Here's what's happening on the campaign trail
- Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz this week will sit for their first interview as running mates after pressure mounted for them to take questions at length from the media. The interview will air Thursday night on CNN.
- Special counsel Jack Smith secured a new indictment of former President Donald Trump on federal election interference charges. The indictment is similar to the previous one, but it incorporates the Supreme Court's ruling from last month on presidential immunity.
- Trump's campaign has named Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard to the former president's transition team, senior campaign adviser Brian Hughes said.
- Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, campaigned in Michigan and Tennessee today. His mom joined him on the trail.
- Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., is stumping for Harris and Walz in Wisconsin. Second gentleman Doug Emhoff, meanwhile, is speaking at a campaign event in New York.
Conservative group plans $10 million effort to soften Harris’ Black voter support
A conservative nonprofit group plans to spend $10 million in the hope of chipping away at Harris’ key base of Black voter support by criticizing the White House’s proposal to ban menthol cigarettes, which it postponed this year.
The new ad campaign from Building America’s Future and Americans for Consumer Protection, which a Building America’s Future official described to NBC News, will target primarily Black voters in the swing states of Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina and Wisconsin.
Through digital advertising, text messages and direct mail, the message will try to frame the Biden-Harris administration as out of touch for focusing on banning menthol cigarettes over other issues.
Democrats launch PAC to counter Republican legal election challenges
Reporting from Washington
A group of Democratic strategists are launching a super PAC focused on supporting the party’s legal efforts around election protection and battles that could come after Election Day.
The group is anticipating that Trump and his allies will repeat their large-scale attempt to undermine confidence in the election before Nov. 5 and then work to overturn election outcomes by challenging ballots and results in court in the days and weeks after the voting.
The new group, which can raise and spend unlimited sums of money, is called Democracy Defenders. It will be chaired by Jim Messina, who was campaign manager for President Barack Obama’s successful 2012 re-election campaign.
Vance says he doesn't think new Trump indictment 'changes anything legally'
Vance commented on special counsel Jack Smith's superseding indictment of Trump over his efforts to overturn 2020 election results, saying, "I don't think that it changes anything legally."
“Looks like Jack Smith doing more of what he does, which is filing these sort of lawsuits in an effort to influence the election," Vance said, noting that he had not read the full indictment, as he came off of a plane in Nashville, Tennessee.
"He should be ashamed of himself, but it’s one of the reasons why we have to win, because he should not be anywhere near power," Vance said of Smith.
Vance also drew attention to last month's Supreme Court presidential immunity ruling in the election interference case.
"Of course, the reason the Supreme Court threw out his lawsuit is because they said it implicated the president’s official acts," Vance said.
The high court did not dismiss Trump's case; it ruled that he did have some immunity for certain official acts in office.
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson says she is 'concerned' about immunity ruling
Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson said she is "concerned" about the court's immunity ruling last month, arguing it appeared to create a different standard for presidents.
"I was concerned about a system that appeared to provide immunity for one individual under one set of circumstances when we have a criminal justice system that had ordinarily treated everyone the same," Jackson told CBS News in a clip of an interview that will air in full Sunday.
Jackson wrote a scathing dissent in the Trump v. United States decision last month, saying, "The court declared for the first time in history that the most powerful official in the United States can, under circumstances yet to be fully determined, become a law unto himself.”
The court ruled 6-3 that in the federal election interference case, Trump had immunity for some of his conduct as president. The ruling added an extra obstacle for special counsel Jack Smith, who secured a new indictment today in that case with revisions to adhere to the court's decision.
Jackson said in the CBS interview that she is "as prepared as anyone can be" for the scenario in which the 2024 presidential election ends up before the Supreme Court.
"I think there are legal issues that arise out of the political process. And so the Supreme Court has to be prepared to respond — if — if that should be necessary," she said.
Pennsylvania warns of voter registration scam messages
The Pennsylvania State Department said today it's aware of phishing scam messages designed to mislead voters about their registration status.
The scams are messages by third parties claiming recipients aren't registered to vote and seeking personal identifying information, the state agency said.
"Voters should be aware that opportunistic bad actors may attempt to use this campaign season to send phishing or smishing emails/texts," a spokesperson for the State Department wrote in a statement.
The spokesperson warned voters in the battleground state not to click on links from sources they aren't sure are credible or provide personal identifying information in response to such messages.
