What's happening on the campaign trail today:
- The judge overseeing Donald trump's New York criminal trial delayed the former president's sentencing from Sept. 18 until after the November election.
- Separately, trump's lawyers also delivered arguments this morning appealing the first E. Jean Carroll verdict against him. The former president followed his court appearance in that case with lengthy remarks claiming Carroll fabricated her claim that he sexually assaulted her decades ago, despite his having been found liable for sexually abusing and defaming the writer.
- Former Vice President Dick Cheney, a Republican, confirmed today that he's backing Vice President Kamala Harris' campaign after his daughter announced his choice for president earlier in the day. The Cheneys join a list of Republicans who say they have ideological differences with Harris but are more concerned about another trump presidency.
- Harris is in Pittsburgh today as she continues to prepare for next week's debate. Both campaigns agreed to the terms of the debate Wednesday after protracted negotiations.
Senate GOP campaign chair asks for more resources to win big battlegrounds
Reporting from Las Vegas
Montana Sen. Steve Daines came to Vegas with an ask: The chair of the Senate GOP campaign arm wants more money to turn the chamber red.
“We’ve got a great map, the best map in a decade,” Daines told a crowd of hundreds at the Republican Jewish Coalition Summit, an annual gathering of Jewish community leaders, donors, and GOP politicians.
“Kamala Harris can’t do much of anything well [but] they do know how to raise money,” said Daines. “We need your help to close the fundraising gap,” he added, asking for donations.
Iranian cyber operation targeting the trump campaign is likely still underway, FBI official says
Iran’s cyber operation targeting the trump campaign is likely still active, an FBI official said today, even after U.S. officials and tech firms exposed a successful Iranian hack.
Iran and other foreign adversaries are seeking to shape the outcome of the upcoming election and Tehran will probably continue the operation as part of its broader goals aimed at undermining America’s democratic process, said the FBI official, who spoke on condition of anonymity along with intelligence officials at a briefing for reporters.
“They will likely still have that kind of longer-term strategic interest in that type of activity,” the FBI official said, referring to the recent hack. “They may just have to reconstitute or pivot to different access points and kind of make tweaks to how they are conducting those operations.”
Georgia’s secretary of state is touring the state to check on voting equipment and assure voters that the November election will be fair and secure, despite new doubts being raised by trump. NBC News’ Julia Ainsley reports.
Two major PACs launch Spanish-language ad for Harris
Two major super PACs launched a multi-million dollar ad campaign today as Harris appeals to Latinos — a key voting bloc in this election.
Somos PAC and Future Forward announced a $5.25 million ad campaign focusing on Latino voters in battleground states Nevada and Arizona.
The campaign kicked off this afternoon with a Spanish-language ad called "Nadie Le Regaló Nada," or "No One Gifted Her Anything," portraying Harris as a daughter of immigrants who had to fight to get ahead, while depicting trump as a "privileged" person who had "everything fall into his lap" and bankrupted small businesses.
"Kamala Harris is someone like us," the Spanish-language ad concludes, furthering her appeal to Latinos.
Somos PAC and Future Forward said the ad would focus on the "economy, cost of living and other issues of top concern for Latino voters."
trump accuser says his comments about her show he's 'unraveling'
A woman who testified in the E. Jean Carroll case that trump had groped her on an airplane in 1979 said his comments about her at a press event today show he's "unraveling."
"I really think it’s obvious that trump is getting to the point that there is so much against him that he is unraveling in front of us and it is terribly unfortunate,” Jessica Leeds said in a statement after a press event where he attacked her and other women who've accused him of sexual misconduct.
Leeds testified last year that trump started kissing her and grabbing her breast after she was seated next to him on a flight and they started chatting. It was “like he had 40 zillion hands,” she testified. trump's lawyers argued to appeals court today that Leeds' testimony in the Carroll case should not have been allowed.
trump has denied her account, which he brought up unsolicited while addressing reporters at trump Tower, suggesting he was already famous because of his book "The Art of the Deal," which came out in 1987.
