Live updates: trump and Harris to face off soon for the first time at tonight’s presidential debate

In an interview on MSNBC, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro called trump a "tough out" in the debate but said that Harris is ready. He also said trump is not an easy person to debate.

“The guy is willing to lie about anything. He’s literally willing to lie, Rachel, from one question to another. So, it’s hard to pin the guy down," he said. "It’s hard to debate him.”

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who ended his bid as an independent and endorsed trump, was spotted in the spin room.

Julian Davis, 34, is a reformed double-hater who was going to sit this election out when Biden was running but is now supporting Harris.

“Back when it was trump and Biden, I didn’t feel like they were for me. I feel like they didn’t care about me,” said Davis, a musician from Phoenix. He added, “I was watching Harris’ commercial, and she said she was for the middle class, and I’m the middle class."

Davis said he hopes Harris calls out trump if he stretches the truth on the debate stage tonight.

“I think he’s been known to lie in past debates,” said Davis of trump’s previous performances. “If he lies, I would like her to call him out on that, because you can’t lie,” said Davis. “You can’t say one thing and then do another thing when you’re president."

Tonight’s debate is a chance for trump and Harris to change the direction of the presidential race by reaching voters who are still undecided or are open to persuasion. Presidential debates typically draw tens of millions of viewers and have the potential to drive monumental shifts in the polls. 

Raising the stakes for Tuesday’s face-off is the fact that the candidates have not settled on any future appearances together.  

“This may be the one and only debate,” Danielle Alvarez, a senior adviser to trump’s campaign, told NBC News on a call with reporters. 

Harris' motorcade is en route to the National Constitution Center.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom, himself a potential Democratic presidential candidate at some future point, is among the elected officials wandering through the spin room.

Talking to a throng of reporters, Newsom predicted a strong performance from Harris.

“She’s tough,” he said. “She’s an outstanding debater. She’s up against someone who is more unhinged and incapable of standing toe to toe for nine minutes let alone 90 minutes, with someone who’s not only going to prosecute the case against Donald trump but will prosecute the case for a brighter future.”

In addition to the GOP base, trump tonight is trying to reach independent voters and soft Democrats by drilling down on issues like the cost of living, border security and foreign wars, his campaign said. 

“Those key messages really reach all voters, both our Republican base, as well as independent voters and soft Democrats," trump senior adviser Danielle Alvarez said.

NBC News is watching the debate with three undecided voters in Bucks County, Pennsylvania.

Andrew Wallace, 41, voted for trump in 2016 and Biden in 2020. He has no clue who he is voting for in November.

“I voted for trump in ‘16, and I don’t think he lived up to any of his promises. I think he lied. Harris, I don’t trust a lot of what she says. She’s changed her opinion,” Wallace said.

Laura Loomer, a far-right social media influencer, traveled to Philadelphia on trump’s plane ahead of tonight's debate — and was spotted disembarking on the tarmac.

Loomer has emerged in recent years as one of trump’s most fervent and conspiracy-minded supporters. She has embraced a wide variety of bizarre claims including recently that President Joe Biden was dying. Many in the trump orbit have distanced themselves from her, but her willingness to attack even fellow Republicans on trump’s behalf appears to have endeared her to the Republican nominee.

With the debate a little over an hour away, Doug Emhoff posted a message of support for his wife on X.

"Kamala, I can’t wait for everyone to see you in action tonight," Emhoff wrote. "You’ve got this, and I’ve got you."

With the race neck and neck, Vice President Harris and former President trump will face off tonight in Philadelphia. Harris is expected to tout her experience as a former prosecutor to call out trump onstage, while trump will target her record on the economy and immigration. NBC News' Peter Alexander reports on some of the challenges for each candidate.

RNC co-chair Lara trump said her father-in-law has a straightforward mission Tuesday night.

“He just has to talk about four years in the White House with him versus four years now,” Lara trump said in a brief interview with NBC News.

A couple hundred pro-Palestinian protesters blocked off an intersection a couple of blocks from the debate venue in Philadelphia.

The demonstrators have blocked off the intersection of 12th and Market streets.

Harris and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke about tonight’s debate in recent days, with the 2016 Democratic nominee offering some advice and perspective as the only other woman to face Donald trump in a debate one-on-one, according to three people familiar with their discussions.  

Clinton shared some insight specifically about how trump may attempt to “bait” her and suggested Harris should instead try to turn that on the Republican himself and provoke him directly, these sources said. 

They also talked this weekend about how Clinton’s former aide, Philippe Reines, reprised his role by playing trump in debate prep and compared notes on his performances. 

