CNN
Harris and Trump’s final campaign sprint as early voting begins in North Carolina
By Adrienne Vogt and Tori B. Powell, CNN
Updated 4:13 PM EDT, Thu October 17, 2024
From CNN’s Kit Maher
Sen. JD Vance speaks at a campaign event at The Pennsylvanian in Pittsburgh on Thursday, October 17. Rebecca Droke/AP
When asked to reconcile how the Trump campaign previously cast doubt on mail-in voting — but has since been pushing the method for voters in 2024 — Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance said that while he might not prefer this type of voting, Republicans have to deal with “reality.”
“I don’t love that we’ve gotten away from just having an Election Day,” Vance said. “The people of Pennsylvania, through their elected legislatures, through the governor, have changed how this works, and so, I’m not saying that I prefer mail-in voting. I’m saying mail-in voting is now here. So, let’s deal with that reality and make sure our voices count just as much as the other side.”
As CNN previously reported, Pennsylvania overhauled its election law in 2019, which included allowing for earlier mail-in voting and lowering the barriers to vote by mail.
Without citing evidence, Vance claimed a “number of international organizations” have talked about “the fact that mail-in voting can sometimes introduce problems.”
“You’ve got to make sure that mail-in votes are properly — have a proper signature matching. You got to make sure the mail-in votes are properly tracked to a real registered voter. There are all these things that we can do, and the Republican Party is fighting every single day, not just for our own voters, but for everybody,” he said. Vance claimed Republicans “only want the legal ballots to count, not the illegal ballots.”
On the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s website, it states, “Voting by mail is safe and secure, and no evidence exists of widespread mail voting fraud in Pennsylvania.”
It also explicitly notes, “Pennsylvanians won’t always know the final results of all races on election night, and any changes in results that occur after election night are not evidence that an election is rigged.’”
Vance claims Trump wouldn’t use military force to target opponents after his “enemy from within” comments
From CNN’s Kit Maher
Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance speaks at a campaign event at The Pennsylvanian in Pittsburgh on October 17. Rebecca Droke/AP
Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance said Donald Trump would not use the military to target people who oppose him in a potential second administration, after the former president recently suggested that he would use the military to handle the “enemy from within” on Election Day.
“Oh of course not. Of course not,” Vance said at an event in Pittsburgh, as the crowd booed the reporter who asked the question.
Trump on Fox News earlier this week described “the enemy within” as being worse than immigrants whom the former president has repeatedly attacked with dehumanizing rhetoric.
“I think the bigger problem are the people from within. We have some very bad people. We have some sick people. Radical left lunatics,” he said, adding “I think it should be very easily handled by, if necessary, by National Guard, or if really necessary, by the military, because they can’t let that happen.”
Vance also said “everybody believes” those who committed acts of violence on January 6, 2021 “should be prosecuted,” but suggested that the media tends to forget about the riots and looting in the summer prior, referring to the unrest surrounding police brutality protests following the death of George Floyd.
On Wednesday, Trump continued to downplay the severity of the Jan. 6 attack on the US Capitol, claiming it was a “day of love” and that there was “nothing done wrong at all” on his part.
Despite storm damage, North Carolina early voting opens with “terrific turnout,” top election official says
From CNN’s Curt Devine
The executive director of North Carolina’s election board said early voting began in Thursday with “terrific turnout statewide,” and possibly the highest turnout for an opening day of early voting, though that won’t be confirmed until the end of the day.
Executive Director Karen Brinson Bell became teary-eyed and overcome with emotion as she discussed the start of early voting at a news conference in western North Carolina, where some have feared turnout could drop this election due to damage from Hurricane Helene.
“I drove up here this morning and I felt anxiety and some trepidation about what I would find,” she said. “Though not unscathed, we have made it through this storm.”
Bell said early voting is now underway in all 100 of North Carolina’s counties, which includes 76 early voting sites – down from 80 that were originally planned – in the 25 counties in a designated disaster area. She said the voting sites are not temporary structures but rather brick-and-motor buildings with power, though not necessarily running water.
She said the Postal Service has reduced the number of undeliverable addresses “considerably,” though acknowledged that some people in affected communities may still have to walk to get their ballots or travel to their polling places.
She commended workers who have helped restore power, cell service and infrastructure in time for early voting.
“This is an incredible accomplishment,” Bell said.
Corinne Duncan, director of elections in Buncombe County, home to Asheville, which sustained heavy damage, said her county is caught up on absentee-ballot processing and has a “strong” plan for early voting. She said about two-thirds of poll workers who had been trained before the storm to serve during early voting are still able to work.
Harris slated to center on her economic vision during stops in Wisconsin and Michigan
From CNN’s Eva McKend
Vice President Kamala Harris’ “blue wall” swing in Wisconsin and Michigan will focus on her plans for entrepreneurship, manufacturing, and protecting workers, according to a campaign adviser.
With Harris gaining some ground in public polling on handling economic issues, her campaign believes it has an opening to further argue a Harris administration would be stronger than former President Donald Trump on the key issue.
Harris and billionaire surrogate Mark Cuban will visit a business class at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s entrepreneurship center to speak to a group of young leaders. The center hosts a “Shark Tank”-style competition for college students to secure funding for business ideas. During the stop, she’ll push her plan to expand the small business tax deduction from $5,000 to $50,000.
At an evening rally in Green Bay, Wisconsin, Harris is expected to underscore her support for unions with an introduction from Jim Ridderbush, the vice president of the United Food & Commercial Workers Local 1473.
And in Michigan on Friday, the vice president will continue to message on the economy and manufacturing, specifically in Lansing.
In podcast interview, Trump says Zelensky should “never have let that war start”
From CNN’s Kate Sullivan
Former President Trump and Ukrainian President Zelensky sit down for a meeting on September 27 in New York City. Alex Kent/Getty Images
Former President Donald Trump in a podcast aired Thursday tried to blame Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and said he thought Zelensky “should never have let that war start.”
“I think Zelensky is one of the greatest salesmen I’ve ever seen. Every time he comes in, we give him $100 billion,” Trump said on the PBD Podcast. “Who else got that kind of money in history? There’s never been. And that doesn’t mean I don’t want to help him because I feel very badly for those people. But he should never have let that war start. That war is a loser.” 10:26:37
More on Trump’s relationship with Putin and Zelenksy: Trump said earlier this week he wouldn’t comment on reporting by journalist Bob Woodward that he has spoken to Putin multiple times since leaving office but added, “If I did, it’s a smart thing.”
Trump has a long history of praising the Russian leader and when he was president, Trump went as far as to side with Putin over the US intelligence community over Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.
Trump met with Zelensky at Trump Tower in New York last month when the Ukrainian president was in the US for the United Nations General Assembly. The meeting came days after Trump criticized Zelensky’s handling of the war and claimed he “refuses to make a deal” amid Russia’s war in Ukraine. As he stood next to Zelensky, Trump said, “We have a very good relationship, and I also have a very good relationship, as you know, with President Putin.”
