November 2, 2024, presidential campaign news

People walk by a bank boarded up in preparation for potential election protests in Portland, Oregon, on November 1.

Ahead of potential civil unrest due to Tuesday’s presidential election, the National Guard is on standby as a precaution in several states, including Washington and Oregon, where hundreds of ballots were damaged or destroyed after at least three ballot drop boxes were recently set on fire, officials say.

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee addressed the ballot box fires in a news release Friday announcing the National Guard being placed on standby, saying, “The southwest region of Washington state has already experienced specific instances of election-related unrest.”

Inslee did not disclose how many troops would be activated on Tuesday, but said they will be available to support law enforcement from Monday to Thursday, according to the news release.

In Oregon, Gov. Tina Kotek said in a statement Friday that the National Guard is standing ready as political leaders call for peaceful protests, according to CNN affiliate KTVZ.

While there is “no current information to suggest unrest,” Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler said, according to KTVZ, “there is a lot of uncertainty and tension in our community.”

Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo this week also announced that 60 National Guard troops are on standby “in preparation for a safe and smooth Election Day.” Lombardo said it mirrors the state’s routine preparation for past elections, and that “it is one of many proactive steps the state is taking.”

Preparations are also underway in Washington, DC, where more than 3,000 police officers will work 12-hour shifts, Police Chief Pamela A. Smith said in a news conference Tuesday.

The issue has become more pressing for law enforcement since the January 6, 2021, insurrection at the US Capitol that delayed certification of the last presidential election.

CNN’s Chris Boyette, Shimon Prokupecz, and Meridith Edwards contributed to this report.

Sen. JD Vance speaks at a campaign rally in Las Vegas on November 2.

In the closing stretch of the 2024 race, Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance told voters that former President Donald Trump has demonstrated “courage under fire” and will fix what the Biden-Harris administration “broke,” while Vice President Kamala Harris represents the status quo.

“Kamala Harris is the candidate of more of the same, more broken dreams, more open borders, more Americans who can’t afford the cost of groceries. And I happen to think, my friends, that we’re ready to deliver change to the American people,” Vance said at an event in Las Vegas.

Touting Trump’s record, Vance also accused Harris of spending her campaign “lying” about what Trump has said and done.

“Why isn’t Kamala Harris bragging about what she has done to make your life better? The simple answer is she can’t brag about it because she hasn’t done it,” Vance said.

As he did yesterday in North Carolina, Vance brought Donald Trump Jr. up to speak, who joked about the state of the economy under Democratic leadership.

Las Vegas is in Clark County, which is home to nearly 75% of the state’s population.

The last Republican to win Nevada in a presidential election was George W. Bush in 2004.

Lessie Benningfield Randle is pictured in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on May 28, 2021.

At 109 years old, Lessie Benningfield Randle, one of the two remaining survivors of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, said she has cast an absentee ballot for Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election.

Benningfield Randle was born in November 1914 and raised in the community of Greenwood, Oklahoma. Greenwood, known as Black Wall Street, was the location of one of the largest moments of racial violence in US history. As many as 300 Black people were killed, and more than 1,000 homes, businesses, schools and churches were destroyed when a White mob looted and burned the district.

“As voters, we must protect our children from politicians who believe that retribution and violence are virtues,” Benningfield Randle said. “Because I have lived through that nightmare. And trust me, we can’t afford to go back.”

Viola Fletcher, who is 110 and the other remaining survivor of the massacre, also plans to cast her ballot for Harris in person on Election Day, according to the news release.

President Joe Biden speaks at an event in Scranton, Pennsylvania, on November 2.

President Joe Biden described former President Donald Trump and his “Republican friends” as “the kind of guys you’d like to smack in the ass” in spirited remarks to union workers in Scranton, Pennsylvania, on Saturday.

The president was describing what he said were Trump’s plans for a second term, including “another giant tax cut for the wealthy.”