Harris and Clinton have been in touch several times in the seven weeks since Biden dropped out of the race. 

Harris and trump are set to meet for the first time as they face off in a presidential debate. "Meet the Press" moderator Kristen Welker and NBC’s Hallie Jackson join "TODAY" to discuss the importance of this debate for voters.

House Speaker Mike Johnson says he advised trump to "run this race on policy" and steer away from harsh personal attacks on Harris.

"I talk with the president a lot," Johnson told CNN, referring to trump, "and that has always been my advice: that we run this race on policy ... not rhetoric; on policy, not personality."

Johnson added that he believes trump should focus on Harris' record of liberal positions when she was in the U.S. Senate. Harris has staked out more moderate stances in her presidential bid.

In recent weeks, trump has gone after Harris in starkly personal terms. He has called her "nasty" and "dumb as a rock." He has questioned her racial identity and reposted a vulgar sexual joke about Harris and Hillary Clinton.

The Harris campaign plans to fly a drone show above the Philadelphia Art Museum less than an hour before the candidates take the stage tonight.

"Tonight’s show will echo some of the popular messaging this campaign and grassroots supporters have latched onto since the start of Vice President Harris’ candidacy, and build on our Philly-themed advertising and new ad launched earlier this morning trolling Donald trump’s weird obsession over his small crowd sizes," said spokesperson Kevin Munoz in a press release.

Munoz said that the drones would spell out, "When we vote we win," "fight for our freedom fight for our future" and "we're not going back."

The campaign also debuted Philadelphia-focused advertising, including billboards referencing the city's allegiance to Wawa and other Philly slang.

Something to watch for throughout tonight's debate: Can Kamala Harris seize the opportunity to drive her message that she's the better candidate to lower the cost of living?

Polls say the economy and inflation register as the top concern for voters in swing states, and they trust Donald trump more on the issue. Harris has sought to neutralize his advantage with a mix of cost-focused policy ideas and populist messaging. Can Harris land her message on the big stage and leave an impression with voters? Does she take liberties to pivot back to this crucial issue? She may not get a better opportunity to draw a contrast.

I’ll be watching for what stands out from Harris’s performance among those voters who are still feeling her out.

We spent the day talking to a bunch in Kent County — a historically conservative part of Michigan that Biden flipped with the help of suburban, college-educated voters who said they’re turned off by trump’s temperament.

Several folks — even those who are backing Harris — said they simply want to learn more about her. It’s a point reflected in the latest NYT/Siena poll that showed 28 percent of voters said they “need to learn more” about Harris, compared to just 9% for trump.

trump campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt addressed baseless claims spread by JD Vance and other top trump allies about Haitian migrants eating pets in Ohio.

In an interview on NBC's "Meet the Press NOW," Leavitt was asked if the trump campaign had evidence to support the claim that Haitian migrants in Ohio are abducting and eating people's pets.

"Residents at a town meeting, a city meeting in Springfield, Ohio expressed their concerns about seeing Haitian illegal migrants in their community eating ducks out of a pond — it's crazy to say on television, but those are the words of these residents," Leavitt said.

We saw a different trump in his June debate with Biden — calmer, more patient, less belligerent.

This may simply have been a function of circumstance. Starting with the first question, Biden offered a jarringly muddled performance that allowed trump to stand back and let his opponent damage himself.

It’s fair to assume Harris will bring more energy and far punchier rehearsed lines to the stage tonight. How will trump react? Will the relentlessly confrontational version we’ve known in past debates return in force? Or, having benefited from it last time out, is there a chance he will adopt a (relatively speaking) low-key strategy again?

Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who was freed from a Russian prison in a major exchange last month, was on Capitol Hill today and met with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., their offices said.

McConnell tweeted that he was glad to see Gershkovich "safe on American soil," adding: "Journalism is not a crime, and reporters will continue to pursue the truth and hold the Kremlin to account for its brutality."

Schumer wrote on Twitter: "To Evan: You stood strong during your brutal and wrongful detention by Putin. You defended journalism and freedom of the press. We are so proud you’re home."

The Harris campaign unveiled its list of campaign surrogates who will hit the spin room tonight in support of the vice president.

The group includes Sens. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, Laphonza Butler of California and Chris Murphy of Connecticut; and Reps. Jason Crow of Colorado, Veronica Escobar of Texas, and Robert Garcia and Ted Lieu of California.

NBC News previously reported that the surrogates will include Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper and Gold Star father Khizr Khan.

