Trump falsely claims Kemp has not been able to reach Biden
Following a closed-door storm briefing with emergency response officials, Trump twice falsely claimed that Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp is unable to reach Biden to discuss storm recovery, despite the White House — and Kemp himself — confirming that the two leaders spoke last night.
In an exchange as Trump approached the lectern in Valdosta, a reporter told the former president at the start of a question that Kemp had spoken with Biden, which Trump interrupted by saying: “No, he hasn’t.” Then, moments later, Trump reiterated the same false claim during his remarks.
“The governor needs to — he’s been trying to get them, and I’m sure they’re going to come through, but he’s been calling. The president hasn’t been able to get him, but they’ll come through I’m sure,” Trump said.
Following his remarks, NBC’s Garrett Haake asked Trump what he was referencing in claiming on Truth Social that he has received reports “about the Federal Government, and the Democrat Governor of the State, going out of their way to not help people in Republican areas.”
First pointing to himself in the middle of the question, Trump replied: “Just take a look.”
Trump says after surveying Georgia storm damage that campaigning doesn't matter during a crisis
Trump said after he surveyed damage from Hurricane Helene at a furniture store in Valdosta, Georgia, that he came down with “truckloads of things,” seemingly in coordination with the aid organization Samaritan’s Purse, which is run by Franklin Graham, the son of the late Christian evangelist Billy Graham, who spoke alongside Trump.
“We have a lot of truckloads of different items, from oil to water to all sorts of equipment that’s going to help them,” Trump said in Valdosta, which is in the southern part of the state, near the Florida border.
He said that he also plans to visit hard-hit North Carolina and that he had just spoken to Elon Musk to discuss implementing his Starlink satellite network for people to access the internet.
Trump, who was wearing a MAGA hat and had criticized Biden and Harris' response to the hurricane in recent days, said in his remarks that now isn't the time for campaigning.
“Our country is in the final weeks of a hard-fought national election, but in a time like this, when a crisis hits, when our fellow citizens cry out in need, none of that matters," he said. "We’re not talking about politics now."
"We have to all get together and get this out," Trump added. "We need a lot of help. They have to have a lot of help down here. We look out for one another, we pull together, we pitch in, we persevere, and we pull it through. That is really the American spirit."
Trump also suggested that the storm was a surprise because it's "so late" in the hurricane season. According to NOAA's Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory, hurricane season runs from June through November.
"That's a big one, and the devastation wrought by this storm is incredible, it's so extensive," he said. "Nobody thought this would be happening, especially now it's so late in the season for the hurricanes."
First to NBC News: AFL-CIO launches ad campaign across seven battleground states in support of Harris
The AFL-CIO, the largest federation of unions in the U.S., said it launched a seven-figure digital and streaming ad campaign for Harris and Walz today in the battleground states of Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin — its largest ad buy of this election cycle.
NBC News was first to report the labor group's ad buy.
“This is the most consequential election in American history for union families," AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler said in a statement. "That’s why we’re laser-focused on ensuring that the union voters who will decide this election know the stakes and know the stark contrast between Kamala Harris’ and Donald Trump’s policies on our jobs, our unions, and our contracts.”
Shuler said the digital ad campaign mirrors conversations happening among union members across various communities.
The labor group said the ad campaign will repeatedly reach more than 2.5 million union voters "on the kitchen-table issues that matter most to working people: support of unions, lowering costs, retirement security, health care, worker safety and more."
The AFL-CIO also said union voters in the swing states will get the ads on platforms such as Hulu, Max and Meta, as well as on news websites.
With control of the Senate at stake, the group also launched ads this week supporting Democratic Sens. Sherrod Brown in Ohio and Jon Tester in Montana — who face tight re-election races against Republican challengers Bernie Moreno and Tim Sheehy, respectively — as well as independent Dan Osborn in Nebraska, who is running against Republican Sen. Deb Fischer.
Congress isn't expected back during recess for Hurricane Helene funding
While Biden said earlier today that he “may have to request” Congress come back to Washington before its scheduled return in November to address disaster aid in the wake of Hurricane Helene, there is no expectation that Congress will need to do so, multiple people familiar with the situation have told NBC News.
It is rare for Congress to cut a recess short to address an emergency or a disaster, and lawmakers are not scheduled to return to Washington until Nov. 12.
While it is expected that disaster funding will be depleted faster than normal because of Helene, Congress just passed a government funding bill that included a provision to allow the front-loading of funding to meet the current needs, a spokesperson for the Senate Appropriations Committee said.
But with current government funding set to expire by Dec. 20, the medium-to-longer-term funding needs to address the damage left by Helene are likely to require a supplemental disaster aid package, multiple people said.
Individual assistance from FEMA would most likely need to be requested first, which could take several weeks. At that point, if there is a funding issue, FEMA would let Congress know, the sources said. But the full assessment and request could take over a month given the scope of the damage, and it’s not yet possible to predict how large the request will be.
Congressional appropriators had considered including additional disaster funding in the short-term government funding bill that passed last week, but they could not coalesce around a deal to do so. That disaster funding would have been to assist previous or ongoing natural disasters around the country, as well as to prepare for damage from Helene. Appropriators agreed they would instead address that aid when they returned.