Trump will hold a town hall in Pennsylvania Sunday and a rally in North Carolina Monday
From CNN’s Kate Sullivan
Former President Donald Trump will hold a town hall in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, on Sunday and a rally in Greenville, North Carolina, on Monday.
The former president and Vice President Kamala Harris have been criss-crossing key battleground states as Election Day quickly approaches
“Kamala Harris has abandoned North Carolina families, leaving them to struggle under the crushing weight of inflation and skyrocketing costs. President Trump will put an end to this madness when he returns to the White House, ” the Trump campaign said in a statement announcing the North Carolina rally.
This post has been updated with more reporting on Trump’s upcoming campaign events.
Walz grilled on internet trends and being a “girl dad” in TikTok video
From CNN’s Aaron Pellish
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz was grilled on the latest online trends in a TikTok interview released on Thursday with Betches, a digital media company that caters to young women, as part of the campaign’s effort to engage young female voters ahead of November’s election.
The Democratic vice presidential candidate described what he has learned by being a “girl dad” to his daughter Hope, and he also stressed the need to protect access to reproductive health care and advocate for wage equality.
“Oh my gosh, the things I learn. It keeps me feeling young. I get to learn some of the new language and things. But just more than anything, I think seeing that perspective of, from a woman’s perspective, and there’s no way that I’m wavering on reproductive rights or fairness in pay in the workplace. When you’re a girl dad, you know those things,” he said.
Walz was then asked if he was familiar with a few viral trends, starting with a uniquely large baby penguin at the Melbourne Aquarium named Pesto, whom he correctly identified. He was then asked to identify Moo Deng, the famous baby hippopotamus living in Thailand.
“It’s the baby hippo. What is the baby hippo’s name?,” he said, before being told the hippo’s name. “Moo Deng! That’s right.”
He was then asked if he knew what the slang term “rizzler” means.
“Kind of. I am not one. Do I have the context right?” he asked, while laughing. “Yeah I think I know what it is. Casanova-type thing or whatever.”
At the end of the video, Walz said his favorite viral moment of the year was him meeting with schoolchildren after signing into law a program that would provide free breakfast and lunch to public school students.
“We did the Meals for Kids, and a bunch of elementary kids kind of swarming me. We didn’t plan on that happening, but it kind of warms my heart still,” he said.
Ad roundup: Both sides flood battleground airwaves with new content in final campaign sprint
From CNN’s David Wright
The Kamala Harris and Donald Trump campaigns are up with several new ads this week as the presidential race enters its final sprint.
Here’s a recap of the new spots hitting the airwaves, and some data on how the overall tone of each side’s messaging compares:
Positive versus negative messaging
Ads from the campaigns and their allies cover a wide range of competing issues, and they also reflect divergent strategies when it comes to their overall tone.
The ad tracking firm AdImpact categorizes the tone of campaign ads airing on broadcast TV as either “positive,” “negative,” or “contrast.” Comparing the share of both side’s spending going to ads of each tone illustrates how advertisers are splitting their messaging budget.
And the data shows that the Trump campaign and its allies are waging an overwhelmingly negative advertising effort. By comparison, data for the Harris campaign and its allies reflects a more balanced approach.
New Trump campaign ads
Trump’s presidential campaign has launched five new TV ads so far this week, leveling a wide range of critiques against Harris.
Nearly all of the ads reference immigration and border security, slamming Harris’ record and seeking to link illegal immigration to other issues, including crime, entitlements, and transgender health care policies – a major point of emphasis in GOP campaign ads so far in October.
One of the notable new spots seizes on comments from Harris on ‘The View’ last week, when she was asked how should would govern differently from President Joe Biden, and answered that “not a thing comes to mind.”
New Harris campaign ads
On the other side, the Harris campaign produced a huge wave of 13 unique new TV ads so far this week, putting its prohibitive financial advantage to work in the race’s closing sprint.
The ads reflect a varied approach, mixing spots that promote Harris’ policies and draw contrasts with Trump’s in addition to a steady diet of sharp-edged attacks – and they also display a highly customized strategy, with several spots targeting key swing states, featuring local voters and issues.
Analysis: These are some key quotes from Harris’ interview with Fox News
Analysis from CNN’s Zachary B. Wolf
Vice President Kamala Harris has not submitted to many interviews with journalists during her short presidential campaign, and certainly none with conservative media.
When she sat down with Fox News’ Bret Baier for nearly a half-hour on Wednesday, it was her first interview with the network.
Here are some key lines from the interview:
Immigration: It got off to a hot start with a lengthy exchange on immigration, a top issue for many voters, particularly Republican and Republican-leaning ones.
At one point, Baier asked when Harris, who at the outset of President Joe Biden’s administration would say the US southern border was secure, began to realize there was a problem.
“We’ve had a broken immigration system transcending, by the way, Donald Trump’s administration, even before. Let’s all be honest about that. I have no pride, and saying that this is a perfect immigration system, I’ve been clear, I think we all are, that it needs to be fixed,”she said.
Gender: From immigration, Baier pivoted to the wedge topic of gender. He noted that Trump’s supporters have invested heavily in commercials that show Harris, during that 2019 Democratic primary and in comments unearthed by CNN’s KFile, expressing a willingness to enable prisoners who need gender-reassignment surgery to obtain it.
Baier asked if she was still in favor of it, and Harris responded by pointing at federal law in place during the Trump administration:
“I will follow the law, and it’s a law that Donald Trump actually followed. You’re probably familiar with — now, it’s a public report, that under Donald Trump’s administration, these surgeries were available to, on a medical necessity basis, to people in the federal prison system. And I think frankly that ad from the Trump campaign is a little bit of like throwing, you know, stones when you’re living in a glass house,” she said.
Comparison with Biden: Baier played clips of Harris saying she would not change anything in Biden’s presidency and asked how hers would be different.
“Let me be very clear. My presidency will not be a continuation of Joe Biden’s presidency. And like every new president that comes into office, I will bring my life experiences, my professional experiences, and fresh and new ideas. I represent a new generation of leadership,” she said.
Read more notable lines from the interview.
Michigan judge seems skeptical of GOP push to reject some overseas ballots
From CNN’s Marshall Cohen
A Michigan judge pushed back Thursday against the efforts by the Republican National Committee to throw out some overseas ballots cast in the critical battleground state.
At a hearing in Detroit, Court of Claims Judge Sima Patel appeared skeptical toward the GOP argument that the state constitution bars spouses and children of overseas voters from voting in Michigan if they never resided in the state themselves.
Remember: This is one of a several GOP lawsuits – in swing states that could decide the 2024 election – that hopes to throw out some ballots cast by overseas and military voters. They are a tiny slice of the overall electorate, but former President Donald Trump and his allies have recently ramped up false claims that overseas voting is rife with fraud.
“If you have not, and have never been, a resident of Michigan, you may not vote here,” Michigan GOP lawyer Brandon Debus said during the hearing.
“Isn’t that contrary to what the statute actually says?” Patel asked.
The judge later asked an RNC lawyer, “Doesn’t your interpretation penalize the children of overseas servicepeople?” She also suggested the case could “disenfranchise” voters.