Biden moved from Scranton when he was around 10, and he seemed to be evoking imagery of childhood bullying, as he has before with Trump.

As Biden expounded on his support for organized labor and told a number of recollections about his early life in Scranton, he said he had one final ask for the union groups that had helped start his career and remained a reliable ally through his half-century in public life.

“You know, we’ve asked a lot of each other — you and I, unions and me,” Biden said. “I ask you one more thing: I’m asking your support for Kamala and Tim Walz.”

“I’m not just asking for me, I’m going to be gone,” he added, in a frank acknowledgement his time in office is nearing an end. “I’m asking to do something for yourself and the families, for the people you grew up with, the neighborhoods you come from.”

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz went door knocking in Henderson, Nevada, on Saturday, as part of the Democratic vice presidential nominee’s final visit to the battleground state before Tuesday’s election.

Walz stopped at two houses and met with people who had already cast ballots for Vice President Kamala Harris. At his first stop, he spoke with a couple about the importance of preserving benefits and health care for veterans and senior citizens. He also offered his interpretation of the early voting data in Nevada.

At the second stop, Walz visited a house alongside Democratic Rep. Dina Titus of Nevada. They spoke with two people who said they had donated, volunteered and voted for Democrats, including Harris and Walz.

As Walz was leaving the second house, reporters traveling with Walz asked him how he was feeling about the election.

Earlier in the day, Walz rallied supporters and volunteers at a canvass launch event in Las Vegas, Nevada alongside Nevada Rep. Susie Lee and actress Eva Longoria, whom he tipped as a possible future “Gov. Longoria.” Walz urged those gathered at the campaign’s field office to close strongly the final few days of the campaign, noting all of the effort and investment made in the state, including campaign ads placed on the Sphere in Las Vegas.

Vice President Kamala Harris on Saturday contrasted the leadership she seeks to bring to the Oval Office with that of her opponent Donald Trump, slamming the former president’s threats against his political rivals.

“That’s what real leaders do. That’s what strong leaders do,” she added.

Trump has routinely suggested he would weaponize the justice system to go after his political opponents if he returns to the White House. He has also threatened prosecution and “long term prison sentences” for election officials and political operatives, who he suggested could cheat in the 2024 election.

Harris’ vow to give those who disagree with her “a seat at the table” comes as she has said she would name a Republican to her Cabinet.

CNN’s Kate Sullivan and Jack Forrest contributed to this post.

Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a campaign rally in Atlanta on November 2.

Vice President Kamala Harris told CNN in an exclusive interview Saturday that her campaign is still trying to reach everyone in the electorate with Election Day just three days away.

The Democratic presidential nominee called the election “one of the most, if not the most, consequential elections of our lifetime.”

The vice president also emphasized differences between her campaign and that of Donald Trump’s, saying that as president she would “be working on behalf of the American people,” while Trump would be “all about himself” in the Oval Office.

Harris said she believes voters who cast their ballots for Trump in 2020 are turning to vote for her instead this year because “they’re just exhausted with the approach that’s about trying to have Americans point their fingers at each other.”

She outlined some of her policies on affordable housing as well as growing the economy and noted the importance of Georgia to the election.

“Georgia is incredibly important, which is why I’m here and I keep coming back. The people here have so much at stake, and I am going to earn the votes, which means I’m going to be here on the ground, listening and talking with folks,” Harris said.

New CNN polling conducted by SSRS shows that likely voters in the state are divided — 48% for Trump to 47% for Harris. President Joe Biden won Georgia in 2020 by a margin of just 11,779 votes, making it one of the closely contested states that year.

Watch video of the exclusive interview below:

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Harris addresses economic concerns during interview with CNN

04:21 - Source: CNN

CNN’s Samantha Waldenberg contributed to this post.

Second gentleman Doug Emhoff delivers remarks in Washington, DC, on October 7.

The FBI on Saturday said a video circulating on social media claiming the agency had “apprehended three linked groups committing ballot fraud” and another one relating to second gentleman Doug Emhoff are both false.

