Election 2024: Harris meets with Zelenskyy; Trump set to meet with the Ukrainian president tomorrow

The bipartisan House task force investigating the attempt to assassinate Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, held a hearing with local and federal law enforcement officials. NBC News’ Ali Vitali reports from Capitol Hill on what officials had to say about the breakdowns in communication and security.

Second gentleman Doug Emhoff talked about the challenges of fighting antisemitism, particularly after the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel.

"It’s something that I’ve been working on, speaking about, meeting with, with released hostages, hostage families. It’s intense, and a lot of times I don’t want to do it. It’s too raw, it’s too emotional for me," he said tonight in a clip of an interview with MSNBC's Jen Psaki.

Emhoff, who is Jewish, added that Harris "is the one who keeps pushing me out there because of the responsibility that I have in this role, and because she cares about these issues."

Pennsylvania’s Republican Senate nominee, Dave McCormick, joined Shale Insight, a conference focusing on American shale energy, manufacturing and jobs in Erie, to drill home a message: “America, led by Pennsylvania, must become the world’s most energy-dominant nation.”

He did not shy away from criticizing Harris for “pledging” to ban fracking when she ran for president back in 2019.

“What I think is often lost in this debate is that politicians can say they won’t ban fracking, but through onerous EPA regulations, slow-rolling of permits for infrastructure projects, ESG requirements that reduce the capital available for oil and gas projects and rhetorical attacks on this industry, liberals, policymakers can effectively ban fracking without actually saying it,” he said.

Republicans are dominating the airwaves in Ohio’s Senate race this month, erasing an advantage that Sen. Sherrod Brown and his Democratic allies enjoyed all spring and for much of the summer in a battle that could tip control of the Senate.

GOP nominee Bernie Moreno and the outside groups supporting him have spent double what Brown and the Democrats have on TV, radio and digital advertising since Sept. 1 — roughly $70 million to $35 million through yesterday, according to the tracking firm AdImpact.

Read the full story here.

Special counsel Jack Smith's team has filed evidence in its 2020 election interference case against Trump, a spokesperson from Smith's office confirmed tonight.

"We have complied with the court’s order," the spokesperson, Peter Carr, said in a statement, referring to a deadline to file the evidence today.

The contents of the filing were immediately available for public viewing.

An American journalist who runs an independent newsletter published a document today that appears to have been stolen from Trump’s presidential campaign — the first public posting of a file that is believed to be part of a dossier that federal officials say is part of an Iranian effort to manipulate the U.S. election.

The PDF document is a 271-page opposition research file on Vance.

For more than two months, hackers who the U.S. says are tied to Iran have tried to persuade the American media to cover files they stole. No outlets took the bait.

Read the full story here.

Asked by a reporter at the end of his news conference whether he'd pull his endorsement of North Carolina gubernatorial candidate Mark Robinson, Trump said "I don't know the situation" before he walked away.

NBC News reported last week that Trump had gotten calls from his allies and from within his own campaign to pull his enthusiastic endorsement of the scandal-plagued candidate but that he had no plans to do so. 

Those calls came after CNN reported that Robinson, the state’s lieutenant governor, posted a series of offensive comments on the message board of a pornography website called “Nude Africa,” including referring to himself as a “black NAZI!”

The Justice Department is expected to announce charges tomorrow related to what the U.S. has said was an Iranian hack of the Trump campaign and other cyberattacks by Iranian operatives, according to a U.S. official and another person familiar with the matter.

The FBI said last week that Iranian operatives have been peddling stolen Trump documents to journalists and that they even sent some to staffers on the Biden-Harris campaign, who didn’t open the emails.

The expected announcement comes amid increasing concern inside the Justice Department and U.S. intelligence agencies about covert efforts by Russia, China and Iran to manipulate American public opinion in advance of the Nov. 5 election. U.S. intelligence officials said last week that foreign adversaries are using artificial intelligence to deceive Americans, and Microsoft reported on a video made by Russia operatives designed to discredit Harris.

