Closing summary
Here is a wrap-up of the day’s key events:
Kamala Harris will travel to Georgia to survey the impacts of Hurricane Helene on Wednesday, her office announced. Harris will receive an on-the-ground briefing and will also provide updates on federal actions that are being taken to support emergency response and recovery efforts in Georgia and other impacted states in the southeast.
The White House said on Tuesday that president Joe Biden will be traveling to North Carolina and South Carolina on Wednesday. Biden will take an aerial tour of areas impacted by Hurricane Helene in western North Carolina, receive operational briefings, and greet with first responders and local officials, the White House said in an announcement.
The federal government has delivered more than 2.6 million ready-to-eat meals and more than 1 million liters of water, homeland security secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said. “At its peak, there were 5.1 million customers without power … we’ve reduced that number of customers without power by 3.8 million people,” he added.
Xavier Becerra, the US health and human services secretary, has declared a public health emergency for South Carolina and Tennessee to address the health impacts of Hurricane Helene. “We will do all we can to help officials in South Carolina and Tennessee respond to the health impacts of Hurricane Helene,” Becerra said in an announcement.
The justice department has launched its first federal investigation of the Tulsa Race Massacre. On Monday, assistant attorney general Kristen Clarke announced the opening of the investigation under the Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crime Act.
Here is Joe Biden’s statement on the negotiations between United States Maritime Alliance and the International Longshoremen’s Association: “Now is not the time for ocean carriers to refuse to negotiate a fair wage for these essential workers while raking in record profits. My administration will be monitoring for any price gouging activity that benefits foreign ocean carriers, including those on the USMX board.”
A new survey from AARP published on Tuesday has vice-president Kamala Harris leading Donald Trump 50% to 47% among likely voters in the battleground state of Pennsylvania. The survey, conducted between the 14th and 24th of September, also showed a significant gender gap, with Harris ahead by 19 percentage points among female voters and Trump leading by 16 points with male voters.
Jimmy Carter, a Democrat who served in the White House between 1977 and 1981, celebrates his 100th birthday today, making him the first US president to reach the milestone. Carter, who has suffered from health issues, including a melanoma that spread to his liver and brain, has been in hospice care at home in Plains, Georgia, since February 2023.
Democratic US vice-president Kamala Harris and former Republican president Donald Trump are expected to watch the VP debate tonight. Trump has said he would offer a play-by-play commentary of the event on social media.
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Here are some of the latest images coming through the newswires of Hurricane Helene:
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Biden on USMX and ILA negotiations: 'Now is not the time for ocean carriers to refuse to negotiate a fair wage'
Here is Joe Biden’s statement on the negotiations between United States Maritime Alliance and the International Longshoremen’s Association:
“Collective bargaining is the best way for workers to get the pay and benefits they deserve. I have urged USMX, which represents a group of foreign-owned carriers, to come to the table and present a fair offer to the workers of the International Longshoremen’s Association that ensures they are paid appropriately in line with their invaluable contributions.
Ocean carriers have made record profits since the pandemic and in some cases profits grew in excess of 800 percent compared to their profits prior to the pandemic. Executive compensation has grown in line with those profits and profits have been returned to shareholders at record rates. It’s only fair that workers, who put themselves at risk during the pandemic to keep ports open, see a meaningful increase in their wages as well.
As our nation climbs out of the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, dockworkers will play an essential role in getting communities the resources they need. Now is not the time for ocean carriers to refuse to negotiate a fair wage for these essential workers while raking in record profits. My administration will be monitoring for any price gouging activity that benefits foreign ocean carriers, including those on the USMX board.”
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The federal government has delivered more than 2.6 million ready-to-eat meals and more than 1 million liters of water, homeland security secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said.
“At its peak, there were 5.1 million customers without power … we’ve reduced that number of customers without power by 3.8 million people,” he added.
In response to a question about communities on the ground that have been badly affected by Hurricane Helene and feel that the government is not doing enough, Mayorkas said: “We are there, and we will continue to be there, and we will reach the most difficult to access locations. We are relentless in our efforts to ensure the safety and security of all.”
