In a largely civil, policy-heavy debate hosted by CBS News, the vice presidential candidates, Tim Walz and JD Vance, clashed on Tuesday over immigration, abortion, health care, the climate crisis and other topics. The Republican senator avoided answering multiple questions, including whether he believes his running mate, former President Donald Trump, lost the 2020 election. Walz, meanwhile, brought his "Midwestern dad energy" to the debate stage, leading to some criticism that the Minnesota governor was "too nice" to Vance.
On the campaign trail, former Republican congresswoman Liz Cheney joined Harris to urge voters to "reject the depraved cruelty of Donald Trump" at a campaign event Thursday in Ripon, Wisconsin, a town known as the birthplace of the Republican Party. And on Saturday, Trump and Vance held a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania — a much-touted return to the site where the former president was shot in the ear by a would-be assassin in July. The presidential contender led a moment of silence for Corey Comperatore, the fire chief who was killed at the July rally.
In the courts, U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan on Wednesday unsealed special counsel Jack Smith's motion on presidential immunity in Trump's federal election interference case. The redacted 165-page motion makes the case for why the Supreme Court's immunity ruling doesn't block Trump's prosecution on multiple charges. Trump's lawyers are citing yet another Supreme Court ruling to help his defense in the case: Fischer v. United States.
The devastating impacts of Hurricane Helene continue to be felt throughout the southeastern U.S., with at least 223 people known to have died and hundreds still missing. President Joe Biden, Trump and Harris have all taken trips to the region to tour storm damage. Elsewhere, thousands of longshoremen went on strike Tuesday, shutting down ports across the East and Gulf coasts. The strike ended in record time with major improvements won by the union.
Amid ongoing border clashes with Hezbollah, Israel carried out more strikes on Beirut this weekend. Lebanon's health ministry said more than 2,000 people have been killed since October, most of them in the last two weeks.
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