(LONDON) — The U.S. Embassy in Colombo, Sri Lanka, issued a warning to citizens late on Tuesday based on “credible information” warning of an attack in the southeast of the country.
The embassy said in a post on its website that the threat was related to “popular tourist locations in the Arugam Bay area,” an area of famous and well-visited beaches known for its surfing.
“Due to the serious risk posed by this threat, the embassy imposed a travel restriction on embassy personnel for Arugam Bay effective immediately and until further notice,” the embassy wrote.
U.S. citizens, it added, “are strongly urged to avoid the Arugam Bay area until further notice.”
The embassy did not offer any more information about the nature or source of the threat.
The notice urged citizens to report all suspicious activity to local authorities, keep a cell phone or other form of communication close by and monitor local media for updates.
The State Department lists Sri Lanka as a “Level 2” nation in its risk advisory guide, meaning Americans there should “exercise increased caution.”
The State Department’s latest advisory for Sri Lanka was issued on Oct. 2 and noted that protests relating to the “economic and political situation in Sri Lanka can erupt at any time.”
“In some instances, police have used water cannons and tear gas to disperse protesters,” it added. “U.S. citizens are reminded to avoid all gatherings, even peaceful ones, that could turn violent with little or no warning.”
“Terrorist attacks have occurred in Sri Lanka, with little or no warning,” it added, targets having included tourist hotspots, transportation hubs, shopping areas, government facilities and entertainment venues, among others.
“The U.S. government has limited ability to provide emergency services to U.S. citizens in remote areas,” the advisory said.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
What We Do in the Shadows, the comedy series about four vampires who live together on Staten Island, New York, premiered the first episodes of its sixth and final season on Monday.
Harvey Guillén has starred as the human familiar Guillermo de la Cruz, who became a vampire in the show’s fifth season. He told ABC Audio at the Disney Upfront event in May he’s sad to see the series come to an end.
“We wrapped on May 2, which is (co-star) Matt Berry‘s birthday. And at 11:30 we wrapped and 30 minutes later, May 3, is my birthday. So, it was like an ending of a chapter and then a starting of a new year of life, in a weird way,” Guillén said. “It was the perfect way to end the show.”
While he didn’t give much away about the last episode, he did tease what fans can expect from it.
“The scene that we end the show with is – it was perfect. I don’t want to go into too much detail on it because it gives too much away. But I was definitely a mess,” Guillén said. “In the scene and in my personal experience with the show coming to a conclusion. The six years went by so fast, you know. For seven years it was a part of our lives.”
As for what to expect throughout all of season 6, Guillén says the lessons from the end of season 5 – like the grass not always being greener on the other side – carry over.
“We pick up and we see that they all take a new adventure,” Guillén said. “They all take a new adventure, and you see them in and through a different lens.”
L-R: Bruce Springsteen, John Landau/Photo: Kevin Winter/Getty Images
Bruce Springsteen’s manager Jon Landau sounds excited about the casting of Jeremy Allen White to play The Boss in the upcoming movie Deliver Me From Nowhere.
“Oh my god, he’s just perfect. The casting is great,” Landau tells The Hollywood Reporter, noting that director Scott Cooper told him, “We get the right cast, and we’ll tell this story right.” Landau added that “he got the right cast.”
As for how he feels about Succession star Jeremy Strong playing him on the big screen, Landau says, “I died and went to heaven.”
Landau calls Strong “a great guy,” sharing, “We’ve had the chance to know each other, and I’m just dying to see what he does and what I learn from it.”
As for the whole project, Landau says he and Springsteen aren’t directly involved, but adds that they’re “very pleased at the way they’re going about it, it’s going to be beautiful.”
Deliver Me From Nowhere follows Springsteen’s efforts to make his 1982 solo album Nebraska. The film is based on Warren Zanes‘ book Deliver Me from Nowhere: The Making of Bruce Springsteen’s Nebraska.
(HOUSTON, TX) — A couple has been arrested and charged for attempting to kidnap and kill a man the wife was having an affair with in Texas.
The victim, who told an ABC News’ Houston affiliate he would not like to be named due to fears over his safety, was shot twice and is now recovering.
Hana Ahmad Alolaimi, 35, and Omar Mahmoud Bishtawi, 48, were charged with aggravated assault and aggravated attempted kidnapping on Sunday, according to court records.
Alolaimi and the victim, who were both married to other people, were in a relationship. When the victim’s wife found out about the relationship he broke it off, according to court documents.
Alolaimi and Bishtawi then conspired to kidnap and kill the victim, according to court documents.
When the victim went into a Chick-fil-A, Alolaimi allegedly parked her vehicle next to his. When the victim came out, she gestured for him to come over, according to court documents.
Once he was in the car, Alolaimi tried to drive off with the victim, although he had told her he could not leave with her. Bishtawi then jumped out from under a curtain in the back seat of the car and put the victim in a chokehold, pressing a firearm against his head, according to court documents.
When the victim tried to get away Bishtawi shot him twice, including once in the thigh, according to court documents. The victim could have died from the thigh wound if he was not transported to the hospital in time, according to court documents.
Alolaimi and Bishtawi provided investigators with conflicting statements and investigators believe there are concerns for the future safety of the victim, according to court documents.
The victim said he ended the relationship three months ago because it turned toxic. But, Alolaimi wouldn’t leave him alone, even showing up at his new apartment, he told KHOU in an interview.
