Harris and Trump make final push in battleground states ahead of ...

15 hours ago
  11:06 PM Vance holds rally in New Hampshire

Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance held a rally in New Hampshire on Sunday, saying he hoped to flip the state, which President Joe Biden won in 2020.

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"I believe that in two days, we're going to turn New Hampshire red and make Donald Trump the next president of the United States," Vance told the crowd at the New England Sports Center.

A recent poll from the University of New Hampshire showed Vice President Kamala Harris with a five-point lead in the Granite State.

  10:21 PM Trump campaigns in Macon, Georgia

Former President Donald Trump held a campaign event in Macon, Georgia, on Sunday night, where he spent much of his time talking about immigration.

Trump said that Vice President Kamala Harris "is importing illegal alien rapists and murderers," who Trump said were "willing to kill anyone." 

He added that the U.S. is an "occupied country," a common line in his closing arguments over the last few weeks. 

Trump for the second time on Sunday falsely claimed that FEMA disaster relief money went to undocumented migrants instead of to relief efforts following Hurricanes Helene and Milton.

Trump hits three battleground states 02:15
  8:46 PM Why Montana may decide who controls the Senate   7:31 PM Harris again addresses war in Gaza during East Lansing rally

At a campaign rally in East Lansing, Michigan, Vice President Kamala Harris addressed the war in Gaza at the top of her speech.

"We are joined today by leaders of the Arab American community, which has deep and proud roots here in Michigan. And I want to say this year has been difficult, given the scale of death and destruction in Gaza and given the civilian casualties and displacement in Lebanon, it is devastating," Harris said. 

"As president, I will do everything in my power to end the war in Gaza, to bring home the hostages, end the suffering in Gaza, ensure Israel is secure and ensure the Palestinian people can realize their right to dignity, freedom, security and self-determination," she added.

Harris said she would also work to find a "diplomatic resolution across the Israel-Lebanon border to protect civilians and provide lasting stability."

After addressing the war, Harris stuck to her usual stump speech. Her lines on reproductive rights garnered the most applause and cheers from the crowd, which was filled with younger voters.

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Harris campaigns across Michigan 02:59
  6:50 PM / November 3, 2024 Federal judge lets Iowa keep challenging voter rolls although naturalized citizens may be affected

A federal judge ruled Sunday that Iowa can continue challenging the validity of hundreds of ballots from potential noncitizens even though critics said the effort threatens the voting rights of people who've recently become U.S. citizens.

U.S. District Judge Stephen Locher, an appointee of President Joe Biden, sided with the state in a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union in the Iowa capital of Des Moines on behalf of the League of Latin American Citizens of Iowa and four recently naturalized citizens. The four were on the state's list of questionable registrations to be challenged by local elections officials.

The state's attorney general and secretary of state argued that investigating and potentially removing 2,000 names would prevent illegal voting by noncitizens. GOP officials across the U.S. have made possible voting by noncitizen immigrants a key election-year talking point even though it is rare. Their focus has come with former President Donald Trump falsely suggesting that his opponents already are committing fraud to prevent his return to the White House.

In his ruling Sunday, Locher pointed to a U.S. Supreme Court decision four days prior that allowed Virginia to resume a similar purge of its voter registration rolls even though it was impacting some U.S. citizens. He also cited the Supreme Court's recent refusal to review a Pennsylvania Supreme Court decision on state electoral laws surrounding provisional ballots. Those Supreme Court decisions advise lower courts to "act with great caution before awarding last-minute injunctive relief," he wrote.

Locher also said the state's effort does not remove anyone from the voter rolls, but rather requires some voters to use provisional ballots.

  5:52 PM / November 3, 2024 Trump boasts about early voting numbers in North Carolina

Speaking at a campaign event in Kinston, North Carolina, former President Donald Trump touted the early voting numbers, claiming he had a sizeable lead in the battleground state.

"If we let this slip away, we should have our heads examined. I mean, we, you know, we have a big lead. We have a big lead," Trump said.

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Trump hits three battleground states 02:15
  5:38 PM / November 3, 2024 Harris says "level of death of innocent Palestinians is unconscionable"

Vice President Kamala Harris told reporters in Detroit on Sunday that she is "honored to have the support of many Arab American leaders who represent the interests and the concerns also of the Arab American community. But I also know well enough to know it is not a monolith."

Addressing the ongoing war in Gaza, Harris said, "The level of death of innocent Palestinians is unconscionable. We need to end the war, and we need to get the hostages out."