Lawyers for Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, a Democrat, have previously called the case “frivolous” and urged the judge on Thursday to dismiss the lawsuit.
“Such an extraordinary claim should be accompanied by extraordinary legal support, but in this case, there is none,” said Erik Grill, a lawyer from the Michigan attorney general’s office, who is representing Benson. “This election is underway… it is simply too late.”
“Ultimately what this leaves us with is chaos, confusion, disruption – and none of this would be necessary if these claims had been raised earlier in the year,” Grill added.
The hearing ended without a ruling from the judge.
Common to campaign with Walz in North Carolina
From CNN’s Aaron Pellish
Award-winning rapper and actor Common will campaign alongside Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, on Thursday, a campaign official told CNN.
Common will campaign on behalf of Vice President Kamala Harris with the Minnesota governor, where the two will urge North Carolinians to get to the polls ahead of the November 5 election, the official said.
Walz will also be joined by former President Bill Clinton at a rally in Durham, North Carolina, on Thursday.
Trump campaign launches ad seizing on Harris’ comments on what she would have done differently than Biden
From CNN’s David Wright
The Trump campaign launched a new TV ad this week seizing on Vice President Kamala Harris’ comment on ‘The View’ last week, when she said that “not a thing comes to mind” about something she would have done differently than President Biden over the last four years.
The new ad opens with a focus on illegal immigration, containing stark images of crowds near a border wall. “A flood of illegals, skyrocketing prices, global chaos – and Kamala wouldn’t change a thing,” the ad’s narrator opens.
The ad then replays the clip from ‘The View,’ with host Sunny Hostin asking Harris, “Would you have done something differently than President Biden during the past four years?” Harris responds, “There is not a thing that comes to mind.”
The ad’s narrator resumes, “Nothing will change with Kamala, more weakness, more war, more welfare for illegals and even more taxes. Only President Trump cut middle class taxes and only President Trump will do it again.”
Harris’ answer on “The View” was immediately seized on by GOP critics, eager to cement the link between the vice president to the outgoing incumbent, with President Biden’s approval rating stuck underwater.
The ad that began airing Wednesday is the first from the Trump campaign on TV looking to exploit the moment – and in just a day and a half since its first airing, the campaign has already put more than $4 million behind it, according to AdImpact data, with runs in key swing states between $500,000 and $1 million (highest in Georgia, more than $900,000 so far).
With 19 days until election, latest CNN average of national polling still finds no clear leader in presidential race
From CNN’s Ariel Edwards-Levy
An updated CNN Poll of Polls average of national polling, released Wednesday evening, continues to find no clear leader in the presidential race, with an average of 50% of likely voters supporting Vice President Kamala Harris and 49% backing former President Donald Trump.
Of the five surveys included in the average, two give Harris a slight edge over Trump, while three find an effectively deadlocked race.
The latest average includes a poll released Wednesday evening by Fox News which finds no clear leader in the presidential race nationally, with 50% of likely voters supporting Trump in a head-to-head matchup between the candidates, and 48% supporting Harris.
In the Fox poll, 8 in 10 registered voters backing Trump say their support is mostly for him, rather than against Harris, while a smaller 66% majority of registered voters backing Harris say they’re mostly voting for her rather than against Trump.
When voters were asked to describe in their own words the top issue or factor motivating their vote, the most common reasons among Harris supporters were dislike of the other candidate, protecting democracy and abortion; among Trump supporters, it was the economy, immigration, and the candidates’ characteristics.
Analysis: Harris clashes with Fox as she tries to peel away some GOP voters
From CNN’s Stephen Collinson
Kamala Harris didn’t get her second debate with Donald Trump — so she went on Fox News instead.
The vice president clashed heatedly with the pro-Trump network’s top anchor Bret Baier on Wednesday night in the kind of adversarial, unscripted scrum that Republicans have long accused her of avoiding.
Harris and Baier squabbled and interrupted one another, as he exposed her policy flip flops and reversals and she rammed home her talking points. The contentious clash, conducted in swing state Pennsylvania, had more in common with the vice president’s sole debate showdown with the former president than forensic, formal interviews where she’s often stumbled.
“May I please finish, you have to let me finish,” Harris said early in the interview, using a technique she has employed against male rivals in congressional hearings and debates in the past.
The vice president’s trip to Fox News showed how she’s trying to conjure new turning points in a contest with no clear leader and with most swing states regarded as toss-ups. Trump’s decision to decline a second debate with his rival has meant that the final weeks of the campaign lack big scheduled moments that could change the race.
In the end, on Wednesday, both Harris and Fox News probably got what they wanted.
https://www.tiktok.com/embed/v2/7426529612315872554?lang=en-US&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fedition.cnn.com%2Fpolitics%2Flive-news%2Ftrump-harris-election-10-17-24%2Findex.html&embedFrom=oembed
What the presidential candidates are up to today
From CNN staff
Former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris are continuing their push to reach voters with less than three weeks to go until Election Day.
Here’s what’s on their schedules today:
Donald Trump: On Thursday, Trump will attend and deliver remarks at the 79th Annual Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner in New York City.
Kamala Harris: Harris will campaign across the battleground state of Wisconsin on Thursday. She will first campaign in Milwaukee before traveling to La Crosse and Green Bay to speak at rallies. The vice president will then travel to Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Tim Walz: Gov. Walz will continue his political swing. Former President Bill Clinton is expected to join the Democratic vice presidential candidate at an event in Durham, North Carolina, today, according to the campaign.
Next week, former President Barack Obama will appear with Walz in Madison, Wisconsin, on Tuesday, the Harris campaign previously said.
JD Vance: The Republican vice presidential candidate will deliver remarks in Pittsburgh on Thursday, according to the campaign website. Other Trump allies will also be on the road for events in Waynesburg, Pennsylvania, and Raleigh, North Carolina, the website said.
Polls open today for early voting in North Carolina. Here are key things to know
From CNN’s Sara Murray
Poll workers set up ballot-marking machines at an early in-person voting site at Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College on October 16, 2024. Stephanie Scarbrough/AP
Early voting is underway on Thursday in pivotal swing state of North Carolina. Here’s what to know if you plan to go to the polls before Election Day:
Impact of Hurricane Helene damage: The North Carolina State Board of Elections website has updates about relocated polling places, how constituents can vote if they lost their identification in the storm and how displaced voters can request new absentee ballots.
No more grace period for mail ballots: Voters considering casting a ballot by mail should note that their ballots need to be received by 7:30 p.m. ET on Election Day.
New voter ID rules: Residents of the Tar Heel State will be required to present identification when they show up to vote.
Read the full story and visit CNN’s voter handbook to see how to vote in your area.
Vance says Harris “dipped and dodged questions” in Fox News interview
From CNN’s Kit Maher
Sen. JD Vance speaks at a campaign rally at Wilmington International Airport in North Carolina on October 16. Chris Seward/AP
Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance said Vice President Kamala Harris “couldn’t answer a direct question” and failed to acknowledge or explain her role in contributing to what he sees as failures of the Biden-Harris administration, including on the border, in her interview with Fox News Wednesday night.
