Fmr. Defense Secretary pushes back on nominee’s claim that women shouldn’t serve in combat units
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(NEW YORK) — Former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta is among those pushing back on past comments made by President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to be the next defense secretary, who was critical of women being allowed to serve in combat units.
“I’m straight up just saying, we should not have women in combat roles,” Pete Hegseth, Trump’s nominee for defense secretary, said in a recent podcast interview that aired last week.
“It hasn’t made us more effective, hasn’t made us more lethal, has made fighting more complicated,” he said on the “The Shawn Ryan Show”.
Hegseth’s comments have raised concerns among former servicemembers with first-hand experience serving in integrated units, and from the former Defense Secretary Panetta, who in 2013 lifted the Pentagon’s ban on women serving in ground combat units.
“Those kinds of comments come from a past era and I think it’s important for him to take the time to really look at how our military is performing in an outstanding fashion,” Panetta told ABC News in an interview.
“We’ve got the best military in the world, and the reason is because we have the best fighting men and women in the world who are part of it,” he added.
“I just think that anybody who takes the time to really look at how women are performing in combat will come around and say that that’s exactly where they belong,” he said.
In the podcast interview, Hegseth said that the decision to allow women to serve in ground combat units has lowered the physical standards for those wishing to serve in those units.
Panetta recalled that in the lead-up to his decision, he pushed back on the notion that allowing women to serve in combat units would lower physical standards.
“We shouldn’t lower the standards. We should require that women have to meet exactly the same standards as men do, and that’s what they do,” he says he argued at the time. “They wouldn’t be in those positions if they weren’t able to be able to meet the standards that are required.”
Panetta said, “The mere fact that that has just not become an issue at all in terms of how the military has performed, is a reflection that the simple reason is because both men and women are living up to the same standards when it comes to fighting for America.”
Of the more than one million active-duty military personnel, 17.5% are women according to the Pentagon’s latest statistics.
The process of integrating women into combat units was a gradual one that began in 1993 when Defense Secretary Les Aspin issued an order that allowed women to fly in combat.
But women were not allowed to serve in ground combat units until 2013, when Panetta rescinded the ban that was subsequently enhanced in 2015 by Defense Secretary Ash Carter who cleared the path for women to serve in the jobs that were still limited to men, including some in special operations.
By 2019, more than 600 female Sailors and Marines were serving in combat arms units previously restricted to men, while more than 650 women held Army combat roles and over 1,000 had accessed Army combat specialties.
Currently more than 2,500 women serve in previously closed ground combat jobs, 152 women have passed the elite Ranger School test, and 10 of them serve as Rangers in the 75th Ranger Regiment, according to a review of military personnel information compiled by Retired Army Col. Ellen Haring, with the Service Women’s Action Network.
Haring points out that the full integration of women into combat units actually occurred during President Trump’s first term and that standards have never been lowered to accommodate women.
“Women have been serving in combat jobs for almost 10 years now and there is absolutely no evidence that women have harmed combat units,” she told ABC News. “In fact, many standards had to be established when they were considering admitting women because they had previously been loosely defined.”
“Those who claim they have been lowered have no actual knowledge of the training requirements or how women have been held to the exact same requirements,” she said. “If they think standards have changed or are different for women then I challenge them to go to Fort Moore today and watch the execution of training.”
Twenty years ago, Allison Jaslow headed a convoy security unit in Iraq that regularly came under smalls arms fire and was exposed to explosions from roadside bombs.
“Women have not only been in combat for some time, but many are tougher than many of their male counterparts. Need proof? Look at the women who’ve graduated from Ranger School, which is so grueling that around half of the men who enter it fail out,” said Jaslow in a statement issued in her role as the CEO of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America.
“Those women deserve a Secretary of Defense who is aware of that reality and also ensures that the culture in the military embraces that reality – especially as we still continue to confront a recruitment crisis,” she added.
Garrett Jordan, a former Army captain, served in integrated combat units, and counts some of his female classmates at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point as among those who are now Army Rangers or have commanded infantry and armor companies.
“Women have served in combat arms units, in both command and enlisted positions, and continue to do so and excel,” he said.
As a former Army officer, Jordan said he is “well aware of the physical endurance, technical competence, and mental fortitude that it takes to serve in a tank unit and to perform the duties and responsibilities as a soldier in a combat arms branch.”
Jordan said women in the training classes he commanded “maintained the standard, just as much as their male counterparts,” he said.
“Ultimately, gender does not determine whether or not someone has the physical strength, or competency to serve in these units,” said Jordan. “There is a standard, and if soldiers, regardless of gender are meeting it, then they should have the opportunity to serve in these units.”
(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.
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
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.
(WASHINGTON) — A group of more than 30 current and former Republican officials filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court Tuesday condemning a Tennessee law that bans gender-affirming medical care for trans youth.
“States have no business overruling the decisions of fit parents who make an informed medical choice for their children that is supported by their doctors,” the filing reads.
The Supreme Court is preparing to take up a constitutional challenge to the law, which restricts access to puberty blockers, hormone therapies and surgeries specifically for the purpose of gender transitioning for people under the age of 18. The law does not restrict this care for non-transgender patients.
At least 25 states have passed similar bans on gender-affirming medical care.
The Republican signatories include representatives from state legislatures, the George W. Bush administration, as well as the John McCain and Mitt Romney presidential campaigns. It also includes Jordan Willow Evans, the nation’s first openly transgender elected Republican.