  4:45 PM / November 3, 2024 Vance pulls out cash prop at North Carolina rally, says cost of living will be "way too high" under Harris

Sen. JD Vance kept his remarks brief at his last North Carolina rally before Election Day, but the Republican vice presidential nominee rolled out a new prop: a stack of money.

Vance took a stack of cash – he said it was $5,000 – out of his suit jacket pocket to underscore how much money, he believes, Americans would lose every year under a Harris-Walz administration.

"This is five months of Kamala Harris' inflation. Every North Carolina family is paying this in additional grocery prices and additional rent prices and additional housing prices," he said. "And ask yourselves, how much bigger is this stack going to be with 48 months of Kamala Harris' leadership? The answer is, it's going to be way too high."

US Senator and Republican vice presidential candidate J.D. Vance holds up money while speaking during a campaign rally in Sanford, North Carolina, on November 3, 2024. GRANT BALDWIN/AFP via Getty Images

He noted that he believed the $5,000 would be how much Americans would save if former President Donald Trump were re-elected.

"You got to ask yourselves every five months, do you want Kamala Harris reaching in your wallet and taking this out, or do you want a president of the United States who is going to give you more of your hard-earned money back and make it easier for you and your families to prosper? That's what's at stake for North Carolina," he said."

At one point, a rallygoer asked if he could have the cash Vance flashed and the Ohio senator joked that Republicans don't pay people to vote.

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His remark comes after a Pennsylvania state judge declined to block Trump supporter Elon Musk's $1 million-a-day giveaway for battleground state voters.

  4:15 PM / November 3, 2024 Harris stops at Michigan restaurant, barbershop to greet customers

Vice President Kamala Harris stopped at Kuzzo's Chicken & Waffles in Detroit, Michigan, on Sunday to greet customers.

The restaurant is owned by former Detroit Lions player Ron Bartell. She mingled with customers, took photos and picked up lunch, according to reporters traveling with the vice president.

US Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris speaks to diners at Kuzzo's Chicken & Waffles restaurant in Detroit, Michigan, on November 3, 2024. ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AFP via Getty Images

Harris is spending the day in Michigan, a critical battleground state, where she attended a service at Greater Emmanuel church. She also stopped at Elam's Barber Shop, a Black-owned business in Pontiac, Michigan.

US Vice President and Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris speaks during a stop at Elam's Barber Shop in Pontiac, Michigan, on November 3, 2024. ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AFP via Getty Images
  3:22 PM / November 3, 2024 Trump says RFK Jr.'s proposal to remove fluoride from drinking water "sounds OK" to him

Former President Donald Trump said Sunday that Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s suggestion he would push to remove fluoride from drinking water should he win reelection "sounds OK" to him. The former president was responding to an interview question from NBC News' Dasha Burns, who asked his position on the proposal Kennedy shared recently on social media.

"Well, I haven't talked to him about it yet, but it sounds OK to me. You know, it's possible," Trump said.

Kennedy, previously an independent candidate for president, now endorses Trump and has become a prominent supporter of his current campaign. While Trump has said in public appearances that Kennedy would take on some kind of health-focused role in his second administration if he won, Kennedy has also faced huge criticism before for pedaling false claims and conspiracy theories about various topics related to public health. 

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Robert F. Kennedy Jr., speaks before Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump at a campaign event Friday, Nov. 1, 2024, in Milwaukee. Morry Gash / AP

On Saturday, Kennedy wrote in a post on X that a future Trump administration would "advise all U.S. water systems to remove fluoride from public water" on the day of the next inauguration. He proceeded to share false or unproven claims about health risks linked to water fluoridation, adding that Trump and former first lady Melania Trump "want to Make America Healthy Again."

Danielle Alvarez, a senior adviser on the Trump campaign, addressed the fluoride issue in a statement obtained by CBS News.

"While President Trump has received a variety of policy ideas, he is focused on Tuesday's election," the statement said.

  Updated 2:55 PM / November 3, 2024 Harris cast her ballot via mail, won't say how she voted on California measure

Vice President Kamala Harris confirmed she voted in the 2024 election via mail, though declined to say how she voted on a key ballot measure in her home state of California.

Harris, speaking to reporters while campaigning in the battleground state of Michigan, confirmed her mail-in ballot was on its way to her home state.

"I'm going to trust the system that it will arrive there," she said.