The videos have only limited circulation and not many views, but FBI officials wanted to issue the warnings to the public, particularly because the videos falsely purported to be from the agency, the officials said.

FBI investigators believe the videos are of Russian origin, according to a US official.

This post has been updated to reflect a statement by a US official about the videos’ origins.

Supporters of Vice President Kamala Harris gather for a campaign rally in Atlanta on November 2.

As Vice President Kamala Harris makes her closing pitch, her final events are adorned with signs that say “A President for All” and “Vote for Freedom.”

The signs are an extension of the campaign’s closing message, which is also being broadcast during NFL games Sunday. The closing ad, titled “Brighter Future,” features moments of the vice president on the campaign trail, in addition to a direct to camera plea asking voters to elect her.

Harris is taking that message to battleground states Georgia and North Carolina for campaign events Saturday before heading to Michigan to mobilize voters. Her rally in Atlanta is ongoing now.

Neither Harris nor former President Donald Trump has established a clear advantage in Georgia or North Carolina, according to new CNN polls conducted by SSRS.

North Carolina, which narrowly supported Barack Obama in 2008, has voted Republican in the past three presidential elections. In 2020, however, it was the state where Trump earned his slimmest margin of victory.

At least two medical incidents interrupted Vice President Kamala Harris’ Atlanta rally as the Democratic presidential nominee stopped her remarks to call for medics.

“We need a medic over here please,” Harris said pointing and looking to a section of her rally. “We need a medic over here. If everyone can part a little bit so we can let somebody through.”

A few minutes later, Harris called for the medics again for what seemed to be another medical incident.

It’s about 77 degrees in Atlanta right now.

More than 70 million ballots have already been cast with Election Day just three days away.

About 71.5 million Americans have voted, according to data from 47 states and the District of Columbia gathered by CNN, Edison Research and Catalist, a company that provides data, analytics and other services to Democrats, academics and nonprofit advocacy groups, including insights into who is voting before November.

The number is about 45% of the roughly 158 million votes cast for president in 2020. That year, amid the Covid-19 pandemic, about 70% of votes were cast ahead of Election Day, while in 2022, voters spilt roughly evenly between voting before and on Election Day.

Fourteen states have now crossed 50% of their total votes cast in 2020, led by Georgia, where pre-election voting is at 80% of 2020 votes.

Former President Donald Trump on Saturday repeated the baseless claim that migrants are coming in illegally and taking Black Americans’ jobs.

He maid the same false claim earlier in the day, saying on Fox News: “Black people that are working so hard, they’ve had jobs for 20 years, they’re being fired and they’re being replaced.”

Trump has repeatedly argued that undocumented immigrants are taking the jobs of Black and Hispanic Americans. Last month, he falsely claimed of Black Americans: “Their unemployment rate is through the roof. Wait ‘til you hear the numbers.”

Fact Check: The Black or African American unemployment rate declined in September, to 5.7%. That is only a bit higher than the lowest rate of the Trump presidency, 5.3%, in two months of 2019. It’s also lower than the pre-pandemic February 2020 rate, also under Trump, of 6.1%.

CNN’s Daniel Dale contributed to this post.

Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a campaign rally in Atlanta on November 2.

Vice President Kamala Harris is speaking at a rally in Atlanta, as she seeks to bolster her support in Southern battleground states with three days until Election Day.

Later Saturday, Harris is scheduled to speak at a campaign event in North Carolina, where former President Donald Trump is holding a rally now.

Recent CNN polls have shown Harris and Trump neck and neck in Georgia, with its all-important 16 electoral votes.

Second gentleman Doug Emhoff has filled out his mail-in ballot, casting a vote for Vice President Kamala Harris in a moment he said he would “never forget.”