"The Department of State does not use third parties to contact voters, and text messages and emails from the Department never make mention of a voter’s specific record," the spokesperson wrote. "They only serve as reminders of upcoming election deadlines and always include our vote.pa.gov url."
"People should not be alarmed, but they should be vigilant," the statement read.
The department told voters to visit the state attorney general's website to learn more about how to protect themselves from voting scams and said it maintains a tool to look up accurate information about their voter registration status and their mail ballot status.
Harris makes appeal to young Black voters in video remarks to church conference
Harris addressed an African Methodist Episcopalian church conference in recorded video remarks today, thanking church groups both for their support and for organizing a “souls to the polls” get-out-the-vote effort.
“We are just 10 weeks out from the election, and I know you are already hard at work from the Women’s Missionary Society to the Young People’s Division to the Lay Organization organizing souls to the polls, making sure your members are registered to vote,” Harris said.
The church, a civil rights bastion that has boasted speakers such as Martin Luther King Jr., has been a focus for the Harris campaign and previously the Biden campaign.
Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., helped Biden win support from young Black voters during the 2020 Democratic primaries. Clyburn campaigned for Biden at South Carolina AME churches during the primaries and introduced him before he spoke at AME Emanuel Church this year.
Harris campaign suggests Trump is allowing 'handlers' to overrule him on debate rules
The Harris campaign said today that both the vice president and Trump had publicly expressed willingness to debate with "unmuted mics" in the presidential debate scheduled for Sept. 10 but that Trump's team was meddling in a push against hot mics.
“Both candidates have publicly made clear their willingness to debate with unmuted mics for the duration of the debate to fully allow for substantive exchanges between the candidates — but it appears Donald Trump is letting his handlers overrule him. Sad!" a campaign spokesperson said in a statement.
A campaign official separately told NBC News that discussions continue with host network ABC News over microphone rules.
Trump wrote on Truth Social today that he had "reached an agreement" for a debate with Harris on Sept. 10 in Philadelphia, a day after he suggested he might back out.
Asked yesterday about whether he preferred that mics be muted during the ABC News debate, Trump said: “We agreed to the same rules. I don’t know. It doesn’t matter to me. I’d rather have it probably on, but the agreement was it would be the same as it was last time. In that case, it was muted.”
The Harris team has made it clear it wants hot mics, and it maintains that is still under discussion.
Harris and Walz to sit for first interview of their campaign
Harris and Walz will sit for their first interview since rising to the top of the Democratic ticket.
CNN announced today that anchor Dana Bash will host a joint sit-down interview with Harris and Walz on Thursday at 9 p.m. ET in Georgia.
Trump and his allies have repeatedly criticized Harris for not holding an interview in the weeks since President Joe Biden dropped his re-election bid and endorsed her on July 21. During a recent news conference at his Mar-a-Lago resort, Trump said that Harris “can’t do an interview” and disparaged her as “barely competent.”
Trump has largely participated in interviews with conservative leaning personalities and outlets.
Bash moderated the June 27 presidential debate that led to Biden’s decision to drop out.
Vance hits the campaign trail in Michigan with his mom
Vance and his mother, Beverly Aikins, dropped by an A&W fast-food restaurant in Big Rapids, Michigan, today to meet with local voters.
Asked about campaigning alongside her son, Aikins said, "It's amazing," adding that she hopes voters can "know him like I know him."
"He’s an amazing human being, and he really, truly thinks he can make a difference," she added.
Vance, in turn, said it has “been a lot of fun” to have his mother join him today. “She’s having a good time,” he added.
Trump indicted again in federal election interference case following the Supreme Court immunity ruling
Reporting from Washington
Trump has once again been indicted for his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, an effort that culminated in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
A federal grand jury returned a superseding indictment that charges him with the same four counts he faced in the original indictment returned last August: conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding and conspiracy against rights.
The superseding indictment was returned following the Supreme Court’s decision on presidential immunity last month, which barred the government from using certain “official acts” Trump took in his role as president in its prosecution.
Vance says he hopes RFK Jr. 'has a role' in a second Trump administration
Vance said this afternoon that he hopes Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will have a role in a future Trump administration but that it is too early to name a specific post.
“We’ll cross that bridge once we come to it, because right now we’re thinking about how to win this election,” Vance told reporters following his remarks on the economy in western Michigan.