Smartmatic and Newsmax have reached a settlement in the voting technology company’s election defamation lawsuit against the right-wing news outlet shortly before the case was set to go to trial.

The lawsuit focused on Newsmax’s false claims that Smartmatic’s machines rigged the 2020 presidential election for Biden.

Read the full story here.

Trump suggested to reporters in remarks in New York that Mayor Eric Adams might have been indicted for speaking out about migrants in the city. He did not provide any evidence to back up his claim.

"I watched about a year ago when he talked about how the illegal migrants are hurting our city and the federal government should pay us and we shouldn't have to take them, and I said, 'You know what? He'll be indicted within a year,' and I was exactly right," Trump said.

Adams was charged with bribery and wire fraud.

Trump said today that he would meet with Zelenskyy tomorrow morning at Trump Tower in New York.

Trump was previously not expected to meet with Zelenskyy, who has already held meetings today with both Biden and Harris. Both Trump and his running mate, Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, have been critical of the U.S. aid to Ukraine.

Read the full story here.

Trump posted a screenshot to Truth Social today of a text message that appears to be from Zelenskyy via the deputy chief of mission for the Ukrainian Embassy.

Part of the lengthy text, which NBC News has not verified, said: "Days ago, we requested a meeting with you, and I really want to hear your thoughts directly, and first hand. You know I always speak with great respect about everything connected to you, and that's how it should be."

The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to a request for clarification about who the text is from and whether Trump's posture toward a meeting has changed. Recent reporting has indicated that Trump does not plan to meet with Zelenskyy while he is in the U.S.

During her visit to Douglas, Arizona, tomorrow, Harris will visit Customs and Border Protection’s Raul H. Castro Port of Entry for “official briefings on operations and progress on disrupting the flow of fentanyl through the southern border,” said an official from her office who exclusively confirmed the details of her plans with NBC News.

The official also pointed to a frequent Harris talking point — that as attorney general of California, she went after transnational criminal organizations that smuggled and trafficked guns, drugs and human beings across the U.S.-Mexico border.

The official also said that the Biden-Harris administration has taken executive action that has reduced unlawful border crossings by more than 50% and that now, border crossings are at the lowest level in four years.

Harris reiterated her support for Ukraine in remarks at the White House after her meeting with Zelenskyy, telling reporters, "I’ve been proud to stand with Ukraine, I’ll continue to stand with Ukraine, and I will work to ensure Ukraine prevails in this war."

Harris framed Ukraine's fight against Russia as reflecting American values, saying: "The American people know well the meaning of freedom, of independence and the importance of rule of law. These ideals are central to who we are as Americans, and some of the most important moments in our history have come when we stood up to aggressors like Putin.

"If we allow aggressors like Putin to take land with impunity, they keep going, and Putin could set his sights on Poland, the Baltic states and other NATO allies. ... The U.S. cannot and should not isolate ourselves from the rest of the world. Isolation is not insulation," she added.

Zelenskyy spoke after Harris, telling reporters: "We have to end this war. We need a just peace. We must protect our people: Ukrainian families, Ukrainian children and everyone from Putin's evil. We are grateful to America for supporting Ukraine all along."

New focus groups of skeptical young men planning to vote in this fall’s most critical battleground states illustrate how, for these voters, it’s all about Trump. 

Trump has been the dominant figure in American politics and culture since they were teens — or even earlier for some of them. Those leaning toward Harris described their choice as more of a vote against Trump than a demonstration of support for her — “the lesser of two evils” or a “step in the right direction, even if it’s a small step.” 

By contrast, those leaning toward Trump were far more likely describe their vote as affirmative support for Trump, reminiscing about the “prosperity” and “stability” they associate with his first term in conversations as part of the NBC News Deciders Focus Group, produced in collaboration with Syracuse University and the research firms Engagious and Sago. 