Harris and Emhoff are California residents, where mail-in ballots must be postmarked on or before Election Day. Harris campaign communications director Michael Tyler told reporters earlier Saturday that he believes the vice president is also planning to vote by mail, but did not have an update on when her ballot will be submitted.

Former President Donald Trump is pictured at a campaign rally in Gastonia, North Carolina, on November 2.

Former President Donald Trump on Saturday falsely said that Kamala Harris called him Adolf Hitler as he criticized the vice president for talking about unity.

John Kelly, Trump’s longest-serving White House chief of staff, said in interviews last month that Trump said he wished his military personnel showed him the same deference Hitler’s Nazi generals showed the German dictator during World War II and that he fits “into the general definition of fascist.”

When asked at a CNN town hall last month whether she believes Trump is a fascist, Harris said “Yes, I do.” She called him “dangerous” as she drilled down on the dangers of a second Trump term.

In response, Trump has said that Harris was “raising her rhetoric.” In a Truth Social post last month, Trump said: “Comrade Kamala Harris sees that she is losing, and losing badly, especially after stealing the Race from Crooked Joe Biden, so now she is increasingly raising her rhetoric, going so far as to call me Adolf Hitler, and anything else that comes to her warped mind.”

Former President Donald Trump arrives at a campaign rally in Gastonia, North Carolina, on November 2.

Former President Donald Trump is addressing supporters at a rally in Gastonia, North Carolina.

The event in Gastonia, which is located outside Charlotte, comes as polls show Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris in a tight race for the key Southern battleground.

North Carolina is among the seven states viewed as likely to determine the presidential election. Both Harris and Trump will campaign there today, underlining the battleground’s importance with just three days until the election.

Vice President Kamala Harris attends a campaign rally in Madison, Wisconsin, on October 30.

Vice President Kamala Harris plans to cast her vote in the 2024 election by mail, her campaign said.

“I believe the vice president is planning to vote by mail,” Harris communications director Michael Tyler said when asked about the Democratic nominee’s voting plan.

Tyler said he did not have an update on whether her ballot has been submitted.

“That is her plan for casting her ballot,” he said, adding that she wants to “model behavior for other voters to continue to take advantage of the various modes of voting that we have.”

Harris is a California resident, where mail-in ballots must be postmarked on or before Election Day. President Joe Biden cast his early ballot in Delaware on Monday.

Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign is launching a closing ad that will air during Sunday’s NFL games during the last weekend before Election Day. The ad, titled “Brighter Future,” features moments of the vice president on the campaign trail in addition to a direct-to-camera plea from Harris asking voters to elect her.

“Now, I’m asking for your vote. Because as president, I will get up every day and fight for the American people,” Harris says.

The ad is two minutes long and includes a variety of interactions between Harris and supporters, as well as clips from her closing message speech at the Ellipse in Washington, DC, this week.

“You deserve better,” she says directly to camera.

The ad will play during the early afternoon NFL games on both CBS and Fox and during the 4:25 p.m. ET game between the Green Bay Packers and the Detroit Lions.

Campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon cast the ad as “powerful,” “optimistic” and “patriotic,” telling reporters that the campaign views the ad’s placement during NFL games as a “high-impact moment” to reach the low-propensity and undecided voters the Harris camp believes is breaking its way.

The Supreme Court building is pictured in Washington, DC, on June 20.

The Harris campaign reacted positively to the Supreme Court’s ruling on ballots in Pennsylvania, saying the decision was “fair.”

The Supreme Court on Friday left in place a Pennsylvania court ruling that is expected to expand options for voters whose mail-in ballots are rejected for technical reasons to have their votes counted, in a defeat for Republicans in a critical battleground state. For Pennsylvania voters who made a mistake in how they prepared their mail-in ballots, it could ensure they have a backup option to have a provisional ballot counted.

She continued, “That decision, of course, makes sense. It’s fair, and it demonstrates that our democracy is so much stronger than Trump’s shameful attacks.”

Remus criticized Republicans, whom she claimed “would rather throw out votes than earn them” and said the decision was a sign of “our system working.”

