September showdown: Former President Donald Trump said he has “reached an agreement” to participate in the September 10 debate with Harris on ABC. However, the Harris campaign maintained that discussions are ongoing over the muting of microphones.
Trump praises RFK Jr. but doesn't explicitly say whether he would have administration role
From CNN's Kit Maher
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. joins Donald Trump onstage at a rally in Glendale, Arizona, on August 23.
Rebecca Noble/Getty Images
Former President Donald Trump praised Robert F. Kennedy Jr. after earning his endorsement but didn’t explicitly say whether he would have a role in a potential second Trump administration.
CNN reported Tuesday that Kennedy was added to the Trump transition team.
Trump said Kennedy’s support can help his campaign “build up the margins” and said the election – which several polls suggest will be a tight race with Vice President Kamala Harris – could be a “landslide” for Republicans.
Trump agreed when Dr. Phil said there are many things Kennedy could offer in a potential Trump administration, suggesting something environmental or attorney general.
“That’s true,” Trump said.
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Georgia Democratic strategists and organizers say focusing on rural communities is crucial to win
From CNN's Eva McKend
Ahead of Vice President Kamala Harris and Governor Tim Walz’s bus tour in southern Georgia, Democratic strategists and organizers see a real opportunity to reach voters in the rural pockets of the state.
Butler said the voters Harris encounters on the tour will primarily want to hear about how the Harris-Walz ticket will work to improve their lives from an economic standpoint.
This means a message grounded in reducing inflation and advancing affordable health care, Butler said.
Democratic strategist Fred Hicks says Democrats can’t afford to overlook any part of the state.
“In order to make Georgia truly competitive and give yourself any kind of breathing room, they’re going to need to get votes, drive up Democratic votes outside of Metro Atlanta,” Hicks said.
The veteran strategist says he’s watching how Walz, in particular, connects with voters in the rural South.
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Trump says mail-in voting "shouldn't be allowed"
From CNN's Kit Maher
Workers count mail-in and in-person absentee ballots at the Wisconsin Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on November 8, 2022.
Scott Olson/Getty Images/File
Former president Donald Trump said mail-in voting “shouldn’t be allowed” and that Republicans must gain control of the government so they can change the rules.
Asked if Republicans should play by the rules, Trump said: “It shouldn’t be allowed. It’s a whole different mindset.”
Trump claimed that vote counting in Democratic California is dishonest.
Asked, again, if Republicans should play hard under the rules, Trump said:
Trump’s campaign and the RNC are encouraging their supporters to vote by mail. Today, they rolled out a GOTV tool, where Pennsylvania voters can request a mail-in ballot directly through SwampTheVoteUSA.com.
Trump tells Dr. Phil the president's job is "more dangerous" than that of a race car driver
From CNN's Kit Maher
Donald Trump speaks with Dr. Phil on August 23.
Dr. Phil/Merit Street
In the second part of his interview with Dr. Phil, which was taped Friday, former President Donald Trump spoke about his assassination attempt.
Trump said that “being president is a dangerous job.”
Trump also said President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris are to blame for the assassination attempt to a “certain extent” because they “weaponized” the government against him.
There is no evidence that either Biden or Harris were involved in Trump’s assassination attempt.
Trump also said that Democratic rhetoric could have contributed to the assassination attempt against him – particularly calling him a threat to democracy, which he says he is “just the opposite.”
“That was a standard line, just keep saying it,” Trump said. “That can get assassins or potential assassins going.”
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Gov. Brian Kemp will help fundraise for Trump on Thursday, source says
From CNN's Kristen Holmes
Brian Kemp walks through the CNN spin room ahead of a CNN Presidential Debate in Atlanta, Georgia, on June 27.
Getty Images
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp will attend a fundraiser for Donald Trump in Atlanta on Thursday where former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is the headliner, a source familiar with the matter tells CNN.
Kemp refused to support Trump’s questioning of the 2020 election, but the two have seemingly reconciled recently.
That same night, Kemp told Sean Hannity: “we’re going to put Georgia back in the red column for the presidential race, unlike we did in 2020.”
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RFK Jr. won't appear on the Nevada ballot
From CNN's Ethan Cohen
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. won’t appear on the Nevada ballot after he reached an agreement with Democratic challengers who argued he was ineligible to appear on the ballot as an independent candidate.
While the deadline for candidates to withdraw from the ballot has already passed in Nevada, the existing legal challenge to Kennedy’s candidacy gave him an avenue to have his name removed.
Harris will be in Savannah, Georgia, on Wednesday before starting campaign bus tour
From CNN's Ebony Davis
Vice President Kamala Harris will travel Wednesday to Savannah, Georgia, before beginning her bus tour with running mate, Gov. Tim Walz, according to her office. This marks her seventh visit to the Peach State this year.
