Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump are set to face off in a high-stakes debate hosted by ABC News on Tuesday, in what could end up being the only debate between the presidential nominees before Election Day. After weeks of disagreement over the rules of the debate, the Harris campaign ultimately relented on the Trump campaign's demand that a candidate's microphone be muted when it is not their turn to speak. The debate will follow the same format and rules as the June debate between Trump and President Joe Biden.
As anticipation continued to build toward Tuesday's showdown, Trump's legal docket saw significant action in the last week. He scored a major legal victory on Friday when Judge Juan Merchan agreed to delay sentencing in his New York criminal hush money case until after the election in November. The decision came a few hours after Trump appeared in a Manhattan courtroom for a hearing on his appeal of the verdict in writer E. Jean Carroll's first civil trial that found him liable for sexual abuse and defamation. And during a status hearing earlier in the week, Team Trump and prosecutors in the federal election interference case discussed how to proceed after the Supreme Court's immunity ruling.
In a surprise boost for Harris, former House Republican Conference Chair Liz Cheney endorsed Harris on Wednesday, citing "the danger" posed by another Trump presidency. Two days later, she added that her father, former Vice President Dick Cheney, a hawkish, lifelong conservative Republican, plans to vote for the Democrat as well.
The 14-year-old suspect in the Georgia high school shooting that killed two students and two teachers, and injured nine others, appeared in court on Friday after being charged with four counts of felony murder. His father, who authorities say provided the teen with a gun, made a court appearance minutes later to face charges that include second-degree murder. Neither of them entered pleas.
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