The campaign is also keeping an eye on other “cases where the Trump campaign is cherry-picking facts and suggesting there is a problem where there isn’t a problem.” The campaign has “anticipated and prepared for” such cases, Remus said.

Former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden take part in a CNN presidential debate in Atlanta on June 27.

Former President Donald Trump told aides after his June debate with President Joe Biden that he wanted to start calling him “Retarded Joe Biden,” according to a new report by The Atlantic.

“The guy’s a retard. He’s retarded. I think that’s what I’ll start calling him: Retarded Joe Biden,” Trump told aides on his plane as he was headed to a campaign rally, according to The Atlantic, which cited three people who heard Trump make the remarks.

Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung said in a statement to CNN, “That was never discussed and this is materially false.”

The New York Times reported last month that Trump called Vice President Kamala Harris “retarded” while attempting to convince top GOP donors to give money to his campaign.

Some background: Trump has a long history of making offensive and disparaging remarks to attack his political opponents, including Biden. Trump has repeatedly called Harris “mentally impaired” at his campaign rallies. Some GOP allies, meanwhile, have urged him to stay on message and avoid such attacks.

People cast their in-person early ballot for the 2024 general election at the Northwest Activities Center in Detroit, Michigan, on October 29, 2024.

Seven states are expected to be key to electing the next president of the United States: Arizona, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada and Pennsylvania.

So what is a battleground state, and why is their vote so important?

There are 538 Electoral College votes split among the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Each state gets at least three votes, depending on the size of their congressional delegation.

Congressional seats are assigned to each state based on their population. So, the smallest states get three electoral college votes (they have two senators and one member of Congress). Washington, DC, also gets three. The most populous states get a lot more: California gets 54 electoral votes (it has two senators and 52 congressional districts), Texas has 40, Florida has 30, New York has 28 and so on.

In almost all states, the winning candidate takes all electoral votes. Whichever candidate gets 270 or more electoral votes becomes president.

Some states are historically blue (where Democrats dominate) or red (where Republicans dominate). The battleground states are those where voters don’t tend to consistently vote for the same party, but battleground states can change from election to election.

The bigger battleground states such as Pennsylvania, have more congressional seats, and are therefore extra important for a candidate’s road to 270. And if a candidate wins three or more battleground states, they’re more likely to win the election.

That’s why the seven battleground states could determine who becomes president.

Read more about how the US election works.

Rapper 2 Chainz will perform at the Kamala Harris rally in Atlanta today.

Vice President Kamala Harris will get an assist from a cadre of special guests Saturday at a pair of rallies in southern battleground states, the campaign said.

In Georgia: The Atlanta rally will feature remarks from Spike Lee, Monica and Victoria Monét and performances by 2 Chainz, Big Tigger, and Pastor Troy, a campaign official said. Sens. Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock will be in attendance, as well as Rep. Nikema Williams and Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens.

In North Carolina: In Charlotte later in the day, actress Kerry Washington will speak and attendees will listen to performances from Brittney Spencer, Jon Bon Jovi, Khalid and The War And Treaty. North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, gubernatorial candidate and Attorney General Josh Stein, Rep. Alma Adams, and Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles will also be on site, per the campaign.

Harris will be introduced by first-time voters at both stops.

President Gerald R. Ford in the Oval Office, on October 17, 1974. Ford is the only person to serve as both president and vice president who was never elected to either office.

Vice President Kamala Harris has had a shorter presidential campaign than many and an unconventional rise to becoming the Democratic candidate.

President Joe Biden ended his reelection campaign and endorsed Harris in July. Virtually the entire party, including potential challengers, quickly endorsed her, and it took less than 36 hours for her to secure unofficial endorsements from enough delegates to be the party’s nominee.

History has shown that there are many paths a candidate can take to become a nominee or win the White House.

Here are some examples:

Vice President Kamala Harris speaks to the press in Milwaukee on November 2.