"She made up the story," he said. "She said I was making out with her. And then, after 15 minutes, and then she changed her story a couple of times, maybe it was quicker. That I grabbed her at a certain part. And that was when she had enough. Now, so, think of how, the impracticality of this," he added. "What are the chances of that happening? What are the chances?"
"And, frankly, I know you’re going to say it’s a terrible thing to say, but, it couldn’t have happened. It didn’t happen. And, she would not have been the chosen one. She would not have been the chosen one," trump said.
Gwen Walz criticizes Vance over Georgia shooting remark at Phoenix rally
Tim Walz's wife, Gwen Walz, criticized Vance over a remark he made at a rally in Phoenix yesterday, that he regretted that gun violence in schools was a "fact of life."
In a post on X this afternoon, Gwen Walz criticized Vance by name, suggesting that he and others were normalizing gun violence in schools.
"As a mom and educator, I refuse to let people like JD Vance normalize gun violence in our schools," she wrote. "Kamala Harris is right — it doesn’t have to be this way. For the safety of our kids, we must act to prevent gun violence."
Commenting on the shooting at a Georgia high school that left four people dead this week, Vance said yesterday, “No parent should have to deal with this. No child should have to deal with this," and argued that measures were needed to make gun violence in schools "less common," but said that strict gun laws were not the solution.
“I don’t like that this is a fact of life,” Vance said at the time.
Biden speaks with Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp after school shooting
Biden has spoken with Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp about Wednesday's mass shooting at Apalachee High School, according to White House spokesperson Emilie Simons.
The president shared his condolences and said that "his prayers are with the devastated families that have lost loved ones, and offered additional assistance to help the community recover from this tragedy," Simons said.
trump appears to refer to attack on Nancy Pelosi's husband
trump appeared to refer today to the attack on Paul Pelosi, former Speaker Nancy Pelosi's husband.
“Kamala Harris and the radical liberals force anarchy on the American people while they, they live in safety, in many cases, behind walls. You know that?" he began his remarks to law enforcement in North Carolina. "Nancy Pelosi has a big wall wrapped around her house. Of course, it didn’t help too much with the problem she had, did it?"
NBC News has reached out to the trump campaign and Pelosi's office for comment.
In 2022, Pelosi's husband was attacked with a hammer at the couple's California home. Paul Pelosi suffered a skull fracture and serious injuries to his right arm and hands, a Pelosi spokesperson said after the attack.
Former Vice President Dick Cheney says he'll vote for Harris
Former Vice President Dick Cheney announced today that he will cast his ballot for Harris this fall, confirming news that was first made public by his daughter, former Rep. Liz Cheney, earlier in the day.
Both Cheneys are Republicans, and the elder served under President George W. Bush. The younger Cheney, who endorsed Harris this week, has become one of trump’s most prominent conservative critics.
“In our nation’s 248-year history, there has never been an individual who is a greater threat to our republic than Donald trump,” Dick Cheney said in a statement. “He tried to steal the last election using lies and violence to keep himself in power after the voters had rejected him. He can never be trusted with power again.”
“As citizens, we each have a duty to put country above partisanship to defend our Constitution. That is why I will be casting my vote for Vice President Kamala Harris,” he added.
Lorraine Bracco, Robert De Niro, Nancy Pelosi to headline 'Paisans for Kamala' call
A star-studded group of Italian Americans will join a call Sunday to boost support for Harris.
Among the expected attendees are "Sopranos" stars Lorraine Bracco and Steve Buscemi, actors Robert De Niro and Alyssa Milano, former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, as well as trump's former White House director of communications Anthony Scaramucci, known for his 10-day stint in the administration.
The group, "Paisans for Kamala," dubbed the call "Italian Sunday Dinner." De Blasio said on X that special guests would talk about what their heritage means to them and share their favorite dishes.
trump addresses sentencing postponement
trump addressed his sentencing hearing being postponed during his speech at the Fraternal Order of Police in Charlotte, North Carolina.
