2024 election updates: Helene politics is the focus 36 days until Election Day

(WASHINGTON) — The judge overseeing the Arizona “fake elector” case against several of Donald Trump’s allies has recused himself from the case after accusations of personal bias.

Last week, defense attorneys for State Senator Jacob Hoffman filed a motion to disqualify Judge Bruce Cohen, alleging that an email published by a media outlet revealed “politically charged statements” made by Cohen while overseeing the case.

“While Judge Cohen is entitled to his political opinions and speech, his rhetoric and exhortation precisely mirrors the evidence of hostile partisan political zealotry at the heart of the motions to dismiss that have been languishing before the Court for months,” the attorneys said in the filing last week.

“Judge Cohen’s impartiality can readily be questioned because of his apparent personal prejudice against President Trump and his supporters,” the attorneys added.

In an email sent in August, Cohen urged fellow members of the bench to speak out against attacks made against Vice President Kamala Harris. He also lamented the failure to speak out against Nazism, according to the attorneys.

“When we cannot or do not stand with others, the words of Martin Niemoller are no longer a historic reference to the atrocities of WWII, those words describe the present,” Cohen wrote.

“But it is time for me to state my piece or be complicit in the depravity,” he added.

In response to the filing, Cohen had initially scheduled a conference hearing to discuss the issue but on Tuesday afternoon, he sent a notice of recusal to the defense attorneys.

In the notice, Cohen defended the email that surfaced, saying it was not reflective of bias.

“As noted in the subject e-mail, the same cry for decency and respect would have been made about disparaging comments from either political sphere,” Cohen wrote. “That said, within hours after sending the August e-mail solely to other judicial officers and not in any public forum, an apology was sent out to those same judicial officers.”

“Out of a commitment to justice, even the appearance of bias cannot be allowed to undermine the fundamental fairness that is extended by the court to all who come before it,” Cohen added.

“It is for that reason alone that this court is recusing itself from all further proceedings in this matter.”

All those indicted in the case pleaded not guilty earlier this summer to charges of fraud, forgery, and conspiracy for their alleged efforts to overturn the state’s election results. Trump’s former attorney Jenna Ellis subsequently reached a cooperation agreement with prosecutors in exchange for the state dropping the charges against her.

Trump was not charged in the case.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(WASHINGTON) — U.S. military suicides increased by 30 in 2023, according to a Defense Department report released Thursday, continuing an upward trend the Pentagon has struggled to combat.

“The findings urgently demonstrate the need for the Department to redouble its work in the complex fields of suicide prevention and postvention,” Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in a statement Thursday.

There were 523 service members who took their own lives last year, and the total force rate of suicide deaths per 100,000 service members was 9% higher than in 2022, the report said.

“Numerically, that was somewhat higher than the 493 that we lost in 2022, although that increase in terms of the rate and the count for the active component was not a statistically significant increase,” said Dr. Timothy Hoyt, deputy director of force resiliency for the DOD.

But while there was a slight dip in the military suicide rate in 2022, and a relatively modest increase in 2023, officials described a concerning overall upward trend since 2011 for active-duty forces.

“For the longer term, we continue to see a gradual, statistically significant increase in the active component suicide rates from 2011 to 2023,” said Dr. Liz Clark, director of the Pentagon’s Suicide Prevention Office. “There is a low likelihood that this change is due to natural variation or chance.”

Though concerning, military suicide rates have been comparable to those of the wider U.S. population over that time period.

While active-duty and reserve suicide rates increased in 2023, rates for the National Guard dipped slightly, according to the report.

The Pentagon is pursuing several lines of effort to reduce instances of suicide in the ranks, including by working to foster a supportive environment, improve mental health care, reduce stigma for seeking help and better suicide prevention training.

