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  • Maduro arrives in U.S. after capture; Trump will let U.S. ‘run’ Venezuela

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    CARACAS, Venezuela — Deposed Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro arrived in the United States to face criminal charges after being captured in an audacious nighttime military operation that President Donald Trump said would set the U.S. up to “run” the South American country and tap its vast oil reserves to sell to other nations.

    What You Need To Know

    • Deposed Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro arrived in the U.S. to face criminal charges after being captured in a nighttime military operation that President Donald Trump said would set the U.S. up to “run” the South American country and tap its vast oil reserves to sell to other nations

    • Maduro landed late Saturday afternoon at a small airport in New York following the middle-of-the-night operation that extracted him and his wife, Cilia Flores, from their home in a military base in the capital, Caracas

    • Venezuela’s capital remained unusually quiet Sunday with few vehicles moving around and convenience stores, gas stations and other businesses closed

    • Lawmakers from both American political parties have raised reservations to the U.S. attacks on boats suspected of drug smuggling. Congress has not approved an authorization for the use of military force for such operations in the region

    Maduro landed late Saturday afternoon at a small airport in New York following the middle-of-the-night operation that extracted him and his wife, Cilia Flores, from their home in a military base in the capital, Caracas — an act that Maduro’s government called “imperialist.” The couple faces U.S. charges of participating in a narco-terrorism conspiracy.

    The dramatic action capped an intensive Trump administration pressure campaign on Venezuela’s autocratic leader and months of secret planning, resulting in the most assertive American action to achieve regime change since the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Legal experts raised questions about the lawfulness of the operation, which was done without congressional approval. Venezuela’s vice president, Delcy Rodriguez, meanwhile, demanded that the United States free Maduro and called him the country’s rightful leader as her nation’s high court named her interim president.

    Some Venezuelan civilians and members of the military were killed, said Rodríguez, who didn’t give a number. Trump said some U.S. forces were injured, but none was killed.

    Speaking to reporters hours after Maduro’s capture, Trump revealed his plans to exploit the leadership void to “fix” the country’s oil infrastructure and sell “large amounts” of oil to other countries.

    After arriving at a small airport in New York City’s northern suburbs, Maduro was flown by helicopter to Manhattan, where a convoy of law enforcement vehicles, including an armored car, was waiting to whisk him to a nearby U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration office.

    A video posted on social media by a White House account showed Maduro, smiling, as he was escorted through that office by two DEA agents grasping his arms.

    Trump says U.S. will ‘run the country’

    The Trump administration promoted the ouster as a step toward reducing the flow of dangerous drugs into the U.S. The president touted what he saw as other potential benefits, including a leadership stake in the country and greater control of oil.

    Trump claimed the U.S. government would help lead the country and was already doing so, though there were no immediate visible signs of that. Venezuelan state TV aired pro-Maduro propaganda and broadcast live images of supporters taking to the streets in Caracas in protest.

    “We’re going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition,” Trump said at a Mar-a-Lago news conference. He boasted that this “extremely successful operation should serve as warning to anyone who would threaten American sovereignty or endanger American lives.”

    Maduro and other Venezuelan officials were indicted in 2020 on narco-terrorism conspiracy charges, and the Justice Department released a new indictment Saturday of Maduro and his wife that painted his administration as a “corrupt, illegitimate government” fueled by a drug-trafficking operation that flooded the U.S with cocaine. The U.S. government does not recognize Maduro as the country’s leader.

    The Trump administration spent months building up American forces in the region and carrying out attacks on boats in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean for allegedly ferrying drugs. Last week, the CIA was behind a drone strike at a docking area believed to have been used by Venezuelan drug cartels — the first known direct operation on Venezuelan soil since the U.S. campaign began in September.

    Early morning attack

    Taking place 36 years to the day after the 1990 surrender and seizure of Panama leader Manuel Antonio Noriega following a U.S. invasion, the Venezuela operation unfolded under the cover of darkness early Saturday. Trump said the U.S. turned off “almost all of the lights” in Caracas while forces moved in to extract Maduro and his wife.

    Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said U.S. forces had rehearsed their maneuvers for months, learning everything about Maduro — where he was and what he ate, as well as details of his pets and his clothes.

    “We think, we develop, we train, we rehearse, we debrief, we rehearse again and again,” Caine said. “Not to get it right, but to ensure we cannot get it wrong.”

    Multiple explosions rang out that morning, and low-flying aircraft swept through Caracas. Maduro’s government accused the United States of hitting civilian and military installations, calling it an “imperialist attack” and urging citizens to take to the streets. The explosions — at least seven blasts — sent people rushing into the streets, while others took to social media to report what they saw and heard.

    Restrictions imposed by the U.S. government on airspace around Venezuela and the Caribbean expired early Sunday, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said on X, an announcement that suggested any further immediate major U.S. military action was unlikely. “Airlines are informed, and will update their schedules quickly,” he posted.

    Under Venezuelan law, Rodríguez would take over from Maduro. Rodríguez, however, stressed during a Saturday appearance on state television that she did not plan to assume power, before Venezuela’s high court ordered that she become interim president.

    “There is only one president in Venezuela,” Rodriguez said, “and his name is Nicolás Maduro Moros.”

    Some streets in Caracas fill up

    Venezuela’s ruling party has held power since 1999, when Maduro’s predecessor, Hugo Chávez, took office, promising to uplift poor people and later to implement a self-described socialist revolution.

    Maduro took over when Chávez died in 2013. His 2018 reelection was widely considered a sham because the main opposition parties were banned from participating. During the 2024 election, electoral authorities loyal to the ruling party declared him the winner hours after polls closed, but the opposition gathered overwhelming evidence that he lost by a more than 2-to-1 margin.

    Venezuela’s capital remained unusually quiet Sunday with few vehicles moving around and convenience stores, gas stations and other businesses closed. A road typically filled with runners, cyclists and other fitness enthusiasts on Sundays only had a handful of people working out the day after Maduro was deposed.

    The presidential palace was guarded by armed civilians and members of the military. At a nearby plaza, only a street sweeper and a soldier stood, and across the street, a church remained close for a second day in a row.

    Caracas resident David Leal arrived to the lot where he parks vehicles for a living only to quickly realize that he would likely not see any clients for a second day.

    “People are still shaken,” Leal, 77, said.

    Questions of legality linger

    Whether the United States violated any laws, international or otherwise, was still a question early Sunday. “There are a number of international legal concepts which the United States might have broken by capturing Maduro,” said Ilan Katz, an international law analyst.

    Pope Leo XIV, who last month had expressed concern about growing U.S. threats of military intervention in Venezuela, raised alarms during his Sunday noon blessing and said the good of the Venezuelan people must prevail above everything else. History’s first U.S. pope demanded an end to violence and for Venezuela’s sovereignty to be guaranteed.

    In New York, the U.N. Security Council, acting on an emergency request from Colombia, planned to hold a meeting on U.S. operations in Venezuela on Monday morning.

    Lawmakers from both American political parties have raised reservations and flat-out objections to the U.S. attacks on boats suspected of drug smuggling. Congress has not approved an authorization for the use of military force for such operations in the region.

    Connecticut Rep. Jim Himes, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said he had seen no evidence that would justify Trump striking Venezuela without approval from Congress and demanded an immediate briefing by the administration on “its plan to ensure stability in the region and its legal justification for this decision.”

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    Associated Press

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  • Trump cuts ties with ‘Wacky’ Marjorie Taylor Greene

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    President Donald Trump has publicly called it quits with one of his most stalwart MAGA-world supporters, calling Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene “’Wacky’ Marjorie” and saying he would endorse a challenger against her in next year’s midterms “if the right person runs.”

    What You Need To Know

    • President Donald Trump has publicly called it quits with one of his most stalwart MAGA-world supporters, calling Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene “’Wacky’ Marjorie” and saying he would endorse a challenger against her in next year’s midterms “if the right person runs.”

    • Greene, a three-term U.S. House member, has increasingly dissented from Republican leaders, attacking them during the just-ended federal government shutdown and saying they need a plan to help people who are losing subsidies to afford health insurance policies

    • Accusing the Georgia Republican of going “Far Left,” Trump wrote that all he had witnessed from Greene in recent months is “COMPLAIN, COMPLAIN, COMPLAIN!” adding, of Greene’s purported irritation that he doesn’t return her phone calls, “I can’t take a ranting Lunatic’s call every day.”

    • Greene’s discontent dates back at least to May, when she announced she wouldn’t run for the Senate against Democratic incumbent Jon Ossoff, while attacking GOP donors and consultants who feared she couldn’t win. In June, she publicly sided with Tucker Carlson after Trump called the commentator “kooky” in a schism that emerged between MAGA and national security hardliners over possible U.S. efforts at regime change in Iran

    The dismissal of Greene — once the epitome of “Make America Great Again,” sporting the signature red cap for President Joe Biden’s 2024 State of the Union address and acting as a go-between for Trump and other Capitol Hill Republicans — appeared to be the final break in a dispute simmering for months, as Greene has seemingly moderated her political profile. The three-term U.S. House member has increasingly dissented from Republican leaders, attacking them during the just-ended federal government shutdown and saying they need a plan to help people who are losing subsidies to afford health insurance policies.

    Accusing the Georgia Republican of going “Far Left,” Trump wrote that all he had witnessed from Greene in recent months is “COMPLAIN, COMPLAIN, COMPLAIN!” adding, of Greene’s purported irritation that he doesn’t return her phone calls, “I can’t take a ranting Lunatic’s call every day.”

    In a response on X, Greene wrote Friday that Trump had “attacked me and lied about me.” She added a screenshot of a text she said she had sent the president earlier in the day about releasing the Jeffrey Epstein files, which she said “is what sent him over the edge.”

    Greene called it “astonishing really how hard he’s fighting to stop the Epstein files from coming out that he actually goes to this level,” referencing next week’s U.S. House vote over releasing the Epstein files.

    Writing that she had supported Trump “with too much of my precious time, too much of my own money, and fought harder for him even when almost all other Republicans turned their back and denounced him,” Greene added, “I don’t worship or serve Donald Trump.”

    Trump’s post seemingly tied a bow of finality to fissures that widened following this month’s off-cycle elections, in which voters in the New Jersey and Virginia governor races flocked to Democrats in large part over concerns about the cost of living.