“What I saw is a person who not just didn’t have the skill to navigate a tough interview, but doesn’t know how to explain her record, because her record is not possible to explain away to the American people,” Vance said on Fox News Thursday. “She dipped and dodged questions for 25 minutes. That’s not leadership. That’s not contrition.”
Vance said Harris is trying to do a “bait and switch” by blaming former President Donald Trump for tanking a bipartisan border deal, which the Ohio senator claimed “wouldn’t have secured the border.”
“They came in saying they were going to undo Donald Trump’s border policy. They did that. The predictable consequences ensued. Admit that. Admit it. Admit that you guys screwed up and change course. Don’t blame it on Congress because you guys refused to do your job,” Vance said.
Vance also criticized Harris for pivoting to Trump when answering what she is “turning the page” from in her own campaign.
“She pretends that Donald Trump bears the responsibility for problems that happened while she was the sitting vice president,” Vance said.
Nikki Haley records robocall for Trump in closing weeks of campaign
From CNN’s Andrew Kaczynski
Nikki Haley walks on stage at her caucus night event on January 15, 2024 in West Des Moines, Iowa. Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images
Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley is lending her voice to support Donald Trump in the closing weeks of the campaign in a robocall that acknowledges her past disagreements with the former president but emphasizes the stakes of the upcoming election.
“Hi, this is Nikki Haley calling on behalf of President Donald Trump’s campaign. I don’t agree with President Trump 100% of the time. You might not either. But we have a decision to make, and I’m looking at what we know about each candidate,” Haley narrates in the call.
Haley, who was a GOP primary rival of Trump, goes on to praise the former president’s record on the economy, immigration, and foreign policy, drawing a stark contrast between his administration and that of Vice President Kamala Harris.
She accuses the Biden-Harris administration of presiding over “record inflation,” an “open border,” and weakening America’s global standing.
“I’m voting for Trump, for my family and for yours,” Haley urges, asking voters to support Trump on November 5.
The robocall was confirmed to CNN by Betsy Ankney, Haley’s former campaign manager, and two Trump campaign advisers. The Trump campaign declined to provide further details on the call.
The call comes after the former US ambassador to the United Nations endorsed Trump at the Republican National Convention after clashing with him during the primary campaign in which she sought to present herself as a more moderate alternative within the GOP.
CNN’s Alayna Treene contributed reporting to this post.
Overseas voters targeted by GOP lawsuits in battleground states
From CNN’s Tierney Sneed, Alayna Treene and Edward-Isaac Dovere
An overseas ballot process that has long been seen as sacrosanct by both parties, due to its connection to US military members serving in foreign countries, is the target of multiple GOP-backed lawsuits filed in recent days.
The new legal assault comes as ballots cast by Americans abroad have become very favorable for Democrats and could be crucial in getting Vice President Kamala Harris over the finish line.
In addition to the new lawsuits filed by Republicans in Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Michigan, former President Donald Trump has suggested without evidence that the overseas vote is a source of fraud, even as he has made entreaties to Americans abroad with a campaign promise of lowering their taxes.
Why this matters: There are about 6.5 million eligible American voters living, serving and studying overseas, with about 1.6 million of them in battleground states, and more in tight House districts. Those votes could be decisive: The 2020 election was decided by 44,000 votes over four states.
More than 1.2 million ballots were sent abroad in 2020 and nearly 890,000 were eventually counted, according to a report by the US Election Assistance Commission.
Harris will campaign across Wisconsin today. Here’s what is on her agenda in the key battleground state
From CNN’s Ebony Davis
Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at a campaign event at Washington Crossing Historic Park with supportive Republicans in Washington Crossing, Pennsylvania, on October 16. Ryan Collerd/AFP/Getty Images
Vice President Kamala Harris will make campaign stops in Milwaukee, La Crosse and Green Bay, Wisconsin on Thursday as she continues to campaign across Blue Wall states, according to a campaign official.
Harris will first stop by the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, where she will drop by a business class while on campus and outline her economic agenda as she meets with students.
The vice president will then travel to La Crosse where she will hold a rally at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse in an effort to engage young voters. Harris will wrap up her day with a rally in Green Bay, alongside Wisconsin leaders.
Harris’ team is touting their ground game in the Badger State, with over 250 coordinated staffers and more than 50 offices across the state, according to the campaign.
Why this state is key: Wisconsin, Michigan, and above all Pennsylvania have been a top priority for both Harris and former President Donald Trump – just as they have in seemingly every recent presidential election.
Trump won the presidency in 2016 by stunning Democrat Hillary Clinton to win all three states by a combined margin of about 80,000 votes. President Joe Biden won back the White House in 2020 by recapturing all three states by a combined margin of around 260,000 votes.
Read more about the importance of these three states in presidential elections.
CNN’s Ronald Brownstein contributed reporting to this post.
Harris campaign launches second TV ad featuring Hadley Duvall, reproductive rights advocate and rape survivor
From CNN’s David Wright
Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign launched a new ad Thursday featuring Hadley Duvall, a reproductive rights advocate and rape survivor who has appeared in several high-profile campaign ads.
In the new ad, Duvall shares her story and criticizes abortion restrictions, blaming former President Donald Trump directly, and saying, “Trump did this.”
“When I was five, I began getting sexually abused by my stepfather, and he got me pregnant when I was 12. 64,000 pregnancies from rape have occurred in states with total abortion bans, and Trump did this,” Duvall says in the new spot. “Women and girls need to have choices. With Kamala Harris, we do.”
Some background: Duvall rose to prominence during the 2023 Kentucky gubernatorial race, appearing in a striking ad for Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear’s reelection campaign that went viral, and she has since become an influential voice as Democrats have centered abortion rights in their campaigns.
In September, Harris’ campaign launched its first ad featuring Duvall, which it’s since spent more than $660,000 airing across all the key swing states. The new ad first began airing this morning in Wisconsin, and already has about $30,000 behind it, but additional targeting details are not yet available.
At least 30 election deniers and 2020 fake electors serving as Trump electors this year
From CNN’s Marshall Cohen, Danya Gainor, Alison Main, Majlie de Puy Kamp, Casey Tolan and Bob Ortega
More than a dozen Republicans who were “fake electors” in 2020, including several facing criminal charges, are serving as former President Donald Trump’s official electors in battleground states this year, according to a CNN survey.
Another 16 GOP electors from these states are election deniers who say President Joe Biden’s victory in 2020 was fraudulent. Combined, these election deniers and 2020 fake electors represent more than a third of the 82 electors picked this year to support Trump in the seven states where he attempted to overturn the results in 2020.
The involvement of these Republican activists in the Electoral College process this year, especially in critical battlegrounds like Pennsylvania and Michigan, could lead to post-election chaos if Trump is defeated and they try again to subvert the will of the voters.
Their participation also highlights how a huge part of the Republican Party continues to fully embrace Trump’s election denialism
“Those who participate in election fraud should be held accountable, not given another bite at the apple,” said Lindsey Miller, research director at Informing Democracy, a nonprofit that works to safeguard the vote-counting and election certification process.
