Election 2024 live updates: Harris rallies in Michigan; Trump holds town hall in North Carolina

Harris, who failed to earn the endorsement of the firefighters' union yesterday, wrapped up a shaky week in her efforts to make inroads with the labor force by attempting to score points with unionized workers in Michigan.

In remarks at the Redford Township Fire Department in Detroit today, Harris blasted Trump on labor, calling him a "union buster" while touting her own support for them.

“Donald Trump’s track record is a disaster for working people, and he’s trying to gaslight people all over our country, but we know the facts and we know the truth. He is an existential threat to America’s labor movement,” Harris said.

The jobs report released today found the U.S. in September added 254,000 jobs last month and decreased unemployment rate, from 4.2% in August, to 4.1%.

The strong jobs report took economists, who expected bleaker results, by surprise. But that didn't stop Trump from claiming that the U.S. is bleeding jobs, saying during an interview on Fox Business with Larry Kudlow that "all we do is lose jobs."

Trump claimed that those who are in the country illegally are taking jobs away from U.S. citizens.

Speaking to supporters in Flint, Michigan, Harris underscored the importance of clean water, touching on the headline-making crisis from 10 years ago after it was reported that the city's water supply was tainted with lead.

The crisis in the impoverished city became an allegory of the ways in which government mismanagement can be dangerous — and even lethal — to communities of color.

Harris said to Flint voters today that the water crisis fell into a list of rights on which there is a "full-on assault," placing it among the likes of voting rights, marriage equality, labor rights and gun control.

"Flint, you know all too well, Flint, that clean water should be a right for everyone, not just for the people who can afford it," Harris said. "And as president, I will continue to work with communities like Flint to ensure you not only have clean water, but the opportunity to recover economically and thrive."

Harris lauded this morning's jobs report showing the economy added 254,000 jobs last month, eclipsing forecasts that it would add 150,000 jobs.

"Our economy is making good progress. Just this morning, we got a solid jobs report, right?" Harris said to applause from the Flint, Michigan, crowd.

The vice president also celebrated the Federal Reserve recently cutting interest rates and touted her economic proposals, including a plan to have the federal government give $25,000 to first-time homebuyers.

Harris plans to briefly meet with Muslim and Arab American leaders ahead of her rally in Flint, Michigan, this evening, a person familiar with the meeting confirmed to NBC News.

Details of the meeting were first reported by CNN. 

The meeting comes a day after Harris’ running mate, Gov. Tim Walz, met virtually with Emgage Action, a Democratic Muslim voting group. The campaign also yesterday launched its “Arab Americans for Harris-Walz” coalition group.

On Wednesday, Phil Gordon, a national security adviser for the vice president, met virtually with Muslim, Arab and Palestinian leaders from across the country. Per the White House, he discussed the latest developments in the Middle East; underscored the Biden-Harris administration’s efforts to bring the war in Gaza to an end through a cease-fire and hostage release deal, which the administration said would relieve the humanitarian crisis in Gaza; and expressed concern for civilians in Lebanon.

Mondaire Jones, the Democrat challenging Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., responded today to the report that Lawler wore blackface in college, saying his rival’s apology is insincere and he’s only “upset because he got caught doing it.”

Jones tore into Lawler in a phone interview with NBC News as the two are locked in a competitive race to represent a district north of New York City, one that could play an important role in deciding which party wins the House majority this fall.

“It’s horrifying,” Jones said. “In 2006 it was very well established that wearing blackface was offensive, so there was no excuse for it. In fact, in 2019 Mike Lawler himself very loudly and publicly criticized then Gov. Ralph Northam [of Virginia] for doing the same thing."

Hours before Harris takes the stage built on the floor of a minor league hockey arena in Flint, Michigan, where former President Trump held a town hall in September, the stage is set quite similarly. But almost everything else feels different.

Attendees in the “best” seats near the stage say they arrived nearly seven hours before Harris’ scheduled remarks to secure a place in line. They seem to be, by and large, just as enthusiastic as Trump early-arrivals, but about different things.

In place of the eclectic Trump playlist of show tunes, oldies and disco dance hits, today a DJ spins modern pop hits and hypes up the crowd with wedding MC vibes. Harris attendees wobble. Trump attendees do the YMCA. 