The vice president’s office is not releasing the specific stops on her tour.
Few battlegrounds will be more closely watched than Georgia — where President Joe Biden won by fewer than 12,000 votes four years ago — for signs of how voters respond to campaign outreach.
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Harris has committed to supporting Ukraine
From CNN's Tami Luhby and Way Mullery
Kamala Harris speaks during the Democratic National Convention at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois, on August 22.
She has met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at least six times and announced $1.5 billion for energy assistance, humanitarian needs, and other aid for the war-torn country last month.
At the Munich Security Conference this year, Harris said:
“More broadly, NATO is central to our approach to global security. For President Biden and me, our sacred commitment to NATO remains ironclad. And I do believe, as I have said before, NATO is the greatest military alliance the world has ever known.”
Trump added that he would instruct the Department of Justice to open civil rights investigations into “radical left” prosecutors’ offices that engaged in racial enforcement of the law, encourage Congress to use their legal authority over Washington, DC, to restore “law and order” and overhaul federal standards of disciplining minors to address rising crimes like carjackings.
Addressing policies made in what Trump calls the “Democrats’ war on police,” the former president vowed in a campaign video that he would pass a “record investment” to hire and retrain police, strengthen protections like qualified immunity, increase penalties for assaulting law enforcement officers and deploy the National Guard when local law enforcement “refuses to act.”
The former president added that he would require law enforcement agencies that receive money from his funding investment or the Department of Justice to use “proven common sense” measures such as stop-and-frisk.
Campaign issues: Trump dodged when asked how he would pay for his economic plan. Here's what's in the plan
From CNN's Alayna Treene and Ali Main in Las Vegas, Nevada
Donald Trump speaks during the keynote address of the Black Conservative Federation (BCF) Honors Gala in Columbia, South Carolina, US, on February 23.
Christian Monterrosa/Bloomberg/Getty Images
Former President Donald Trump on Friday dodged when asked by CNN how he plans to pay for his economic plan, which includes tax cuts that would add to the federal deficit.
Sixteen Nobel Prize-winning economists sent a stark warning in a letter in June that Trump’s agenda would not only “reignite inflation” but would have “a negative impact on the US’ economic standing in the world and a destabilizing effect on the US’ domestic economy.”
Trump has also opposed any changes to entitlement programs like Medicare or Social Security to help offset some of the costs of his cuts.
What he said: Trump has promised to extend the cuts from his 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, notably the TCJA’s individual income tax breaks. The former president has also talked about reducing the corporate tax rate from 21% to 15%.
Trump has also pledged to repeal Biden’s tax hikes, “immediately tackle” inflation and end what he called Biden’s “war” on American energy production.
Campaign issues: This is what's in Harris' economic proposal
From CNN's Tami Luhby and Way Mullery
High prices are a top concern for many Americans who are struggling to afford the cost of living after a spell of steep inflation. Many voters give President Joe Biden poor marks for his handling of the economy, and Vice President Kamala Harris may also face their wrath.
As part of her economic agenda, Harris wants to counter the increase in food costs, which she argues stems in part from some big grocery chains that are keeping prices high even though their production costs have leveled off.
To do so, she is calling for the first-ever federal ban on price gouging on food and groceries. She would also secure new authority for the Federal Trade Commission and state attorneys general to investigate and penalize companies that unfairly exploit consumers in the quest for excessive profits on food and groceries.
Harris has echoed many of the same economic themes as Biden in campaign speeches, saying she wants to give Americans more opportunities to get ahead.
She promised in a July rally to continue the Biden administration’s drive to eliminate so-called junk fees and to fully disclose all charges, such as for events, lodging and car rentals.
“On day one, I will take on price gouging and bring down costs. We will ban more of those hidden fees and surprise late charges that banks and other companies use to pad their profits,” she said.
The vice president’s plan promises to provide up to $25,000 in down-payment support for first-time homebuyers. The down-payment support would apply to working families who have paid rent on time for two years, with more generous support for first-time homebuyers. The plan would also provide a $10,000 tax credit for first-time homebuyers, something Biden proposed earlier this year.
The plan would allow for more than 1 million first-time buyers per year, including first-generation homebuyers, to access the funds, according to her campaign.
Harris is also calling for the building of 3 million new housing units. To spur construction, she would provide a first-ever tax incentive for builders who build starter homes sold to first-time buyers. She also would expand an existing tax incentive for building affordable rental housing.