    Last week, Greene told NBC News that “watching the foreign leaders come to the White House through a revolving door is not helping Americans,” saying that Trump needs to focus on high prices at home rather than his recent emphasis on foreign affairs. Trump responded by saying that Greene had “lost her way.”

    Asked about Greene’s comments earlier Friday as he flew from Washington to Florida, Trump reiterated that he felt “something happened to her over the last month or two,” saying that, if he hadn’t gone to China to meet leader Xi Jinping, there would have been negative ramifications for jobs in Georgia and elsewhere because China would have kept its curbs on magnet exports.

    Saying that people have been calling him, wanting to challenge Greene, Trump added, “She’s lost a wonderful conservative reputation.”

    Greene’s discontent dates back at least to May, when she announced she wouldn’t run for the Senate against Democratic incumbent Jon Ossoff, while attacking GOP donors and consultants who feared she couldn’t win. In June, she publicly sided with Tucker Carlson after Trump called the commentator “kooky” in a schism that emerged between MAGA and national security hardliners over possible U.S. efforts at regime change in Iran.

    That only intensified in July, when Greene said she wouldn’t run for governor. Then, she attacked a political “good ole boy” system, alleging it was endangering Republican control of the state. Greene embarked on a charm offensive in recent weeks, with interviews and appearances in media aimed at people who aren’t hardcore Trump supporters. Asked on comedian Tim Dillon’s podcast if she wanted to run for president in 2028, Greene said in October, “I hate politics so much” and just wanted “to fix problems” — but didn’t give a definitive answer.

    That climaxed with an appearance on Bill Maher’s HBO show “Real Time,” followed days later by a Nov. 4 appearance on ABC’s “The View.” Some observers began pronouncing Greene as reasonable as she trashed Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana for not calling Republicans back to Washington and coming up with a health care plan.

    “I feel like I’m sitting next to a completely different Marjorie Taylor Greene,” said “The View” co-host Sunny Hostin.

    “Maybe you should become a Democrat, Marjorie,” said co-host Joy Behar.

    “I’m not a Democrat,” Greene replied. “I think both parties have failed.”

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    Associated Press

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  • Bondi says U.S. will investigate Epstein’s ties to Clinton, others

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    NEW YORK (AP) — Acceding to President Donald Trump’s demands, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said Friday that she has ordered a top federal prosecutor to investigate sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s ties to Trump political foes, including former President Bill Clinton.

    What You Need To Know

    • Acceding to President Donald Trump’s demands, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said Friday that she has ordered a top federal prosecutor to investigate sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s ties to Trump political foes, including former President Bill Clinton

    • Bondi posted on X that she was assigning Manhattan U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton to lead the probe, capping an eventful week in which congressional Republicans released nearly 23,000 pages of documents from Epstein’s estate and House Democrats seized on emails mentioning Trump

    • Trump, who was friends with Epstein for years, didn’t explain what supposed crimes he wanted the Justice Department to investigate

    • Trump, calling the matter “the Epstein Hoax, involving Democrats, not Republicans,” said the investigation should also include financial giant JPMorgan Chase, which provided banking services to Epstein, and “many other people and institutions.”

    Bondi posted on X that she was assigning Manhattan U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton to lead the probe, capping an eventful week in which congressional Republicans released nearly 23,000 pages of documents from Epstein’s estate and House Democrats seized on emails mentioning Trump.

    Trump, who was friends with Epstein for years, didn’t explain what supposed crimes he wanted the Justice Department to investigate. None of the men he mentioned in a social media post demanding the probe has been accused of sexual misconduct by any of Epstein’s victims.

    Hours before Bondi’s announcement, Trump posted on his Truth Social platform that he would ask her, the Justice Department and the FBI to investigate Epstein’s “involvement and relationship” with Clinton and others, including former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers and LinkedIn founder and Democratic donor Reid Hoffman.

    Trump, calling the matter “the Epstein Hoax, involving Democrats, not Republicans,” said the investigation should also include financial giant JPMorgan Chase, which provided banking services to Epstein, and “many other people and institutions.”

    “This is another Russia, Russia, Russia Scam, with all arrows pointing to the Democrats,” the Republican president wrote, referring to special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of alleged Russian interference in Trump’s 2016 election victory over Bill Clinton’s wife, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

    Asked later Friday whether he should be ordering up such investigations, Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One: “I’m the chief law enforcement officer of the country. I’m allowed to do it.”

    In a July memo regarding the Epstein investigation, the FBI said, “We did not uncover evidence that could predicate an investigation against uncharged third parties.”

    The president’s demand for an investigation — and Bondi’s quick acquiescence — is the latest example of the erosion of the Justice Department’s traditional independence from the White House since Trump took office.

    It is also an extraordinary attempt at deflection. For decades, Trump himself has been scrutinized for his closeness to Epstein — though like the people he now wants investigated, he has not been accused of sexual misconduct by Epstein’s victims.

    None of Trump’s proposed targets were accused of sex crimes

    A JPMorgan Chase spokesperson, Patricia Wexler, said the company regretted associating with Epstein “but did not help him commit his heinous acts.”

    “The government had damning information about his crimes and failed to share it with us or other banks,” she said. The company agreed previously to pay millions of dollars to Epstein’s victims, who had sued arguing that the bank ignored red flags about criminal activity.

    Clinton has acknowledged traveling on Epstein’s private jet but has said through a spokesperson that he had no knowledge of the late financier’s crimes. He also has never been accused of misconduct by Epstein’s known victims.

    Clinton’s deputy chief of staff Angel Ureña posted on X Friday: “These emails prove Bill Clinton did nothing and knew nothing. The rest is noise meant to distract from election losses, backfiring shutdowns, and who knows what else.”

    Epstein pleaded guilty in Florida in 2008 to soliciting prostitution from an underage girl, but was spared a long jail term when the U.S. attorney in Florida agreed not to prosecute him over allegations that he had paid many other children for sexual acts. After serving about a year in jail and a work release program, Epstein resumed his business and social life until federal prosecutors in New York revived the case in 2019. Epstein killed himself while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.

    Summers and Hoffman had nothing to do with either case, but both were friendly with Epstein and exchanged emails with him. Those messages were among the documents released this week, along with other correspondence Epstein had with friends and business associates in the years before his death.

    Nothing in the messages suggested any wrongdoing on the men’s part, other than associating with someone who had been accused of sex crimes against children.

    Summers, who served in Clinton’s cabinet and is a former Harvard University president, previously said in a statement that he has “great regrets in my life” and that “my association with Jeffrey Epstein was a major error of judgement.”

    On social media Friday night, Hoffman called for Trump to release all the Epstein files, saying they will show that “the calls for baseless investigations of me are nothing more than political persecution and slander.” He added, “I was never a client of Epstein’s and never had any engagement with him other than fundraising for MIT.” Hoffman bankrolled writer E. Jean Carroll’s sexual abuse and defamation lawsuit against Trump.

    After Epstein’s sex trafficking arrest in 2019, Hoffman said he’d only had a few interactions with Epstein, all related to his fundraising for MIT’s Media Lab. He nevertheless apologized, saying that “by agreeing to participate in any fundraising activity where Epstein was present, I helped to repair his reputation and perpetuate injustice.”

    Bondi, in her post, praised Clayton as “one of the most capable and trusted prosecutors in the country” and said the Justice Department “will pursue this with urgency and integrity to deliver answers to the American people.”

    Trump called Clayton “a great man, a great attorney,” though he said Bondi chose him for the job.

    Clayton, the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission during Trump’s first term, took over in April as U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York — the same office that indicted Epstein and won a sex trafficking conviction against Epstein’s longtime confidante, Ghislaine Maxwell, in 2021.

    Trump changes course on Epstein files

    Trump suggested while campaigning last year that he’d seek to open up the government’s case files on Epstein, but changed course in recent months, blaming Democrats and painting the matter as a “hoax” amid questions about what knowledge he may have had about Epstein’s yearslong exploitation of underage girls.

    On Wednesday, Democrats on the House Oversight Committee released three Epstein email exchanges that referenced Trump, including one from 2019 in which Epstein said the president “knew about the girls” and asked Maxwell to stop.

    White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt accused Democrats of having “selectively leaked emails” to smear Trump.

    Soon after, Republicans on the committee disclosed a far bigger trove of Epstein’s email correspondence, including messages he sent to longtime Trump ally Steve Bannon and to Britain’s former Prince Andrew, now known as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor. Andrew settled a lawsuit out of court with one of Epstein’s victims, who said she had been paid to have sex with the prince.

    The House is speeding toward a vote next week to force the Justice Department to release all files and communications related to Epstein.

    “I don’t care about it, release or not,” Trump said Friday. “If you’re going to do it, then you have to go into Epstein’s friends,” he added, naming Clinton and Hoffman.

    Still, he said: “This is a Democrat hoax. And a couple, a few Republicans have gone along with it because they’re weak and ineffective.”

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    Associated Press

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  • Government shutdown looms as Congress returns after monthlong August recess

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    Congressional Republicans scored a massive victory this summer when they passed President Donald Trump’s “big beautiful bill” of tax and spending cuts without a single Democratic vote. But as they return to Washington this fall after a monthlong August recess, they will have to find a way to work with Democrats — or around them — as a government shutdown looms.

    What You Need To Know

    • As Congressional Republicans return to Washington this fall after a monthlong August recess, they will have to find a way to work with Democrats — or around them — as a government shutdown looms

    • The annual spending battle will dominate the September agenda, along with a possible effort by Senate Republicans to change their chamber’s rules to thwart Democratic stalling tactics on nominations

    • In the House, Republicans will continue their investigations of former President Joe Biden while Speaker Mike Johnson navigates a split in his conference over whether the Trump administration should release more files in the Jeffrey Epstein investigation


    The annual spending battle will dominate the September agenda, along with a possible effort by Senate Republicans to change their chamber’s rules to thwart Democratic stalling tactics on nominations. The Senate is also debating whether to move forward on legislation that would slap steep tariffs on some of Russia’s trading partners as the U.S. pressures Russian President Vladimir Putin on Ukraine.

    In the House, Republicans will continue their investigations of former President Joe Biden while Speaker Mike Johnson navigates a split in his conference over whether the Trump administration should release more files in the Jeffrey Epstein investigation.

    A look at what Congress will be doing as lawmakers return from the August break:

    Keeping the Government Open

    The most urgent task for Congress is to avoid a government shutdown on Sept. 30, when federal funding runs out. And it’s so far unclear if Republicans and Democrats will be able to agree on how to do that.

