Election 2024: Trump courts Jewish voters; Harris participates in event hosted by Oprah Winfrey

As Republicans in Nebraska consider changing state law to give Trump an extra Electoral College vote this fall, their Democratic counterparts in Maine have little recourse to even the score.  

The only two states that award Electoral College votes by congressional district, Republican-leaning Nebraska and Democratic-leaning Maine, play unusual roles in presidential politics because their systems allow each party a chance to pick off one electoral vote in a state where they would get nothing under the typical winner-take-all system. 

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Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., said on X that "it was a tough day," appearing to refer to the bombshell CNN report about Mark Robinson.

He added that "we must stay focused on the races we can win."

"We have to make sure President Trump wins NC and support the outstanding GOP candidates running for key NCGA and judicial races," he said in the post. "If Harris takes NC, she takes the White House. We can’t let that happen."

As president, Trump slashed a lucrative tax break enjoyed by coastal donors and suburban swing-state voters. Now, he’s promising to give back the deduction — if only they will put him back in the Oval Office.

Trump aides say he isn’t ransoming a hostage or even flip-flopping on the $10,000 annual limit he placed on the federal deduction taxpayers can claim based on their state and local taxes — the “SALT cap,” in Washington talk. Instead, a campaign official said, Trump is responding to new economic realities as he pursues a “two track” solution. The first is promoting pro-growth policies, and the second is adopting tax positions that would allow people to keep more of their money.

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The North Carolina GOP defended Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, the Republican nominee in the governor's race, amid fallout over a bombshell CNN report published today that said Robinson had posted inflammatory comments on a porn website that included calling himself a "black Nazi" and supporting the return of slavery.

"Mark Robinson has categorically denied the allegations made by CNN but that won’t stop the Left from trying to demonize him via personal attacks. The Left needs this election to be a personality contest, not a policy contest because if voters are focused on policy, Republicans win on Election Day,” the North Carolina GOP said in a statement tonight.

“The Left can try to smear Mark Robinson all they want, but when voters go to the polls on Election Day, they are going to be asking one simple question: Are you better off now than you were four years ago? The answer is overwhelmingly no and that’s why Republicans will win on November 5th.” 

Robinson has denied the allegations and said he will remain in the race.

Harris is pushing back against the Trump campaign’s proposed immigration policies and “mass deportation.” “What are they talking about?” she asked while speaking to Latino lawmakers. NBC News’ Peter Alexander reports for “TODAY.”

Trump has repeatedly suggested tonight that Jewish people would be wrong to vote for Democrats, particularly Harris.

"Anybody, and especially over the last few years, anybody who’s Jewish and loves being Jewish and loves Israel is a fool if they vote for a Democrat," Trump said.

Trump said Harris makes former President Barack Obama "look like he loved Israel by comparison," adding that Jewish supporters of Harris' presidential bid "should have your head examined."

During an event in Washington, D.C., hosted by the Israeli American Council tonight, Trump acknowledged the families of hostages who are still being held captive by Hamas, asking them to stand and saying: "We’re going to get them out. They’re going to come out."

“Thank you very much for being with us, and we pray for you,” Trump said. “And somehow it’s going to work out. We’re going to get it to work out.”

The audience responded with chants of "Bring them home!"

Andrey Kozlov, who had moved to Israel from Russia before he was captured during the terrorist attacks on Oct. 7, was one of four hostages who were rescued in June. He spoke earlier in the program.

When Oprah asked Harris about being a gun owner, she said, “If somebody breaks in my house, they’re getting shot.” 

“I probably should not have said that. … My staff will deal with that later," she added, laughing.

Her comments came shortly after a section of the discussion in which a teenage victim of the Apalachee High School shooting in Georgia described being shot twice. Her parents also spoke emotionally about the day, her mother sobbing as she recalled being worried about her daughter's fate.

Women shared their stories about the impact of reproductive health care on their lives during a Harris campaign event with Oprah Winfrey.

The mother of Amber Thurman, 28, spoke out after ProPublica's report about her death, saying her daughter could not access abortion care in her state.

Her mother, Shanette, said she was initially hesitant to go public with her daughter's story.

"You’re looking at a mother that is broken," Shanette said, describing the pain of losing her daughter.

The Harris-Walz campaign launched its first Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints advisory committee in Mesa, Arizona, today.

Three members of the advisory committee spoke at a news conference to officially launch the advisory committee. Echoing much of the Harris-Walz campaign's messaging in the state, advisory committee members focused on Harris' opponent.

“It is through my faith that I proudly support Vice President Harris and Gov. Tim Walz,” said Monica Chabot, a Mormon Arizonan supporting Harris. “The savior taught that by their fruits, you shall know them. The fruits of Trump's presidency have been a more divided and hateful America.” 

