Cheney tells Republicans to "vote your conscience" in pitch for Harris in Michigan

Former Rep. Liz Cheney urged Republicans and others who may not typically back Democrats to “vote your conscience” during her second swing state stop on Monday with Vice President Kamala Harris.

At a town hall in Oakland County, Michigan, Harris said she’s seen “a lot” of Republicans go up to Cheney and thank her, though “they may not be doing it publicly.” The vice president praised Cheney for showing “extraordinary courage” since January 6.

“There’s something, an undercurrent that is violent in terms of the language and the tenor, and for her to show the courage she has shown is extraordinary,” she said.

Cheney said it “wasn’t scary at all” for her to decide to publicly endorse Harris and speak out against Trump because the former president is “doing everything he can to try to get people to forget about what he did” on January 6.

Highlighting Trump’s comments about potentially having to mobilize the military to deal with “the enemy from within,” in reference to the political left, Cheney said, “the response that we all have should not be to be so afraid we don’t act. It should be vote him out.”

Prominent Georgia pastor says "misogyny is still real" in conversation about Harris

When New Birth Missionary Baptist Church Senior Pastor Jamal Bryant got the call less than a week ago that Vice President Kamala Harris wanted to spend her 60th birthday at his Georgia church, he said it felt like “a dream come true.”

As Harris looked on from the audience, his Sunday sermon included an appeal to one of the most scrutinized parts of the electorate this election cycle: Black men.

The message was strikingly similar to the calls from other Harris surrogates including comments Harris’ brother-in-law Tony West made to members of the Milwaukee NAACP last month.

Though Bryant later told CNN, the overwhelming majority of Black men are supporting Harris and he rejects efforts to “separate and divide,” he also thinks misogyny should be addressed.

“We’ve got to be able to know that misogyny is still real in our community. We’ve got to address it head on and not act like it doesn’t exist,” he said.

Former Trump aide Steve Bannon to be released from prison next week

Steve Bannon, the right-wing podcaster and former Donald Trump aide, is set to get out of federal prison next Tuesday despite repeated attempts he and his legal defense team have made for him to be released early.

The Bureau of Prisons said in a letter to Bannon on Monday that his release date will remain October 29, as originally set. That means he will serve his full 120-day sentence behind bars.

Since learning in recent days he may be eligible to move to home confinement, Bannon has accused the BOP of political interference, and his attorneys have been advocating both in court and to prison officials for leniency.

The acting warden of the low-security Federal Correctional Institution in Danbury, Connecticut, wrote to Bannon’s lawyers on Monday that there wasn’t enough time to arrange for Bannon to move to home confinement in Washington, DC. Home confinement was a possibility for the former top White House adviser because of a provision for some first-time federal offenders under the Trump-era First Step Act.

Bannon was convicted in 2022 for not complying with a subpoena from the now-defunct House Select Committee that investigated January 6, 2021. His appeal of the conviction is ongoing even as he concludes his prison sentence.

Why this matters: His release from prison will come at a critical time. The longtime Trump ally is a staunch supporter of the former president’s reelection bid. His popular “War Room” podcast has continued to air without him during his time in prison, and Bannon is likely to re-emerge as a voice of inflammatory political rhetoric ahead of the November presidential election.

Trump claims without evidence that Democrats are trying to cheat in the election

Former President Donald Trump again accused Democrats without evidence of trying to cheat in the 2024 election on Monday.

Trump, who lies constantly about the result of the 2020 election he lost, has repeatedly tried to sow doubt about the integrity of the 2024 election and made claims without evidence about Democrats trying to cheat. Trump continues to promote false claims and conspiracy theories about widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election that did not occur.

Trump, in his speech, claimed that Democrats are trying to cheat the 2024 election, “but they’re not going to get away with it.”

Trump pointed to Republican National Committee Chair Michael Whatley and asked, “How are you doing, are they cheating Michael? They’re trying, but are they, they’re not going to get away with it, right?”

Trump then turned back to the crowd: “He said no. That’s why I had him. They didn’t get away with it in this state. They got away with it in plenty of places.”

