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What's happening on the campaign trail today
- Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, held their first sit-down interview since the start of their campaign on CNN. Harris defended her economic policies, including those of the Biden administration, but promised to do more to improve affordability for middle-class Americans and to appoint a Republican to her Cabinet if she's elected.
- Former President Donald Trump said in an interview with NBC News before his rally in Potterville, Michigan, that he would protect access to IVF treatments if elected.
- Harris held a rally in Savannah, capping a two-day bus tour of southeastern Georgia. While Harris sees an opening in the battleground state, Trump is working hard to put it back in the GOP column, even repairing his long-standing feud with the state's popular Republican governor.
- Both running mates also hit the campaign trail. Walz spoke in Raleigh, North Carolina, while Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance addressed a convention of first responders in Boston, where he drew a mix of cheers and boos.
Five takeaways from Harris’ first major interview as the Democratic nominee
Harris today gave her first sit-down interview since she became the Democratic presidential nominee, touching on her agenda for 2025 and a series of topics that she has so far avoided — and drawing instant criticism from Trump.
Harris presented herself as a pragmatist in the long-anticipated interview, given to CNN’s Dana Bash alongside Walz. Harris sought to strike a balance between defending the Biden-Harris administration’s legacy and charting her own path if she is elected president while taking questions about how some of her policy positions have changed since the last time she ran for president.
“I believe it is important to build consensus and it is important to find a common place of understanding of where we can actually solve problems,” Harris said.
In his new book, Trump threatens to imprison Mark Zuckerberg and says he 'got along well' with Putin
In a new book of photographs, Trump describes his term in office and his post-presidency in his own words, captioning photos of key moments in his political career.
The Trump-authored book, titled “Save America,” includes his recollections of meetings with foreign leaders, photos of family milestones and appearances alongside celebrity golfer Jack Nicklaus and musician Kid Rock, according to excerpts obtained by NBC News. It is set to be released Tuesday.
Keep calm and get under his skin: How Harris is preparing for her first Trump debate
Harris has been diligently preparing for the debate stage for months — first by gearing up to face the Republican vice presidential nominee and now, over the past several weeks, to debate Trump, according to four sources familiar with her preparations.
The prep sessions have been sandwiched between campaign stops, official duties as vice president and preparation for her first joint interview with Walz, which aired tonight on CNN, the sources said.
Texas voter purge may be sending a chilling message, lawmakers and advocates warn
Texans who may have been wrongly removed from the state’s voter registration list or whose voter registrations have been suspended have little time to reverse course, Democratic state lawmakers and civil rights advocates warned today, a few days after Republican leadership announced the purge of more than 1.1 million names from their voter rolls.
States are required by law to regularly update their voter registration lists to remove people who have died or moved or who are found ineligible to vote for other reasons. But Republican Gov. Greg Abbott touted the routine maintenance of the voter rolls in a series of election integrity bills he signed into laws in 2021.
“Texas’ strong election laws removed over 1 MILLION ineligible voters from our voter rolls,” Abbott wrote Monday on X.
Gallup: Interest in election — and enthusiasm about voting — at or near records
Interest in this year's presidential election — and enthusiasm about voting in November — is at or near record highs, according to a new Gallup Poll.
The poll found that 79% of Americans said they have given “quite a lot” of thought to the election, surpassing the previous August high of 74% in 2008.
Democrats' level of enthusiasm about voting is just 1 percentage point shy of their high in 2008, when Barack Obama was first elected.
Republican enthusiasm is notably slightly lower, though it has crept upward recently. It's now at 64%, compared with records of 70% in 2020, 2012 and 2004.
The poll also found there is still room for candidates to win over independent voters, with about one-third of that group reporting they were still undecided. Poorer, less educated and minority respondents were also more likely to say they were undecided.
Harris wasn't asked about Afghanistan
Harris did not take a question about the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, which has been back in the headlines after a series of controversies related to Trump.
Republicans have sought to make the deaths of U.S. service members killed at Abbey Gate in Kabul during the withdrawal from Afghanistan a political liability for Democrats, arguing that Biden's handling of the withdrawal, which Trump set in motion, makes them liable for the loss of life. Trump has sought to tie the attacks to Harris by arguing she is also liable because reporting said she was the last person in the room with Biden when he was deciding on the withdrawal.
Trump went to Arlington National Cemetary this week to mark the deaths, but his staff ended up in a confrontation with cemetery staff members over their video recording, which the staff members told them was prohibited.
Vance also drew criticism for saying Harris could "go to hell" for the execution of the withdrawal.
Walz says his 'record speaks for itself' when questioned about military service, IVF comments
Walz largely dismissed critics who have contended he has, on various occasions, misrepresented his record or mischaracterized the fertility treatments he and his wife used, saying his 40-year record speaks for itself.
Walz was asked about contentions, fueled by Vance, that he misrepresented his military record.
Walz said that he was proud of his 24 years of service and that he would "never demean another member's service in any way."
"My record speaks for itself, but I think people are coming yet to know me. I speak like they do. I speak candidly. I wear my emotions on my sleeves, and I speak especially passionately about our children being shot in schools," he said.
"I won’t apologize for speaking passionately, whether it’s guns in schools or protecting of reproductive rights. The contrast could not be clear between what we’re running against," he added.
Walz came under fire from Republicans over his comments in 2018 referring to his handling of weapons “in war,” even though he was never deployed to a combat zone. The Harris campaign said this month that he “misspoke.”
Asked about allegations that he had lied about his and his wife using IVF to conceive a child (his wife explained they used intrauterine insemination, or IUI), Walz said, “I certainly own my mistakes when I make them,” adding that he had spoken about the treatments that were available to him and his wife when they were facing fertility issues.
Walz calls the viral moment of his son caught on camera at the DNC a 'visceral, emotional moment'
Walz talked about the “visceral, emotional moment” caught on camera at the Democratic convention, when his son, Gus, stood up and said, “That’s my dad.”
“I’m grateful I got to experience it, and I’m so proud of him. I’m proud of him, I’m proud of Hope; I’m proud of Gwen,” he said.
Why Harris needs Biden and Biden needs Harris
Throughout the interview, Harris heaped praise on Biden, and it’s easy to see why. Biden put her in this position by making her his running mate in 2020 and endorsing her as his successor four years later.
Their legacies are now entwined. If Harris loses, Biden may face blame for not having stepped aside earlier and allowed Democrats to vie for the nomination in a competitive primary campaign. If she wins, their political partnership will be one that dealt perhaps a mortal blow to Trumpism.
By all accounts, Harris wasn’t among the Democratic leaders who’d been pushing for Biden to quit the race. She defended him after his poor debate performance in June and pressed Democratic donors to keep contributing to his campaign in the aftermath.
Democratic officials expect that if she wins and is sworn in, she'll keep Biden close. Harris needs to keep the base intact, and there are still millions of rank-and-file Democrats who are grateful for Biden’s service and thankful that he recognized the inevitable and ceded the nomination to Harris.
Don’t be surprised if she invites him to a state dinner and calls on him to give a toast, a Democratic lawmaker told NBC News.
Harris balances history-making and qualification-touting
Harris’ doubling down on the idea that she’s running to be a president for all while saying she’s touched by the photo of her grand-niece was notable. Harris continues to balance noting her history-making candidacy while continuing to lean into the idea that she’s qualified for the job.