“Since his first day in office, the health, safety and well-being of our military community has been one of Secretary Austin’s top priorities,” deputy Pentagon press secretary Sabrina Singh said during the Thursday Pentagon briefing. “As you’ve heard him say many times before, we owe it to our service members and our military families to provide the best possible care, to identify risk factors and spot warning signs and to eliminate stigmas around seeking help, and when it comes to suicide, one loss to suicide is one too many. The department remains focused on long-term, sustained initiatives to prevent suicide.”

If you or one of your loved ones are struggling or needs extra support, you are not alone. Please call the suicide and crisis lifeline at 9-8-8.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — With less than six weeks until Election Day, former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris are campaigning in battleground states this week and making their case for why they should lead the country.

Harris will be travel to Arizona on Friday for some campaign events and to visit the southern border, according to a source familiar with her plans. It will be her first visit to the border since 2021.

Trump will be in New York, where he plans to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at Trump Tower. Later Friday, he will campaign in Michigan.

Here’s how the news is developing:

VP debate rules announced

CBS News has released the rules for next week’s vice presidential debate between Democratic vice presidential nominee Gov. Tim Walz and Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance.

Unlike the Biden-Trump and Harris-Trump debates, the microphones will not be muted.

Read more about what to expect here.

Harris assails Trump’s ‘broken promises’ to auto workers ahead of his Michigan town hall

Harris is out with a new ad blasting Trump over his “broken promises” to autoworkers ahead of his town hall in Warren, Michigan, as she hints she would look to scrap one of his signature trade deals.

The digital ad juxtaposes a clip of Trump promising at a 2016 rally that if elected, “You won’t lose one plant, you’ll have plants coming into this country, you’ll have jobs again,” to the closure of a Stellantis plant in that town two years later. (Stellantis owns the Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge brands.)

In a statement overnight, Harris lambasted the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, the trade deal Trump renegotiated to replace the Clinton-era North American Free Trade Agreement.

“Once again, he is repeating the same playbook and telling the same old lies about how he’ll fight for working people, including those in Michigan,” Harris said of the former president. “Yet it was Trump’s trade deal that made it far too easy for a major auto company like Stellantis to break their word to workers by outsourcing American jobs. As one of only 10 senators to vote against USMCA, I knew it was not sufficient to protect our country and its workers.”

“Many who voted for this deal conditioned their support on a review process, which as president I will use,” Harris said. The agreement is up for review in 2026, when parties can choose whether or not to extend it.

United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain, who endorsed Harris, told reporters Friday that her statement was “spot on.”

“It’s criminal that Donald Trump shows up in places like Flint, Michigan, and Warren, Michigan, or anywhere else in this country, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Wisconsin, and wants to tell workers how much he cares about them, that he’s got their back,” Fain said. “He doesn’t give a damn about working class people, especially auto workers.”

ABC News’ Fritz Farrow

Trump and Zelenskyy now meeting

Trump and Zelenskyy are now meeting at Trump Tower.

“We’re going to have a discussion and see what we can come up with, but a great honor to have you,” Trump told reporters.

Trump and Zelenskyy then shook hands, with Zelenskyy thanking Trump for the meeting.

“The war in Ukraine has to be stopped and Putin can’t win and Ukraine has to prevail. And I want to discuss with you in detail about our plan,” Zelenskyy said.

Trump to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy

After sources said Trump might not meet with the foreign leader while he is in the U.S., Trump told reporters on Thursday they will meet at 9:45 ET this morning at Trump Tower.

“It’s a shame what’s happening in Ukraine. So many deaths, so much destruction,” Trump said. “It’s a horrible thing. And one of the things that are very bothersome to me is the fact that Europe is paying only a small fraction of the money that the United States of America is paying, and we have an ocean between Russia and ourselves.”

ABC News Senior Congressional Correspondent Rachel Scott asked Trump if he believed Ukraine should cede its own territory to Russia in order to end the war — what Kamala Harris called “surrender.”

“We’ll see what happens,” Trump said. “Let’s get some peace. We need peace. We need to stop the death and destruction, don’t you think? Wouldn’t that be nice?”