    Congress will have to pass a short-term spending measure to keep the government funded for a few weeks or months while they try to finish the full-year package. But Republicans will need Democratic votes to pass an extension, and Democrats will want significant concessions. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer’s vote with Republicans to avoid a shutdown in March prompted furious backlash within his party.

    The Trump administration’s efforts to claw back previously approved spending could also complicate the negotiations. Republicans passed legislation this summer that rescinded about $9 billion in foreign aid and public broadcasting funds and Trump notified Congress again on Friday that he will block $4.9 billion in congressionally approved foreign aid.

    Democrats have warned that such efforts could tank the broader negotiations. “Trump is rooting for a shutdown,” Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., posted on social media Friday.

    Senate Nominations Fight

    Senators are expected to return to Washington right where they left off in early August — fighting over Trump’s nominees.

    Exasperated Republicans fled Washington for the month after making little headway with Senate Democrats over their nominations blockade, which has forced delays in confirmations and angered Trump as many of his administration’s positions remain unfilled. Republican leaders called it quits after a rare Saturday session that ended with a breakdown in bipartisan negotiations and Trump posting on social media that Chuck Schumer could “GO TO HELL!”

    Republicans now say they’re ready to try and change Senate rules to get around the Democratic delays, and they are expected to spend the next several weeks discussing how that might work.

    Russian Sanctions

    Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, one of Trump’s closest congressional allies, has pushed the president for months to support his sweeping bipartisan sanctions bill that would impose steep tariffs on countries that are fueling Russia’s invasion of Ukraine by buying its oil, gas, uranium, and other exports. The legislation has the backing of 85 senators, but Trump has yet to endorse it, and Republican leaders have so far said they won’t move without him.

    Graham has stepped up his calls after Trump met with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymir Zelenskyy last month in hopes of a peace deal. Since then, Russia has continued to step up attacks on Ukraine.

    “If we don’t have this thing moving in the right direction by the time we get back, then I think that plan B needs to kick in,” Graham said of his bill in an interview with The Associated Press last month.

    Oversight of the CDC

    Health and Human Service Secretary Robert F. Kennedy will appear before the Senate Finance Committee to discuss his health care agenda on Thursday, less than a week after he ousted Susan Monarez as director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Several other top officials also resigned in protest.

    Kennedy has tried to advance anti-vaccine policies that are contradicted by decades of scientific research. Monarez’s lawyers said she refused “to rubber-stamp unscientific, reckless directives and fire dedicated health experts.”

    Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy, the Republican chairman of the HELP panel that oversees the CDC and a member of the Finance Committee, has called on the CDC to delay a meeting of outside experts who make recommendations on the use of vaccines until Congress can look into the issue.

    Divisions over Epstein

    The House left Washington in July amid disagreements among Republicans about whether they should force President Donald Trump’s administration to release more information on the sex trafficking investigation into the late Jeffrey Epstein. The pressure for more disclosure could only get more intense when lawmakers return.

    Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna of California and Republican Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky are pushing the House to take up their bill to force the Department of Justice to publicly release its investigation. They are planning a news conference this week joined by Epstein victims. The House Oversight Committee is also investigating the issue.

    Democrats are eager to keep pressing on the Epstein files, especially after the Trump administration reneged on pledges for transparency. The case for years has been the subject of online conspiracy theories and speculation about who may have been involved or aware of the wealthy financier’s abuse.

    Investigating Biden

    The House Oversight Committee will return from August recess with a slate of interviews lined up as part of its investigation into former President Joe Biden’s mental state while in office. The committee has already conducted interviews and depositions with nearly a dozen former top Biden aides and members of the president’s inner circle.

    The Republican-led committee will hear from former top Biden staffers in September like Jeff Zients, Biden’s final White House chief of staff, Karine Jean-Pierre, the former White House press secretary, and Andrew Bates, a top press aide.

    Oversight Chair James Comer, R-Ky., has said public hearings and a full report can be expected sometime in the fall.

    Stock Trading Ban

    Congress has discussed proposals for years to keep lawmakers from engaging in trading individual stocks, nodding to the idea that there’s a potential conflict of interest when they are often privy to information and decisions that can dramatically move markets.

    That push is now gaining momentum. A Senate committee has approved legislation from GOP Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri that would also extend the prohibition on stock trading to future presidents and vice presidents — while notably exempting Trump. In the House, several members are putting forward proposals and even threatening to maneuver around GOP leadership to force a vote.

    Still, there is plenty of resistance to the idea, including from many wealthy lawmakers who reap dividends from their portfolios.

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    Associated Press

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  • Who will certify Donald Trump’s presidential win? Kamala Harris.

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    Donald Trump’s presidential win is going to be certified in Congress in January by the candidate he beat, Vice President Kamala Harris. 

    Under the Constitution, the vice president is the head of the Senate, and it’s the role of the Senate president to declare the result of a White House election. 

    That happens on Jan. 6, 2025.

    What You Need To Know

    • Donald Trump’s presidential win is going to be certified in Congress in January by the candidate he beat, Vice President Kamala Harris. 

    • Under the Constitution, the vice president is the head of the Senate, and it’s the role of the Senate president to declare the result of a White House election, which will take place on Jan. 6, 2025

    • Under normal circumstances, the vote-tallying procedure performed by the vice president is a mere formality and it’s the final step in the complicated technical process of electing a new administration


    Under normal circumstances, the vote-tallying procedure performed by the vice president is a mere formality and it’s the final step in the complicated technical process of electing a new administration.

    For example, in 2000, after the grueling 36-day Florida recount battle, Democrat Al Gore conceded the presidency on Dec. 13 to Republican George W. Bush. 

    Gore, too, was the vice president, and he certified Bush’s win.

    “The whole number of the electors appointed to vote for president of the United States is 538,” Gore said from the rostrum, going on to read off his own loss to Congress. “George W. Bush of the state of Texas has received for president of the United States 271 votes. Al Gore of the state of Tennessee has received 266 votes.”

    But this nearly didn’t happen four years ago.

    Trump refused to accept defeat and sparked a violent insurrection at the Capitol, when then-Vice President Mike Pence was to certify Democrat Joe Biden’s win. Trump’s supporters chanted “Hang Mike Pence” as they ransacked Capitol offices. 

    Trump had wanted Pence to “do the right thing” and declare Trump the winner. Trump and his allies spent days in a futile bid trying to convince Pence that the vice president had the power to reject electors from battleground states that voted for Biden, even though the Constitution makes clear the vice president’s role in the joint session is largely ceremonial, much like a master of ceremonies.

    Pence acknowledged that reality in a lengthy statement to Congress. He laid out his conclusion that a vice president cannot claim “unilateral authority” to reject states’ electoral votes. He gaveled in the joint session of Congress on Jan. 7, 2021, to certify for Biden.

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    Spectrum News Staff, Associated Press

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  • IVF’s impact on voters ahead of election

    IVF’s impact on voters ahead of election

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    TAMPA, Fla. — There are many issues this election cycle that voters are paying attention to.

    For some voters like Allison Freeman, one of the most important is in vitro fertilization (IVF).

    What You Need To Know

    • Allison Freeman struggled to get pregnant before having her daughter  

    • An attorney who works with those going through IVF, Freeman said her clients worry about the safety of their embryos

    • 1 in 8 couples have infertility issues and can’t have children naturally, according to IVF treatment specialist Dr. Daniel Duffy


    Becoming a mom was not an easy journey for Freeman, but after years of struggle, it was thanks to IVF that she was able to have her daughter.

    “I remember seeing how strong the heartbeat was on the ultrasound and thinking, my gosh, this worked,” she said.  

    It’s been five years since Freeman gave birth, but Freeman’s journey with IVF didn’t end after her daughter was born.

    As an attorney, she began working with clients who were going through IVF treatments.

    Even as a lawyer herself, she says there were times she wishes she had her own legal help during her treatments.

    “There are so many times I would stay up at night and be like, why can’t I get pregnant?” Freeman said. “Why am I having to use IVF? This is exhausting. It’s a lot. And one day I was like, maybe this is why I went through IVF, and I happened to be a lawyer, so that I could help other people on their journeys.” 

    This election cycle, IVF has garnered a lot of attention.

    Earlier this year, the Alabama State Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos are children and those who destroy them can be held liable.

    This led to multiple IVF providers in Alabama temporarily pausing services.

    Both presidential candidates have since voiced support for IVF, but some of Freeman’s clients raised concerns about the safety of their embryos.  

    “I’ve had clients reach out and say, ‘Hey, I’m in this state or that state,’” she said. “’Should I be moving my embryos to a different state? Should I be seeking a clinic that’s in another state?’ And those are thoughts they never had before.”

    Freeman doesn’t consider herself a one-issue voter, but her connection to IVF means she’s keeping that issue in mind when she votes this year.

    Dr. Daniel Duffy, who specializes in IVF treatment, said around 1 in 8 couples have infertility issues and can’t have children naturally.

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    Matt Lackritz

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  • Gen Z activists work to get out the youth vote for Kamala Harris

    Gen Z activists work to get out the youth vote for Kamala Harris

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    With young voters among the many constituencies that could turn the vote toward either presidential candidate, Democrats are leaning on some of its highest-profile youth advocates to get out the vote for Vice President Kamala Harris.

    What You Need To Know

    • With the election in its final days, Democrats are leaning on some of its highest-profile youth advocates to get out the vote for Vice President Kamala Harris

    • Four days before Election Day, the only Gen Z member of Congress, Rep. Maxwell Frost, D-Fla., is campaigning on college campuses and at concerts in his home state of Florida while reproductive rights advocate Deja Foxx is knocking on doors and generating content for social media in Arizona

    • A GenForward survey conducted by the University of Chicago in October found inflation was the most important issue among voters aged 18 to 26, followed by economic growth, reproductive rights, poverty, immigration and threat to American democracy

    • A Harvard Youth Poll released last week found Democratic candidate Kamala Harris leads GOP candidate Donald Trump among young voters 60% to 32%



    Four days before Election Day, the only Gen Z member of Congress, Rep. Maxwell Frost, D-Fla., is campaigning on college campuses and at concerts in his home state of Florida while reproductive rights advocate Deja Foxx is knocking on doors and generating content for social media in Arizona.

    “I always tell people Project 2025 is Florida 2024. Project 2025, we see some of this going on in the South right now,” Frost said during a press call with leading Gen Z activists Friday, including mass-shooting survivor and gun control activist David Hogg.

