Harris and Trump make final push in battleground states ahead of 2024 election

See the latest election updates for the 2024 presidential race.

What to know about the 2024 election

  • CBS News' most recent polling analysis still shows an even race between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump in the seven battleground states ahead of Election Day.
  • Harris was in Michigan Sunday after making a surprise appearance on "Saturday Night Live." Her running mate, Gov. Tim Walz, campaigned in Georgia and North Carolina.
  • Trump had campaign stops in Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Georgia on Sunday. His running mate, Sen. JD Vance, stopped in New Hampshire after events in North Carolina and Pennsylvania.
 

Vance holds rally in New Hampshire

Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance held a rally in New Hampshire on Sunday, saying he hoped to flip the state, which President Joe Biden won in 2020.

"I believe that in two days, we're going to turn New Hampshire red and make Donald Trump the next president of the United States," Vance told the crowd at the New England Sports Center.

A recent poll from the University of New Hampshire showed Vice President Kamala Harris with a five-point lead in the Granite State.

 

Trump campaigns in Macon, Georgia

Former President Donald Trump held a campaign event in Macon, Georgia, on Sunday night, where he spent much of his time talking about immigration.

Trump said that Vice President Kamala Harris "is importing illegal alien rapists and murderers," who Trump said were "willing to kill anyone." 

He added that the U.S. is an "occupied country," a common line in his closing arguments over the last few weeks. 

Trump for the second time on Sunday falsely claimed that FEMA disaster relief money went to undocumented migrants instead of to relief efforts following Hurricanes Helene and Milton.

Trump hits three battleground states
By Jacob Rosen
 

Why Montana may decide who controls the Senate

Montana could decide control of Senate
 

Harris again addresses war in Gaza during East Lansing rally

At a campaign rally in East Lansing, Michigan, Vice President Kamala Harris addressed the war in Gaza at the top of her speech.

"We are joined today by leaders of the Arab American community, which has deep and proud roots here in Michigan. And I want to say this year has been difficult, given the scale of death and destruction in Gaza and given the civilian casualties and displacement in Lebanon, it is devastating," Harris said. 

"As president, I will do everything in my power to end the war in Gaza, to bring home the hostages, end the suffering in Gaza, ensure Israel is secure and ensure the Palestinian people can realize their right to dignity, freedom, security and self-determination," she added.

Harris said she would also work to find a "diplomatic resolution across the Israel-Lebanon border to protect civilians and provide lasting stability."

After addressing the war, Harris stuck to her usual stump speech. Her lines on reproductive rights garnered the most applause and cheers from the crowd, which was filled with younger voters.

By Nidia Cavazos
 

Federal judge lets Iowa keep challenging voter rolls although naturalized citizens may be affected

A federal judge ruled Sunday that Iowa can continue challenging the validity of hundreds of ballots from potential noncitizens even though critics said the effort threatens the voting rights of people who've recently become U.S. citizens.

U.S. District Judge Stephen Locher, an appointee of President Joe Biden, sided with the state in a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union in the Iowa capital of Des Moines on behalf of the League of Latin American Citizens of Iowa and four recently naturalized citizens. The four were on the state's list of questionable registrations to be challenged by local elections officials.

The state's attorney general and secretary of state argued that investigating and potentially removing 2,000 names would prevent illegal voting by noncitizens. GOP officials across the U.S. have made possible voting by noncitizen immigrants a key election-year talking point even though it is rare. Their focus has come with former President Donald Trump falsely suggesting that his opponents already are committing fraud to prevent his return to the White House.

In his ruling Sunday, Locher pointed to a U.S. Supreme Court decision four days prior that allowed Virginia to resume a similar purge of its voter registration rolls even though it was impacting some U.S. citizens. He also cited the Supreme Court's recent refusal to review a Pennsylvania Supreme Court decision on state electoral laws surrounding provisional ballots. Those Supreme Court decisions advise lower courts to "act with great caution before awarding last-minute injunctive relief," he wrote.

Locher also said the state's effort does not remove anyone from the voter rolls, but rather requires some voters to use provisional ballots.

By The Associated Press
 

Trump boasts about early voting numbers in North Carolina

Speaking at a campaign event in Kinston, North Carolina, former President Donald Trump touted the early voting numbers, claiming he had a sizeable lead in the battleground state.

"If we let this slip away, we should have our heads examined. I mean, we, you know, we have a big lead. We have a big lead," Trump said.

Trump hits three battleground states
By Jacob Rosen
 

Harris says "level of death of innocent Palestinians is unconscionable"

Vice President Kamala Harris told reporters in Detroit on Sunday that she is "honored to have the support of many Arab American leaders who represent the interests and the concerns also of the Arab American community. But I also know well enough to know it is not a monolith."

Addressing the ongoing war in Gaza, Harris said, "The level of death of innocent Palestinians is unconscionable. We need to end the war, and we need to get the hostages out."

By Nick Lentz
 

Vance pulls out cash prop at North Carolina rally, says cost of living will be "way too high" under Harris

Sen. JD Vance kept his remarks brief at his last North Carolina rally before Election Day, but the Republican vice presidential nominee rolled out a new prop: a stack of money.

Vance took a stack of cash – he said it was $5,000 – out of his suit jacket pocket to underscore how much money, he believes, Americans would lose every year under a Harris-Walz administration.

"This is five months of Kamala Harris' inflation. Every North Carolina family is paying this in additional grocery prices and additional rent prices and additional housing prices," he said. "And ask yourselves, how much bigger is this stack going to be with 48 months of Kamala Harris' leadership? The answer is, it's going to be way too high."

US Senator and Republican vice presidential candidate J.D. Vance holds up money while speaking during a campaign rally in Sanford, North Carolina, on November 3, 2024. GRANT BALDWIN/AFP via Getty Images

He noted that he believed the $5,000 would be how much Americans would save if former President Donald Trump were re-elected.

"You got to ask yourselves every five months, do you want Kamala Harris reaching in your wallet and taking this out, or do you want a president of the United States who is going to give you more of your hard-earned money back and make it easier for you and your families to prosper? That's what's at stake for North Carolina," he said."

At one point, a rallygoer asked if he could have the cash Vance flashed and the Ohio senator joked that Republicans don't pay people to vote.

His remark comes after a Pennsylvania state judge declined to block Trump supporter Elon Musk's $1 million-a-day giveaway for battleground state voters.

By Taurean Small
 

Harris stops at Michigan restaurant, barbershop to greet customers

Vice President Kamala Harris stopped at Kuzzo's Chicken & Waffles in Detroit, Michigan, on Sunday to greet customers.

The restaurant is owned by former Detroit Lions player Ron Bartell. She mingled with customers, took photos and picked up lunch, according to reporters traveling with the vice president.

US Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris speaks to diners at Kuzzo's Chicken & Waffles restaurant in Detroit, Michigan, on November 3, 2024. ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AFP via Getty Images

Harris is spending the day in Michigan, a critical battleground state, where she attended a service at Greater Emmanuel church. She also stopped at Elam's Barber Shop, a Black-owned business in Pontiac, Michigan.