Secret Service turns down Trump’s Saturday rally

The Secret Service informed Trump’s campaign it wouldn’t be able to accommodate his outdoor rally in Wisconsin on Saturday due to manpower issues, according to a source briefed on the situation.

The campaign wanted to have a rally at an airport hangar, but due to the Secret Service being stretched thin with the U.N. General Assembly in New York, it didn’t have the number of agents necessary to secure that site. A source said Secret Service personnel and equipment are being pushed to their limits to sustain the current operational tempo.

Trump’s detail is akin to those of President Joe Biden and Harris, with the exception of Defense Department assets on their details, and the agency wasn’t built to handle these increasing needs, according to a source familiar with the planning.

“Former President Donald Trump is receiving heightened levels of U.S. Secret Service protection and our top priority is mitigating risks to ensure his continued safety at all times,” Anthony Gugliemi, Secret Service chief of communications, said. “Out of concern for operational security, we cannot provide specific details about resources allocated for event security or communications between agency personnel and our protectees.”

The Trump campaign hasn’t responded to ABC News’ request for comment.

ABC News’ Luke Barr

Trump blasts Harris ahead of her border visit in lengthy remarks on immigration

Trump blasted Harris’ record as he spoke about immigration at Trump Tower in New York.

“Kamala Harris will be visiting the southern border that she has completely destroyed, from what I understand, tomorrow,” Trump said. “Why would she go to the border now, playing right into the hand of her opponent? I mean, you take a look at this — why would you do that? There can be no justification for what she’s done.”

Trump is going through a lengthy list of his grievances with Harris and continued to demonize migrants.

Trump to deliver remarks to reporters in New York

In a last-minute addition to his schedule, Trump’s campaign announced that he will deliver remarks Thursday at Trump Tower at 4:30 p.m. ET.

The campaign didn’t disclose the topic of his remarks, but they will happen on the same day that New York City Mayor Eric Adams has been charged with five counts connected to improper campaign contributions, according to a sweeping indictment unsealed Thursday morning.

This weekend, Trump will campaign in Michigan and Wisconsin.

-ABC News’ Lalee Ibssa, Soorin Kim and Kelsey Walsh

Melania Trump discusses Trump assassination attempts

Describing her decision not to take the stage at the Republican National Convention, Melania Trump pointed to the letter she penned following Trump’s assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania.

“It was my decision. I think was just the time. I think was the right time in, days before I wrote a beautiful letter to America, yes. And I think in one way, that letter was my speech,” she said in an interview that aired on Fox & Friends on Thursday morning.

Like her husband, Melania Trump blamed rhetoric from Democrats and people in the media as reasonings for why she feels there has been targeted violence against the former president.

“This is not normal, and is it really shocking that all this outrageous violence goes against my husband? Especially that we hear the leaders from the opposition party and mainstream media branding him as threat to democracy, calling him vile names,” she said. “They’re only fueling a toxic atmosphere and giving power to all of these people that they want to do harm to him. This needs to stop. This needs to stop. The country needs to unite.”

Recounting the moments she heard about Trump’s first assassination attempt, Melania Trump said that she couldn’t get ahold of Trump or the Secret Service initially.

“First, the Secret Service was not available too, because they were with him, right? And then after that, I got the Secret Service on the phone, and they said that he’s OK. We are in on the way to the hospital,” she said.

She also talked about having to tell their son, Barron, about the attack.

“He was outside playing sport, and he rushed in, and was very, very difficult,” she said.

-ABC News’ Lalee Ibssa, Soorin Kim and Kelsey Walsh

Melania Trump advocates for 2nd Trump term in 1st interview of 2024 cycle

Former first lady Melania Trump, sitting down for an interview with Fox & Friends, attempted to pitch her husband to voters.

“I think American people need to decide what they really want. Maybe some, you know, strong tweets, but everything else great for this country. So it’s all in Americans people’s hands on Nov. 5,” she said, arguing her husband was a strong leader in terms of the economy and immigration.