The signatories argue that the law is “nothing less than ‘a vast government overreach,’” quoting former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, a Republican, who vetoed a gender-confirming medical care ban for transgender youths in his state.
Hutchinson’s veto was followed by a veto from Republican Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine against his state’s own proposed gender-affirming care ban. Both Hutchinson’s and DeWine’s vetoes were overridden by their respective state legislature.
Republicans and political conservatives in opposition to the Tennessee law say they are against the law because of their values of limited government and respect for families – “in particular, the rights of parents to make weighty decisions about the upbringing and medical care of their own children.”
“Parents want their children to be safe, happy and healthy. Parents of transgender children are no different,” the filing reads. “Reasonable people can disagree about what is best for kids, but the question presented here is who makes that decision: their parents or government bureaucrats?”
The filing also quotes Republican former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie – whose former staff is also represented among the amicus brief signatories.
On the presidential campaign trail in 2023, Christie said that “parents are the people who are best positioned to make these judgments” and “the government should [n]ever be stepping into the place of the parents.”
Tennessee Republican lawmakers in favor of trans care bans have defended the law in light of the impending Supreme Court case, often arguing that children should wait to receive care until they are adults.
“Tennessee is committed to protecting children from permanent, life-altering decisions,” Gov. Bill Lee said in an April 2023 post on the social media platform X after the Justice Department argued the law violates the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause.
In a statement on the Supreme Court case, Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti also defended the law: “We fought hard to defend Tennessee’s law protecting kids from irreversible gender treatments and secured a thoughtful and well-reasoned opinion from the 6th Circuit.”
He continued, “I look forward to finishing the fight in the United States Supreme Court. This case will bring much-needed clarity to whether the Constitution contains special protections for gender identity.”
The filing notes people and medical professionals believe that it endangers children with gender dysphoria not to provide them with gender-affirming care.
Major national medical associations — including the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and more than 20 others — agree that gender-affirming care is safe, effective, beneficial and medically necessary.
Research has found that hormone therapy can improve the mental health of transgender adolescents and teenagers, according to a study in the New England Journal of Medicine, reducing depression and anxiety and increasing life satisfaction.
(NEW YORK) — Democratic vice presidential nominee and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz told “Good Morning America” Wednesday that presidential nominee and Vice President Kamala Harris will deliver what “Americans are hungry for — a unifying president, one that wants to find solutions.”
Walz also sought on Wednesday to downplay comments made by President Joe Biden, who a day earlier had seemingly referred to supporters of the Republican ticket as “garbage” in response to former President Donald Trump‘s controversial Madison Square Garden rally.
When asked about Biden’s comments on Wednesday, Walz said, “The president’s clarified his remarks.”
“Let’s be very clear,” Walz added. “The vice president and I have made it absolutely clear that we want everyone part of this.”
Speaking during a Voto Latino campaign call, Biden had referenced a joke by comedian Tony Hinchcliffe at Trump’s Sunday event at MSG.
“Just the other day, a speaker at his rally called Puerto Rico a ‘floating island of garbage,'” Biden said, according to a video clip on CNN.
“The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters,” the president had added. Biden later said the comment was only referring to the comedian in question, not Trump’s supporters more broadly.
But Republicans seized upon the comments to energize supporters. Trump’s running mate JD Vance, for example, described Biden’s remarks as “disgusting,” adding, “Kamala Harris and her boss Joe Biden are attacking half of the country. There’s no excuse for this. I hope Americans reject it.”
With less than a week of campaigning left, Walz said Harris’ Tuesday night address at the Ellipse in Washington, D.C. featured “the rhetoric that a president of the United States gives.”
The Democratic ticket, he added, is “one that understands we’re all in this together, one that welcomes robust debate about the issues.”
Walz said “dissenting voices” would “have a seat at the table because that’s how we find real solutions.”
The Minnesota governor contrasted Harris’ remarks to former President Donald Trump’s “divisive rhetoric,” which he said “needs to end.”
Harris’ closing argument at the Ellipse swiped at Trump while calling for unity.
“Unlike Donald Trump, I don’t believe people who disagree with me are the enemy,” Harris said. “He wants to put them in jail; I’ll give them a seat at the table,” she added, in reference to her campaign platform to include a Republican in her cabinet if elected.
“I pledge to you to approach my work with the joy and optimism that comes from making a difference in peoples’ lives,” Harris said.
“And I pledge to be a president for all Americans — and to always put country above party and self,” Harris added.
Walz told “Good Morning America” the campaign is confident.
“We’re winning this thing,” he said. “There’s energy out there. I have done this long enough to know these things are won at the end. We’re not taking anything for granted.”
“We know it’s going to be close,” Walz added. “We’ve got the better ground game. We’ve got the momentum on our side.”
“There will be a clear result,” Walz replied when asked about his concerns for the final week of the campaign.
“My biggest concern is Donald Trump has brought pessimism to folks. People believe their votes don’t matter. Your vote does matter. Get out there. Participate in this democracy.”
“I think you’re going to see Donald Trump continue to spiral downward in this really difficult and hateful rhetoric,” he added.
“We saw our fellow citizens in Puerto Rico have to endure this. We’ve seen it in Ohio with folks. That’s what’s going to end.”
Trump meanwhile, defended the MSG event as a “love fest” and said it was an “honor to be involved.”