US Vice President and Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris speaks during a stop at Elam's Barber Shop in Pontiac, Michigan, on November 3, 2024. ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AFP via Getty Images
By Lucia Suarez Sang
 

Trump says RFK Jr.'s proposal to remove fluoride from drinking water "sounds OK" to him

Former President Donald Trump said Sunday that Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s suggestion he would push to remove fluoride from drinking water should he win reelection "sounds OK" to him. The former president was responding to an interview question from NBC News' Dasha Burns, who asked his position on the proposal Kennedy shared recently on social media.

"Well, I haven't talked to him about it yet, but it sounds OK to me. You know, it's possible," Trump said.

Kennedy, previously an independent candidate for president, now endorses Trump and has become a prominent supporter of his current campaign. While Trump has said in public appearances that Kennedy would take on some kind of health-focused role in his second administration if he won, Kennedy has also faced huge criticism before for pedaling false claims and conspiracy theories about various topics related to public health. 

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., speaks before Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump at a campaign event Friday, Nov. 1, 2024, in Milwaukee. Morry Gash / AP

On Saturday, Kennedy wrote in a post on X that a future Trump administration would "advise all U.S. water systems to remove fluoride from public water" on the day of the next inauguration. He proceeded to share false or unproven claims about health risks linked to water fluoridation, adding that Trump and former first lady Melania Trump "want to Make America Healthy Again."

Danielle Alvarez, a senior adviser on the Trump campaign, addressed the fluoride issue in a statement obtained by CBS News.

"While President Trump has received a variety of policy ideas, he is focused on Tuesday's election," the statement said.

By Emily Mae Czachor
 

Harris cast her ballot via mail, won't say how she voted on California measure

Vice President Kamala Harris confirmed she voted in the 2024 election via mail, though declined to say how she voted on a key ballot measure in her home state of California.

Harris, speaking to reporters while campaigning in the battleground state of Michigan, confirmed her mail-in ballot was on its way to her home state.

"I'm going to trust the system that it will arrive there," she said.

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris speaks to reporters after delivering remarks at a church service at Greater Emmanuel Institutional Church of God in Christ, Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024, in Detroit. Jacquelyn Martin / AP

In California, mail-in ballots must be postmarked on or before Election Day. County elections offices must receive the ballot no later than Nov. 12.

As for the ballot initiative that would reverse criminal justice reforms approved in recent years, Harris punted on the question.

"I am not going to talk about the vote on that because, honestly, it's the Sunday before the election, and I don't intend to create an endorsement one way or another around it," she said.

The initiative, if passed, would make the crime of shoplifting a felony for repeat offenders and increase penalties for some drug charges, including those involving the synthetic opioid fentanyl. It also would give judges the authority to order people with multiple drug charges to get treatment.

By Aaron Navarro
 

Trump says he "shouldn't have left," touting policy in his first term

Former President Donald Trump Trump said at a rally in Pennsylvania on Sunday that he "shouldn't have left," celebrating his first term and suggesting that it shouldn't have come to an end.  

"We did a great job. We had the best economy ever. We had the wall," Trump said. "We had everything."

The former president touted an assessment of his border policy, saying the country had "the safest border in the history of our country on the day that I left."

"I shouldn't have left," he continued. "I mean, honestly, because we did so we did so well."

By Kaia Hubbard
 

Oprah Winfrey, Lady Gaga and The Roots among guests set to appear at Harris' Pennsylvania rallies Monday

A roster of celebrities will join Vice President Kamala Harris at rallies in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia on Monday night, for the Harris-Walz campaign's final set of "Get Out The Vote" events on the eve of Election Day.

The guest lineup in Philadelphia includes Oprah Winfrey, The Roots, Lady Gaga, Ricky Martin, Jazmine Sullivan, Adam Blackstone, DJ Jazzy Jeff, Freeway and Just Blaze, DJ Cassidy and Fat Joe. Each will either perform or give remarks at the rally, according to the campaign.

Andra Day, Katy Perry and D-Nice will perform at the rally in Pittsburgh.

"These artists and public figures are trusted voices for millions of Americans … the Harris-Walz campaign believes that by using their voices to lay out the stakes of this election, it will further encourage and mobilize people to go vote," the campaign said in a statement.

By Emily Mae Czachor
 

Trump says "we're going to start having a little fun with" Michelle Obama

Former President Donald Trump touted his first term at a rally in Pennsylvania on Sunday, saying he's been called the "greatest president," while criticizing his predecessor, former President Barack Obama — and former first lady Michelle.

The former president said he "took over the mess" from Obama when he came into office, calling him a "big divider," before zeroing in on the former first lady.

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump waves as he finishes speaking at a campaign rally in Lititz, Pa., Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024. Matt Rourke / AP

"I've always treated his wife with great respect, but she came at me the other day," Trump said. "That's not nice of her to do. And I think we're going to start having a little fun with Michelle. I think we're going to have a little fun with Michelle, but I always treated her with a lot of respect."

The former first lady has campaigned for Vice President Kamala Harris in recent days, where she's warned voters about a second Trump term. 

By Kaia Hubbard
 

Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto "very confident" Democrats will "organize our way to victory" in battleground Nevada

Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto "very confident" Dems will "organize our way to victory" in Nevada

Two days before Election Day, Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, a Nevada Democrat, said she's "very confident" Democrats will win in her battleground state. 

"I am optimistic that we are going to win, not only for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz, but for Jacky Rosen in this state," she said on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan."

Around half of Nevada's active registered voters have cast ballots, with Republicans leading statewide, spurring anxiety among Democrats heading into Election Day. Nevada is also the only state where Republicans flipped the governor's mansion in 2022, although Cortez Masto hung onto her seat by less than 8,000 votes in that same election. But Cortez Masto said she's "optimistic" about Harris' chances in the Silver State, citing what she has seen as an impressive ground game and canvassing efforts from Democrats.

"That's literally what matters here, is making sure that our voters, who are paying attention now in a swing state like Nevada, that somebody is talking to them," Cortez Masto said. "Now is the time for us to connect with our voters and talk to them about the issues that they care about."

Click here to read more or watch the full interview on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan" above.

By Kaia Hubbard
 

Walz meets with HBCU students in Georgia

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz met with HBCU students from Spelman and Morehouse colleges on Sunday morning during a campaign stop in Atlanta, Georgia.

Walz asked the students how they were feeling, and while most of them expressed confidence, a young man from Morehouse said: "You want me to be honest with you? Scared."

Walz, in response, said: "Well, you know what I hear? Somebody told me, look nauseously optimistic. Look it is okay before any big thing in life, you always feel like, you always feel nervous. This is a big thing. But the biggest thing I've been telling everybody to get over that is going to action. You got, made an action to come out here today, all voted, getting people to vote."

He said the election in Georgia is going to be "razor thin," but that he was optimistic.

"Look, it is such a privilege. I've done this, been on Earth for 60 years," Walz said. "The idea that Wednesday morning we could wake up with Madam President more ready than almost anybody."

Walz will be joined by second gentleman Douglas Emhoff, Rep. Lucy McBath and Vice President Kamala Harris' sister, Maya Harris, for a "Get Out and Vote" rally. It will include performances from Jon Bon Jovi, The War and Treaty and Michael Stripe. Walz will then travel to Charlotte, North Carolina as part of the campaign's final push ahead of Tuesday's election.

By Lucia Suarez Sang
 

These states have abortion laws on the ballot for the 2024 election

The 2024 election will not only decide who succeeds President Biden in the White House, but in 10 states, voters will also have the chance to weigh in on abortion access through ballot measures.