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris speaks to reporters after delivering remarks at a church service at Greater Emmanuel Institutional Church of God in Christ, Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024, in Detroit. Jacquelyn Martin / AP

In California, mail-in ballots must be postmarked on or before Election Day. County elections offices must receive the ballot no later than Nov. 12.

As for the ballot initiative that would reverse criminal justice reforms approved in recent years, Harris punted on the question.

"I am not going to talk about the vote on that because, honestly, it's the Sunday before the election, and I don't intend to create an endorsement one way or another around it," she said.

The initiative, if passed, would make the crime of shoplifting a felony for repeat offenders and increase penalties for some drug charges, including those involving the synthetic opioid fentanyl. It also would give judges the authority to order people with multiple drug charges to get treatment.

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  Updated 2:35 PM / November 3, 2024 Trump says he "shouldn't have left," touting policy in his first term

Former President Donald Trump Trump said at a rally in Pennsylvania on Sunday that he "shouldn't have left," celebrating his first term and suggesting that it shouldn't have come to an end.  

"We did a great job. We had the best economy ever. We had the wall," Trump said. "We had everything."

The former president touted an assessment of his border policy, saying the country had "the safest border in the history of our country on the day that I left."

"I shouldn't have left," he continued. "I mean, honestly, because we did so we did so well."

  Updated 2:16 PM / November 3, 2024 Oprah Winfrey, Lady Gaga and The Roots among guests set to appear at Harris' Pennsylvania rallies Monday

A roster of celebrities will join Vice President Kamala Harris at rallies in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia on Monday night, for the Harris-Walz campaign's final set of "Get Out The Vote" events on the eve of Election Day.

The guest lineup in Philadelphia includes Oprah Winfrey, The Roots, Lady Gaga, Ricky Martin, Jazmine Sullivan, Adam Blackstone, DJ Jazzy Jeff, Freeway and Just Blaze, DJ Cassidy and Fat Joe. Each will either perform or give remarks at the rally, according to the campaign.

Andra Day, Katy Perry and D-Nice will perform at the rally in Pittsburgh.

"These artists and public figures are trusted voices for millions of Americans … the Harris-Walz campaign believes that by using their voices to lay out the stakes of this election, it will further encourage and mobilize people to go vote," the campaign said in a statement.

  1:57 PM / November 3, 2024 Trump says "we're going to start having a little fun with" Michelle Obama

Former President Donald Trump touted his first term at a rally in Pennsylvania on Sunday, saying he's been called the "greatest president," while criticizing his predecessor, former President Barack Obama — and former first lady Michelle.

The former president said he "took over the mess" from Obama when he came into office, calling him a "big divider," before zeroing in on the former first lady.

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump waves as he finishes speaking at a campaign rally in Lititz, Pa., Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024. Matt Rourke / AP

"I've always treated his wife with great respect, but she came at me the other day," Trump said. "That's not nice of her to do. And I think we're going to start having a little fun with Michelle. I think we're going to have a little fun with Michelle, but I always treated her with a lot of respect."

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The former first lady has campaigned for Vice President Kamala Harris in recent days, where she's warned voters about a second Trump term. 

  Updated 1:40 PM / November 3, 2024 Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto "very confident" Democrats will "organize our way to victory" in battleground Nevada
Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto "very confident" Dems will "organize our way to victory" in Nevada 05:59

Two days before Election Day, Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, a Nevada Democrat, said she's "very confident" Democrats will win in her battleground state. 

"I am optimistic that we are going to win, not only for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz, but for Jacky Rosen in this state," she said on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan."

Around half of Nevada's active registered voters have cast ballots, with Republicans leading statewide, spurring anxiety among Democrats heading into Election Day. Nevada is also the only state where Republicans flipped the governor's mansion in 2022, although Cortez Masto hung onto her seat by less than 8,000 votes in that same election. But Cortez Masto said she's "optimistic" about Harris' chances in the Silver State, citing what she has seen as an impressive ground game and canvassing efforts from Democrats.

"That's literally what matters here, is making sure that our voters, who are paying attention now in a swing state like Nevada, that somebody is talking to them," Cortez Masto said. "Now is the time for us to connect with our voters and talk to them about the issues that they care about."

Click here to read more or watch the full interview on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan" above.

  1:11 PM / November 3, 2024 Walz meets with HBCU students in Georgia

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz met with HBCU students from Spelman and Morehouse colleges on Sunday morning during a campaign stop in Atlanta, Georgia.

