Election 2024 updates: Trump holds rally in Las Vegas; Harris campaigns in Pennsylvania

The Nebraska Supreme Court ruled today that dueling constitutional amendments can appear on state ballots this fall.

One of the ballot measures, known as “Protect the Right to Abortion,” would amend the state’s Constitution and stipulate that “all persons shall have a fundamental right to abortion until fetal viability, or when needed to protect the life or health of the pregnant patient.”

The other, called “Protect Women and Children,” would ban abortions in the second and third trimesters, except in the case of a medical emergency or when the pregnancy is a result of sexual assault or incest.

Read the full story here.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled today that mail ballots that are improperly dated won’t be counted in November, a move that could have major implications in the closely divided battleground state.

The decision reverses a lower court ruling from last month that found it was unconstitutional to reject mail ballots that had a missing or incorrect date.

The bureaucratic requirements of ballots in Pennsylvania have long been the subject of litigation, with opponents of the date requirements arguing that they unnecessarily disenfranchise eligible voters. A group of voting rights advocates went to court in May seeking to block the provision, which required election officials to reject ballots that were incorrectly dated, even if the ballot reached them by the statutory deadline of 8 p.m. on Election Day.

Read the full story here.

A special prosecutor announced today that Georgia Lt. Gov. Burt Jones will not be charged over efforts to overturn Trump’s electoral defeat in the 2020 presidential election.

Peter Skandalakis, who leads the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia, a judicial agency that assists prosecutors across the state, said in a statement that he considered the matter closed.

Jones was among a slate of 16 alternate presidential electors who met at the state Capitol on Dec. 14, 2020, and cast votes for Trump even after an official vote count confirmed Joe Biden defeated him in the state. Additionally, Jones was asked by the chairman of a Georgia Senate Judiciary subcommittee to deliver a letter to then-Vice President Mike Pence on Jan. 5, 2021, requesting a delay in counting the Electoral College votes. Jones, then a state senator, did not deliver the letter.

Read the full story here.

Harris unveiled a proposal tonight that she said would eliminate “unnecessary degree requirements for federal jobs,” while calling on private sector employers to do the same.

“For far too long, our nation has encouraged only one path to success: a four-year college degree. Our nation needs to recognize the value of other paths, additional paths, such as apprenticeships and technical programs,” Harris said during a rally in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.

Harris said her proposal would increase jobs for people without a four-year degree, adding that "requiring a certain degree does not necessarily talk about one’s skills."

Former Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton, along with former first lady Michelle Obama and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, are preparing to lend their political star power to Harris’ campaign in the final stretch of the election, according to four people familiar with their plans.

The high-profile surrogates all felt “energized” by their roles in the Democratic National Convention last month and have offered to help the Harris team in any way that would be most helpful, these people said.

Barack Obama is expected to headline a fundraiser for Harris in Los Angeles next Friday and then hold larger campaign events next month, while Michelle Obama will focus on encouraging voter registration and turnout for Harris, the people familiar with the Obamas’ plans said. In addition to traveling for Harris, the former president will also sign his name to fundraising materials and will record candidate-specific ads and robocalls for Democrats running in down-ballot races, as he has done in past cycles, according to a person familiar with the effort.

Read the full story here.

Harris was interrupted four times by two protesters during her rally in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, tonight who chanted phrases including "free Palestine."

While the vice president continued speaking during most of the interruptions she said to one of the protesters: "Now is the time to get a hostage deal and ceasefire. We have been working around the clock to get that done."

Harris added that she respected the protesters' voices, but made clear that she was speaking.

The two American astronauts stranded on the International Space Station through February said Friday they plan to vote in the November election from space.

“I sent down my request for a ballot today,” one of the astronauts, Butch Wilmore, said on a call with reporters on this afternoon. “It’s a very important role that we play as citizen including those elections, and NASA makes it very easy for us to do that.”

The other, Sunita Williams, agreed with the sentiment.

“It’s a very important duty that we have as citizens and looking forward to being able to vote from space, which is pretty cool,” she said.

Read the full story here.

Harris sat down for an interview today with Philadelphia's ABC affiliate WPVI — her first TV interview since Tuesday's debate — to discuss her policy proposals on the economy and gun control.

The vice president reiterated her plan to expand the child tax credit, implement down payment assistance for first-time homebuyers and expand tax deductions for small business startup expenses.

"When I talk about building an opportunity economy, it is very much with the mind of investing in the ambitions and aspirations and the incredible work ethic of the American people, and creating opportunity for people, for example, to start a small business," Harris said.