Despite her lack of a role on the campaign, Melania Trump said that she supports her husband’s third bid to the White House.

“I know how passionate he is to make America great again,” she said.

Melania Trump was also asked some personal questions about her relationship with Trump.

“Did you fall in love then?” co-host Ainsley Earhardt asked after Melania Trump described meeting Donald Trump for the first time.

“It was a connection. It was a connection,” Melania Trump responded.

“His being,” she later said when asked what she loves most about Trump. “His humor, his personality, his kindness, he’s, he’s very special, his positivity, his energy. It’s unbelievable. Yeah, so we have a beautiful relationship.”

-ABC News’ Lalee Ibssa, Soorin Kim and Kelsey Walsh

More details of Harris’ planned visit to border revealed

An aide to Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign provided more details about the vice president’s planned visit to the border in Arizona on Friday.

Harris will visit the border city of Douglas, and deliver remarks on border security, according to the aide. She will also talk about her intention to introduce a tough bipartisan border security plan and criticize former President Donald Trump for killing the one introduced over the summer.

Harris releases economic policy book

Vice President Kamala Harris released her roughly 80-page economic policy book on Wednesday and outlined it in a speech in Pittsburgh.

Harris spoke at the Economic Club of Pittsburgh and framed her proposals into three pillars: “lowering costs, investing in American innovation and leading the world in industries of tomorrow.”

She also highlighted her plans for American manufacturing.

“The simple truth is, in America, it takes too long and it costs too much to build. Whether it’s a new housing development, a new factory or a new bridge, projects take too long to go from concept to reality,” Harris said. “It happens in blue states, it happens in red states, and it’s a national problem. And I will tell you this, China is not moving slowly. They’re not, and we can’t afford to either. If we are to compete, we can’t afford to either.”

She attacked former President Donald Trump’s record, calling him “one of the biggest losers ever on manufacturing.”

“Just yesterday, he went out and promised to bring back manufacturing jobs. And if that sounds familiar, it should, in 2016 he went out and made that very same promise about the Carrier plant in Indianapolis,” she said.

“You’ll remember, Carrier then offshored hundreds of jobs to Mexico under his watch. And it wasn’t just there. On Trump’s watch, offshoring went up and manufacturing jobs went down across our country and across our economy,” Harris said.

Harris outlines her ‘pragmatic’ economic vision

Harris drew contrasts between her economic agenda and that of her opponent, Trump, in a speech in the battleground state of Pennsylvania.

Harris told an audience at the Economic Club of Pittsburgh that her economic philosophy is “rooted in her middle-class upbringing” while Trump’s comes from a “gilded path to wealth.”

“For Donald Trump, our economy works best if it works for those who own the big skyscrapers. Not those who build them. Not those who wire them. Not those who mop the floors,” she said.

Harris has made the economy and the cost of living a focal point of her campaign in recent weeks.

To allow the middle class to be the “growth engine of our economy,” Harris said she would cut taxes for middle class families and individuals, promising that more than 100 million Americans would get a middle-class tax break.

-ABC News’ Fritz Farrow, Gabriella Abdul-Hakim, and Will McDuffie

Trump takes aim at Iran after officials warn of foreign threats

Former President Donald Trump didn’t mince words Wednesday at a rally in North Carolina following more reports from security officials that Iran has been plotting to assassinate him.

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence met with Trump and his campaign Tuesday, according to a spokesman for DNI. While the agency declined to discuss specifics about the meeting, the former president’s campaign said the meeting involved “real and specific threats from Iran to assassinate him in an effort to destabilize and sow chaos in the United States.”

During his rally in Mint Hill, North Carolina, Trump echoed that statement and sent a stark warning to the country.

“If I were the president, I would inform the threatening country, in this case, Iran, that if you do anything to harm this person, we are going to blow your largest cities and the country itself to smithereens. We’re going to blow it to smithereens,” the former president said to cheers. “There would be no more threats.”