Vice President Kamala Harris was asked to reflect Saturday on what her faith says about who God wants to win the 2024 election.

“My plan for my presidency is informed with that spirit and that approach,” she added.

In an implicit swipe at former President Donald Trump, Harris said that “is the sign of a real leader … not defining one’s strength based on who you beat down, but defining the strength of a leader based on who you lift up.”

Some background: The Democratic presidential nominee has been seeking to emphasize how faith is informing her campaign ahead of next week’s election. Harris has been leaning on her faith — and her ties to Black faith communities — as she seeks to turn out Black voters in her closing pitch.

Vice President Kamala Harris speaks to the press in Milwaukee on November 2.

Vice President Kamala Harris on Saturday lambasted recent comments from House Speaker Mike Johnson, who advocated in recent days against the Affordable Care Act and President Joe Biden’s signature CHIPS and Science Act.

Johnson on Monday called for “massive reform” to the Affordable Care Act and “no Obamacare” as part of a “very aggressive” first 100-days agenda if Republicans win back control of the White House. In a statement issued Wednesday, Johnson said he was not, in fact, vowing to repeal the health care law and was instead talking about broader reforms.

The Louisiana Republican also told reporters Friday that Republicans “probably will” try to repeal the semiconductor chip manufacturing package if they control Congress and former President Donald Trump wins the White House — though he later walked back those comments, saying his objection to the measure was related to other programs included in the bill.

Johnson’s comments, Harris told reporters in Milwaukee, are “just further evidence of everything that I’ve actually been talking about for months now about Trump’s intention to implement Project 2025,” referring to the conservative blueprint for the next GOP president. Trump has denied any involvement with Project 2025.

She continued, “We’ve talked repeatedly about their intention to get rid of the Affordable Care Act. Now, to get rid of the CHIPS Act.” Manufacturing, she said, is a “critical issue for many of the states that will make the difference in this election.”

This post has been updated with additional information.

The federal agency tasked with protecting the nation’s elections systems has retreated from some of the key work it did to counter false and viral information about voting in the 2020 election, including dismissing or ignoring multiple internal and external policy proposals to combat disinformation, numerous sources familiar with the matter told CNN.

The Department of Homeland Security’s cybersecurity agency, or CISA, is charged with protecting election infrastructure from physical and cyber attacks, a task that has grown in importance since Russian intelligence agents conducted a wide-ranging effort to influence the 2016 election.

While CISA has actively called out foreign disinformation efforts this year, it has been less active in swatting down domestic election disinformation, according to interviews with election officials, a review of public records and sources in the federal government.

Agency officials no longer pass along to social media platforms viral online falsehoods flagged by election officials from both parties, as they did in 2020, following a lawsuit from Republican attorneys general that accused the agency of censorship.

A webpage that CISA aggressively maintained to debunk viral election rumors in 2020 has been sparsely updated. Some internal proposals to support election officials’ efforts to combat disinformation have made little headway. And one of the agency’s top experts on election-related disinformation has been marginalized and not fully utilized by the agency, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter.

CISA Director Jen Easterly has emphasized in public remarks that it is not the agency’s job to police speech on social media platforms.

Read more on their efforts here.

Former President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally in Warren, Michigan on November 1.

Former President Donald Trump criticized the idea of women voters not telling their husbands who they vote for following a pro-Harris ad telling women they can keep their vote to themselves.

The former president also attacked businessman Mark Cuban’s comments that Trump avoids “strong, intelligent women,” saying: “You know many of the women that I deal with and that I have. And I could go over the list, but the list is long, including the fact that I happen to be married to a rather strong woman.”

Trump repeated the claim that he didn’t know the comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, who made the offensive joke about Puerto Rico at the former president’s Madison Square Garden rally, and said that he hasn’t heard the joke — despite it happening nearly a week ago.