While he said, “It’s a little premature to talk about specific roles,” Vance emphasized that for now Kennedy will be “advising the president on making critical selections for who’s going to go in the government.” He added that he hopes Kennedy will have an expanded role down the line.
“I hope RFK has a role, because I think he’s a smart guy,” Vance said.
Trump recently promoted a post from an account that has shared antisemitic comments and used the N-word
Trump on Saturday reposted an image on his Truth Social page that was shared by an account that has spread antisemitic claims and used the N-word.
The reposted image showed a flag that said "Trump or Communism" and was originally shared by an account on X whose handle is @TheRISEofROD and goes by the name Machiavelli. The account has nearly 168,000 followers.
According to the liberal-leaning watchdog organization Media Matters, the account wrote last year, “Adolf Hitler was right" and said this year, “Hitler didn’t kill 6 million jews, but Stalin did kill 50 million Christians.” This month, using a racial epithet, the account wrote "Jews have been capitalizing" on Black people "for thousands of years."
The Trump campaign did not return a reply to for comment on Trump's repost.
Colorado congresswoman says she sought medical treatment for depression and hopes to ‘destigmatize’ mental illness
First-term Rep. Yadira Caraveo, D-Colo., is sharing her story about her experience with depression, saying she sought treatment at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center after it recently became more severe.
Caraveo, 43, a pediatrician, said she disclosed her treatment to help destigmatize a mental illness that so many others experience.
“Like many Americans, I struggle with depression. As a doctor, I always urge my patients to take care of their health first and receive the support that they need. In recent months, my depression became more severe, so I decided to take my own advice and seek treatment at Walter Reed Medical Center,” Caraveo said yesterday in a statement on X.
“I am grateful for the time and attention their team has provided me with — the type of care every American deserves — while continuing the work for Colorado’s 8th district.”
Vance knocks Harris on her record on the economy and the border
Speaking for the first time at a solo event behind bulletproof glass, Vance criticized Harris’ record on the economy and the border.
“They are cooking the books to hide how bad the economy really is under Kamala Harris,” Vance said this afternoon in Big Rapids, Michigan.
“Kamala Harris wants to open the border on day one,” he continued. “Donald Trump is going to close the southern border, and his message to every illegal immigrant is pack your bags, because you’re going home.”
The Trump campaign has repeatedly blamed Harris for previous record numbers of migrants crossing the southern border. Biden tasked Harris in 2021 with addressing the root causes of migration from Central American countries.
The Harris campaign has also criticized Trump for not explaining how he would fund his economic agenda.
First rioter to enter the Capitol during the Jan. 6 attack is sentenced to over 4 years in prison
Michael Sparks, who was the very first rioter to enter the Capitol during the Jan. 6 attack, was sentenced in Washington today to more than four years in federal prison.
During the hearing, Sparks told the judge that he still, “to this day,” continues to believe Trump’s lies about the 2020 election.
“I am an American citizen who believes to this day that we are in tyranny,” Sparks said, adding that he falsely believes the 2020 election was “taken from the American people.”
U.S. District Judge Timothy J. Kelly, a Trump appointee, said that it was a “difficult and tragic” case and that Sparks was “living the American dream” before he stormed the Capitol over Trump’s election lies.
“I don’t really think you appreciate the full gravity of what happened that day and frankly the full seriousness of what you did,” Kelly said, explaining why he was departing upward from the sentencing guidelines.
Sparks’ trial revealed that he was consuming and regurgitating the lies about the election spread by numerous right-wing figures.
Harris campaign launches ad about lowering housing costs
The Harris campaign has launched an ad about her plans to lower housing costs.
The ad, titled “Full House,” is part of a $150 million August paid media blitz highlighting Harris’ middle-class upbringing, the campaign said in a news release. In the ad, Harris talks about being raised by her working mother, who she says saved up for more than a decade to buy a home.
“I was a teenager when that day finally came, and I can remember so well how excited she was,” Harris says in the ad. “I know what homeownership means, and sadly right now it is out of reach for far too many American families.”
Harris also touts her record of taking on big banks and vows to crack down on exploitative landlords and build 3 million new homes and rentals if elected.
The Harris campaign is holding nearly 20 events across 12 battleground states this week to share her economic plans, the campaign said.