Biden adamant that he would have beaten Trump in rematch

President Joe Biden opened up on the whirlwind of events over the last couple of months during an appearance on “The View” Wednesday.

Biden said he is “at peace” with his decision to exit the 2024 race but says he is still confident he would have defeated Donald Trump in November.

“Look, when I ran for this last term, I said I saw myself as a transition president … But what happened was we were having so much success in getting things done that people felt we couldn’t get done, I found myself having used more time than I would’ve ordinarily to, you know, pass that torch.”

Biden then turned to praising Harris, who he called “tough” and “honorable.”

“And the thing I like about her, and one thing we share in common, is that we have an optimistic view of the future,” he said.

Family of Corey Comperatore, injured supporters to attend Trump’s Butler rally

Trump’s Butler, Pennsylvania, rally will take place at the same site where his first assassination attempt took place.

The wife and daughters of Corey Comperatore, the man who was killed during the assassination attempt, are expected to attend Trump’s Butler rally along with the two supporters who were injured during the shooting: David Dutch and James Copenhaver, according to a senior campaign official.

“During his visit, President Trump will honor the memory of Corey Comperatore, who heroically sacrificed his life to shield his wife and daughters from the bullets on that terrible day. President Trump will also recognize the two other Americans who were wounded by the shooter, David Dutch and James Copenhaver,” the campaign said in a press release.

Trump will also “express his deep gratitude to law enforcement and first responders, and thank the entire community for their outpouring of love and support in the wake of the attack,” the campaign said.

-ABC News’ Soorin Kim, Lalee Ibssa and Kelsey Walsh

Comer launches investigation into Zelenskyy’s trip to Pennsylvania

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer launched an investigation into the Biden-Harris administration for allowing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to fly on a military plane to Pennsylvania earlier this week.

“The Committee seeks to determine whether the Biden-Harris Administration attempted to use a foreign leader to benefit Vice President Harris’s presidential campaign and, if so, necessarily committed an abuse of power,” Comer said in a statement Wednesday.

The committee sent letters to Attorney General Merrick Garland, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and White House Counsel Edward Siskel. Chairman Comer is requesting documents, information and communications about Zelenskyy’s visit to the U.S. in September.

-ABC News’ Lauren Peller

Trump stumps in North Carolina, Vance in Michigan

Trump will deliver remarks in Mint Hill, North Carolina, at 1 p.m. He will speak about the economy, according to a campaign release.

Later, his running mate, Sen. JD Vance, will speak in Travers City, Michigan. The event is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.

Harris to outline ‘pragmatic’ view on the economy to voters

As Harris seeks to gain ground on the economy, she will outline on Wednesday what her campaign is calling a “pragmatic” view on the issue.

Harris plans to tell voters that “as a capitalist she understands the limitations of government” and that the government must “work in partnership with the private sector and entrepreneurs,” according to the senior official, granted anonymity to preview Harris’s speech. The official noted Harris will make clear “she is unafraid to hold bad actors accountable if she needs to.”

The vice president will also argue that her economic philosophy is “rooted in her middle-class upbringing” and contrast that with Trump’s “gilded path to wealth,” as part of a larger values argument, the official said.

Harris to be interviewed by MSNBC

Harris is participating in an interview with MSNBC’s Stephanie Ruhle on Wednesday, which will air on the cable network on Wednesday at 7 p.m. ET, MSNBC announced Wednesday morning.

The network frames it as her first solo network interview since she became the nominee.

Harris has done solo interviews with other news outlets: radio stations and local TV stations. Her first media interview since announcing her candidacy took place last month when she did a joint interview with Tim Walz on CNN.

National Intelligence director briefs Trump about Iranian threats

Former President Donald Trump was briefed by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence earlier Tuesday on Iran’s continued assassination threats against him, his campaign said in a new statement, calling the threats “real and specific.”

