Harris, Trump campaigns in homestretch as polls show tie just 5 days out

Jennifer Lopez introduced Vice President Harris at a rally in Las Vegas Thursday night that also included a performance by the pop band Maná.

In emotional remarks, Lopez talked about her background as a Puerto Rican and emphasized the importance of women for the Democratic nominee, who had just arrived after a separate rally in Reno.

"I believe in the power of women," Lopez said. "Women have the power to make the difference in this election."

Lopez also pushed back at comedian Tony Hinchcliffe who, at Trump's Madison Square Garden rally on Sunday called Puerto Rico "a floating island of garbage."

"You can't even spell American without Rican," she said. "This is our country too."

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said Thursday that a video circulating on social media that purports "to show a Haitian immigrant with multiple Georgia ID's claiming to have voted multiple times" is fake.

In a statement, Raffensperger, a Republican, called the video "an example of targeted disinformation."

And in a post to social media, he speculated that it was likely "a production of Russian troll farms."

Raffensperger called on Elon Musk, owner of X, and other social media platforms to pull the video.

A spokesperson for the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency told CBS News in a statement that it was "aware of the alleged Russian disinformation post, and we are working with federal government partners to investigate further."

Read more here.

Republicans hold a slim 220-212 majority in the House, and CBS News estimates there are only a few dozen races considered competitive that will decide control of Congress' lower chamber.

About a third of those competitive races are concentrated in California and New York. On Thursday, House Speaker Mike Johnson campaigned about an hour north of New York City as he tries to salvage his perilous eight-seat majority.

"The majority for the House runs through New York and California," Johnson told reporters.

"It's almost unheard of to see TV ads for congressional races, because it doesn't make a lot of sense, but you're seeing it because there's so much money," Dr. Martin Shaffer, dean of the School of Liberal Arts at Marist College, told CBS News.

Court orders have forced a redrawing of untraditional congressional maps in New York, potentially setting up a half-dozen multimillion-dollar races. It has prompted Democratic candidates like Laura Gillen to talk about the immigration crisis, and Republican candidates like incumbent Rep. Marc Molinaro to campaign on protecting in vitro fertilization.

It's a similar situation in California, where five Democratic challengers are trying to win a battleground seat held by a Republican.

California processes its vote count slowly, meaning figuring out control of the House could be a lengthy cliffhanger. 

Harris and Trump are both campaigning in Nevada tonight. The two are tied in the battleground state, according to the latest CBS News estimate. 

Harris will be in Reno for a rally before heading to Las Vegas to campaign with singer and actress Jennifer Lopez. 

Trump will campaign in Las Vegas and then head to Phoenix, Arizona, to campaign with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson. 

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the Democratic vice presidential nominee, will be conveying his closing message to Americans in an interview set to air on Monday night, the eve of the election, on CBS' "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert."

Walz recorded the interview Thursday morning in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, underscoring the Harris campaign's focus on the hotly contested battleground state, with its 19 electoral votes. In 2020, Joe Biden won Pennsylvania, while Donald Trump won the state in 2016. 

The Harris campaign has tried to broaden the programs and platforms on which Harris and Walz are interviewed to reach a wider, younger audience. Harris, too, has been interviewed by Colbert, and she has also appeared on ABC's "The View," "The Howard Stern Show," and the podcasts "Call Her Daddy" and "Breakfast Club." Walz has made late-show appearances on ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live" and "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart."

Basketball superstar LeBron James endorsed the vice president on Thursday, saying the "choice is clear." 

"What are we even talking about here?? When I think about my kids and my family and how they will grow up, the choice is clear to me. VOTE KAMALA HARRIS!!!" he said on social media alongside a video that included racist imagery and comments from Trump. 

James endorsed President Biden in 2020. During Trump's time in the White House, James tweeted "u bum" at the former president when Trump said he "uninvited" the Golden State Warriors to the White House. It was the most retweeted post by an athlete in 2017, according to Sports Illustrated, and James said he had "no regrets" about the tweet. 