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis did not attend a hearing today into her relationship with former special prosecutor Nathan Wade by the Georgia State Senate Special Committee on Investigations.

The Republican-led committee had subpoenaed Willis to testify before them in the morning and to bring documents, including all of her emails with Wade over the past five years.

“Let’s please note for the record that Miss Willis has failed to appear in compliance with the subpoena and has failed to produce documents requested by our subpoena for the production of documents," committee Chair Sen. Bill Cowsert said at the end of the public part of the hearing. He said the panel had hired a lawyer "to assist us in our legal enforcement efforts on the subpoena."

Shares of Trump Media shot up Friday, minutes after majority owner Donald Trump said he has no plans to sell his stake.

“I’m not selling,” said the Republican presidential nominee, who will be free to start cashing in his nearly 57% stake in less than a week when a lockup agreement expires.

“I have absolutely no intention of selling,” he said.

Trump Media shares rose by as much as 25% in intraday trading after Trump’s comments to the press at his golf club in California on Friday afternoon. The stock ended the day up more than 11%, closing at $17.97 per share.

Read the full story here.

The tightening presidential race has touched off a wave of tax planning by ultrawealthy investors, especially given fears of a higher estate tax, according to advisers and tax attorneys.

The scheduled “sunset” of a generous provision in the estate tax next year has taken on new urgency as the odds of a divided government or Democratic president have increased, tax experts say. Under current law, individuals can transfer up to $13.61 million (and couples can send up to $27.22 million) to family members or beneficiaries without owing estate or gift taxes.

The benefit is scheduled to expire at the end of 2025 along with the other individual provisions of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. If it expires, the estate and gift tax exemption will fall by about half. Individuals will only be able to gift about $6 million to $7 million, and that rises to $12 million to $14 million for couples. Any assets transferred above those amounts will be subject to the 40% transfer tax.

Read the full story here.

Mayor Rob Rue of Springfield, Ohio, said during an interview with NBC News’ “Meet the Press NOW” that a visit by Trump could be a “very difficult visit for Springfield.”

The town is embroiled in tension as Trump and his allies have spread lies about Haitian migrants. The former president said today that he was considering a visit to the town.

When asked what he would say to Trump if he visited, Rue said he was not sure if he would have the chance to meet with the Republican presidential nominee.

"I would say ... we need help and not hate. And we need calm voices. We need people to understand that Springfield — we have many community citizens that care about a community, and we work collaboratively together to solve problems," Rue said.

A day after posting on social media that he would not take part in another presidential debate, Trump left the door open to another round with his Democratic opponent.

"I did great with the debates, and I think they’ve answered everything, but maybe if I got in the right mood, I don’t know. Right now, I’m leading," he said when asked by a reporter about what it would take for him to agree to another debate.

"I wouldn’t need anything. I could do it tomorrow, but I’ve done two debates. Everything was crooked in the second one," he said, referring to his ABC debate against Harris on Tuesday.

Speaking at a rally in North Carolina yesterday, Harris said, "I believe we owe it to the voters to have another debate, because this election and what is at stake could not be more important.”

President Joe Biden said in an interview with the Washington Blade that he congratulated Delaware state Sen. Sarah McBride after she won a Democratic primary that puts her in a strong position to become the first transgender member of Congress.

Biden said that in talking with McBride he referenced his late son, Beau, who served as Delaware attorney general before he died in 2015.

“I called her and I said, ‘Sarah,’ I said, ‘Beau’s looking down from heaven, congratulating you," the president said.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre emphasized Biden's message that attacks and conspiracy theories regarding Haitian immigrants in Ohio need to stop.

"There is absolutely no place, absolutely no place certainly in our political discourse, for this type of vitriolic, smearing, hateful language, and certainly, as we have done throughout this career and the vice president as well, we’re going to continue to call that out and condemn that type of vitriolic behavior," she said.

She also said that the White House "wants to do more" to ensure safety in Springfield and assist with the migrant crisis.

While addressing supporters at a rooftop restaurant at Michigan State University, Walz commented on Trump's baseless claim during the debate that Haitian immigrants "were eating the dogs," telling supporters that the rest of the world is wondering "what the heck happened to our country."

"The rest of the world is sitting there wondering what the heck happened to our country, when one presidential candidate on stage is yelling, 'they eat dogs' and the other one is talking about how to make housing more affordable," he said.

Walz also made reference to the “weirdness” trope that the Harris-Walz campaign has used to describe both Trump and Vance, specifically saying they have “weird fascinations” with other peoples’ bedrooms and bodies. 