North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat, in a post to X criticized Trump's relationship with Republican gubernatorial nominee Mark Robinson.

"Donald Trump and NC GOP leaders embraced Mark Robinson for years knowing who he was and what he stood for including disrespect for women and inciting violence," Cooper said in the post. "They reap what they sow."

Cooper is term-limited.

Trump said at an antisemitism event in Washington, D.C., tonight that if he is elected, he will strip the accreditation from any college that fails to end antisemitic propaganda on its campus.

"My first week back in the Oval Office, my administration will inform every college president that if you do not end antisemitic propaganda, they will lose their accreditation and federal tax credit support," Trump said.

"I will inform every educational institution in our land that if they permit violence, harassment or threats against Jewish students, the schools will be held accountable for violations of the civil rights law," he added.

Trump also vowed tonight to ban refugee resettlement from areas like the Gaza Strip.

Biden secured the record for the most openly LGBTQ judges appointed to the bench by any president when the Senate voted Tuesday to confirm a military veteran who spent years working as a prosecutor to be a life-tenured judge in Philadelphia.

The Democratic-led Senate voted 52-41 to confirm Mary Kay Costello to serve as a district court judge in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, making her Biden's 12th openly LGBTQ judicial nominee to win confirmation.

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Online voter registration increased in Colorado after the presidential debate and Taylor Swift's endorsement of Harris this month, according to the state's top elections official.

Over 21,000 Coloradans either newly registered to vote or updated their voter registrations online the day of the debate and during the two days after, Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold's office said in a news release.

Before the night of the debate and Swift's post, an average of 1,604 voter registrations and updates took place each day in September, according to Griswold's office.

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger expressed concern at a panel discussion today about the Georgia Election Board's changing rules ahead of November's elections.

"We consider these major changes to the election process," he said.

"Everything that we’ve done for the last six years has to speed up the process to give the voters the results quicker, and all of a sudden now they’re adding an element that it’s actually going to take longer," Raffensperger added during a panel discussion with secretaries of state in battleground states.

A House task force investigating the first attempt to assassinate Trump announced plans today for its first hearing to be held Sept. 26, with a focus on the "security failure" at his July 13 rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, and the Secret Service's use of state and local law enforcement.

Next week is scheduled to be the last week in session for the House until after the election. 

Walz met today with families of the American hostages being held by Hamas in Gaza, a Harris campaign official confirmed.

"The Governor listened to the stories and perspectives of the families and emphasized that Vice President Harris, alongside President Biden, will continue doing everything possible to secure the release of their family members and all the hostages, including the remains of those who have been tragically confirmed to be deceased," the official said.

Walz "expressed his solidarity" with the families of hostages and emphasized the Democratic ticket's "commitment to Israel's security," the official added.

Mark Robinson, the Republican candidate for governor in North Carolina, vowed today to remain in the race following a report that he made dozens of lewd and inflammatory comments more than 10 years ago on the message board of a pornography website.

The report, published by CNN, said Robinson, in posts to a pornographic website called Nude Africa, called himself a “black NAZI,” expressed support for bringing back slavery, said he enjoyed watching transgender pornography and recounted sexually graphic stories, including one about his memory of “peeping” on women in gym showers when he was 14. The posts, made under the username “minisoldr,” were made from 2008 to 2012, CNN reported, before Robinson, who was elected lieutenant governor in 2020, entered politics.

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As Vance struggled through his debut this summer as Trump’s running mate, his remarks about “childless cat ladies” running on a loop and distracting from everything else, Trump called to offer reassurance.

“Remember the first week, there were all these stories about Trump regretting his choice?” Vance told NBC News in a recent interview aboard his campaign plane. “He was checking in: ‘Hey, you’re under a level of scrutiny that nobody has really faced except for me.’ And he was just being supportive and providing moral support and cracking some jokes.”

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House Democrats plan to hold a hearing about the potential impacts of Project 2025 next week, featuring Americans who can speak personally about the consequences of the proposed policies.

“We’re going to be calling out that extremism as part of these hearings, as well making sure the American people understand that their agenda is already being put to work,” Rep. Lauren Underwood, D-Ill., said today. “It is not something that’s theoretical or hypothetical.”

The hearing, expected Tuesday, will be held by the House Democrats’ Steering and Policy Committee, along with leaders of the Stop Project 2025 Task Force.

Tuesday’s hearing could be one of several as Democrats continue seeking to tie Trump to the ultraconservative policy agenda, with Rep. Jared Huffman, D-Calif., telling NBC News he has talked to party leadership about “the possibility of multiple hearings and doing some of those out in the country,” adding that “there’s a great chance of that happening.”