Trump says he will be doing a 'play by play' of the VP debate tomorrow night on Truth Social
Trump said he will doing a “play by play” of the vice presidential debate between Vance and Walz tomorrow night in a post to Truth Social.
“I will be doing a personal PLAY BY PLAY of the Debate tomorrow between the Brilliant J.D. Vance and the Highly Inarticulate ‘Tampon’ Tim Walz,” he wrote, using a nickname that misleadingly characterizes a Minnesota law that mandates that schools provide access to menstrual products in student restrooms.
Trump lobbed attacks at Harris questioning her mental acuity, said he hopes she will be listening to the VP debate, and accused her without evidence of fabricating facts and stories to distract from “administrative failure.”
During the presidential debate between Trump and Harris this month, Vance watched the debate from the Philadelphia convention center and spoke to the news media there on behalf of the campaign.
McConnell-aligned group pours $67 million into Senate races in battleground states
The Senate Leadership Fund, a super PAC aligned with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., will pour $67.5 million into key Senate races in the final weeks leading up to the November election, a spokesperson for the group confirmed to NBC News.
The spending is divided between the battleground states of Pennsylvania ($28 million), Wisconsin ($17 million) and Michigan ($22.5 million).
“We’re able to expand the Senate map because we have quality candidates who are keeping their races competitive. Keep it up!” the super PAC's president and CEO, Steven Law, said in a statement.
The Wall Street Journal first reported the news.
McConnell has taken particular interest in candidate quality. He has been publicly critical of Republican Senate candidates who won primaries during Trump’s presidency but were unable to win in general elections. Those candidates’ inability to win helped Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., become the majority leader, removing McConnell from the position in 2020.
Republicans seek to win back the majority from Democrats, who have a slim majority in the upper chamber.
Ryan Routh pleads not guilty to attempted Trump assassination charges
Ryan Routh pleaded not guilty in federal court in Florida today to attempting to assassinate Trump.
Routh pleaded not guilty to all five charges, including that he “did intentionally attempt to kill Former President of the United States Donald J. Trump, a major Presidential candidate." He was shackled at his wrists, waist and ankles during the four-minute appearance.
He looked toward the seated media as he walked toward the defense table and twice gestured the same way, appearing to pantomime scribbling on a notepad and then pointing to himself.
Routh was arrested Sept. 15 after, prosecutors say, he was camped out with a gun near where Trump was golfing in West Palm Beach. The charges carry a maximum penalty of life in prison if he is convicted. Asked whether he understood the charges, Routh said, “Yes, your honor.”
His attorneys waived a formal reading of the charges and officially requested a jury trial. Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart — who approved the FBI's search warrant for Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in 2022 — presided over the arraignment.
The case will be heard before U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, who oversaw the criminal case that sprang from the search warrant and dismissed the charges against Trump this year.
Vance's debate rehearsal was interrupted by storms over the weekend
About halfway through Vance’s debate rehearsal in Cincinnati over the weekend, storms knocked out the power at the site where he and his team were staging the practice session, a source familiar with Vance’s debate preparations said. The team used lanterns to light the room and their phones as timers during the second half.
Rep. Tom Emmer, R-Minn., participated in the session, playing Gov. Tim Walz.
“It was very apparent that Emmer took his prep role seriously,” a source familiar with the preparations said. “He had Walz’s rhetorical style down.”
Emmer, the source added, was also acutely familiar with the opposition research on both Vance and Walz, making for a thorough mock debate.
Walz's team calls debate prep camp 'Camp North Star'
Ahead of the vice presidential debate tomorrow night, Walz’s team has been calling debate camp "Camp North Star,” referring to the Minnesota governor staying true to his folksy nature as a contrast to Vance, a source familiar with the matter said.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg also surprised Walz’s team by showing up to debate prep in a cheap red tie instead of casual attire, the source said.
During debate preparations, Walz has been enjoying northern Michigan by taking time to go hiking, having pizza in downtown Harbor Springs and visiting a local farm.
Many of the TVs at the debate camp have been streaming professional and college football games, with staff showing up in their teams’ gear (including the Georgia Bulldogs, Green Bay Packers, Buffalo Bills and Kansas City Chiefs). Staff has also been tossing a football around on the lawn between sessions.
Speaking to reporters during his trip to Pond Hill Farms in Harbor Springs, Michigan, yesterday, Walz said debate prep has been “good — going great. This is the fun part.”
Trump campaign microtargets digital ads in Maine's 2nd Congressional District
We got a reminder last week that sometimes the spotlight in the presidential race focuses on one congressional district.
Starting last Thursday, the Trump campaign began its first digital ad campaign specifically targeting Maine's 2nd Congressional District. That's notable because Maine, like Nebraska, awards one Electoral College vote to the winner of each district.
Even though Maine has backed the Democratic presidential nominee for decades, the state's 2nd district is a swingy one, and backed Trump in each of the last two elections.
It's not a big chunk of change: about $6,100 (Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, provides spending estimates but not exact spending figures). But in the fight for every Electoral College vote, it's worth keeping tabs on.
One note: the ads originally had a typo in them (referencing Virginia instead of Maine), which the campaign fixed yesterday.