Biden will cast his vote and travel to battleground Pennsylvania this week

President Joe Biden this week will cast his vote, hold campaign calls and travel to the battleground state of Pennsylvania for remarks on his administration’s work to support unions.

Biden on Monday will cast his vote for the 2024 election while in Wilmington, Delaware, before returning to the White House.

On Tuesday, Biden heads to the port of Baltimore to deliver remarks before holding a campaign call in the evening.

He will then hold a meeting Wednesday on his administration’s efforts to “support Hispanic-Serving Institutions.” In the evening, he and the first lady will host a trick-or-treating event.

On Thursday, Biden will hold campaign calls.

Biden on Friday will head to Philadelphia for remarks on his support for unions in the key battleground state of Pennsylvania.

Trump campaign says comedian's comment about Puerto Rico doesn’t “reflect the views” of Trump or campaign

Donald Trump’s campaign said in a statement Sunday that the comment made by a speaker at the former president’s Madison Square Garden rally about Puerto Rico being a “floating island of garbage” doesn’t “reflect the views of” Trump or his campaign.

“This joke does not reflect the views of President Trump or the campaign,” Trump campaign spokesperson Danielle Alvarez said in a statement to CNN.

Comedian Tony Hinchcliffe was the first speaker during the programming at Trump’s New York City rally and drew backlash after referring to Puerto Rico as “floating island of garbage.”

“There’s a lot going on, like, I don’t know if you know this but there’s literally a floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean right now. Yeah. I think it’s called Puerto Rico,” Hinchcliffe said.

The comedian’s comments come as both the Harris and Trump campaign have been vying for the Puerto Rican vote, especially in battleground Pennsylvania where about 500,000 Puerto Ricans live.

Trump says he has a “secret” that will help GOP “do really well with the House"

Former President Donald Trump said Sunday that he had a “secret” that would help Republicans “do really well with the House,” but he didn’t provide details about what he was referring to.

“He and I have a secret,” Trump said as he pointed into the crowd. “We’ll tell you what it is when the race is over.”

It is unclear exactly who Trump was pointing to, but House Speaker Mike Johnson was in the crowd and spoke earlier in the program.

CNN has asked the Trump campaign for more details about what the former president was referring to.

Obama applauds Black male organizers as Harris campaign looks to shore up support

Former President Barack Obama called into the weekly “Win With Black Men” organizing meeting Sunday to thank the group for its work and to lean on its members to continue their efforts in the vital days ahead.

Obama said he was especially concerned about a sense of complacency he hears in some corners and asked the men on the call, whom he described as “the most credible messengers,” to relay that politics doesn’t change people’s reality overnight.

Obama said he was hearing from a lot of men, “‘What does it matter? Because the Democratic Party and the Republican Party, it doesn’t make any difference. Things don’t change in my neighborhood, people are still getting shot. People still don’t have jobs. There’s still disinvestment.’”

“What a president can do is make things better or make things worse,” he said.

Obama’s appearance on the call comes as Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign has underperformed with Black men in the polls, relative to Joe Biden in 2020.

Obama said Trump is in no position to represent Black men because he doesn’t see them or respect them.

“Donald Trump has shown utter disrespect and disregard for our communities, and for Black men specifically, throughout his career,” he said.

At a recent stop in Pittsburgh, Obama received mixed reviews for a firm message he sent to Black men considering supporting Trump, telling them it’s “not acceptable” to sit this election out. He did not repeat those concerns on Sunday’s call.

Bad Bunny shows support for Harris after comedian's offensive comments about Puerto Rico at Trump rally

Puerto Rican superstar Bad Bunny signaled support for Kamala Harris on Sunday, sharing a clip on social media of the vice president’s plans for the island — moments after an offensive joke was made at Donald Trump’s New York rally that sparked outrage.

The move comes as both the Harris and the Trump campaigns have been vying for the Puerto Rican vote, especially in battleground Pennsylvania, where about 500,000 Puerto Ricans live. Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, known as Bad Bunny, shared the campaign clip to his more than 45 million followers on Instagram.