The victim said after he was kidnapped, Bishtawi told him he had to die because he’d dishonored his wife.
Lindsey Nicholson/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
(HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA, CANADA) — Police in Canada said Tuesday they are investigating after a 19-year-old Walmart employee was found dead inside a store’s walk-in bakery oven.
Officers responded to the Walmart — located in Halifax, Nova Scotia — on Saturday night after the employee was found dead, police said.
“The woman, who was an employee of the store, was located in a large walk-in oven belonging to the store’s bakery department,” Halifax Regional Police said in an update on Tuesday.
Investigators are working with Occupational Health and Safety and the Nova Scotia Medical Examiner Service, police said.
The cause and manner of death have not yet been determined as of Tuesday, police said, calling the investigation “complex.”
“An investigation of this nature may take a significant amount of time,” police said.
The Walmart store is temporarily closed amid the investigation, according to ABC News partner CTV News.
“We are heartbroken and our deepest thoughts are with our associate and their family,” Walmart spokesperson Amanda Moss said in a statement to CTV News. “We extend our sincerest condolences to those who were closest to them.”
Walmart is offering employees on-site support, including grief counseling, as well as access to virtual care, Moss said.
The Nova Scotia Department of Labour, Skills and Immigration said a stop work order was issued Tuesday for the bakery and a piece of equipment at the Walmart store.
“As this is an active investigation, we cannot release further details at this time,” the department said in a statement, adding workplace investigations “are complex and can take time.”
(NORTH CAROLINA) — Donald Trump isn’t taking any chances in battleground North Carolina — making four stops in the state over two days — on Tuesday as well as Monday.
The polls here are tight. But more than that, the former president’s advisers are keenly aware that some of the state’s counties hardest hit by flooding from Hurricane Helene are deeply conservative.
He needs voters to turn out in those counties to win here again.
Looking through the state’s election data, in 2020 Trump won 23 of the 25 counties included in the federal disaster declaration in North Carolina.
While Trump is still making false claims about the administration’s response to the storm, there’s been a notable shift in one area in particular: early voting.
After railing against mail-in voting and early voting for years, he’s now urging people to vote early if they can.
At his rally Monday night, signs urged residents to make a plan to get to the polls.
Both Democrats and Republicans feel optimistic about the strong early voting numbers in this state.
And we saw why as we traveled across the state — long lines stretched outside polling locations with Democrats and Republicans lining up one after another, ready to cast their ballots.
We met voter Roger Mills in Charlotte. He told us he doesn’t love everything Donald Trump says but he is voting for him anyway.
“I don’t like the way the country’s headed right now. I’m one of those that thinks we’re headed in the wrong direction. So, I thought, hey, I liked it in 2016 to 2020 I liked it well, except for the pandemic. So, I said I’d like to get back to that,” Mills said.
He called the former president “abrasive.”
“He talks without thinking sometimes, but I like his policies — his policies, I believe are good for America,” he said, adding, “[Harris] flip-flopped so many times I can’t tell where she stands.”
Angela Larry was at that polling location, too. She was eager to cast her ballot for Vice President Kamala Harris.
“I’m excited! I used to wait for Election Day to be part of the process but I’m part of the process today,” she said after she voted early. As a mother, she told us she supports Harris because of her stance on reproductive rights.
“We have a choice. Our bodies. We are females. We need to make the decisions. I don’t like that someone who doesn’t have a clue — that can’t walk the walk — has something to say what women go through,” she said.
Like many voters we’ve met — Angela Larry is just ready for it all to be over.
“I just want to get it over with. I’m ready for it to be over.”
One Tree Hill alum Bethany Joy Lenz is opening up about leaving a group she describes as a “cult” in her new memoir, Dinner for Vampires: Life on a Cult TV Show (While also in an Actual Cult!).
Lenz, who played Haley James Scott on the iconic teen drama, described the group, known as The Big House Family, in an interview with Good Morning America that aired Tuesday.
“It was just a home group Bible study, and then it morphed with the entrance of a pastor from another state,” Lenz said. “I think he just saw a lot of young professionals and got dollar signs in his eyes and went, ‘Oh, I know what I can do here.'”
Lenz said the pastor then began a “long-game con” and a “long-game manipulation.”
“After about a year I was totally entrenched in it,” she said.
Lenz married a fellow member of the group and split her time between the group’s home base in Idaho and the One Tree Hill sets in North Carolina.
Lenz said she eventually left the group and her marriage in search of a better life for her daughter.
These days, Lenz is reconnecting with old friends — her One Tree Hill castmates Sophia Bush and HilarieBurton Morgan. The trio now host the podcast Drama Queens.
“We didn’t make those connective points when we were younger for various reasons — one of which being: I was in a cult, and so it was harder for me to make connections with people,” she said. “But yeah, I’m really grateful that the opportunity came back around.”
Dinner for Vampires: Life on a Cult TV Show (While also in an Actual Cult!) is out now.
Bridget Bennett for The Washington Post via Getty Images
(WASHINGTON) — The race for the White House is heading into the final stretch with most polls showing Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump neck-and-neck in key states with just about two weeks to go.
Over 19M Americans have voted early as of Tuesday afternoon
Over 19 million Americans have voted early as of Tuesday afternoon, according to data from Election Lab at the University of Florida.
Roughly 7.1 million votes have come in through early in-person methods while the remaining votes have been cast through mail ballots, the data showed.
