tempe police said in a statement Wednesday. No one was inside the building at the time.

CNN has reached out to the Arizona Democratic Party for comment about this latest incident.

On September 16, just after midnight, the office’s windows had appeared to have been shot with a BB gun or pellet gun on September 16, police said last month. And overnight on Monday, September 23, several shots were fired into the office, according to the Arizona Democratic Party and Tempe police. In both cases, no one was hurt or injured.

Tempe police on Wednesday are offering a $1000 reward for information leading to the arrest of a suspect. Police have identified the suspect vehicle as a 2008-2013 silver Toyota Highlander.

Vice President Kamala Harris has raised $1 billion since entering the presidential race in July, two sources familiar with the figure told CNN, marking a massive fundraising milestone in her campaign against former President Donald Trump.

The Harris campaign declined to comment.

NBC News was first to report on Harris’ fundraising haul.

New?polls from Quinnipiac University?in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin suggest a challenging environment for Vice President Kamala Harris among likely voters in the critical “Blue Wall” states, as the advantages Quinnipiac’s poll found for her last month have slimmed in Pennsylvania and disappeared in Michigan, while Wisconsin continues to be a tight race.

In Pennsylvania, the new poll finds Harris holding a slight edge over Trump (49% to 46%) compared with a wider advantage in September (51% Harris to 45% Trump). There is no clear leader in the university’s Michigan poll (50% Trump, 47% Harris, with a 3.1 percentage point margin of sampling error), while the September poll showed Harris holding a lead (50% Harris to 45% Trump).

And in Wisconsin the poll shows no clear leader (48% Trump, 46% Harris, with a 3.0 percentage point margin of sampling error), similar to the tight race it showed in September (48% Harris to 47% Trump).

Quinnipiac’s polls suggest that in Michigan and Wisconsin the pool of likely voters may have grown more Republican-leaning overall since September.

The Quinnipiac surveys are the first CNN-approved polling in each state conducted in October, and leave her with no clear advantage in any of these critical “Blue Wall” states in CNN Poll of Polls averages including the new results.

In Michigan, Harris has an average of 48% support among likely voters, with Trump averaging 47%. In Pennsylvania, Harris also averages 48% support to Trump’s 47% support among likely voters. And in Wisconsin, Harris holds an average 49% support to Trump’s 46% among likely voters.

Key swing states like North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Nevada and Michigan are still experiencing a high volume of mail-in and absentee voting. That has prompted multiple lawsuits in battleground states where Republicans are suing to challenge everything from whether mail-in ballot envelopes are properly sealed to whether they are postmarked correctly.

Democrats, for their part, have embraced mail-in and absentee balloting, and are waging their own legal fights to ensure these votes are counted. Democrats?championed access?to this type of voting in 2020 to ease concerns of citizens who felt unsafe going to polling sites in-person during the pandemic, and it’s still a major focus of their get-out-the-vote efforts.

Republicans, on the other hand, have been more skeptical. Former President Donald Trump has given mixed signals on the campaign trail. After his 2020 loss, he has railed against mail-in voting, saying this summer it “isn’t working, it’s corrupt.” But he also emphasizes that every vote matters, including early voting and absentee ballots.

“We need each and every one of you to make a plan to vote early and vote absentee. Do whatever you want,” Trump said at a rally last month in Erie, Pennsylvania.

With absentee and mail-in voting already underway in several states, and the race between Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris as close as ever, the outcome of litigation over these ballots could help decide the election.

Read more about Republican efforts to challenge mail-in voting.

Vice President Kamala Harris speaks in Washington, DC, on October 7.

Vice President Kamala Harris sought to counter rampant misinformation around the federal government’s response to Hurricanes Helene and Milton Wednesday, telling CNN in an interview that comments suggesting that federal assistance has run out from former President Donald Trump and his allies is “unconscionable” and could serve to discourage people in the path of the storm from seeking much-needed aid.

Harris also thanked some of the local elected officials who are working to bat down misinformation surrounding Hurricanes Helene and Milton, while saying she’s seen no indication that foreign interference is responsible for the false deluge.

Harris told Bash that local leaders are “doing an extraordinary job in trying to combat the misinformation. I’m talking about sheriffs, I’m talking about mayors, I’m talking about local officials — I don’t even know their party affiliation.”

Asked whether she’s seen any indication that the rumors come from foreign sources — as some officials, including Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee have suggested —?Harris said she had not.