Comments made by billionaire and Harris surrogate Mark Cuban have sparked outrage from former President Donald Trump's campaign and Trump supporters. On ABC's "The View" Thursday morning, Cuban said you "never see" Trump around "strong, intelligent women."

"Donald Trump, you never see him around strong, intelligent women," Cuban said. "Ever. It's just that simple. They're intimidating to him. He doesn't like to be challenged by them."

That sparked near-instant backlash from the Trump campaign. 

"This is extremely insulting to the thousands of women who work for President Trump, and the tens of millions of women who are voting for him,"said Karoline Leavitt, Trump campaign national press secretary. "These women are mothers, entrepreneurs, and industry leaders and they are, indeed, strong AND intelligent, despite what Mark Cuban and Kamala Harris say."

Trump campaign senior adviser Susie Wiles, posting on X for the first time since last year, also hit back at Cuban's comments. 

"I'm told @mcuban needs help identifying the strong and intelligent women surrounding Pres. Trump. Well, here we are! I've been proud to lead this campaign," she wrote. "Complimented by @Linda_McMahon, Chair for Transition Policy and @LaraLeaTrump, RNC Co-Chair."

— Jacob Rosen and Kathryn Watson

According to the Georgia secretary of state's office, 50.2% of active voters — 3.6 million people — have cast a ballot as of late Thursday afternoon. The secretary of state said earlier Thursday that half of active voters could cast ballots by the end of the day. 

Early voting ends Friday in Georgia.

— Jared Eggleston and Kathryn Watson 

Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump are visiting the West just days before the Nov. 5 Election Day. CBS News political reporter Zak Hudak has more on the upcoming campaign moves.

During a rally in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the Republican presidential nominee continued to insult Harris, his Democratic opponent, and her intellect.

"There are some people who thrive under pressure, and there are some people who crack under pressure," Trump said. "She's a cracker."

The former president also claimed without evidence that Harris is "exhausted" and said she is a "total stiff."

"Kamala has the economic understanding of a child," Trump said. "Did you ever hear her speak?"

The former president's continued insults come as he and his supporters have criticized President Biden for appearing to call Trump's supporters "garbage" during a call with Latino activists Tuesday. Mr. Biden was responding to remarks made by comedian Tony Hinchcliffe at Trump's rally at Madison Square Garden on Sunday, in which he called Puerto Rico a "floating island of garbage."

The White House said Mr. Biden was referring to Hinchcliffe's offensive joke, not those who support the former president.

A judge ruled Bucks County, Pennsylvania, voters have until close of business on Friday, Nov. 1, to receive, vote, and return a mail-in ballot. CBS News Philadelphia's Jen Carabeo breaks down the ruling. 

Speaking on the campaign trail in Michigan, former President BIll Clinton waded into matters in the Middle East, saying "the hardest issue here in Michigan is the Middle East." Michigan has a large Arab population, and Dearborn, Michigan, has the highest concentration of Muslims in the U.S. 

Clinton said the Jewish people were "there first," and said Israelis who lived near Gaza were some of the Israelis who most wanted peace and a two-state solution when Hamas attacked on Oct. 7, 2023. 

"Hamas did not care about a homeland for the Palestinians — they wanted to kill Israelis and make Israel uninhabitable," Clinton told his audience. "Well, I've got news for them. They were there first, before there was, their faith existed, they were there. In the time of King David, in the southernmost tribes … So here's what I want to tell ya. I'm going to do everything I can to convince people that they cannot murder their way out of this, neither side. You can't kill your way out of this. And they have to make a new beginning." 

Harris' presidential campaign will host its election night party at the vice president's alma mater, Howard University, in Washington, D.C.

Harris graduated from the historically Black college in 1986 and was a member of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority, which was founded at Howard.

Trump joined WABC Radio's "Cats & Crosby show" and said special counsel Jack Smith should be "thrown out of the country." 

"You have to get the killers, the murderers and mentally deranged," Trump said. "You have to get about, and we should throw Jack Smith out with them. The mentally deranged people. Jack Smith should be considered mentally deranged, and he should be thrown out of the country."