On the purely political — signs at the Harris event urge supporters to text the campaign or scan a QR code to volunteer or purchase merchandise — the entrance to the Dort Financial Center is used to pass out glowing wrist bands at Harris — not tables to sign up Trump Force 47 volunteers or collect registration data.

Former President Donald Trump falsely claimed in a social media post today that he had been endorsed by longtime JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon.

A representative for Dimon said he hasn’t endorsed anyone in the 2024 presidential race, and Trump quickly tried to distance himself from the claim.

Trump first posted about the endorsement on his Truth Social account at around 2 p.m. ET, using what appeared to be a screenshot of a news story from an unidentified outlet saying, “New: Jamie Dimon, the CEO of JPMorgan Chase, has endorsed Trump for President.”

In remarks after a campaign event in Georgia, Vance fielded a question about Melania Trump’s memoir-related comments in support of reproductive rights.

“Melania is entitled to her own views. In the same way the people of Georgia are entitled to their own views,” Vance said. While he admires the former first lady, he said, her opinion will not “change how I talk about this issue or how the campaign talks about the issue.” 

Basketball legend Earvin "Magic" Johnson will appear with Harris at a Flint, Michigan rally today, two sources familiar with the Harris campaign told NBC News.

Johnson, who was born in Lansing, endorsed Harris for president last month and campaigned for Biden in Michigan in 2020.

Michigan's Attorney General Dana Nessel, a Democrat, said today that four people voted twice in Michigan's Aug. 6 primary elections and that three assistant clerks — paid officials, not volunteers — were charged for ignoring systemic warnings signs and allowing the double-voting to occur.

The four votes were counted but did not affect the outcome of the election, Nessel said.

The four individuals voted once by mail and once in person. According to Nessel, an electronic poll book warned workers that the voters had already cast absentee ballots, at which point clerks would have had to provide the voters with another ballot and illegally alter the voter file without making an effort to ensure the other ballot had not been counted.

In remarks at a firehouse in Detroit, Michigan, Harris touted the September jobs report that created 250,000 jobs last month.

“We got a solid jobs report, over 250,000 jobs created last month, unemployment fell, and just a few weeks ago, the Federal Reserve cut down interest rates, which is going to be great for a lot of folks, but there’s still more work we need to do. Prices for everyday things like groceries are still too high,” she said.

She also applauded the end of the dock workers' strike, saying that they now have another example of the "power of collective bargaining" because the "longshoremen and the U.S. Maritime Alliance came together, ended a strike and reached an agreement on a record wage ... They did good. They did good."

Harris is campaigning today in Michigan, one of the critical battleground states up for grabs this November.

Democratic National Committee Chairman Jaime Harrison told reporters today that the party is committed to making sure that voters impacted by Hurricane Helene are able to vote in November's election.

Harrison expressed his "heartfelt condolences and prayers" to those affected, noting he is from the region.  

Asked on a Zoom call with reporters how the hurricane affects the party's approach to North Carolina, Harrison said he has been in touch with state party leaders who are in discussions about "mobile voting apparatuses and other things."

Harrison added that, as the national party chairman, he will work “to make sure that all the voters in these areas get the opportunity to exercise their right to vote.”

As he was leaving the press briefing room at the White House, Biden was asked whether he regrets dropping out of the presidential race.

In a joking tone, the president turned around and said, "I'm back in."

Addressing reporters in the White House briefing room, Biden said that he's "confident" the upcoming presidential election will "be free and fair."

"I don’t know whether it will be peaceful," he added, saying, "The things that Trump has said and the things that he said last time around when he didn’t like the outcome of the election were very dangerous."

Taking questions from the White House press briefing room, Biden addressed Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., who tweeted that today's jobs report had fake numbers.

"Let me be very careful here," Biden told reporters. "If you notice -- anything the MAGA Republicans don’t like, they call fake, anything. The job numbers are what the job numbers are. They’re real. They're sincere."

Earlier today, Trump campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt attacked Harris in a statement about the jobs report, saying the vice president "lied about creating 818,000 jobs and has destroyed the livelihoods of working class Americans."

Biden made a surprise appearance at the White House briefing for the first time in his presidency this afternoon.