Walz asked the students how they were feeling, and while most of them expressed confidence, a young man from Morehouse said: "You want me to be honest with you? Scared."

Walz, in response, said: "Well, you know what I hear? Somebody told me, look nauseously optimistic. Look it is okay before any big thing in life, you always feel like, you always feel nervous. This is a big thing. But the biggest thing I've been telling everybody to get over that is going to action. You got, made an action to come out here today, all voted, getting people to vote."

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He said the election in Georgia is going to be "razor thin," but that he was optimistic.

"Look, it is such a privilege. I've done this, been on Earth for 60 years," Walz said. "The idea that Wednesday morning we could wake up with Madam President more ready than almost anybody."

Walz will be joined by second gentleman Douglas Emhoff, Rep. Lucy McBath and Vice President Kamala Harris' sister, Maya Harris, for a "Get Out and Vote" rally. It will include performances from Jon Bon Jovi, The War and Treaty and Michael Stripe. Walz will then travel to Charlotte, North Carolina as part of the campaign's final push ahead of Tuesday's election.

  12:47 PM / November 3, 2024 These states have abortion laws on the ballot for the 2024 election

The 2024 election will not only decide who succeeds President Biden in the White House, but in 10 states, voters will also have the chance to weigh in on abortion access through ballot measures.

In the wake of the Supreme Court's 2022 decision overturning Roe v. Wade, which had established the right to an abortion in the U.S. Constitution, abortion rights groups have turned to ballot initiatives to put the issue of reproductive rights squarely before voters.

Proponents have already seen successes with this approach in 2022 and 2023, when there were abortion-related initiatives on the ballot in seven states.

If the latest ballot measures are successful in expanding abortion access, they would override stringent bans on the procedure in five states. Roughly two dozen states have enacted abortion restrictions after Roe was reversed, and 14 of those states have near-total bans with limited exceptions.

Click here to read the full report.

CBS News' Kaia Hubbard contributed to this report.

  12:24 PM / November 3, 2024 Trump says "I don't mind that" if somebody shot through "fake news" media area

At a rally in Lititz, Pennsylvania on Sunday, former President Donald Trump said he wouldn't mind if someone tried to shoot through the media riser to assassinate him while he was complaining that the bulletproof glass positioned around him was "ridiculous."

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally in Lititz, Pa., Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024. Matt Rourke / AP

"I have a piece of glass over here, and I don't have a piece of glass there. And I have this piece at last here, but all we have really over here is the fake news," Trump said, pointing to the glass positioned between him and the head-on riser. "And to get me somebody would have to shoot through the fake news. And I don't mind that so much. I don't mind that."

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Trump is in Pennsylvania on Sunday as part of his final push for voters ahead of Tuesday's election. He is traveling to North Carolina and Georgia as well.

CBS News' Olivia Rinaldi contributed to this report.

  Updated 11:39 AM / November 3, 2024 Election 2024 polling models and map show state-by-state breakdown for high-stakes race

Here are CBS News' latest estimates of Kamala Harris and Donald Trump's support in the most competitive states in the country leading up to 2024 presidential election. This is where races stand today — the numbers are updated regularly.

We take a state-by-state approach, because the presidency is determined in the Electoral College, not by national popular vote. We produce estimates of current support using a statistical model that incorporates all the data we've collected up to this point.

Read the full report here.

  11:16 AM / November 3, 2024 At stake on Election Day: The reality of the presidency
At stake on Election Day: The reality of the presidency 03:46

Presidential campaigns can get abstract, petty and diversionary. But the reality of the presidency hits the instant a president takes the oath.

In 2009, as President Barack Obama gave his first inaugural address, he carried a secret in his jacket pocket. A terrorist threat loomed over the ceremony; if the attack took place, he was prepared to pull out evacuation instructions and read them to the nearly half-million standing before him on the National Mall.

For voters who have not yet cast their vote, here's what the president you pick will face:

The next commander-in-chief will control thousands of nuclear warheads, and command troops in more than 150 countries. They will confront Russia and China — adversaries working in tandem to dismantle the international order created and nurtured by America. 

Read more here and watch the full report above.

  Updated 11:00 AM / November 3, 2024 How infrequent voters, GOP defectors could tip battlegrounds for Trump or Harris

With such a close presidential race estimated in the battleground races, a host of factors could tip the 2024 election. We focus on two that have the potential to cause the key states to break toward Kamala Harris or Donald Trump. The first has to do with infrequent voters, and the second depends on how successful the Harris campaign is at peeling off Trump's previous supporters.

