Election 2024: Trump and Harris say they've agreed to Sept. 10 debate (2024)

From a ‘wake’ to ‘Mardi Gras’: With Harris, the Democratic convention is a hot ticket

Special counsel Jack Smith is asking the judge overseeing Trump's federal election interference case for more time to propose a timetable on future proceedings after theSupreme Court upendedthe case with last month’s immunity ruling.

In a filing tonight, Smith’s office asked U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan to allow the parties until Aug. 30 to propose next steps. If the request is granted, prosecutors would have three more weeks to consult with other parts of the Justice Department on a way forward in a case that focuses on Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election results.

“Although those consultations are well underway, the Government has not finalized its position on the most appropriate schedule for the parties to brief issues related to the decision,” prosecutors wrote. “The Government therefore respectfully requests additional time to provide the Court with an informed proposal regarding the schedule for pretrial proceedings moving forward.”

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Reporting from Palm Beach, Fla.

Trump has long boasted about crowd sizes at his rallies, but today he used an unexpected comparison making the case that he is the biggest draw: Martin Luther King Jr.

“Nobody has spoken to crowds bigger than me,” Trump said at hisnews conferenceat Mar-a-Lago. “If you look at Martin Luther King, when he did his speech, his great speech, and you look at ours, same real estate, same everything, same number of people.”

Trump was responding to a question about whether he thought the end of his term could be considered a peaceful transfer of power, even though it was marked by the Jan. 6 insurrection.

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As money continues to gush into the Harris campaign, a major fundraiser who has a longtime relationship with the vice president and is known as a prodigious rainmaker has come on board as the campaign's new fundraising co-chair.

Kristin Bertolina Faust is already working out of the campaign headquarters in Wilmington, Delaware, at least some of the time, according to people familiar with the move. She handled fundraising for Harris in her 2019 presidential campaign and has known her for 14 years.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s independent presidential campaign is disappearing — both on the trail and in the polls.

Kennedy’s last public event was in Freeport, Maine, on July 9. He has since spoken virtually and appeared at a cryptocurrency conference and events put on by others, but he hasn’t been stumping on the campaign trail. (He did speak in person with reporters the day Biden dropped out of the race.) And it has been months since his running mate, Nicole Shanahan, has had a public event on the campaign trail.

Kennedy’s public poll numbers are dropping, from around 9% or 10% in national surveys before Biden dropped out to about half that level now. His last financial report showed the campaign carrying debt equal to more than half of the $5.6 million it had in the bank. On a media call last week, Kennedy said Democrats and Republicans colluded to make it “insurmountable” for an independent to get on the ballot in all 50 states — which he and his campaign had previously talked about as a matter of when, not if.

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Andrea Smith and Wil Courtney

Rep. Dan Newhouse, R-Wash., has survived another Trump-endorsed primary challenge in his bid for re-election, qualifying for November’s general election. But his path to victory isn’t a given yet: In November, he will face fellow Republican Jerrod Sessler, whom Trump endorsed in April, in a GOP-versus-GOP clash.

Sessler, a former NASCAR driver and Navy veteran, got the most votes in the August primary, having won 31% when The Associated Press called the race today. Newhouse came in second, at nearly 25%, with more mail ballots still to count.

Newhouse is one of just two House Republicans left who voted to impeach Trump following the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. If Sessler wins the November election with Trump’s support, it would drive that number down again.

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Trump said in his hourlong news conference at Mar-a-Lago that he knows former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown "very well."

"In fact, I went down in a helicopter with him. We thought maybe this is the end. We were in a helicopter going to a certain location together, and there was an emergency landing. This was not a pleasant landing, and Willie was, he was a little concerned," Trump said.

In an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle after the news conference, Brown said no such thing happened.

Harris, who has not done a sit-down interview with a news organization since she launched her presidential campaign, said today that she's looking to get one on the books before September.

“I’ve talked to my team. I want us to get an interview scheduled before the end of the month,” Harris told reporters on the tarmac in Michigan before she headed to Arizona.

During his news conference at Mar-a-Lago today, Trump criticized Harris for not sitting for an interview since she rocketed to the top of the Democratic ticket.

"She hasn't done an interview. She can't do an interview. She's barely competent," Trump said, repeating his attacks on Harris' intelligence.

Tara Prindiville, Logan Schiciano and Zoë Richards

Harris said today she was “happy to have that conversation” when she was asked about additional debates with Trump beyond the one on Sept. 10.

At a news conference earlier today, Trump proposed two other debates for next month.