Biden appeared to swipe at Trump in his remarks at the Economic Club of Washington, D.C., this afternoon as he touted the Federal Reserve’s work in bringing down inflation.

“Unlike my predecessor, I respect the Federal Reserve’s independence as they pursued and demanded to bring inflation down,” Biden said. “That independence has served the country well.”

Biden touted the decrease in inflation and interest rates throughout his speech but acknowledged that there is more work to be done to work toward economic recovery after the pandemic.

Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, a Trump-era appointee, said the U.S. Postal Service is prepared for the deluge of mail-in ballots in the run-up to the November election.

“Let me be clear, the Postal Service is ready to deliver the nation's mail-in ballots,” DeJoy said after the National Association of Secretaries of State and the National Association of State Election Directors raised concerns in an open letter this month over election mail service.

DeJoy also responded to a social media post by Trump this month that alleged it's "not possible" for the Postal Service to "run the 2024 Presidential Election," telling reporters that Trump's assumption was wrong.

"My response is like my response to everyone who says that we’re not prepared for the election is that they’re wrong," DeJoy said. "And I don’t know that I need to comment any more than that. They’re wrong."

While Biden’s primary residence is still the White House for a few more months, he plans to host world leaders at another home this weekend: his house in Wilmington, Delaware.  

Biden will hold bilateral meetings with the heads of Australia, India and Japan there for his final summit of the “Quad,” an alliance he decided to elevate during his first year in office. NBC News is the first to report that he will host the meetings at his Delaware home.

Biden specifically wanted to incorporate “personal touches” at the two-day event, emphasizing the importance of “deep personal relationships” as central to his foreign policy approach, a senior White House official said. 

An Alaska man has been indicted on charges that he sent racist and violent threats against six Supreme Court justices and their family members.

Federal prosecutors in Anchorage asked a judge to keep Panos Anastasiou, 76, locked up pending trial because of the graphic threats, which they say increased after FBI agents questioned him about the messages he’d been sending through the Supreme Court’s website.

He has pleaded not guilty to charges of threatening to assault, kidnap and murder the six justices, as well as some of their family members.

“We allege that the defendant made repeated, heinous threats to murder and torture Supreme Court Justices and their families to retaliate against them for decisions he disagreed with,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement, adding that “democracy depends on the ability of public officials to do their jobs without fearing for their lives or the safety of their families.” 

Hunter Biden’s sentencing in Delaware on three felony gun charges has been pushed from Nov. 13 to Dec. 4 after his attorneys requested a delay, citing the large amount of presentencing work they have in that case and separate tax charges the president’s son faces in California.

Biden was found guilty in June on three felony gun charges in connection with possession of a gun while using narcotics. He pleaded not guilty. He faces maximum prison sentences of 10 years on the first two counts and five years on the third.

Biden pleaded guilty to all charges in the federal tax case.

A Trump supporter who bear-sprayed officers during the Jan. 6 attack and whose photo was featured in a Biden ad in early 2024 has pleaded guilty, admitting he hit at least three officers during the attack, temporarily blinding at least two of them.

Andy Steven Oliva-Lopez — whom online sleuths had dubbed “Blue Plaid Sprayer” because he was wearing a blue plaid shirt along with a helmet and a gas mask when he unleashed chemical spray on officers protecting the Capitol — pleaded guilty yesterday. His sentencing was set for Jan. 17, just days before the next president will be inaugurated at the U.S. Capitol.

Early this year, before he was arrested, a photo of Oliva-Lopez pepper-spraying officers was featured in both a Biden campaign ad and a presentation about the Capitol attack caseload by U.S. Attorney Matthew Graves. NBC News reported this Jan. 6 that online sleuths had identified him about two years earlier and turned the information over to law enforcement. Weeks later, the FBI arrested Oliva-Lopez in Oregon, confirming the sleuths’ identification.

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Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., denied today that Trump's campaign asked him to visit Nebraska yesterday, as NBC News reported, insisting he was sent by Sen. Pete Ricketts, R-Neb., and Gov. Jim Pillen to discuss foreign policy. 

“Senator Ricketts and the governor asked me to come out to talk to the caucus, I guess that’s what you call it, about the state of the play in the world, and the consequences of the next election on a foreign policy front,” Graham told NBC News. 

NBC reported yesterday that Graham went as an “emissary” for the Trump campaign to discuss how the state allocates electoral votes. Pressed by NBC News on the reporting, Graham denied it again. The news of the meeting was previously reported by KOLN-TV.

The senator acknowledged to NBC News that the Nebraska delegation asked him to discuss the state’s apportionment of electoral votes, but said it was not originally what he was sent to speak about. Trump has backed moving the state to a winner-take-all system, which Graham says he agrees with.