It was the first indication of support from the Puerto Rican recording artist as the Harris campaign tries to shore up celebrity endorsements. And it came as outrage built over remarks made by Tony Hinchcliffe, a comedian and podcast host, assailing Puerto Rico at Trump’s rally at Madison Square Garden.

“There’s a lot going on, like, I don’t know if you know this but there’s literally a floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean right now. Yeah. I think it’s called Puerto Rico,” Hinchcliffe said. Puerto Rico is a US territory.

Harris campaign officials had been in conversation with Bad Bunny’s team, according to a source familiar, hoping to have him lend his support to the vice president’s plan for Puerto Rico.

“This has been a thoughtful and deliberate approach focused on the issues,” the source said.

A representative for Bad Bunny told CNN that his repost of Harris’ video on Instagram is “not an endorsement,” but that he is “supporting” Harris. “Benito’s political focus has always been on Puerto Rico,” his representative told CNN. His representative did not indicate whether a formal endorsement would be coming from the Puerto Rican superstar ahead of the election.

CNN’s Elizabeth Wagmeister contributed to this post.

Trump wraps up rally at Madison Square Garden in New York City

Former President Donald Trump wrapped up his speech to supporters gathered at New York City’s Madison Square Garden, where he called out his political opponents and repeated his dark rhetoric on immigration.

Trump’s roughly hour and 15 minute speech came after his wife, former first lady Melania Trump, made a rare appearance at the rally in her husband’s hometown to introduce the former president.

The former president’s rally began with him calling New York — a Democratic stronghold — a “special place” and ended with a live rendition of Frank Sinatra’s “New York, New York.”

Trump hits Harris over the economy, announces new tax policy at New York rally

Former President Donald Trump during his speech Sunday at Madison Square Garden in New York hit Vice President Kamala Harris over the economy and announced a new policy that would provide tax credits for caregiving family members.

The former president followed his wife, former first lady Melania Trump, onto the stage at the iconic venue that Donald Trump called “a very special place.”

“If I win, we will quickly build the greatest economy in the history of the world. Which is what we had in our last term. We will rapidly defeat and inflation and we will very simply make America affordable again,” he said, touting a number of his campaign’s policy proposals.

He also announced a new policy that will provide a tax credit “for those that take care of a parent or loved one,” adding, “It is about time that they were recognized.”

Vance criticizes Harris for failing to name a mistake she's made at CNN town hall

Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance on Sunday criticized Vice President Kamala Harris for failing to provide a distinct answer on a mistake she’s made during her political career or last four years in last week’s CNN town hall with Anderson Cooper.

“She may not be able to name any of her mistakes, but the American people sure can. And nine days from now, we’re going to tell Kamala Harris, ‘You’re fired. Go back to San Francisco where you belong. Get the hell out of the White House,’” the Ohio senator continued.

At the town hall, Cooper asked Harris about a mistake she’s learned from in her political life.

“I mean, I’ve probably worked very hard at making sure that, um, I am well-versed on issues and, um, I think that is very important,” Harris said. “It’s a mistake not to be well-versed on an issue and feel compelled to answer a question.”

DNC displays “Trump=Unhinged” projection at MSG ahead of Trump remarks

The Democratic National Committee projected several messages onto Madison Square Garden in New York City criticizing Donald Trump ahead of the former president’s remarks there Sunday night.

The messages, which went up shortly after 6 p.m., included: “Trump praised Hitler” “Trump=Unwell” “Trump=cheat” “Trump=convict” and “Trump=Unhinged”

“Donald Trump has grown increasingly unhinged in the final weeks heading into Election Day; so much so that those who know Trump best are warning voters that he is dangerously unfit to lead,” Democratic National Committee Chairman Jaime Harrison said in a statement.

The event in Trump’s hometown included speeches from House Speaker Mike Johnson, billionaire Elon Musk, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and former first lady Melania Trump.

Giuliani gets standing ovation at Trump's Madison Square Garden rally

Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani received a standing ovation at Donald Trump’s rally in the city Sunday — days after being ordered by a federal judge to turn over his valuable possessions and his Manhattan penthouse to the Georgia election workers he defamed.