"I keep talking about this, a weird fascination with other people’s bedrooms not healthy. A weird fascination, especially when you’re a man telling women about their bodies, is not healthy in any way," he said. "And I keep saying so many of these things, we’ve got real issues we’ve got to solve."

Pope Francis told reporters today that he believes Trump and Harris "are both against life" and urged citizens to vote for whoever they consider the "lesser of two evils."

"You must choose the lesser evil. Who is the lesser evil? That lady or that gentleman? I don’t know. Everyone with a conscience should think on this and do it," the pope said.

He made the comments when asked for his thoughts on the election on a plane ride back from Asia. He referred to the candidates as "the one who throws away the migrants as well as the one who kills children. Both are against life."

During remarks in Rancho Palos Verdes, California, Trump railed against one of the moderators of Tuesday's debate, David Muir, calling him "a joke."

"That David Muir character has lost so much respect. Everyone’s talking about him. He’s a joke. And ABC News is a joke, too," Trump said.

Earlier in his remarks, Trump claimed that Muir fact-checked him incorrectly on crime statistics, telling reporters, "You remember where David Muir tried to correct me when I said that crime is rampant like never before. He said, 'Oh no.' He said, 'crime is going down.'"

Muir was referencing a quarterly FBI crime statistics report, which in June found that the rates of violent and property crimes had major drops in the first quarter of 2024 compared to the first quarter of last year.

Trump also blamed Muir for fact-checking him more often than he fact-checked Harris, saying, "I think he corrected me 11 times ... I don’t think -- he didn’t correct her once."

ABC News did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

During remarks at the White House during a brunch to celebrate Black excellence, Biden called out attacks that have been made against Haitian immigrants and said it "has to stop."

"I want to take a moment to say something like, so many Americans, like Karine, as she pointed out, a proud Haitian American, a community that’s under attack in our country right now; it’s simply wrong," he said.

"There’s no place in America. This has to stop, what he’s doing, it has to stop," Biden continued, apparently referring to comments being made by Trump, Vance and others claiming, without evidence, that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, are causing a rise in crime and disease and eating the pets of residents.

The former president dismissed concerns about his close relationship with far-right activist Laura Loomer during a news conference today.

"Laura has been a supporter of mine. Just like a lot of people are supporters, and she’s been a supporter of mine. She speaks very positively of the campaign. I’m not sure why you asked that question," Trump told reporters, after Republicans this week raised questions about his relationship with Loomer.

"I don’t control Laura. Laura — she’s a, she’s a free spirit. Well, I don’t know. I mean, look, I can’t tell Laura what to do," Trump added.

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle blasted Loomer this week after she attended the debate and a 9/11 event with Trump. She engaged in social media spats with Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga.

Read more here.

During remarks in Rancho Palos Verdes, California, Trump once again spoke about immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, saying that the migrants are "destroying the way of life. They’ve destroyed the place."

He did not repeat the baseless claims he made on the debate stage about immigrants eating pets, but he still used anti-immigrant rhetoric familiar to anyone who watches his campaign rallies.

"Illegal aliens are now coming in from all over the world, from prisons, jails, mental institutions," he said. "They’re coming in at levels that we’ve never seen before. We cannot let this happen to our country."

Trump promised that if elected, "I will be your border president, and I hope you call me a border president."

The Nebraska Supreme Court ruled today to allow two dueling constitutional amendments to appear on the November ballot.

One of the ballot measures, known as “Protect the Right to Abortion,” would amend the state’s constitution to state that “all persons shall have a fundamental right to abortion until fetal viability, or when needed to protect the life or health of the pregnant patient.”

The other, called “Protect Women and Children,” would bar abortions in the second and third trimesters, except in the case of a medical emergency or when the pregnancy is a result of sexual assault or incest.

In a post on X, Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., said Laura Loomer is hurting Trump's re-election bid, referring to her as a "crazy conspiracy theorist."

“Laura Loomer is a crazy conspiracy theorist who regularly utters disgusting garbage intended to divide Republicans,” he wrote. “A DNC plant couldn’t do a better job than she is doing to hurt President Trump’s chances of winning re-election. Enough.”

Loomer is a far-right activist who traveled alongside Trump to the debate and to 9/11 memorial services this week. Her access to the former president has drawn criticism from prominent Trump allies including Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., and Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.

In a social media post Thursday that drew condemnation from the White House, Loomer baselessly claimed that Haitian immigrants were eating "humans."

Loomer hit back at Tillis in another post on X, calling the GOP senator a "DNC Plant" and saying he should be condemned for his "record of working against Donald Trump."