The plan also highlights two main proposals that aim to lower rent costs in the US. The first would block landlords from using algorithm-driven price-setting tools to set rents. The second would discourage wealthy investors from buying up properties and marking up rents in bulk by removing tax benefits for investors who buy large numbers of single-family rental homes.
“We want them to run the education of our children, because they’ll do a much better job of it,” he added.
The former president has also promised to “put parents back in charge and give them the final say” in education. In a January 2023 campaign video, the former president said he would give funding preferences and “favorable treatment” to schools that allow parents to elect principals, abolish teacher tenure for K-12 teachers, use merit pay to incentivize quality teaching and cut the number of school administrators, such as those overseeing diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.
We want them to run the education of our children, because they’ll do a much better job of it.”
Trump also said in that campaign video that he would cut funding for schools that teach critical race theory and gender ideology. In a later speech, Trump said he would bring back the 1776 Commission, which was launched in his previous administration to “teach our values and promote our history and our traditions to our children.”
The former president said he would charge the Department of Justice and the Department of Education with investigating civil rights violations of race-based discrimination in schools while also removing “Marxists” from the Department of Education. A second Trump administration would pursue violations in schools of both the Constitution’s Establishment and Free Exercise clauses, which prohibit the government establishment of religion and protect a citizen’s right to practice their own religion, he said.
Analysis: Mark Zuckerberg’s election-season gift to Republicans
From CNN's Jon Passantino
Meta's CEO Mark Zuckerberg attends the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on online child sexual exploitation at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on January 31.
Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters
Mark Zuckerberg, chairman and CEO of the social media company Meta, is handing Republicans political victories ahead of the 2024 presidential election, acquiescing to years of GOP grievances over his company’s policies.
In recent days, the Meta chief executive has made newsworthy public statements implicitly supporting right-wing “censorship” narratives and offered praise for Donald Trump as “badass” – even as he claimed he wanted to appear “neutral” and nonpartisan.
On Monday, Zuckerberg sent a letter to the powerful House Judiciary Committee, stating that the Biden administration had “pressured” Meta to “censor” content during the pandemic.
The Meta chief added that the pressure he felt was “wrong” and he came to “regret” that his company, the parent of Facebook and Instagram, was not more outspoken.
The letter was immediately weaponized by Trump, who used it to once again promote the lie that the 2020 election was stolen.
The Republican-led House Judiciary Committee also welcomed Zuckerberg’s letter, posting a copy Monday on social media and using it to attack President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, who is now running as the Democratic nominee for president.
The letter was sent amid a two-year investigation by House Republicans into the content moderation policies of major social media networks.
In Georgia, Democrats are suing to stop new election certification rules. The state election board recently passed two rules that allow election officials to conduct a “reasonable inquiry” before certifying election results and permit members of county election boards to investigate ballot counts. The Democratic National Committee, the Georgia Democratic Party and Democratic members of several county election boards have argued in court that the rules could lead to post-election “chaos” if local officials refuse to certify elections.
In Arizona, proof of citizenship is currently required to register to vote. The US Supreme Court gave Arizona Republicans a partial win last week when it allowed part of a new voter ID law to stand, at least for now. People who newly register to vote in Arizona using a state form will now have to prove their citizenship, but people who are already registered will not have to prove citizenship to vote in the coming presidential election.
In North Carolina, there are new rules for voting by mail. People mailing in their ballot will have to include a photocopy of a photo ID and fill out their ballot in the presence of either two witnesses or a notary public. In many states controlled by Democrats, including the key states of Michigan and Pennsylvania, access to mail-in ballots has been expanded. In other states, many of them controlled by Republicans, absentee voting has been made more difficult.
In Texas, there is outcry over home searches tied to a voter fraud probe that dates back to 2022. The office of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton conducted raids last week. This week, the League of United Latin American Citizens, LULAC, filed a complaint with the Department of Justice over the raids, which its leaders said constitute “a direct attempt to suppress the Latino vote through intimidation and harassment, in violation of the Voting Rights Act and other federal civil rights law.”
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Vance accuses special counsel Jack Smith of trying to "influence the election"
From CNN's Kit Maher
Special counsel Jack Smith and Ohio Sen. JD Vance.
Getty Images
Ohio Sen. JD Vance, the Republican vice presidential candidate, accused special counsel Jack Smith of filing “lawsuits” against former President Donald Trump in order to influence the 2024 election, as he filed a superseding indictment in the election interference case Tuesday.
While Vance said he didn’t read the entire document, he said: “It looks like Jack Smith doing more what he does, which is filing these lawsuits in an effort to influence the election.”
The superseding indictment states on page 3: “The Defendant tried-but failed-to enlist the Vice President, who was also the Defendant’s running mate and, by virtue of the Constitution, the President of the Senate who plays a ceremonial role in the January 6 certification proceeding.”