Read more about the return of fake electors ahead of Election Day.
Popular dating apps have new features to show off political views
From CNN’s Kaanita Iyer
Recognizing that daters are increasingly prioritizing politics in their search for “the one,” many dating apps have introduced features that make it easier for users to match with potential partners based on their politics in the run-up to the election.
Tinder last month launched its “Take Action Center,” which introduced profile stickers that allow users to share whether they will be voting and the issues important to them. The most popular stickers among the new ones rolled out are “Hot people vote (I’m voting)” and “Voting for reproductive rights.”
Abortion rights are on the ballot in 10 states next month as the issue continues to be a major political flashpoint.
“We are really committed to protecting reproductive freedom because we believe this really impacts dating and relationships,” said Stephanie Danzi, senior vice president of global marketing for Tinder.
“It’s really about making sure (the app’s users) understand what is kind of at stake,” she added.
The “Take Action Center” also features a partnership with Vote.org, a nonpartisan voter registration organization, to provide users with election-related information such as polling locations and voter registration deadlines.
OkCupid has added a dozen new matching questions that focus on voter behavior and help show users more compatible profiles. The questions, added in January, include “Are you voting in the 2024 presidential election?”; “What’s the most important issue to you in the 2024 presidential election?” and “Is it a deal breaker if your date is voting for a different candidate than you in the 2024 presidential election?”
Catch up on the headlines you might have missed
From CNN staff
Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump took opportunities to try to reach voters through interviews and town halls this week.
It comes with less than three weeks to go until Election Day and there is still no clear leader in the presidential race, according to a new CNN Poll of Polls average of national polling.
Here’s a recap of what happened on the campaign trail on Wednesday:
- At a Univision town hall in Florida with Latino voters, Trump repeated his false claim that Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio, are eating their neighbors’ pets.
- Trump also didn’t directly answer questions about his plan for “mass deportation” of undocumented immigrants and why he opposed a bipartisan border bill. He instead talked about his administration’s immigration policy and the economic difficulties facing farmers.
- Trump declared himself the “father of IVF” during a Fox News town hall in front of a female audience. He also falsely claimed that “everybody” wanted Roe v. Wade to be overturned.
- Harris sat down with Fox News anchor Bret Baier on Wednesday where she pivoted to the bipartisan border security bill blocked by the GOP when pressed on the Biden administration’s handling of the US-Mexico border.
- The vice president also tried to differentiate herself from Biden and continued to attack Trump, saying anyone who wants to be President of the United States should be able to take criticism without saying they would “lock people up.”
- Earlier Wednesday at a rally in Washington Crossing, Pennsylvania, with more than 100 Republican supporters, Harris said that Trump is “increasingly unstable and unhinged.”
By Alayna Treene and Kate Sullivan, CNN
2 minute read
Published 9:43 PM EST, Mon November 4, 2024
Joe Rogan is seen at the ceremonial weigh-in for the UFC 292 mixed martial arts event, Friday, Aug. 18, 2023, in Boston. Gregory Payan/AP/FileCNN —
Popular podcast host Joe Rogan officially endorsed Donald Trump on the eve of the election, a move Trump’s team swiftly touted as a major win in the final hours of their campaign.
Rogan on Monday released his latest podcast featuring a two-and-a-half-hour interview with billionaire X owner and top Trump surrogate Elon Musk. Rogan then posted on X: “The great and powerful @elonmusk. If it wasn’t for him we’d be f**ked. He makes what I think is the most compelling case for Trump you’ll hear, and I agree with him every step of the way.”
“For the record, yes, that’s an endorsement of Trump. Enjoy the podcast,” he added.
The endorsement comes just weeks after Rogan interviewed Trump on “The Joe Rogan Experience,” an interview that was months in the making for the Trump campaign and viewed widely by the former president’s advisers as the crowning achievement of their media strategy to target young men and low-propensity voters by having Trump appear on podcasts catering to the demographic.
Trump, who was onstage in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, for his penultimate rally when Rogan made the endorsement, swiftly touted the development.
“It just came over the wires that Joe Rogan just endorsed me, is that great. Thank you, Joe. That’s so nice. And he doesn’t do that, he doesn’t do that stuff,” Trump said.
Trump said, “And he tends to be a little bit more liberal than some of the people in this room.”
Last week, Rogan posted on X that he had declined an offer from Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign to do an interview.
“Also, for the record the Harris campaign has not passed on doing the podcast. They offered a date for Tuesday, but I would have had to travel to her and they only wanted to do an hour. I strongly feel the best way to do it is in the studio in Austin,” Rogan said. “My sincere wish is to just have a nice conversation and get to know her as a human being. I really hope we can make it happen.”
The Harris campaign declined to comment on Rogan’s post.
By Eric Bradner and Kate Sullivan, CNN
4 minute read
Updated 2:10 AM EST, Tue November 5, 2024
Former President Donald Trump gestures during a campaign rally in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on Monday, November 4. Charly Triballeau/AFP/Getty ImagesCNN —
Donald Trump described the United States as an “occupied country,” pointing to both undocumented and legal migrants as he pledged Monday to “rescue every city and town that has been invaded and conquered.”
The former president’s comments, at his election eve rally in the critical battleground state of Pennsylvania, underscore the dark and dystopian image he is portraying as he and Vice President Kamala Harris make their final arguments to voters ahead of Tuesday’s election.
Trump made little distinction between undocumented immigrants he said had overrun an apartment complex in Colorado and thousands of Haitian migrants who entered the United States legally and live in Springfield, Ohio.
“These are military invasions without the uniforms. That’s all it is,” Trump said, as he vowed to launch a massive deportation effort.
Trump was closing his third presidential campaign Monday with the same anti-immigration rhetoric that he used to launch his first White House bid. He described a nation in decline, overrun by migrant crime, much as he did in his first inaugural address, when he vowed to stop the “American carnage.”
The former president said he would target migrant gangs, ban sanctuary cities and seek the death penalty for any migrant that kills a US citizen. He invited conservative commentator Megyn Kelly on stage. Kelly listed several people killed by undocumented immigrants. Her appearance was particularly notable after Trump ripped Kelly for the way she asked him tough questions while moderating a Republican presidential primary debate in 2015, starting off months of sparring over social media and in subsequent interviews.
Trump also said he would rejuvenate US manufacturing by imposing steep tariffs on automotive products manufactured in Mexico, steel made in China and more – a proposal that economists have said would increase inflation, because the businesses charged those tariffs for importing foreign-made goods would pass the additional costs on to American consumers.
“Four years of Kamala have delivered nothing but economic hell for the American workers,” Trump said.
And Trump railed against the length of time it takes for votes to be counted and the usage of electronic voting machines, calling for single-day voting that would all be done on paper. It was a long discussion that is contrary to previous messaging from Trump and his campaign, which has encouraged people to vote early.
“I do believe it is too big to rig. I think it’s too big to rig. They’ll try. And they are trying, you know, but it’s too big to rig. This is a big movement. This is, you know, we did great in 2016, we did much better in 2020 but a lot of bad things happened,” Trump said. “This is that big, powerful, vicious party, though. No, it’s a vicious machine. I mean, they can take all these bad ideas and win elections. It’s like, there’s only a way you can do that. One way, there’s only one way.”