"Many of these surrogates are also uniquely qualified to speak to why Donald trump is unfit to lead — from his attacks on reproductive freedom to his comments disparaging fallen and injured service members and his threats to our national security," said the email announcement sent today by campaign spokesperson Lauren Hitt.

As Biden departed the White House on his way to New York, he said he had spoken to Harris ahead of the debate tonight.

"She seems calm, cool and collected. I think she’s going to do great," he said. He said he would not publicly share what advice he gave her, though.

trump’s call for mandating free access to in-vitro fertilization has puzzled congressional Republicans, drawing a mix of skepticism and outright opposition across the party spectrum, from center-right to far-right lawmakers.

Some worried about the high cost of such a policy. Others confessed they don’t understand what he’s proposing to do. Yet others wondered aloud if trump was serious. And numerous trump allies said his announcement, in an interview with NBC News in August, came as a surprise to them.

“I’m against health care for all, and I don’t support a plan right now to just pay for IVF,” said Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., a staunch trump ally, when asked about trump’s plan. “I think that’s opening up a door that Republicans aren’t willing to open. I’m not for government-mandated funding of IVF.”

Read the full story here.

One thing I’ll be watching for tonight is the rhetoric on reproductive rights.

Harris is trying to make this a cornerstone of her campaign. She launched a reproductive rights tour in Florida, trump’s backyard. Abortion is on the ballot in several key states that Democrats hope will be helpful to them.

And Harris is sure to go after trump on the issue tonight.

But the former president has tried to change the GOP’s approach to the issue of abortion and reproductive rights. He knows this is a vulnerability for Republicans. The Republican party platform changed its language on abortion, and recently wrote on social media that his “administration will be great for women and their reproductive rights.” In an interview with NBC News, he announced that his administration would make IVF free for all families without providing details as to how that would happen. He signaled openness to voting in favor of an abortion rights amendment in Florida but backtracked after backlash from his base.

Catherine Puerta, 53, of Phoenix told NBC News that she's expecting a potentially chaotic debate night when trump and Harris face off.

“It could be chaos,” added Puerta, who voted for Biden in 2020 and supports Harris’ campaign.

“Unfortunately, there’s many people that would rather their ideas be presented to the world rather than the facts,” she said of her expectations for trump’s debate performance.

The Missouri Supreme Court ruled today that an amendment that would enshrine abortion access in the state’s constitution can appear on the general election ballot.

A majority of the state Supreme Court said that a previous judgment by a circuit court is reversed, directing Missouri Secretary of State John Ashcroft to inform local election officials to place Amendment 3 on the state’s Nov. 5 ballot.

Ashcroft’s office had announced in August that the initiative was certified for the ballot, but a circuit court judge said last week that it didn’t meet certain legal requirements.

Read the full story here.

Something to watch for in tonight's debate is whether Harris will try to put trump on the hook for some of Vance's incendiary comments, such as referring to women without kids as “childless cat ladies” and, more recently, circulating debunked claims about Haitian immigrants.

Harris might see an opportunity to highlight that rhetoric as a way to draw a sharp contrast with the trump-Vance ticket on issues like gender equality, reproductive freedom and immigration.

Something to watch for right at the beginning of the debate is whether Harris and trump shake hands.

A customary handshake to kick off a presidential debate is a way for candidates to set the tone and show mutual respect. But for the past three presidential cycles, shaking hands has not been a guarantee.

During June’s presidential debate between trump and Biden, they did not shake hands, going against the traditional way candidates have opened debates.

Biden and trump never shook hands during their 2020 presidential debates because of Covid concerns.

Most economists say that while the U.S. economy has begun to show some signs of weakness, it remains on solid ground.

Republicans don't see it that way.

The most recent University of Michigan Survey of Consumer Sentiment shows Democrats and Republicans with divergent views of the economy, with Republicans ratings of current economic conditions at an all-time low.

Yet it isn't always the case that views of the economy by party affiliation were so skewed by who is in the White House. Starting as early as June 2015 (not pictured), during the second Obama Administration, Democrats and Republicans, as well as Independents, all rated current conditions above 100.

That relative unanimity lasted another four years. As soon as soon as the pandemic hit, Democrats' views began to sour more intensely relative to Republicans.

When Biden was elected, another, more severe flip occurred that persists to this day.

trump always tries to portray himself as the strongest of the candidates. He does it with his words and with his physical puffery. It’s a trait that matters to voters — they want to know that a leader will protect them, and perceived strength is part of that.

The question is: What will Harris do to project strength against trump? We know her go-to is to talk about her career as a prosecutor — and that trump is likely to try to undermine what she believes is an advantage.