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In order to see how these scenarios could play out, we tweak specific parameters in our Battleground Tracker model that is trained on tens of thousands of survey responses collected during the campaign. The resultant estimates below illustrate a range of possibilities to be on the lookout for this week…

Scenario 1: Infrequent voters show up big, driven by Trump-leaning men

The swingiest segment of the electorate — and most challenging to estimate in polling — consists of infrequent voters. We define them here as registered voters who didn't cast a ballot four years ago.

Scenario 2: Harris peels off more Trump '20 voters, driven by GOP women

The 2024 race is marked by a sizable gender gap, with the Harris campaign emphasizing reproductive rights and the state of U.S. democracy. Related to this, the Harris campaign has been deploying messengers like former Wyoming GOP Rep. Liz Cheney to persuade moderate Republicans to back Harris this year. That includes the millions of GOP primary voters who cast votes for Nikki Haley, even after Trump had clinched the party nomination. Most of these voters backed Trump in the 2020 general election.

Read the full report here.

  Updated 10:40 AM / November 3, 2024 What Colonial Williamsburg may teach us about politics today
What Colonial Williamsburg may teach us about politics today 09:26

Colonial Williamsburg, capital of the British colony of Virginia, has been preserved as a sprawling museum. Its mission: that "the future may learn from the past."

The crown jewels of Williamsburg, Virginia, are the interpreters, interacting with audiences of our day, but in the context of the world as they would have known it in their time.

By way of example, Thomas Jefferson welcomes visitors: "Good day, friends. How are you faring? You have no complaints? You must not be Virginians! If not from Virginia, where from? Pennsylvania, land of religious anarchy? Welcome! The Ohio Territories? From terra incognito. Welcome to civilization! Upper Canada? Bonjour! Are you immigrating here? Oh, you should. We are trying to encourage immigrants to immigrate here."

Indeed, immigration was highly controversial in Jefferson's time, but from a radically different perspective than ours. I raised the issue with Kurt Smith (who personifies Thomas Jefferson), and Katherine Pittman (a very feisty Martha Washington).

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"It was there in 1776," said Smith, "in the Declaration of Independence. You know that middle bit that everyone skips? In the 27 long train of abuses, Jefferson says, 'He [the king] has prevented immigration.' It is one of the reasons we declare independence."

Pittman asked, "And how can we improve if we never welcome anything new?"

"We're not talking about 'never' welcoming anything new," Koppel said. "We need to know who's coming. We need to know whether they are people of good character. Isn't that what the argument is about?"

"It's the argument in your time," Pittman said. "We can just speak to our time."

Read more here and watch the full report above.

  Updated 10:09 AM / November 3, 2024 What John Deaton said about challenging Sen. Elizabeth Warren in Massachusetts
What John Deaton said about challenging Sen. Elizabeth Warren in Massachusetts 09:33

Republican John Deaton faces off against incumbent Democrat Elizabeth Warren on Election Day. 

  9:54 AM / November 3, 2024 Harrison Ford endorses Harris, saying the nation needs a president who "works for all of us again"

Actor Harrison Ford endorses Harris in a series of videos released on Saturday in partnership with the Harris campaign, noting that with the endorsement, he's "doing something I never thought I'd do: Telling people I've never met who I'm voting for, and why I think they might do the same."

"This election I'm casting my ballot for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz," Ford said, noting that he doesn't agree with all of their policies or believe they're perfect candidates. "But these two people believe in the rule of law, they believe in science, they believe that when you govern, you do so for all Americans."

Ford added, "these are people I can get behind," urging that the nation needs a president "who works for all of us again."

The "Indiana Jones" star said he's been voting for 64 years and "never really wanted to talk about it very much." But he said when former members of the Trump administration speak out against the former president and his ability to lead, "you have to pay attention."

Ford contrasted the two candidates, saying Trump will demand "unquestioning loyalty."

"Kamala Harris will protect your right to disagree with her about policies and ideas," Ford said. "And then, as we have done for centuries, we'll debate them, we'll work on them together. And we'll move forward."

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  9:32 AM / November 3, 2024 Stagecraft and the power of political photographs
Stagecraft and the power of political photographs 04:18

With the invention of photography came a new way to view, mythologize and remember the nation's presidents. CBS News chief election & campaign correspondent Robert Costa talks with Washington Post critic Philip Kennicott about how photographs capture the power of the presidency, the combativeness of campaigns, and the heavy burdens of the highest office.