He added, “We have to win the old fashioned way and then fix it. But we have to fix it. We can’t allow this to happen. And remember, the states are essentially an agent, if I can use that term, but they’re an agent of the federal government. The states are doing the collecting, so to speak, and they have to take their orders from the federal government. And how can they do this when they say it’s going to take days long.”
The former president’s closing message of the 2024 race was a familiar one, as he delivered a lengthy speech in Pittsburgh – his third of four rallies scheduled for Monday after visits to North Carolina and eastern Pennsylvania with one more stop in Michigan. In a nod to the city’s sporting history, Trump discussed Pittsburgh Pirates’ star Roberto Clemente for an extended period near the end of his speech and brought the late Puerto Rican star’s son on stage for a few words.
Harris also ended her campaign with a blitz across Pennsylvania. The two candidates’ time spent in the Keystone State underscores the importance of its 19 electoral college votes — without which both candidates’ paths to the 270 necessary to win the presidency would be much more daunting.
Both campaigns have largely focused on seven battlegrounds: the “blue wall” of Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, which Trump won in 2016 but President Joe Biden reclaimed in 2020, and four Sun Belt states: Arizona, Georgia, Nevada and North Carolina.
CNN
Trump argues he’s really running against “an evil Democrat system,” not Harris, during his final rally
From CNN’s Kate Sullivan
Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally at Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids, Michigan on November 5. Kamil Krzaczynski/AFP/Getty Images
Former President Donald Trump argued during the final rally of his campaign that his real opponent this election was not Vice President Kamala Harris but instead “an evil Democrat system.”
“We will defeat the corrupt system in Washington. Because I’m not running against Kamala, I’m running against an evil Democrat system. These are evil people,” Trump said during his rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan, that started well after midnight.
“The silent majority is back and tomorrow you need to get out and vote,” Trump said.
“This has been an incredible journey. And it’s very sad in a way, because, you know, we’ve done all these, and this is the last one, but here’s the good news, all we were doing is putting ourselves in a position to win, which we can do tomorrow very easily if we show up,” he added.
It’s decision day in America. Here’s what to watch for
From CNN’s Eric Bradner and Gregory Krieg
Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump. AP
It’s decision day for voters in America’s battle for the White House and control of Congress — even if the results could take days or weeks to sort through.
Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump are hoping to win over seven swing states: Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, the three Great Lakes states that make up the “blue wall” that Trump cracked in 2016 but President Joe Biden carried in 2020, and Arizona, Georgia, Nevada and North Carolina, the four Sun Belt battlegrounds.
While the election of either candidate would be historic, there’s much more being decided Tuesday, including five states — Arizona, Florida, Missouri, Nebraska and South Dakota — voting on whether to turn back abortion bans with constitutional amendments.
Republicans hope to take advantage of a favorable Senate map, with Democrats defending seats in the red-leaning states of Montana, Ohio and West Virginia. The party’s hopes of holding onto its narrow House majority winds from the coast of Maine through New York’s Hudson Valley, the rolling hills of Virginia’s Piedmont, a “blue dot” in Nebraska and into California’s Orange County, where the political ebbs and flows of the Trump era have been on vivid display.
The initial results in the hours after polls close might not be determinative. States decide their own election procedures, and the order in which states count early, mail-in and Election Day votes varies across the map — as does how quickly certain cities, counties and regions report their results.
Read more about what to expect from the day.
Trump finishes final campaign rally after speaking for nearly 2 hours
From CNN’s Jessie Yeung
Trump speaks at a campaign rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan on Tuesday. Paul Sancya/AP
Former President Donald Trump has ended his final campaign rally after speaking for nearly two hours in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
He repeated many of his campaign promises, such as vowing to impose hefty tariffs and to crack down on illegal immigration.
At one point he also brought several of his children and their spouses to the stage, who delivered brief remarks, including Tiffany, Eric and Donald Jr.
His marathon address ends a long campaign trail — with Trump saying he had attended more than 900 rallies this year.
Walz says he’s disappointed but not surprised the race is so closely contested
From CNN’s Aaron Pellish
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz participates in an interview with Stephen Colbert. The Late Show with Stephen Colbert/CBS
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said he’s disappointed the race between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump is so closely contested.
In an interview on CBS’ “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” taped in Bucks County, Pennsylvania last Thursday, Walz laid out the contrast between the two candidates to show that the difference is “stark.”
He said of the election being so closely contested: “It disappoints me, I think, because I think that the choice is so stark, but it’s not surprising.”
“The country’s really divided. There’s been a group of people out there who figured that out, and I think they’ve done a wonderful job of making people think it doesn’t matter, everybody’s the same,” Walz said.
Walz then laid out how he saw the differences between Harris and Trump, particularly noting insults directed toward Puerto Rico made by a speaker at a Trump rally in October.
“In this case, you’ve got the Constitution versus not the Constitution. You’ve got reproductive rights versus I don’t care if you like it or not. I’ll tell you what to do, from Donald Trump in closing with insulting people. I know we’re sitting in Pennsylvania, there’s — there’s 500,000 Puerto Ricans here, and Puerto Ricans, as all Americans, are very proud of where they come from,” he said.
In the past, Walz has expressed some disbelief at the competitiveness of the presidential election. He has regularly mused at private fundraisers and campaign stops that “I’ll go to my grave not understanding” how the election is so close.
Arizona Senate candidate Kari Lake says “silent majority” will back her and Trump
From CNN’s Veronica Stracqualursi
Kari Lake speaks at a campaign rally, Monday, November 4, in Prescott, Arizona. Julio Cortez/AP
Arizona Republican Senate candidate Kari Lake has held her final campaign rally, telling supporters that on Tuesday they have “a chance to change the trajectory of this country and save this Republic.”
Campaigning on the steps of the Yavapai County Courthouse in Prescott, Arizona on Monday — where US Sen. Barry Goldwater of Arizona launched his presidential campaign — Lake, a former TV newscaster up against Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego in a key Senate race, argued that the “Make America Great Again” movement “is not dead,” and claimed that a “silent majority” will back her and former President Donald Trump tomorrow.
Lake and Gallego, a Marine veteran who represents Arizona’s 3rd congressional district, are vying for the pivotal Senate seat held by independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema.
Lake, who did not concede her 2022 election loss and promoted Trump’s false theories about the 2020 election, said she believes in “fair and honest elections” and argued “I really believe that our Founding Fathers never envisioned we’d have elections that are run so horribly.”
“That’s why they never put in term limits because they figured we’d be able to vote the people that we didn’t respect out of office. And unfortunately, we haven’t been able to do that. And we’re going to change that after January. But the only way to change that is to show up in such a massive movement that we have their heads spinning,” she said, pointing to the media.
She also thanked GOP congressional candidate Abe Hamadeh and said: “When they did to us what they did to us in 2022, and everyone else ran and hid, guess who stood with me and said, damn it, we’re going to fight — Abe Hamadeh.”