More than 100 people have been killed by Hurricane Helene across multiple states in recent days.
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Homeland security secretary Alejandro Mayorkas is giving an update on Hurricane Helene.
During the White House press briefing, Mayorkas said, “Hurricane Helene is of a historic magnitude, this many states hit this hard, the wind field of the hurricane stretched 350 miles from its center."
He added, “We are in different phases of a post hurricane environment, depending on the state and the location within the state. In some areas, we are still in search and recovery, search and rescue operations. And others, we are in the response and recovery phase.”
The Federal Emergency Management Agency has made federal assistance available to Georgia residents in 30 additional counties to help those impacted by Hurricane Helene.
In a news release issued on Tuesday, Fema said:
Individuals in Atkinson, Bacon, Ben Hill, Berrien, Bulloch, Burke, Candler, Chatham, Clinch, Colquitt, Cook, Echols, Emanuel, Evans, Glascock, Irwin, Jeff Davis, Jenkins, Johnson, Lanier, Laurens, Lincoln, McDuffie, Montgomery, Screven, Telfair, Treutlen, Ware, Washington and Wheeler counties may be eligible for grants for temporary housing and home repairs, low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses and other programs to help them recover from the effects of the disaster.
According to Fema, in addition to housing expenses, survivors may be eligible for other serious disaster-related needs such as replacement of damaged personal property and expenses for transportation, childcare, moving and storage.
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Republicans in Nevada are dismissing an effigy of a nude Donald Trump as “deplorable”.
The Guardian’s Edward Helmore reports:
A 43ft (13 meters) effigy of an entirely nude Donald Trump on the interstate from Las Vegas to Reno, Nevada, has been dismissed as “deplorable” and “pornographic” by Republicans in the state.
In a statement, the Nevada Republican party said it “strongly condemns” the effigy of the former president, which hangs from a crane, weighs 6,000lbs, is made from foam and rebar, is titled Crooked and Obscene and is expected to be brought to other cities as part of a nationwide tour.
“While families drive through Las Vegas, they are forced to view this offensive marionette, designed intentionally for shock value rather than meaningful dialogue,” said the party’s statement, invoking the name of a city that was essentially founded to capitalize on gambling and sex.
The artists behind the graphic effigy – who want to remain anonymous – told the Wrap that Trump’s nudity was “intentional, serving as a bold statement on transparency, vulnerability and the public personas of political figures”.
For the full story, clicl here:
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Harris to travel to Georgia on Wednesday
Kamala Harris will travel to Georgia to survey the impacts of Hurricane Helene on Wednesday, her office announced.
Harris will receive an on-the-ground briefing and will also provide updates on federal actions that are being taken to support emergency response and recovery efforts in Georgia and other impacted states in the southeast.
As of Monday, at least 15 people in Georgia have been killed by Hurricane Helene, including a first responder, according to local outlets.
The justice department has launched its first federal investigation of the Tulsa Race Massacre.
On Monday, assistant attorney general Kristen Clarke announced the opening of the investigation under the Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crime Act.
Under the act, the federal government is able to investigate civil and violent crimes committed before 1970.
“We acknowledge descendants of the survivors, and the victims continue to bear the trauma of this act of racial terrorism,” Clarke said, the Associated Press reports, referring to the tragedy in 1921 where white supremacists killed around hundreds of residents in Oklahoma while destroying around 1,250 homes and businesses.
The event is largely considered one of the most horrific incidents of racial violence in the history of the US.
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Joe Biden has urged port operators to increase wages after 45,000 workers went on strike.
The Guardian’s Michael Sainato reports:
Biden has urged port operators to give workers a “meaningful increase” in pay after tens of thousands went on strike, prompting some of the busiest ports in the US to brace for crippling disruption.
About 45,000 port workers represented by the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) began walking off the job after their contracts expired at midnight, with 36 ports along the east and Gulf coasts affected. They typically handle about half of the nation’s ocean shipping.