What else will Harris do — in terms of arguments and style — to show voters that she’s tougher than trump, or at least tough enough? What will she do to suggest that his bravado is over-torqued and actually presents a risk?

Harris and trump will have podiums that are different heights, a source familiar with the setup told NBC News.

Harris — who's several inches shorter than trump — will stand behind the shorter podium, in line with a precedent that was set by the Commission on Presidential Debates. The source said that includes the 2016 debate between trump and Hillary Clinton, the source said. That has not been independently confirmed by NBC News.

The source said both campaigns are aware of the different sizing and approved the plan.

One thing to watch for in tonight’s debate is whether Harris continues her march to the center on immigration policy and how she communicates her more nuanced stance on building more of a border wall.

In 2017, she said trump’s border wall was a “stupid use of money. I will block any funding for it.” When she ran for president in 2019, she called trump’s border wall a “medieval vanity project.” As vice president, in February 2020, she posted on Facebook, “trump’s border wall is a complete waste of taxpayer money and won’t make us any safer.”

Like many Democrats, she strongly opposed trump’s plans for the border even as some in her party acknowledged that some sort of security measures — perhaps a more limited barrier coupled with surveillance drones and other technology — were needed. Still, in October 2023, Biden was asked whether he thought border walls worked and he responded with a flat “no.” Despite that, the Biden administration moved to use funds appropriated during the trump years to construct 20 miles of additional border wall in Texas. 

The trump campaign’s Georgia presidential debate watch party, organized by its official network of volunteers in the state, is taking place at Adventure Outdoors, a gun store that bills itself as the “world’s largest” of its kind.

Adventure Outdoors, in Smyrna, is roughly 50 miles away from Winder, where last week a 14-year old killed two students and two teachers at Apalachee High School.

Moms Demand Action, a gun violence prevention group, condemned the venue selection as “insensitive, gross and reprehensible.”

The trump campaign directed NBC News to local county official Marci McCarthy, who organized the watch party and stressed that the venue was selected “weeks” before the tragedy. The watch party, the source said, is one of several events the local GOP has hosted at the site, which has a capacity of 500.

One of Harris’ biggest moments from her debate with then-Vice President Mike Pence in 2020 came in the form of a response when he interrupted an answer and she said several times: “I’m speaking.” 

It seemed to be something she had planned so we’ll be watching to see if there’s a similar response that she’s prepared in case trump speaks over her, though the muting of the microphones presents an additional challenge in how that may play out in real time.

Republican Senate candidate Dave McCormick appeared at a canvassing event in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, urging attendees to knock on as many doors as possible in the crucial swing state.

"I’m going to win because of the three more doors you knock on. It’s going to be this close," McCormick told attendees of his race against Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa.

The event and canvassing drives were organized by two political action committees, AFP Action & LIBRE Action, that have endorsed him. Their goal is to reach 1 million of Pennsylvania’s registered swing voters. As of today, they say have knocked on over half a million doors.

trump’s campaign has a well-defined and thoroughly prepped strategy tonight: Define Harris as “dangerously liberal” and unfit to be president. His advisers believe that a tight focus on Harris’ record and past policy statements are the key to victory not just tonight, but in this campaign. 

Sound familiar? 

The challenge for the trump campaign has long been for trump, the candidate, to commit to this framework, in which he has often appeared disinterested. trump doesn’t change. But he does focus. I’m watching to see if he can focus for 90 minutes tonight on Harris’ weaknesses — not his own grievances.

Tonight, I will be watching to see how each candidate addresses their biggest vulnerabilities on the issues — for trump that’s abortion, and for Harris it’s her pivots on some key policy positions.

trump has yet to find a clear answer on where he stands on reproductive rights. For example, last month he suggested he might vote to oppose the Florida abortion amendment which would overturn the state’s six-week ban on abortions. Then the very next day after backlash from anti-abortion advocacy groups, trump changed course and said he would vote in favor of the amendment while trying to make it clear he still opposes a six-week ban. Similarly in my interview with running mate JD Vance, he told me trump would veto a national abortion ban if it came to his desk. But when trump was pressed on whether he would in fact veto such a ban, the former president was vague saying: “You’re never going to have to do it because it’s being done by the states.” 

The first, and maybe only, presidential debate between Harris and trump is set to take place tonight, and it punctuates a frenetic three-month political stretch. NBC’s Peter Alexander reports for TODAY.

One of the things I’ll be looking for tonight at this debate is which voters each candidate goes out of their way to address directly.