There is a large showing of early votes in the swing state of Georgia which has seen record early vote turnout since early in-person voting began last week.
As of Tuesday afternoon, more than 1.84 million Georgians, roughly one in four registered voters, have cast their ballot, with over 1.74 million votes cast at early voting polling places across the state according to Georgia’s Secretary of State office.
-ABC News’ Brittany Shepherd and Ivan Pereira
Trump to appear on Joe Rogan’s podcast Friday: Sources
Trump is set to tape an interview for the popular “Joe Rogan Experience” podcast Friday at Rogan’s Austin, Texas, studio, multiple sources told ABC News.
Rogan’s podcast garners a vast amount of viewership each week and ranks as one of the most-listened-to podcast on Spotify.
The interview comes as Trump has been engaging in more long-format media appearances and podcasts and works to appeal to young male voters, a key group of Rogan listeners.
Earlier this cycle, Rogan and Trump got into a back-and-forth spat on social media after Rogan expressed his support for then-candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. during on an episode over the summer.
“He’s the only one who makes sense to me,” Rogan said of Kennedy in an August episode.
“He doesn’t attack people. He attacks actions and ideas, but he’s much more reasonable and intelligent.”
In response, Trump posted on his social media platform that “it will be interesting to see how loudly Joe Rogan gets BOOED the next time he enters the UFC Ring??? MAGA2024.”
-ABC News’ Lalee Ibssa, Soorin Kim and Kelsey Walsh
Cheney keeps up fire on Trump over Jan. 6
Former Rep. Liz Cheney tore into Trump on Tuesday over the Jan. 6, mob attack on the U.S. Capitol and his tariff policies.
Speaking with ABC News’ Jonathan Karl, Cheney excoriated Trump as unfit for office and a threat to American democracy for his role in sparking the mob, echoing an argument she’s been making on the campaign trail with Harris, the Democratic presidential candidate.
“I believe he’s unfit, and he’s dangerous, but I made the decision beyond that to endorse Vice President Harris. And it is certainly the case that there are policies on which we disagree, but she is somebody who’s devoted her life to public service. She is somebody who, even if you disagree with her, and maybe especially if you disagree with her, I can tell you, she will listen,” Cheney, of Wyoming, said at the Detroit Economic Club.
“You all in business, when you think about, what are you looking for in somebody you hire, you’re looking for somebody that you can trust, you’re looking for somebody who’s going to be responsible, who’s going to operate in good faith,” she told the audience. “You certainly wouldn’t hire somebody who was unstable and erratic. And we need to think about this election in those terms.”
-ABC News’ Tal Axelrod
Bruce Springsteen to headline concerts at events with Obama, Harris, campaign says
Bruce Springsteen is bringing his greatest hits to the campaign trail as he is set to headline concerts in key swing state cities with Harris and former President Barack Obama, a senior campaign official told ABC News.
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame musician will perform in Atlanta on Thursday with Harris and Obama as part of a get-out-the-vote event followed by another show in Philadelphia with Obama in attendance, the official said.
More concerts will be announced, the official said.
“The Boss” announced his support for Harris saying she and Gov. Tim Walz have “a vision of this country that respects and includes everyone, regardless of class, religion, race, your political point of view or sexual identity, and they want to grow our economy in a way that benefits all” and that former President Donald Trump, “doesn’t understand the meaning of this country, its history, or what it means to be deeply American.”
Campaign advisers see these major mobilization events as massive opportunities to harness voter enthusiasm to get out the vote before Election Day.
–ABC News’ Will McDuffie, Gabriella Abdul-Hakim and Fritz Farrow
Trump takes questions from vocal supporters at Latino event, attacks Harris’ intelligence
Trump took friendly questions from Latino supporters during a roundtable aimed at courting minority voters in Florida on Tuesday.
The questions came from many longtime supporters including Goya Foods CEO Bob Unanue, pastor Apostle Guillermo Maldonado and “Sound of Freedom” actor Eduardo Verastegui, who spent a lot of their time praising the former president.
Trump talked about immigration for the first time about 30 minutes in, and used false claims about immigrants crossing into the country, calling them a “military supreme.”
The crowd was relatively calm given the ballroom set-up; however, Trump did get applause when he brought up “men in women sports,” where he doubled down on more transphobic rhetoric.
“So there’s a sickness going on in our country. We have to end the sickness, and we have to start because she’s a radical left,” Trump said of Harris.
Trump also repeatedly made racial and ethnic jokes and attacks during the event.
The former president also went after Harris’ intelligence, calling her “slow” and “stupid.”
He also continued to make his baseless claim that there might not be another election if Harris wins.
-ABC News’ Lalee Ibssa, Soorin Kim and Kelsey Walsh
Trump hits Harris as ‘lazy as hell’ for not being on the trail
Trump returned to his Doral, Florida, golf club to host a roundtable with Latino community members Tuesday and used the opportunity to criticize Harris for not having any campaign events that day.
The roundtable was supposed to be focused on Trump’s appeal to Latino Americans, but during his opening remarks, Trump gave a generic, rambling stump speech where he complained about his heavy campaign schedule compared to Harris’. The vice president is off the trail on Tuesday and taping interviews for NBC News and Telemundo.
“She’s sleeping right now. She couldn’t go on the trail. You know, you think when you have 14 days left, you wouldn’t be sleeping. She’s not doing anything today,” Trump said, not mentioning her TV interviews scheduled for Tuesday.