    Frost said a Florida law that allows people to carry concealed weapons without a permit is the reason two people were killed and another six were injured in Orlando on Halloween night.

    Hogg said Project 2025, which Democrats see as a template for a Trump presidency, would eliminate red flag laws that take guns out of the hands of those who could do harm and get rid of tools used by law enforcement that stop criminals from being able to purchase guns.

    “We need to do everything we can to prevent this Trump presidency,” Frost said, adding that the Biden-Harris administration has “been able to make big gains for young Americans from gun violence and many different issues and want to continue on that path of progress.”

    Frost is currently campaigning at the University of Central Florida, where he said students are waiting to be asked to organize, to volunteer and to vote.

    “It’s not about inviting people to your table but going to theirs,” he said. “We go to places of culture: concerts and different events to reach young people who might not care about politics.

    “At every event that we’ve been at, there’s been a pretty large contingent of students or people who have never been to a political event before,” he said. “When I speak with them about what issues brought them to the table, we hear about a lot of the issues that we hear about today: gun violence, reproductive justice, access to abortion, the climate crisis, the economy.”

    A GenForward survey conducted by the University of Chicago in October found inflation was the most important issue among voters aged 18 to 26, followed by economic growth, reproductive rights, poverty, immigration and threat to American democracy.

    A Harvard Youth Poll released last week found Democratic candidate Kamala Harris leads GOP candidate Donald Trump among young voters 60% to 32%. Harris’ support is strongest among young women, where she has a 30-point lead against Trump.

    Her lead against Trump among young voters shrinks to 9% across the seven key battleground states of Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

    According to the Harvard poll, Harris is strongest on abortion rights and strengthening the working class, while Trump is perceived as stronger on the Israel-Hamas war.

    There are about 52.6 million people between the ages of 18 and 29 in the United States who make up almost 16% of the population. In 2020, about half of young voters cast ballots.

    According to the University of Florida Election Lab, of the 66.8 million voters who have cast ballots so far this election cycle, 7.6% have been 18- to 25-year-olds.

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    Susan Carpenter

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  • Harris launches ad taking aim at Puerto Rico ‘garbage’ line

    Harris launches ad taking aim at Puerto Rico ‘garbage’ line

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    Four days after a comedian at Donald Trump’s rally made a joke about Puerto Rico being an “island of garbage” and set off a political firestorm, Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign seized on the racist comments in a digital ad targeting Latino voters.

    What You Need To Know

    • Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign launched a new ad targeting Latino voters after a comedian at Donald Trump’s rally made a joke about Puerto Rico being an “island of garbage”

    • The 30-second Spanish -language spot speaks directly to Puerto Ricans, saying: “We are not trash. We are more than that”
    • After showing Puerto Ricans proudly flying their flag and rallying for Harris, the ad cuts to Trump throwing paper towels to Puerto Ricans at a relief center in 2017, after Hurricane Maria devastated the U.S. territory, and closes with: “On Nov. 5, Trump will learn that some people’s trash is someone else’s treasure”

    • The ad is the latest in the fallout from the Madison Square Garden rally, which also featured crude and sexist remarks from Hinchcliffe and other speakers



    The 30-second, Spanish-language spot speaks directly to Puerto Ricans, saying, “It was supposed to be a joke. It doesn’t matter. We’ve been called worse,” the ad says as it flashes pictures of GOP candidate Donald Trump and his vice-presidential running mate, JD Vance.

    “What we really are is a group of scientists, poets, educators, stars and heroes,” the ad then says as it transitions to a montage of famous Puerto Ricans, including the global superstar Bad Bunny, who endorsed Harris following the comedian’s comment, and Major League Baseball hall-of-famer Roberto Clemente. “We are not trash. We are more than that.”

    After showing Puerto Ricans proudly flying their flag and rallying for Harris, the ad cuts to Trump throwing paper towels to Puerto Ricans at a relief center in 2017, after Hurricane Maria devastated the U.S. territory.

    “Get out,” the ad says about Trump, before cutting to various shots of Harris campaigning with Latinos — a coveted constituency she and Trump have both been targeting in their final days on the campaign trail.

    “On Nov. 5, Trump will learn that some people’s trash is someone else’s treasure,” it says before urging viewers to vote for Harris on or before Election Day.

    The ad is the latest in the fallout from the Madison Square Garden rally, which also featured crude and sexist remarks from Hinchcliffe and other speakers. 

    El Nuevo Día, the island territory’s largest newspaper, endorsed Harris in a scathing front page editorial calling the rally “a repugnant display of hate that evokes memories of the speeches of Nazism and Fascism, which aimed to eliminate minorities.” The paper’s longtime editor and parent company CEO María Luisa Ferré Rangel wrote Trump’s behavior is “erratic and narcissistic” and that the former president “suffers from psychopathic elements that he evidences by lying repeatedly.”

    “Today, the hearts of all of us who love this beautiful Garden of America, and of the world, clench with rage and pain. Puerto Ricans are a noble and peaceful people, who deeply love their island,” she wrote. “On Sunday, continuing a pattern of contempt and misinformation that Donald Trump has maintained for years against the eight million of us American citizens who are Puerto Ricans, comedian Tony Hinchcliffe insulted us during a Republican Party event by referring to Puerto Rico as” a floating island of garbage.

    “Is that what Trump and the Republican Party think about Puerto Ricans? Politics is not a joke and hiding behind a comedian is cowardly,” she added.

    Separately, in an open letter published on Monday, the Catholic archbishop of San Juan told Trump he was “dismayed and appalled” by Hinchcliffe’s remarks and said he wrote the letter demanding a personal apology from the former president after consulting with his fellow bishops in Puerto Rico. 

    “I enjoy a good joke. However, humor has its limits. It should not insult or denigrate the dignity and sacredness of people. Hinchcliffe’s remarks do not only provoke sinister laugher, but hatred,” Archbishop Roberto O. González Nieves wrote. “I call upon you, Mr. Trump, to disavow these comments as reflecting in any way your personal or political viewpoints.”

    Trump’s campaign and many Republicans disavowed the remark, but the candidate himself has yet to do so, claiming in remarks at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida on Tuesday that his Sunday rally was a “love fest.” At an event in the Philadelphia suburbs later on Tuesday, Trump boasted “no president has done more for Puerto Rico than I have.”

    A slew of Puerto Rican officials and celebrities have denounced Hinchcliffe and many have endorsed Harris in the days since the rally. Jennifer Lopez, one of the most famous Puerto Rican celebrities in the U.S. said she will campaign with Harris in Las Vegas Halloween night. 

    Reggaeton star Nicky Jam, who previously endorsed Trump and appeared with him at a rally, pulled his endorsement on Wednesday.

    “Never in my life did I think that one month later there would be a comedian who would criticize my country and speak poorly of my country,” Nicky Jam, whose real name is Nick Rivera Caminero, said in Spanish in a video posted to his Instagram page. “For that I withdraw my support of Donald Trump. Puerto Rico should be respected.”

    A number of other celebrities of Puerto Rican descent expressed support for Harris in the days after the rally, including music superstars Bad Bunny and Ricky Martin, former Fox News personality Geraldo Rivera and actor John Leguizamo.

    Spectrum News’ Joseph Konig and Justin Tasolides contributed to this report.

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    Susan Carpenter

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  • Robinhood launches presidential election trades

    Robinhood launches presidential election trades

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    The stock-trading app Robinhood will allow customers to bet on the outcome of November’s election.

    The so-called presidential election event contracts are launching with a small group of customers Monday, allowing them to trade based on who they think will win the 2024 presidential election.

    What You Need To Know

    • The stock-trading app Robinhood will allow customers to bet on the outcome of November’s election

    • The so-called presidential election event contracts are launching with a small group of customers Monday, allowing them to trade based on who they think will win the 2024 presidential election

    • An event contract is a forecast contract, the value of which depends on a specific event happening by a specific time; they are based on yes or no answers to a question about the event

    • For the Robinhood presidential election contract, the questions are: Will Kamala Harris win the U.S. presidential election in 2024 and Will Donald Trump win the U.S. presidential election in 2024? 


    An event contract is a forecast contract, the value of which depends on a specific event happening by a specific time. They are based on “yes” or “no” answers to a question about the event. 

    For the Robinhood presidential election contracts, the questions are: “Will Kamala Harris win the U.S. presidential election in 2024?” and “Will Donald Trump win the U.S. presidential election in 2024?” Customers can only own “yes” contracts for one candidate.

    “We’ve heard from our customers that having access to the market in real time is essential,” the company said in a statement on its website announcing the new presidential event contracts. “We believe event contracts give people a tool to engage in real-time decision-making, unlocking a new asset class that democratizes access to events as they unfold.”

    Those who trade in the presidential election contracts will receive $1 for every contract they own if their candidate is certified in January and nothing if they are not. Robinhood charges one cent per contract. 

    The Robinhood announcement comes as the presidential campaign enters its final week, with Harris and Trump neck and neck in the polls.

    Last month, a federal appeals court allowed the prediction exchange platform Kalshi to offer Congressional Control Contracts, enabling buyers to bet on which political party will control the Senate and House following next month’s election. 

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    Susan Carpenter

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  • Judge orders Virginia to restore 1,600 voter registrations

    Judge orders Virginia to restore 1,600 voter registrations

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    A federal judge on Friday ordered Virginia to restore more than 1,600 voter registrations that she said were illegally purged in the last two months in an effort to stop noncitizens from voting.

    What You Need To Know

    • A federal judge on Friday ordered Virginia to restore more than 1,600 voter registrations that she said were illegally purged in the last two months in an effort to stop noncitizens from voting

    • The injunction was sought by the Justice Department, which claimed the voter registrations were wrongly canceled during a 90-day quiet period ahead of the November election that restricts states from making large-scale changes to their voter rolls to prevent errors

    • The Justice Department and private groups, including the League of Women Voters, said many of the 1,600 voters whose registrations were canceled were in fact citizens whose registrations were canceled because of bureaucratic errors or simple mistakes like a mischecked box on a form

    • State officials said they will appeal, and Virginia’s Republican attorney general Jason Miyares criticized the ruling



    U.S. District Judge Patricia Giles granted an injunction request brought against Virginia election officials by the Justice Department, which claimed the voter registrations were wrongly canceled during a 90-day quiet period ahead of the November election that restricts states from making large-scale changes to their voter rolls.