He argued that it was postponed because people realized "there was no case," leaning into his typical attack lines calling the case against him a "witch hunt."
Judge Juan Merchan, however, did not say sentencing was delayed because "there was no case."
Friday’s job report underscores the severity of America’s child care crisis
Friday’s job report showed unmistakable signs of a weakening labor market.
Buried in the report was another warning about an exploding problem now being vigorously debated ahead of November’s election.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the share of Americans who were absent from work because of child care difficulties matched the all-time record for August. While the dataset has shown large monthly swings and is on a largely downward trend, it remains well above the peaks seen in the pre-pandemic period.
At the same time, employment in child care services has not been nearly enough to match the demand, according to Julia Pollak, chief economist at ZipRecruiter, who highlighted the statistic in a note following Friday’s job report.
Texas AG Ken Paxton sues another county over voter registration push
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has filed a lawsuit against Travis County, home to the city of Austin, attempting to quash their plans to encourage voter registration.
The county hired a third-party group in August to identify unregistered Texans so they can be encouraged to register to vote, but Paxton alleged the group was partisan and the county didn’t have the authority to do this.
“Travis County has blatantly violated Texas law by paying partisan actors to conduct unlawful identification efforts to track down people who are not registered to vote,” said Attorney General Paxton today in a press release. “Programs like this invite fraud and reduce public trust in our elections. We will stop them and any other county considering such programs.”
"We remain steadfast in our responsibility to uphold the integrity of the voter registration process while ensuring that every eligible person has the opportunity to exercise their right to vote," said Hector Nieto, a spokesperson for Travis County. "It is disappointing that any statewide elected official would prefer to sow distrust and discourage participation in the electoral process.”
Today’s filing follows a similar suit against Bexar County, which Paxton filed earlier this week. Paxton, a Republican, has made voter fraud a central part of his legal agenda, despite the fact that years of work have resulted in little proof of fraud and few trials.
There are mechanisms to prevent ineligible voters from registering to vote. Voter registration forms in Texas ask voters for their Texas driver’s license number, or the last four digits of their social security number, which are later verified by the Secretary of State’s office before the voter can be registered.
See trump and Harris’ paths to 270 electoral votes — and build your own
trump and Vice President Kamala Harris are hunting for votes with two months to go in the presidential race. Specifically, they’re hunting for electoral votes — and the different paths to victory through the core battleground states.
You can map them all out yourself with NBC News’ “Road to 270” tool, an interactive electoral map that shows off the different routes to an all-important total of, you guessed it, 270 electoral votes needed to win the presidency.
Vance declines to rule out the use of family separation if trump is re-elected
Reporting from the U.S.-Mexico border in San Diego
Pressed by reporters on certain campaign policies pertaining to border security, Vance declined to rule out the use of family separation policies from former President Donald trump’s first term in office if he were to return to the White House.
As he stood in the shadow of a portion of the border wall during a visit today to the U.S.-Mexico border, the VP candidate told NBC News: “Every time that somebody’s arrested for a crime, that’s family separation. If a guy commits gun violence and is taken to prison, that’s family separation, which, of course, is tragic for the children, but you’ve got to prosecute criminals, and you have to enforce the law.”
“The real family separation policy is when you don’t enforce the border," Vance added.
In the middle of his discussion with reporters, a sizable beetle landed on him after first menacing the assembled press corps. After pausing to swat the bug away, Vance turned back to the discussion at hand with a joke.
“That’s what we need to keep from coming across the southern border here,” he quipped. “We need to build the wall higher, because that was a scary ass bug.”
During the trip, Vance's second trip to the border, he briefly visited with officials before touring a portion of the border wall abutting Tijuana. The vice presidential hopeful made the unannounced trip this morning between different campaign and fundraising events in California scheduled for today and through the weekend.