The president is taking questions from reporters from the briefing room podium.

The House task force investigating the two assassination attempts against Trump has requested documents from the federal government concerning the attempt on the former president on Sept. 15.

In a letter to the Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigations, the leaders of the task force, Reps. Mike Kelly, R-Pa., and Jason Crow, D-Colo., asked for all communications including emails, text messages and phone logs referring to the assassination attempt on Sept. 15.

They also requested all intelligence related to threats to Trump that were active, ongoing or unresolved on Sept. 15, as well as copies of the FBI's financial analyses of the suspect, Ryan Wesley Routh.

A drag queen who was included in a Trump campaign ad has suggested he may take legal action since he did not give the campaign permission to use the video of him.

The advertisement, released last week, highlights Vice President Kamala Harris’ support for transgender people and features her saying, in the 2020 campaign, that she would support giving trans inmates access to gender-affirming care. The ad also showed Harris posing for pictures with drag queen Pattie Gonia at a 2022 Pride Month event. 

“Kamala is for they, them,” a narrator says, referring to gender neutral pronouns commonly used by nonbinary people. “President Trump is for you.”

On Thursday, Pattie Gonia — whose real name is Wyn Wiley — posted a video on his social media accounts denouncing the ad.

NBC News interviewed three Arab American voters to learn who they’re voting for and why. Abu Ahmed al Iraqi, a retiree, said he’s thinking of voting for the Green Party this year because American foreign policy has lost its humanity. 

America needs some “balance between humanity" and politics, said al Iraqi, an Iraqi American who voted for Trump in 2016 and Biden in 2020.

“I don’t want my country, my politics, [to] stand beside Hamas, no," he said. "But at least, I want my kids, my family, [to ]see something, humanity, for United States, to save children, to save people." 

Dave McCormick, the Republican candidate taking on Democratic Sen. Bob Casey in Pennsylvania, spoke to NBC News about his performance at last night's debate and the allegation that he lives in Connecticut. 

McCormick said he thinks the debate showed a “contrast between what I believe is strength and weakness towards somebody who’s an outsider … versus somebody who’s literally a career politician.” He added that Casey represents “the status quo” and he represents “change” and “someone who’s going to shake things up.”

The comment mirrored his answer in last night's debate after the issue of his residency came up. When asked today by NBC News about the timeline of his moves, he said he bought a home and changed his residence to Pittsburgh in 2021, adding, “I no longer have a rental home, I no longer have any property in Connecticut.” 

But when pressed on when his lease in Connecticut ended, he said, “I am not going to get into specifics but I am no longer there.”

White House senior deputy press secretary Andrew Bates is pushing back on Republicans’ false claims about the federal response to Hurricane Helene in a new memo Friday.

"Some Republican leaders — and their partners in rightwing media — are using Hurricane Helene to lie and divide us. Their latest missive: baselessly claiming that FEMA is out of money to respond to Hurricane Helene — because of an existing program that supports cities and towns that are sheltering migrants ... This is FALSE," Bates wrote in the memo.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., falsely claimed on X last night that "they" can control the weather.

"Yes they can control the weather," she said in a post. "It’s ridiculous for anyone to lie and say it can’t be done."

The post did not explain what precisely the prominent congresswoman, who has a history of sharing conspiracy theories and is a close Trump ally, was speaking about.

A spokesperson for Greene did not immediately respond to a request for clarification about the post, including who “they” refers to and whether she was trying to suggest that Hurricane Helene was man-made.

Former Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., a staunch conservative and vocal critic of Trump, joined Harris to formally endorse the democratic nominee. Meanwhile, Melania Trump, according to a Guardian report, appears to defend abortion rights in an unreleased memoir. The "TODAY" show’s Peter Alexander breaks down what to expect.

Trump will participate in a roundtable with Latino leaders Tuesday morning, his campaign announced today.

The event will take place at Trump National Doral Miami and is set to happen before a Univision town hall taping in the city.

The economy keeps chugging along, adding 254,000 jobs in September, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That's well above the 150,000 adds economists had projected. The unemployment rate also declined to 4.1%. The job totals for July and August were also revised higher.