As the topic of exhaustion came up into the final stretch of the campaign, Trump kept going after Harris for taking days off as he talked about how much he was campaigning.
“Who the hell takes off? You have 14 days left, and she’ll take a couple of more days off too. You know why she’s lazy as hell, and she’s got that reputation,” he said.
-ABC News’ Lalee Ibssa, Soorin Kim and Kelsey Walsh
DOJ launches voter assistance site for hurricane victims
The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division launched a webpage on Tuesday that compiles information to help voters in states impacted by recent hurricanes Helene and Milton to have access to the ballot.
The resources are aimed to help voters in Florida, Georgia, the Carolinas, Tennessee and Virginia.
“The site identifies and provides links to various state changes made to accommodate voters who have been displaced, lost their identification documents, have had polling sites moved or who are unsure where or how they can vote. It also provides contact information so that voters can reach local voting officials who can provide the most specific and up-to-date guidance,” the Justice Department said in a statement.
Harris highlights key tie-breaking vote over prescription drugs
Vice President Kamala Harris, who cast the tie-breaking vote in the Senate to pass the Inflation Reduction Act, called Tuesday’s Health and Human Services report on cost-savings for prescription drugs evidence of the administration’s mission to deliver accessible health care to everyone.
The report showed 1.5 million Medicare enrollees saved almost $1 billion on prescription drugs in the first half of 2024 as a result of the Inflation Reduction Act.
“All Americans should be able to access the health care they need — no matter their income,” Harris said in a statement.
The Inflation Reduction Act for the first time put a cap on what Medicare enrollees spend on out-of-pocket costs for their medications and a lower cap that goes into effect next year ($2,000) and is estimated to impact 19 million people.
The administration estimated that this year’s cap saved impacted Medicare enrollees an average of $1,802, and that when the cap lowers further, the savings will be higher.
Harris highlighted the combination of other efforts the administration is also making to bring down the cost of prescription drugs, like capping insulin at $35 and negotiating on contracts with pharma companies so the government pays less for drugs.
-ABC News’ Cheyenne Haslett
Senate Dems release report on early voting
Democratic senators, led by Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senate Rules Committee Chair Amy Klobuchar, released a report Tuesday urging Americans to cast their ballots as soon as possible and warning that election results may not be known on Election Day.
“Just like 2020, Donald Trump and his allies continue to refuse to commit to accepting the results of the election if he loses while pushing dangerous and divisive rhetoric to sow discord and undermine confidence in our election process. Americans losing faith in the results of our elections doesn’t just risk another January 6th but puts our very democracy at risk,” Schumer said in a statement with the release of the report. “Senate Democrats remain committed to ensuring all Americans can vote without fear or intimidation.”
The report details the early voting and mail-in ballot count procedures, including details on how and when some swing states count their ballots.
Using these details, the report asserts that “early vote counts may create the appearance that one particular candidate is ahead but that may change depending on whether in-person or mail-in vote totals are reported first. Americans should be prepared to reject misinformation and be patient about results in places where counting ballots may take longer.”
Trump still refuses to accept that he lost the 2020 election and has encouraged voters to cast ballots for him on Nov. 5 so that his margin of victory is “too big to rig.”
-ABC News’ Allison Pecorin
ABC News’ John Karl to speak with Liz Cheney
Former Wyoming Republican Rep. Liz Cheney will sit down with ABC News’ Chief Washington Correspondent and Co-Anchor of “This Week” Jonathan Karl at the Detroit Economic Club on Tuesday afternoon.
Part of the event will be streamed on ABC News Live.
Karl’s discussion with Cheney comes a day after she hit the campaign trail with Harris for a series of moderated conversations in the battleground states of Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, in which they sought to appeal to white suburban women who vote Republican.
Trump courts Latino voters, Harris off the trail
Trump will hold a roundtable at the Latino Summit at his Doral golf club in Miami. The event was postponed because of Hurricane Milton and comes as the former president seeks to eat away at Harris’ edge with Hispanic voters, particularly males.
Trump will later head to Greensboro, North Carolina, for a rally.
Harris, notably, has no public events scheduled for Tuesday, spending her afternoon instead doing interviews with NBC News and Telemundo.
Former President Barack Obama joins Minnesota Gov. and Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz for a rally in Madison, Wisconsin.
Trump and Harris prepare for flood of legal activity around election
Harris and Trump are preparing for a flood of legal activity before and after the election after the former president launched an avalanche of lawsuits seeking to overturn his loss in 2020.
Earlier this year, the Republican National Committee and the Trump campaign announced what they described as an “historic” “election integrity” program that an RNC official said in recent months has engaged in over 130 election lawsuits across 26 states, and recruited approximately 5,000 volunteer attorneys who are ready to be activated on Election Day.
Democrats, for their part, have intervened in “dozens of baseless Republican lawsuits to debunk their lies and defeat them in court,” according to an internal memo prepared by Harris’ chief attorney, Dana Remus.
Read more here from Olivia Rubin, Will Steakin and Lucien Bruggeman.
Nevada Republicans outpace Democrats in in-person early voting, trail in mail-in voting
Republicans are outpacing Democrats in in-person early voting in Nevada while Democrats are outpacing Republicans in mail-in voting, the Nevada Secretary of State Office’s latest report shows.