The war for the first battleground electoral vote may have been decided this week before a single ballot was cast. The weapons of choice: private polls. The likely winner: Vice President Kamala Harris.

In a wild election season that has featured Democrats substituting Harris for President Joe Biden at the top of their ticket — and Republican Donald Trump surviving two assassination attempts while trying to become the first former president in modern history to avenge a loss — the story of Nebraska’s Omaha-based 2nd Congressional District is one of the most compelling subplots.

Party operatives and political analysts are fascinated with the district because it is highly competitive turf in one of just two states — Maine is the other — that award an elector to the candidate who wins the most votes in each congressional district. With recent presidential elections turning on tens of thousands of votes spread across a few states, there are scenarios in which Nebraska’s 2nd District could determine who wins the Electoral College and the presidency.

That’s why Trump made a full-court press to get Nebraska to change its law to give all of the electors to the statewide winner — he took 58.5% statewide in 2020. But his effort came up short this week when GOP state Sen. Mike McDonnell — a former Democrat — said he would not back the plan.

Read the full story here.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said in a statement this afternoon that the charges against New York Mayor Eric Adams are “serious,” but he stopped short of calling for his resignation.

“No one is above the law, including the Mayor of New York City. The charges are serious, and the legal process should now play out speedily and fairly,” said Schumer.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said after a bipartisan group of senators met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy this morning that Zelenskyy’s top request is to have “more permissive use of long-range missiles to hit legitimate military targets.”

“The only way you’re going to get Russia to the table is hit them harder than we’re hitting them today,” Graham said. “His No. 1 request was to have more permissive use of long-range missiles to hit legitimate military targets. He believes if he could shut down those Russian air bases and missile bases that are attacking his country, that would give him leverage to get Putin to the table. I believe that too.”

“So there’s no amount of money you can spend unless you change the ability of Ukraine to take the fight to Russia more effectively,” he added. “So President Biden, whether it’s Harris or Trump, if you don’t allow this to start now, Russia will just over time wear Ukraine down. The production of weapons in Russia is going up, so long term without a change in military strategy benefit[s] Russia.”

Graham said it’s important for Zelenskyy to make his case to Biden when he meets with him later today “to change the military strategy or Ukraine will be doomed, in my view, to failure.”

Embattled North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson is scheduled to speak at a conference for the state's Faith & Freedom Coalition on Saturday afternoon.

The Republican, who's running for governor, has been embroiled in a scandal after allegedly making antisemitic and racist comments years ago on a porn website. Robinson has denied reports that he made the comments.

Derek Bowens has never had such an important job. He’s the director of elections in Durham County, North Carolina, one of the most populous areas in a state that’s increasingly viewed as crucial to the 2024 presidential contest.

So when a former precinct official emailed Bowens in July to warn him of a post containing voting misinformation that was spreading virally on Facebook, Bowens quickly recognized that he may be facing a crisis.

The post, written as if from an authority on the subject, said voters should request new ballots if a poll worker, or anyone else, writes anything on their form, because it would be invalidated. The same incorrect message was spread on Facebook during the 2020 election, but the platform flagged the content at the time as “false information” and linked to a story that debunked the rumor by Facebook’s fact-checking partner, USA Today.

Bowens said no such tag appeared on the post, which was widespread enough that the North Carolina State Board of Elections had to issue a press release on Aug. 2, informing voters that false “posts have been circulating for years and have resurfaced recently in many N.C. counties.”

Two in three voters say the country is on the “wrong track,” as voters weigh whether Vice President Kamala Harris or former President Donald Trump would be better able to change that less than two months from Election Day. 

The latest NBC News national poll finds 65% of registered voters surveyed earlier this month say the country is on the wrong track, while 28% say it’s on the right track.

The figure is one of the “warning signs” for Democrats ahead of November, said Democratic pollster Jeff Horwitt of Hart Research Associates, who conducted the poll along with GOP pollster Bill McInturff of Public Opinion Strategies. 

