In a debate that evoked a calmer era in American politics, Tim Walz and JD Vance went after each other鈥檚 running mates Tuesday and sought to shore up their campaigns鈥 vulnerabilities at a time of renewed fears of a regional war in the Middle East and sadness over devastation from Hurricane Helene.
Meanwhile, those new trials 鈥 along with a that threatens the U.S. economy 鈥 are looming over the final weeks of the and could help shape the public mood as voters decide between Democrat Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump.
Follow the AP鈥檚 Election 2024 coverage at: .
Here鈥檚 the latest:
Walz to make late-night debut
The campaign of Vice President Kamala Harris announced Wednesday that Walz would have his first appearance on a late-night talk show during an upcoming trip to California, and Kimmel posted on Instagram, 鈥淚 am pleased to announce that Governor Tim Walz is coming to .鈥
The comedian said Walz would 鈥渃hat and fix our transmission on Monday 10/7.鈥 The Harris campaign produced a video of Walz fixing the cruise control on his 1979 International Harvester.
Oct. 7 is less than a month before Election Day, but also marks the first anniversary of Hamas鈥 deadly attack on Israel, which sparked the ongoing war in Gaza.
Election misinformation has led to an uptick in threats to election officials
A consequence of the prevalence of election misinformation: an troubling uptick in against of both parties and, in some cases, their families, often based on . Jen Easterly, director of the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, called it 鈥渃orrosive鈥 to democracy and said it鈥檚 something the public needs to collectively fight.
鈥淭hose election officials, they are not faceless bureaucrats,鈥 Easterly said. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e folks we see in the community every single day. And they鈥檙e not doing this for pay. They鈥檙e not doing it for glory. They are doing it because they believe in the process of democracy.鈥
Prosecutors lay out new evidence in Trump election case, accuse him of having 鈥榬esorted to crimes鈥
laid the groundwork to try to overturn the 2020 election even before he lost, knowingly pushed false claims of voter fraud and 鈥渞esorted to crimes鈥 in his failed bid to cling to power, according to from prosecutors that lays out fresh details from the against the former president.
The filing from special counsel Jack Smith鈥檚 team offers the most comprehensive view to date of what prosecutors intend to prove if the case charging Trump with conspiring to overturn the election reaches trial. Though a months-long congressional investigation and the indictment itself have chronicled in stark detail Trump鈥檚 efforts to undo the election, the new filing cites previously unknown accounts offered by Trump鈥檚 closest aides to paint a portrait of an 鈥渋ncreasingly desperate鈥 president who while losing his grip on the White House 鈥渦sed deceit to target every stage of the electoral process.鈥
鈥淪o what?鈥 the filing quotes Trump as telling an aide after being alerted that his vice president, Mike Pence, was in potential danger after a crowd of violent supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
鈥淭he details don鈥檛 matter,鈥 Trump said, when told by an adviser that a lawyer who was mounting his legal challenges wouldn鈥檛 be able to prove the false allegations in court, the filing states.
The filing was submitted, initially under seal, following a that conferred broad immunity on former presidents for official acts they take in office, narrowing the scope of the prosecution charging Trump with conspiring to overturn the results of the election he lost to Democrat Joe Biden.
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Anti-abortion leaders are undeterred as Trump for the first time says he鈥檇 veto a federal abortion ban
Anti-abortion leaders said Wednesday that they鈥檙e undeterred after Donald Trump said he would veto a federal abortion ban, the first time he has explicitly said so after previously on the subject.
During , the Republican presidential nominee posted on his social media platform Truth Social that 鈥渆veryone knows I would not support a federal abortion ban, under any circumstances, and would, in fact, veto it.鈥
With the election less than five weeks away, Trump has been trying to thread a divide between his own base of anti-abortion supporters and the majority of Americans who support abortion rights. The former president is trying to make up ground with women 鈥 a group that views Democratic nominee Kamala Harris more favorably nationally 鈥 in the handful of battleground states that will likely determine the winner.
鈥淭rump鈥檚 statement last night is just one more example of Republicans trying desperately to rebrand themselves on the issue of abortion,鈥 said Ryan Stitzlein, vice president of political and government relations at the national abortion rights organization Reproductive Freedom for All. 鈥淏ut at the end of the day, the only thing that has actually changed is their rhetoric on the issue. It鈥檚 their reaction to seeing the political consequences for this deeply unpopular policy position.鈥
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Walz acknowledges some moments he misspoke during the debate with his Republican rival
Democratic vice presidential nominee Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said Wednesday that 鈥淚 need to be more specific on that鈥 and acknowledged he misspoke during a debate with his Republican rival a day earlier when he said he had 鈥渂ecome friends with school shooters.鈥
鈥淚鈥檓 super passionate about this,鈥 the former schoolteacher told reporters in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. He clarified that he had gotten to know the parents of victims in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting while he was in Congress, as well as the activist and school-shooting survivor David Hogg, calling him a 鈥済ood friend of mine.鈥
Said Walz, 鈥淚 need to be more specific on that, but I am passionate about this.鈥
Walz also acknowledged again that he 鈥済ot his dates wrong鈥 when he claimed he was in China during the Tiananmen Square protests in 1989.