Talks over a new contract between the ILA and the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX) have broken down, and the union dismissed a last-ditch offer from operators hours before the strike was due to began.
Hours after the strike began, the White House issued a robust statement calling on USMX to negotiate a “fair” contract that reflects “the substantial contribution” of ports workers to America’s economy.
For more details, click here:
Biden to travel to North Carolina and South Carolina on Wednesday
The White House said on Tuesday that president Joe Biden will be traveling to North Carolina and South Carolina on Wednesday.
Biden will take an aerial tour of areas impacted by Hurricane Helene in western North Carolina, receive operational briefings, and greet with first responders and local officials, the White House said in an announcement.
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The day so far
Good afternoon US politics readers.
We are hours away from the vice-presidential debate between Tim Walz and JD Vance, which will start at 9pm ET, and will be held in a studio without an audience.
Here’s what else has happened today so far:
Donald Trump said that he will be offering a play-by-play commentary of the vice-presidential debate on social media.
A new poll found that a majority of voters want to hear from Tim Walz and JD Vance on immigration and economy during the debate tonight.
President Joe Biden is continuing to monitor the devastation caused by Hurricane Helene. Biden said that thousands of federal personnel are being deployed to help support search and rescue missions and remove debris from collapsed buildings.
Biden will be traveling to North Carolina and South Carolina on Wednesday, the White House said. The president will be taking an aerial tour of the areas impacted by Hurricane Helene, receive operational briefings, and meet with first responders and local officials.
The Georgia hand-count trial, regarding a lawsuit filed by Democrats challenging two new rules passed by the Georgia state election board got under way this morning.
Former president Jimmy Carter is celebrating his 100th birthday today.
Donald Trump is campaigning in the battleground state of Wisconsin on Tuesday.
Public health emergencies were declared for South Carolina and Tennessee over hurricane impact.
The death toll in South Carolina as a result of Hurricane Helene has now risen to 33, according to WCSC, quoting the state’s department of public safety.
Before Tuesday morning, the death toll was at 29.
At least 133 deaths in six states in the south-east of the US have been attributed to Hurricane Helene so far, according to the Associated Press.
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A new survey from AARP published on Tuesday has vice-president Kamala Harris leading Donald Trump 50% to 47% among likely voters in the battleground state of Pennsylvania.
The survey, conducted between the 14th and 24th of September, also showed a significant gender gap, with Harris ahead by 19 percentage points among female voters and Trump leading by 16 points with male voters.
The survey also found that Trump leads Harris by 8 points with voters 50 years old and older.
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Majority of voters want to hear Walz and Vance views on immigration and economy – poll
A new CBS/YouGov poll released on Monday ahead of the vice-presidential debate tonight, found that both Democratic vice-presidential nominee Tim Walz and Republican vice-presidential nominee JD Vance are described as “competent” by more than 50% of the registered voters surveyed.
In regards to the debate tonight, 86% of respondents said they wanted to hear from the candidates about the economy, and three-quarters said they wanted to hear the candidates’ views on immigration.
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Public health emergency declared for South Carolina and Tennessee over hurricane impact
Xavier Becerra, the US health and human services secretary, has declared a public health emergency for South Carolina and Tennessee to address the health impacts of Hurricane Helene.
“We will do all we can to help officials in South Carolina and Tennessee respond to the health impacts of Hurricane Helene,” Becerra said in an announcement. “We are working closely with state and local health authorities, as well as with our partners across the federal government, and stand ready to provide additional public health and medical support.”
Public health emergencies were also issued for Florida, Georgia and North Carolina last week, as a result of the hurricane.
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Lloyd Austin, the US defense secretary, said on Tuesday morning that over the last several days, the Department of Defense had mobilized personnel and resources to support the ongoing disaster relief, rescue, and recovery efforts in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene.
His statement continued:
I am grateful to the over 6,300 Guardsmen from over 12 states, US Northern Command, the US Army Corps of Engineers, and other DOD teammates who continue to work alongside federal, state, and local partners to provide assistance where it is needed most. We continue to stand by the people and communities of North Carolina and all those affected.
