24w ago / 3:47 PM EDT

Puerto Rico’s largest newspaper endorses Harris

In an editorial signed by its editor Maria Luisa Ferré Rangel, Puerto Rico’s largest newspaper, El Nuevo Día, endorsed Harris for president and urged Puerto Ricans living on the mainland to cast their ballot for the Democratic nominee.

The editorial slammed Trump over comedian Tony Hinchcliffe’s derogatory joke about Puerto Rico during his rally at Madison Square Garden on Sunday, questioning whether the joke was representative of what Trump and Republicans think of Puerto Ricans.

“Today we urge all those who love our beautiful island, the land of the sea and the sun, not to lend their vote to Donald Trump. To all Puerto Ricans who can vote in this upcoming United States election and represent those of us who cannot: Vote for Kamala Harris,” the editorial read.

24w ago / 3:31 PM EDT

Jennifer Lopez to speak at Harris rally Thursday

Annemarie Bonner
Annemarie Bonner and Monica Alba

Jennifer Lopez will speak at a Harris campaign rally in Las Vegas on Thursday, a campaign official confirmed to NBC News.

Jennifer Lopez.Roger Kisby / Netflix via Getty Images

Lopez, who is Puerto Rican, posted on Sunday a portion of Harris' speech defending the island. She also posted a screenshot of Harris' plan to help Puerto Rico.

24w ago / 3:25 PM EDT

Harris will spend election night at Howard University, her alma mater

Harris plans to spend election night in Washington, D.C., at her alma mater, Howard University, according to three people familiar with the planning.

One source said the campaign is likely to hold its election night event in the Quad, though the exact location on campus could change.

Read the full story here.

24w ago / 3:11 PM EDT

How exit polls work and how NBC News uses them on election night

On Election Day, as votes are being tallied and news organizations await results and race projections that can be reported, exit polls are a critical tool providing an early look at who is voting and what’s motivating their choices. 

An exit poll is a survey of voters taken as they leave (or exit) their voting location. It’s the only national survey of known voters in the country. It allows news organizations, researchers and voters to understand what’s happening in an election as the results flow in. 

Here’s how exit polling works, where they are conducted and how NBC News will be using the exit poll results on election night and the days after.

Read the full story here.

24w ago / 3:00 PM EDT

Pence responds to Vance’s criticism of him

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Dan Gallo
Annemarie Bonner
Dan Gallo, Vaughn Hillyard and Annemarie Bonner

Former Vice President Mike Pence responded to Vance’s claim that people like Pence just want to send Americans into war, which he said during a CNN interview over the weekend.

At a Long Island luncheon today, Pence said: "Well, let me tell you, my son’s a major in the United States Marine Corps. My son-in-law is a lieutenant in the United States Navy. I truly do believe that appeasement and isolation is the pathway to war," he said.

"Peace comes through American strength, demonstrated on the world stage by standing with those who stand for freedom," Pence added.

24w ago / 2:11 PM EDT

Walz says Trump is 'a loser in everything that he’s done'

Annemarie Bonner
Katherine Koretski and Annemarie Bonner

On stage in Savannah, Georgia, at a Get Out and Vote rally, Walz referred to Trump as a "loser."

"Donald Trump's a loser in everything that he's done," he said. "That's not a pejorative, that's an observation based on fact. He loses jobs, he loses businesses, he loses in court, and no matter what JD Vance says, he lost the 2020 election."

When asked earlier this month if Trump lost the election, Vance said, "not by the words I would use."

24w ago / 2:00 PM EDT

Former Michigan GOP Chair Rusty Hills speaks out against Trump

Annemarie Bonner

In an article in the Detroit Free Press, former Michigan GOP Chair Rusty Hills spoke out against Trump, saying he does not compare to past Republican candidates such as Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan.

"All of this evidence begs the question: Why would any Republican in Michigan who voted for Gerald Ford — or Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush or George W. Bush, Sens. John McCain or Mitt Romney — ever cast a ballot for someone like Donald Trump?" he wrote.

He also called out Trump for comments against immigrants, pointing to Trump saying immigrants are "poisoning the blood of our country" and Trump's rhetoric on Venezuelan immigrants in Aurora, Colorado.

Hills served as the chair of the Michigan GOP from 2000 to 2001 and now teaches public policy at the University of Michigan.

24w ago / 1:52 PM EDT

Trump judge declines to recuse herself from Ryan Routh case

Daniel Barnesis reporting from the federal courthouse.

U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, the Trump-appointed judge who dismissed the classified documents case against the former president, has refused a request to step aside from the case against a man charged with attempting to kill him.

Judge Aileen Cannon.U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida / AFP - Getty Images file

Attorneys for Ryan Routh had asked Cannon to recuse herself, saying her presiding over the case that could send their client to prison for life "creates an appearance of partiality." They cited her favorable rulings for Trump and the public comments he's made praising her as examples.

In a ruling today, Cannon said she has no reason to step aside.

"I have never spoken to or met former President Trump except in connection with his required presence at an official judicial proceeding, through counsel. I have no 'relationship to the alleged victim' in any reasonable sense of the phrase," Cannon wrote. As for Trump's comments about her, she said, "I have no control over what private citizens, members of the media, or public officials or candidates elect to say about me or my judicial rulings."

Routh has pleaded not guilty to attempted assassination.

24w ago / 1:31 PM EDT

Judge tosses Republican lawsuit challenging overseas ballots in Pennsylvania

A federal judge dismissed a case brought a group of Republican members of Congress from Pennsylvania challenging the legitimacy of some ballots cast by U.S. citizens living abroad, including members of the military.

The suit, filed by Republican Reps. Guy Reschenthaler, Dan Meuser, Glenn Thompson, Lloyd Smucker and Mike Kelly against Pennsylvania Republican Secretary of the Commonwealth Al Schmidt, had argued that existing rules in Pennsylvania that extended overseas voting eligibility to people whose state residency hasn’t been verified meant that those particular votes were prone to fraud. 

It specifically alleged that Schmidt had issued guidance to local election officials in the state allowing some U.S. citizens voting overseas — a group that includes military personnel — to be exempted from voter ID requirements.

Republicans had filed similar suits against election officials in two other battleground states, Michigan and North Carolina, but judges rejected those cases as well earlier this month.

24w ago / 1:24 PM EDT

Campaign ads urge voters to select Trump for 'every choice' on Maine's ranked-choice ballot

Andrew Arenge
Jane C. Timm and Andrew Arenge

The Trump campaign is encouraging Maine voters to select the former president for every option on the state's ranked-choice ballot in digital ads.

“Vote Trump every choice to ensure victory,” read more than a dozen different digital ads, which have run or are continuing to run on Facebook and Google.

That’s not how ranked-choice voting works, though. The voting method, first used in Maine in 2018, encourages voters to rank candidates in order of preference. Election officials then narrow the field by eliminating the candidate with the fewest number of first-choice votes. Voters who voted for the eliminated candidate will have their vote counted for their second choice. The process is repeated until there are two candidates, one of which has a majority of support.