Read the full story here.

Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., said in a letter today addressing the leaders of the House Ethics Committee that he “will no longer voluntarily participate” in the panel’s investigation into him.

He said a recent letter from the committee revealed that its probe “is more about enforcing House rules — and is uncomfortably nosey.”

“You ask, in part, whether I’ve had sex with a list of adult women over the past seven years. The lawful, consensual, sexual activities of adults are not the business of Congress,” he wrote.

Gaetz wrote that it’s his understanding “that the Committee has issued, but not served, a subpoena for my testimony.” He said he reserves “all of my rights pursuant to House Rules and the U.S. Constitution.”

The sentencing hearing for Hunter Biden's federal gun case has officially been pushed to Dec. 12.

Judge Noreika handed down the order a short time after prosecutors asked that his scheduled Dec. 4 sentencing be pushed back a week because it conflicts with the trial of a former FBI informant who’s been charged with making false statements about Biden.

Biden's attorneys did not oppose the request.

Some members of the five-judge panel hearing Trump's appeal of his almost $500 million judgment expressed skepticism over Attorney General Letitia James' case.

"You've got two really sophisticated parties and nobody lost any money," Justice David Friedman told Deputy Solicitor General Judith Vale, who's arguing on behalf of the AG's office. The judge said the fraud had no impact on the public — a position Vale immediately pushed back on.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., called the indictment of New York Mayor Eric Adams a “serious and somber moment” for the city.

“Like every other New Yorker and American, Eric Adams is entitled to the presumption of innocence,” Jeffries said in a statement. “That principle is central to the administration of justice in the United States of America.”

Federal authorities formally imposed a $6 million fine on the political operative who admitted to NBC News that he orchestrated a deepfake robocall impersonating Biden.

The Federal Communications Commission had earlier proposed the fine in the hopes of reaching a settlement with Kramer, but he did not engage on that, so the agency’s commissioners voted today to order him to pay the full amount. Kramer has 30 days to pay or it will be referred to the U.S. Department of Justice for collection.

“The misuse of generative AI technology and spoofing to interfere in elections undermines the foundation of our democracy and poses a significant threat,” the FCC’s head of enforcement, Loyaan Egal, said, pledging that authorities “will be vigilant in safeguarding our democratic freedoms.”

A spokesperson for Kramer declined to comment.

The Biden administration is offering a reward of up to $20 million for information on a member of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps who is charged with plotting to kill Trump’s former national security adviser John Bolton.

U.S. authorities say Shahram Poursafi allegedly worked to arrange a murder-for-hire scheme targeting Bolton between 2021 and 2022, seeking to hire criminals in the U.S. to kill Bolton in Washington, D.C., or Maryland in exchange for $300,000.

“Poursafi told the potential assassin — who actually became a confidential source for U.S. investigators — that once he completed the Bolton murder he would have a second assassination job for him,” the State Department said in a statement announcing the reward.

Read the full story here.

Harris laid out her vision for the economy in her first one-on-one national TV interview since becoming the Democratic nominee. Meanwhile, Trump is slamming her for not doing enough to make things better during her time in office. NBC’s Peter Alexander reports for “TODAY.”

The U.S. Capitol Police said they are investigating the deepfake Zoom call that targeted Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Ben Cardin, D-Md.

“Last week someone attempted to impersonate a foreign official on a virtual meeting with a Senator’s office. Fortunately, the staff noticed the person’s behavior was suspicious and they reported it,” the Capitol Police wrote. “We are working with our federal partners to investigate further. We urge everyone on Capitol Hill to remain vigilant and report anything suspicious to law enforcement.”

The caller, who was not identified, posed as former Ukrainian Foreign Affairs Minister Dmytro Kuleba, according to a notice from the Senate’s security office that was obtained by NBC News.

Arguments will begin shortly in a New York courtroom on Donald Trump’s appeal of the almost $500 million civil fraud verdict against him.