Vance also said he would still appear at a pre-scheduled public event with Tucker Carlson later this month, despite the conservative media personality recently coming under fire for hosting a Holocaust-denying guest on his show.
“I believe, agree or disagree with anything that Tucker Carlson or his guests say, we believe in free speech,” Vance said, declining to directly criticize Carlson and going on to say that he believes “the best way to ensure” that an atrocity like the Holocaust does not happen again “is to debate and push back against bad ideas.”
“I really believe that the more you censor ideas instead of fight back against them, the more you give those ideas power,” he said.
Fraternal Order of Police endorses trump
The Fraternal Order of Police has endorsed trump for president, after its members voted for that official support today.
“Public safety and border security will be important issues in the last months of this campaign,” said the organization's president, Patrick Yoes, in a statement shared by the trump campaign.
“Our members carefully considered the positions of the candidates on the issues and there was no doubt—zero doubt—as to who they want as our President for the next four years: Donald J. trump," he added.
Yoes praised trump's record as president in his support for law enforcement and border security.
The Fraternal Order of Police has 377,000 members, Yoes said, and it endorsed trump for president in 2016 and 2020.
"He led our nation through some very tough times,” Yoes said. “He provided our nation with strong, effective leadership during his first term, and now that he is seeking election to a second term, we intend to help him win it.”
Manhattan DA's office reacts to postponement of trump's sentencing
The Manhattan DA's office said in a new statement that it will be ready for the sentencing of former President trump, which Judge Merchan said today will be delayed until Nov. 26, after the presidential election.
“A jury of 12 New Yorkers swiftly and unanimously convicted Donald trump of 34 felony counts. The Manhattan D.A.’s Office stands ready for sentencing on the new date set by the court," a spokesperson for DA Alvin Bragg said.
RFK Jr. lawsuit delays mail ballots in North Carolina
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. won an appeal over having his name removed from the North Carolina's presidential ballot, delaying the expected mailing of the state’s absentee ballots today.
It’s unclear if this ruling, which reverses a lower court’s denial, will be appealed. But it will at least temporarily delay the distribution of mail ballots.
As a third-party presidential candidate, Kennedy had fought to secure ballot access in North Carolina. But after he dropped out of the race and endorsed former President Donald trump, he sought to remove himself as an option for voters, as polling indicates his presence on the ballot could hurt the Republican nominee.
Judge denies trump's motion to stay the rejection of his bid to move the hush money case to federal court
U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein has denied trump's motion to stay the earlier rejection of trump's effort to move the New York hush money case to federal court.
trump had asked on Tuesday to file a second notice of removal of the state prosecution, Hellerstein said.
"Because Mr. trump had not shown good cause, I denied that motion, and the case remains in the New York State Supreme Court," he wrote.
Judge delays trump sentencing in hush money case
A New York judge has delayed former President trump‘s sentencing on felony criminal charges until Nov. 26.
Judge Juan Merchan handed down the ruling today after trump’s attorneys had asked him to postpone the Sept. 18 sentencing until after the election in order to allow them to be in position to appeal a pending ruling involving presidential immunity.
That ruling is expected by Sept. 16 — just two days before what would have been the first ever sentencing of a former president on criminal charges. trump was convicted in May on 34 counts of falsifying business records related to a hush money payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels near the end of the 2016 presidential campaign.
“A single business day is an unreasonably short period of time” for such an appeal, trump attorneys Todd Blanche and Emil Bove argued in an Aug. 14 filing. “There is no basis for continuing to rush,” they contended.
Rep. Stefanik files another complaint about the judge overseeing trump's criminal case
Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., sent a new complaint to the New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct today about the judge overseeing trump's New York criminal trial.
The letter, shared first with NBC News, alleges that Judge Juan Merchan may have a conflict because his daughter is the president of Authentic, a digital consulting firm that Stefanik says was paid by the Harris campaign for web hosting services.
Merchan is expected to rule today on whether to delay trump's sentencing until after the election.