The latest report, updated Monday night, reflects early in-person voting and mail-in voting turnout in the first three days. It showed 52% of in-person early voters so far have been Republicans, while 28% were Democrats. Of all mail-in ballots cast so far, 43% so far have been Democrats and 30% Republicans.
The pattern reflects trends from the 2020 presidential election, when Republicans outpaced Democrats in early in-person voting and Democrats outpaced Republicans with mail-in voting.
In total, 245,356 mail-in ballots and early in-person ballots had been cast as of Monday night, with just under 40% of them being Republicans and 36% of them being Democrats.
In-person early voting in Nevada began on Oct. 19.
-ABC News’ Soorin Kim
Elon Musk’s PAC pays out 3rd $1 million check to voter
Elon Musk’s America PAC said late Monday that it handed out a third $1 million check to a voter who has signed its petition backing the Constitution.
The PAC said in a post to X that the check was given to Shannon Tomei from McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania, posting a photograph of Tomei holding the check.
“Every day until Election Day, a person who signs the petition will be selected to earn $1M as a spokesperson for America PAC,” it added.
Musk shared the announcement and congratulated Tomei. In other posts, he has been urging people to register to vote in Pennsylvania — a crucial battleground state in next month’s presidential election.
The first two winners were announced during a town hall in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, over the weekend, with Musk handing over the checks to the winners on stage. It’s unclear how the third check was delivered.
Musk has thrown his weight behind former President Donald Trump and the Republican Party, describing Trump as the only candidate “to preserve democracy in America.”
-ABC News’ Soorin Kim
Harris takes jabs at Trump’s dance moves, calls him ‘increasingly unstable’
Vice President Kamala Harris and former Rep. Liz Cheney capped off their battleground tour in a suburb of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in their bid to appeal to moderate Republicans and independents.
During the final event on Monday, Harris continued to draw a contrast between herself and former President Trump and even poked fun at his dance moves during his campaign rally last week.
Harris, who called Trump’s onstage dancing a “solo dance,” said that it was proof that the former president is “increasingly unstable.”
“What we see about him in public, whether it be his rallies or, as you said, the — what would it be called? — just a solo dance? I don’t know,” said Harris, drawing laughter from the crowd.
“I think it does lead us, and it should lead us, to observe that he is increasingly unstable,” Harris said.
Harris was referencing Trump’s town hall in Oaks, Pennsylvania, last week where two medical emergencies in the crowd interrupted the event, which eventually turned into what his campaign at the time called an “impromptu concert.”
-ABC News’ Gabriella Abdul-Hakim
Tim Walz reacts to ‘Daily Show’ appearance with Jon Stewart while fundraising in NYC
Fresh off his taping of the “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart,” Gov. Tim Walz told a crowd at the Standard Hotel in New York City on Monday night that the experience was “great” but that the comedian’s monologue at the start of the show was filled with what he considered “doom.”
“I’m like, ‘Quit with the doom.’ You know?” Walz said.
“Yes, Donald Trump is horrible, and the stakes are incredibly high, and women’s lives are at risk, and they demonize immigrants. And then he goes to McDonald’s to try and distract us, even though, the day before that, he said, you know, ‘We need to do something against the enemy from within,’” he went on.
“But there’s an antidote to this,” he concluded, explaining that there was more than enough positivity in the support he has been receiving as he campaigns in battleground states.
At the fundraising event, Walz was introduced by New York Governor Kathy Hochul. Hochul told the crowd that she got to know Walz when they were both representing red districts as Democrats in Congress.
She said that she gives Vice President Kamala Harris “a lot of credit” for choosing Walz as a running mate, whom she called “a genuine human being.”
-ABC News’ Isabella Murray
Trump recalls assassination attempt while courting religious voters in North Carolina
At a Believers and Ballots event in North Carolina Monday, former President Donald Trump worked to court religious voters.
Trump talked about his spiritual journey with the crowd as he emphasized a faith background we don’t often hear him talk about.
“But as I look back at my life’s journey and events, I now recognize that it’s been the hand of God leading me to where I am today,” said Trump.
The former president reflected on the assassination attempt made against him at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania over the summer.
“My faith took on new meaning on July 13 in Butler, Pennsylvania, where I was knocked to the ground, essentially by what seemed like a supernatural hand,” Trump said.
“I would like to think that God saved me for a purpose, and that’s to make our country greater than ever before,” he added.
-ABC News’ Lalee Ibssa
Judges in Michigan and North Carolina reject challenges to overseas votes
Judges in Michigan and North Carolina on Monday ruled against legal challenges that attempted to disqualify votes cast by eligible American voters overseas.
Republican plaintiffs claimed that election offices in those two states, as well as in Pennsylvania, had created loopholes that would allow ineligible people to vote through overseas absentee ballots.
In Michigan, the judge dismissed one of three suits filed, calling it in his opinion “an 11th-hour attempt to disenfranchise these electors.”
In North Carolina, the judge denied a request by plaintiffs to set aside the ballots of overseas voters until a time at which their individual eligibility could be verified. Superior Court Judge John Smith wrote in that instance that there was “absolutely no evidence that any person has ever fraudulently claimed that exemption and actually voted in any North Carolina election.”
His ruling also stated conclusively that, “This court has weighed the hypothetical possibility of harm to plaintiffs against the rights of the defendants and finds that on balance the equitable discretion of this court should not be invoked to treat an entire group of citizens differently based upon unsupported and speculative allegations for which there is not even a scintilla of substantive evidence.”