Trump slams Jimmy Carter’s presidency while criticizing Biden administration

Former President Donald Trump on Monday slammed the record of Jimmy Carter’s administration while criticizing President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris during a rally in North Carolina.

Carter, who turned 100 on October 1, has been in hospice care since February 2023.

Carter last week fulfilled his wish of voting for Harris. He remains deeply beloved in his home state of Georgia, which is a critical battleground state in this election.

Former Georgia GOP lieutenant governor encourages Republicans to vote for Harris in sprint to election

Geoff Duncan, a Republican and former Georgia lieutenant governor, is making a final push to convince swing state voters in his party to vote for Kamala Harris.

He said Republicans who are unhappy with Donald Trump should vote for Harris “not because they are Democrats, not because they plan to be a Democrat, but because they want to be a patriot.”

Duncan, who has endorsed Harris, said the former president is a “boat anchor around Republicans neck” and that Trump does not represent what Republicans stand for.

He said he and other Republican officials who are backing Harris are “truly, genuinely embarrassed every time (Trump) sees a microphone or a camera, every time he walks and talks to the military, every time he speaks about faith, every time he talks about fiscal conservatism — he’s a fraud.”

Some background: Duncan delivered a speech on the third night of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in August at which he said that after Trump conspired to overturn the 2020 election, he realized the former president was a “direct threat to democracy.”

Before Harris became the Democratic nominee, Duncan said that he was going to vote for President Joe Biden.

Trump says he's not concerned about voting in North Carolina after Hurricane Helene

Former President Donald Trump on Monday expressed confidence in North Carolina’s voting system as the state grapples with the aftermath of Hurricane Helene.

Trump, who spoke to reporters in an area of Asheville, that had significant storm damage, was asked: “Is there any concern or specific reasoning that you have to believe at this point in time … that the results of the election in North Carolina will not be credible or legitimate because of the storm’s aftermath?”

The former president also praised Michael Whatley, who serves as the chair of the Republican National Committee and previously served as the chair of the North Carolina Republican Party. Trump said Whatley, who attended his remarks Monday, called him to tell him that “they’re setting records in North Carolina voting.”

“It’s just that they’re great people. I mean, they lost their house and they’re standing outside voting,” Trump said adding, “Voting is the least of it right now. They gotta vote, they want to vote because it’s very important but they have to survive. That’s why I can’t believe the early voting, the early voting is records.”

Trump’s remarks come after the Trump campaign asked North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, who is a Democrat, and the state legislature to expand voter access for those affected by the devastation of Hurricane Helene.

The North Carolina State Board of Elections reported a strong turnout last week, saying more than 200,000 early voting ballots were cast as of Thursday afternoon, the day early in-person voting began in the state.

President Biden and Bernie Sanders will talk prescription drug costs in New Hampshire Tuesday

President Joe Biden and Vermont Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders will hit the road together in New Hampshire on Tuesday to promote the administration’s efforts to lower the cost of prescription drugs, a White House official says.

The president is also expected to make a stop by the state’s coordinated campaign office working to elect Vice President Kamala Harris and other New Hampshire Democrats in November. The state is leaning blue in the presidential contest and is home to the country’s most competitive governor’s race.

More context: Biden so far has participated in very few traditional campaign events since dropping out of the presidential race in July. Instead, he’s focused mostly on official White House travel to battleground states to promote popular agenda items, including this upcoming appearance with Sanders, who twice won the Democratic presidential primary in New Hampshire.

The former rivals who were previously on opposite ends of the health care debate have teamed up for a prescription drug costs event in the past.

Trump visits with hurricane relief workers during North Carolina campaign stop

Former President Donald Trump on Monday visited hurricane relief workers in North Carolina — where he said he can relate to their hard work because of his campaign schedule.

Trump added: “We didn’t have to be. A lot of them didn’t have to be. I didn’t have to be. I could have been on a beautiful beach, but I’d much rather be right here with you, because we’re going to turn the country around.”

Trump discussed visiting a McDonald’s and the Sunday Night Football game featuring the Steelers and Jets.

