Harris leads Trump among young voters by 12 points - CNN poll
A new CNN poll published on Wednesday, has Democratic nominee Kamala Harris leading former president Donald Trump by 12 points among likely voters under the age of 35.
The survey also found that “female likely voters younger than 35 prefer Harris over Trump” 53% to 39%, but male likely voters are more closely divided.
Though Harris is leading among young people, CNN reports that the vice-president’s lead among under 35 year olds is smaller than the lead president Joe Biden had in 2020, when he was up 21 points among that same age group.
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Senator Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat representing Connecticut, said on Wednesday that what happened on July 13, at Donald Trump’s rally in Butler Pennsylvania, where an assassin opened fire, killing an attendee and wounding the former president, was an “accumulation of errors that produced a perfect storm of stunning failure.”
“It was a tragedy & completely preventable from the outset” he added.
Blumenthal was responding to the new bipartisan Senate report released earlier today that found that the Secret Service made “preventable” errors in securing the rally.
In a series of posts on X, Blumenthal added that there “was both a failure to provide resources—like a working radio, drone detection system, or counter surveillance team—& lack of an effective chain of command” and that Wednesday’s report was “only an interim step”.
“I look forward to our continuing pursuit of evidence to help understand what went so catastrophically wrong & how we can prevent an event like this from ever happening again” he said.
One of largest Muslim voter-mobilization groups in US endorses Harris
One of the country’s largest Muslim voter-mobilization groups, Emgage Action, has endorsed Kamala Harris for president.
In an announcement posted to their website on Wednesday, the Muslim advocacy group said that the upcoming election “represents an especially difficult moment for Muslim Americans.”
The group voiced their concerns over the escalating crisis in the Middle East and mentioned the deaths of more than 40,000 Palestinians who have been killed in the last 11 months, as well as all those in Gaza who have been displaced. The group criticized the Biden Administration for providing ongoing military support and supplying weapons to Israel.
“In November, we have the opportunity to change course and turn our outrage into action” the statement reads.
The group’s endorsement of Harris on Wednesday, “is not an agreement with Vice President Harris on all issues,” the statement reads, “but rather, an honest guidance to our voters regarding the difficult choice they confront at the ballot box.”
The group also said:
We are pledging to do all that we can to ensure that the next administration listens to our communities and takes our calls for peace, justice and safety seriously. We know that will not be Donald Trump. We have always been clear-eyed about the danger Trump’s brand of authoritarianism represents for Muslim Americans, America, and the world. This is why in 2020 we embarked on a historic campaign to make sure that Muslim Americans played a decisive role in ensuring that Donald Trump was a one-term president.
The group added that recognized “the responsibility to defeat Trump” and urged people not to vote for third-party candidates, arguing that while some third-party candidates had “aligned themselves with our community, we are clear-eyed that none of them have a realistic pathway to victory in November.”
“As it stands today, the most effective way to change policy and advance peace, justice and ensure Palestinian self-determination is to push the Democratic Party” the statement added.
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Michael Cohen, Donald Trump’s former lawyer and fixer - who testified as a hostile witness at this year’s hush money trial that resulted in his former boss being convicted of 34 felony charges - has told MSNBC that he is working on obtaining a foreign passport with a new identity if Trump is elected in November.
Michael Cohen, Donald Trump’s former lawyer and fixer, says he’ll leave the country if his former boss wins in November:
— Republicans against Trump (@RpsAgainstTrump) September 25, 2024
“I’m already working on a foreign passport with a completely different name…I have no choice.” pic.twitter.com/HtdhB4Itc0
“I’m out of here,” he said in response to being asked what he thought would happen to him in the event of a Trump victory. “ I’m already working on a foreign passport with a completely different name. I don’t know how it’s going to work. As far as dealing with my wife and my children, I certainly don’t want them moving to where I’m looking to go.”