The numbers come as scrutiny on the economy sharpens with Election Day a month away and many Americans already voting through early ballots. Harris has touted the Biden-Harris administration's job-creation record during the Covid recovery, while Trump has sought to paint a solid economy as a disaster.

The next monthly jobs report is slated for Nov. 1, four days before Election Day.

The jobs report comes on the heels of another positive economic development: the suspension of a longshoremen's strike that had closed ports from Maine to Texas. A long work stoppage would have threatened progress in bringing down the rate of inflation, straining the economy during the holiday season. Instead, workers went back on the job this morning as negotiations resumed.

Days after she was in Georgia surveying the damage from Hurricane Helene, the vice president's office announced today that she would head to North Carolina, another site devastated by the hurricane, tomorrow.

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court today took up a series of new cases ahead of its new term, including a bid by gun companies to evade a lawsuit filed by the Mexican government and a workplace sex discrimination dispute over claims a woman was discriminated against because she is straight.

The court’s nine-month new term officially starts Monday.

Biden celebrated today's September jobs report in a statement, saying that it was "good news" for workers and families as there were 250,000 new jobs last month and an unemployment rate back down to 4.1%.

The president said that "unemployment remains low" and "wages are growing faster than prices."

"Under my Administration, unemployment has been the lowest in 50 years, a record 19 million new businesses have been created, and inflation and interest rates are falling," Biden said.

Former President Barack Obama is wading into the Senate race in Michigan, endorsing Democratic Rep. Elissa Slotkin and starring in a new ad for her as some voters start to receive absentee ballots in the critical state.

It’s the first time this election that voters will see a Senate ad from Obama as Democrats try to keep hold of the chamber, where they hold a 51-49 advantage. Slotkin is running against GOP former Rep. Mike Rogers to replace retiring Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow.

In the new ad, called “Make You Proud,” Obama underscores Slotkin’s national security experience before she represented Michigan’s 7th Congressional District. The roughly minutelong ad will appear digitally and on radio stations statewide.

Read the full story here.

Arizona Teamsters has endorsed Harris for president, a break from the union's national leadership which declined to endorse any candidate.

The Harris campaign announced that the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local Union 104, representing more than 9,600 members, has endorsed Harris for president and Walz for vice president. 

“This November the stakes are high. We need strong leadership that will support Labor and ensure we keep our seat at the table. We will continue to hold our elected officials accountable, protecting Teamster members and their families," the local union said.

The union announced last month that it wouldn't endorse a presidential candidate, which broke decades of precedent.

Vance is set to attend Trump’s return to the site of his first assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania, tomorrow, a campaign official told NBC News. 

Vance was not yet on the Republican ticket when the mid-July shooting took place, but he was named Trump’s running mate shortly thereafter at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.

Trump's claim at a rally yesterday in Michigan that the Biden administration diverted disaster relief funds to undocumented immigrants is "false," FEMA said on its specifically dedicated fact-check page.

“No money is being diverted from disaster response needs," the agency wrote. "FEMA’s disaster response efforts and individual assistance is funded through the Disaster Relief Fund, which is a dedicated fund for disaster efforts. Disaster Relief Fund money has not been diverted to other, non-disaster related efforts.”

FEMA added: “FEMA has enough money right now for immediate response and recovery needs. If you were affected by Helene, do not hesitate to apply for disaster assistance as there is a variety of help available for different needs.”

Trump said at his Michigan rally last night, “They stole the FEMA money, just like they stole it from a bank so they could give it to illegal immigrants that they want to have vote for them this season.”

WASHINGTON — Even as polling shows the presidential race is a toss-up, Harris has been running with a measure of risk aversion that some Democratic strategists and activists worry has failed to fully capitalize on the excitement surrounding her entry into the race in July.

Until this point, Harris has largely eschewed freewheeling interactions with voters like town hall-style events or interviews with the media that could offer a sense of her authentic self and make people more comfortable with her abrupt emergence at the top of the ticket, these Democrats say.

“They’re trying to keep her away,” Steve Shurtleff, a former Democratic speaker of the New Hampshire House of Representatives, said of the Harris campaign. “It’s like seeing your favorite Hollywood actor and then they’re on a talk show and they can’t even speak.

Tech billionaire Elon Musk posted on X this morning that he plans to attend Trump's rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, tomorrow.