“Intelligence officials have identified that these continued and coordinated attacks have heightened in the past few months, and law enforcement officials across all agencies are working to ensure President Trump is protected and the election is free from interference,” Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung wrote in the statement.

“He will let nothing stop him or get in his way to fight for the American people and to Make America Great Again,” Cheung continued.

Harris Arizona campaign office damaged by apparent gunfire for second time in one week: Police

A coordinated campaign office shared by Vice President Kamala Harris’s campaign and the Democratic Party in Tempe, Arizona, was damaged by gunfire just after midnight on Monday, the police said Tuesday in a statement to ABC News.

“No one was inside the office during the overnight hours, but this raises concerns about the safety of those who work in that building, as well as those nearby,” Tempe Police spokesperson Sgt. Ryan Cook said.

Police said they received calls from those who worked in the office on Monday afternoon and arrived to what they said appeared to be gunshots through the front windows.

Tempe Police said they are analyzing evidence and were taking “additional measures” after the shooting “to ensure the safety of staff and others in the area.” A motive for the shooting has not yet been determined and the investigation continues, according to the police.

The same office was shot at just a week prior, on Sept. 16, in an incident the police said appeared to involve a BB or pellet gun. That shooting also happened just after midnight and caused “criminal damage,” according to the police.

Harris is scheduled to visit the state on Friday.

In response to the second incident, the Harris campaign offered its thanks to Tempe police.

“Overnight, several shots were fired into our Tempe Democratic Party coordinated campaign office. We are grateful to Tempe Police for coming quickly to the scene and are fortunate no one was present or injured,” read a statement from a campaign spokesperson

Trump, Harris to take part in separate town halls on Univision

Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump will participate in two town halls next month hosted by Univision where they will interact with undecided Hispanic voters and respond to questions.

Trump will headline the first town hall, which will take place in Miami on Tuesday, Oct. 8 at 10 p.m. ET, the network announced.

Harris will headline the second Univision town hall, which will take place in Las Vegas on Thursday, Oct. 10 at 10 p.m. ET.

Both events will air coast-to-coast with Spanish-language translation on Univision and stream on ViX’s Noticias 24/7 channel and will also be available in English on Noticias Univision’s YouTube channel.

Mark Robinson hires Trump attorney who fought 2020 election results

North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson announced Tuesday that he has hired lawyer Jesse Binnall to represent him in what he calls the “outrageous lies” following reporting by CNN that he posted racist and inflammatory comments on a porn site’s message board a decade ago.

Binnall is known for his representation of former President Donald Trump, including in legal cases involving Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election. Binnall still represents Trump in legal matters.

“I am confident that Binnall Law Group will leave no stone unturned and enable us to use every legal means to hold CNN accountable for their lies. In the meantime, my campaign remains laser-focused on the issues at stake in this election,” Robinson said in a statement.

Trump’s campaign and political action committees began paying Jesse Binnall’s law firms in November 2020, and they have paid nearly $6 million since.

This includes more than $823,000 paid so far this year by Trump’s Save America PAC and Make America Great Again PAC, which used to be his previous presidential campaign, according to campaign records.

Trump praises Sen. Manchin for not endorsing Harris

Former President Donald Trump is celebrating the decision from Independent Sen. Joe Manchin not to endorse Harris over her comments on considering eliminating the filibuster.

Manchin has not said whether or not he will endorse Trump.

“Congratulations to Senator Joe Manchin for not endorsing Radical Kamala Harris because of her DEATH WISH for the Filibuster and the Rule of Law,” Trump said in a Truth Social post.

-ABC News’ Lalee Ibssa, Soo Rin Kim and Kelsey Walsh

Trump, in Georgia, hits on economy, immigration and more

In remarks in battleground Georgia focused on the economy and the tax code, Trump said dealing with immigration is first step in his economic plan.