Every campaign has a theory about what coalition of voters they need to win. What’s striking is how both campaigns have the same challenges but, so far, appear to be going about their challenges differently. 

Take the small slice of voters who truly are vacillating between the two candidates.  These voters are MOSTLY moderates but not totally. Some are conservative Republicans who simply can’t support trump due to character issues — the Cheneys are the avatar of this group. Others are very progressive folks who don’t trust either party (Cornell West is trying to appeal to these people) and still others fall into the libertarian column, who may lean right in theory but worry that both parties want to grow government too much and that the Republicans are bit too involved in the country’s personal life.  And, yes, still many truly are centrists and simply looking for reassurance that the most extreme forces of both parties will NOT have too much influence. 

Walz said in a post on X that he will participate in a virtual debate watch party tonight from 8:30 p.m. ET to 11 p.m. ET.

Walz’s press team said he will physically be at a watch party in Phoenix that will be livestreamed for the virtual watch party.

In remarks delivered at a fundraiser for the campaign in Las Vegas, Walz touted Harris as “the most qualified person” for president and slammed trump as a “showman.”

“Let’s just all be very clear, this is the most qualified person who’s ready to do the job,” he said. “Tonight, we’ll get an opportunity to see that. And as we’re saying, now look, Donald trump’s a showman, this is his seventh general election debate. No one in modern times has done more of these. The good news is that this is his seventh debate, and we know exactly what to expect.”

Rome Navarro, 22, a trump-leaning undecided voter who voted for Biden in 2020, told NBC News that Harris still has a chance to win him over if she’s challenged at the debate and fares well.

“I feel like she hasn’t been challenged enough in a lot of these interviews,” he said.

Navarro, who lives in Phoenix and works as an operations specialist, said that if Harris is pushed about issues he is concerned about during the debate and does well, he is open to changing his mind about voting for trump.

“As long as my concerns get addressed, I’m open to vote for anyone who can address those issues,” he said.

The presidential debate in June pitted trump against an enfeebled Biden, who flopped so badly that he was forced to drop out of the race.

The sequel unfolds tonight in Philadelphia, with a much younger Harris hoping to flip the script and expose trump as the aging candidate unfit to lead.

trump faces a different challenge. Will he be disciplined enough to forgo the familiar insults and gripes that risk pushing away voters who aren’t part of his loyal base? Can he stick to issues and possibly gain ground by painting Harris as a flip-flopper for having changed her stances on health care and energy policies?

For both candidates, the debate hosted by ABC News may be the best chance to seize the advantage in a campaign that polls show is a tossup. The debate starts at 9 p.m. ET, and millions will be watching. There is no bigger stage during the eight-week sprint to Election Day.

Read the full story here.

One day after House Republicans issued a scathing report on the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, Congress paid tribute to the 13 American service members who were killed at the Kabul airport in Afghanistan.

The 13 who lost their lives in a terrorist attack at Abbey Gate were posthumously honored with the body's highest honor, the Congressional Gold Medal, at a ceremony that included remarks from Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and minority leaders Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., and Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.

"Our nation owes a profound debt of gratitude to these service members," as well as "something deeper, and that is an apology," Johnson said.

"We are sorry. The United States government should have done better to protect our troops," he added.

The 350-page report by Republicans on the House Foreign Affairs Committee blamed the Biden administration for the failures of the withdrawal. Democrats and the White House blasted the report as partisan, with the State Department placing much of the blame for the chaos in the final days of the pull-out on the terms of the withdrawal agreement that was approved by trump.

Former Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii is helping trump prepare his first debate against Harris in a move that calls back to the 2020 Democratic presidential debate. NBC News’ Monica Alba explains how Gabbard targeted Harris in that debate and how trump’s team is using that experience.

Harris' campaign is lining up a series of surrogates to appear in the spin room for her after the debate — the supporters who try to talk up the performance when the debate is over.

Mini Timmaraju, president of Reproductive Freedom for All, will be among those backing Harris, a source familiar with the plans tells NBC News.

Separately, two other sources familiar with the Harris campaign confirms a list of Democratic governors who will be on hand: Gavin Newsom, of California; Michelle Lujan Grisham, of New Mexico; Josh Shapiro, of Pennsylvania; and Roy Cooper, of North Carolina.

Despite mounting opposition from his own party, Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., vowed Tuesday to stay the course and put his government funding package on the House floor on Wednesday.

His initial strategy to avert a government shutdown at the end of the month is expected to fail and deal House Republicans an embarrassing blow. Due to their paper-thin majority, Republicans can only afford a handful of GOP defections on the vote, and many more than that have publicly voiced their opposition.