Here are the latest early voting numbers in North Carolina, where Trump is set to campaign today

As former President Donald Trump hits the campaign trail in battleground North Carolina over the next two days, more than one million votes have been cast early in the Tar Heel State, according to the North Carolina State Board of Elections.

Just under 940,000 voters have voted early in person so far, while about 92,000 have cast their ballot by mail.

Compared to this point in 2020, early voting turnout is down nearly 40 percent.

Democrats account for 35% of early votes cast, followed by Republicans (33%) and unaffiliated voters (31%).

At this point four years ago, Democrats accounted for 44% of early votes, followed by unaffiliated voters (31%) and Republicans (24%) according to Catalist.

While early in-person voting is slightly higher than it was at this point in 2020, according to state data, the number of ballots cast by mail is down significantly from the pandemic-era 2020 levels. There has also been a shorter period of mail voting this year, as the state delayed mailing ballots to remove Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s name.

Nationally, more than 13.5 million pre-election ballots have already been cast as of Monday morning.

That’s according to data from 45 states gathered by CNN, Edison Research, and Catalist, a company that provides data, analytics and other services to Democrats, academics and nonprofit advocacy groups, including insights into who is voting before November.

This post has been updated with more details on the North Carolina figures.

In event with Cheney, Harris vows her administration "will not be a continuation" of Biden’s

Vice President Kamala Harris on Monday vowed that her administration “will not be a continuation” of President Joe Biden’s.

Harris was asked by moderator Sarah Longwell in Malvern, Pennsylvania, during a conversation with Republican former Rep. Liz Cheney what her vows to “turn the page” as president mean.

The vice president responded: “Well, first of all, I will say that it is a metaphor that is meant to also describe my intention to embark on a new generation of leadership.”

“And needless to say,” the vice president added, “mine will not be a continuation of the Biden administration.”

More about the campaign swing: The vice president on Monday is holding a series of events in three vote-rich suburban Blue Wall counties where she will be joined by Cheney as she seeks to win over independent and Republican voters.

Daughter of late Republican President Gerald Ford endorses Harris

Susan Ford Bales, the daughter of late Republican president Gerald Ford, endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris on Monday.

She noted in a statement that when her father was sworn into office in the wake of former President Richard Nixon’s resignation, “the nation was in need of a serious, compassionate and honorable leader who had the courage to do what was right and always to defend our Constitution.”

“Vice President Harris and I likely disagree on some policy matters, but her integrity and commitment to those same principles that guided Dad have led me to conclude that Kamala Harris should be elected 47th President of the United States,” she continued.

The endorsement by Ford Bales, a Republican who lives in Grand Rapids, comes as Harris makes a multi-battleground state swing with Republican former Rep. Liz Cheney in an attempt to reach out to GOP voters who are turned off by former President Donald Trump. Cheney and her father, former Vice President Dick Cheney, also endorsed Harris this year.

Harris and Cheney will hold an event in Oakland County in Michigan later on Monday, following stops in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

Vulnerable Maine Democrat's ad targets crossover voters

Maine Democratic Rep. Jared Golden launched a new TV ad this morning showing how some of the party’s vulnerable members are working their messaging to appeal to crossover voters, touting how he “stood up to Biden” and “worked with the Trump administration.”

Golden represents Maine’s 2nd congressional district, a largely rural seat that’s ranked as a top battleground in recent cycles, and his race is one of national Republicans’ top targets as they look for offensive opportunities to shore up their razor-thin majority.

Under pressure to pick up votes from Independents and Republicans, Golden’s new ad details his work in Congress on behalf of key Maine constituencies, including lobsterman and loggers, and includes references to some of the top motivating issues for conservative voters, including illegal immigration and border security.

“Washington wasn’t listening to me. So we brought Maine to Washington to deliver the message together,” Golden says in the ad. “We stood up to Biden to protect Maine lobstermen, worked with the Trump administration to build a vein treatment center, delivered $1 million to train Maine loggers, and worked with Republicans to secure our border and fund our police. And we’re just getting started.”