In a statement, White House spokesperson Robyn Patterson said that Biden administration officials "are in touch with Boeing and the Machinists. We encourage them to negotiate in good faith — toward an agreement that gives employees the benefits they deserve and makes the company stronger."

The statement comes after Boeing union workers walked off the job at midnight Friday after 94.6% of workers in Oregon and the Seattle area voted against a tentative agreement that Boeing and the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers unveiled earlier this week.

Vance will head to Raleigh, North Carolina, on Wednesday to deliver remarks at a rally as the Trump and Harris campaigns target the critical swing state. Harris was in North Carolina this week, holding rallies in Charlotte and Greensboro, while Trump visited the state last week, where he received the endorsement of the Fraternal Order of Police.

Vance has been attacking Harris and Biden on the administration’s economic policies, which the campaign highlighted in the announcement, saying Covid-era spending and Democratic health care, energy and tax policies contributed to high inflation rates.

Travel writer and television host Rick Steves endorsed Harris today, writing on X, "This election is deeper than partisanship. It’s far more than Republican versus Democrat."

"The world needs not American isolation, but American leadership. Not the chaos of Trump, but the stability of @KamalaHarris," Steves added.

This isn't Steves' first time wading into a presidential election. The travel author also endorsed Hillary Clinton in 2016 and Joe Biden in 2020.

During a stop at a campaign field office in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Walz directly attacked Vance for wanting to shut down the government rather than work in a bipartisan way to get things done.

In a podcast taped Wednesday, Vance asked, “Why shouldn’t we be trying to force this government shutdown fight to get something out of it that’s good for the American people?”

"It probably would be good for [Republicans]. Of course it would be good for them," Walz said Friday. "It would not be good more so if they do such a thing." 

Trump said yesterday that he won both presidential debates and will not do a third, as Harris is calling on him to do more. It comes as the Harris campaign is targeting North Carolina, where a Democratic presidential candidate has not won since 2008. NBC News’ Gabe Gutierrez has the latest.

Vance took to X this morning to repeat claims he has been making in recent days about what he says is the negative impact of an influx of Haitian immigrants into Springfield, Ohio.

"In Springfield, Ohio, there has been a massive rise in communicable diseases, rent prices, car insurance rates, and crime. This is what happens when you drop 20,000 people into a small community," he said in one of a series of posts on the issue of immigration, without citing evidence for his claims.

Trump, Vance and Republican officials and commentators have focused on Springfield as an example of what they say are the problems being caused by the Biden administration's immigration policies. In his posts today, Vance did not repeat the lie he helped spread — which Trump also repeated during Tuesday's presidential debate with Harris — that the Haitian immigrants have been eating residents' pets.

Starting next week, Ben and Jerry's and progressive advocacy group MoveOn will link up for a five-stop "Scoop the Vote" tour in battleground states.

The tour will appear in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Nevada, Arizona and Michigan and will serve ice cream flavors like Kamala's Coconut Jubilee, Unburdened by What Has Vanilla Bean, Inauguration Celebration Birthday Cake, Fight for Our Rights Sorbet and MoveOn Mobilizer Milk Chocolate. 

This isn't the first time Ben and Jerry's has dipped its spoon into politics. It has long supported progressive causes like marijuana legalization and police demilitarization.

In a new social media post today, Harris is highlighting her remarks on race from Tuesday's debate, where she told viewers, "I think it's a tragedy that we have someone who wants to be president, who has consistently, over the course of his career, attempted to use race to divide the American people."

"The vast majority of us know that we have so much more in common than what separates us," she added.

Her answer during the debate came after Trump was asked about his infamous comments from earlier this year where he said Harris "happened to turn Black." On the debate stage, he said, "whatever she wants to be is OK with me.”

His remarks come as both campaigns are seeking to expand their reach in minority communities, including Black communities in key swing states. Harris held two events in North Carolina yesterday, coming off what Democrats saw as a strong debate performance Tuesday.

Two law enforcement officials told NBC News the Justice Department is planning to file criminal charges in its investigation of the hack of Trump’s presidential campaign.

It was unclear who exactly would be charged, and whether there were any targets in the United States. The FBI has said that Iran was behind an effort to steal emails and offer internal Trump documents to news organizations. So far, none of the material appears to have been published. 

The plan to file charges was first reported by The Washington Post. 

U.S. intelligence agencies have said that Iran is seeking to interfere in the election and would prefer that Trump not win.

Singer John Legend called for people to be kinder to the Haitian immigrants in his hometown of Springfield, Ohio, after the town has become the target of right-wing anti-immigrant attacks this week.

Immigrants "saw opportunity for themselves and their families in the American dream," he said in an Instagram post yesterday after Trump mentioned Springfield and unfounded claims about immigrants eating pets during the debate earlier this week.