Trump also said that he'd fire Jack Smith "within two seconds" if he wins the presidency. Smith has brought two cases against Trump: In August 2023, Trump was charged with four counts stemming from his conduct after the 2020 election, as he and others sought to turn over the results, which showed he had lost to Joe Biden. The case ground to a halt as Trump brought a claim of presidential immunity to the Supreme Court, which in July ruled former presidents are shielded from prosecution for official acts taken while in the White House. 

Smith is also overseeing a prosecution in a Florida federal court in which Trump is accused of mishandling sensitive government records after leaving the White House in January 2021. That case was dismissed in July by U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, who said in a 93-page order that she concluded Smith had been appointed unlawfully.

Data from the University of Florida Election Lab shows that more than 62.7 million people have voted early so far, either in person at polling places or by mail.

There have been more than 29.5 mail ballots returned and 33 million votes cast in person. Voters requested over 66.5 million mail ballots. The number of registered Republicans and Democrats who have already voted in the general election stands at over 11 million for each party, according to data from 25 states that report party registration.

Trump Media & Technology Group has had a wild stock market ride this month. After quadrupling in price just days before, the stock on Thursday plunged as much as 39% since its intraday high on Tuesday. The two-day decline has shaved more than $2.4 billion from former President Donald Trump's stake in the business, which trades under the ticker DJT, the same as his initials. 

Trump Media, which owns the Truth Social app, shed $5.35, or 13.4%, to $34.68 in early afternoon trading on Thursday, after touching an intraday low of $33.41.

Trump owns about 115 million shares of Trump Media, making him the largest investor in the fledgling social media company. At its most recent intraday peak of $54.68 on Tuesday, his stake was valued at almost $6.3 billion. 

The founder of the viral "Win With Black Women" livestream, which had 90,000 participants nationwide as Vice President Kamala Harris entered the race for the White House in July, said as a child, she "always was that kid that just wanted to fight for anybody who I felt was being mistreated."

Jotaka Eaddy told CBS News she felt that way after hearing negative comments made about Black women named as possible vice presidential candidates in 2020, when President Biden was on the campaign trail. 

"Every last one of those women were receiving racist, sexist attacks," Eaddy told CBS News. "No one was challenging their policies, their agendas. It was, 'she was too ambitious.'" 

In 2020, Eaddy created "Win With Black Women," a virtual network that started meeting every Sunday during the pandemic via zoom with the goal of supporting and advancing the policy agenda of Black women. Since July, it's raised more than $2.6 million for the Harris campaign.

Watch the interview with Eaddy in the player above, and read more about "Win with Black Women" here.

Vance said on Joe Rogan's podcast that he and Trump first discussed the possibility of him being the vice presidential nominee on the morning of the assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania, two days before he would be announced as Trump's pick.

"He basically said, 'Well, I think I'm probably going to pick you. But I don't know, and I'm not ready to make a decision,'" Vance said, detailing a visit with Trump at Mar-a-Lago where he said Trump made clear he hadn't decided but was thinking "very seriously about it."

Vance said when Trump sat him down, the former president talked about 10 different people he was thinking of selecting just two days before he made the choice.

"I really didn't know that it was going to happen until Monday morning," Vance added. 

The office of the Georgia secretary of state says by the end of the day, 50% of active voters in the state are expected to have voted early. By 10:30 a.m., 3.5 million Georgians — out of 7.2 million active voters in the state — had early voted.

Early voting continues in Georgia through Friday.

Georgia early voting data and demographics provided by the secretary of state are available here, and the information is updated hourly.

Harris told reporters that she is "putting it all on the field" in the final days of the campaign, expressing confidence in her ability to win while at the same time acknowledging the race is very close.

"It's going to be a very tight race, and I'm running like the underdog — because we are," she said, just before departing for campaign stops in Arizona and Nevada.

Harris argued that Trump has been running for president "for the last decade," while she's been in the race just over three months. 

She added that, "I've been saying for quite some time, regardless of what the polls say, we are going to win — I do believe that."