A ruling on a similar lawsuit in Pennsylvania is expected soon.
-ABC News’ T. Michelle Murphy and Ivan Pereira
Trump spends millions on anti-trans ads despite lack of voter interest
Donald Trump and his Republicans allies are aggressively pushing anti-trans messaging in the final stretch of his campaign — despite the fact that transgender issues are among the least important issues motivating voters to head to the ballot box, according to a Gallup poll.
The Trump campaign and Republican groups have spent more than $21 million on anti-trans and anti-LGBTQ television ads as of Oct. 9.
Additionally, in recent months, Trump-aligned political groups have flooded the airwaves with ads disparaging policies that support the transgender community.
Despite the small size of the transgender population in the U.S., these issues have played a key role in many Republican campaigns on both the state and federal levels.
Trump’s own political agenda, titled Agenda 47, is laden with transgender-based proposals, including a ban on transgender participation in women’s sports, an end to gender-affirming care funded by federal or state dollars, and more.
ABC News has reached out to the Trump campaign for comment on his ad spending.
-ABC News’ Kiara Alfonseca and Soo Rin Kim
Walz to travel to Kentucky, North Carolina and Pennsylvania later this week
After Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz campaigns in Wisconsin on Tuesday (where he’ll be joined by former President Barack Obama for a rally in Madison), he’ll remain out on the trail this week.
On Wednesday, Walz will speak at an evening fundraiser in Louisville, Kentucky.
On Thursday, he will spend the morning making political stops in Durham, North Carolina — just a week after he visited the city with former President Bill Clinton. He’ll then make local stops in Greenville, North Carolina, in the afternoon and hold a rally in Wilmington that night.
On Friday, Walz will campaign in Philadelphia, where he’ll speak at a fundraiser in the city around noon.
-ABC News’ Isabella Murray
Harris says she wakes up in middle of night from election stress
Harris said she finds herself waking up in the middle of the night from the stress of the final days of the election, when asked how she handles stress and anxiety during a discussion in Michigan on Monday.
“You know, I wake up in the middle of the night, usually these days. Just to be honest with you,” Harris told Maria Shriver, who moderated the discussion between the vice president and former Wyoming Republican Rep. Liz Cheney in Royal Oak. “But I work out every morning. I think that’s really important to just kind of, you know, mind, body and spirit.”
“Say more about that,” Shriver pressed Harris.
“I work out, I try to eat,” Harris responded. “You know, I love my family, and I make sure that I talk to the kids and my husband every day.”
“My family grounds me in every way,” she added.
The exchange started with Harris making something clear: She’s not taking edibles.
“Everybody I talked to says, you know, I have to turn off the news, I can’t read anything, I’m meditating, I’m doing yoga. I’m so anxious. I just don’t even know. I’m eating gummies, all kinds of things, you know?” Shriver said to Harris, asking, “What are you doing?”
“Not eating gummies,” Harris said to laughs from the crowd.
-ABC News’ Fritz Farrow, Gabriella Abdul-Hakim and Will McDuffie
Liz Cheney makes a case for conservatives to back Harris
Vice President Kamala Harris participated in a series of moderated conversations with former Rep. Liz Cheney in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin on Monday.
In those appearances, Cheney made a case for conservatives to vote Democrat in the upcoming election and support Harris’ bid for the White House.
“What I would say is that if people are uncertain, if people are thinking, ‘Well, you know, I’m a conservative, I don’t know that I can support Vice President Harris,’ I would say, I don’t know if anybody is more conservative than I am,” said Cheney, who was the third-ranking member of the House Republican Conference from 2019 to 2021.
Cheney also warned Republicans considering voting for Trump that Congress would not be a check on him.
“For anybody who is a Republican who is thinking that, you know, they might vote for Donald Trump because of national security policy, I ask you, please, please study his national security policy,” Cheney said. “Not only is it not Republican — it’s dangerous. And without allies, America will find our very freedom and security challenged and threatened.”
“And one final point on this: Don’t think that Congress can stop him,” Cheney added.
In Malvern, Pennsylvania, Cheney said she thought there would be Republican voters who would cast their ballots for Harris — even if they did not reveal it publicly.
In Michigan, she went further, encouraging voters to do just that, saying, “If you’re at all concerned, you can vote your conscience and not ever have to say a word to anybody, and there will be millions of Republicans who do that on Nov. 5, vote for Vice President Harris.”
-ABC News’ Gabriella Abdul-Hakim, Fritz Farrow, Will McDuffie and T. Michelle Murphy
Trump pushes false claims that Democrats are trying to cheat in election
Rallying in Greenville, North Carolina, on Monday, Trump launched baseless claims about possible fraud in the 2024 election — despite earlier in the day saying he hadn’t seen evidence of it.
At one point during the rally, Trump turned to Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley to ask him about election security.
“He’ll stop the cheating. He’s going to stop the cheating,” Trump said to Whatley. “Are they cheating? Michael, they’re trying, but are they? They’re not going to get away with it, right? … They got away with it in plenty of places.”
Earlier in Asheville, North Carolina, Trump told his supporters that he hasn’t seen any evidence of cheating in the election thus far, but added, “I know the other side and they are not good.”
-ABC News’ Lalee Ibssa, Kelsey Walsh and Soo Rin Kim
More than 1.5M have voted early in battleground Georgia
The office of the Georgia Secretary of State announced Monday that more than 1.5 million voters have voted early in person in Georgia as of Monday afternoon.