It will be Trump's first time back at the site of the first assassination attempt against him July 13.

"I will be there to support!" Musk's post said.

House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., said last night that embattled New York Mayor Eric Adams should not resign following his indictment on federal corruption and bribery charges.

“No,” Jeffries said when asked by NBC News about the mayor during a campaign swing through Albuquerque, New Mexico. “My view is that Mayor Adams, like every other New Yorker and every other American, is entitled to the presumption of innocence and entitled to a trial by a jury of his peers who will ultimately determine his fate within the legal system.”

Jeffries added, “At the same time, it’s important for Mayor Adams to articulate to New Yorkers in a compelling way a plan and a path forward to ensure that the city is continuing to function and run in a manner that meets the needs of everyday New Yorkers and in a manner that New York City, which we believe is the greatest city in the world, deserves.”

Adams has pleaded not guilty to the charges.  

Trump is set to return to the site where he nearly lost his life in July, holding a rally tomorrow that his campaign and allies have hyped up as one of the biggest opportunities to boost his candidacy in the final weeks of the presidential race.

Trump’s rally in Butler, Pennsylvania — where he was shot in the ear by a would-be assassin who killed a rallygoer and injured others — will give him a spotlight for one of his rallies that has been more difficult for him to grab in recent years. 

Its importance is further heightened given its relevance in arguably the most pivotal swing state this fall — one both Trump and Harris are going all out to win.

“It’s a huge opportunity. It’ll be more covered than his typical rally these days,” a Trump ally who has worked in Pennsylvania predicted. 

Read the full story here.

Former President Barack Obama will campaign for Harris in Pittsburgh next week, his first foray into the election as a battleground-state surrogate.

The event, according to a senior Harris campaign official, will launch a larger effort by Obama, who intends to ramp up his campaigning for Harris in the final stretch of the election cycle.

Vice presidential candidate Tim Walz addressed a Democratic Muslim voter group last night as the Harris campaign works to engage a group of voters who threaten to defect in large numbers over the Biden administration’s handling of the deteriorating situation in the Middle East.

The virtual event, organized by Emgage Action, which endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris last week, was the most direct pitch yet to conflicted Muslim and Arab voters from her or Walz.

Read the full story here.

HARRISBURG, Pa. — Democratic Sen. Bob Casey went head to head with Republican challenger Dave McCormick in a bitter first debate last night that reflected the close nature and high stakes of a race that could help determine the balance of power in Washington.

The hourlong showdown touched on topics from the economy to abortion to energy — and it frequently got personal, as each candidate repeatedly tried to paint the other as a liar. Casey targeted questions about McCormick’s residency and his work as a hedge fund manager, while McCormick attacked Casey, a three-term incumbent, as a career politician who’s a rubber-stamp for Democratic leaders. 

“Probably the biggest lie told in the whole election,” Casey said, “was a lie when my opponent said he lived in Pennsylvania when he was living in Connecticut.”

Read the full story here.

The Republican Accountability PAC announced today that it is launching Business Leaders for Harris, which will feature high-profile executives pushing for Harris’ election.

The participants include Mark Cuban, a part-owner of the Dallas Mavericks; Reid Hoffman, a co-founder of LinkedIn; and Reed Hastings, a co-founder and executive chairman of Netflix.

“By amplifying the voices of business people who oppose Trump, the campaign is working to win over persuadable voters who may be on the fence about supporting Harris,” said the news release announcing the project. “Conservative-leaning swing voters who share traditional Republican views on economics are a critical constituency in 2024.”

Abortion-rights groups are targeting key battlegrounds in the final sprint before Election Day, zeroing in on Arizona and Nevada — where voters will not only help decide control of the White House and Congress, but will also decide whether to codify abortion protections with new ballot measures.

Reproductive Freedom for All, a political action and advocacy organization, is also surging resources to Pennsylvania, Michigan, Georgia and California, where it has people on the ground to swell support for pro-abortion-rights candidates and policies.

The group is holding 13 get out the vote events in the critical states this weekend, according to an announcement shared first with NBC News.

“Our electoral program and organizing operation is working non-stop to reach folks where they’re at — whether that be online or on the ground,” said Mini Timmaraju, the organization’s president and CEO.