Trump’s attorneys are expected to tell a five-judge panel of the state Appellate Division that Judge Arthur Engoron’s ruling finding Trump, his top executives and his company liable for fraud was legally flawed, and that the financial penalty he handed down was excessive.

As of Thursday, Trump’s judgment with interest is more than $478 million, increasing by almost $112,000 per day, according to the New York attorney general’s office, which sued Trump on the state’s behalf. The total judgment with interest for all defendants is more than $489 million.

The AG’s office maintains that the finding and the penalty were appropriate given the length of the fraud and the amount of money the company took in as a result of the scheme.

AURORA, Colo. — The Republican mayor of Colorado’s third-largest city doesn’t think Trump will follow through on his promise to visit the mountain community, which has become embroiled in the national debate over immigration that the GOP nominee is helping fuel.

“I kind of doubt it by now,” Mike Coffman said in an interview this week. “The fact that we’re not a battleground state and the fact that you have a mayor who’s a Republican with a different view of the conditions of the city I think probably would cause him to hold back.”

But unlike Springfield, Ohio, where the mayor has asked Trump not to visit, Coffman would welcome him.

Read the full story here.

A group called Evangelicals for Harris launched a seven-figure ad campaign aimed at Christian voters in the key battleground states today, using the ads to argue Donald Trump’s words and behavior contradict Christian teachings.

The series of ads draws on biblical themes and contrasts those with Trump’s words. One quotes the Bible’s warnings against “false prophets” before showing clips of Trump saying he could shoot someone on New York’s Fifth Avenue and not lose voters, threatening to order the indictment of a political opponent, and saying immigrants “are poisoning the blood” of the country. Another ad suggests Trump has failed to follow the biblical commandment to repent.

The newest ad features clips from a speech delivered by the late televangelist Billy Graham, based on 2 Timothy 3:1-5, where he warns about the dangers of people who are greedy, arrogant, deceitful and violent — intercut with clips of Trump.

Trump will deliver remarks at Trump Tower in New York at 4:30 p.m. The campaign did not specify what the remarks are about or whether the former president will take questions.

The Southern District of New York unsealed its five-count indictment against New York Mayor Eric Adams in connection with contributions to his 2021 mayoral campaign, “including from wealthy foreign businesspeople and at least one Turkish government official seeking to gain influence over him.” The charges include: one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, federal program bribery, and to receive campaign contributions by foreign nationals; one count of wire fraud; two counts of solicitation of a contribution by a foreign national; and one count of bribery.

Read the full story here.

Prosecutors from special counsel David Weiss’ office are asking the judge who presided over Hunter Biden’s trial on gun-related charges to delay his December sentencing by one week.

The president’s son was initially scheduled to be sentenced on three felony gun charges in federal court in Delaware on Nov. 12, one week after Election Day. U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika later granted a request from Biden’s lawyers to push the date back to Dec. 4.

In a court filing today, prosecutors said that date conflicts with the trial of Alexander Smirnov, the former FBI informant who’s been charged with making false statements about Biden. They asked that the date be pushed back to sometime the following week.

“The defendant does not oppose the motion,” the filing said.

Former New York City Rudy Giuliani has been disbarred from practicing law in Washington, D.C., according to an order filed Thursday by the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.

Giuliani, previously a lawyer for Trump, was suspended from the bar in D.C. in July 2021 and two boards had previously recommended that his law license be permanently revoked over his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.

Both panels had pointed to Giuliani’s efforts to get thousands of votes for President Joe Biden tossed out in the battleground state of Pennsylvania that year.

Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., the chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, declined to specify in remarks to reporters this morning just how much money the committee will be spending on the races in Texas and Florida “for strategic purposes.” But he did say he is “very confident there’s going to be more coming.”

Peters said at a National Press Club event that the committee decided to invest in those states after seeing evidence in polling and focus groups that Florida and Texas Senate races are competitive.