In the letter, Stefanik claims that the judicial code of conduct "dictates that a judge must recuse from a case where a relative up to and including the sixth degree has a financial interest in the outcome of the case."
Stefanik adds, "Ms. Merchan is related to Justice Merchan in the first degree."
Stefanik filed a separate complaint against Merchan with the commission in May, which was rejected in July.
Representatives for the court, Authentic and the Harris campaign did not immediately return a request for comment.
trump appears in court to appeal the E. Jean Carroll verdict
trump ends remarks without taking questions
The former president ended his remarks, which were initially billed as a news conference, without taking any questions from reporters. He spoke for nearly an hour about his appeal of the E. Jean Carroll verdict and about other allegations and cases against him, claiming they are all part of an election interference effort being perpetrated by his political enemies.
trump rants about E. Jean Carroll sexual misconduct verdict, other women's accusations
trump has been ranting for nearly 50 minutes now about the E. Jean Caroll case that he's appealing, again claiming he doesn't know her despite his being found liable for sexually abusing and defaming her and having to post more than $91 million in bond money to cover the damages against him.
"It’s an appeal of a ridiculous verdict of a woman I have never met," trump said at trump Tower during an event that was originally billed as a press conference.
"She wrote a book and made a ridiculous story up," he said. "This is a disgraceful case, it’s about a former president of the United States who is now leading in the polls to be president again."
Without naming her, he also referred to Jessica Leeds, who, when he was president, accused trump of groping her on a plane in the 1970s.
"It's a total lie," trump said about her allegations.
In his remarks, trump also denied a claim by former People reporter Natasha Stoynoff that he sexually assaulted her at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida in 2005.
trump and Carroll were both present at appeal arguments
trump walked by the writer he was found liable of sexually abusing and defaming in the Manhattan appeals court today, but did not acknowledge her.
Also in court for the brief 20 minutes of arguments was Carol Martin, a friend of Carroll's who testified at trial that the writer had told her about the alleged trump assault in a Manhattan department store when it happened in the 1990s.
trump, who sat behind his attorneys in the courtroom, did not respond to a question from a reporter after the proceeding was over. He's holding a press conference this morning.
Harris is participating in extended mock debate prep through Monday
Harris began extended mock debate sessions yesterday in preparation for the presidential debate against trump on Tuesday, two sources familiar with the planning told NBC News.
The vice president will continue the mock debate preparation through Monday and has been participating in lengthy question-and-answer sessions and reading briefing books prepared by staff, three sources said.
Two sources said Harris wants to expose what they say are trump's flaws, including the possibility that he will make a lot of false statements, get information mixed up, and stumble in his responses.
trump lawyers make arguments appealing E. Jean Carroll verdict
A New York City appeals court panel heard arguments this morning in trump's appeal of the E. Jean Carroll verdict finding the former president liable for sexual abuse and defamation, with trump appearing in court for the hearing.
trump attorney John Sauer told a three-judge panel of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that the finding was flawed because the judge improperly allowed in evidence he should not have, including testimony about two other women who claimed they'd been sexually assaulted by trump, and the so-called "Access Hollywood" tape, a 2005 hot mic recording where he boasted about being able to grab women by the genitals without their consent.
Sauer argued the jury was "tainted" by that evidence. Carroll's lawyer, Roberta Kaplan, said the judge was right to allow in that testimony and the jury still would have found in her client's favor regardless.
The judges will rule on the appeal at another date.
Harris campaign and allies raised $361 million in August, campaign says
The Harris campaign and its allies have raised a combined $361 million in August, the campaign announced in a press release today. The team also reported that they have $404 million in cash on hand.
NBC News cannot independently verify the numbers, as the most recent batch of Federal Election Commission data is not made available until later this month.
About 1.3 million of the donors supporting Harris' election efforts in August were making their first donation this cycle, the campaign said. The campaign also noted that 95% of all August donations were for amounts less than $200.