In the wake of the Supreme Court's 2022 decision overturning Roe v. Wade, which had established the right to an abortion in the U.S. Constitution, abortion rights groups have turned to ballot initiatives to put the issue of reproductive rights squarely before voters.

Proponents have already seen successes with this approach in 2022 and 2023, when there were abortion-related initiatives on the ballot in seven states.

If the latest ballot measures are successful in expanding abortion access, they would override stringent bans on the procedure in five states. Roughly two dozen states have enacted abortion restrictions after Roe was reversed, and 14 of those states have near-total bans with limited exceptions.

Click here to read the full report.

CBS News' Kaia Hubbard contributed to this report.

By Melissa Quinn
 

Trump says "I don't mind that" if somebody shot through "fake news" media area

At a rally in Lititz, Pennsylvania on Sunday, former President Donald Trump said he wouldn't mind if someone tried to shoot through the media riser to assassinate him while he was complaining that the bulletproof glass positioned around him was "ridiculous."

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally in Lititz, Pa., Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024. Matt Rourke / AP

"I have a piece of glass over here, and I don't have a piece of glass there. And I have this piece at last here, but all we have really over here is the fake news," Trump said, pointing to the glass positioned between him and the head-on riser. "And to get me somebody would have to shoot through the fake news. And I don't mind that so much. I don't mind that."

Trump is in Pennsylvania on Sunday as part of his final push for voters ahead of Tuesday's election. He is traveling to North Carolina and Georgia as well.

CBS News' Olivia Rinaldi contributed to this report.

By Jacob Rosen
 

Election 2024 polling models and map show state-by-state breakdown for high-stakes race

Here are CBS News' latest estimates of Kamala Harris and Donald Trump's support in the most competitive states in the country leading up to 2024 presidential election. This is where races stand today — the numbers are updated regularly.

We take a state-by-state approach, because the presidency is determined in the Electoral College, not by national popular vote. We produce estimates of current support using a statistical model that incorporates all the data we've collected up to this point.

Read the full report here.

By Kabir Khanna
 

At stake on Election Day: The reality of the presidency

At stake on Election Day: The reality of the presidency

Presidential campaigns can get abstract, petty and diversionary. But the reality of the presidency hits the instant a president takes the oath.

In 2009, as President Barack Obama gave his first inaugural address, he carried a secret in his jacket pocket. A terrorist threat loomed over the ceremony; if the attack took place, he was prepared to pull out evacuation instructions and read them to the nearly half-million standing before him on the National Mall.

For voters who have not yet cast their vote, here's what the president you pick will face:

The next commander-in-chief will control thousands of nuclear warheads, and command troops in more than 150 countries. They will confront Russia and China — adversaries working in tandem to dismantle the international order created and nurtured by America. 

Read more here and watch the full report above.

By John Dickerson
 

How infrequent voters, GOP defectors could tip battlegrounds for Trump or Harris

With such a close presidential race estimated in the battleground races, a host of factors could tip the 2024 election. We focus on two that have the potential to cause the key states to break toward Kamala Harris or Donald Trump. The first has to do with infrequent voters, and the second depends on how successful the Harris campaign is at peeling off Trump's previous supporters.

In order to see how these scenarios could play out, we tweak specific parameters in our Battleground Tracker model that is trained on tens of thousands of survey responses collected during the campaign. The resultant estimates below illustrate a range of possibilities to be on the lookout for this week…

Scenario 1: Infrequent voters show up big, driven by Trump-leaning men

The swingiest segment of the electorate — and most challenging to estimate in polling — consists of infrequent voters. We define them here as registered voters who didn't cast a ballot four years ago.

Scenario 2: Harris peels off more Trump '20 voters, driven by GOP women

The 2024 race is marked by a sizable gender gap, with the Harris campaign emphasizing reproductive rights and the state of U.S. democracy. Related to this, the Harris campaign has been deploying messengers like former Wyoming GOP Rep. Liz Cheney to persuade moderate Republicans to back Harris this year. That includes the millions of GOP primary voters who cast votes for Nikki Haley, even after Trump had clinched the party nomination. Most of these voters backed Trump in the 2020 general election.

Read the full report here.

By Kabir Khanna
 

What Colonial Williamsburg may teach us about politics today

What Colonial Williamsburg may teach us about politics today

Colonial Williamsburg, capital of the British colony of Virginia, has been preserved as a sprawling museum. Its mission: that "the future may learn from the past."

The crown jewels of Williamsburg, Virginia, are the interpreters, interacting with audiences of our day, but in the context of the world as they would have known it in their time.

By way of example, Thomas Jefferson welcomes visitors: "Good day, friends. How are you faring? You have no complaints? You must not be Virginians! If not from Virginia, where from? Pennsylvania, land of religious anarchy? Welcome! The Ohio Territories? From terra incognito. Welcome to civilization! Upper Canada? Bonjour! Are you immigrating here? Oh, you should. We are trying to encourage immigrants to immigrate here."

Indeed, immigration was highly controversial in Jefferson's time, but from a radically different perspective than ours. I raised the issue with Kurt Smith (who personifies Thomas Jefferson), and Katherine Pittman (a very feisty Martha Washington).

"It was there in 1776," said Smith, "in the Declaration of Independence. You know that middle bit that everyone skips? In the 27 long train of abuses, Jefferson says, 'He [the king] has prevented immigration.' It is one of the reasons we declare independence."

Pittman asked, "And how can we improve if we never welcome anything new?"

"We're not talking about 'never' welcoming anything new," Koppel said. "We need to know who's coming. We need to know whether they are people of good character. Isn't that what the argument is about?"

"It's the argument in your time," Pittman said. "We can just speak to our time."

Read more here and watch the full report above.

 

What John Deaton said about challenging Sen. Elizabeth Warren in Massachusetts

What John Deaton said about challenging Sen. Elizabeth Warren in Massachusetts

Republican John Deaton faces off against incumbent Democrat Elizabeth Warren on Election Day. 

 

Harrison Ford endorses Harris, saying the nation needs a president who "works for all of us again"

Actor Harrison Ford endorses Harris in a series of videos released on Saturday in partnership with the Harris campaign, noting that with the endorsement, he's "doing something I never thought I'd do: Telling people I've never met who I'm voting for, and why I think they might do the same."

"This election I'm casting my ballot for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz," Ford said, noting that he doesn't agree with all of their policies or believe they're perfect candidates. "But these two people believe in the rule of law, they believe in science, they believe that when you govern, you do so for all Americans."

Ford added, "these are people I can get behind," urging that the nation needs a president "who works for all of us again."

The "Indiana Jones" star said he's been voting for 64 years and "never really wanted to talk about it very much." But he said when former members of the Trump administration speak out against the former president and his ability to lead, "you have to pay attention."

Ford contrasted the two candidates, saying Trump will demand "unquestioning loyalty."

"Kamala Harris will protect your right to disagree with her about policies and ideas," Ford said. "And then, as we have done for centuries, we'll debate them, we'll work on them together. And we'll move forward."

By Kaia Hubbard
 

Stagecraft and the power of political photographs

Stagecraft and the power of political photographs

With the invention of photography came a new way to view, mythologize and remember the nation's presidents. CBS News chief election & campaign correspondent Robert Costa talks with Washington Post critic Philip Kennicott about how photographs capture the power of the presidency, the combativeness of campaigns, and the heavy burdens of the highest office.