She argued the election is not “Republican-Democrat anymore” but “Americanism versus communism.”
Trump teases using sexist language to refer to Nancy Pelosi
From CNN’s Jessie Yeung
Former President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan on Tuesday, November 5. Kamil Krzaczynski/AFP/Getty Images
Former President Donald Trump slammed US Rep. Nancy Pelosi during his final rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan, verging on using a profanity to describe the former House Speaker.
“She’s a crooked person, she’s a bad person. Evil, she’s an evil, sick, crazy bi— It starts with a ‘B’ but I won’t say it. I wanna say it,” Trump said to cheers from the crowd.
“I don’t use much (foul language), you know, every once in a while, and it’s never a real bad word, it’s never bad … But it is a little better when you use foul language. These are bad people,” he said.
Trump constantly rails against Pelosi and recently called the California Democrat “an enemy from within.”
Throughout the end of his campaign trail, Trump’s message has gotten increasingly dark and often offensive. At an event in North Carolina last week, Trump chuckled approvingly at an audience member’s suggestion that Vice President Kamala Harris worked as a sex worker.
Harris will spend Election Day doing radio interviews
From CNN’s Brian Rokus
Vice President Kamala Harris will spend Election Day in Washington, DC and participate in radio interviews, according to her office.
Trump has held his final campaign rally in Grand Rapids in 3 presidential races
From CNN’s Jessie Yeung
Former President Donald Trump has taken the stage in Grand Rapids, Michigan — giving the city a special shout-out for being the location of his final rallies in past presidential campaigns.
“I want to say a very special hello to Grand Rapids, it’s been a special place, remember 2016?” he said to a cheering crowd that chanted his name.
Trump previously also finished his campaign trail in the city in 2016 and 2020.
NOW: Trump is speaking at his final rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan
From CNN staff
Former President Donald Trump walks on stage for his final campaign rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan on Monday, November 4. Kamil Krzaczynski/AFP/Getty Images
Former President Donald Trump is speaking at his final rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where he ended both his 2016 and 2020 campaigns. His remarks were originally slated for 10:30 p.m. ET.
Grand Rapids is a Western Michigan city in Kent County, which swung from Trump in 2016 to Joe Biden in 2020.
Harris and Trump tie in Dixville Notch midnight vote to kick off Election Day
From CNN’s Gary Tuchman
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00:52 – Source: CNN
Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump have tied with three votes each in the tiny New Hampshire township of Dixville Notch, kicking off Election Day in one of the first places in the country to report its presidential preference.
Four Republicans and two undeclared voters participated.
The unincorporated township, located along the US-Canada border in New Hampshire’s northern tip, opened and closed its poll just after midnight ET in a tradition that dates back to 1960.
Read more about how Dixville Notch voted.
Harris calls on Pennsylvania voters to turn out, saying “the race ain’t over yet”
From CNN’s Jessie Yeung
Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a campaign rally in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on Monday, November 4. Hannah McKay/Reutes
Speaking at her final campaign rally in Philadelphia before Election Day on Monday night, Vice President Kamala Harris said her team was “optimistic and excited” — but urged voters to make their voices heard, saying Pennsylvania could “decide the outcome” of the election.
“The race ain’t over yet, and we must finish strong. This could be one of the closest races in history. Every single vote matters,” she said.
“With only a few hours left, we still have work to do, and as you’ve heard me say before, we like hard work,” she added.
At points, the crowd broke into cheers of “We will win” and “We’re not going back.”
Harris reiterated several campaign promises, such as lowering the cost of living, housing, childcare, elderly home care, and taxes for workers and small businesses. She also vowed to pass a bill to restore reproductive freedoms after the rolling back of Roe v. Wade.
She sought to contrast herself with Donald Trump by using several familiar refrains — such as promising a seat at the table to those who disagree with her, compared to the former president’s often vehement rhetoric against his political opponents.
“We started this campaign 107 days ago,” she said. “From the beginning, ours has not been a fight against something, it has been a fight for something. A fight for a future with freedom, with opportunity, and with dignity for all Americans.”
“Tonight, we finish as we started — with optimism, with energy, with joy, knowing that we the people have the power to shape our future, and that we can confront any challenge we face when we do it together.”
NOW: Harris speaking in Philadelphia in final rally before Election Day
From CNN staff
Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a campaign rally in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on Monday,November 4. Angela Weiss/AFP/Getty Images
Vice President Kamala Harris is speaking at a rally in Philadelphia, her final stop in front of voters before Election Day.
Harris has made the key battleground of Pennsylvania her priority on Monday with several stops across the state culminating in her final one in the state’s largest city.
She was joined by Oprah Winfrey and Lady Gaga, among other celebrities, musicians and elected officials at the famous “Rocky Steps” at the Philadelphia Museum of the Arts.
Oprah takes the stage at Harris rally with 10 first-time young voters
From CNN’s Jessie Yeung
US television producer Oprah Winfrey arrives on stage with 10 first-time Philadelphia voters during a rally for Kamala Harris in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on November 4, 2024. Angela Weiss/AFP/Getty Images
Oprah Winfrey took the stage at Kamala Harris’ final rally in Philadelphia on Monday night alongside 10 young people – all first time voters.
“The policies that Kamala Harris has proposed for women’s reproductive rights and education equality are what led me to cast my ballot for her,” one voter told Winfrey.
Another first-time voter said it was especially significant for him as an African American to “exercise my right to vote, which my ancestors fought so hard for.”
“We don’t get to sit this one out,” Oprah said.
“If we don’t show up tomorrow, it is entirely possible that we will not have the opportunity to ever cast a ballot again.”
“We are voting for healing over hate,” she said.
“What you can do for your country, what you can do for democracy here, and what you can do for the spirit of John Lewis and all the others who dared to walk across that bridge in Selma and fight for justice for us all … What you can do for every pregnant young woman who has died bc she was not eligible to receive the emergency medical care she desperately needed bc of an abortion ban, what you can do for everyone and everything you cherish — is vote.”
Lady Gaga performs “God Bless America” at Harris’ final rally in Philadelphia
From CNN’s Jessie Yeung
Lady Gaga waves before performing during a campaign rally for Vice President Kamala Harris in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on Monday, November 4. ( Angela Weiss/AFP/Getty Images
Musical superstar Lady Gaga appeared at Vice President Kamala Harris’ final rally in Philadelphia, performing a rendition of “God Bless America.”
“For more than half of this country’s life, women didn’t have a voice. Yet we raised children, we held our families together, we supported men as they made the decisions,” she said in brief remarks after her performance. “But tomorrow, women will be a part of making this decision.”
Oprah Winfrey is also expected to make an appearance tonight, before Harris delivers remarks.
Walz focuses on abortion during final campaign rally in Michigan
From CNN’s Aaron Pellish
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz focused heavily on access to abortion and reproductive health care, driving home a core message of Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign in Detroit, Michigan on Monday.