"Because I do believe that this is a choice about two very different directions for our country, and the choice being offered by Donald Trump is about going backward, about a constant emphasis on degrading the American people and our capacity, versus a track that is about bringing the country together knowing we have more in common than what separates us."

Harris commented on Trump's statements about protecting women "whether the women like it or not" Thursday morning, telling reporters that it's "very offensive to women in terms of not understanding their agency, their authority, their right and their ability to make decisions about their own lives, including their own bodies."

"This is just the latest on a series of reveals by the former president of how he thinks about women and their agency," Harris continued. 

The comments came as Harris prepared to head west to Arizona and Nevada to speak to voters in the final push of the campaign. 

Vice President Kamala Harris is leaning into the economy and abortion rights in some of her last ads before Election Day, as her closing message comes into focus.

One of two new ads set to air this week in the seven battleground states highlights a 2016 interview clip of Trump in which he called for "some form of punishment" for women who have abortions. 

Trump's campaign later clarified that if Congress made abortion illegal, that the doctor would be held responsible, not the woman. The ad also features several women who have appeared in Harris campaign ads or on the trail for her, who have personal stories regarding abortions or their inability to obtain an abortion after the Dobbs decision. 

The issue of abortion access and women's reproductive rights has been a galvanizing force for the Democratic party and Harris' campaign, especially among women and younger voters. In an October CBS News poll of the crucial battleground state of Pennsylvania, of those that ranked abortion as a "major factor" in their vote, 62% were women and 67% were under 30 years old. 

Read here for more on the ads.

Hungary's far-right Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said in a social media post Thursday he'd recently wished Trump "the best of luck" during a phone call ahead of Election Day.

"Just got off the phone with President @realDonaldTrump. I wished him the best of luck for next Tuesday. Only five days to go. Fingers crossed," wrote Orbán, an ally of Trump's who is one of two populist European leaders to openly endorse his reelection, on X.

Orbán and Trump's relationship is friendly — he visited the former president at his home in Mar-a-Lago in July after attending a NATO summit in Washington, D.C. Trump, in turn, has spoken positively about Orbán in political speeches and other public remarks, including at the presidential debate with Harris.

Sen. JD Vance, speaking at a town hall at High Point University in North Carolina, outlined a pitch to young voters, arguing that the group has "more to lose than anybody" if Harris wins. The Republican vice presidential nominee claimed that Harris' policies will produce "more war, more poverty, higher housing prices and lower wages for American workers."

"The question young people have to ask is, do I want to have a job where I earn a good day's wage for a good day's work?" Vance said. "Do I want to raise a family in an environment, or just build a life in an environment where I can afford to buy a home? Because if you'd like to do that, the only person is Donald J. Trump."

Vance continued, "if we let the American dream disappear in the United States of America, the consequences are going to fall hardest on the people in this room."

The 18-year-old arrested Tuesday for wielding a machete at a polling station in Jacksonville, Florida, has now been charged with an additional felony count for voter intimidation or suppression, authorities said.

Caleb Williams faces additional charges for aggravated assault on a person 65 years of age or older and improper exhibition of a firearm or dangerous weapon, Neptune Beach Police Chief Michael Key announced earlier this week. Williams arrived at the polling station with a group of teens who held signs backing the Trump campaign and chanted the former president's name. In a video, Williams appeared to wave a Trump flag speared onto the end of his machete, which he is accused of raising above his head threateningly while facing two older women.

The Neptune Beach Police Department attributed the incident to an apparent attempt to harass voters who did not share the teens' political views. The department announced Wednesday an additional charge against Williams for voter intimidation or suppression, brought in response to new video footage from the polling place.

"During the course of the on-going investigation, we have received new video footage which depicts the suspect committing an additional crime of voter intimidation or suppression within the designated voting location," said Neptune Beach Police in a statement. "As such, one felony of the third-degree count of Voter Intimidation or Suppression was added to the suspect's charges today. This remains an open investigation."

Read the full story here.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz is heading Thursday to Pennsylvania to stump for Kamala Harris as the countdown to Election Day winds down.