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Trump campaigning in Wisconsin ahead of VP debate
Republican nominee Donald Trump will be campaigning in the battleground state of Wisconsin on Tuesday, ahead of vice-presidential debate.
One of his stops in Wisconsin today is in Dane county, a Democratic stronghold. The former president is scheduled to appear at a manufacturing facility in Waunakee.
According to the Associated Press, Trump has never campaigned in Dane county before and did not visit the county when he was president.
Recent polls have shown Kamala Harris and Trump neck and neck in Wisconsin, with Harris leading narrowly by one percentage point.
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Kamala Harris’s 2024 presidential campaign is launching a new ad focused on healthcare, it said on Tuesday.
The ad features clips from the presidential debate between Harris and Republican nominee, Donald Trump, last month, in which Trump discussed having a “concept of a plan” to replace the Affordable Care Act but did not give any details.
In the ad, Harris says that if elected, she will extend the price caps that Joe Biden has signed for seniors, such as the price cap on insulin at $35 a month and a cap on prescription drug costs to no more than $2,000 a year, to all Americans.
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As of this morning, there are still more than 1 million homes and businesses without power across multiple states in the south-east of the US, from Florida to West Virginia, as the region continues to deal with the aftermath of Hurricane Helene.
In South Carolina, more than 600,000 power outages are being recorded, according to PowerOutage.us.
In Georgia and North Carolina, each state is recording over 450,000 power outages as of Tuesday morning.
Donald Trump is scheduled to hold a rally in Saginaw, Michigan, on Thursday at 3pm ET.
In 2016, the former president narrowly won Saginaw county, which sits around 100 miles north-west of Detroit and is home to around 200,000 people. However, in 2020, Joe Biden won the county.
A win for Trump in Saginaw and in the battleground state of Michigan in November would be a significant blow to Kamala Harris’s campaign.
Last year, Trump supporters in Saginaw led a takeover of the Republican party there, and packed the local party with delegates aligned with the America First movement.
You can read more about that here.
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Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are closely monitoring the strike at the east coast and Gulf coast ports, the White House has said. Dockworkers on the two coasts began a strike earlier today, in effect halting the flow of about half the nation’s ocean shipping after negotiations for a new labor contract broke down over wages.
As my colleague Michael Sainato explains in this story, talks over a new contract between the International Longshoremen’s Association and the United States Maritime Alliance have faltered, and the union dismissed a last-ditch offer from operators hours before the strike was due to begin.
Biden’s administration – which has tried to forge close relations with trade unions – has repeatedly ruled out the use of federal powers to break a strike in the event of an impasse. Alex Gangitano, the White House correspondent for the Hill, said Biden has directed his team to reiterate his message to both sides that they need to negotiate terms “at the table” fairly, quickly and in good faith.
Per WH: President Biden & VP Harris are closely monitoring the strike at East Coast and Gulf Coast ports. The President has directed his team to convey his message directly to both sides that they need to be at the table and negotiating in good faith—fairly and quickly.
— AlexGangitano (@AlexGangitano) October 1, 2024
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Jimmy Carter celebrates 100th birthday
Jimmy Carter, a Democrat who served in the White House between 1977 and 1981, celebrates his 100th birthday today, making him the first US president to reach the milestone. Carter, who has suffered from health issues, including a melanoma that spread to his liver and brain, has been in hospice care at home in Plains, Georgia, since February 2023. “I’m only trying to make it to vote for Kamala Harris” in November’s election, he said, according to his grandson.
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We reported in an earlier post about Joe Biden, the US president, issuing stark comments about the devastating impact of Hurricane Helene. Donald Trump has said he has spoken to Elon Musk and would enlist the billionaire owner of X to help restore communications to communities ravaged by the hurricane.
“We want to get Starlink hooked up, because they have no communication whatsoever,” Trump was quoted by Bloomberg as having said yesterday during a visit to Georgia, a state expected to be decisive in November’s presidential election. The Harris campaign believes she has a chance to win Georgia, which Biden narrowly won in 2020.