Harris said the last thing people evacuating from the storm “deserve is to have a so-called leader make them more afraid than they already are.”

More context: Harris has taken an increasingly visible role in the administration’s response efforts in the wake of both hurricanes since rising to the top of her party’s presidential ticket in July, traveling to the region on her own to survey recovery efforts and even ending a campaign swing early to participate in briefings.

Harris also participated in an administration briefing ahead of Milton making landfall earlier Wednesday, lobbing questions to federal officials while joining virtually from New York, where she was traveling for media interviews.

This post has been updated with more on Harris’ remarks from the CNN interview.

A FEMA worker attends claims by local residents after being affected by floods following the passing of Hurricane Helene, in Marion, North Carolina, on October 5.

In a call with CNN, Vice President Kamala Harris emphasized that Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has the proper resources it needs at the moment to address the damage wrought by Hurricane Milton.

She also pointed out that when Congress returns it should advance legislation to fund FEMA aid so that it can handle the “new normal” of devastating storms.

“This is really historic in terms of what we’ve seen, and so we do need to buff up the aid and assistance that we give FEMA understanding that this is unusual and may be sadly the new normal,” Harris said.

When asked by CNN’s Dana Bash whether Congress should come back into session early to advance FEMA legislation, Harris responded, “FEMA has what it needs right now.”

Follow our live coverage of Hurricane Milton here.

Vice President Kamala Harris greets people who were impacted by Hurricane Helene in Augusta, Georgia, on Wednesday, as from left, Sen. Jon Ossoff, FEMA deputy direct Erik Hooks and Augusta Mayor Garnett Johnson watch.

Vice President Kamala Harris emphasized that she and President Biden would continue doing “everything we can” to protect people affected by Hurricane Milton and help people hit by Hurricane Helene to “recover and rebuild.”

Echoing a statement from her office earlier today, the vice president also warned against engaging in price gouging in the wake of the storms.

Harris has been juggling the hurricane response and campaign this week. She’s set to travel to Nevada this evening.

Follow our live coverage of Hurricane Milton here.

President Joe Biden on Wednesday strongly denounced the misinformation that has been swirling in the wake of Hurricane Helene and as Florida prepares for Hurricane Milton — calling out former President Donald Trump and GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene by name for promoting false rumors.

“The last few weeks, there’s been a reckless, irresponsible and relentless promotion of disinformation and outright lies,” the president said. He added the rumors are “undermining confidence in the incredible rescue and recovery work that has already been taken and will continue to be taken, and it’s harmful to those who need help the most.”

Biden added: “Former President Trump has led the onslaught of lies.” He specifically called out false claims that storm victims will receive a maximum of $750 in cash for recovery efforts.

“What a ridiculous thing to say,” the president said. “It’s not true.”

Biden added: “Now the claims are getting even more bizarre. Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene … is now saying the federal government is literally controlling the weather.”

“It’s beyond ridiculous,” Biden said.

Vice President Kamala Harris is expected to join the call between President Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this morning, a source familiar with the plans said.

Harris has frequently joined previous calls between Biden and Netanyahu, including during their last conversation on August 21st.

The call comes after?CNN reported?Netanyahu instructed his Defense Minister Yoav Gallant not to depart?Tuesday for the US, where he was scheduled to meet with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Wednesday, saying he wanted to speak with Biden first.

Topics of the call: Biden, Harris and Netanyahu are expected to discuss Israel’s response to Iran’s missile attack during their Wednesday call, according to a person familiar with the plans. The conversation will be the first known call between the men in 49 days, a striking period of silence for two counterparts who spoke frequently in the weeks after the October 7, 2023, attacks.

Biden told reporters last week he expected to speak to Netanyahu once Israel had decided on a response to Iran, though it wasn’t clear whether the plans had been finalized.

More on the US stance: American officials are hoping to limit Israel’s actions to a proportional response, and Biden was expected to address that with Netanyahu on Wednesday. The president has said he opposes strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities and recommended against a strike on Iranian oil reserves.

A few days ago, Harris argued the US has had influence on Israel’s decision making. But she also refrained from saying whether she believes the US has a “close ally” in Netanyahu.

In this still from video, Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a hurricane briefing on Wednesday, October 9.

Vice President Kamala Harris is warning that any company or person engaging in price gouging during the hurricane will be held “accountable,”?in a new statement released by her office Wednesday.

Biden called on companies “not to engage in price gouging” during an event on Tuesday while Transportation Secretary Buttigieg?said that his office is taking “all allegations of airline price-gouging seriously.”