 

The evolving "Wild West" of political advertising

The evolving "Wild West" of political advertising

We've all seen a lot of political ads lately. But in battleground states, it's a tsunami. Jack Levis is an independent voter in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, which makes him one of the most desirable voters on the planet: "Emails, texts, phone calls, it's in my news feed, it's in social media. In the last two days, I counted, I had 30 spam emails in there all about the election," he said. "It's unbelievable."

Not to mention TV and radio commercials. "Come on, it's everywhere!" he laughed. "Are you kidding me? Ad after ad after ad!"

Erica Franklin Fowler, co-director of the Wesleyan Media Project, which tracks campaign advertising, and co-author of "Political Advertising in the United States," says she actually enjoys watching political ads. But, she adds, "I will first apologize to all of the residents of battleground states, because I feel their pain."

Asked if political ads actually convince anybody, Fowler said, "Political advertising does not have the sort of massive influence that sometimes citizens think that it does. Political advertising really only matters at the margin. That doesn't mean the margin doesn't matter, right? The margin in this competitive election cycle is going to be the difference between making it into the White House and not."

And what about negative versus positive messages? "There's no doubt that negativity is more memorable," she said. "It is more emotion-provoking."

We may hate those attack ads, but Fowler says the positive ones don't say much. "Citizens hate negativity," Fowler said. "Negative ads tend to be more policy-based, more issue-focused, and those details actually are very important for citizens who don't otherwise pay a lot of attention to politics."

It used to be that we all saw the same ads. In 1964, Lyndon Johnson's "Daisy" commercial implied that his opponent, Barry Goldwater, would launch a nuclear war; and in 1988, George W. Bush's infamous "Willie Horton" ad made his opponent, Michael Dukakis, look dangerously soft on crime.

Read more here and watch the full report in the player above. 

By David Pogue
 

Trump responds to Iowa poll showing Harris leading in the state

Trump responded to a poll released on Saturday that surprised the political sphere, which showed Harris leading 47% to 44% among likely voters in red Iowa. The former president downplayed the Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa poll, saying all polls "except for one heavily skewed toward the Democrats by a Trump hater" have him leading in the Hawkeye State. 

"No President has done more for FARMERS, and the Great State of Iowa, than Donald J. Trump. In fact, it's not even close!" Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social. 

The Trump campaign called the poll an "outlier" in a memo on Saturday. 

Trump won Iowa by 9 points in 2016 and 8 points in 2020. 

By Kaia Hubbard
 

More than 75 million Americans have voted early

More than 75 million Americans have already voted, according to early voting statistics from the University of Florida's Election Lab, with nearly 41 million in-person early votes cast, and 34 million mail ballots returned across the country.

Across the battleground states, millions of voters have cast their ballots, including more than 4 million in Georgia and in North Carolina, and more than 2 million in Arizona and Michigan. 

Data from the 26 states that report party affiliation shows that more registered Republicans than Democrats have submitted ballots early in-person, whereas more Democrats have returned their ballots by mail than Republicans. 

By Kaia Hubbard
 

Trump rallies in Greensboro, North Carolina as campaign nears close

Trump campaigned in Greensboro, North Carolina Saturday night as the race winds down, reflecting on the campaign trail's close with a handful of rallies remaining. 

"I have three big ones tomorrow, and then I have four big ones on Monday, and then we shut it down, never to happen again," Trump said, calling it "sad." 

Trump added, "but here's the good part, hopefully we will have achieved our goal."

The former president argued the election is "not so close," claiming that "we're leading in all seven swing states." And he claimed that he had found out before taking the stage that he was winning in New Jersey. 

Of North Carolina, Trump said "You know, when you're winning by a lot, you can still lose by a little, and we can't take a chance of losing the great state of North Carolina. We're not going to lose the great state." 

Although the Greensboro rally was held the Saturday night before Election Day, parts of the 22,000-person capacity arena were empty with the upper sections of the arena blocked off with black sheets and the back near the press riser empty.

At one point, an audience member responded to Trump's allegations that Harris never worked at McDonald's by shouting "she worked on the corner!" Trump appeared to acknowledge the comment by saying "this place is amazing. Just remember it's other people saying it's not me." 

Trump said he plans to vote in Florida on Election Day. 

By Olivia Rinaldi
 

FCC commissioner: Harris SNL appearance violated FCC rule

Brandon Carr, the Federal Communications Commission chair, posted on social media on Sunday morning that Harris' "Saturday Night Live" appearance violated the Equal Time Rule, unless NBC made the same overture to the Trump campaign.

Carr said in a follow-up post that the FCC under the Obama administration made clear that the agency would enforce the rule when then-candidate Trump hosted an episode of SNL in 2015. According to Carr, at that time, NBC stations publicly filed Equal Opportunity notices to ensure that all other qualifying candidates could obtain Equal Time if they sought it. The stations did the same thing when then-candidate Hillary Clinton appeared on SNL in Oct. 2016.

"With only days before the election, NBC appears to have structured this appearance in a way that evades these requirements," Carr wrote on social media. "What comparable time and placement can they offer all other qualifying candidates?"

Carr is one of several FCC commissioners, and it's unclear what action would be taken after the appearance. 

By Caroline Linton
 

People in recovery from substance use hope to change the political landscape by running for office

Thomas Higdon was a politics fanatic his entire life: He kept up on the news cycle, he door-knocked for candidates, and he volunteered for a number of campaigns. 

He long dreamed of working in government, but he and everyone around him felt it wouldn't be possible because of his substance use. His use of alcohol and other drugs began causing problems when he was in law school in the mid-1990s, and in 2014, the consequences of his substance use left him living under an overpass. He is now abstinent from the drugs, but even years later, he felt he had ruined his chances of running for office. 

"I allowed this internalized stigma, over decades, to blind me to what I could really do," Higdon, now 52, told CBS News. 

That thought stayed with him for years. He moved into grassroots organizing and advocacy spaces, but in 2023, he learned about the Recovery Advocacy Project's upcoming "Run for Recovery" program — and realized that working in public office might still be possible. 

Read more here. 

By Kerry Breen
 

Harris makes surprise appearance on "Saturday Night Live"

Vice President Kamala Harris made a surprise appearance on "Saturday Night Live" in the final days before the election, playing herself as the mirror-image double of Maya Rudolph's version of her.

The first lines the candidate spoke as she sat across from Rudolph was drowned out by cheers from the audience.

"It is nice to see you Kamala," Harris told Rudolph. "And I'm just here to remind you, you got this."

In sync, the two said supporters need to "Keep Kamala and carry-on-ala," declared that they share each other's "belief in the promise of America," and delivered the signature "Live from New York it's Saturday night!"

Vice President Kamala Harris and actress Maya Rudolph participate in "Saturday Night Live" at NBC studios in New York City on Nov. 2, 2024. CHARLY TRIBALLEAU/AFP via Getty Images

Harris arrived in New York on Air Force Two after an early evening campaign stop Saturday on in Charlotte, North Carolina. She was scheduled to head to Detroit, but once in the air, aides said she'd be making an unscheduled stop and the plane landed at LaGuardia Airport.  

Read more here. 