But the party’s standard bearer, Donald trump, has called on Johnson and Republicans to shut down the government if they can’t link a funding bill to the SAVE Act, which would overhaul voting laws to require people to show proof of citizenship when registering to vote.

Read the full story here.

Khizr Khan, the father of a slain Muslim Army captain who gained national attention by pointedly criticizing Donald trump during the Democratic National Convention in 2016, will be in the spin room for the Harris campaign, an official with the campaign tells NBC News. Khan endorsed Harris in an interview with NBC News and plans to act as a campaign surrogate for her.

The official also tells NBC News that retired Brigadier General Steven M. Anderson will also be in the spin room for the Harris campaign. Anderson is a Republican retired one-star general and one of several military officials who released a letter yesterday supporting Harris.

Julian Castro, who ran in the 2020 Democratic presidential primaries, outlined what he views are Harris’ strengths and trump’s weaknesses heading into the debate tonight in an opinion piece for MSNBC.

Castro, who served as secretary of housing and urban development in the Obama administration, recalled watching Harris on stage during the first Democratic primary debate in the last election and being impressed by “her command of the moment” as the candidates talked over each other.

“Harris’ poise, her no-nonsense style and her grasp of what voters wanted to know continued to impress me when we shared the stage at more than a dozen candidate forums and three debates in 2019,” Castro wrote on MSNBC.

Doug Emhoff, Maya Harris and her husband, Tony West, are expected to attend with the VP tonight, a campaign official said.

It's unclear whether Melania trump will attend.

Second gentleman Doug Emhoff will campaign in Henderson, Nevada, on Thursday and deliver remarks in Tucson, Arizona, in the evening, his office announced. On Friday, he will be in central Florida to deliver remarks at a campaign event.

Former first lady Melania trump in a new video plugged her upcoming memoir and criticized law enforcement’s response to the attempted assassination of her husband in Butler, Pennsylvania, in July.

“The attempt to end my husband’s life was a horrible, distressing experience,” she said in a video posted to X. “Now, the silence around it feels heavy. I can’t help but wonder why didn’t law enforcement officials arrest the shooter before the speech? There is definitely more to this story. And we need to uncover the truth.”

The former first lady on Sunday posted a video to X narrating a message about what she said were challenges to her husband’s free speech.

“The 2020 election results changed our lives forever. It impacted our quality of life, cost of food, gasoline, safety, and even the geo-political landscape,” she wrote in the post. “America is more divided today than ever before. It has become increasingly apparent that there are significant challenges to free speech as demonstrated by the efforts to silence my husband.”

House Democratic Caucus Chairman Pete Aguilar and Vice Chair Ted Lieu, both Democrats from California, slammed the chamber's Republican leadership for proposing to advance a bill to require voters to present proof of citizenship along with a measure to extend government spending at current levels to avert a government shutdown at the end of the month.

Calling House Republicans "isolated" and without much support in the Senate for the voting measure, which most Democrats oppose, Aguilar said "we’re going to keep talking to our members, and our members want to avert a government shutdown. ... House Republicans are the only ones that flirt with catastrophe on this side of the dome, and we expect that to continue."

“Members are going to make their their own decisions on where they land on these bills," he said. "But I can tell you, judging by the totality of what is in front of them, this is not a serious piece of legislation, and this is not a good piece of legislation."

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer also blasted the proposal in remarks on the Senate floor this morning, saying House Republicans were "struggling with a bad case of 'Groundhog Day.'"

House Speaker Mike Johnson. R-La., announced this morning that he’s sticking with his plan to hold a vote tomorrow on a continuing resolution on government spending with a bill to require proof of citizenship to vote attached, despite mounting opposition within his party. 

“Only U.S. citizens should vote in U.S. elections, and the Democrats apparently don’t agree with that," Johnson said at his weekly press conference. "When we put it on the floor in July, 198 House Democrats voted against it. We’re going to give them another opportunity, and I believe we can do both things. I believe we can fund the government responsibly, and I believe that we can do right by the American people and ensure the security of our elections, and I defy anybody to give me any logical argument why we shouldn’t do that.”

The Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, or SAVE Act, would require voters to present proof of citizenship, although it is already illegal for noncitizens to vote.

Johnson didn’t rule out the possibility of bringing up the continuing resolution, which would extend government spending at current levels to avoid a lapse in government funding, telling reporters that he won’t “engage in conjecture” when asked if he’ll cave to Democrats’ demands. 

The Harris-Walz campaign is set to hold more than 1,300 debate watch parties in all 50 states, with more than 100 planned on college campuses alone, the campaign said in a news release.