Cybersecurity head says there鈥檚 no chance a foreign adversary can change US election results
Security for America鈥檚 election systems has become so robust that Russia, Iran or any other foreign adversary won't be able to alter the outcome of this year鈥檚 presidential race, the head of the nation鈥檚 cybersecurity agency said Wednesday.
Jen Easterly told The Associated Press in an interview that voting, ballot-counting and other election infrastructure is more secure today than it鈥檚 ever been.
鈥淢alicious actors, even if they tried, could not have an impact at scale such that there would be a material effect on the outcome of the election,鈥 said Easterly, director of the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.
Federal agencies have warned of growing attempts by Russia and Iran in particular to influence voters before the Nov. 5 election and election conspiracy theories have left millions of Americans doubting the validity of election results.
Easterly says those efforts are primarily aimed at sowing discord among Americans and undermining faith in the security of the nation鈥檚 elections.
Court says betting on U.S. congressional elections can resume, for now
Betting on the outcome of U.S. Congressional elections can resume, at least temporarily, a federal appeals court ruled Wednesday.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit dissolved an order it had previously issued that prevented New York startup company Kalshi from taking bets on which political party would control the House and Senate after this November鈥檚 elections.
The ruling clears the way for such betting to resume while the court further considers the underlying issues in the case.
So far, Kalshi has only offered bets on congressional races; it was not immediately clear whether they plan to expand offerings to include the presidential election.
The court said it could reconsider a ban if the commission provides new evidence of serious harm to the public interest in the coming weeks.
Harris issues a statement on the dockworkers鈥 strike
鈥淭his strike is about fairness," the vice president said in the Wednesday statement. 鈥淔oreign-owned shipping companies have made record profits and executive compensation has grown. The Longshoremen, who play a vital role transporting essential goods across America, deserve a fair share of these record profits.鈥
In the statement, she criticized her opponent, former President Donald Trump, as someone who wants to take the country 鈥渂ack to a time before workers had the freedom to organize.鈥
鈥淒onald Trump makes empty promise after empty promise to American workers, but never delivers," Harris said. 鈥淗e thinks our economy should only work for those who own the big skyscrapers, not those who actually build them.鈥
Vice President Kamala Harris is reiterating her opposition to the acquisition of US steel by Nippon Steel of Japan
鈥淚 feel very strongly that U.S. Steel needs to remain a U.S. company, and that the people working there need to be American workers,鈥 Harris during an interview with KDKA-TV in Pittsburgh.
It鈥檚 a position consistent with the White House.
Pressed on U.S. Steel saying it could be forced to move its headquarters from Pittsburgh and cut jobs if the deal doesn鈥檛 go through, Harris told the TV station that it's her 鈥減riority to keep jobs in Pittsburg.鈥
President Joe Biden has opposed the acquisition of U.S. Steel to a foreign entity and his administration has indicated amid a government review of it. Since taking over for Biden at the top of the Democratic presidential ticket, Harris has repeatedly taken a similar stance.
Walz is taking a bus tour through Pennsylvania
Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz is holding a bus tour through central Pennsylvania with stops in the capital of Harrisburg, as well as York, and Reading.
In York, he鈥檚 being joined by Democratic Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman for a rally. While on the tour, Walz plans to meet with labor organizers and leaders from rural areas and the Hispanic community.
Vice President Kamala Harris had originally been set to do the bus tour with Walz following Tuesday night鈥檚 vice presidential debate in New York, but she's instead heading to Georgia on Wednesday to see areas hard-hit by Hurricane Helene.
On Saturday, Walz has fundraisers scheduled for Cleveland and Cincinnati, then will head to California and Washington state. That swing will feature campaign stops in Reno, Nevada 鈥 a makeup for a planned trip in September that Walz scrapped because of wildfires -- and Arizona, where early voting will be kicking off.
The Harris campaign says Walz will also increase the number of media interviews he's doing post-debate, with an eye to reaching target voters across key demographics.
Harris and Biden are fanning out across the Southeast amid Helene's devastation
Over the past four years, President has jetted off to survey damage and console victims after tornadoes, wildfires and tropical storms. It鈥檚 not a role Kamala Harris has played as vice president.
But on Wednesday, they'll both fan out across the Southeast to grapple with the damage from , seeking to demonstrate commitment and competence in helping devastated communities after Donald Trump鈥檚 false claims about their administration鈥檚 response. Biden is heading to North and South Carolina, while Harris is going to Georgia.
Harris鈥 stop will also serve as a political test in the midst of a humanitarian crisis. She鈥檚 trying to step into the role 鈥 showing the empathy Americans expect in times of tragedy 鈥 in the closing stretch of her campaign for president.
Pennsylvania town grapples with Trump assassination attempt ahead of his return
Former President Donald Trump is going back to Butler, Pennsylvania, where the world saw him pump his fist and beseech followers to 鈥渇ight,鈥 even as blood streaked his face from a would-be assassin鈥檚 bullet.
In announcing his return, the current Republican nominee said he planned to 鈥渃elebrate a unifying vision for America鈥檚 future in an event like the world has never seen before.鈥
The question is: Is Butler ready?
While many are predicting a large crowd to hear Trump speak back at the very Farm Show property where a bullet grazed his right ear on July 13, there's also apprehension in town, along with a sense that Butler is still healing.