By The Associated Press
 

Iowa poll finds Harris leading Trump in the Hawkeye State

A poll released Saturday took the political world by surprise when it showed Vice President Kamala Harris leading former President Donald Trump in Iowa.

The Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll found Harris leading Trump 47% to 44% among likely voters, this after the same poll conducted in September showed Trump holding a four-point lead. The new poll had a margin of error of 3.4%.

In 2020, Trump easily carried Iowa, defeating President Biden there by a margin of 53% to 45%. The state has six electoral votes.

The last Democrat to carry Iowa was former President Barack Obama in 2012. And this cycle, it has not been considered to be among the battleground states.  

In a memo, the Trump campaign called the poll "a clear outlier." It noted a survey from Emerson College Polling/RealClearDefense, also released Saturday, which showed Trump leading Harris in Iowa by 10 points, 53% to 43% among likely voters.  

Emerson's poll "far more closely reflects the state of the actual Iowa electorate and does so with far more transparency in their methodology," the Trump campaign said. 

By Faris Tanyos
 

Trump to hold rallies daily in North Carolina until Election Day

Former President Donald Trump will rally supporters in North Carolina every day until Tuesday's election, a flurry of late activity in the only swing state that he won in both his 2016 and 2020 campaigns.

Even as Trump looks to expand the electoral map and project strength with trips to New Mexico and Virginia, two Democratic states not widely viewed as competitive, he is putting considerable time into North Carolina, which last backed a Democrat for president in 2008.

The former president's path to the 270 electoral votes needed to capture the presidency gets significantly more complicated if he loses North Carolina. The fast-growing Southern state gave Trump his smallest margin of victory — 1.3 percentage points — over President Biden four years ago.

Trump campaigned in Gastonia, west of Charlotte, and Greensboro on Saturday, with a stop in Salem, Virginia, in between. He will be in the eastern city of Kinston on Sunday and in Raleigh on Monday. Those four rallies will bring his total events in North Carolina since Oct. 1 to nine. His running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, has been in the state six times during the same period, most recently on Friday.

By The Associated Press
 

Kamala Harris appears on "Saturday Night Live"

Vice President Kamala Harris had a surprise cameo on "Saturday Night Live" tonight in the cold open. 

She appears in a skit with actor and former "SNL" cast member Maya Rudolph, who has been portraying Harris on the show over the past few seasons, and makes a joke about Trump's momentary difficulty in opening the door of a garbage truck earlier this week.

Harris rallied in Charlotte, North Carolina, early Saturday evening, and was initially slated to fly aboard Air Force Two to Detroit, Michigan. However, her reporter pool was instead informed that her plane was making an unscheduled stop at LaGuardia Airport in New York City instead. 

Saturday's show, the last before Election Day, is being hosted by comedian John Mulaney, with musical guest Chappell Roan.

Harris' opponent, former President Donald Trump, hosted an episode of "SNL" in November 2015, before he secured his first Republican nomination. 

Then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also made a cameo in October of 2015, before she clinched the Democratic nomination. 

Nancy Cordes contributed reporting. 

By Faris Tanyos
 

Election-related stress taking its toll on U.S. voters

Two years of non-stop campaigning will come to an end Tuesday, an exhausting election cycle that has included two assassination attempts and a last-minute campaign switch.

The nail-biting election has super-charged stress, leaving many voters on edge.

"I think, like everybody else, there's a lot of nervousness and angst," California voter Kay Hanley told CBS News.

According to the American Psychological Association poll last month, 69% of American voters rate the election as a significant source of stress.  

And CBS News polling has shown an erosion of belief in our nation's institutions.

"Democrats and Republicans tell us that they feel that democracy is under threat," said Anthony Salvanto, director of elections and surveys for CBS News. "So, all of that, at the very least, puts high stakes into this election."

To lower stress, experts including self-help author Jon Gordon, recommend exercising and limiting time on social media.

"Use it to get information and not validation, don't tie your identity or your own mental health to what you're watching," Gordon said.

Another tip is avoid talking politics, but instead make your voice heard at the ballot box.

"If you don't vote, you shouldn't really have much of a say," Minnesota voter Tess Olsen said. "So this is your opportunity to get out and cast what you believe in and what you stand for."

By Elise Preston
 

Gallego, Lake target undecided Latino voters in closely-watched Arizona Senate race

Democrats hold a slim 51-49 majority in the Senate, and there are 34 seats up for grabs Tuesday, with a key in Arizona, where Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego is facing off against Republican challenger Kari Lake.

Latinos make up about a quarter of eligible voters in the Grand Canyon State, a demographic both candidates are targeting.

"They largely feel left out of politics," Gallego told CBS News. "And we're talking to them about bringing politics back to them."

Gallego, Lake target undecided voters in final days of Arizona Senate race

Polls have shown Gallego, a Marine veteran, consistently leading Lake, a former local television anchor, in the closely-watched race, despite polls also showing former President Donald Trump holding a narrow lead over Vice President Kamala Harris in the state.  

"So a lot of these Republicans are crossing over support because they've known me, they work for me, and they just don't like the extremism of Kari Lake," Gallego said. "There is also the fact that I am a Latino Marine."

Gallego believes that Harris can help her case in Arizona by continuing to emphasize "her economic plan" and by talking about the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection.

"Latino men are very patriotic," Gallego said. "They understand what happened on Jan. 6."

Lake, a MAGA firebrand, has focused her campaign on voter angst over inflation and immigration.

"We are at ground zero for the border crisis with an open border. Frankly, the economy, it's made the cost of living just really unaffordable here in Arizona, and we also are seeing crime increase on our streets," Lake told reporters this week.

Lake got help Saturday from Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, Trump's running mate, as the two held a rally in Scottsdale.

Harris' running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, also lobbied voters in Tucson Saturday, as the Harris campaign has rushed supply boxes to volunteers statewide hoping to knock on close to 200,000 doors before election day in an effort to close the gap.

By Kris Van Cleave
 

Georgia judge rejects GOP suit seeking to block acceptance of hand-returned mail ballots

A Georgia judge on Saturday rejected a Republican lawsuit trying to block counties from opening election offices on Saturday and Sunday to let voters hand in their mail ballots in person.

The lawsuit only named Fulton County, a Democratic stronghold that includes most of the city of Atlanta and is home to 11% of the state's voters. But at least five other populous counties that tend to vote for Democrats also announced election offices would open over the weekend to allow hand return of absentee ballots.

The lawsuit was filed late Friday and cited a section of Georgia law that says ballot drop boxes cannot be open past the end of advance voting, which ended Friday. But state law says voters can deliver their absentee ballots in person to county election offices until the close of polls at 7 p.m. on Election Day. 

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Kevin Farmer, in an online hearing, repeatedly rejected lawyer Alex Kaufman's arguments before orally ruling against him.

"I find that it is not a violation of those two code sections for a voter to hand-return their absentee ballots," Farmer said.

Fulton County spokesperson Jessica Corbitt-Dominguez said that as of just before 5 p.m. Eastern Time Saturday, 105 ballots had been received at the four locations.  

Read more here

By The Associated Press
 

JD Vance and Donald Trump Jr. slam media, illegal immigration at Arizona campaign rally

Sen. JD Vance of Ohio and Donald Trump Jr. slammed the media and illegal immigration at their last event of the day at an Arizona campaign rally. 

