Coverage on this live blog has ended. For the latest news, click here.
What to expect ahead of Tuesday's debate:
- Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump are set to face off in their first debate tomorrow night in Philadelphia. The debate was far from a forgone conclusion, with both candidates signaling unhappiness with some of the terms before reaching an agreement last week.
- Trump is preparing by having meetings with and getting foreign policy coaching from allies, including former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and former Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard. Harris has been participating in mock debates with Philippe Reines, who also played Trump during Hillary Clinton's debate prep in 2016.
- Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz is stumping today in Texas and Nevada, while second gentleman Doug Emhoff and Minnesota's first lady, Gwen Walz, campaigned in North Carolina.
RFK Jr. must be removed from North Carolina ballots, state Supreme Court rules
The North Carolina Supreme Court ruled today to remove former independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. from state ballots ahead of the general election.
The 4-3 ruling upholds an appeals court decision Friday that said Kennedy’s name should be taken off the ballot. A lower court had previously denied Kennedy’s effort to be removed. It also means ballots will need to be reprinted.
“We acknowledge that expediting the process of printing new ballots will require considerable time and effort by our election officials and significant expense to the State,” Justice Trey Allen wrote in today's majority opinion. “But that is a price the North Carolina Constitution expects us to incur to protect voters’ fundamental right to vote their conscience and have that vote count.”
Trump allies hope the debate will turn the page from Harris’ ‘honeymoon’
Allies of Trump see tomorrow’s debate as a pivotal moment for the Republican nominee — a chance to shore up support and turn the corner from Harris’ post-nomination “honeymoon.”
“Failure would give people permission to leave,” said a former adviser, adding that Trump must clear a bar set by his own performance against Hillary Clinton in the second presidential debate of 2016, when he was seen as taking her to task on policy issues and skipped the rage-infused language of his stump speech.
Fresher in people’s minds, however, will be the previous debate, where Trump finished on a high note; not only did Biden’s stumbling answers ultimately lead to his replacement, but Trump’s own performance was also largely lauded by Republicans as disciplined.
Trump is increasingly vowing to prosecute political foes and others he says are ‘corrupt’ if he wins
Over the past two weeks, Trump has become increasingly explicit in describing plans to use the Justice Department to prosecute scores of people he has declared corrupt if he wins in November.
Legal experts said Trump would face obstacles. Judges, prosecutors and juries, for example, could decline to try or convict people if there is scant evidence they committed crimes.
But the experts also said the Supreme Court’s recent immunity decision gives presidents the power to order the attorney general to indict any people they wish without facing legal consequences themselves.
Speaker Johnson’s government funding strategy is on life support as defections mount
House Speaker Mike Johnson’s strategy to tie a short-term government funding bill to a Trump-backed proposal to overhaul voting laws was on life support today after a band of conservative rebels vowed to vote no on the package.
Without a stopgap funding bill, money will run out and the federal government will shut down at the end of the month.
Because of the GOP’s razor-thin majority, Johnson, R-La., can afford only four Republican defections if all members vote. At least five Republicans — Cory Mills, of Florida; Matt Rosendale, of Montana; Tim Burchett, of Tennessee; Jim Banks, of Indiana; and Thomas Massie, of Kentucky — say they would not support the Johnson plan to avert a government shutdown on Sept. 30.
Rep. Troy Nehls disparages Harris' intelligence ahead of debate
Rep. Troy Nehls, R-Texas, said tonight that he thought Trump will perform well during tomorrow night's debate, adding that Harris was not "too bright."
Nehls said that Trump "crushed" Biden during their debate in June and that he expects the same in the match-up against Harris.
“Now he's dealing with Kamala. I think I think she's a little weak. I don't think she's too bright,” he said.
Leading GOP figures, including Trump, have taken to launching personal attacks on Harris.
Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley said in an interview with "Fox & Friends" today that Trump and Vance must change how they speak about women, including Harris, and instead focus on policy positions.