Walz is also scheduled to deliver remarks and attend a debate watch party tonight in Phoenix. His wife, Gwen Walz, will attend another watch party in La Crosse, Wisconsin.

The watch parties are part of the campaign’s efforts to mobilize volunteers, with attendees set to make calls to voters in battleground states and share debate content online. The campaign will also host digital creators at watch parties in battleground states to share content with their networks.

The watch parties include more than 300 coalition-specific gatherings such as Republicans for Harris-Walz and Veterans for Harris-Walz events in Arizona, North Carolina and Georgia. Latinos supporting Harris will host house parties such as ¡Fiesta de Mirada del Debate Latino! in Nevada. There will also be events with organized labor such as the Service Employees International Union watch party in Pennsylvania.

The Harris campaign is set to bring former trump officials Anthony Scaramucci and Olivia Troye to the presidential debate tonight in Philadelphia, where they will speak out against the former president to the press before the debate begins, a campaign official said.

The former trump officials will act as Harris campaign surrogates at tonight’s debate. Scaramucci briefly served as trump’s White House communications director. Troye, who warned that trump was “laying the groundwork to undermine” the November election in her speech at the Democratic National Convention last month, was a homeland security adviser to then-Vice President Mike Pence and served as a top aide on the trump White House’s coronavirus task force.

“Listen, don’t take it from us: Take it from the ones who know Donald trump the best and who are telling the American people exactly how unfit trump is to serve as president,” Michael Tyler, the campaign's communications director, said in a statement.

PHILADELPHIA — trump said the biggest challenge in debating Harris tonight will be that she’s shifted her positions on so many issues.

“You don’t know what to expect. She’s changed all of her policies over the years,” trump told NBC News in phone interview this morning.

He added, however, that he believes that makes it “easier” to define her in the minds of voters.

“It makes it much easier. She’s no longer believable,” trump said.

Washington, D.C., has long been a place for the chattering class to find a way to participate in the topic du jour — and tonight’s presidential debate is no exception.

Bars and restaurants around the nations capital are stocking up on coconuts and orange juice ahead of tonight’s face-off. Never wanting to miss a cultural moment, Union Pub, a popular hangout for Hill staff just blocks from the Capitol, is selling a $9 “coconut drink” and $10 “orange drink.”

Madhatter in DuPont Circle is offering $5 red, white and blue Jello-shots along with deals on tacos and smash burgers during debate between trump and Harris.

Interested in playing a drinking game while you watch tonight? Whitlow’s on U Street will be putting together a Bingo game built around both campaign’s buzzwords

Democratic National Committee Chairman Jaime Harrison sounded an optimistic note ahead of tonight's presidential debate, framing the election as being about "progress versus chaos" and projecting faith in Harris.

"We need to start treating him like he's not all there, and that's dangerous to this nation," Harrison said on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" about trump.

He went onto say that Harris' "presidential" performance will set the stage for the party to "ride into this November election" by removing any potential questions voters might have about Harris, less than two months into her presidential bid.

As trump and Harris get ready to debate for the first time, and months after the June debate between trump and Biden ultimately led to Biden dropping his re-election bid, Harrison preached confidence in Harris. And he advised her to speak directly to the American people and to not "cram so much data in your head that you're trying to remember the data and not listening for the opportunity."

After Virginia Rep. Bob Good lost a tight re-election primary, his time as head of the rabble-rousing House Freedom Caucus is coming to a close. The outgoing Republican told fellow members last night that they would hold nominations for a new chair on Friday and that his tenure atop the group would end then.

Good's chairmanship actually diminished the group’s ranks — kicking out Rep. Warren Davidson, R-Ohio, because Davidson endorsed his challenger in the primary. That prompted Rep. Troy Nehls, R-Texas, to drop out of the group to show his disapproval. 

The pending leadership change comes amid a government funding fight. The caucus has laid out staunch parameters on it and will need to be in close touch with GOP leadership. 

A new Harris-Walz campaign ad features former President Barack Obama knocking trump over his “weird obsession” with crowd sizes during his speech at the Democratic National Convention last month, in which he also made a hand gesture that drew laughter from the crowd.

In the ad, titled “Crowd Size," Obama decries trump for “whining about his problems” such as his “weird obsession with crowd sizes.” trump has falsely claimed that Harris has manipulated photos to make crowds at her campaign rallies appear larger.

"This weird obsession with crowd sizes ... it just goes on, and on, and on,” Obama says. “America’s ready for a new chapter. We are ready for a President Kamala Harris.”