Legend detailed the job opportunities that Haitian immigrants filled in recent years as the numbers of native Ohioans in his town dwindled.

"So, we had a lot of job opportunities, and we didn’t have enough people in our town of 60,000 people to fill those jobs," he said, adding that upheaval in Haiti led to more immigrants from that country being allowed into the United States.

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton reacts to Joe Biden dropping out of the 2024 race in audio recorded for the epilogue of her upcoming book "Something Lost, Something Gained." MSNBC's "Morning Joe" has an exclusive first look at the audio.

In the audio, Clinton recounts learning that Biden was leaving the race to endorse Harris. She also recalls speaking to Harris shortly after about her own endorsement of the vice president.

"Some people have asked how I feel about the prospect of another woman poised to achieve the breakthrough I didn’t," she says in the audio. "If I’m being honest, in the years after 2016, I also wondered how I would feel if another woman ever took the torch that I had carried so far and ran on with it. Would some little voice deep down inside whisper, 'That should have been me'?"

She added, "Now I know the answer. After I got off the phone with the vice president, I looked at Bill with a huge smile and said, 'This is exciting.' I felt promise. I felt possibility. It was exhilarating." 

Trump is expected to make two public appearances today, with a news conference at Trump National Golf Course in Rancho Palos Verdes, California, at noon ET and a rally in Las Vegas at 10 p.m. ET.

Vance has no public events on the schedule for today.

President Joe Biden will hold talks with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer later today, with the U.S. and its allies appearing open to letting Ukraine use long-range Western missiles to strike deep inside Russia — the culmination of a monthslong push by Kyiv.

President Vladimir Putin warned that Russia would be “at war” with the United States and its allies if they approve such a move.

“We are not talking about allowing or not allowing the Ukrainian regime to strike Russia with these weapons,” Putin said yesterday in comments to propagandist Pavel Zarubin. “We are talking about deciding whether NATO countries are directly involved in the military conflict or not.”

Read the full story here.

The Democratic National Committee knows the influence of Taylor Swift "all too well" and is launching ads referring to her in Times Square and on the Las Vegas Strip. 

The ads refer to Swift with statements such as “We’re in our Kamala era!” and “A new way forward … ready for it?” They also urge voters to visit a website that helps them research where and how to vote.

“As we drive the contrast between Vice President Harris’ New Way Forward and Donald Trump’s Project 2025 agenda, which would rip away reproductive rights and rig the economy against working families, we’re reminding voters that it is critical to speak now to dump Trump and enter our Kamala era by visiting IWillVote.com and doing their research on how, where, and when to vote in this election,” DNC spokesperson Rosemary Boeglin said in a statement. 

No one can keep Trump away from Laura Loomer.

Throughout his third presidential campaign, aides and advisers have done their best to shield him from Loomer, a far-right social media influencer, and similar figures who stroke his ego and stoke his basest political instincts.

They lost that battle this week as Loomer traveled on Trump’s jet to his debate with Harris on Tuesday and to Sept. 11 memorial services Wednesday. Her presence at the latter infuriated some Democrats and Republicans because one of the many conspiracy theories she has promoted is the false notion that the terrorist assault on the U.S. was an “inside job.” It wasn’t.

Loomer’s return to Trump’s side is pitting key figures in his coalition against one another, testing the strength of a campaign already reeling from his subpar debate performance Tuesday and Democrats’ resurgence in the wake of their July candidate switch. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., and Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., major Trump allies in Congress who represent opposite ends of the Republican ideological spectrum, are publicly pressing him to ditch her. Loomer fired back yesterday with a string of invective about Graham.

Read the full story here.

Harris will make two stops in Pennsylvania, a vital swing state that she and Biden flipped in 2020. She will visit a small business in Johnstown and then is holding a campaign rally in Wilkes-Barre in the evening, the campaign said.

Walz will continue campaigning in Michigan today, stopping at a campaign office in Grand Rapids and a canvass lunch in Lansing. Later, he will head to Wausau, Wisconsin, another vital swing state.

At the same time, Emhoff will speak at a campaign event in Oxford, Mississippi, before traveling to The Villages, a large retirement community in central Florida that leans conservative.

"Right in Donald Trump’s backyard, the Second Gentleman will highlight how dangerous Donald Trump’s extreme Project 2025 agenda is for seniors, including his plans to gut Medicare and Social Security and repeal the Affordable Care Act, stripping millions of Americans of their health care," the Harris campaign said.

Gwen Walz will make multiple stops across Maine today.