In Savannah, Trump again said migrants with legal protected status in Springfield, Ohio, need to be deported and repeated his discriminatory and false argument that undocumented immigrants were stealing jobs from Black and Hispanic communities. He went on to call on local officials to “move the people back to the country from which they came.”

Trump spent much of his speech focused on increasing domestic production by tariffing other countries, telling Georgians they soon would be “stealing” jobs from other countries.

“Vote for Trump, and you will see a mass exodus of manufacturing from China to Pennsylvania, from Korea to North Carolina, from Germany to right here in Georgia, they’re going to come to Georgia, from Germany and a lot of other places,” he claimed.

“I’m outlining today, not only will we stop our businesses from leaving for foreign lands, but under my leadership, we’re going to take other countries’ jobs. Did you ever hear that expression before? Have you ever heard that? ‘We’re going to take other countries’ jobs.’ It’s never been stated before. We’re going to take their factories,” Trump claimed.

The former president also touched on Ukraine, just hours after President Joe Biden urged world leaders gathered at the United Nations General Assembly to never “waver” in support for Ukraine.

“I think that we’re stuck in that war unless I’m president. I’ll get it done. I’ll get it negotiated,” Trump claimed — a campaign pledge he often repeats but offers no specifics on how to accomplish.

Trump then seemingly praised Russia.

“That’s what they do, is they fight wars,” he said. “As somebody told me the other day, they beat Hitler, they beat Napoleon. That’s what they do. They fight and it’s not pleasant.”

ABC News’ Lalee Ibssa, Soorin Kim and Kelsey Walsh

Nebraska governor won’t call special session to change electoral votes system

Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen released a statement Tuesday confirming he has “no plans” to call a special session before the November general election — meaning that the Republican-led effort to change the state electoral college to winner-take-all is tabled, for now.

“My team and I have worked relentlessly to secure a filibuster-proof 33-vote majority to get winner-take-all passed before the November election,” Pillen said. “Given everything at stake for Nebraska and our country, we have left every inch on the field to get this done.”

“Unfortunately, we could not persuade 33 state senators,” he added.

Pillen specifically cited opposition from state Sen. Mike McDonnell, who on Monday said he would not support such a change before the 2024 election.

The switch would have likely benefitted Trump and made the electoral map more difficult for Harris.

-ABC News’ Brittany Shepherd and Oren Oppenheim

Trump attacks Harris’ plan to visit the border

Trump is now weighing in on Harris’ plans to visit the southern border this Friday in Arizona, labelling the visit as “political” and accusing her of attempting to “con the public” of her border record.

“After almost four years, Border Czar Kamala Harris has decided, for political reasons, that it’s time for her to go to our broken Southern Border. What a disgrace that she waited so long,” Trump wrote on his social media, repeating his disparaging rhetoric on migrants.

While Harris has been to the southern border, the trip marks her first visit since lauched her campaign at the end of July.

Trump has made immigration central to his 2024 campaign, pledging mass deportations and a border shutdown among other hard-line policies. He visited the border last month, the same day Harris formally accepted the Democratic nomination for president.

ABC News’ Soorin Kim, Lalee Ibssa and Kelsey Walsh

Harris planning a visit to southern border this week: Source

Vice President Harris is planning to visit the southern border during her visit to Arizona on Friday, according to a source familiar.

This would be Harris’ first visit to the southern border since she jumped to the top of the ticket at the end of July.

Immigration has been a big issue in the 2024 race, with Donald Trump and Republicans inaccurately calling Harris the “border czar” and blaming her for the border crisis. Harris, in turn, argues that Trump and Republicans are at fault for killing the bipartisan border bill earlier this year.

Harris has overseen the Biden administration’s efforts to address the root causes of migration as vice president, and visited the border in 2021, after she came under fire for not having done so.

Trump expected to return to Butler for a rally on Oct. 5: Sources

Trump is expected to return to Butler, Pennsylvania, the city of his first assassination attempt, next Saturday for a rally, according to multiple sources familiar with his plans.