In his remarks at Hart Plaza overlooking the Detroit River, Walz reiterated his attacks on former president Donald Trump, who claimed to be the “protector” of women and said he would look after women “whether they like it or not” at a campaign rally in Wisconsin last week.
He also made a direct pitch to male voters on abortion, asking them to consider the implications of abortion restrictions on the women in their lives.
“Let me speak to the guys in the crowd tonight. I want you to think about the women in your life that you love. Their lives are at stake in this election. Donald Trump appointed those Supreme Court justices who repealed Roe versus Wade, and he brags about it. He is glad that those women you’re thinking about and you love have fewer rights than their mothers and their grandmothers,” he said.
“We’re seeing women turned away from emergency rooms, miscarrying in parking lots, whether they like it or not. Survivors of rape being forced to carry those pregnancies to term, whether they like it or not. Fertility clinics turning couples away at the door, whether they like it or not,” he said.
“Now, tomorrow, women all across America of every age, both parties, are going to send a loud and clear message to Donald Trump, whether he likes it or not.”
Harris offers Americans a chance to turn the page on Trump — without mentioning him
From CNN’s Gregory Krieg
Vice President Kamala Harris appears during a campaign rally in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on Monday, November 4. Quinn Glabicki/Reuters
Her message has been consistent, but Kamala Harris has in the closing days of the presidential race dropped two notable words from her stump speech: Donald Trump.
The former president’s name was again absent from the vice president’s speech on Monday night in Pittsburgh, where she again promised voters a clean break from the discord of the Trump era in American politics. It was a notable switch in rhetoric for the vice president, who had mentioned Trump’s name so often in previous versions of her stump speech that the Republican’s campaign had put together a video compilation of Harris saying “Donald Trump” that he often played at rallies.
“We have an opportunity in this election to finally turn the page on a decade of politics driven by fear and division. We are done with that,” Harris said. “We’re done. We’re exhausted with it.”
That promise has been threaded through her campaign, usually implied but increasingly delivered in explicit terms.
“It can be easy to forget a simple truth,” Harris said in Washington. “It doesn’t have to be this way.”
The way it is, she said in Pittsburgh, is not so good.
“So much about these last several years has been about trying to make people point their fingers at each other,” Harris said, “to have Americans point their fingers at each other, to try and make people feel alone or feel small.”
Elon Musk cancels virtual town hall event minutes after it started after technical problems
From CNN’s Clare Duffy
Elon Musk held a digital version of the town-hall-style rallies he has hosted on behalf of former President Donald Trump. But the event on X ended just a few minutes after it started on Monday night, when Musk encountered technical difficulties.
The event began streaming more than 20 minutes after its scheduled 8 p.m. ET start time. When the billionaire X owner joined, he promoted a podcast interview he did with Joe Rogan and offered to take questions. An operator then attempted to take questions from four listeners who apparently had been on hold, but the line went silent when he called on them.
The operator asked Musk if he believes “we will win” on Tuesday — presumably referring to Trump, whom Musk has supported to the tune of tens of millions of dollars.
“Well, I think if people vote tomorrow, we’re definitely going to win,” he said.
Musk then called off the event, saying: “let’s cancel this, since we seem to be having some technical issues.” Musk promised to start a regular livestream spaces event on X. The X Spaces event Musk started immediately following the town hall, lasted one minute and appeared to have no audio.
Minutes later, Musk said he would not restart his Q&A and encouraged followers to listen to his Rogan interview instead, during which the podcaster endorsed Trump.
The Monday town hall is just the latest election-related event that Musk attempted to host on X that was plagued by technical difficulties.
An August interview between Musk and Trump that was streamed on X was delayed by more than 40 minutes because of glitches. Musk blamed the issue on a cyberattack, but some experts speculated it was simply caused by too many users trying to listen. A similar event last year to kick off Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ presidential campaign was also delayed by 25 minutes and marred by technical difficulties.
Why these 7 battleground states could determine who wins the election
From CNN’s Zachary B. Wolf
People cast their early ballots at a polling station in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on November 2. Carlos Osorio/Reuters
There are thought to be seven states that could conceivably be won by either candidate. As a result, the campaigns have focused their energy in these areas. They can be broken up into two general categories:
3 Midwestern battlegrounds, aka “the blue wall” – These are the manufacturing and union-heavy states of Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin. They used to be more reliably Democratic but have shifted in recent years as their populations have changed and as former President Donald Trump has appealed to White voters without a college degree.
When Trump won the White House in 2016, he won all three. When President Joe Biden won in 2020, he won all three. If Vice President Kamala Harris wins all three this year, she will likely have the electoral votes to be president. But polls suggest close races in all three. Turnout will be key, which for Harris means appealing to suburban women and Black voters. All three states have urban centers.
The blue wall states usually vote the same way. The last time they did not all go to the same candidate was in 1988 – notably also a year when California was red and West Virginia was blue. In those eight elections since 1988, the only time the blue wall states went to a Republican was in 2016, when they were won by Trump.
4 Sun Belt battlegrounds – These states with growing populations include Arizona and Nevada in the West and North Carolina and Georgia in the East. Arizona, Georgia and North Carolina used to be more reliably Republican. Trump won North Carolina twice, but the margins were close in 2020. The last Democrat to win there was Barack Obama in 2008. Biden was the first Democrat to win Georgia since Bill Clinton in 1992 and Arizona since Clinton in 1996.
Here are more key things to know about the US election works.
Ahead of election night, meet the 2024 Democratic and Republican candidates
From CNN’s Ethan Cohen, Molly English and Matt Holt
Former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris. Getty Images
Ahead of election night, read up on the 2024 candidates on the Democratic and Republican tickets vying to win the White House.
Vice President Kamala Harris is the Democratic candidate for president. The daughter of immigrants from India and Jamaica, Harris grew up in Oakland and spent much of her political career in California’s Bay Area.
She was first elected as the San Francisco district attorney in 2004, before later serving as the attorney general of California. After that, Harris was elected to the Senate before being picked to be President Joe Biden’s running mate in the 2020 election.
She announced her own candidacy for the Democratic nomination for president after Biden withdrew from the ticket and endorsed her on July 21. Harris is the first Black woman and first Asian American to lead the ticket of a major political party.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz is Harris’ running mate. Before being elected to Congress to represent the state’s 1st Congressional District in 2007, Walz was a high school geography teacher and an assistant football coach. He also served in the Army National Guard. Walz has been serving as Minnesota governor since 2019.
Former President Donald Trump is the Republican candidate for president, aiming to become only the second commander in chief to win two nonconsecutive terms.
Trump, who was born in New York, graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a bachelor’s degree in economics. Before launching his successful 2016 presidential bid, Trump was a real estate developer, businessman and a reality television star as host of “The Apprentice.”
Ohio Sen. JD Vance is Trump’s running mate. Born in Middletown, Ohio, Vance wrote a memoir, Hillbilly Elegy, about his upbringing and white, working-class Americans. He also attended Yale Law School, worked as a venture capitalist and served in the US Marine Corps.
Vance was elected to the Senate in 2023, outlasting a stronger-than-expected challenge from Democrat Tim Ryan and keeping the seat under GOP control.
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