Golden’s campaign has consistently emphasized independence and highlighted breaks with his party, and specifically his efforts on behalf of Maine lobsterman, as he’s waged his battleground campaign.

Since September 11, the day after the final set of congressional primaries, through yesterday, Golden’s race in Maine’s 2nd congressional district ranks 6th among all House contests seeing the most ad spending; Democrats outspent Republicans by about $9.3 million to $8.5 million during that stretch.

Over the final two weeks of the race, however, Republicans are poised to seize the edge, with about $3.4 million in remaining ad bookings, to about $2.6 million for Democrats.

Golden is facing GOP nominee Austin Theriault, a former NASCAR driver who was among national Republicans prized recruits. In his ads, Theriault has focused on criticizing Democrats’ economic record, slamming inflation, and promoting his unique background.

Walz reacts to Trump’s Arnold Palmer comments: "So strange that they’re hard to imagine"

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz on Monday said some of Donald Trump’s recent comments are “so strange that they’re hard to imagine.”

Asked on “The View” by co-host Joy Behar about Trump’s lewd comments about golfer Arnold Palmer over the weekend, the Democratic vice presidential nominee responded: “It’s very clear that, as you said, Donald Trump is spiraling down, unhinged.”

But he added that other recent comments made by Trump trouble him more.

“What worries me about these comments, some of these that are just so strange that they’re hard to imagine — it’s the dangerous ones in the middle of that, ‘the enemy from within’ and some of that.”

Walz then sought to turn the conversation toward his campaign’s pitch of an opportunity economy.

Harris touts newly proposed administration rule to expand access to contraception

Vice President Kamala Harris touted a newly announced proposed administration rule that would require private insurance plans to cover over-the-counter contraception without a prescription at no cost and criticized congressional Republicans.

Reproductive health has emerged as a key issue in the race for the White House in the wake of the Dobbs decision and has featured prominently on the campaign trail.

She added: “President Biden and I stand with the majority of Americans – Republicans and Democrats alike – who support access to contraception.”

Election Day is just 15 days out. Here's where the candidates are campaigning today

The presidential candidates will bring their pitches to voters in critical battleground states on Monday as the race for the White House enters its final leg with just 15 days to go until Election Day.

Here are some of the key campaign events to watch for today:

• Vice President Kamala Harris will participate in a moderated conversation with former GOP Rep. Liz Cheney in Malvern, Pennsylvania, this morning. The conversation is a part of a series happening in “Blue Wall” battleground states. The vice president is also expected to make stops in Michigan and Wisconsin as part of the series on Monday.

• Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz is in New York and will participate in a live interview on ABC’s “The View.” An interview taped for the “The Daily Show” will air at 11 p.m. ET.

• Former President Donald Trump will hold a rally in Greenville, North Carolina, this evening. Earlier in the day Trump is also expected to deliver remarks to reporters in Swannanoa, North Carolina. The former president will also address faith leaders in Concord.

• Ohio Sen. JD Vance will be participating in closed-door events in Dallas, Texas, today and is then expected to travel to Arizona.

First lady Jill Biden says it was the "right call" for her husband to not run again

First lady Jill Biden in an interview with ABC’s “Good Morning America” said it was the “right call” for President Joe Biden not to run for reelection.

She made the comments as part of a broader interview highlighting the expanded and updated White House Public Tour that she will be unveiling later today.

When asked what legacy she wants to leave as first lady, Biden pointed to the important role of education.

“Education has been my life’s work. It’s important to me that people learn. And learn about the white house, about the presidency, learn about our government and our democracy and how blessed we are to live in America,” she said.

Analysis: Trump’s rhetoric reaches new extreme

Even by his haywire standards, Donald Trump’s latest rhetoric and behavior is erratic, autocratic and vulgar and hints at four years of unpredictable leadership that may lie ahead if he’s elected president in 15 days.

Vice President Kamala Harris and top Democrats are seizing on the Republican nominee’s bizarre antics to inject new urgency and a sharper focus into her campaign. Democrats are suggesting that he is “unstable” and showing cognitive decline, using the same critique he once used against President Joe Biden. The Harris campaign, for example, immediately highlighted the 78-year-old Trump saying on Sunday that he’s “not that close to 80” when calling for cognitive tests.