During his speech at Madison Square Garden, Giuliani railed against Trump’s four indictments and said, “If they indicted him one more time he would’ve been elected by acclimation.”

Giuliani has a court hearing Monday regarding whether he also needs to turn over his condominium in Palm Beach, Florida, or the four New York Yankees World Series rings he has. Giuliani owes $150 million to Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss, the Georgia election workers he defamed.

Johnson singles out tight New York races as key to keeping House in remarks at Trump rally

House Speaker Mike Johnson stressed the importance of winning tight House races in New York to keep the chamber in Republicans’ hands while speaking at a rally for Donald Trump in New York City on Sunday.

The Louisiana Republican added, “But you know what the good news is: We are about to grow that majority. That is about to happen on November 5. New York is going to make that happen. You’re going to elect your incumbents here and our challengers; you’re going to make the big difference.”

Some context: The battle for the House majority could come down to nine fiercely contested seats in deep-blue California and New York, which were key to Republicans winning control of the chamber two years ago. Democrats need to net just four seats to flip the House, and there were four House races in the Empire State that the GOP won by under 5 points in 2022, all in districts that Biden would have won in 2020 under current lines.

New York GOP Reps. Mike Lawler, Marc Molinaro and Anthony D’Esposito have looked to strike a moderate and bipartisan balance even as they maintain their support for Trump while running primarily in the suburbs of central New York, the Hudson Valley and Long Island.

CNN’s Harry Enten and Annie Grayer contributed to this post.

Trump rally speakers hurl insults, including racist comments, at Harris, Hillary Clinton and illegal immigrants

Some speakers at former President Donald Trump’s rally at Madison Square Garden on Sunday hurled insults at Vice President Kamala Harris, Hillary Clinton, illegal immigrants and Puerto Rico.

Radio host Sid Rosenberg said, “She is some sick bastard, that Hillary Clinton, huh? What a sick son of a b*tch.”

Later, Rosenberg said, “You got homeless and veterans, Americans, Americans, sleeping on their own feces on a bench in Central Park. But the f**king illegals, they get whatever they want, don’t they.”

David Rem, who previously unsuccessfully ran for Congress, called Harris “the devil” and “the antichrist.” Rem, who at one point waved around a cross, said he was going to run for mayor of New York City.

Comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, who hosts the podcast “Kill Tony,” was the first speaker during the programming at Trump’s rally.

“There’s a lot going on, like, I don’t know if you know this but there’s literally a floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean right now. Yeah. I think it’s called Puerto Rico,” Hinchcliffe said, receiving laughs from the crowd.

DNC chair is “very, very pleased” with early voting in Michigan

Democratic National Committee Chair Jaime Harrison said Sunday that the party has been “very, very pleased” with early voting in Michigan nine days ahead of the election.

Early in-person voting started statewide on Saturday — and in Detroit on October 19. Absentee ballots started going out to Michigan voters in the mail in late September.

Asked by CNN to elaborate on his confidence, as data does not show party affiliation for early voters, Harrison pointed to public polling that shows “either it’s tied or plus or minus one.”

“That means it’s about getting your voters to the polls, and we have been bringing in, you know, we have top leaders from the state that are all doing their part, and also a lot of a lot of surrogates that have been coming here,” he said.

Vice President Kamala Harris and former first lady Michelle Obama, in her first appearance on the campaign trail, held a rally in Kalamazoo on Saturday. Harrison said House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries would visit the state too, and highlighted recent visits by Reps. Jim Clyburn and Jasmine Crockett.

Fact check: 32 false claims Trump made to Joe Rogan

Donald Trump sat down Friday with prominent podcast host Joe Rogan for a conversational interview that ran for nearly three hours — and the former president delivered his standard bombardment of false claims, at least 32 in all.

Many of those false claims are lies that were debunked months or even years ago. The claims spanned a variety of topics, including immigration policy, environmental and energy policy, the legitimacy of the 2020 election, Trump’s record in office, Vice President Kamala Harris, crowd sizes, and how schools deal with transgender children.