After she repeated an earlier comment that she looked forward to debating Trump on Sept. 10, Harris cast doubt on whether he would follow through.

“Well, I’m glad that he’s finally agreed to a debate on Sept. 10. I’m looking forward to it. Hope he shows up," Harris told reporters on the tarmac in Michigan.

A reporter asked Biden whether he's "confident" about Harris' debating Trump.

"Am I confident she'll win?" Biden responded as he was heading onto Air Force One to travel to Delaware to meet with campaign staffers. "Yes, I am," he said, giving a thumb's up.

"As long as he keeps talking," Biden added, referring to Trump.

His own lackluster debate performance against Trump in June and the subsequent fallout helped lead to his decision to withdraw from the race.

Trump held his first news conference in more than a year today, boasting of his willingness to talk to the media and challenging Harris tomore debates.

“She can’t do an interview,” Trump said of Harris, speaking to reporters at his Mar-a-Lago resort. “She’s barely competent.”

“She’s not smart enough to do a news conference,” he added.

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The extremely online Harris-Walz campaign topped off a news release responding to Trump's Mar-a-Lago remarks today with a screenshot of a classic tweet from @dril, a top internet poster known for absurdist humor and one of the greatest "weird Twitter" accounts known to man.

"and another thing: im not mad. please dont put in the newspaper that i got mad," the tweet reads.

That 2014 @drill tweet is among the account's best-known tweets. Others include a 2011 tweet about a person insisting they are not "owned," in internet parlance, even as they "slowly shrink and transform into a corn cob."

Harris said this afternoon that she's "looking forward" to debating Trump next month.

“I am looking forward to debating Donald Trump, and we have a date of Sept. 10," she said in response to a question from NBC News. "I hear he’s finally committed to it, and I’m looking forward to it."

Harris didn't respond when asked about the two other proposed presidential debates for September. Trump said today at his news conference that he would be open to debating Harris three times next month.

Harris spoke before a crowd of supporters at a UAW campaign event in Detroit this afternoon.

Calling them "sisters and brothers," she thanked the crowd for supporting her campaign and praised the unity of labor unions, saying: "We believe in the collective. We're not falling for these folks who are trying to divide us, trying to pull us apart."

The Harris campaign released an ad today highlighting her biography and political career.

"When you're raised by an immigrant mother, you learn what's possible with determination," the ad says.

The 60-second spot shows Harris' rise to the vice presidency from her early days as a McDonald's employee to a prosecutor in San Francisco, California attorney general and U.S. senator.

The ad was pushed out on Harris' X account today during Trump's news conference at Mar-a-Lago.

Trump said that the Federal Reserve has "sort of gotten it wrong a lot" and that Fed Chair Jerome Powell has tended to be "a little bit too early and a little bit too late" in adjusting monetary policy.

Trump added that he "used to have it out with" Powell and indicated that he would like the power to influence interest rates at the independent central bank if he wins the election in November.

It's not the first time Trump has shared this view on the Fed. He recently told Bloomberg News that he would allow Powell to finish his term, which ends in 2026.

In July, Powell said that “we never use our tools to support or oppose a political party, a politician or any political outcome.”

A spokesperson for ABC News said Harris has confirmed that she will attend the Sept. 10 debate with Trump.

Republican New Mexico Senate candidate Nella Domenici is targeting suburban women with a new ad starting this week focused on her abortion stance.

The 30-second spot, first reported by NBC News, highlights Domenici’s position against abortion bans while aiming to reduce unintended pregnancy and offer support for women. The ad is called "Trusted."

“New Mexico has already decided its policy — I oppose any federal ban,” Domenici says in the spot. “Abortion should be safe, legal and rare. Women should be trusted, respected, and babies should be loved and wanted.”

Domenici’s position — against an absolutist stance and echoing a phrase first used by Bill Clinton — hints at what could be a different approach for Republicans, who last month adopted a party platform that abandoned a decadeslong push for a federal ban. “We need to do a much, much better job of helping women,” she says in the ad. An overlay reads: “Abortion is legal and accessible in New Mexico.”

Trump has concluded the press conference at Mar-a-Lago. He answered questions from media members in the audience for just over an hour.

Trump said that any Jewish person who votes for Vice President Kamala Harris instead of him should "have their head examined" during his remarks at Mar-a-Lago.

"She's been very, very bad to Israel, and she's been very bad and disrespectful to Jewish people," he said. "Anybody that votes for them, if you're Jewish or if you love Israel, you have to have your head examined."