The rally is scheduled for Oct. 5.

Trump has long promised to return to Butler to honor the victims who died at his July rally.

“I WILL BE GOING BACK TO BUTLER, PENNSYLVANIA, FOR A BIG AND BEAUTIFUL RALLY, HONORING THE SOUL OF OUR BELOVED FIREFIGHTING HERO, COREY, AND THOSE BRAVE PATRIOTS INJURED TWO WEEKS AGO. WHAT A DAY IT WILL BE — FIGHT, FIGHT, FIGHT! STAY TUNED FOR DETAILS,” Trump wrote on his social media platform in July.

NBC News was first to report the news.

ABC News’ Katherine Faulders, Lalee Ibssa, Kesley Walsh and Soorin Kim

Harris won’t attend the Al Smith dinner, a presidential campaign staple

Vice President Harris will not attend the Al Smith dinner next month in New York, breaking with tradition of major party nominees sharing laughs at the benefit dinner, and will instead be on the campaign trail, a campaign official confirmed to ABC News.

“She is going to be campaigning in a battleground state that day, and the campaign wants to maximize her time in the battlegrounds this close to the election,” the official said.

The dinner, which benefits Catholic Charities, is scheduled for Oct. 17. It has become a traditional stop on the presidential campaign trail, with both the Republican and Democratic nominees attending and delivering remarks full of roasts. In recent years, both nominees attended the gala, including in 2008, 2012, 2016, and 2020. (The latter was virtual because of the COVID-19 pandemic.)

The official also added that Harris’ team informed the dinner’s organizers she would be absent, but was willing to attend in a later year as president.

ABC News’ Fritz Farrow, Gabrielle Abdul-Hakim and Will McDuffie

Melania Trump to sit for her 1st interview of 2024 election cycle

Former first lady Melania Trump will sit down for her first interview of the 2024 election cycle with Fox News’ Ainsley Earhardt as she continues to promote her new book.

The interview is set to air on Thursday, Fox announced on Monday.

While Melania Trump has remained relatively quiet this campaign cycle, mainly appearing with the former president at closed-door events, she has been more active online recently as she launches her forthcoming memoir, “Melania.”

Her book is scheduled to be released on Oct. 8. Her website describes it in part as “the powerful and inspiring story of a woman who has defined personal excellence, overcome adversity, and carved her own path.”

ABC News’ Lalee Ibssa, Soorin Kim and Kelsey Walsh

Trump again says it’s too late for another debate amid challenges from Harris

Trump is again ruling out another debate against Harris, arguing it would be “a very bad thing” for the country.

“Well, I’ve already done two debates, and they, you know, we’re good, but to do a third one, everybody’s voting now, and it’s very late to be doing a third debate,” Trump told Fox News correspondent Bill Melugin in a phone conversation that aired Monday morning.

Harris said over the weekend she accepted an offer from CNN for a debate on Oct. 23.

Her team has also noted that there have been presidential debates in years past in the final weeks before Election Day.

“The final 2020 debate was October 22,” the Harris campaign wrote on X. “The proposed CNN debate is October 23.”

Trump also debated Hillary Clinton for a third time around the same timeframe: Oct. 19, 2016.

Trump slightly leads in Arizona, about even in North Carolina: Polls

A set of New York Times/Siena College polls found Trump slightly leads Harris in Arizona and they are about evenly matched in North Carolina.

Among likely voters in Arizona, Trump leads Harris 50% to 45% in a head-to-head matchup. In a six-way matchup with other candidates, Trump still leads Harris 48% to 43%.

In North Carolina, Trump also leads Harris among likely voters 49% to 47%. He also leads by 2 percentage points in a six-way matchup. The lead, however, is within the poll’s margin of error.

Arizona and North Carolina are considered crucial battlegrounds this election, along with Georgia. According to 538’s polling average, Trump is ahead slightly in each of the three Sun Belt states.

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