Here are some of the claims:

Migrants and murderers: Trump repeated his frequent false claim that “we had 13,099 murderers dropped in our country over the last three years.” In reality, as the Department of Homeland Security and independent experts have noted, that official figure is about immigrants with homicide convictions in the US today who entered the country over decades, including during Trump’s own administration, not over the past three years or under the Biden administration. You can read more here.

The outcome of the 2020 election: Trump repeated his lie that he won the 2020 election, falsely claiming, “I won that second election so easy.” He lost, fair and square, to Biden, who beat Trump 306-232 in the Electoral College and earned over 7 million more votes than Trump.

Trump and ISIS: Repeating one of his regular false claims, Trump said, “We defeated ISIS in record time. It was supposed to take years, and we did it in a matter of weeks.” The ISIS “caliphate” was declared fully liberated more than two years into Trump’s presidency.

Read more about Trump’s false claims he made to Rogan.

Comedian makes offensive joke about Puerto Rico at Trump rally

A speaker at former President Donald Trump’s rally at Madison Square Garden on Sunday referred to Puerto Rico as a “floating island of garbage.”

Comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, who hosts the podcast “Kill Tony,” was the first speaker during the programming at Trump’s rally in New York City.

“There’s a lot going on, like, I don’t know if you know this but there’s literally a floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean right now. Yeah. I think it’s called Puerto Rico,” Hinchcliffe said, receiving big laughs in the crowd.

Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign seized on the moment, quickly clipping the video and posting it on X. Harris on Sunday visited a Puerto Rican restaurant in north Philadelphia, where she spoke specifically to Puerto Rico’s challenges and discussed her policies focused on the island, including creating an opportunity economy task force.

The comedian’s comments come as Donald Trump has been calling the US “a garbage can for the world” as he rails against illegal immigration. The former president has said he thinks illegal immigration is the top issue this election and has frequently used dehumanizing language when referring to undocumented immigrants.

Trump returns to "epicenter of everything" for Madison Square Garden rally

Donald Trump is kicking off the final full week of the presidential race Sunday with a rally at Madison Square Garden, betting on his own showmanship as he seeks to fill the iconic venue and create a spectacle that will reach television and phone screens in all seven battleground states.

The former president is returning to his hometown of New York City — deep-blue turf that virtually no Republicans expect to win, but where signs of discontent and state and local Democratic leadership struggles could help endangered GOP incumbents hold House seats in the surrounding suburbs.

It’s the latest in a line of Trump visits to blue states that have also included a rally in California’s Coachella Valley this month, one on Long Island in the summer and a recent stop for an economic forum in Chicago.

For Trump, Sunday’s event signifies more than just a campaign stop. It’s also an important moment for him personally. The former president has long voiced a desire to take the stage at the Midtown Manhattan landmark. His name will most likely appear on the same kind of marquee that has so often welcomed guests such as Billy Joel, Elton John and other legendary entertainers.

New York remains a safely blue state, though Trump has privately and publicly said that he thinks he could win it, an idea those in his campaign have acknowledged is far from reality.

Read more about Trump’s upcoming rally in this deep-blue state here.

Harris says she will build economic opportunity in Puerto Rico

Vice President Kamala Harris visited Freddy & Tony’s Restaurant, a Puerto Rican restaurant in north Philadelphia, telling patrons that she wants the country to move on from the “Trump era” and that she believes they are part of a “new generation of leadership.”

She also spoke specifically to Puerto Rico’s challenges and discussed her policies that are focused on the island.

“I’m going to create an opportunity economy task force for Puerto Rico,” she said to cheers.

Harris added that she wants to focus on two things: building economic opportunity for the island and improving the electrical grid.

“I really believe we are all a part of a new generation of leadership for our country that is optimistic and ambitious. And may I say for myself, quite impatient about knowing that we can get things done,” she said.