He said other Trump adversaries were also in the line of fire if he returned to the White House with a mission of vengeance against his perceived enemies - specifying the former chairman of the armed forces’ joint chiefs of staff, Mark Milley, and the ex-Republican Congress member, Liz Cheney, as potential fellow targets.
“How many people has he turned around and said [about]….that these are people that I intend to go after if I have the ability to?
“And the worst is the Supreme Court’s recent decision that gave him immunity, presidential immunity. Now he thinks not only is it I can do whatever I want, but I can’t even be prosecuted [and have a] get out of jail free card solely for the President.”
The day so far
A bipartisan Senate report found the Secret Service made “preventable” errors in securing Donald Trump’s July rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, where an assassin opened fire, killing an attendee and wounding the former president. The agency came in for criticism from lawmakers of both parties, after the homeland security committee’s investigation found agents’ communications struggles hampered their ability to respond when it became clear a gunman was at the rally. Meanwhile, new polling of Pennsylvania and North Carolina confirms Trump and Kamala Harris remain locked in a close race to win the swing states’ electoral votes.
Here’s what else has happened today so far:
Congress is on track to pass legislation to fund the government until 20 December, with the Senate’s Democratic leader Chuck Schumer saying he hopes to send Joe Biden the bill by the end of the day.
Harris will give a speech in Pittsburgh on her plans for the economy at 3.15pm today, and sit for an interview with MSNBC that will be broadcast at 7pm.
The AARP found that Mark Robinson, the Republican candidate for governor in North Carolina, was trailing his Democratic challenger in a survey taken before news broke of his history of making lewd statements on pornography websites.
Meanwhile, Joe Biden is in New York City, where he dropped by the set of ABC’s The View for an interview.
The departing president restated that he never stopped thinking he could beat Donald Trump, and also played down reports of tension in his relationship with Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic former House speaker who was a major force in pressuring him to end his bid for a second term.
Here’s what Biden had to say:
President Joe Biden says his relationship with Rep. Nancy Pelosi is "fine" after her pressure campaign for him to drop out:
— The Recount (@therecount) September 25, 2024
"Look, I never fully believed the assertions that somehow there was this overwhelming reluctance of my running again." pic.twitter.com/xLQuYx5V6C
The only vice-presidential debate before the November election is scheduled for next Tuesday, where Ohio’s Republican senator JD Vance will square off against Minnesota governor Tim Walz in New York City.
In a call with reporters today, Vance was asked about his plans for the debate, and if he plans to hold the sort of debate boot camp Walz is reportedly doing.
“No, we’re not planning to do anything similar,” Vance replied. As for why:
We have, I think, well-developed views on public policy, so we don’t have to prepare that much. I think what we’re going to focus on is making sure that I make as concise and direct an appeal to the American people as possible about Donald Trump’s successful policies and Kamala Harris’s failed ones.
Another finding of AARP North Carolina’s poll of the state was that Mark Robinson, the Republican candidate for governor, was trailing his Democratic opponent.
The survey’s data was collected before CNN reported that Robinson had a history of making antisemitic and lewd comments on a pornography website’s message board.
After surveying likely voters in the state, AARP found Democratic attorney general Josh Stein with a 10-percentage point lead over Robinson in the race for the governor’s mansion. Among voters 50 and older, a more conservative group, Stein remained the favorite, up 48% to Robinson’s 45%.
North Carolina, Pennsylvania remain toss ups in presidential race, polls show
Battleground states North Carolina and Pennsylvania remain very close in the presidential race, new polls released today indicate.
An AARP North Carolina poll shows Donald Trump leading Kamala Harris, with 50% support to the vice-president’s 47% in a head-to-head matchup – within the survey’s margin of error. The group took a close look at the leanings of voters over 50, finding they prefer Trump by nine percentage points over Harris.
In Pennsylvania, the Monmouth University Polling Institute found Harris leading Trump, with 47% support among registered voters compared to the ex-president’s 45% support. That finding was also within the margin of error.