“I’m calling on the airlines and other companies that provide as much service as possible to accommodate evacuations and not to engage in price gouging,” Biden said.

“The Department takes all allegations of airline price-gouging seriously,” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg?posted on X. “We are keeping a close eye on flights in and out of areas affected by Hurricane Milton to make sure airlines are not charging excessively increasing fares.”

Harris is expected to virtually join President Biden?at noon p.m. ET on Wednesday?for a briefing on the administration’s efforts to prepare for Hurricane Milton and relief efforts related to Hurricane Helene.

Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff speaks at the United Center during the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, on August 20.

Second gentleman Doug Emhoff on Tuesday stumped in the key battleground state of Arizona, ahead of early voting beginning in the state on Wednesday, telling supporters that the “path to victory runs right through here.”

“This campaign is about what kind of country are we going to be? Will our democracy be protected? Will fundamental freedoms that Trump ripped away from you be restored? Are we going to embark on a new way forward with my wife Kamala Harris and Tim Walz,” he said at a campaign rally in Phoenix, Arizona.

He said that Vice President Kamala Harris is “leading on hurricane recovery,” while arguing that former President Donald Trump “and his lackeys are lying” about the federal government’s response to Hurricane Helene.

He slammed Trump for skipping an interview with CBS’ “60 Minutes” and argued that Trump is “ducking” doing another debate against Harris.

Emhoff also said actor Andy Samberg’s impression of him on “Saturday Night Live,” was “pretty good.”

He touted Harris campaign proposal and promises, including highlighting her?new proposal?for Medicare pay for?home health care.

Toward the beginning of the rally, Emhoff was interrupted by two protesters, who were removed from the venue as the crowd drowned them out with chants of “we’re not going back.” “We believe in the first Amendment in this country,” he said before continuing on with his remarks.

John King speaks with University of Michigan students Anushka Jalisatgi and Jade Gray in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Jade Gray bristles a bit at this hypothetical: What if Kamala Harris comes up just short in battleground Michigan?

A key voting group: Voters aged 18-29 are?a vital piece?of the Democratic coalition. They were crucial to President?Joe Biden’s?2020 Michigan win and in the dramatic state-level gains the party made in 2022. But young voters’ level of support is a big question for 2024 because of anger and disappointment with how the Biden-Harris administration has handled?the Israel-Hamas conflict.

The conversation with Gray and Anushka Jalisatgi, also co-president of the College Democrats last school year, was our third in 11 months. Both are part of a CNN project, called?All Over the Map, designed to track the 2024 campaign through the eyes and experiences of voters who live in battleground states and are part of crucial voting blocs.

The school will not allow a new encampment, so it is harder to gauge how much the raw anger of last semester has carried over to the new school year – and into voting decisions.

“A lot of that energy, because it can’t happen in a physical space – it’s still occupying a lot of online space,” Gray said.

Jalisatgi sees it directed less at Harris and more at university officials.

The Ann Arbor College Republicans would not let CNN into a meeting they held during our recent visit.

Member Max Scheske, a junior, said attendance and energy are up some as the election draws close. But he also said the group was pretty evenly divided when it comes to enthusiasm for?Donald Trump.

“We certainly do have our, you know, ‘Trump is basically Jesus’ wing of the club,” Scheske said. “But we do have a very sizeable, you know, very critical of Trump.”

Read more on Michigan’s young voters here.

This April 2023 photo shows Oklahoma Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters in Oklahoma City.

Oklahoma has amended its request for 55,000 Bibles to be placed in public schools that initially matched a version of the holy book endorsed by former President Donald Trump.

The request was amended Monday and no longer requires the Bibles to include US historical documents such as the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution — requirements that match the “God Bless the USA Bible” that Trump endorsed this year and that are several times more expensive than similar Bibles that don’t include the US documents.

The request is part of State Superintendent Ryan Walters’ efforts to require Bibles in public school classrooms, which has been met with resistance by some of Oklahoma’s largest school districts.

Walters, in a Monday video on X, said the Bible will be used “because of its historical significance throughout this nation’s history,” blaming what he called the “fake news media” for lies about the program.

Christa Helfrey, a spokesperson for theOklahoma Office of Management and Enterprise Services (OMES), said the changes were made to the request to try to save taxpayer money.

“OMES worked with OSDE to amend the solicitation to provide the listed resources at a much better value to Oklahomans,” Helfrey said.