This falls in line with previous comments Trump has made claiming that Harris does not like Jewish people, while her husband, second gentleman Doug Emhoff, is Jewish.

In his remarks at Mar-a-Lago, Trump started talking about former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

"You know, with Hillary Clinton, I could have done things to her that would have made your head spin. I thought it was a very bad thing. Take the wife of a president of the United States and put her in jail," he said.

Trump said he was "very protective" of Hillary Clinton and falsely suggested that he would tamp down chants by his supporters to have her locked up.

"I was very protective of her. Nobody would understand that," Trump said. "But I was, I think, my people understand it. They used to say, 'Lock her up, lock her up,' and I'd say just relax, please. We won the election."

Trump said Harris won't hold a news conference because she isn't "smart enough."

Trump, who has ramped up attacks on Harris' gender and race since she replaced Biden in the race for president, spent a lot of the news conference talking about Harris' intelligence.

"She doesn’t know how to do a news conference. She’s not smart enough to do a news conference, and I’m sorry. We need smart people to lead this country."

Trump referred to Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro as a "terrible guy."

"He's not very popular with anybody. I think that this, this election, maybe is better than Josh Shapiro would have been, but I think, other than Josh Shapiro, I think she had some good choices, but Josh Shapiro is not one of them," he said. "He's caused a lot of damage with a lot of people, and I don't think he would have been better. I think he would have been maybe the equivalent, maybe not as good. But they had some people that they were looking at that were good, far superior to her."

Trump said abortion has become “much less of an issue” in the 2024 campaign and would be a “very small issue” in the general election.

Trump defended Jan. 6 defendants, saying they are being treated harshly. He also claimed, incorrectly, that "nobody was killed on Jan. 6."

Trump supporter Ashli Babbitt died after being shot by police while trying to enter a room connected to the House chamber. USCP Officer Brian Sicknickdied after collapsing after defending the Capitol, a death later attributed to a stroke and ruled as in the line of duty by Capitol Police. Additionally, four police officers committed suicide after defending the Capitol, two Trump supporters outside the building had heart attacks and one died of an accidental overdose.

Trump, who has long complained that the press doesn't fairly portray the size of crowds at his campaign rallies, grumbled that the coverage of Jan. 6 doesn't note how large the crowd was when he spoke that day.

A podium is set up for the former president Donald to speak at his Florida resort.

Trump said in remarks to the press at Mar-a-Lago that his campaign has agreed to a presidential debate on Fox News on Sept. 4, one with NBC News on Sept. 10 and one with ABC News on Sept. 25.

The campaign later clarified that the ABC debate would be on Sept. 10 as previously scheduled and the NBC one would take place on Sept. 25.

In response to a question, Trump said his campaign would like to participate in three debates, though it was unclear if he was including the vice presidential debate, which he said will be hosted by CBS News.

NBC News has reached out to the Harris campaign, NBC, CBS and ABC.

Since he was selected as Harris' running mate, Walz' drunk driving arrest in 1995 has resurfaced. The incident wasn't a surprise to campaign officials, a source familiar with the matter said.

When former Labor Secretary Marty Walsh, a member of the vetting committee, asked Walz about the details of his drunk driving arrest in 1995, the governor said he had no excuses and had learned from the experience, and he hadn't drunk in decades.

The Star Tribune reported during Walz's first run for governor that he said the incident was his gut-check moment, and instead of alcohol he opts for Diet Mountain Dew (a well-known fun fact about him in Minnesota).

The sourceshot down a reportthat his openness about the incident “vaulted him to the top” of the VP list, but said that it did add to the appeal of picking him.

President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden will greet his former campaign staff members this evening to “show their gratitude for all their hard work” and to thank them in advance for their dedication to the Harris-Walz operation, a source familiar with the plans said.

The Bidens felt it was personally important for them to meet with aides in Wilmington, Delware, in person to express their appreciation, the source said. The gathering, which is closed to the news media, will take place at an event site and not at the now-Harris headquarters.

The campaign expects about 200 staffers to attend and they will be treated to food and drinks, including Biden’s signature dessert: ice cream.

The Bidens wanted to be able to find a time to thank the aides who uprooted their lives to move to Delaware and were so committed to seeing him re-elected, given how quickly everything has changed since the president’s decision to exit the 2024 race less than three week ago.

Democratic veterans in the House rushed to Walz’s defense today — amid attacks from Republicans on the Minnesota governor's military record — and hit Trump over his lack of military service.