  9:18 AM / November 3, 2024 The evolving "Wild West" of political advertising
The evolving "Wild West" of political advertising 07:15

We've all seen a lot of political ads lately. But in battleground states, it's a tsunami. Jack Levis is an independent voter in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, which makes him one of the most desirable voters on the planet: "Emails, texts, phone calls, it's in my news feed, it's in social media. In the last two days, I counted, I had 30 spam emails in there all about the election," he said. "It's unbelievable."

Not to mention TV and radio commercials. "Come on, it's everywhere!" he laughed. "Are you kidding me? Ad after ad after ad!"

Erica Franklin Fowler, co-director of the Wesleyan Media Project, which tracks campaign advertising, and co-author of "Political Advertising in the United States," says she actually enjoys watching political ads. But, she adds, "I will first apologize to all of the residents of battleground states, because I feel their pain."

Asked if political ads actually convince anybody, Fowler said, "Political advertising does not have the sort of massive influence that sometimes citizens think that it does. Political advertising really only matters at the margin. That doesn't mean the margin doesn't matter, right? The margin in this competitive election cycle is going to be the difference between making it into the White House and not."

And what about negative versus positive messages? "There's no doubt that negativity is more memorable," she said. "It is more emotion-provoking."

We may hate those attack ads, but Fowler says the positive ones don't say much. "Citizens hate negativity," Fowler said. "Negative ads tend to be more policy-based, more issue-focused, and those details actually are very important for citizens who don't otherwise pay a lot of attention to politics."

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It used to be that we all saw the same ads. In 1964, Lyndon Johnson's "Daisy" commercial implied that his opponent, Barry Goldwater, would launch a nuclear war; and in 1988, George W. Bush's infamous "Willie Horton" ad made his opponent, Michael Dukakis, look dangerously soft on crime.

Read more here and watch the full report in the player above. 

  8:55 AM / November 3, 2024 Trump responds to Iowa poll showing Harris leading in the state

Trump responded to a poll released on Saturday that surprised the political sphere, which showed Harris leading 47% to 44% among likely voters in red Iowa. The former president downplayed the Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa poll, saying all polls "except for one heavily skewed toward the Democrats by a Trump hater" have him leading in the Hawkeye State. 

"No President has done more for FARMERS, and the Great State of Iowa, than Donald J. Trump. In fact, it's not even close!" Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social. 

The Trump campaign called the poll an "outlier" in a memo on Saturday. 

Trump won Iowa by 9 points in 2016 and 8 points in 2020. 

  8:37 AM / November 3, 2024 More than 75 million Americans have voted early

More than 75 million Americans have already voted, according to early voting statistics from the University of Florida's Election Lab, with nearly 41 million in-person early votes cast, and 34 million mail ballots returned across the country.

Across the battleground states, millions of voters have cast their ballots, including more than 4 million in Georgia and in North Carolina, and more than 2 million in Arizona and Michigan. 

Data from the 26 states that report party affiliation shows that more registered Republicans than Democrats have submitted ballots early in-person, whereas more Democrats have returned their ballots by mail than Republicans. 

  8:24 AM / November 3, 2024 Trump rallies in Greensboro, North Carolina as campaign nears close

Trump campaigned in Greensboro, North Carolina Saturday night as the race winds down, reflecting on the campaign trail's close with a handful of rallies remaining. 

"I have three big ones tomorrow, and then I have four big ones on Monday, and then we shut it down, never to happen again," Trump said, calling it "sad." 

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Trump added, "but here's the good part, hopefully we will have achieved our goal."

The former president argued the election is "not so close," claiming that "we're leading in all seven swing states." And he claimed that he had found out before taking the stage that he was winning in New Jersey. 

Of North Carolina, Trump said "You know, when you're winning by a lot, you can still lose by a little, and we can't take a chance of losing the great state of North Carolina. We're not going to lose the great state." 

Although the Greensboro rally was held the Saturday night before Election Day, parts of the 22,000-person capacity arena were empty with the upper sections of the arena blocked off with black sheets and the back near the press riser empty.

At one point, an audience member responded to Trump's allegations that Harris never worked at McDonald's by shouting "she worked on the corner!" Trump appeared to acknowledge the comment by saying "this place is amazing. Just remember it's other people saying it's not me." 

Trump said he plans to vote in Florida on Election Day. 