PENNSYLVANIA VOTER POLL: Support for 2024 presidential candidates.
— MonmouthPoll (@MonmouthPoll) September 25, 2024
KAMALA HARRIS:
40% definitely / 8% probably
44% definitely not / 6% probably not
DONALD TRUMP:
38% definitely / 7% probably
46% definitely not / 7% probably nothttps://t.co/wGM6Soqg2U pic.twitter.com/oarq1nu21O
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'There will be no shutdown', Democratic Senate leader Schumer says
The Senate’s Democratic leader Chuck Schumer just announced that by the end of the day, he expected Joe Biden to be able to sign legislation to keep the government open through the November presidential election.
“Americans can breathe easy that, because both sides have chosen bipartisanship, Congress is getting the job done. We will keep the government open. We will prevent vital government services from needlessly coming to a halt,” Schumer said in remarks on the Senate floor.
He noted that the Republican-controlled House of Representatives is expected to this afternoon vote on a bill to fund the government until 20 December. “Once the Senate receives the House bill, we will immediately move to its consideration. We hope to vote early this evening, with final passage set at 60 votes. So if all goes well in the House, the Senate should be sending President Biden a bill before the end of today,” the New York Democrat said.
Last week, Republican House speaker Mike Johnson tried and failed to pass a bill tying government funding with a measure, demanded by Donald Trump, to require people prove their citizenship when registering to vote. The measure’s failure raised the possibility of a standoff over government funding ahead of the 5 November presidential election, but Johnson ultimately decided to drop the non-citizen voting bill, paving the way for Congress to officially ward off a shutdown today.
“This is a good outcome for the country. There will be no shutdown because finally, at the end of the day, our Republican colleagues in the House decided to work with us,” Schumer said.
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Donald Trump laid out his own economic policy in a speech in Georgia yesterday, which centered on lower taxes for corporations that make products in the United States, and steep tariffs on manufacturers who offshore jobs. But as the Guardian’s Justin Glawe reports, the former president meandered, and dedicated substantial parts of his speech to attacking immigrants:
At an event intended to tout economic policies that would usher in what his campaign calls a “new age of American industrialism”, Donald Trump spent as much time discussing personal grievances and blaming immigrants for everything from fentanyl overdoses to crime and taking Americans’ jobs as he did discussing the economy.
“This is a speech on economic development but this is a big part of economic development,” the former president said of immigration at a speech in Savannah, Georgia, on Tuesday.
After about 30 minutes of sticking to prepared remarks about the economy, Trump’s speech veered into other topics like immigration, much to the crowd’s delight.
“Close the border!” a man in the crowd yelled as Trump said that undocumented immigrants were responsible for myriad ills.
Some of the loudest cheers from a crowd of about 2,500 came when the Republican presidential nominee claimed that the United States already has much of what it needs to become an “economic powerhouse”, as he put it, including natural resources, skilled workers and leading companies.
“The only thing we don’t have is smart people leading our country,” Trump said.
Kamala Harris will be in battleground state Pennsylvania today to outline her economic plans in a speech to the Economic Club of Pittsburgh.
Citing a senior campaign official, Politico reports:
She will be presenting her economic philosophy as “pragmatic” and herself as “a capitalist” who “understands the limitations of government and has always sought to take good ideas from wherever they come and harness the power of innovation.”
We can also expect to hear more from Harris about her vision for an “opportunity economy”, a phrase we began hearing the vice-president use after launching her presidential campaign in late July, Politico says.
Harris to sit for interview with MSNBC
Shifting to campaign news, MSNBC just announced that Kamala Harris will speak with host Stephanie Ruhle this evening from Pittsburgh, in what will be the vice-president’s first solo interview with a television network since launching her presidential campaign:
JUST ANNOUNCED: @VP Harris will join @MSNBC host @SRuhle in Pittsburgh for her first one-on-one network interview since becoming the Democratic presidential nominee.