The rally was at an ammunition manufacturer in Scottsdale, where the son of the former president spoke before Vance, Trump's running mate. During his speech, Trump Jr. went on a tear against the media — riling up the crowd to have a deeper disdain for the press and calling it "full-on propaganda."

"Whatever disdain you have for the media, it is not enough," said Trump Jr.

His father sued CBS News on Thursday, alleging the network's editing of a recent "60 Minutes" interview with Vice President Kamala Harris was "deceitful." The network called Trump's claims "completely without merit." Trump has previously filed several lawsuits against media organizations.

Vance focused on the October jobs report before pivoting to illegal immigration, alleging that there are thousands of illegal immigrants in the state because Vice President Kamala Harris "refuses to do her job."

Illegal crossings at the southern border dropped earlier this year and plunged even further after President Biden sharply limited asylum in early June. Migrant crossings have plateaued since then but remained at a low level.   

Reporting contributed by Taurean Small

By Cara Tabachnick
 

2 more Russian disinformation videos targeting U.S. election are circulating online, sources say

U.S. officials believe another two fake videos circulating online and publicly identified by the FBI as an attempt to push false election security claims are likely part of a Russia-backed malign influence campaign ahead of Tuesday's presidential election, two sources familiar with the process told CBS News. 

The news comes after the FBI said in a statement Saturday that the videos "are not authentic, are not from the FBI, and the content they depict is false."

The agency said that one of the videos falsely claims "the FBI has apprehended three linked groups committing ballot fraud, and the second relates to first gentleman Doug Emhoff."

In its statement, the FBI did not say who was behind the videos, and when reached by CBS News, declined to comment further.

Saturday's disclosure brings to four the number of fake videos produced and distributed by Russia to mislead the American electorate that have been publicly identified in recent days by the U.S. government.  

Read more here

By Margaret Brennan and Robert Legare

 

First Lady Jill Biden plans to campaign in North Carolina

First Lady Jill Biden plans to travel to North Carolina on Monday where she will attend political events, the White House said on Saturday. According to a preliminary schedule released by her team, the first lady will arrive Monday morning in Greensboro, North Carolina. 

From there she will travel to different political events in Winston-Salem, Carrboro, and Chapel Hill.

US First Lady Jill Biden waves as she exits the plane upon her arrival at the Hosea Kutako International Airport in Windhoek on February 22, 2023.  TARA METTE/AFP via Getty Images

North Carolina has emerged as a top battleground state in the 2024 presidential election. Both candidates had campaign events in the state on Saturday and Kamala Harris' plane was parked by Donald Trump's plane at the Charlotte Douglas International Airport. 

President Biden also headed to North Carolina on Saturday afternoon with his granddaughter Natalie.

By Cara Tabachnick
 

Harris, Trump planes in tarmac standoffs in Wisconsin, North Carolina in final push in battleground states

C Democratic presidential nominee, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, arrives at Charlotte Douglas International Airport next to the airplane of Republican presidential nominee, former President Donald Trump. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

In a sign that both campaigns are targeting voters in battleground states as Tuesday's election nears, the airplanes carrying the presidential and vice presidential candidates have been forced to share the tarmac.

Air Force Two — which Vice President Kamala Harris uses for travel — was parked near the plane used by former President Donald Trump at the Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport overnight into Saturday. The candidates had spent the night at hotels just three blocks apart after dueling rallies on Friday night.

On Saturday, both planes were again parked near each other at Charlotte Douglas International Airport as both Harris and Trump held campaign events in North Carolina. 

A CBS News reporter at the airport said both planes were about half a football field apart.

Meanwhile, the planes used by Sen. JD Vance of Ohio and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz were both parked near each other for the second day in a row.

On Friday, their planes shared the tarmac at Detroit's Wayne County Airport. It was the same sight at Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas on Saturday.

CBS News' Olivia Rinaldi and Shawna Mizelle contributed to this report.

By Lucia Suarez Sang
 

FBI says fake videos related to election "undermines our democratic process"

The FBI released a statement on Saturday warning that two videos circulating online were falsely claimed to have come from the federal law enforcement agency. 

Both videos focus on election security; the first video states the FBI apprehended "three linked groups committing ballot fraud." The other, they said, had to do with Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff, though they did not elaborate on the subject matter.

"These videos are not authentic, are not from the FBI, and the content they depict is false," the FBI said in a statement.

"Election integrity is among our highest priorities, and the FBI is working closely with state and local law enforcement partners to respond to election threats and protect our communities as Americans exercise their right to vote," the FBI said in their statement. "Attempts to deceive the public with false content about FBI operations undermines our democratic process and aims to erode trust in the electoral system."

Reporting contributed by Robert Legare.

By Lucia Suarez Sang
 

Walz knocks on doors in Nevada

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz went door-knocking in Nevada on Saturday as part of a final push to motivate voters ahead of Tuesday's election.

Walz, Kamala Harris' running mate, was joined by Nevada Rep. Dina Titus and a local field organizer as they knocked on doors in the Meridiana neighborhood in Henderson.

At one home, Walz spoke with a couple and acknowledged the race will be close in Nevada and conceded "We won't get all of them." He encouraged them to get their friends to vote.

Just before, Walz stopped by a local Democratic field office to kick off a Las Vegas "Get out The Vote" canvass launch. He was joined by actresses Eva Longoria, Jordana Brewster and Gina Torres to speak to volunteers and local campaign organizers gathered at the office.

"You chose to come here because you love America and you know that all the privileges that come to this with this country," Walz said during his remarks. "There is responsibility and generation who has come before us [that] protected this democracy in times of peril. And I think we all know we're in one of those moments."

Walz next heads to Arizona for a campaign stop.

CBS News' Shawna Mizelle contributed to this report.

By Lucia Suarez Sang
 

Trump courts voters in North Carolina, a state he won twice

Former President Donald Trump is rallying his supporters in North Carolina every day until Election Day on Tuesday, in a flurry of late activity in a state he won both in 2016 and 2020.

The last time North Carolina backed a Democrat for president was in 2008, when former President Barack Obama won.

"We stand on the verge of the four greatest years in American history," Trump said in remarks released by his campaign before his first event, in Gastonia on Saturday.

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally in Gastonia, N.C., Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024. Chris Carlson / AP

Trump will also campaign in Salem, Virginia, on Saturday before returning to North Carolina for an event in Greensboro. He will be in the eastern city of Kinston on Sunday and in Raleigh on Monday.

Those four rallies will bring his total events in North Carolina since Oct. 1 to nine. His running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, has been in the state six times during the same period, most recently on Friday.

Roughly half of North Carolina's 7.8 million registered voters had already voted as of Friday, buoyed by early in-person voting, which ends on Saturday afternoon, the Associated Press reported.

By Lucia Suarez Sang
 

Harris campaign will be releasing closing ad, "Brighter Future"

The Harris campaign will be releasing its closing campaign ad, titled "Brighter Future," on Sunday. The ad will be released on CBS and Fox during football coverage and will emphasize Harris' plans for new leadership, lowering costs and protecting freedoms. The ad is meant to contrast Trump's messaging in the final days of the race, the campaign said.

The ad shows some of Harris' interactions with people during the campaign and has her looking directly into the camera and addressing voters.

"Now I'm asking for your vote because as president I will get up every day and fight for the American people," she says at the end.