Walz, the Democratic candidate for vice president, is scheduled to first speak at a campaign event in suburban Bucks County before traveling to Erie later in the day. The Harris-Walz campaign said the governor plans to make a "local stop" while visiting Erie.

Read more from CBS Philadelphia. 

Despite a judge's order that "all parties must be present," Tesla founder, X owner and billionaire Elon Musk did not appear in a Philadelphia courtroom Thursday after District Attorney Larry Krasner sued him over his super PAC's plan to award $1 million a day to voters in key battleground states in the 2024 election.

Krasner and members of his office joined attorneys for Musk in Judge Angelo Foglietta's civil courtroom at City Hall for a hearing Thursday at 10 a.m. ET.

Musk's attorneys filed documents Wednesday night in the U.S. District Court in Philadelphia, a federal court, requesting the matter be moved to their jurisdiction – and out of the local Court of Common Pleas. A judge granted that transfer. 

Attorneys for Krasner said they would contest that recommendation.

"We will proceed to federal court and seek to address the issues there and have them addressed in state court. This is a case that addresses state law issues, and I'll leave it at that," said attorney John Summers.

Musk, who has campaigned with former President Donald Trump, has donated tens of millions of dollars to America PAC, a super PAC formed this summer to support the Republican candidate.

The lottery award goes to signers of a petition asking voters to support free speech and the right to bear arms. According to the super PAC's website, at least 12 people have received $1 million awards, including four from Pennsylvania.

Read more from CBS Philadelphia. 

— Joe Brandt and Josh Sanders

Republicans hold a slim majority as the race for control of the House heats up. Only 25 seats are considered toss-ups and Democrats face a tougher path to reclaim the majority. Congressional correspondent Scott MacFarlane shares what's at stake.

The Trump campaign is debuting several Halloween-themed billboards in battleground states where Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate Gov. Tim Walz will be campaigning in the final days of the presidential election. 

The billboards, first shown to CBS News, read, "Four more years of Kamala Harris would be scary!" and highlight key parts of Trump's campaign messaging, like lowering taxes and securing the border. 

"Four more years of Kamala Harris would be scarier than any Halloween horror movie: high taxes, open borders, and high gas prices are downright frightening," Alex Pfeiffer, a Trump campaign spokesman, said. 

Read more here. 

Speaking to a crowd at his latest campaign event this week in Wisconsin, Trump pledged to "protect women" should he win reelection, "whether the women like it or not."

Trump and Harris are both turning their attention to battleground states in the days leading up to Tuesday's election, and each traveled to Wisconsin on Wednesday to address their respective supporters. Harris held a rally in Madison while Trump focused his campaign effort in Green Bay. 

The former president told the rally's attendees that people have told him not to say he wants "to protect the women of our country," as he has before at campaign events, because they felt it was "very inappropriate" for him to do so.

 For his part, the former president,  addressed their supporters at separate rallies in Wisconsin on Wednesday The former president, for his part, at this point said people have told him not to say he wants "to protect the women of our country," as he has at campaign events in the past, because they felt it was "very inappropriate" for him to do so.

"I said, well, I'm going to do it, whether the women like it or not," Trump said at the rally. "I'm going to protect them."

Given the battle over abortion rights largely divided along party lines, how American women would fare under a second Trump administration is often questioned by the Republican nominee's Democratic opponent.

"Donald Trump thinks he should get to make decisions about what you do with your body," Harris wrote on social media after his Green Bay rally. "Whether you like it or not."

As Election Day approaches, the FBI is investigating a series of fires that damaged hundreds of ballots in Portland, Oregon, and Vancouver, Canada. Police have identified a suspect and warn he may strike again. Nicole Sganga has the latest.

 Jennifer Lopez is set to appear at Harris' rally in Las Vegas Thursday night, continuing a streak of celebrity appearances along the Democratic nominee's campaign trail. (Beyoncé, Bruce Springsteen, Willie Nelson and Jessica Alba have all recently joined Harris on the road.)