“Donald Trump and JD Vance need to change the way they speak about women," she said. "You don’t need to call Kamala dumb. She didn’t get this far, you know, just by accident. ... She’s a prosecutor. You don’t need to go and talk about intelligence or looks or anything else. Just focus on the policies."
Sen. Rand Paul explains why he hasn’t endorsed Trump
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., still hasn’t endorsed Trump, and that isn’t changing in a hurry.
“We’ve offered to have a discussion,” he said today outside the Capitol. “I’ve told them I’m persuadable if they want to talk.”
He said that while Trump is “superior” to Biden or Harris, “my enthusiasm has flagged.” In part, he doesn’t want another John Bolton type in a second Trump administration.
Paul also worries about rising debt and doesn’t like what he sees from either Trump or Harris. He said Trump and Biden have both been “terrible” on red ink.
He said today’s inflation is partly a Trump legacy. “In fact, I think some of the inflation we have now is from the deficits under the Trump administration,” he said.
Republican Jewish Coalition ad slams Harris
The Republican Jewish Coalition launched an ad today tying Harris to members of Congress who have criticized Israel, including "squad" members like Democratic Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, of New York; Ilhan Omar, of Minnesota; and Rashida Tlaib, of Michigan.
The ad argues that Harris has "joined the squad in sympathizing with antisemitic, anti-Israel protesters," using a clip of her saying she "will never silence young people."
"Kamala Harris is no ordinary Democrat," the ad says. "She stands with the squad, not with us."
The Republican Jewish Coalition is a pro-Israel group led by major GOP donors. It recently said it would spend millions of dollars in swing states this election cycle.
In her speech at last month's Democratic National Convention, Harris said she will "always defend" Israel's right to defend itself and denounced Hamas and the attacks on Oct. 7, while also saying the situation in Gaza is "devastating."
Harris said at the time that she and Biden have been working toward an end to the war to "secure" Israel, return the hostages and end the suffering in Gaza so "the Palestinian people can realize their right to dignity, security, freedom and self-determination.”
Trump repeats false claims that children are undergoing transgender surgery during the school day
Trump repeated his false claim that children are undergoing transition-related surgery during their school day, worsening fears among some conservatives that educators are pushing children to become transgender and aiding transitions without parental awareness.
“Can you imagine you’re a parent and your son leaves the house and you say, ‘Jimmy, I love you so much, go have a good day in school,’ and your son comes back with a brutal operation? Can you even imagine this? What the hell is wrong with our country?” Trump said Saturday at a campaign rally in Wisconsin, a vital swing state.
Trump made similar remarks — saying children were returning home from school after having had surgical procedures — the previous weekend at an event hosted by Moms for Liberty, a parent activist group that has gained outsized influence in conservative politics in recent years.
Harris' debate prep has included a stage and TV lighting
Harris has used a stage and TV lighting to prep for tomorrow night's debate, a source familiar with the preparations confirmed to NBC News today.
The New York Times first reported the details about her use of lighting and a stage.
NBC News has reported that Harris has been rehearsing with Hillary Clinton’s former aide Philippe Reines, who has donned a navy blue suit and a red tie in Trump’s signature style for the debate prep sessions.
Manhattan DA urges judges to reject Trump bid to pause hush money sentencing
Prosecutors from the Manhattan district attorney's office want a federal appeals court to deny Trump's bid to pause sentencing in his state criminal case, saying that Trump's argument is fatally flawed — and that the sentencing in his hush money case has been postponed anyway.
“The stay requested by defendant is not only legally unavailable, but also unnecessary in light of the state criminal court’s adjournment of the sentencing,” the DA's office said today in a filing with the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Trump had been scheduled to be sentenced on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records on Sept. 18, but New York state Judge Juan Merchan last week pushed it back to Nov. 26. The delay came after Trump's attorneys argued they might need more time to file a possible appeal of his impending ruling on the impact of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision on presidential immunity in the DA's case.
Trump also tried to move his case to federal court, but a judge denied that bid last week. He is appealing that ruling.
Trump's attorneys did not immediately respond to a request for comment today on the DA's court filing.