While Trump said he hasn’t heard the joke, he has seized on the aftermath of the comment earlier this week as he wore a bright orange and yellow safety vest before climbing into a garbage truck, with a big “TRUMP” sign emblazoned on the side. The move was in response to a garbled remark by President Joe Biden that seemed to insult Trump voters as “garbage” following the comedian’s joke.

Trump on Saturday also criticized Harris following comments the vice president made Friday that the former president’s violent rhetoric “must be disqualifying” after he said former Rep. Liz Cheney should be fired upon “with nine barrels shooting at her.”

A for sale sign is displayed outside a home in Los Angeles on August 16.

A chronic undersupply of homes has helped catapult prices to near-record highs. During the pandemic, more people wanted to move to bigger spaces, intensifying the issue. That shortage also affects rent prices.

Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump differ in their plans to tackle the issue:

Harris: In August, Harris unveiled a multi-pronged plan to lower housing costs. One provision promises up to $25,000 in down-payment support and a $10,000 tax credit for first-time home buyers.

Harris also proposes partnering with the private sector to build 3 million new housing units. Harris said she would provide a first-ever tax incentive to specifically encourage home builders to build starter homes for first-time buyers.

The plan also includes two main proposals to lower rent costs. Both plans to lower rent would be subject to congressional approval, meaning that the measures may be difficult to pass even if Harris wins the presidency.

Trump: Unlike Harris, Trump has not rolled out a formal housing plan, but he has tied plans to deport undocumented immigrants to housing. Trump has blamed them for driving up the cost of housing and has said he would ban them from getting mortgages.

Both Trump and Harris have promised to repurpose some federal land for affordable housing.

Trump also said falling interest rates would help reduce mortgage rates.

“We’re going to get them back down to, we think, 3%, maybe even lower than that, saving the average home buyer thousands of dollars per year,” he said. However, mortgage rates generally track the 10-year US Treasury yield, which presidents do not directly control.

Read more about the housing affordability problem and explore where both Trump and Harris stand on other issues here.

Former President Donald Trump unhooks the microphone as he speaks at a campaign event on Friday, November 1, in Milwaukee.

Former President Donald Trump became visibly frustrated with his microphone during a rally Friday night in Milwaukee, where he is looking to earn support in the key battleground state of Wisconsin.

After a few supporters in the back of the arena chanted, “Fix the mic!” Trump yanked it out of its stand.

Trump held his microphone in his hand for almost an hour. After about 10 minutes of holding it, he said, “You know, I’ve never held a microphone up so long in my damn life. It’s like I’m weightlifting. This sucker’s heavy.”

Trump went off on a rant about the technical difficulty.

People cast ballots during early voting in Detroit on October 29.

Donald Trump told lie after lie in his speech on election night in 2020. With the former president running again in 2024, here are 12 possible falsehoods to watch out for on this week’s election night — and perhaps the following days, too.

False declarations of victory: As the votes were still being counted on election night in 2020, Trump wrongly declared that he was the winner of various swing states it turned out he lost — and that he was the winner of the election it turned out he lost.

Fact-checker’s tip: Don’t trust any candidate’s own declarations of victory. Instead, wait for major media outlets’ unofficial projections (popularly known as “calls”) of the winner of each state and the election.

False claims that Harris couldn’t possibly have won legitimately: It’s very possible that Trump wins this election. But if Vice President Kamala Harris wins, Trump might well revive his pre-November false claims that the only way Harris could possibly prevail is through cheating.

Fact-checker’s tip: Know that this claim is nonsense. Opinion polls have consistently found that Trump and Harris are locked in a close race. It could be won, fair and square, by either of them.

Read more about potential election night falsehoods here.

President Joe Biden’s gaffe when trying to defend Puerto Ricans this week — when he appeared to refer to former President Donald Trump’s supporters as “trash” — provided an opening for Vice President Kamala Harris, says Jon Favreau, the former Obama administration speechwriter and “Pod Save America” host.