The former president this weekend described Harris as a “sh*t” vice president, opened a rally with a rambling and explicit story about late golfing legend Arnold Palmer’s anatomy, and justified his previous threat to use the military on enemies “from within” even as House Speaker Mike Johnson insisted in an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union” that Trump meant nothing of the sort.

Yet Trump’s years of trashing expectations of presidential behavior have seemed to offer him a kind of immunity from the ramifications of what would be career-ending actions for most other politicians. The twice-impeached, once-convicted ex-president’s outlandish displays only underscore his anti-establishment authenticity for millions of Americans who adore him.

His alarming behavior may look to some like a candidacy melting down when the pressure is at its most extreme. But the election may be decided by other factors.

With polls deadlocked, Trump’s behavior hasn’t yet disqualified him. And he consistently leads surveys when voters are asked who they most trust to manage high prices for housing and groceries and to handle immigration.

Read Collinson’s full analysis.

Harris enlists Cheney for a "Blue Wall" tour as she courts undecided independents and moderate Republicans

Vice President Kamala Harris is making an aggressive bid to win over independents and moderate Republicans in the suburbs, visiting vote-rich counties in three Great Lakes swing states Monday with former Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney.

In the presidential race’s closing days, Harris’ campaign is courting a small but potentially decisive group across what it sees as similar terrain in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin — a trio of battleground states that tipped the 2016 race for Donald Trump but swung back in Democrats’ favor in 2020.

They’re the kinds of voters who might have backed former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, whose supporters in the 2024 Republican primary tended to be moderate and college-educated. And the push to reach them comes as Trump says he expects to deploy Haley in the race’s final stretch.

The blitz of the “blue wall” states will see Harris and Cheney travel to suburban counties of Chester County, Pennsylvania; Oakland County, Michigan; and Waukesha County, Wisconsin. The conversations will be moderated by Bulwark publisher and Republican strategist Sarah Longwell, and Charlie Sykes, a conservative commentator who for decades shaped Wisconsin politics with his talk radio show before declaring in 2016 that the conservative movement had lost its way. Both support Harris.

Read more as Harris and Cheney travel across Blue Wall states to court undecided voters.

House task force releases report on first Trump assassination attempt

The House task force investigating the first assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump released its interim report on Monday that included excerpts of new testimony from local law enforcement officials who provided firsthand accounts of the lack of communication and security failures at the Butler, Pennsylvania, rally.

Based on 23 interviews with local law enforcement officials and thousands of pages of documents from various authorities, the bipartisan task force concluded “the tragic and shocking events of July 13 were preventable and should not have happened.”

The report could bring more pressure on the leadership of the US Secret Service after a Homeland Security independent panel called for a complete leadership overhaul.

The testimony in the report from unnamed Butler officials details the chaotic sequence of events from when local officials first spotted the Trump rally gunman, Thomas Crooks, to when Crooks was finally shot down.

One local emergency services official testified, for example, that he had texted his colleague that Crooks had a rangefinder at 5:17 p.m., but that colleague did not see the message until approximately 5:40 p.m. It’s unclear whether these local officials notified their leadership about seeing Crooks’ rangefinder as they were trying to track him down, the task force found.

The task force has also not received any evidence to suggest that the message from local law enforcement about Crooks possessing a weapon reached Trump’s Secret Service detail prior to shots fired, according to the report.

The task force will issue a final report on its findings no later than December 13.

Harris will campaign in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin and Georgia this week

On Monday, Vice President Kamala Harris will participate in moderated conversations with former Rep. Liz Cheney in Chester County, Pennsylvania; Oakland County, Michigan; and Waukesha County, Wisconsin before returning to Washington, DC.

On Wednesday, Harris will participate in a CNN town hall in Chester Township, Pennsylvania.

On Thursday, Harris will travel to Georgia for a campaign rally with former President Barack Obama.

On Saturday, Harris will travel to Michigan for a campaign rally with former first lady Michelle Obama.