The ad aims to reach undecided and lower propensity voters while they are "tuning in to watch Sunday football," according to Harris-Walz campaign principal deputy campaign manager Quentin Fulks. 

By Camille Knox
 

Harris planning to vote by mail, campaign says

Vice President Kamala Harris is planning to cast her vote for the 2024 election by mail, her campaign said on Saturday.

Michael Tyler, the campaign's communications director, said he did not have an exact update on whether or not her ballot has been submitted.

He said the vice president wants to "model behavior for other voters to continue to take advantage of the various modes of voting that we have."

"On Tuesday, it is simply last call for those final, low propensity voters that this campaign needs to turn out and continue to convince all the way through polls closing on election Day," Tyler said.

Harris is a resident of California, where mail-in ballots must be postmarked on or before Election Day. County elections offices must receive the ballot no later than Nov. 12.

By Lucia Suarez Sang
 

Georgia's secretary of state says 4 people may have attempted to cast multiple ballots during early voting period

More than 4 million Georgia residents turned out for early voting – the most in the state's most recent elections, but only four people may have attempted to cast multiple ballots, the secretary of the state's office said Saturday.

Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger hailed it as the "most successful" early voting period in the state's history because "voters trust the process."

Raffensperger's office said the state's safeguards during the early voting period allowed election officials to identify four people who may have violated state law and "potentially used various tactics in order to attempt to cast multiple ballots."

The secretary of the state's office said if the investigation shows they broke the law, they will be referred to local district attorneys. The office did not release any additional information.

"Four years of progress brought us here. We're battle-tested and ready, regardless of what the critics say. And we're going to hold those who interfere in our elections accountable," he said in a statement Saturday.

Georgia residents were allowed to vote early between Oct. 15 and Nov. 1.

Georgia shatters early voting records
By Lucia Suarez Sang
 

New Louisiana election laws creating challenges for voters with disabilities

New Louisiana election laws creating challenges for voters with disabilities

New laws aimed at protecting the 2024 presidential election from fears about fraud are creating unexpected barriers for some of the nation's more than 40.2 million voters with disabilities, disability rights advocates have told CBS News.

Laws in more than 20 states now restrict various elements of mail-in ballots including limiting the kinds of assistance a voter can ask for. Restrictions like those limit the ability of health aides and nurses to help prepare a ballot for the people they care for – and some even threaten criminal charges for aides who help too many people to vote.

"If I owned a nursing home or a group home, I [would] put out a memo to my staff saying, 'don't help anybody out because if you end up helping two people out by mistake, you could, could go to jail,'" said Andrew Bizer, a disability rights attorney in New Orleans. "And it also puts the folks with disabilities in a really terrible situation."

Many of the new laws came after the 2020 elections when former President Donald Trump questioned the security of mail-in voting. 

A new study released by the Rutgers Program for Disability Research found that there has been a 5.1% increase in people with disabilities eligible to vote in 2020. Among that growing population, 7.1 million eligible voters with disabilities live in seven battleground states: Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. This shows the potential impacts that restrictive mail-in voting laws could have in next week's election.

Click here to read more on how new laws are impacting Louisiana.

By Alyssa Spady
 

Harris criticizes House speaker for suggestion GOP would probably try to cut federal semiconductor aid

Vice President Kamala Harris on Saturday criticized House Speaker Mike Johnson for his suggestion that Republicans would probably try to cut government subsidies for semiconductor manufacturing.

"It is my plan and intention to continue to invest in American manufacturing," the Democratic nominee told reporters in Milwaukee.

Johnson has walked back his comments, saying he only meant that Republicans would "streamline" the bipartisan CHIPS and Science Act. The Louisiana Republican has said there will be a "very aggressive" first 100-day agenda if Republicans win back control of the White House.

The CHIPS and Science Act has pumped billions of dollars into producing computer chips in the U.S. and has supported union jobs in battleground states.

Democratic presidential nominee, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris speaks to members of the media at the Pfister Hotel in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Andrew Harnik / Getty Images

Harris said Johnson's comments are just "further evidence of everything that I've been actually talking about for months now about Trump's intention to implement Project 2025." She is referring to the multi-pronged conservative initiative that includes a detailed blueprint for the next Republican president to usher in a sweeping overhaul of the executive branch. Former President Donald Trump has denied any involvement with Project 2025.

The vice president said Johnson only walked back his comments because "their agenda is not popular."

"That's why I have the support of Democrats and independents and Republicans because they want a president of the United States who stops playing politics with their lives," she said.

By Lucia Suarez Sang
 

Trump criticizes pro-Harris ad about women voting

Former President Donald Trump criticized a pro-Harris ad that assures female voters that their husbands don't need to know who they voted for. The ad is narrated by actress Julia Roberts, who Trump said he was "so disappointed in." 

"She's going to look back on that and she's going to cringe. 'Did I really say that?'" Trump said, in part, during a call into Fox News' "Fox & Friends Weekend." "It doesn't say much about her relationship, but I'm sure she has a great relationship. But the wives and husbands, I don't think that's the way they deal."

He added: "Can you imagine a wife not telling a husband who she's voting for? Did you ever hear anything like that? Even if you have a horrible, if you had a bad relationship, you're going to tell your husband. It's a ridiculous ad. So stupid."

Trump then said that he has "surrounded (himself) with women," naming his wife Melania, his former press secretary Kellyanne Conway and adviser Susie Wiles. 

During his call into the Saturday show, Trump also repeated the claim that he didn't know the comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, who made the racist joke about Puerto Rico at Trump's Madison Square Garden rally a week ago

"They took out this gorgeous, unbelievable, patriotic evening, and they sort of stained it a little bit by a comedian that I have no idea who he is," Trump said.

By Kerry Breen
 

Court denies request to force count of votes for Green Party's Jill Stein in Ohio

Votes cast for Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein in Ohio will not be counted despite her name appearing on the state's ballot in Tuesday's election after an appeals court panel denied her motion seeking to force the election chief to tally them.

The three-judge panel on the Sixth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Friday against her request for an injunction targeting Republican Secretary of State Frank LaRose on Friday in a dispute over the person listed as her running mate on the ballot.

Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein. Ross D. Franklin / AP

Stein filed as an independent presidential candidate in Ohio because the Green Party lost state recognition several years ago. She listed Anita Rios — the party's 2014 nominee for governor — as a placeholder running mate until Butch Ware was nominated at the national convention on Aug. 17.

Ware's nomination happened after an Aug. 12 state administrative deadline for replacing an independent vice presidential candidate, according to elections officials. LaRose's office granted a request to remove Rios' name but said Ware could not be added.

LaRose has instructed Ohio's 88 county election boards to inform the electorate that votes for Stein "will be void and will not be counted," according to court documents.

By The Associated Press
 

Inside Viktor Orbán's not-so-secret mission to elect Trump

During a speech this summer in front of thousands of supporters, Hungary's far-right prime minister, Viktor Orbán, detailed the close connections he has nurtured with former President Donald Trump.

"We have entered the policy-writing system of President Donald Trump's team," Orbán said. "We have deep involvement there." 

File: Former President Donald Trump, left, and Viktor Orban, Hungary's prime minister, stand for photographers at the West Wing of the White House in Washington, D.C., on May 13, 2019.   Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images

The former president speaks highly of the Hungarian leader, too. During his debate with Vice President Kamala Harris, Trump described Orbán as one of the world's "most respected men" — a "strong man" and "a tough person."