— MSNBC Public Relations (@MSNBCPR) September 25, 2024
Watch the full interview tonight at 7pmET on MSNBC.
CNN interviewed Harris earlier this month alongside her running mate, Tim Walz. Since then, she has done a small number of interviews, mostly with local outlets or those catering to specific audiences, such as Hispanic radio host Stephanie “Chiquibaby” Himonidis, and Wired, the tech magazine.
The Secret Service’s failures to adequately protect Donald Trump at his Butler, Pennsylvania rally drew criticism from both Democrats and Republicans on the homeland security committee, which issued the report today.
Here’s Democratic committee chair Gary Peters:
From planning missteps, to the siloed and flawed communication to the lack of effective coordination between law enforcement, to the breakdowns in technology, the Secret Service’s failures that allowed an assassination attempt on former President Trump at his July 13 rally were shocking, unacceptable, and preventable – and they led to tragic consequences.
And Republican ranking member Rand Paul:
Our initial findings clearly show a series of multiple failures of the U.S. Secret Service (USSS) and an inexcusable dereliction of duty.
Not only did USSS fail to ensure the AGR roof was adequately covered, they were also aware of a suspicious individual with a rangefinder for at least 27 minutes and did not delay proceedings or remove former President Trump from the stage, even after being informed that the suspicious individual was on the roof of the AGR building. Someone needs to be held accountable for these egregious failures by the USSS, and despite USSS, DHS, FBI, ATF, and other federal agencies’ continued obstruction of our bipartisan investigation, I will continue to push for answers and accountability.
Secret Service plagued by communications failures at Trump's Pennsylvania rally, report finds
The Secret Service’s ability to protect Donald Trump at his Butler, Pennsylvania rally was hampered by a range of communications failures, including faulty radios and a lack of ability to quickly get in touch with state and local police on the scene, the Senate homeland security committee found in its interim report into the assassination attempt.
The radios used by agents were known to be faulty, and the report found at least one instance of an agent giving his radio to a colleague whose device was not working. There was also no system for the Secret Service to quickly communicate with the local police agencies on the scene, and the agency did not “adequately consider” local law enforcement’s plans at the rally.
The committee also found that Secret Service employees responsible for planning the security of the rally “deflected blame”, and claimed that all decisions were made jointly with local law enforcement, with no single individual responsible.
Senate finds 'preventable' Secret Service errors in preparing for Trump Pennsylvania rally where assassin opened fire
Good morning, US politics blog readers. The Secret Service made “preventable” errors at Donald Trump’s July rally in Butler, Pennsylvania that was marred by an assassination attempt, the Senate homeland security committee found in its interim report into the incident released this morning. The report said that a warning from local police of a shooter on the roof of a building overlooking the rally was not relayed to the Secret Service, that a Secret Service counter-sniper who saw officers running towards the building with guns drawn did not think to tell his colleagues to pull Trump off stage, and that law enforcement agencies on the scene used different radio channels to communicate.
It’s the latest damning finding about the failures by the Secret Service to safeguard Trump at one of his trademark outdoor campaign rallies. An internal report from the agency last week detailed similar communications breakdowns, and the Senate report’s release comes a day after prosecutors announced a charge of attempted assassination against a man arrested in Florida last week for allegedly plotting to shoot Trump at his golf course. We’ll tell you more about the Senate’s finding, and the reaction to them, later in the day.
Here’s what else is happening today:
Kamala Harris will lay out her vision for the economy with a speech in Pittsburgh expected at 3.15pm ET. Trump did the same yesterday in battleground state Georgia, where he proposed high tariffs and lower taxes he said could bring back jobs from overseas. Economists are skeptical of his plan.
Congress is expected to late this afternoon approve a spending bill that will keep the government open till 20 December, forestalling a shutdown in the weeks before the November election.
The UN general assembly continues in New York, with Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy set to address world leaders. You can follow our live blog on the latest Ukraine news here.