The initial request included requirements that are not commonly found in Bibles but are included in the “God Bless the USA Bible,” which Trump urged his supporters to begin buying earlier this year at a website that sells the book for $59.99.

The Bibles must be bound in “leather or leather-like material for durability,” according to the initial request.

Similar Bibles that don’t include the Declaration of Independence or Constitution are available online for less than $20.

This year’s?spending to elect a president and members of Congress?will hit at least $15.9 billion – putting?2024?on track to become the nation’s most expensive federal election, according to a new analysis from?OpenSecrets, a nonpartisan organization that tracks money in politics.

Helping to drive up the price tag: blistering spending by outside groups, including deep-pocketed super PACs aiding Republicans. Outside spending – largely through independent expenditures such as advertising, mailings, canvassing and other activities to boost specific candidates – has reached roughly $2.6 billion. That’s nearly $1 billion more than groups like these spent at this point in the 2020 election, the analysis found.

The top five megadonors to outside groups this cycle all support Republicans, led by Timothy Mellon, an heir to the Mellon banking fortune who has donated $125 million to a super PAC working to elect former President Donald Trump. That’s helped drive a major fundraising advantage to the conservative outside groups active in this election.

“There may be a saturation point where elections can no longer get more expensive, but we haven’t reached it yet,” Brendan Glavin, OpenSecrets’ deputy research director, said in a statement. “Super PACs and billionaires continue to spend more and more hoping to select our elected officials. And right now, it is looking as though there isn’t a ceiling to how much an election in the U.S. can cost.”

The super PAC aiding Trump’s presidential campaign, Make America Great Again, Inc., leads the outside spending, plowing more than $239 million into its efforts to elect the former president. Future Forward, the primary super PAC supporting Vice President Kamala Harris – and President Joe Biden before she became the Democratic presidential nominee – has spent more than $212 million.

Read more about how the campaigns are spending money here.

Candidates are busy on the trail today as the last month of the campaign heats up, with events and travel to a variety of swing states such as Pennsylvania, Arizona, Nevada and Georgia.

Here is where they will be today:

Ex-President Donald Trump will spend much of his day in the key swing state of Pennsylvania discussing the economy and immigration. At 3 p.m. ET, Trump will deliver remarks at an event in Scranton focused on wages and household prices, plus his plan to eliminate taxes on overtime and tips.?Then, at 7 p.m. ET, he will deliver remarks at a rally in Reading on energy prices, household prices and?how immigration is impacting the economy.

Pennsylvania is a pivotal piece in assembling a pathway to 270 electoral votes this November. As the biggest battleground prize with 19 electoral votes, Pennsylvania has seen an outsized share of candidate visits and campaign resources.

Vice President Kamala Harris will virtually join President Joe Biden to receive a briefing on the administration’s?preparations for Hurricane Milton, as well as the latest updates on the forecast and expected impacts.?At 2 p.m. ET, Harris will depart New York for Las Vegas.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz will participate in a veterans and military families event in Chandler, Arizona, with Senate candidate Ruben Gallego and Jim McCain, son of former Republican Arizona Sen. John McCain and a major critic of Trump. Walz will then participate in an event in the greater Phoenix area with Gila River Indian Community Gov. Stephen Roe Lewis and other tribal leaders.?At 6:30 p.m. ET, Walz will deliver remarks at a campaign rally in the Tucson, Arizona, area and be?joined by actor, host and singer Jaime Camil.

At 3 p.m. ET, Ohio Sen. JD Vance will also hold a rally in Tucson, Arizona, focused on election integrity.?At 6:15 p.m. ET, Vance will participate in a town hall with C-PAC and Bienvenido in Mesa, Arizona that will “bring together influential Hispanic leaders to discuss the impact of the Harris-Biden administration on both the Hispanic community and the nation.”

In the evening, Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff will deliver remarks at a campaign reception in Atlanta, Georgia, on behalf of the Harris Victory Fund.

Members of the Florida Army National Guard check for any remaining residents in nearly-deserted Bradenton Beach ahead of the arrival of Hurricane Milton on October 8 in Florida.

Long before the outer bands of?Hurricane Milton?lashed the Florida coast, a political battle over the massive storm was already raging.

A potential natural disaster of such magnitude — this may be the gargantuan climate-change fueled monster that scientists have long feared — ought to be immune from political opportunism.

But in the final weeks of a presidential election featuring a candidate as unrelenting as?Donald Trump, nothing escapes partisanship and Milton’s aftermath may prove to be the next opening for the ex-president’s maelstrom of misinformation.