Beneath the close public relationship between the two leaders are what sources have described as frequent and detailed exchanges that delve deeply into political and governing strategy. Should Trump win the election next week, theirs could become a defining foreign policy relationship for a second Trump term.

Click here to read more.

By Flora Garamvolgyi and Madeleine May

 

Spike Lee, Kerry Washington, Jon Bon Jovi and others join Harris on campaign trail

With just three days until Election Day, Vice President Kamala Harris is making her final push in two battleground states – Georgia and North Carolina – as she seeks to strengthen turnout among voters in the South.

At a rally and concert in Atlanta, Georgia, Harris will be joined by director Spike Lee. Singer Victoria Monét will deliver remarks. There will be performances by 2 Chainz, Big Tigger, Monica and Pastor Troy.

Harris will then head to Charlotte, North Carolina, where she will be joined by actress Kerry Washington, who will deliver remarks. There will be performances by Brittney Spencer, Jon Bon Jovi, Khalid and The War and Treaty.

Actress Kerry Washington campaigns for Kamala Harris in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Joshua Applegate / Getty Images

No Democratic presidential candidate has carried North Carolina since Barack Obama in 2008, although it has been decided by less than 3 points in every election since.

Harris is planning to make multiple stops in Michigan on Sunday, shifting to a Democratic-leaning state in the so-called Blue Wall where her allies believe she is vulnerable.

By Lucia Suarez Sang
 

On the state of the presidential race

CBS News senior White House correspondent Ed O'Keefe and CBS News Congressional correspondent Scott MacFarlane have covered some of the biggest stories of this election cycle. Now, with just three days before Election Day, both give their opinions on the state of the race.

Ed O'Keefe, Scott MacFarlane on the state of the race
By Kerry Breen
 

Was your ballot received and counted? How to check your 2024 election vote

While voting by mail has become more common since the pandemic, a few recent mishaps have shaken some voters' faith in the system. Just this week, ballot drop boxes in Oregon and Washington were set ablaze, while in Miami, a stash of sealed ballots fell out of an election worker's truck, stoking concern among voters.

A woman in Irvine, California seen holding an Official Vote-By-Mail Ballot.  Erik McGregor/LightRocket via Getty Images

If you already cast your vote by mail, or are planning to in the coming days, but are worried about it reaching its final destination, your state might allow you to track your ballot's status online. Beyond reducing call volume to local election offices, these tracking systems can restore faith in the voting process, said national election expert Amber McReynolds.

Read here for steps on how to track your ballot.

By Mary Cunningham
 

Nicole Wallace, George W. Bush's former communications director, calls on her old boss to denounce Trump

Nicole Wallace, on her MSNBC show "Deadline: White House," made a public plea Friday night to her old boss, former President George W. Bush, to speak out against former President Donald Trump before Election Day.

Wallace, who was White House communications director in the Bush administration, said she understands better than most that after his presidency, he prefers to speak through his actions, his work with veterans and his presidential library.

But after Trump's insults and use of violent language about former Rep. Liz Cheney, the daughter of his vice president, Wallace said she contacted his office to see if "anything would change his mind about staying silent before the election."

An adviser told her Bush did not want to insert himself into the election.

After playing on air some of Bush's own words about what Americans do to defend liberty in the face of threats, Wallace said, "We have a right to hope that those who have stood for freedom and celebrated those who have protected it might have a last-minute change of heart in the closing hours of this campaign." 

By Ellen Uchimiya
 

Texas won't allow federal monitors in Texas polling locations, says top state election official

Texas' top election official, Secretary of State Jane Nelson said the state will not be allowing federal monitors into Texas polling locations. 

"Texans can be confident in the state's strong measures to ensure election integrity," Nelson said in a post on X, where she also posted her letter to the Justice Department.

The Justice Department enforces federal voting rights laws that protect the rights of all eligible citizens to access the ballot. The department regularly deploys its staff to monitor for compliance with federal civil rights laws in elections across the U.S. 

The Justice Department, in its enforcement of federal voting rights laws, regularly sends monitors to ensure voting rights compliance. It had announced plans Friday to send monitors to 86 jurisdictions in 27 states, including eight locations in Texas.

 

Supreme Court denies GOP request to block counting of certain provisional ballots in battleground Pennsylvania

The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday declined to freeze a decision from Pennsylvania's highest court that required election officials to count provisional ballots cast by people whose mail ballots are invalid because they lacked mandatory secrecy envelopes.

The order from the justices means that election officials in the key battleground state must tally provisional ballots submitted on Election Day by voters who returned defective mail ballots, either because they didn't include secrecy envelopes or failed to sign or date the outer envelope.

By Melissa Quinn
 

Trump holds final Wisconsin rally of campaign

Former President Donald Trump hits the microphone stand at a campaign rally at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Nov. 1, 2024. KAMIL KRZACZYNSKI/AFP via Getty Images

Donald Trump held his final Wisconsin rally of the 2024 campaign Friday night, returning to Fiserv Forum, in Milwaukee, the site of the Republican convention, to deliver his closing message to the Badger State. In 2016, he narrowly won Wisconsin but he lost the state's 10 electoral votes to Joe Biden in 2020.

The rally was plagued by microphone problems. People in the upper sections in the back of the arena couldn't hear Trump, and he expressed frustration with the technical issues. 

"I'm seething. I'm working my ass off with a stupid mic," Trump said. 

He then made crude gestures toward the mic stand, complaining it was too low. He held the microphone for the rest of the rally but complained about how heavy it was several times. He also threatened not to pay the contractor. 

"Do you want to see me knock the hell out of people backstage?" Trump asked. "I don't ask for much. The only thing I ask for is a good mic. And this is the second time today that this happened."

He loosely blamed campaign manager Susie Wiles for the microphone issue. 

By Olivia Rinaldi and Katrina Kaufman

 

Harris and Trump both rally in Milwaukee area Friday night

Vice President Kamala Harris arrives at a campaign rally on Nov. 1, 2024 in West Allis, Wisconsin.  Andrew Harnik / Getty Images

Both Donald Trump Trump and Kamala Harris campaigned in the Milwaukee area Friday night, going into the final weekend of the 2024 campaign. Harris didn't deviate much from her standard stump speech in West Allis, Michigan, a Milwaukee suburb of Milwaukee. She urged people to vote who haven't yet cast their ballots.

"No judgment, no judgment at all — but do get to it," Harris said, before reviewing the list of her campaign promises and litany of grievances against Trump.

Music star Cardi B says she will vote for Kamala Harris at a campaign rally in West Allis, Wisconsin, on Nov. 1, 2024. Kyle Mazza/Anadolu via Getty Images

Cardi B, who spoke shortly before Harris, told the crowd she didn't intend to vote this year, but "Kamala Harris changed my mind." 

She called Trump a "bully" and said, "I can't stand a bully, but just like Kamala, I stand up to one." Cardi B repeatedly said she was nervous about speaking at the rally. Women, she said, have to work 10 times harder than men "and still, people question us."

By Kristin Brown
f

We and our partners use cookies to understand how you use our site, improve your experience and serve you personalized content and advertising. Read about how we use cookies in our cookie policy and how you can control them by clicking Manage Settings. By continuing to use this site, you accept these cookies.