Appeals court keeps Virginia voter purge program blocked, setting up Supreme Court fight

A federal appeals court refused to reinstate a Virginia purge program aimed at culling suspected noncitizens from the voter rolls, leaving in place a lower court ruling that found the program likely violated a federal prohibition on “systematic” removals in the 90 days before an election.

The Sunday decision by the 4th US Circuit Court of Appeals sets up a Supreme Court fight over the purge program with early voting already under way in Virginia. Republicans all the way up to former President Donald Trump have seized on the case — a consolidation of lawsuits brought by the Biden administration and private groups — as they have pushed the narrative that voting by noncitizens poses a major threat to the election. It is a very rare occurrence.

The new order noted that Virginia officials are still allowed to prevent noncitizen voting “by canceling registrations on an individualized basis or prosecuting any noncitizen who votes.”

US District Judge Patricia Tolliver Giles, a Biden appointee, previously ordered election officials to restore the registrations of the roughly 1,600 people who had been removed under the program during the 90-day “quiet period.” Six-hundred of those individuals were removed because they checked a box during a Department of Motor Vehicles interaction declaring them non-citizen and the other 1,000 were removed because of records in government databases that indicated non-citizenship.

At the heart of the dispute is whether that approach is the sort of “systematic” purge program Congress sought to freeze with the 90-day provision in the 1993 National Voter Registration Act, because of the tendency of those programs to remove eligible voters as well. Those suing Virginia say that within 36 hours of receiving a list of the purged voters from the state, they were able to confirm that at least 18 were in fact citizens who were eligible to vote.

Harris visits small businesses in Philadelphia and says “victory runs through Philly”

Vice President Kamala Harris on Sunday visited Hakim’s Bookstore and Gift Shop, a Black-owned business, and Philly Cuts, a West Philadelphia barbershop, to meet and speak with voters with just nine days until the election.

While at Philly Cuts, Harris took part in a discussion with Black men moderated by State Rep. Jordan Harris.

She spoke about her focus on creating better incentives for teachers, especially better pay and recruiting more Black men to teach.

“We don’t pay teachers enough. Student loan debt is an issue. Thinking about how we create incentives to actually recruit and retain more Black men as teachers,” she said.

At the bookstore, Harris greeted with people inside, including Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker.

While being shown the children’s section of the store, she took a picture with an 11-year-old boy, telling him she is “counting on our young leaders.”

She then asked him what books to get for an 8-year-old and 6-year-old, the ages of Harris’ great-nieces.

CNN Poll of Polls suggests a near-even race

The latest update to the CNN Poll of Polls suggests Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump are running near even nationally in the race for the White House, as late-October polls have largely pointed to a photo finish.

The latest poll added to the average, the ABC News/Ipsos poll out Sunday morning, suggests a narrow lead for Harris, with 51% of likely voters across the country supporting her and 47% backing Trump. That edge rests on consolidated support among core Democratic groups that is somewhat different from what other polls have found, but is closer to past performance for Democratic candidates in recent presidential elections.

The ABC poll suggests 90% of Black likely voters and 64% of Hispanic likely voters support Harris, compared with lower levels of support for her with those groups in other recent polling, such as the latest releases from CNN and the New York Times/Siena College. ABC/Ipsos also suggests that Harris’ backers are more likely to turn out, with the margin among registered voters at a narrower 49% Harris to 47% Trump. Earlier in October, the previous ABC/Ipsos poll found 50% of likely voters backing Harris and 48% behind Trump.

Overall, the CNN Poll of Polls stands at 48% Harris to 47% Trump as the candidates begin their final full week of campaigning before Election Day. The previous average stood at 49% Harris to 47% Trump.

The average will be updated throughout the remainder of the campaign as new national polling is released.

The top presidential campaign ads in October, by spending

Voters in the presidential battlegrounds have seen a heavy rotation of presidential campaign ads this month, as their states have been blitzed by tens of millions of dollars in spending by the campaigns of Donald Trump, Kamala Harris and their respective allies.

The ads have focused on an evolving set of issues, including the economy, abortion rights, immigration and crime. And in the closing weeks of the race, Republican advertisers have also poured money into attack ads focused on transgender policies, while Democrats have increasingly focused on criticizing the former president’s character.