Usually, political shocks caused by hurricanes only unfold when the gale force winds have passed. This time, partly because Trump pushed so hard to exploit last week’s Hurricane Helene for his political gain, the sparring has started early.

For?Vice President Kamala Harris, the storm offers a perilous spotlight, which could allow her to show she can master the media moment in a presidential context. It could showcase her capacity to express empathy for victims and her command of the federal government machine. But any failures of the federal rescue and relief effort after the storm is expected to roar ashore on late Wednesday or early Thursday could haunt her before next month’s election. Harris’ test will be complicated by the likelihood that even if the federal effort goes well, Trump is sure to fabricate a story implicating her in failure.

A storm of this size could give Trump a political opening: Trump has repeatedly shown there’s no situation he will not try to leverage for political gain. He seized on Hurricane Helene to bolster his narrative of the Biden-Harris administration as an incompetent rabble, unable to meet the basic needs of the American people. It’s the same way he’s accused Harris of complicity in a national crisis that he claims is marked by crime and rampant immigration and is on a glide path to World War III. Trump’s critique is a caricature. While the country has problems – grocery prices remain stubbornly high and the asylum system is overwhelmed – he’s creating a classic alternative reality for his fans and the conservative media echo chamber.

Read Collinson’s full analysis here.

In the two-and-a-half months since?Joe Biden?ended his reelection bid,?Kamala Harris?swiftly secured the Democratic presidential nomination, headlined the party’s most rapturous convention since 2008, brought in hundreds of millions of dollars in new campaign donations and surged past Biden’s poll numbers from earlier this year.

And yet, Democrats are increasingly anxious over Harris’ fate. There is a growing sense that her campaign is stuck in the mud – as familiar debates crop up over where and how to deploy precious resources.

Harris advisers often publicly dismiss the polls, acknowledging that the race is close and will remain so leading up to Election Day. But just weeks shy – and after multiple blitzes to battleground states and a debate that wiped away memories of Biden’s unraveling – the needle has barely moved, if at all.?That Harris is the first major party presidential nominee in six decades not to have won a competitive primary remains for some a source of lingering doubt.

The nervous energy also stems from the simple fact of the race’s slim margins. Harris’ camp considers the seven most competitive battleground states to be tied or within the margin of error. And for all of the talk about there being?multiple pathways to 270 electoral votes?– through the so-called Blue Wall or the Sun Belt – no path currently feels guaranteed.

Read the full story.

Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday again urged people not to believe misinformation surrounding hurricane response efforts and also warned Floridians to listen to their local leaders’ instructions.

“There’s a lot of misinformation, and I beseech you, I beg you, to please not pay attention to it, because there are a whole lot of folks who are there to give you help and aid?in terms of the immediate aftermath and what people need to do in terms of getting through the height of this emergency, and this crisis,” Harris said during an appearance on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.”

Without directly naming anyone, Harris criticized politicians for politicizing the storm while many are suffering from the impact and devastation.

The vice president said her truncated campaign has been a “whirlwind,” as she acknowledged she has some “catching up” to do between now and Election Day.

“I think, somewhere around 70 days that we’ve been in it and so there’s a lot of catching up to do. You know, my opponent, the former president, has been running since 2020,” Harris said.

Colbert also asked Harris about?images?of her from the presidential debate against Trump in which she frowned and rested her chin on a hand. Asked what she was thinking at that moment, she replied: “It’s family TV, right? It starts with a W, there’s a letter between it, then the last letter’s F.”

Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday said she thinks former President Donald Trump has no empathy for others as he continues to?spread misinformation?about the federal response in the wake of Hurricane Helene.

She added, “The idea that somebody would be playing political games for the sake of himself – but this is so consistent about Donald Trump.”

“He puts himself before the needs of others. I fear that he really lacks empathy on a very basic level to care about the suffering of other people and then understand the role of a leader is not to beat people down, it’s to lift people up especially in a time of crisis,” she added.

Following Hurricane Helene, and with Hurricane Milton barreling toward Florida, Trump has repeatedly falsely claimed, without evidence, that the White House is diverting disaster relief aid to unrelated migrant programs. While FEMA does manage grants for housing and helping migrants, that is a separate account and unrelated to the disaster relief funds.

Trump has also repeatedly criticized the Biden administration’s response to Helene, including falsely saying that the president wasn’t picking up the calls and that there is an anti-Republican bias in how President Joe Biden and Harris are responding to the crisis.