“Vice President Harris knows we need to do more to address our housing crisis — that’s why she has a plan to end the housing shortage, calling for the construction of 3 million new housing units and cracking down on corporate landlords and Wall Street banks hiking up rents and housing costs to bring prices down for our families,” the campaign's battleground states director, Dan Kanninen, said in a statement.
Kanninen then said Project 2025 would raise "millions of Americans’ housing costs," referring to a blueprint of a second Trump administration proposed by the conservative Heritage Foundation, which Trump has sought to distance himself from.
Walz discusses home gutters on popular social media series 'Subway Takes'
Walz discussed issues involving house gutters on an episode of "Subway Takes," which is a popular Instagram and TikTok series with comedian Kareem Rahma.
The Democratic vice presidential nominee brought it up when Rahma asked him, "So, what's your take?"
"My take is the most neglected part of homeownership is the gutters. It’s personal for me," Walz said. "I’ve had problems with gutters before. You get your basement wet, you get ice dams, cause a lot of problems."
"But there are fixes," he continued. "Now, the other dangerous thing is, is that when you live in Minnesota, fall’s a great time of year. A lot of leaves. You got to get up on a ladder."
Rahma said that leaves get stuck in the gutter and he's seen "many a man fall off" of his ladder.
"But there’s a fix. You can put a gutter helmet over the top of it," Walz said. "It covers it, it lets the water go through, keeps it out of your house. I see this all the time."
Walz said that he looks "quite often" at gutters and said that he tries not to judge people, but said, "When I see a well-tended gutter, says a lot about somebody."
Arizona 'fake electors' case resumes today
The defense in the Arizona "fake electors" case will continue to argue for charges to be dismissed when the court is back in session at 1:30 p.m. ET.
Defense lawyers will make an argument revolving around Arizona's anti-SLAPP statute, which is aimed at protecting free speech rights. The defense’s arguments were slated to conclude yesterday, but the lawyers for the defendants made lengthy arguments.
Like yesterday, defendants like state Sens. Anthony Kern and Jake Hoffman as well as Turning Point USA's Tyler Bowyer are expected to appear in person. High-profile out-of-state defendants like Rudy Giuliani and Mark Meadows are expected to appear virtually or by telephone.
Judge Bruce Cohen will hear the arguments but is not expected to rule on the motion to dismiss the case during the hearing.
Trump names RFK Jr. and Tulsi Gabbard to his transition team
Trump has added Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard to his transition team, a senior campaign adviser confirmed in a statement.
"As President Trump’s broad coalition of supporters and endorsers expands across partisan lines, we are proud that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Tulsi Gabbard have been added to the Trump/Vance Transition team," the senior adviser, Brian Hughes, said.
"We look forward to having their powerful voices on the team as we work to restore America’s greatness," he added.
The New York Times reported Kennedy and Gabbard had been tapped for the transition team.
Kennedy endorsed Trump on Friday after ending his independent bid for president, and Gabbard, a former Democrat, expressed support for the former president at an event yesterday.
More than 200 former Bush, McCain and Romney staffers endorse Harris
More than 200 Republicans who worked for both Bush presidents, the late Sen. John McCain and Sen. Mitt Romney declared their endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign in an open letter released yesterday.
The letter comes after several Republicans who are openly critical of former President Donald Trump delivered remarks at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago last week.
In their letter, which was first reported by USA Today, the former staff members noted that they had come out against Trump during the 2020 election cycle and said they “jointly declare that we’re voting for Vice President Kamala Harris and Gov. Tim Walz this November.”
Vance's mother is joining him on the trail today
Reporting from aboard Vance's campaign plane
Making her first public appearance on the campaign trail since her son accepted the Republican vice presidential nomination in Milwaukee, Vance's mother, Beverly Aikins, is traveling alongside the senator today ahead of his two campaign appearances.
Starting their day from Washington, Vance and Aikins will travel first to Big Rapids, Michigan, for an event billed as remarks on the economy and manufacturing. The pair will then fly to Nashville, where Vance will address a closed-press campaign fundraising event.
In his month and a half on the Trump campaign, Vance has often traveled with family members or special guests, including several members of Congress. His wife, Usha Vance, has made multiple trips on the campaign plane — even Atlas, the family's German Shepherd, made the quick journey to Wisconsin earlier this month.
Ohio GOP Senate candidate plans new car dealership amid scrutiny of his businesses
Bernie Moreno, the Republican Senate nominee in Ohio whose past as a car dealer has been mocked and scrutinized by his Democratic rival, is preparing a return to the auto industry.