  8:08 AM / November 3, 2024 FCC commissioner: Harris SNL appearance violated FCC rule

Brandon Carr, the Federal Communications Commission chair, posted on social media on Sunday morning that Harris' "Saturday Night Live" appearance violated the Equal Time Rule, unless NBC made the same overture to the Trump campaign.

Carr said in a follow-up post that the FCC under the Obama administration made clear that the agency would enforce the rule when then-candidate Trump hosted an episode of SNL in 2015. According to Carr, at that time, NBC stations publicly filed Equal Opportunity notices to ensure that all other qualifying candidates could obtain Equal Time if they sought it. The stations did the same thing when then-candidate Hillary Clinton appeared on SNL in Oct. 2016.

"With only days before the election, NBC appears to have structured this appearance in a way that evades these requirements," Carr wrote on social media. "What comparable time and placement can they offer all other qualifying candidates?"

Carr is one of several FCC commissioners, and it's unclear what action would be taken after the appearance. 

  7:55 AM / November 3, 2024 People in recovery from substance use hope to change the political landscape by running for office

Thomas Higdon was a politics fanatic his entire life: He kept up on the news cycle, he door-knocked for candidates, and he volunteered for a number of campaigns. 

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He long dreamed of working in government, but he and everyone around him felt it wouldn't be possible because of his substance use. His use of alcohol and other drugs began causing problems when he was in law school in the mid-1990s, and in 2014, the consequences of his substance use left him living under an overpass. He is now abstinent from the drugs, but even years later, he felt he had ruined his chances of running for office. 

"I allowed this internalized stigma, over decades, to blind me to what I could really do," Higdon, now 52, told CBS News. 

That thought stayed with him for years. He moved into grassroots organizing and advocacy spaces, but in 2023, he learned about the Recovery Advocacy Project's upcoming "Run for Recovery" program — and realized that working in public office might still be possible. 

Read more here. 

  12:31 AM / November 3, 2024 Harris makes surprise appearance on "Saturday Night Live"

Vice President Kamala Harris made a surprise appearance on "Saturday Night Live" in the final days before the election, playing herself as the mirror-image double of Maya Rudolph's version of her.

The first lines the candidate spoke as she sat across from Rudolph was drowned out by cheers from the audience.

"It is nice to see you Kamala," Harris told Rudolph. "And I'm just here to remind you, you got this."

In sync, the two said supporters need to "Keep Kamala and carry-on-ala," declared that they share each other's "belief in the promise of America," and delivered the signature "Live from New York it's Saturday night!"

Vice President Kamala Harris and actress Maya Rudolph participate in "Saturday Night Live" at NBC studios in New York City on Nov. 2, 2024. CHARLY TRIBALLEAU/AFP via Getty Images

Harris arrived in New York on Air Force Two after an early evening campaign stop Saturday on in Charlotte, North Carolina. She was scheduled to head to Detroit, but once in the air, aides said she'd be making an unscheduled stop and the plane landed at LaGuardia Airport.  

Read more here. 

  11:48 PM / November 2, 2024 Iowa poll finds Harris leading Trump in the Hawkeye State

A poll released Saturday took the political world by surprise when it showed Vice President Kamala Harris leading former President Donald Trump in Iowa.

Presidential election 2024 - Figure 16
Photo CBS News

The Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll found Harris leading Trump 47% to 44% among likely voters, this after the same poll conducted in September showed Trump holding a four-point lead. The new poll had a margin of error of 3.4%.

In 2020, Trump easily carried Iowa, defeating President Biden there by a margin of 53% to 45%. The state has six electoral votes.

The last Democrat to carry Iowa was former President Barack Obama in 2012. And this cycle, it has not been considered to be among the battleground states.  

In a memo, the Trump campaign called the poll "a clear outlier." It noted a survey from Emerson College Polling/RealClearDefense, also released Saturday, which showed Trump leading Harris in Iowa by 10 points, 53% to 43% among likely voters.  

Emerson's poll "far more closely reflects the state of the actual Iowa electorate and does so with far more transparency in their methodology," the Trump campaign said. 

  11:14 PM / November 2, 2024 Trump to hold rallies daily in North Carolina until Election Day

Former President Donald Trump will rally supporters in North Carolina every day until Tuesday's election, a flurry of late activity in the only swing state that he won in both his 2016 and 2020 campaigns.

Even as Trump looks to expand the electoral map and project strength with trips to New Mexico and Virginia, two Democratic states not widely viewed as competitive, he is putting considerable time into North Carolina, which last backed a Democrat for president in 2008.

