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What to know about the campaigns today
- Former President Donald Trump campaigned in Georgia, a key battleground state heading into November.
- Vice President Kamala Harris is considering a trip to the southern border when she's in Arizona this week.
- Joe Biden gave his final address as president at the United Nations General Assembly this morning.
Haitian group in Springfield files criminal charges against Trump and Vance after false pet claims
The leader of a Haitian nonprofit community group filed criminal charges today against Trump and Vance over false claims they made about Haitian immigrants’ eating local pets in Springfield, Ohio.
Guerline Jozef, a co-founder and the executive director of the Haitian Bridge Alliance, filed the charges on behalf of the group.
“Over the last two weeks, both Trump and Vance led an effort to vilify and threaten the Haitian community in Springfield, Ohio,” Jozef wrote. “Together, they spread and amplified the debunked claim that Haitians immigrants in Springfield are eating cats, dogs, and wildlife.”
Trump was briefed about ongoing threats from Iran to assassinate him, campaign spokesperson says
Top U.S. intelligence officials briefed Trump today about threats from Iran to assassinate him, a Trump campaign spokesperson said.
“President Trump was briefed earlier today by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence regarding real and specific threats from Iran to assassinate him in an effort to destabilize and sow chaos in the United States,” spokesperson Steven Cheung said in a statement.
“Intelligence officials have identified that these continued and coordinated attacks have heightened in the past few months, and law enforcement officials across all agencies are working to ensure President Trump is protected and the election is free from interference.”
A spokesperson for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence on Tuesday evening acknowledged there was a briefing but declined to address any specifics.
Mark Robinson will be acting N.C. governor tomorrow for first time since bombshell report
Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson will be acting governor of North Carolina tomorrow for the first time since a bombshell report alleged he posted antisemitic and racist comments on a porn website years ago.
Robinson, who is the GOP nominee in the governor's race, will temporarily assume the duties of Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper while Cooper is in New York for an event about climate change.
Four of Robinson’s staffers have stepped down from his campaign in the wake of the allegations in the CNN report. He also faces backlash and scrutiny from top Republicans. Vance called the alleged comments "pretty gross" while saying it's up to Robinson to make his case for governor to the people of North Carolina.
Congress passes bill to boost presidential candidate security after apparent attempt on Trump’s life
The Senate unanimously passed legislation today to boost Secret Service protection for presidential candidates, sending the bill to the White House for Biden‘s signature.
The strong show of bipartisan support came days after the House passed the measure, known as the Enhanced Presidential Security Act, without any opposition in a 405-0 vote.
The bill would give Trump and Harris the same level of protection provided to Biden. At only three pages long, the bill would give broad discretion to the Secret Service about how to reach that level.
Ryan Routh, arrested near Trump’s Florida golf course, is charged with attempted assassination
Federal prosecutors have charged the man who was spotted with a gun outside one of Trump's golf courses with attempted assassination of a presidential candidate.
The indictment, unsealed today, alleges that Ryan Wesley Routh “did intentionally attempt to kill Former President of the United States Donald J. Trump, a major Presidential candidate,” when he was camped out near where Trump was golfing in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Sept. 15. The charges carry a maximum penalty of life in prison if he is convicted.
It also added two other charges: possessing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence and assaulting a federal officer.
Anti-abortion group launches $500K ad buy in Georgia accusing Harris of 'misinformation'
An anti-abortion group says it's launching a $500,000 TV and digital ad in Georgia accusing Harris and other Democrats of "spreading misinformation" about the state's abortion law.
The ad focuses on Candi Miller and Amber Thurman — two women who died after they experienced complications from having taken abortion pills. Miller, who had numerous health issues, had been scared to see a doctor because of the law, and Thurman was hospitalized for 20 hours before doctors decided they could legally operate on her. ProPublica reported that a state board found both deaths were preventable.
The ad by Women Speak Out PAC, a partner of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, agreed that the deaths should not have happened but said they were caused by misinformation, not state law. “No Georgia law blocks lifesaving care for women or treating complications after abortion," the ad says. "Candi and Amber should be alive. The left's scare tactics are deadly."
In a speech in Georgia last week, Harris said that doctors could have operated on Thurman before her condition became so dire but that they didn't for fear they could be prosecuted under the law. "Doctors have to wait until the patient is at death's door before they take action," Harris said, saying the women's deaths were preventable and "predictable."
Harris, Trump groups tout dueling ‘freedom’ messages to Latina voters
Political organizations supporting Harris and Trump are touting both campaigns’ messages of “freedom” as they woo Latinas, a key voting bloc.
Hispanic women are the female racial or ethnic group that grew the most in the 12 years from 2010 to 2022, according to the Pew Research Center, growing by 5.6 million and numbering about 22.2 million as of May. They make up about 17% of the nation’s adult female population.
They also turn out to vote in larger numbers than Latino men.
Russia, Iran and China are using AI in election interference efforts, U.S. intelligence officials say
Propagandists in China, Iran and Russia are using artificial intelligence to create content designed to deceive Americans ahead of the November presidential election, federal intelligence officials said yesterday.
In a conference call about foreign election interference efforts organized by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, or ODNI, officials said the U.S. intelligence community, or IC, has concluded that AI has made it easier to create disinformation but has not fundamentally changed how those actors operate.
“The IC considers AI a malign influence accelerant, not yet a revolutionary influence tool. In other words, information operations are the threat, and AI is an enabler,” an ODNI official said. The official asked not to be named as a condition for participating in the call. “Thus far, the IC has not seen it revolutionize such operations,” the official said.
NBC News correspondents Vaughn Hillyard and Aaron Gilchrist join "Meet the Press NOW" to report on the latest from the campaign trail as Trump and Harris try to reach voters in battleground Georgia.
Judge allows legal brief deemed a 'hit piece' by Trump's lawyers
The judge presiding over the federal election interference case against Trump is allowing prosecutors from special counsel Jack Smith's office to file a document Trump's lawyers charge is a "false hit piece."
Prosecutors had asked for permission to file a 180-page brief about the presidential immunity issues that still remain in the criminal case after the Supreme Court's July 1 ruling on the issue. They contended that the oversized filing is necessary to fully address the numerous issues and that it would streamline the arguments instead of dealing with them piecemeal.
Trump's attorneys urged U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan to reject the proposal in a filing yesterday, calling it a "monstrosity" that prosecutors would use to “improperly air their biased list of grievances.”
In a ruling today, Chutkan noted that the high court directed her "to make specific determinations about the nature of the allegations" and said the filing would help with that. She also noted Trump's attorneys would get to respond.
The filing is due by Thursday, but it's unclear when it — or at least parts of it — might become public. In a filing over the weekend, Smith’s office said that “the opening brief and its exhibits contain a substantial amount of Sensitive Material, as defined by the Protective Order” and that they would require court-approved redactions before they are posted on the public docket.