As CNN reported, prosecutors are arguing that Trump’s pressure campaign on Pence fell outside the scope of his official duties.
“I don’t think that it changes anything legally,” Vance said. “It’s clearly an effort to try to do more election interference from Jack Smith. He should be ashamed of himself, and it’s one of the reasons why we have to win, because he should not be anywhere near power.”
Vance said the Supreme Court was “actually pretty sensible” in their immunity ruling, which granted Trump partial immunity from the election subversion case.
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There are less than 70 days until Election Day. Here's what you should know
On Wednesday, the Democrats will kick off a bus tour in Georgia, concluding with a rally in the Savannah area Thursday, according to their campaign. They also will sit down with CNN for their first joint interview on Thursday.
Trump, the Republican candidate, will deliver remarks on the economy in Potterville, Michigan, on Thursday, according to his campaign. The former president will also host a town hall that evening in La Crosse, Wisconsin.
Here are other headlines you should know:
Superseding indictment:
Special counsel Jack Smith filed a superseding indictment in the election interference case against Trump, slimming down the allegations against the 2024 presidential nominee in light of the Supreme Court’s ruling on presidential immunity.
Separately, Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson told CBS Newsshe is “concerned” about the court’s decision to grant sweeping immunity to Trump because it treats one person differently than others in the criminal justice system.
Endorsements:
More than 200 Republicans who previously worked for former Presidents George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush, former Sen. John McCain or Sen. Mitt Romney signed a letter backing Harris for president.
Former President Barack Obama offered a note of caution to Democrats buzzing over Harris’ campaign, telling donors on Martha’s Vineyard that the party needs to ramp up its focus — and spending — on down-ballot races.
Vance on Tuesday accused Harris of copying Trump and not having strong policy convictions of her own. The Ohio senator also said Harris sounded like a “vice principal” when she warned at the Democratic National Convention about the consequences of reelecting Trump.
Upcoming events:
Trump announced on Truth Social that he has “reached an agreement” to participate in a debate with Harris, scheduled for September 10 in Philadelphia on ABC News. However, the Harris campaign maintained that discussions are ongoing over the muting of microphones.
President Joe Biden and Harris will campaign together on Labor Day in Pittsburgh, the White House announced.
RFK Jr.:
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said he’s been asked to serve on Trump’s transition team following his endorsement of the Republican nominee.
The Wisconsin Elections Commission on Tuesday ruled that Kennedy will remain on the ballot for the November general election.
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Trump is fundraising off the special counsel's superseding indictment
From CNN's Brian Rokus
Former President Donald Trump is soliciting donations after this afternoon’s superseding indictment.
He said in an email, “I WAS JUST INDICTED AGAIN!” and called it “Another Jack Smith HOAX!”
Trump also slammed the superseding indictment in a series of posts on Truth Social.
What happened: Special counsel Jack Smith on Tuesday filed a reworked indictment in the federal election interference case against Trump. Prosecutors have not dropped any of the four charges that they initially brought against the former president.
However, the newly retooled indictment has carved out some of Trump’s alleged conduct, including allegations about the attempts to use the Justice Department to promote his false claims of election fraud. Prosecutors are working to try to comply with the Supreme Court’s immunity ruling.
This post has been updated with Trump’s Truth Social posts.
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Obama emphasizes importance of redistricting and spending on down-ballot races to help Harris
From CNN's Gregory Krieg
Barack Obama gestures as he speaks during the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Illinois, on August 20.
Mike Segar/Reuters
Former President Barack Obama offered a note of caution to Democrats buzzing over Vice President Kamala Harris’s campaign, telling donors on Martha’s Vineyard on Monday night that the party needs to ramp up its focus — and spending — on down-ballot races across the country.
The NDRC told CNN the fundraiser brought in $1.7 million.
Obama said Republicans have been trying to “redraw maps and manipulate the rules” — which are backed up by courts “that are willing to uphold unfair maps and unfair rules.” This is an obstacle for Democrats, he said, policies aside.
“Politics in America is and always has been, not simply a matter of rhetoric and joy and excitement. It is also nuts and bolts exercises of power,” Obama said, adding that Democrats need to address these “nuts and bolts” to help Harris.
Democrats lost more than a thousand seats in state legislatures during Obama’s presidency, while also suffering a string of defeats at the gubernatorial level and in the US Congress. Meantime, Republicans won a 2010 House landslide before taking control of the Senate in 2014. The damage at the state level, though, has been the most difficult for Democrats to unwind, in part due to gerrymandering by state GOP leaders.
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