“Is this a problem for Joe Biden? Maybe. But for Kamala Harris — Kamala Harris, you know, gave a speech as Joe Biden was doing that, talking about how she wanted to reach out to people, reach out to Trump supporters,” Favreau told CNN’s Jake Tapper on Friday. “She reiterated that again the next day when she talked to reporters, how important that is, not to denigrate Trump supporters.”

Watch the conversation below:

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Favreau: Biden "garbage" comment an opportunity for Harris

04:30 - Source: CNN

Vice President Kamala Harris waves to the crowd at a campaign rally in Atlanta on October 19.

Election Day is fast approaching, with Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump racing to deliver their closing pitches to voters in key battleground states.

Here’s what we know about each campaign’s plans for Saturday:

Harris: The vice president is set to hold rallies in Atlanta and Charlotte, North Carolina.

Trump: The former president is scheduled to deliver remarks at a rally in Gastonia, North Carolina. He will then rally in Salem, Virginia, and Greensboro, North Carolina.

Vance: Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance will deliver remarks at a campaign rally in Las Vegas before rallying in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Walz: Actor and director Eva Longoria will join Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz at a canvass launch in Las Vegas. Walz will also deliver remarks at a campaign event in Flagstaff, Arizona, and another in Tucson.

Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign will host a livestream Monday night, the eve of the election, that will connect the seven battleground states, a senior campaign official told CNN.

The official, granted anonymity to discuss unannounced campaign activity, said the events, which will be held in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, will feature performances and speeches and will be streamed for people to watch from home.

Specifics on who will be performing and speaking at the events will be announced soon, the campaign said.

The Harris team’s plan for Monday night comes as new state polling shows a close race in “blue wall” states, with a slight tilt toward the vice president in Michigan and Wisconsin and a tie in Pennsylvania, amid a locked race nationwide before Election Day.

Las Vegas Strip-themed "I Voted" stickers are placed on a table where voters turn in mail-in ballots at the Meadows Mall on October 21, 2024, in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump are racing for the White House, but as a voter, there is a lot of information to sift through while you decide how to cast your ballot.

Here are some resources to help you navigate the election:

If you are looking for even more in-depth analysis and coverage of the headlines of this election, here are some other resources to check out:

With just days until Election Day, read up on the 2024 candidates on the Democratic and Republican tickets vying to win the White House.

Vice President Kamala Harris is the Democratic candidate for president. The daughter of immigrants from India and Jamaica, Harris grew up in Oakland and spent much of her political career in California’s Bay Area.

She was first elected as the San Francisco district attorney in 2004, before later serving as the attorney general of California. After that, Harris was elected to the Senate before being picked to be Joe Biden’s running mate in the 2020 election.

She announced her own candidacy for the Democratic nomination for president after Biden withdrew from the ticket and endorsed her on July 21. Harris is the first Black woman and first Asian American to lead the ticket of a major political party.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz is Harris’ running mate. Before being elected to Congress to represent the state’s 1st Congressional District in 2007, Walz was a high school geography teacher and an assistant football coach. He also served in the Army National Guard. Walz has served as Minnesota governor since 2019.

Former President Donald Trump is the Republican candidate for president, aiming to become only the second commander in chief to win two nonconsecutive terms.

Trump, who was born in New York, graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a bachelor’s degree in economics. Before launching his successful 2016 presidential bid, Trump was a real estate developer, businessman and a reality television star as host of “The Apprentice.”

Ohio Sen. JD Vance is Trump’s running mate. Born in Middletown, Ohio, Vance wrote a memoir, “Hillbilly Elegy,” about his upbringing and White, working-class Americans. He also attended Yale Law School, worked as a venture capitalist and served in the US Marine Corps.

Vance was elected to the Senate in 2023, outlasting a stronger-than-expected challenge from Democrat Tim Ryan and keeping the seat under GOP control.

Read about the Democratic, Republican and third-party candidates here.