    State officials said they will appeal.

    The Justice Department and private groups, including the League of Women Voters, said many of the 1,600 voters whose registrations were canceled were in fact citizens whose registrations were canceled because of bureaucratic errors or simple mistakes like a mischecked box on a form.

    Justice Department lawyer Sejal Jhaveri said during an all-day injunction hearing Thursday in Alexandria, Virginia, that’s precisely why federal law prevents states from implementing systematic changes to the voter rolls in the 90 days before an election, “to prevent the harm of having eligible voters removed in a period where it’s hard to remedy.”

    Giles said Friday that the state is not completely prohibited from removing noncitizens from the voting rolls during the 90-day quiet period, but that it must do so on an individualized basis rather than the automated, systematic program employed by the state.

    State officials argued unsuccessfully that the canceled registrations followed careful procedures that targeted people who explicitly identified themselves as noncitizens to the Department of Motor Vehicles.

    Charles Cooper, a lawyer for the state, said during arguments Thursday that the federal law was never intended to provide protections to noncitizens, who by definition can’t vote in federal elections.

    “Congress couldn’t possibly have intended to prevent the removal … of persons who were never eligible to vote in the first place,” Cooper argued.

    The plaintiffs who brought the lawsuit, though, said that many people are wrongly identified as noncitizens by the DMV simply by checking the wrong box on a form. They were unable to identify exactly how many of the 1,600 purged voters are in fact citizens — Virginia only identified this week the names and addresses of the affected individuals in response to a court order — but provided anecdotal evidence of individuals whose registrations were wrongly canceled.

    Cooper acknowledged that some of the 1,600 voters identified by the state as noncitizens may well be citizens, but he said restoring all of them to the rolls means that in all likelihood “there’s going to hundreds of noncitizens back on those rolls. If a noncitizen votes, it cancels out a legal vote. And that is a harm,” he said.

    Virginia’s Republican governor, Glenn Youngkin, issued an executive order in August requiring daily checks of DMV data against voter rolls to identify noncitizens.

    State officials said any voter identified as a noncitizen was notified and given two weeks to dispute their disqualification before being removed. If they returned a form attesting to their citizenship, their registration would not be canceled.

    Prior to Youngkin’s executive order, the state did monthly checks of the voter rolls against DMV data, in accordance with a state law passed in 2006.

    Youngkin said the Justice Department was wrongly targeting him for upholding a law that was followed by his predecessors, including Democrats, even if they didn’t take the extra step of ordering daily checks as he did in his executive order.

    “Let’s be clear about what just happened: only eleven days before a Presidential election, a federal judge ordered Virginia to reinstate over 1,500 individuals–who self-identified themselves as noncitizens–back onto the voter rolls.,” Youngkin said in a statement after Friday’s hearing.

    Giles, for her part, questioned the timing of Youngkin’s executive order, which was issued on Aug. 7, the very beginning of the 90-day quiet period required under federal law.

    “It’s not happenstance that this was announced exactly on the 90th day” of the quiet period, she said Friday from the bench.

    Her injunction requires voter registrations be restored for all of those canceled as a result of Youngkin’s executive order, and that letters be sent out within five days informing those voters of their restored status. The letters will also include a note of caution informing those individuals that if they are indeed noncitizens, that they are barred from casting ballots under federal law.

    The plaintiffs had asked the judge to grant those voters an extension of the deadline to request absentee ballots, but Giles denied that request, saying it would result in confusion.

    “We may not be able to achieve everything we would want,” she said.

    Virginia’s Republican attorney general, Jason Miyares, issued a statement after Friday’s hearing criticizing the ruling.

    “It should never be illegal to remove an illegal voter,” he said. “Yet, today a Court – urged by the Biden-Harris Department of Justice – ordered Virginia to put the names of non-citizens back on the voter rolls, mere days before a presidential election.”

    U.S. Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., who had alterted Justice Department officials to the removals. praised the ruling.

    “Governor Youngkin’s purges have served only one purpose – to disenfranchise thousands of lawfully voting citizens of the Commonwealth. That stops today,” he said.

    Nearly 6 million Virginians are registered to vote.

    A similar lawsuit was filed in Alabama, and a federal judge there last week ordered the state to restore eligibility for more than 3,200 voters who had been deemed ineligible noncitizens. Testimony from state officials in that case showed that roughly 2,000 of the 3,251 voters who were made inactive were actually legally registered citizens.

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    Associated Press

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  • Trump targets hardcore partisans, Harris goes after moderates

    Trump targets hardcore partisans, Harris goes after moderates

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    In battleground Pennsylvania, Kamala Harris warned that democracy and reproductive rights were at stake as she campaigned alongside a former Republican congresswoman. 

    Going to the same state the day before, Donald Trump served French fries at a closed McDonald’s.

    As the 2024 presidential contest speeds to its conclusion on Nov. 5, Harris and Trump are embracing wildly different strategies to energize the coalitions they need to win. Both are making bets that will prove prescient or ill-advised.

    What You Need To Know

    • As the 2024 presidential contest speeds to its conclusion, Democrat Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump are embracing wildly different strategies

    • Both are racing to energize the coalitions they need to win the presidency on Nov. 5

    • Trump’s team has largely abandoned traditional efforts to target moderate voters in the final days before the election

    • His campaign is focusing instead on his base of fiery partisans and low-propensity voters — especially young men — with tough talk at rallies and media appearances


    Trump’s team has largely abandoned traditional efforts to broaden his message to target moderate voters, focusing instead on energizing his base of fiery partisans and turning out low-propensity voters — especially young men of all races — with tough talk and events aimed at getting attention online.

    Harris is leaning into a more traditional all-of-the-above playbook targeting the narrow slice of undecided voters that remain, especially moderates, college-educated suburbanites, and women of all races and education. More than Trump, she is going after Republican women who may have supported rival Nikki Haley in this year’s GOP primary and are dissatisfied with the former president.

    “It’s all pieces of a very complex puzzle,” Harris senior campaign adviser David Plouffe said this week. “This would all be a simpler exercise if you can focus just on one voter cohort. You can’t. And you got to make sure you know you’re doing well enough with all of them so that when you put all that together it adds up to 50%.”

    Trump’s team sees it as a much simpler equation.

    His aides insist that efforts to maximize turnout from Trump’s hardcore base do not mean he’s ignoring swing voters, even if he’s not tailoring a different message to reach them.

    “I just think that there’s a misunderstanding on what’s motivating those people,” Trump political director James Blair said. “I mean, the fact is the economy’s motivating those people. Those people overwhelmingly think that they’re worse off than they were four years ago … So then the question becomes: Who’s better equipped to fix it?”

    The divergent strategies underscore the stark differences between the candidates themselves, in personality and policy.

    Harris, a former California senator who would be the first female president, has promised to include a Republican in her Cabinet, while prioritizing efforts to protect democracy, reproducctive rights and the middle class. Trump, a former president, has vowed to fight for the working class as well. He also has promised a campaign of retribution against his politial enemies with an administration packed with loyalists.

    One point on which both camps agree: The election will be decided by voters in just seven swing states, a political map that has not shifted significantly or narrowed as Election Day speeds into view. They are Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Arizona, Georgia, Nevada and North Carolina.

    One Harris adviser, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss internal strategy, described the situation as “still terrifyingly close in all seven.”

    Trump rejects the traditional pivot to the middle

    Trump is speaking largely to his loyal Republican base at the expense of moderate voters, especially suburban women. He peppers his rallies with profanity, personal insults against Harris and ominous talk of “enemies within.”

    He has said repeatedly over the last week that Democrats like former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., represent a more serious threat to the United States than China and Russia do.

    Trump has also rejected recent opportunities to speak to more traditional audiences, turning down an interview with CBS’ popular “60 Minutes” and refusing to debate Harris for a second time unless it was moderated by Fox News, home to several of his favorite conservative hosts.

    Instead, his campaign is scheduling appearances on podcasts and online shows geared towards young men — especially working-class Hispanic and Black men, who typically vote less frequently and tend to favor Democrats.

    He’s attended sporting events including mixed-martial arts fights and football games, putting him in front of audiences who don’t typically engage with traditional media outlets.

    Josh Rouse, a 28-year-old Black man and registered Republican, said he’s only recently been drawn to politics. He didn’t vote in 2016, but voted for Trump in 2020.

    “If anything, I think it’s important to remember we’re all people, regardless of whether you’re white or Black,” said Rouse, who works in roofing and attended Trump’s rally in Greenville, North Carolina, this week. “It doesn’t matter who you are. He speaks to all of us.”

    Trump’s team has also created viral moments in non-political settings like his trip to McDonald’s on Sunday, part of an extended campaign to cast doubt on Harris’ work history at the fast-food franchise. Trump also went to Coachella, California, and will host a rally at Madison Square Garden in New York City on Sunday — both in heavily Democratic states but where the related media attention and online content would surely reach swing-state voters.

    Trump has kept an aggressive schedule. He is set to visit every battleground state this week save Wisconsin.

    Harris makes Republicans part of her persuasion playbook

    Backed by an avalanche of campaign cash, Harris is holding in-person events but also launching a sprawling door-knocking operation, hyper-targeted online ads and a carefully designed media strategy to reach specific voting blocs.

    Harris’ team believes that roughly 10% of voters in the battleground states are still persuadable, either because they are truly undecided or because their support for Trump is soft. The campaign vows to keep trying to persuade such voters until the final minutes of in-person voting.

    Her team sees the possibility of significant growth among Republican, college-educated, suburban women alienated by Trump’s extreme rhetoric. Even small shifts in swing states could have massive electoral implications.

    The Harris campaign quickly produced digital ads last week highlighting Trump’s description of the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection as “a day of love.” And Harris spent most of Monday campaigning in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin alongside Liz Cheney, a Republican House leader during Trump’s presidency who swung sharply against him after Jan. 6.

    Harris is scheduled to visit Houston for an event Friday with women who have been affected by the state’s ban on all abortions, which took effect after the Supreme Court, including three justices nominated by Trump, overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022. She’ll be going there after spending time in Georgia, which banned abortions after six weeks of pregnancy.

    Nicolette Milholin, 45, of Mont Clare, Pennsylvania, said she considered herself a political independent until Trump was elected in 2016.

    “To me, democracy is at stake,” Milholin said at a Harris event this week in Chester County, Pennsylvania. “We have a party that was built for a family and a dynasty. And then we have a party here represented by Kamala Harris, that was built for our country.”