Republicans, including JD Vance, have attacked Walz in recent days over his military service.

Rep. Jason Crow, D-Colo., who did multiple tours in Iraq and Afghanistan as a U.S. Army Ranger, said Walz, who served in the National Guard for 24 years, had a “long and honorable service record."

Walz officially retired from the Minnesota National Guard in May 2005. His unit was alerted about a deployment to Iraq in July, and the unit deployed there in October. Walz filed to run for Congress in January 2005 with paperwork that was certified by the Federal Election Commission the next month.

Closing arguments have wrapped in the ballot access case against independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Pursuants — defending Kennedy — argued that Kennedy never misled or confused signatories of his petition to appear on the ballot. Kennedy’s attorney emphasized the candidate’s intent to return to New York, drawing upon his ties to the state including his voter registration and his law firm in New York.

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., discussed her role in encouraging Biden to drop out of the 2024 race in a new podcast interview with The New Yorker’s David Remnick.

Pelosi explained that the Biden campaign wasn't "facing the fact of what was happening" in the weeks following the presidential debate and the president's weak performance. The former speaker said Democrats couldn't see it all "go down the drain" if Trump became president again.

“I’ve never been that impressed with his political operation,” Pelosi said about Biden's campaign. “They won the White House. Bravo. But my concern was:Thisain’t happening, and we have to make a decision for this to happen. The president has to make the decision for that to happen."

The former speaker didn't elaborate about whom she was referring to.

A person close to Trump said the former president may be softening his opposition to debating Harris on ABC News next month and indicated that he might have no choice if she declines other counteroffers because “he has to get her to speak.” Trump is also talking to other networks, per this source.

Trump had agreed to a debate with President Joe Biden on Sept. 10 on ABC but backed out of it after Harris became the presumptive Democratic nominee. Trump proposed a debate on Fox News instead.

“The Vice President will be there one way or the other to take the opportunity to speak to a prime time national audience,” Michael Tyler, the Harris campaign communications director, told NBC News in a statement.

The Abandon Biden campaign blasted Harris in a new statement this morning for telling pro-Palestinian protesters who interrupted her event last night, "If you want Donald Trump to win, then say that — otherwise I’m speaking.”

The group, which launched to protest Biden's handling of Gaza, said in a statement, "What Harris did show us last night, with her actions, was disdain for citizens of this country who are pleading for an end to a genocide. The Vice President could have taken it as a moment of empathy and acknowledgment of grievances but instead chose to conflate being anti-genocide with supporting Donald J. Trump."

The group's statement differed in tone from that of the Michigan Uncommitted movement, which urged Democratic primary voters earlier this year to vote "uncommitted" instead of for Biden in a show of protest against the president's approach to the war in Gaza.

In a statement from the Michigan Uncommitted group, co-founders Layla Elabed and Abbas Alawie, said, "It’s clear to us that Vice President Harris can lead our country’s Gaza policy to a more humane place. We hope she will meet with us so we can move forward to discuss an arms embargo." The Michigan Uncommitted founders briefly spoke with Harris in Detroit yesterday.

Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Mich., said she shares President Joe Biden's concern that Trump may not accept the election results if he loses.

Dingell, who attended Harris' rally in Detroit yesterday, told CNN this morning, “I am very concerned about what will happen if the numbers are close, will the results be accepted? You won’t have that problem on the Democratic side, but I do believe what we saw on January 6th is something that there are some people that are talking about it."

She added, "I would hope we could all work together, my Republican colleagues as well,on the other side to ensure that there is a peaceful transition of government, one of the core strengths of our democracy.”

Harris-Walz campaign national co-chair Mitch Landrieu discusses the state of the campaign, why he says the election will be close and his thoughts about JD Vance.

Trump's campaign defended comments Trump made in 2020 praising Walz for his handling of riots in Minneapolis even though the former president has been criticizing the Minnesota governor on the issue since he was named Harris' running mate.

Trump campaign's communications director, Steven Cheung, said in a statement, "In this daily briefing phone call with Governors on June 1, days after the riots began, President Trump acknowledged Governor Walz for FINALLY taking action to deploy the National Guard to end the violence in the city.”

In a post on his personal account on X last night, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg appeared to liken attacks on Walz's military service to Vance's criticism of people without children.

"Come to think of it, denigrating the worth of a soldier’s service based on whether he deployed to a war zone is… kind of like denigrating the worth of a woman’s citizenship based on whether she happens to have children," Buttigieg tweeted.