In a statement, Harris-Walz communications director Michael Tyler said voters can expect tonight’s presidential debate to “present the stark choice Americans will face at the ballot box: between Vice President Harris who is fighting for the people to make our lives better, and the guy who can’t seem to stop obsessing about himself and the size of his crowds.”

Walz will deliver remarks at a campaign reception in Las Vegas at 12:30 p.m. ET and then attend a political engagement in the city.

He is scheduled to arrive in Phoenix at 2 p.m. ET and will join a series of political engagements there in the afternoon before delivering remarks at an event at 8:30 p.m. ET.

trump will arrive at the Philadelphia International Airport around 6:30 p.m. ET tonight before the presidential debate at 9 p.m. ET.

Vance will take part in a closed press fundraiser in Greenville, North Carolina, and a closed press debate watch party in Philadelphia hosted by Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley and Co-chair Lara trump.

Following the debate, trump’s running mate is expected to be in the spin room on behalf of the campaign.

New Hampshire voters will head to the polls today for a primary that will set up the matchup for one of just two governor’s races in presidential battleground states this year.

On the Republican side, former Sen. Kelly Ayotte has a substantial polling lead against former state Senate President Chuck Morse in the race to replace outgoing GOP Gov. Chris Sununu. As for the Democrats, former Manchester Mayor Joyce Craig will face off against Cinde Warmington, a former health care lobbyist and a member of the state’s Executive Council, in what polls show is a relatively close race.

In addition to North Carolina, New Hampshire is the only other swing state to hold a race for governor this election cycle. Reproductive rights, housing costs and the opioid crisis have already emerged as the most prominent themes for the November general election, which the nonpartisan Cook Political Report with Amy Walter has rated as a “toss-up.”

Read the full story here.

It was 2019, and the second Democratic presidential primary debate was unfolding in Detroit when then-Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii went for the jugular. 

Gabbard didn’t target Biden, who at the time was the front-runner. 

She turned instead to Harris, then the junior senator from California, and unleashed a bitter attack that took her prosecutorial record apart in detail.

Read the full story here.

It’s not too surprising that the latest national New York Times/Siena College poll finds a razor-close contest between trump and Harris. After all, most national and battleground polls have had the race within the margin of error.

It’s also not surprising that trump has the advantage on the economy and immigration, while Harris is ahead on abortion, as other polls show.

But what is surprising in the survey is that trump is winning the “change” argument, which could very well be important in deciding this contest between a former president and a sitting vice president. 

Read the full story here.

People who went on summer vacation the day of the last presidential debate might not believe their eyes when they watch the next one.

Tonight’s debate between Harris and trump is the culmination of 75 days of utter and unprecedented campaign chaos — and the beginning of a 55-day race to Election Day through equally uncharted waters.

“It’s like running a 5K after riding the Tilt-A-Whirl: The world is spinning and you have to quickly figure out which end is up,” said Democratic strategist Jared Leopold.

Read the full story here.

The presidential debate in June pitted trump against an enfeebled Biden, who flopped so badly that he was forced to drop out of the race.

The sequel unfolds tonight in Philadelphia, with a much younger Harris hoping to flip the script and expose trump as the aging candidate unfit to lead.

trump faces a different challenge. Will he be disciplined enough to forgo the familiar insults and gripes that risk pushing away voters who aren’t part of his loyal base? Can he stick to issues and possibly gain ground by painting Harris as a flip-flopper for having changed her stances on health care and energy policies?

Read the full story here.

Allies of trump see tonight’s debate as a pivotal moment for the Republican presidential nominee — a chance to shore up support and turn the corner from Harris’ post-nomination “honeymoon.”

“Failure would give people permission to leave,” said a former adviser, adding that trump must clear a bar set by his own performance against Hillary Clinton in the second presidential debate of 2016, when he was seen as taking her to task on policy issues and skipped the rage-infused language of his stump speech.

Read the full story here.

The Democratic National Committee plans a large youth voter push in Philadelphia today by urging area college students to “Google Project 2025” in a concerted effort to energize Gen Z registered voters ahead of the presidential debate, according to a memo shared first with NBC News.

The DNC plans to target 100,000 students through campus kiosks, mobile billboards and flyers tying trump to Project 2025, an outline of far-right policy proposals created as a blueprint for the next Republican president.

“Young people in Philadelphia have the power to make a difference in this election,” DNC Deputy Communications Director Abhi Rahman said in a statement. “As students in Philadelphia return to campus, Democrats are making sure they know that their future hangs in the balance this November.”