In a recently filed personal financial disclosure statement, Moreno identified himself as a manager of two companies — including a realty business that he lists as an asset — that, according to public records, are developing a Mercedes-Benz dealership.
Moreno, who has said several times during his bid to unseat Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown that he sold off all of his businesses to avoid conflicts of interest, confirmed his involvement in an interview. He described himself as an investor in the venture, which will be run by his son Kevin.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren heads to Wisconsin to campaign for Harris
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., will be in Wisconsin today to campaign for Harris and Walz.
Warren, who ran against Harris in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary, will start the day in Green Bay and later head to Appleton.
She is expected to talk about how the 2024 election will impact working families and the middle class.
Oklahoma holds state primary runoffs
Oklahoma is holding 10 state primary runoffs today.
Half of Oklahoma's 28 state Senate seats and all 101 House seats will be up for grabs in November. Republicans hold a supermajority in both chambers and many races in November will be uncontested or will not feature a Democratic challenger.
Of the runoffs today, three of them feature incumbents who did not garner an outright majority of the vote in the June 18 primary.
Two of those incumbents — State Sen. Blake "Cowboy" Stephens and State Rep. Kevin Wallace — have Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt's endorsement.
Stephens is facing off with physician Julie McIntosh in Senate District 3. The incumbent won a narrow 0.7% lead over McIntosh in June in his bid for a second term. The winner will not face off with a Democrat in November, but rather independent candidate Margaret Cook.
Despite having the governor's endorsement, State Rep. Wallace placed second in the June primary against energy company executive Jim Shaw. The runoff will all but decide who holds the House District 32 seat, as the race will be uncontested in November.
The third incumbent, Rep. Dean Davis, seeks a fourth term but is facing a challenge from elementary school teacher Gabe Woolley in House District 98. Davis was censured and by the House stripped of his committee assignments last year for public drunkenness. He was reinstated in February after submitting a written apology.
Davis led Woolley by exactly one vote in June.
The polls close at 8 p.m. ET.
Doug Emhoff to stump for Harris at campaign reception
Emhoff, the second gentleman, will stump for Harris again today by delivering remarks at a campaign reception in New York.
Democratic rival films new ad ‘inside one of Ryan Zinke’s Airbnb rentals’
The Democratic candidate in a Montana congressional district is launching a new ad today that she filmed in an Airbnb property held by Rep. Ryan Zinke, R-Mont., accusing him of fueling the state’s housing crisis.
The candidate, Monica Tranel, begins the 30-second ad outside the property and takes the viewer inside, walking around the condo by Whitefish Lake in Whitefish, where Zinke grew up.
“We’re about to go inside one of Ryan Zinke’s real Airbnb rentals,” she says. “He’s buying up properties across Montana and jacking up the rent. $16,000 a month for this place ... Housing profiteers like Ryan Zinke are the reason it’s so expensive to live here.”
It’s a six-figure buy airing on TV in the Missoula and Butte-Bozeman media markets, as well as digital platforms, the Tranel campaign said.
Zinke’s wife is listed as the host of the Airbnb rental. NBC News isn’t publishing the address for privacy reasons but viewed a link to the Airbnb posting and a copy of the property record that matches the location and shows Zinke and his wife as owners.
In Montana’s 1st Congressional District, Democrats see an opportunity for an upset victory against Zinke, a former interior secretary who served in the Trump administration. The Democratic group House Majority PAC has placed some $4 million in ad reservations in the Missoula and Butte-Bozeman markets. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee — the campaign arm of House Democrats — has made digital reservations in Montana as well.
Tranel is the underdog in the race. The Cook Political Report ranks it among roughly 70 competitive districts with a “Likely Republican” rating.
Where's Tim Walz today?
Walz, Harris' running mate, does not have any campaign events scheduled today.
Like yesterday, the Minnesota governor will remain in St. Paul today and conduct "internal meetings," according to a campaign news release.
Vance heads to Michigan and Tennessee
Vance, the Republican vice presidential nominee, will campaign in Michigan and Tennessee today.
He is scheduled to deliver remarks on the economy, inflation and manufacturing at a horse farm in Big Rapids, Mich., in the afternoon before participating in a fundraising event in Tennessee with the state's two GOP senators: Marsha Blackburn and Bill Hagerty.