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    Associated Press

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  • Exonerated ‘Central Park Five’ members sue Trump for defamation

    Exonerated ‘Central Park Five’ members sue Trump for defamation

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    Five men wrongfully convicted of assaulting and raping a woman in New York’s Central Park in 1989 have sued former President Donald Trump for defamation over comments he made in a debate against Vice President Kamala Harris last month.

    What You Need To Know

    • The five men known as the “Central Park Five” have sued former President Donald Trump for defamation over comments he made in a debate last month
    • They were wrongfully convicted of assaulting and raping a woman in New York’s Central Park in 1989; their convictions were vacated more than a decade later after someone else confessed to the crime

    • At last month’s debate, Vice President Kamala Harris hammered Trump for taking out a full-page ad in all four of New York’s major newspapers in the aftermath of the attack calling for the return of the death penalty 

    • Trump fired back by saying that Harris and other opponents had “to stretch back years” to come up with lines of attack against him, before falsely saying that the five men pleaded guilty and killed someone



    Yusef Salaam, Raymond Santana, Kevin Richardson, Antron Brown and Korey Wise, initially known as the “Central Park Five” and, later, the “Exonerated Five,” accused Trump in a lawsuit filed in Pennsylvania of making “false, misleading and defamatory” statements about their case at the debate.

    The five men were convicted of the attack and sentenced to multiple years in prison. Their convictions were vacated in 2002, more than a decade later, after a serial rapist confessed to the attack, and DNA evidence confirmed he was involved. They sued the city the next year, accusing the city of false arrest, a racially motivated conspiracy to deprive them of their civil rights and a malicious prosecution, and they settled the case in 2014.

    At one point during last month’s debate, Harris condemned Trump for taking out a full-page ad in all four of the city’s major newspapers in the aftermath of the attack calling for the return of the death penalty. Trump fired back by saying that Harris and other opponents had “to stretch back years” to come up with lines of attack against him, before falsely saying that the five men pleaded guilty and killed someone.

    “[T]hey come up with things like what she just said, going back many, many years, when a lot of people including [former New York] Mayor [Michael] Bloomberg agreed with me on the Central Park Five,” Trump said. “They admitted — they said, they pled guilty. And I said, well, if they pled guilty, they badly hurt a person, killed a person ultimately. And if they pled guilty — then they pled we’re not guilty.”

    The five men did not plead guilty in the case, nor was the victim of the attack killed — as the lawsuit points out, while also pointing out that Ed Koch, not Bloomberg, was mayor at the time of the attack.

    “These statements are demonstrably false,” the complaint says, calling Trump’s rhetoric “extreme and outrageous” and charging that he “intended to cause severe emotional distress to Plaintiffs.”

    The Trump campaign has not responded to a request for comment from Spectrum News. A spokesperson for the former president’s campaign called the lawsuit “frivolous” in a statement to NBC News.

    According to the lawsuit, Salaam — now a New York City Council member — attempted to engage with Trump after the debate in the spin room. People asked Trump if he would “apologize to the Exonerated Five,” and after he didn’t respond, Salaam introduced himself to the former president.

    “Ah, so you’re on my side them,” Trump said, per the lawsuit.

    “No no no, I’m not on your side,” Salaam replied to Trump, who smiled, waved and walked away, according to the complaint.

    The lawsuit also makes note of other statements Trump has made about the case, including posts on his Twitter account from 2013 and a New York Daily News op-ed from 2014 calling the city’s settlement with the men a “disgrace.”

    The defendants are asking for “compensatory damages, for punitive damages and for costs, in an as yet unliquidated sum in excess of $75,000,” and asked for a jury trial to determine that figure.

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    Justin Tasolides

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  • Gerald Ford’s daughter endorses Harris for president

    Gerald Ford’s daughter endorses Harris for president

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    Ahead of Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris’ trip to Michigan on Monday, the daughter of the state’s only U.S. president has endorsed the Vice President.

    Susan Ford Bales, the only daughter of former President Gerald Ford and former first lady Betty Ford, acknowledged that she and Harris would “likely disagree on some policy matters” — after all, she, like her father, is a Republican.

    However, she continued, Harris’ “integrity and commitment to those same principles that guided Dad have led me to conclude” that she should be the next president.

    “She recognizes the good and the greatness in our country,” Ford Bales said. “I know she will defend the rule of law and our Constitution. And I know she will work to bring all Americans together to move us beyond partisanship. That is what America deserves from our President.”

    News of the endorsement was first reported by MLive.

    Former President Ford, who was born in Nebraska but raised Grand Rapids, Michigan, led Republicans in the House of Representatives before he was nominated to be Richard Nixon’s vice president in 1973. Ford became the president following Nixon’s resignation the next year, pardoning him for any crimes he may have committed as president and eventually narrowly losing the 1976 election to Democrat Jimmy Carter.

    “When my father, Gerald Ford, was sworn-in as America’s 38th President, the nation was in need of a serious, compassionate and honorable leader who had the courage to do what was right and always to defend our Constitution,” Ford Bales said in a statement. “His dedication to those values helped bring our country through a turbulent time and restored Americans’ trust in our democracy.

    “We face a similar dynamic today,” she continues. “America cannot regress back to a divisive paradigm of loathing toward one another and disdain for our Constitution. We witnessed on January 6 the horrors of what that looks like, and we can never allow a repeat of that tragedy. The forces that incited it must be held accountable. They can never be in a position to ever do it again.”

    Ford Bales, the only daughter of the former president, helped launch National Breast Cancer Awareness Month with her mother in the 1980s and succeeded her mom as chair of the Betty Ford Center, the nonprofit addiction treatment center named for the former first lady. She is also the sponsor of the USS Gerald R. Ford, named for her father, which is currently the world’s largest aircraft carrier and the biggest warship ever built. 

    Earlier this year, Ford Bales joined first lady Jill Biden and Postmaster General Louis DeJoy at the White House to unveil a postage stamp bearing the portrait of Betty Ford.

    Harris is heading to Michigan on Monday, in addition to fellow “blue wall” battleground states Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, for a series of moderated conversations with former Wyoming GOP Rep. Liz Cheney, the vice president’s latest effort to appeal to moderate Republicans who may be disenchanted with former President Donald Trump.

    Ford Bales joins Cheney and a handful of other Republican officials who have endorsed Harris over Trump. 

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    Justin Tasolides

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  • Walz to rally with Obama in Madison next week

    Walz to rally with Obama in Madison next week

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    MADISON, Wis. — Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz will quickly return to the Badger State next Tuesday, Oct. 22 after visiting the state this last Monday, according to the Harris Campaign.

    He’ll be joined by former President Barack Obama for a rally in Madison at 1:30 p.m. on Tuesday. In the evening, Walz will also travel by himself to Racine and deliver remarks at a rally around 6:45 p.m.

    The visit coincides with the start of early voting in Wisconsin. The purpose of the visit will be to encourage voters to cast their ballot early for Vice President Kamala Harris and Walz, as well as other Democrats, according to the campaign.

    It will be Walz’s sixth visit to Wisconsin.

    Obama is the only presidential candidate in the past six elections who has won Wisconsin by more than a percentage point.

    On the day before the 2012 election, Obama held a rally in Madison that attracted about 18,000 people. Another Obama rally in October of that year drew about 30,000 people.

    Officials did not share any further details on the visit. 

    This story is developing. Check back for updates.

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    Spectrum News Staff, Associated Press

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  • Mark Robinson sues CNN over report about posts on porn site

    Mark Robinson sues CNN over report about posts on porn site

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    North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson announced a lawsuit Tuesday against CNN over its recent report alleging he made explicit racial and sexual posts on a pornography website’s message board, calling the reporting reckless and defamatory.

     

    What You Need To Know

    • North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson has sued CNN over its recent report that he made explicit racial and sexual posts on a pornography website’s message board. He made the announcement Tuesday and calls the reporting reckless and defamatory

    • The CNN report, which debuted last month, said Robinson left statements over a decade ago on the message board in which, in part, he referred to himself as a “black NAZI,” said he enjoyed transgender pornography, said that he preferred Hitler to then-President Barack Obama, and slammed the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. as “worse than a maggot”
    • The lawsuit comes less than four weeks after a report that led many of his fellow GOP elected officials and candidates, including presidential nominee Donald Trump, to distance themselves from Robinson’s gubernatorial campaign

    • Robinson is also suing a man who alleges Robinson frequented a porn shop decades ago



     

    The lawsuit, filed in Wake County Superior Court, comes less than four weeks after a report that led many fellow GOP elected officials and candidates, including presidential nominee Donald Trump, to distance themselves from Robinson’s gubernatorial campaign.

    Robinson, who announced the lawsuit at a news conference in Raleigh with a Virginia-based attorney, has denied authoring the messages.

    CNN “chose to publish despite knowing or recklessly disregarding that Lt. Gov. Robinson’s data — including his name, date of birth, passwords, and the email address supposedly associated with the NudeAfrica account — were previously compromised by multiple data breaches,” the lawsuit states, referencing the website.

    Robinson, who would be the state’s first Black governor if elected, called the report a “high-tech lynching” against a candidate “who has been targeted from Day 1 by folks who disagree with me politically and want to see me destroyed.”

    CNN declined to comment Tuesday, spokesperson Emily Kuhn said in an email.

    The CNN report, which debuted last month, said Robinson left statements over a decade ago on the message board in which, in part, he referred to himself as a “black NAZI,” said he enjoyed transgender pornography, said that he preferred Hitler to then-President Barack Obama, and slammed the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. as “worse than a maggot.”

    The network report said it matched details of the account on the message board to other online accounts held by Robinson by comparing usernames, a known email address and his full name. CNN reported that details discussed by the account holder matched Robinson’s age, length of marriage and other biographical information. CNN also said it compared figures of speech that came up frequently in his public Twitter profile that appeared in discussions by the account on the pornographic website.

    Polls at the time of the CNN report already showed Democratic rival Josh Stein, the sitting attorney general, with a lead over Robinson. Early in-person voting begins Thursday statewide, and over 57,000 completed absentee ballots have been received so far.

    Robinson also in the same lawsuit sued a Greensboro punk rock band singer who alleged in a music video and and in an interview that Robinson, in the 1990s and early 2000s, frequented a porn shop the singer once worked at and purchased videos. Louis Love Money, the other named defendant, released the video and spoke with another media outlet before the CNN report.