“Georgia voters know we’ve made it easy to cast a ballot. It’s really that simple,” Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said in a statement.
In-person early voting started in the key battleground state on Tuesday, Oct. 15.
As of Monday afternoon, more than 15 million early votes have been cast nationally, including almost 5 million in-person early votes, according to an analysis by the Election Lab at the University of Florida.
-ABC News’ Oren Oppenheim
Harris reiterates she worked at McDonald’s after Trump stunt
On her way to her moderated conversation in Michigan, Harris was asked if she had worked at a McDonald’s while deplaning Air Force 2.
“Did I? I did,” she said.
Her past experience at McDonald’s has become a fixation of Trump’s, who over the weekend worked the fryer at one of the chain’s restaurants in the Philadelphia area.
Trump has claimed Harris never worked at the fast food giant. Harris, in introducing herself to voters this campaign, has told the story of working there between her freshman and sophomore years at Howard University in an effort to contrast her working-class roots with Trump’s background.
-ABC News’ Gabrielle Abdul-Hakim
Cheney gives Harris backup on abortion
Harris got backup on a hot-button cultural issue from an unlikely source Monday — conservative former Rep. Liz Cheney.
Cheney — who has broken with Trump over the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol riot — still boasts a conservative record. But Monday, she waded into an issue that Democrats hope will help them win over voters on Election Day.
“I think there are many of us around the country who have been pro-life but who have watched what’s going on in our states since the Dobbs decision and have watched state legislatures put in place laws that are resulting in women not getting the care they need,” Cheney said, referencing the Supreme Court decision that scrapped federal abortion protections.
“In places like Texas, for example, the attorney general is talking about suing, is suing, to get access to women’s medical records. That’s not sustainable for us as a country, and it has to change.”
The remarks, made in a Philadelphia suburb, were notable as Harris looks to cement support among suburban female voters.
Harris works to earn Pennsylvania’s Republican votes alongside Liz Cheney
Harris is doing a series of moderated conversations with former Wyoming Republican Rep. Liz Cheney in suburban cities in the battleground states of Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin on Monday.
While in Pennsylvania, Harris and Cheney worked to pick off Republicans disaffected with their party’s nominee who may vote for the vice president and focus on the dangers Trump poses to the country and to democracy.
“There are months in the history of our country which challenge us, each of us, to really decide when we stand for those things that we talk about, including, in particular, country over party,” Harris said.
Cheney, a staunch Trump critic who endorsed Harris in September despite their party and policy differences, said “every single thing in my experience and in my background has played a part” in her supporting Harris.
“In this race, we have the opportunity to vote for and support somebody you can count on. We’re not always going to agree, but I know Vice President Harris will always do what she believes is right for this country. She has a sincere heart, and that’s why I’m honored to be in this place.”
Read more about Harris and Cheney’s events here.
-ABC News’ Will McDuffie, Gabriella Abdul-Hakim and Fritz Farrow
Trump appears on The Undertaker’s podcast
Trump continued his alternative media outreach effort by sitting down for a podcast interview with retired pro wrestler Mark Calaway, also known as “The Undertaker.”
During the podcast, Trump repeated his anti-trans rhetoric, promising to not allow “men playing in women’s sports” as Calaway brought up his teenage quarterback daughter.
“You don’t want to go and wrestle a guy like if you were doing that, because people do that — like your father — right? He’s a little too much to handle,” Trump said to Calaway’s daughter, who was present for the interview, after Calaway asked him about Title IX..
“I will get rid of it fast. Men playing in women’s sports is insane,” Trump said.
Republicans have invested heavily in ads targeting the transgender community this cycle.
-ABC News’ Soorin Kim, Lalee Ibssa and Kelsey Walsh
Walz on what he’d do differently from the Biden admin and appealing to voters
Tim Walz joined ABC’s “The View” on Monday, where he discussed what he would have done differently than the Biden-Harris administration — a questioned that Harris herself struggled with in her own appearance on the talk show.
The governor said that he wished one of their ticket’s proposals — an expansion on Medicare — “would have been proposed sooner.” He argued their campaign is focusing heavily on things like the care economy and child care affordability.
Walz also discussed how they can appeal to men and Black voters, two voting blocks where Trump is having success.
“As as vice president says, we have a responsibility to earn the votes from everyone and not make the assumption that men or women are going to be with us. I hear oftentimes about the Black community. Why would we assume that they were with us, unless we’re putting out proposals that positively impact their life?” Walz said.
He argued that they are trying to make voters aware of their proposals on housing, child care, small businesses and more.
Trump won’t denounce violence against FEMA workers during North Carolina stop
Trump toured devastation caused by Hurricane Helene just outside Asheville, North Carolina, and later delivered remarks to the press where he began by slamming the job from the White House for their hurricane response, continuing to push false claims about FEMA assistance in the wake of violence against FEMA workers.
“The power of nature. Nothing you can do about it, but you got to get a little bit better crew in to do a better job than has been done by the White House. It’s been not good. Not good. I’m here today in western North Carolina to express a simple message to the incredible people of the state, I’m with you, and the American people are with you all the way,” Trump said.
Later, he pushed false claims about the allocation of FEMA assistance, once again falsely saying that money dedicated to hurricane relief was going to offer assistance to migrants unaffected by the storm.