Here are the some of the TV ads that the presidential candidates and their allies have spent the most on during the first three weeks of October, according to data from the ad tracking firm AdImpact.

1. FF PAC – ‘Not rich as hell’ (Pro-Harris)

The ad features a voter from Jacksonville, Florida, watching a clip of Trump at a 2023 Mar-a-Lago fundraiser, praising his “rich as hell” donors and promising, “We’re gonna give you tax cuts.” She reacts disapprovingly, saying, “I am not rich as hell. I work hard. I scrape to get by. Donald Trump wants to give tax breaks to billionaires, but Kamala Harris has plans to help us.”

2. FF PAC – ‘Fair Share’ (Pro-Harris)

During the first three weeks of October, FF PAC also put more than $20 million behind a similar ad, featuring the same clip of Trump at the Mar-a-Lago fundraiser but with a different voter, this one from battleground Pennsylvania, sharing his misgivings.

See more of the top presidential campaign ads aired nationwide here.

Harris points to lessons in scripture as she makes the case for moving "past division and chaos"

Vice President Kamala Harris addressed the congregation of the Church of Christian Compassion in West Philadelphia on Sunday, pointing to lessons from the Apostle Paul as a reminder of how God’s power works through people. Harris also told the congregation that with nine days left until the election they have the power to “fulfill the promise of America.”

“Paul understood something profound. I believe, pastor, that God’s power doesn’t just work for us, it also works within us,” Harris told the congregation.

“People feel real pain. But like Paul, we must remember that divine power works through our actions, and we have the power to move past division and chaos,” she said later after being interrupted by a protestor.

Harris also said that the next nine days until the election will “test” them, but that they have the power to decide their future.

“It is in and within our power to fulfill the promise of America, the promise to create opportunity for every child, to protect our basic freedoms, the power to do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with our God,” Harris said.

After Harris’ remarks, the pastor told the congregation that there would be a bus outside to take people to the polls after worship today.

“There are 20 buses at places of faith all over the city of Philadelphia,” he added.

Mark Cuban says it's "not a stretch" to call Trump a "fascist"

Billionaire businessman Mark Cuban, who has endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris, said that it’s “not a stretch” to call former President Donald Trump a “fascist,” after Harris called Trump one during CNN’s town hall last week.

“Donald Trump is not a normal candidate, and I think it’s not a stretch to call Donald Trump a fascist,” Cuban said in an interview with ABC News’ “This Week” that aired Sunday.

Cuban also claimed that he hasn’t given Harris “a penny,” saying, “If I have a good idea and if I feel passionate about the candidate, I’ll help.”

“I don’t want them to work with me because I paid them to work with me,” he said.

Independent Nebraska Senate candidate declines to say who he is voting for in presidential race

Independent Nebraska Senate candidate Dan Osborn declined Sunday to say who he was voting for in the presidential race and refused to say which party he would caucus with if he should win.

Osborn is running against Republican Sen. Deb Fischer. Osborn, who says he has been a registered independent since he could vote, has refused endorsements from any political figure or party.

Osborn refused to commit to caucusing with either the Democrats or Republicans should he win, saying, “I need to navigate down the middle because that’s what, that’s what the two-party doom loop means. It means we’re so far apart and politics is so polarized.”

Despite his insistence that he’s running without the backing of a national party, Osborn is benefiting from a competitive congressional race in Omaha with Nebraska attracting national investments from presidential contenders because of the way the state allocates electoral votes with major focus on the second district in Omaha. Trump won the district in 2016 but lost it in 2020.

Graham hits back at former generals for Trump criticism

Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham criticized the former generals who have issued dire warnings about a second Trump presidency, including Trump’s former chief of staff retired Gen. John Kelly, saying they should have a “little self-reflection” about the job they did before they criticize the former president.

This comes after Kelly entered the 2024 fray in stunning fashion during a series of interviews published Tuesday, saying the former president fits “into the general definition of fascist” and that he spoke of the loyalty of Hitler’s Nazi generals.