"As we enter the final stretch of this election, we’re making sure every hard-earned dollar goes to winning over the voters who will decide this election," campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez said in the press release. "Make no mistake: this election will be hard-fought and hard-won. But with the undeniable, organic support we are seeing, we are making sure we are doing everything possible to mobilize our coalition to defeat Donald trump once and for all."
88 corporate leaders, including CEOs of Yelp and Box, endorse Harris
Eighty-eight current and former top executives from across corporate America have endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris for president in a new letter shared exclusively with CNBC.
Among the signers are several high-profile CEOs of public companies, including Aaron Levie of Box, Jeremy Stoppelman of Yelp and Michael Lynton, chairman of Snap, Inc.
Other signers appear to be issuing their first public endorsements of Harris since she became the de facto Democratic nominee in July. They include James Murdoch, the former CEO of 21st Century Fox and an heir to the Murdoch family media empire, and crypto executive Chris Larsen, co-founder of the Ripple blockchain platform.
With coat drives and concerts, Harris and trump tackle winning over swing voters
trump’s campaign hopes to sway persuadable voters at personal finance workshops and concerts. Harris’ political aides think a coat drive may help their candidate do the same.
With two months left until Election Day, the two camps are spending cash, time and energy on one of the most difficult tasks in modern elections: finding and winning over the tiny fraction of voters who live in one of the seven battleground states and haven’t yet picked a side — or, in some cases, haven’t even decided whether to vote.
Republicans zero in on planned EV battery plant in Michigan to hit Democrats on China in battleground state
BIG RAPIDS, Mich. — Last fall, voters angry about plans to build an electric vehicle battery plant in their rural community in central Michigan turned their ire on the township board that supported the project, ousting five of the seven board members in a recall election.
It could have been all seven, Lori Brock, an area real estate agent who helped lead the effort, said. But two members resigned ahead of time. “They knew they were going to get recalled,” she said.
Back then, the political debate over Gotion Inc., a U.S.-based subsidiary of a Chinese company that acknowledges its association with the Communist Party of China, was parochial, playing out in Green Charter Township and surrounding areas. Now, it’s playing out in the race for the White House as a fusion of two issues central to Republican messaging — the rise of China as a geopolitical adversary and the emergence of electric vehicles — in a critical battleground state.
As the presidential debate is near, NBC News’ Dasha Burns examines the history of trump’s performances during debates.
Harris faces her ‘toughest’ battleground fight against trump in Pennsylvania
The entire presidential election may come down to just one state: Pennsylvania.
And it’s setting up to be the trickiest battleground for Harris to win.
“It’s going to be the toughest swing state,” said J.J. Abbott, a Democratic strategist in the state working on an outside effort to boost Harris. “Of the three blue wall states, it’s the most diverse in terms of the kinds of places” a candidate must compete in to be successful.
A second Democratic operative in the state simply said the race there will “be a nail-biter.”
Democrats and Republicans have dumped more advertising dollars into Pennsylvania than any other battleground state, underscoring its importance. Polling there shows a tighter contest now than at this time in 2016 between trump and Hillary Clinton, or in 2020 between trump and Joe Biden. trump significantly outperformed polling averages both cycles, narrowly beating Clinton and losing to Biden by a similarly slim margin.
Judge Juan Merchan expected to rule today on trump's request to postpone sentencing
The Manhattan district attorney’s office said in a letter to an appeals court last night that Judge Juan Merchan is expected to rule today on trump’s lawyers’ motion to postpone his sentencing until after the election.
trump had been scheduled to face a sentencing hearing Sept. 18, but the former president asked for it to be pushed back.
Preparation, pitfalls and breaking the fourth wall: Takeaways from a decade of Harris debates
Harris has been thinking about Tuesday’s debate against trump for a long time.
“What we need is someone who is going to be on that debate stage with Donald trump and defeat him by being able to prosecute the case against four more years,” the vice president said in July 2019 during a CNN Democratic presidential primary debate. “And let me tell you, we’ve got a long rap sheet,” she added.