In recent days, Republicans have criticized Walz for his military record, which didn't include time in combat. Separately, Vance, Trump's running mate, has been under fire for comments he made about people without children. In a 2021 interview, Vance said that Harris, Buttigieg and other "childless cat ladies" don't have as much of a stake in the country's future as those who do.

Harris is the stepmother to Doug Emhoff's two children.

The leaders of the Uncommitted National Movement met briefly with Harris and Walz at their Detroit campaign rally last evening, the group said.

The group said the two leaders, Layla Elabed and Abbas Alawieh, presented their concerns "about the U.S. supplying weapons for Israel’s war and occupation against Palestinians." They also requested a formal meeting with Harris "to further discuss their demands of an arms embargo and a permanent ceasefire."

Harris campaign spokesperson confirmed the meeting, saying in a statement that the vice president has prioritized engaging with Arab, Muslim and Palestinian communities since Oct. 7 over the war in Gaza.

"In this brief engagement, she reaffirmed that her campaign will continue to engage with those communities," the spokesperson said. "The Vice President has been clear: she will always work to ensure Israel is able to defend itself against Iran and Iran-backed terrorist groups. The Vice President is focused on securing the ceasefire and hostage deal currently on the table. As she has said, it is time for this war to end in a way where: Israel is secure, hostages are released, the suffering of Palestinian civilians ends, and the Palestinian people can realize their right to dignity, freedom, and self-determination.”

Harris' rally yesterday was interrupted by pro-Palestinian protesters.

Police officers who protected the U.S. Capitol during the hourslong onslaught by Trump supporters on Jan. 6, 2021, are hitting the road for Harris in hopes of keeping the former president, who is facing criminal charges for his efforts to stay in office by lying about the last election, from winning back the White House.

Former Capitol Police Officer Harry Dunn, former Capitol Police Sgt. Aquilino Gonell, and current Metropolitan Police Department Officer Daniel “Danny” Hodges will be showing their support for Harris and Walz in the coming days, joining up with the Democratic campaign for the first time since President Joe Biden dropped off the top of the ticket less than three weeks ago.

Dunn and Hodges will be in Michigan this week, visiting Grand Rapids, Flint and Detroit, and the members of the group will travel elsewhere soon, including to North Carolina and Georgia, the Harris campaign told NBC News. During the trips, the Biden-Walz campaign said, the officers would meet with elected officials as well as community leaders to underscore what they call the urgent and immediate threat that Trump poses to democracy.

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The Harris campaign is targeting Latino voters with a paid media blitz in battleground states starting today as Harris heads to Arizona and Nevada for a multiday swing.

The seven-figure buy will feature a new ad in both English and Spanish that will run over the next two weeks leading up to the Democratic National Convention, according to details first shared with NBC News.

The 60-second spot highlights Harris’ upbringing as the daughter of an immigrant mother, with the narrator saying: “Determination is how Kamala Harris went from working in McDonald’s to prosecutor, state attorney general, U.S. senator and our vice president — in only one generation.”

Tim Walz owns no stocks, bonds or real estate, according to his most recentfinancial disclosure.

Walz’s salary as governor of Minnesota is $127,629. He was eligible for a raise last year to $149,550, but he chose not to accept it, according to the state.

If Walz is elected vice president in November, he would makean annual salary of $284,600, based on 2024 rates.

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The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee’s independent expenditure arm is launching its first attack in the Montana Senate race, targeting Republican Tim Sheehy over public lands.

The race will be key to which party controls the Senate given Democrats’ slim majority. In Montana, Democratic Sen. Jon Tester is running for re-election in a state Trump won by 16 points in 2020.

The 30-second spot, which will run on connected TV platforms, criticizes Sheehy’s private ranch, citing reporting that in 2022 his ranch offered a five-day archery hunt for $12,500.

“It’s pure Montana beauty, but you’re not allowed. This is Tim Sheehy’s private playground: prime elk country, fishing spots, even native sites, only accessible to those who can dole out thousands to hunt and fish,” a narrator says. “Get used to it: This is Montana’s future if Sheehy has his way.”

Harris is expected to continue a campaign swing through battleground states with a United Auto Workers event in Detroit today after a campaign rally there last night.

The UAW has endorsed Harris' presidential bid.

Trump's campaign is scheduled to host a news conference this afternoon on Harris' campaign agenda and her handling of immigration issues.

Arizona Republicans, including Senate candidate Kari Lake and Reps. Eli Crane and Andy Biggs, are expected to be there.