“Throughout the region, our hearts are with you, and we are going to be with you as long as you need it,” Trump said.
Georgia is the state with the second most power outages caused by the storm, according to PowerOutage.US, which estimates about 471,000 customers were without power as of 05.18ET on Tuesday morning.
Starlink – Musk’s satellite network and the world’s largest satellite operator – provides internet services via a huge network of satellites. It is typically aimed at people who live in remote areas who otherwise would not be able to get fast-speed internet connections.
He said that SpaceX has sent “as many Starlink terminals as possible to help areas in need” of internet connection after Hurricane Helene, including those in North Carolina he says Trump alerted him to.
Since the Hurricane Helene disaster, SpaceX has sent as many Starlink terminals as possible to help areas in need.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 1, 2024
Earlier today, @realDonaldTrump alerted me to additional people who need Starlink Internet in North Carolina. We are sending them terminals right away.
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Georgia hand-count trial to get under way on Tuesday
A trial is set to get under way today on a lawsuit filed by Democrats challenging two new rules passed by the Georgia state election board that have to do with county certification of election results.
The Associated Press has the following report:
Supporters of the rules say they are necessary to ensure the accuracy of the vote totals before county election officials sign off on them. But critics say they worry that supporters of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump could use the rules to delay or deny certification if the former president loses the state to Democratic vice president Kamala Harris, causing confusion and casting doubt on the results.
The lawsuit is to be decided in a bench trial, which means there’s a judge but no jury, before Fulton county superior court judge Robert McBurney.
One of the rules provides a definition of certification that includes requiring county officials to conduct a “reasonable inquiry” before certifying results, but it does not specify what that means. The other includes language allowing county election officials “to examine all election related documentation created during the conduct of elections”…
The lawsuit was filed against the state election board, which is dominated by three Republican partisans whom Trump praised by name at a recent rally in Atlanta. The state and national Republican parties have joined the lawsuit on the side of the election board.
My colleague Sam Levine has more:
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Entire communities 'wiped out' by 'catastrophic' impact of Hurricane Helene, Biden says
Joe Biden said entire communities have been “wiped out” by the “catastrophic” impact of Hurricane Helene which has left about 600 people missing or unaccounted for, according to White House estimates.
In a video clip of Biden speaking with North Carolina governor, Roy Cooper, the US president said thousands of federal personnel are being deployed to help support search and rescue missions and remove debris from collapsed buildings.
The other priorities are getting cell networks back online and power restoration, Biden said, adding that recovery is “going to take a while” as the destruction of roads poses a huge logistical challenge to relief efforts.
He said:
I want to express condolences to all the families, to all the families whose loved ones have died or are missing.
Matter of fact, it’s almost equally as bad missing, not knowing whether or not your brother or sister, husband, wife, son or daughter are alive.
And to the survivors, I want you to know the administration is going to be there til we finish the job.
Hurricane Helene was not just catastrophic, it was a historic storm for the entire southeast and Appalachia.
— President Biden (@POTUS) October 1, 2024
We're mobilizing every resource to ensure displaced families can begin to return home and devastated communities can begin to rebuild.
My Administration has your back. pic.twitter.com/4ITL8e3kS3
Helene made landfall last Thursday in Florida’s Big Bend region as a category 4 hurricane. Even though it weakened to a tropical storm before moving through Georgia, the Carolinas and Tennessee, the storm’s winds, rainfall, storm surge and flooding ravaged entire communities in its path and has left over 1 million Americans without power. More than 120 people are reported to have been killed across several states.
The Biden administration and local officials have struggled to deliver support to the most heavily impacted states areas, where many survivors have been stranded with no electricity or running water.
Biden will visit North Carolina, where the western part of the state has been devastated by flooding, tomorrow. Presidential candidates Kamala Harris and Donald Trump have expressed condolences to those impacted by the hurricane and are receiving recovery briefings from Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema).
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Trump says he will do play-by-play commentary on VP debate
Democratic US vice-president Kamala Harris and former Republican president Donald Trump are expected to watch the VP debate tonight, and Trump has said he would offer a play-by-play commentary of the event on social media.