    Robinson denies the allegation in the lawsuit, which reads, “Lt. Gov. Robinson was not spending hours at the video store, five nights a week. He was not renting or previewing videos, and he did not purchase ‘bootleg’ or other videos from Defendant Money.”

    A message left at a phone listing for Money was not immediately returned. A message sent to Money on social media went unanswered.

    The lawsuit, which seeks at least $50 million in damages, says the effort against Robinson “appears to be a coordinated attack aimed at derailing his campaign for governor.” It provides no evidence that the network or Money conspired with outside groups to create what Robinsons alleges are false statements.

    Robinson’s lawyer, Jesse Binnall, said entities, which he did not identify, have stonewalled his firm’s efforts to collect information.

    “We will use every tool at our disposal now that a lawsuit has been filed, including the subpoena power, in order to continue pursuing the facts,” said Binnall, whose clients have included Trump and his campaign.

    Most of the top staff running Robinson’s campaign and his lieutenant governor’s office quit following the CNN report, and the Republican Governors Association, which had already spent millions of dollars in advertising backing Robinson, stopped supporting his bid. And Democrats from presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris to downballot state candidates began running ads linking their opponents to Robinson.

    Robinson’s campaign isn’t running TV commercials now. He said that “we’ve chosen to go in a different direction” and focus on in-person campaign stops.

    Robinson already had a history of inflammatory comments about topics like abortion and LGBTQ+ rights that Stein and his allies have emphasized in opposing him on TV commercials and online.

    Stein spokesperson Morgan Hopkins said Tuesday in a statement that “even before the CNN report, North Carolinians have known for a long time that Mark Robinson is completely unfit to be Governor.”

    Hurricane Helene and its aftermath took the CNN report off the front pages. Robinson worked for several days with a central North Carolina sheriff collecting relief supplies and criticized Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper — barred by term limits from seeking reelection — for state government’s response in the initial stages of relief.

    Trump endorsed Robinson before the March gubernatorial primary, calling him “Martin Luther King on steroids” for his speaking ability. Robinson had been a frequent presence at Trump’s North Carolina campaign stops, but he hasn’t participated in such an event since the CNN report.

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    Spectrum News Staff, Associated Press

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  • Harris campaign questions Trump’s mental fitness after town hall

    Harris campaign questions Trump’s mental fitness after town hall

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    Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign went on the offensive following former President Donald Trump’s town hall Monday night, which turned into a music listening party after two attendees required medical attention.

    What You Need To Know

    • Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign questioned former President Donald Trump’s fitness after his town hall on Monday night and his withdrawal from a scheduled interview with CNBC

    • After two attendees required medical attention, Trump shifted gears and asked for music to be played; for almost 40 minutes, Trump stood on stage swaying and dancing to music

    • A Trump campaign official told Spectrum News that the CNBC interview was canceled due to a scheduling conflict

    • Trump, for his part, questioned Harris’ health in a series of overnight posts on his social media platform, claiming he’s “far healthier” than the vice president and any of his predecessors in both political parties



    Trump stopped the brief question-and-answer session with Republican South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem after the attendees required medical attention. He then decided to shift gears.

    “Let’s not do any more questions, let’s just listen to music,” Trump said, adding: “Who the hell wants to hear questions?”

    Then for almost 40 minutes, Trump stood on stage swaying and dancing to an eclectic playlist: “Time to Say Goodbye” featuring Andrea Bocelli and Sarah Brightman, Sinead O’Connor’s “Nothing Compares 2 U,” Rufus Wainwright’s cover of Leonard Cohn’s “Hallelujah,” and, of course, “YMCA” by The Village People, a staple of Trump’s rallies.

    A spokesperson for Trump’s campaign described the event as a “Total lovefest.”

    “Everyone was so excited they were fainting so @realDonaldTrump turned to music,” Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung wrote on social media. “Nobody wanted to leave and wanted to hear more songs from the famous DJT Spotify playlist!”

    The Harris campaign shared on social media an edited clip of Trump on stage Monday night, charging that the Republican former president “appears lost, confused, and frozen on stage.” Harris shared the post from her own account, writing: “Hope he’s okay.”

    Trump adviser Dan Scavino fired back at Harris on social media, accusing the vice president of taking the events of the night out of context: “DESPERATE times call for desperate measures.”

    But the hits didn’t stop coming from the Harris camp, which continued to call on Trump to release his medical records. Harris campaign spokesperson Ian Sams, formerly from the White House counsel’s office, lambasted Trump for encouraging his supporters to vote on Jan. 5 — two months after Election Day.

    “I’ll tell you, if everything works out and everybody gets out on Jan. 5, or before,” Trump said on Monday night. “You know, it used to be – you’d have a date. Today, you can vote two months before, probably three months after. They don’t know what the hell they’re doing. But we’re gonna straighten it all out. We’re gonna straighten that out, too. We’re gonna straighten out our election process out, too.”

    “Trump is confused about the date of the election, as he faces scrutiny for not disclosing his medical records,” Sams wrote on social media.

    Those attacks continued on Tuesday morning after CNBC host Joe Kernen announced that Trump canceled a scheduled interview for this week.

    Kernen, who was on a list of Trump’s “close contacts” shown at his hush money trial earlier this year, said on the air Tuesday that “Trump canceled, and he was going to come on.” The Harris campaign shared a clip of Kernen’s announcement on social media.

    A Trump campaign official told Spectrum News that the interview was canceled due to a scheduling conflict. Trump was scheduled Tuesday to take part in an interview co-hosted by Bloomberg News and The Economic Club of Chicago, as well as a Fox News town hall focused on women’s issues set to air Wednesday.

    “WOW. Donald Trump pulls out of another scheduled mainstream interview. First he canceled on 60 Minutes. He’s refusing to debate. He froze up and played music for 40 minutes last night on stage,” Harris spokesperson Ammar Moussa wrote on social media. “What is going on?”

    Harris deputy campaign manager Rob Flaherty on social media sarcastically remarked that Trump is “closing strong!” by canceling the interview and asked: “is he….okay?”

    Trump, for his part, questioned Harris’ health in a series of overnight posts on his social media platform, claiming he’s “far healthier” than the vice president and any of his predecessors in both political parties.

    “I have just seen Kamala’s Report, and it is not good,” Trump wrote in one post. “According to her Doctor’s Report, she suffers from ‘urticaria,’ defined as ‘a rash of round, red welts on the skin that itch intensely, sometimes with dangerous swelling.’ She also has ‘allergic rhinitis and allergic conjunctivitis,’ a very messy and dangerous situation. These are deeply serious conditions that clearly impact her functioning. Maybe that is why she can’t answer even the simplest of questions asked by 60 Minutes, and others.”

    Urticaria is better known as hives, and allergic rhinitis is a condition that causes runny nose, congestion and sneezing. Her doctor said she is being treated for both with over-the-counter antihistamines and allergen immunotherapy, but is otherwise in excellent health.

    Both candidates were invited to the “60 Minutes” interview. Harris took part in the interview, which aired last week, while Trump turned it down and later accused the newsmagazine of helping Harris and called for CBS to lose its broadcast license.

    Spectrum News’ Joseph Konig contributed to this report.

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    Justin Tasolides

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  • Fox News to host Trump town hall in Georgia focused on women’s issues

    Fox News to host Trump town hall in Georgia focused on women’s issues

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    Fox News will hold a town hall with former President Donald Trump next week focused specifically on issues impacting women, a voting bloc that polls show he has struggled to reach.  

    The network announced the one-hour town hall event in a press release on Friday.

    The event will be held in Cumming, Georgia, a key battleground state, and will be moderated by Fox News host Harris Faulkner. It will be pre-taped on Tuesday before airing on Wednesday at 11 a.m. EST. The audience will be made up entirely of women and will hit on issues such as the economy, abortion, immigration and health care, the network said, pointing to a poll it conducted in September showing those topics high on the list of ones women care about. 

    “Women constitute the largest group of registered and active voters in the United States, so it is paramount that female voters understand where the presidential candidates stand on the issues that matter to them most,” Faulkner said in a release. “I am looking forward to providing our viewers with an opportunity to learn more about where former President Trump stands on these topics.”

    Polls show Trump’s Democratic opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, holds a sizable edge with female voters heading into the November election. An NBC News poll in September found the vice president with a more than 20 percentage-point lead among the voting bloc. 

    Fox News noted it has offered to host Harris for town hall “multiple times” since she became the Democratic presidential nominee and the invitation still stands. 

    The news comes one day after CNN invited Harris and Trump for separate town hall events in lieu of a Oct. 23 debate between the two that the network initially offered. Harris quickly accepted the network’s offer. Trump has not yet responded to the invitation, nor has he responded to a request from Spectrum News about the event.

    Fox also recently invited both candidates to debate in late October. But in a post on his social media platform on Wednesday night, Trump said that “THERE WILL BE NO REMATCH,” claiming that he won both the debate against Harris last month and a CNN-hosted debate against then-Democratic nominee President Joe Biden in June, which precipitated the incumbent’s exit from the race following a shaky performance.

    “The problem with another debate is that it’s just too late, voting has already started,” Trump said last month in declining the CNN debate, blaming Harris for “turning down” an invitation to debate with Trump on Fox News. “But now she wants to do a debate right before the election.”

    Trump and Biden’s final debate of the 2020 election cycle took place on Oct. 22. Their first debate didn’t happen until Sept. 29.

    Harris’ campaign has admonished Trump for not agreeing to another debate, calling his stance on Thursday “a disservice to the American people.”

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    Maddie Gannon

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  • Biden appeals to those impacted by Helene

    Biden appeals to those impacted by Helene

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    President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden on Monday offered their sympathies to those impacted by Hurricane Helene and pledged that the federal government “has their back.”

    What You Need To Know

    • President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden on Monday said in a video message to those impacted by Hurricane Helene that the federal government “has their back”

    • The message comes as falsehoods and conspiracies about the federal response to the storm threaten to disrupt recovery and relief efforts, officials say

    • Former President Donald Trump, the 2024 Republican nominee, has falsely claimed that the Biden administration as withholding aid from Republicans

    • Helene, which made landfall in Florida last week as a Category 4 hurricane, has killed at least 230 people, with hundreds still unaccounted for, making it the deadliest mainland storm since Hurricane Katrina in 2005



    The video message, shared on ABC’s “Good Morning America,” comes as falsehoods and conspiracies about the federal response to the storm — notably being echoed and amplified by Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump — threaten to disrupt recovery and relief efforts, officials say.