“The data is definitely showing some great momentum for us there,” Peters said. “We expect there’s a lot of upside,” especially once voters get to know the Democratic candidates.

Peters did stress that the new investments will not divert resources from other states. Asked specifically about the party’s commitment to the Montana Senate race, Peters said, “There is no world that I, that you can conceive of, that I’m not going to be in Montana right to the very end. Jon Tester will have everything that he needs to win.”

Trump is flying to New York City for meetings with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Poland’s President Andrzej Duda today. The meetings are scheduled to take place at Trump Tower.

The Trump campaign had planned to host a rally in Wisconsin at an outdoor airport venue Saturday, but was told by the Secret Service that it did not have the manpower and assets to secure the venue while the United Nations General Assembly meeting was happening in New York, an official familiar with the planning told NBC News.

The Secret Service notified the campaign of the issue sometime last week, leaving it a week and a half to “readjust,” the official said. The source described the notification by the USSS as a “last-ish minute” change. NBC News has reached out to the Secret Service for comment.

Trump’s Saturday remarks are now scheduled to take place at the Prairie du Chien Area Arts Center in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is meeting with a bipartisan group of senators on Capitol Hill this morning.

Upon his arrival at the Capitol, Zelenskyy said, “Good morning,” and did not respond to shouted questions from NBC News about whether he’s disappointed about not having a scheduled meeting with Trump.

Zelenskyy is scheduled to meet with Biden and Harris in separate meetings later today.

On Saturday, Walz will travel to Ann Arbor, Michigan, to attend the University of Michigan vs. University of Minnesota football game, the Harris campaign announced. Walz will talk to voters and students and build on the campaign’s focus on youth outreach, the campaign said.

Voters in 29 states will face new, restrictive voting laws when they cast ballots this fall, according to a new analysis from the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU Law, which tracks changes to voting laws.

At least 63 restrictive voting laws have been enacted since 2021, the group found.

Such laws are on the books in four battleground states — Arizona, Florida, Georgia and North Carolina — as well as Alabama, Arkansas, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah and Wyoming.

There have also been significant changes to laws to expand voter access, the group said. At least 156 expansive laws have been enacted in 41 states and the District of Columbia. Those include four battleground states: Arizona, Georgia, Michigan and Nevada.

In her interview with “Fox & Friends,” former first lady Melania Trump said “the record speaks for itself” when asked about Harris becoming the Democratic presidential nominee after Biden decided to exit the race in July.

She acknowledged that her husband makes “strong tweets” at times, referring to his social media posts, but said he has done “everything else great for this country. So it’s all in American people’s hands on Nov. 5.”

The former first lady criticized the Biden administration’s economic record, citing high inflation, and sought to contrast the current administration with her husband’s.

“The country is suffering, people are not able to buy usual necessities for the families,” she said. “We have wars going on around the world. Soldiers are dying. They were dying under this administration because of weak leadership.”

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee announced that it is making a multimillion-dollar investment in TV ads in the Texas and Florida Senate races, which it said are aimed at holding Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas and Rick Scott of Florida “accountable for their unpopular records and agenda.”

“Senate Democrats are expanding the map and going on offense,” the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee’s chair, Sen. Gary Peters of Michigan, said in a statement. “All cycle long the DSCC has been preparing to take advantage of Sens. Cruz and Scott’s damaged standings in their states — and now our efforts in Texas and Florida are accelerating.”

“Democrats have strong candidates running effective campaigns in both states, and as we escalate our communications against Sens. Cruz and Scott we will crystallize the case against them,” he added.

The DSCC said additional funding for TV ads in the battleground states will likely be added closer to the November election.

The committee had previously announced investments in digital ads in the Texas and Florida Senate races, but the latest investment signals that Democrats are turning to offensive targets to pick up seats as they face a difficult path to holding on to their razor-thin majority in the Senate.

In the weeks before Election Day, a loose-knit group of women are organizing online to blanket their communities with pro-Harris messages — not on yard signs or flyers, but on sticky notes.