Harris was viewed by many as the winner of her debate with Trump on 10 September in Philadelphia, which was watched by an estimated 67 million people. Most of the national polls carried out in the week after indicated that her performance had helped her make small gains in the race.
Her lead over Trump rose from 2.5 percentage points on the day of the debate to 3.3 points just over a week later. However, the battleground states – where the election will be decided – remain too close to call. Only one or two percentage points are separating the presidential candidates.
According to Reuters/Ipsos polling, 51% of registered voters say they view JD Vance unfavorably, compared with 39% who view him favourably. That’s a contrast with Tim Walz, who 44% of registered voters view favourably, with 43% reporting an unfavorable view. These results came from a poll conducted between 20 and 23 September.
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Kit Maher, a campaign producer with CNN’s political unit, has been told by two sources that these are the surrogates for JD Vance who will be in the spin room for him tonight at the debate:
Jason Miller, senior adviser to Donald Trump
Donald Trump Jr, Donald Trump’s son
Tom Cotton, Arkansas senator
Katie Britt, Alabama senator
Elise Stefanik, a congresswoman representing New York’s 21st district in the House of Representatives and serves as the House Republican conference chair
Byron Donalds, a Republican Florida congressman
Howard Lutnick, the longtime chief executive officer of Cantor Fitzgerald LP
JD Vance surrogates in the spin room tomorrow, per two sources familiar:
— Kit Maher (@KitMaherCNN) September 30, 2024
Senior Trump Campaign Adviser Jason Miller
Donald Trump Jr.
Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton
Alabama Sen. Katie Britt
House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik
Florida Rep. Byron Donalds
CEO of Cantor…
The 90-minute debate between Vance, 40, a senator for Ohio, and Tim Walz, the 60-year-old governor of Minnesota, will kick off at 9pm New York time and can be viewed on host network CBS News. We will be bringing you the latest updates in our live blog.
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My colleague Rachel Leingang took a look at what we know so far about Vance and Walz’s debate style. She writes:
Walz, the Democratic governor of Minnesota, and Vance, a Republican senator from Ohio, have been honing their public speaking skills – and their pointed barbs at each other – in TV appearances and at events around the country in the past few months.
Their experiences in electoral debates haven’t reached the levels or notoriety that come along with a presidential campaign, but both have faced opponents in public debates in past elections.
And given the tightness of the presidential race, and how poorly the first presidential debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump went, there will probably be more people tuned in to the vice presidential debate than in past cycles.
While VP debates don’t usually tip the scales much, they could matter in a close race – and they build profiles for lower-profile politicians who will probably stay on the national scene for years to come.
You can read the full story here:
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Tim Walz and JD Vance to face off in VP debate
Good morning, US politics readers.
It’s the day of the vice-presidential debate and Tim Walz and JD Vance are preparing to go head to head in New York City.
The debate will start at 9pm ET and, like the Harris-Trump debate, it will be held in a studio without an audience. Unlike the main presidential debate, the candidates’ microphones will not be muted when it is not their turn to speak – but moderators can mute mics throughout the event.
To practice before Tuesday’s VP debate, Walz has used Pete Buttigieg, transportation secretary and frequent TV news interviewee, as a Vance stand-in – both Buttigieg and Vance are Ivy Leaguers from the midwest and roughly the same age.
Vance has been preparing for the debate with Minnesota Republican congressman Tom Emmer as a stand-in for Walz. On Monday, Emmer gave an insight into how debate practice has been going, telling reporters about portraying Walz: “Quite frankly it’s tough because he is really good on the debate stage.”
Republicans are seeking to frame Walz, the folksy Minnesota governor who has proved to be the most popular figure in the presidential race, as a mean-spirited, ogreish figure. Emmer, who ran unsuccessfully for Minnesota governor in 2010, said: “[Walz] is going to stand there and he lies with conviction, and he has these little mannerisms where he’s just, hey, I’m the nice guy, but he’s not nice at all.”
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