“FEMA has done a very poor job … They had spent hundreds of millions of dollars doing other things, things that I don’t think bear any relationship to this money, there was, they were not supposed to be spending the money on taking in illegal migrants, maybe so they could vote in the election. Because that’s what a lot of people are saying. That’s why they’re doing it,” Trump falsely said.
-ABC News’ Lalee Ibssa, Kelsey Walsh and Soorin Kim
Sen. Bernie Sanders to join Biden in New Hampshire
In a strategic visit to boost Democrats’ presence in the purple state ahead of the election, President Joe Biden will be joined by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., on Tuesday in New Hampshire to talk about lowering the cost of prescription drugs, a senior administration official told ABC News.
The president is also expected to stop by a New Hampshire Democratic Party campaign office to support Vice President Kamala Harris and Tim Walz, the official said.
The economy and costs are a top issue to voters in New Hampshire, polling shows, and Sanders, who made the high price of U.S. health care a central point of both his presidential campaigns, is a popular figure in the state, which neighbors his own.
Sanders and Biden will discuss new data on savings brought about by the administration’s hallmark Inflation Reduction Act, the senior official said. The act implemented significant price caps for Medicare enrollees, including a $35 cap on insulin already in effect and a $2,000 cap on out-of-pocket drug costs that kicks in in 2025. The White House estimates the caps will bring about cost savings of $400 per year for nearly 19 million seniors.
-ABC News’ Cheyenne Haslett
Tim Walz to join ABC’s ‘The View’
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Vice President Harris’ running mate, will join ABC’s “The View” on Monday.
His interview comes after Harris herself appeared on the show as part of a media blitz earlier this month.
Walz recently quipped on Trump’s visit to a McDonald’s on Sunday as part of his mockery of Harris’ past employment there. Walz said he took “full responsibility” for the campaign stop after he once joked he couldn’t imagine the former president working a McFlurry machine.
Harris, Cheney to make the case to disaffected Republican voters
Harris is stumping with former GOP Rep. Liz Cheney on Monday in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan. The two will hold a moderated conversation in each of the “blue wall” states.
Cheney endorsed Harris in early September, warning Trump posed a threat to democracy after what happened on Jan. 6, 2021.
“Donald Trump was willing to sacrifice our capitol to allow law enforcement officers to be beaten and brutalized in his name and to violate the law and the Constitution in order to seize power for himself,” Cheney said at her first joint appearance with Harris earlier this month.
“I don’t care if you are a Democrat or a Republican or an independent, that is depravity, and we must never become numb to it,” she continued. “Any person who would do these things can never be trusted with power again. We must defeat Donald Trump on Nov. 5.”
Trump to survey hurricane damage before rally in North Carolina
At noon, Trump will survey devastation caused by Hurricane Helene in Asheville, North Carolina.
He’ll later hold a 3 p.m. rally in Greenville before a 6:30 p.m. meeting with faith leaders in Concord.
Trump has criticized the Biden-Harris response to the storm, and spread misinformation about the federal government’s recovery efforts and assistance. Such misinformation, Biden and other officials have said, is harming those who need assistance and resulting in threats against FEMA workers.
Polls show close race between Harris, Trump
The latest polling averages from 538 show the two candidates running even in key swing states Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
Trump, meanwhile, has a slight lead over Harris in Georgia and Arizona.
Overall, 538’s national polling average shows Harris ahead by just 1.8%.
(NEW YORK) — Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani has seven days to turn over luxury items and shares of his New York City co-op apartment to cover much of what he owes to two Georgia poll workers he defamed in 2020, a federal judge in New York ruled Tuesday.
Giuliani must transfer all personal property “including cash accounts, jewelry and valuables, a legal claim for unpaid attorneys’ fees, and his interest in his Madison Avenue co-op apartment” to former election workers Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss.
The one exception may be World Series rings that Giuliani’s son, Andrew, claims he rightfully owns after his father gave them to him as a gift.
Freeman and Moss last year won a $148 million judgment after a judge found Giuliani guilty of defaming them when he falsely accused the mother and daughter of committing election fraud while they were counting ballots in Georgia’s Fulton County on Election Day in 2020.
In his ruling Tuesday, Judge Lewis Liman wrote, “The Court finds no good cause to impose additional limits on the time or manner of the liquidation or prosecution of any other item or interest on the list. The only asset that Defendant seeks to protect from sale that comes close to being exempt under Article 52 is Defendant’s grandfather’s watch. The watch may be distinctive to Defendant as an item of sentimental value, but it is not distinctive to the law.”
An attorney for Freeman and Moss said the judge’s ruling will allow their clients to “finally begin to receive some of the compensation to which they are entitled for Giuliani’s actions.”
“This outcome should send a powerful message that there is a price to pay for those who choose to intentionally spread disinformation,” said Aaron Nathan, an attorney for the two women.
Giuliani must turn over watches marketed or manufactured by Bulova, Shinola, Tiffany & Co, Seiko, Frank Muller, Graham, Corium, Rolex, IWC, Invicta, Breitling, Raymond Weil, and Baume & Mercer; a Reggie Jackson picture; a signed Yankee Stadium picture; a signed Joe DiMaggio shirt and other sports memorabilia; a diamond ring and costume jewelry; and a television and other items of furniture.
He must also turn over all rights and interests in fees owed for services rendered in 2020 and 2021 to former President Trump’s presidential campaign.
Everything is to go into a receivership controlled by Freeman and Moss to satisfy the $148 million defamation judgment.