The idea is simple: Take a pad of sticky notes, write messages and post them wherever women may see them — bathroom stalls, the backs of tampon boxes, bathroom mirrors, the gym.

The messages vary slightly, but a typical one reads something like: “Woman to woman: No one sees your vote at the polls. Vote Harris/Walz.”

Former first lady Melania Trump detailed how she found out about both assassination attempts against her husband in a rare TV interview this morning to promote her upcoming memoir, “Melania.”

“I ran to the TV, and I rewind it, and I watched it, I was only a few minutes behind, and something, I guess, took over me — so I didn’t really see live, but maybe, you know, three minutes, few minutes later,” she said on “Fox & Friends” when describing how she found out about the first assassination attempt on her husband during a July rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.

“But when I saw it, it was only — nobody really knew yet, because when you see him on the floor, and you don’t know, you don’t know what really happened,” she added.

Trump said she was in New York City when she found out about the apparent second assassination attempt on her husband this month at his West Palm Beach, Florida, golf course.

Money talks. And right now, the presidential campaigns’ dollars are talking about the “blue wall” — and about defining Harris.

More than half of every dollar spent on ads in the presidential race from Sept. 1 to Sept. 20 were spent in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin — with Pennsylvania alone drawing 1 of every 4 dollars spent, according to AdImpact. Add Georgia, and it’s more than 60% of the total.

The spending illustrates how Democrats and Republicans are in broad agreement about the states in play and how one side or the other will win the election. And what those ad dollars are actually buying tells a key story about the campaign. Harris’ campaign is running an equal mix of positive and negative ads on broadcast TV, according to the tracking firm AdImpact, while Trump’s campaign is running almost exclusively negative and contrast ads — a demonstration of how focused voters and both campaigns are on defining Harris as she runs against a three-time candidate who has inspired entrenched views among American voters.

Read the full story here.

Lawmakers averted a government shutdown 40 days before the election, but they’ll face another funding crunch right before the holidays and a new Congress and president take office.

Bipartisan negotiators have been trying to make progress on the 12 bills needed to fund federal agencies for the 2025 fiscal year.

Yet there’s little time to pass those bills during the lame-duck session; House members and senators are scheduled to be in Washington for only five weeks between Election Day and the end of the year, and the two chambers haven’t reached agreement on any of the dozen measures, known as appropriations bills.

A more likely scenario is that Democrats and Republicans would strike an end-of-year deal on a massive, catchall omnibus spending package or punt the issue once again with another continuing resolution, or CR, that would extend funding into the new year on a short-term basis.

Read the full story here.

Trump and Harris focused on the economy in campaign appearances less than six weeks before the election. Trump tied Harris to inflation, while Harris said Trump has a history of taking care of the rich. NBC News’ Kelly O’Donnell reports.

Ahead of his meeting with Zelenskyy, Biden is unrolling what he calls “a surge in security assistance for Ukraine and a series of additional actions to help Ukraine win this war.”

The new steps include providing Ukraine with the Joint Standoff Weapon long-range munition, directing the Defense Department to allocate all of its remaining security assistance funding that has been appropriated for Ukraine by the end of Biden’s term in office and asking the Pentagon to expand training for Ukrainian F-16 pilots, Biden said in a statement released today.

“Through these actions, my message is clear: The United States will provide Ukraine with the support it needs to win this war,” he said.

Zelenskyy drew ire from Republicans during his visit to U.S. soil by criticizing Trump and his running mate for their stance toward Ukraine’s war with Russia.

Harris is meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during his trip to the U.S., while Trump isn’t, highlighting the growing partisan division over a key foreign policy issue.

Harris will meet with Zelenskyy today at the White House. Trump won’t meet with the leader while he’s in the country this week for the United Nations General Assembly meeting, and he has grown increasingly critical of Zelenskyy, accusing him of having a favorite in the coming election.

Read the full story here.