On Politics

Wed Sep 18 2024

Rebecca Morin | Senior National News Reporter

@RebeccaMorin_

Glad it's already Wednesday! I'm Rebecca Morin, senior national news reporter at USA TODAY.

13 days until the vice presidential debate. 48 days until Election Day. 14 days until the new season of Love is Blind (DC edition!)

Trump holds first rally since suspect in assassination attempt arrested

Former President Donald Trump held his first event Tuesday since the second assassination attempt targeting him rocked the election. Trump fielded softball questions from his former press secretary, now-Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, and several members of the audience. During the event, he addressed, and even joked about, the attempts on his life, saying being president is "dangerous business." Read more.

Harris talks economy, Gaza, and political civility with Black journalists

Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday took questions from the National Association of Black Journalists in Philadelphia on issues ranging from the economy to Trump's claims of migrant pet-eating. Harris' meeting came nearly two months after Trump held his own controversial and combative interview with the group. Read more.

•	Watch: Black journalists interviewed Donald Trump and Kamala Harris. Here's how it went.
•	Harris hits Trump, Vance for spreading baseless rumors of migrants eating pets

A reminder: Harris and Trump are neck-and-neck in polling – especially in key battleground states, like Pennsylvania and Michigan.

A politics pit stop

•	Trump will win! No, Harris! Wanna bet? Here's where the election odds stand
•	Melania Trump to give 'intimate portrait' of life with upcoming memoir
•	When is the vice presidential debate between Tim Walz and JD Vance?
•	Russian groups produced fake videos targeting Harris campaign; 'expect' more, Microsoft says
•	Kamala Harris talked to Donald Trump after assassination attempt

Fed cuts interest rate in historic move

The Federal Reserve lowered its key interest rate by a half percentage point Wednesday — its first rate cut in four years. What does that mean? The move will provide the first dose of relief in years to Americans who have struggled with high borrowing costs for mortgages, credit cards and auto and other loans. Read more.

Harris address Latino leaders, talks immigration

I was out in the field today to watch Harris give remarks at the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute's Leadership Conference in Washington D.C. There, she said it's possible to do both immigration reform and to secure the United States southern border.

•	Harris also slammed Trump for his promise to carry out mass deportations.
•	"Imagine what that would look like and what that would be. How's that going to happen?" she said. "Massive raids, massive detention camps. What are they talking about?"
•	A new Scripps News/Ipsos survey published Wednesday found 54% "strongly" or "somewhat" support mass deportation.
•	That same poll, however, found that 69% "strongly" or "somewhat" support a pathway to citizenship for immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children.