FBI special agents and members of the Palm Beach sheriff’s office went to nearby businesses to seize surveillance video within two hours of a Secret Service agent firing at Ryan Wesley Routh, who authorities say was lying in wait with a semi-automatic rifle for Trump at the perimeter of his golf course in West Palm Beach, business owners said. 

The businesses owners did not want to be named in speaking with NBC News, citing privacy reasons.

At one business, law enforcement personnel took the surveillance video hard drive, which may have contained images of Routh leaving the road along Trump's golf course, a store employee said. Another business owner also said the FBI copied the file of surveillance video that might have contained images of the suspect leaving the scene. A third business said agents visited for surveillance video after the shooting. 

Law enforcement experts said federal investigators are likely trying to develop a timeline to determine what Routh did before and after what the FBI has called an apparent assassination attempt.

A federal judge has extended a temporary restraining order against the Biden administration’s latest student loan forgiveness plan, threatening the White House hope to provide financial relief to tens of millions of Americans ahead of the Nov. 5 presidential elections. 

U.S. District Judge Randal Hall, appointed by former Republican President George W. Bush, said yesterday that he would maintain the order blocking the Biden administration from forgiving student debt for an additional 14 days.

In the meantime, Hall said, the could would review the plaintiffs’ request for a preliminary injunction against the Biden’s relief plan, and the Biden administration’s request to dismiss the case.

The continuation of the restraining order is the latest setback to the Biden administration’s efforts to cancel people’s federal student loans. President Joe Biden began promising to alleviate people’s education debts during his 2020 campaign bid, but Republican legal challenges have consistently stymied his attempts.  

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The Federal Reserve lowered interest rates yesterday by 0.5% — the first cut since 2020 and the largest reduction in 16 years. NBC’s Christine Romans joins "TODAY" to break down what the size of the slash could mean.

The Uncommitted Movement of pro-Palestinian Democrats is withholding its endorsement from Harris after she rebuffed its latest request, the group announced today, while also making clear its opposition to Trump and the third-party candidates who might inadvertently help elect him.

“Vice President Harris’s unwillingness to shift on unconditional weapons policy or to even make a clear campaign statement in support of upholding existing U.S. and international human rights law has made it impossible for us to endorse her,” the group said in a news release shared with NBC News ahead of its release.

The group said Harris had given it the cold shoulder and “fumbled” by refusing even the “small gesture” of allowing a Palestinian American speaker at last month’s Democratic National Convention. 

“Now, the Vice President’s campaign is courting Dick Cheney while sidelining disillusioned anti-war voices, pushing them to consider third-party options or to sit this important election out,” the group said. 

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In a press call yesterday, White House chief of staff Jeff Zients said President Joe Biden will speak about a “new milestone” in the economy in his remarks at the Economic Club of Washington, D.C., today.

He said Biden is expected to talk about inflation and interest rates falling at the same time that employment, wages and gross domestic product are rising.

“I want to be really clear, this is not meant to be a declaration of victory. It’s meant to be a declaration of progress, significant progress,” Zients said in the call. “The president believes it’s important to mark this moment the country by laying out how far we’ve come, while also outlining work we still have to do day one of this administration.”

Arizona GOP Chair Gina Swoboda says a clerical error involving driver's license registrations that could prevent almost 100,000 Arizonans from voting in local, county and legislative elections in November could have been prevented if the public had access to voter rolls.

“We’re in this situation is because we have prevented the public from having oversight of the voter rolls,” Swoboda, a self-described “elections nerd,” said in a press gaggle after a Trump campaign press conference yesterday about housing. 

“We need to make these rolls available to the public to do the oversight that Congress decided they had the right to do,” she added, suggesting a change in policy. 

Both Vance and Walz will attend a business roundtable this morning in Washington, D.C., the campaigns confirmed yesterday.

The two running mates are set to address the business group, but the timing and order of their remarks are unclear.

The Teamsters announced it won’t endorse any candidate for president, a blow for Harris, who becomes the first Democratic presidential candidate in nearly three decades not to get the endorsement of America’s largest union. NBC News’ Garrett Haake reports.

Harris is set to hold a livestream event tonight with Oprah Winfrey.

"What is essential to me is getting people motivated to vote — and that’s my intention in hosting this event,” Winfrey said in a statement last week. “My goal is to get people excited about the privilege and power of the vote.”

Winfrey praised Harris in remarks at the Democratic convention last month.

Trump will participate in an event on fighting antisemitism this evening alongside his ally, Republican donor Miriam Adelson.

In an email advertising the event, the Trump campaign said he "has been a vocal defender of religious freedom and an unwavering supporter of Jewish communities."

Trump will also speak at the Israeli-American Council’s national summit. Both events are in Washington, D.C.