Lopez will attend the vice president's "When We Vote We Win" rally in the battleground state Nevada as the event's guest speaker, after the singer of Puerto Rican descent openly endorsed Harris and condemned Tony Hinchcliffe's racist joke about the U.S. territory at a Trump rally over the weekend. 

"I don't know if you guys know this, but there's literally a floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean right now. I think it's called Puerto Rico," Hinchcliffe said during the rally in New York City.

Although Trump refused to explicitly denounce the comedian, Harris reacted to Hinchcliffe's comments and called out Trump for failing to support Puerto Rico during his first term in office, in a videotaped statement released this week by her campaign. 

"I will never forget what Donald Trump did, and what he did not do, when Puerto Rico needed a caring and competent leader," said Harris. "He abandoned the island, tried to block aid after back-to-back devastating hurricanes and offered nothing more than paper towels and insults."

Lopez and the singer Bad Bunny, who is from Puerto Rico, each went on to repost portions of that statement to their own social media pages.

After interviewing Trump for around three hours last week on an episode of his podcast that has since raked in millions of views, Joe Rogan shared more details Wednesday about why Harris has not appeared on his show. 

In the latest installment of "The Joe Rogan Experience," the series' host said Harris' campaign initially reached out to him to inquire about scheduling an appearance, but the logistics didn't work out. 

 "I said, 'Great, I would love to talk to her.' But it was very difficult to tie it down," Rogan said in Wednesday's episode. "They wanted to travel and see the thing is, if I go somewhere, then there's going to be other people in the room. And they want to control a lot of things, I'm sure." 

Rogan acknowledged the fact he didn't agree to the campaign's terms could make him seem like "a diva."

"But she had an opportunity to come here when she was in Texas, and I literally gave them an open invitation. I said anytime," he said. "I said if she's done at 10, we'll come back here at 10. I go, I'll do it at nine in the morning, I'll do it at 10 p.m. I'll do it at midnight if she's up, if she wants to, you know, drink a Red Bull. Party on."

Rogan previously addressed plans to sit down with the Democratic presidential nominee in a post on X.

"They offered a date for Tuesday, but I would have had to travel to her and they only wanted to do an hour," he wrote. "I strongly feel the best way to do it is in the studio in Austin. My sincere wish is to just have a nice conversation and get to know her as a human being. I really hope we can make it happen."

Former President Donald Trump on Wednesday climbed into a trash truck adorned with Trump signs and American flags to speak to reporters ahead of a rally in Green Bay, Wisconsin. 

Wearing an orange vest, Trump said the truck was in honor of people that voted for him, a reference to President Joe Biden's comments in the wake of a joke comparing Puerto Rico to garbage at Trump's rally in New York City.

"We're not garbage," he said. "I can tell you who the real garbage is but we won't say that."

It was the latest salvo as both Democrats and Republicans have seized on the comments to motivate voters in the waning days of the election. Trump said the truck was in honor of Mr. Biden and the Democratic candidate, Vice President Kamala Harris.

"Joe Biden should be ashamed of himself, if he knows what he's even doing. And she should be ashamed, because she shouldn't let him do it. She's the Vice President, but I assume she's acting as the president. She should never have let that happen," Trump said Wednesday ahead of his rally in Wisconsin. "I hope you enjoyed this garbage truck."

—Jake Rosen and Olivia Rinaldi

Billionaire Elon Musk has been ordered by a judge to attend a Philadelphia court hearing on Thursday after he was sued by District Attorney Larry Krasner over his $1 million giveaway to voters.

The hearing is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. in a courtroom at City Hall in Center City, according to a court document. 

According to the Associated Press, Judge Angelo Foglietta of the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas wrote that "all parties must be present at the time of the hearing."

Last week, Krasner sued Musk and alleged that Musk and his super PAC are trying to influence voters in next week's presidential election between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris. 

"The Philadelphia District Attorney is charged with protecting the public from public nuisances and unfair trade practices, including illegal lotteries. The DA is also charged with protecting the public from interference with the integrity of elections," Krasner said in a statement announcing the complaint last week. 

Read more here.