    “The nation has your back,” Biden pledged to those in the path of the storm in North and South Carolina, Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, Virginia and Alabama.

    The Federal Emergency Management Agency, the president said said, “is knocking on doors to sign up survivors for direct and immediate financial aid, because many of them need it now. And I’ve directed my team to stay there 24/7 with you, until this job is done.”

    Helene, which made landfall in Florida last week as a Category 4 hurricane, has killed at least 230 people, with hundreds still unaccounted for, making it the deadliest mainland storm since Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

    The president traveled to four of the impacted states last week — the Carolinas, Georgia and Florida.

    “Last week I spent time in four states to see firsthand how you’re doing and to thank the first responders who run toward danger,” President Biden said. “I saw homes destroyed, businesses wiped out, bridges washed away, survivors in shock and families grieving.”

    “We grieve with you,” the first lady added. “This is more heartache than any one community can bear.”

    “In moments like this, there are no red or blue states,” President Biden said, with the presidential election less than a month away.

    “No matter how you vote, we help each other when disaster strikes,” Dr. Biden said. “Because we are one United States of America.”

    Misinformation about the storm — particularly taking aim at the federal response to it — is complicating relief efforts and forcing officials of both parties to take time to set the record straight.

    Trump has charged that the Biden administration is withholding aid from Republicans.

    “They’re being treated very badly in the Republican areas,” Trump said, without evidence, on Fox News. “They’re not getting water, they’re not getting anything.”

    That claim has been echoed by right-wing figures like embattled North Carolina gubernatorial candidate Mark Robinson, who has been dogged by his own scandals in recent weeks, and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, who was found liable for more than $1 billion for false and defamatory claims about the Sandy Hook school shooting. But they have been debunked by governors in both parties, including Republican Govs. Henry McMaster of South Carolina and Brian Kemp of Georgia and Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper of North Carolina, who have praised the federal response to the storm.

    Trump has also falsely accused FEMA of spending money on migrants who have entered the country illegally. Other critics have criticized spending on aid to Ukraine and Israel, despite the fact that Congress allocates those funds for specific and separate purposes. One lawmaker even posited that the path of the storm was manipulated to harm Republican voters in an effort to influence the 2024 presidential election.

    FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell told ABC News on Sunday that false claims about storm recovery are “frankly ridiculous, and just plain false,” as well as “demoralizing” to aid workers and fear-mongering for those in need of aid.

    “This kind of rhetoric is not helpful to people,” Criswell said. “It’s really a shame that we’re putting politics ahead of helping people, and that’s what we’re here to do.”

    FEMA said Monday morning that federal support for Helene has surpassed $210 million, with hundreds of personnel on the ground to help with response efforts, including search and rescue. The agency said that it is prepared to continue response efforts while simultaneously bracing for Hurricane Milton, which strengthened to a Category 4 hurricane on Monday and is set to make landfall in Florida later this week.

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    Justin Tasolides

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  • Biden appeals to those impacted by Helene

    Biden appeals to those impacted by Helene

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    President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden on Monday offered their sympathies to those impacted by Hurricane Helene and pledged that the federal government “has their back.”

    What You Need To Know

    • President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden on Monday said in a video message to those impacted by Hurricane Helene that the federal government “has their back”

    • The message comes as falsehoods and conspiracies about the federal response to the storm threaten to disrupt recovery and relief efforts, officials say

    • Former President Donald Trump, the 2024 Republican nominee, has falsely claimed that the Biden administration as withholding aid from Republicans

    • Helene, which made landfall in Florida last week as a Category 4 hurricane, has killed at least 230 people, with hundreds still unaccounted for, making it the deadliest mainland storm since Hurricane Katrina in 2005



    The video message, shared on ABC’s “Good Morning America,” comes as falsehoods and conspiracies about the federal response to the storm — notably being echoed and amplified by Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump — threaten to disrupt recovery and relief efforts, officials say.

    “The nation has your back,” Biden pledged to those in the path of the storm in North and South Carolina, Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, Virginia and Alabama.

    The Federal Emergency Management Agency, the president said said, “is knocking on doors to sign up survivors for direct and immediate financial aid, because many of them need it now. And I’ve directed my team to stay there 24/7 with you, until this job is done.”

    Helene, which made landfall in Florida last week as a Category 4 hurricane, has killed at least 230 people, with hundreds still unaccounted for, making it the deadliest mainland storm since Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

    The president traveled to four of the impacted states last week — the Carolinas, Georgia and Florida.

    “Last week I spent time in four states to see firsthand how you’re doing and to thank the first responders who run toward danger,” President Biden said. “I saw homes destroyed, businesses wiped out, bridges washed away, survivors in shock and families grieving.”

    “We grieve with you,” the first lady added. “This is more heartache than any one community can bear.”

    “In moments like this, there are no red or blue states,” President Biden said, with the presidential election less than a month away.

    “No matter how you vote, we help each other when disaster strikes,” Dr. Biden said. “Because we are one United States of America.”

    Misinformation about the storm — particularly taking aim at the federal response to it — is complicating relief efforts and forcing officials of both parties to take time to set the record straight.

    Trump has charged that the Biden administration is withholding aid from Republicans.

    “They’re being treated very badly in the Republican areas,” Trump said, without evidence, on Fox News. “They’re not getting water, they’re not getting anything.”

    That claim has been echoed by right-wing figures like embattled North Carolina gubernatorial candidate Mark Robinson, who has been dogged by his own scandals in recent weeks, and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, who was found liable for more than $1 billion for false and defamatory claims about the Sandy Hook school shooting. But they have been debunked by governors in both parties, including Republican Govs. Henry McMaster of South Carolina and Brian Kemp of Georgia and Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper of North Carolina, who have praised the federal response to the storm.

    Trump has also falsely accused FEMA of spending money on migrants who have entered the country illegally. Other critics have criticized spending on aid to Ukraine and Israel, despite the fact that Congress allocates those funds for specific and separate purposes. One lawmaker even posited that the path of the storm was manipulated to harm Republican voters in an effort to influence the 2024 presidential election.

    FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell told ABC News on Sunday that false claims about storm recovery are “frankly ridiculous, and just plain false,” as well as “demoralizing” to aid workers and fear-mongering for those in need of aid.

    “This kind of rhetoric is not helpful to people,” Criswell said. “It’s really a shame that we’re putting politics ahead of helping people, and that’s what we’re here to do.”

    FEMA said Monday morning that federal support for Helene has surpassed $210 million, with hundreds of personnel on the ground to help with response efforts, including search and rescue. The agency said that it is prepared to continue response efforts while simultaneously bracing for Hurricane Milton, which strengthened to a Category 4 hurricane on Monday and is set to make landfall in Florida later this week.

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    Justin Tasolides

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  • Trump meets with Ukraine’s Zelenskyy in New York

    Trump meets with Ukraine’s Zelenskyy in New York

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    Former President Donald Trump on Friday touted his relationship with both the Russian and Ukrainian leaders and reiterated his pledge to “settle” the war between the two countries if he is elected in November before he officially takes office. 

    What You Need To Know

    • Former President Donald Trump touted his relationship with both the Russian and Ukrainian leaders and reiterated his pledge to “settle” the war between the two countries if he is elected in November before he officially takes office
    • Trump’s remarks came ahead of a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelesnkyy in New York on Friday
    • Zelenskyy on Friday told reporters he believes he and Trump share a “common view” that Putin cannot prevail in Ukraine 
    • The 2024 election cast a shadow over Friday’s meeting and Zelenskyy’s visit to the U.S. this week as the result on Nov. 5 could have significant implications for the future of U.S. support for Ukraine amid its battle with Russia
    • Vice President Kamala Harris has pledged to stand with Ukraine and warned against isolationism in an implicit criticism of her Republican rival, Trump, and some in the GOP who have followed his lead in their views of America’s place on the world stage

    Trump’s remarks came ahead of a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in New York on Friday. 

    “I think long before Jan. 20, before I would take the presidency — it’s Jan. 20, but long before that — I think that we can work out something that’s good for both sides,” Trump said during brief remarks to the press. 

    With Zelenskyy standing by his side during the remarks, Trump spoke highly of the Ukrainian leader, calling him a “piece of steel” and noting that he has “been through a lot.” The former president also went on to assert that he has a “very good relationship” with Russian President Vladimir Putin. 

    His relationship with both, Trump said, would allow him to nail down a deal to end the more than 2½-year-old war. 

    “I think if we win, I think we’re going to get it resolved very quickly,” Trump said. “But, you know, it takes two to tango, and we’re going to have a good meeting today, and I think the fact that we’re even together today is a very good sign.” 

    Trump also asserted that Zelenskyy stood up for him by saying the former president “did nothing wrong” on a 2019 phone call between the two that was at the center of Trump’s first impeachment.

    For his part, Zelenskyy on Friday told reporters he believes he and Trump share a “common view” that Putin cannot prevail in Ukraine. He noted the two had not met in person in five years and acknowledged the uncertainty around the election. 

    “That’s why I decided to meet with both candidates,” Zelenskyy added. 

    The 2024 election cast a shadow over Friday’s meeting and Zelenskyy’s visit to the U.S. this week, where he attended the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly and huddled with lawmakers, President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee for president, in Washington. 

    The result on Nov. 5, both in the presidential race as well as contests that will decide which party controls the House and Senate, could have significant implications for the future of U.S. support for Ukraine amid its war with Russia. 

    Harris has pledged to stand with Ukraine and warned against isolationism in an implicit criticism of her Republican rival, Trump, and some in the GOP who have followed his lead in their views of America’s place on the world stage. 

    “So then, the United States supports Ukraine, not out of charity but because it is in our own strategic interest,” Harris said Thursday. “We will continue to provide the security assistance Ukraine needs to succeed on the battlefield.” 

    Trump has lobbed criticisms at Ukraine and Zelenskyy on the campaign trail this week, describing the country as “demolished” and “in rubble” with its people “dead” and questioning the amount of aid the U.S. is providing to its war effort. 

    “We continue to give billions of dollars to a man who refuses to make a deal, Zelenskyy,” Trump said at a campaign event this week. 

    In an interview with The New Yorker this week, Zelenskyy pushed back on the former president’s assertions that he could settle the war in Ukraine and criticized Trump’s running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance as “too radical.” 

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    Maddie Gannon

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