The former president's path to the 270 electoral votes needed to capture the presidency gets significantly more complicated if he loses North Carolina. The fast-growing Southern state gave Trump his smallest margin of victory — 1.3 percentage points — over President Biden four years ago.

Trump campaigned in Gastonia, west of Charlotte, and Greensboro on Saturday, with a stop in Salem, Virginia, in between. He will be in the eastern city of Kinston on Sunday and in Raleigh on Monday. Those four rallies will bring his total events in North Carolina since Oct. 1 to nine. His running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, has been in the state six times during the same period, most recently on Friday.

  Updated 11:51 PM / November 2, 2024 Kamala Harris appears on "Saturday Night Live"

Vice President Kamala Harris had a surprise cameo on "Saturday Night Live" tonight in the cold open. 

Presidential election 2024 - Figure 17
Photo CBS News

She appears in a skit with actor and former "SNL" cast member Maya Rudolph, who has been portraying Harris on the show over the past few seasons, and makes a joke about Trump's momentary difficulty in opening the door of a garbage truck earlier this week.

Harris rallied in Charlotte, North Carolina, early Saturday evening, and was initially slated to fly aboard Air Force Two to Detroit, Michigan. However, her reporter pool was instead informed that her plane was making an unscheduled stop at LaGuardia Airport in New York City instead. 

Saturday's show, the last before Election Day, is being hosted by comedian John Mulaney, with musical guest Chappell Roan.

Harris' opponent, former President Donald Trump, hosted an episode of "SNL" in November 2015, before he secured his first Republican nomination. 

Then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also made a cameo in October of 2015, before she clinched the Democratic nomination. 

— Nancy Cordes contributed reporting. 

  10:35 PM / November 2, 2024 Election-related stress taking its toll on U.S. voters

Two years of non-stop campaigning will come to an end Tuesday, an exhausting election cycle that has included two assassination attempts and a last-minute campaign switch.

The nail-biting election has super-charged stress, leaving many voters on edge.

"I think, like everybody else, there's a lot of nervousness and angst," California voter Kay Hanley told CBS News.

According to the American Psychological Association poll last month, 69% of American voters rate the election as a significant source of stress.  

And CBS News polling has shown an erosion of belief in our nation's institutions.

"Democrats and Republicans tell us that they feel that democracy is under threat," said Anthony Salvanto, director of elections and surveys for CBS News. "So, all of that, at the very least, puts high stakes into this election."

Expert tips on lowering election-related stress 01:59

To lower stress, experts including self-help author Jon Gordon, recommend exercising and limiting time on social media.

"Use it to get information and not validation, don't tie your identity or your own mental health to what you're watching," Gordon said.

Another tip is avoid talking politics, but instead make your voice heard at the ballot box.

"If you don't vote, you shouldn't really have much of a say," Minnesota voter Tess Olsen said. "So this is your opportunity to get out and cast what you believe in and what you stand for."

Presidential election 2024 - Figure 18
Photo CBS News
  9:47 PM / November 2, 2024 Gallego, Lake target undecided Latino voters in closely-watched Arizona Senate race

Democrats hold a slim 51-49 majority in the Senate, and there are 34 seats up for grabs Tuesday, with a key in Arizona, where Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego is facing off against Republican challenger Kari Lake.

Latinos make up about a quarter of eligible voters in the Grand Canyon State, a demographic both candidates are targeting.

"They largely feel left out of politics," Gallego told CBS News. "And we're talking to them about bringing politics back to them."

Gallego, Lake target undecided voters in final days of Arizona Senate race 02:25

Polls have shown Gallego, a Marine veteran, consistently leading Lake, a former local television anchor, in the closely-watched race, despite polls also showing former President Donald Trump holding a narrow lead over Vice President Kamala Harris in the state.  

"So a lot of these Republicans are crossing over support because they've known me, they work for me, and they just don't like the extremism of Kari Lake," Gallego said. "There is also the fact that I am a Latino Marine."

Gallego believes that Harris can help her case in Arizona by continuing to emphasize "her economic plan" and by talking about the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection.

"Latino men are very patriotic," Gallego said. "They understand what happened on Jan. 6."

Lake, a MAGA firebrand, has focused her campaign on voter angst over inflation and immigration.

"We are at ground zero for the border crisis with an open border. Frankly, the economy, it's made the cost of living just really unaffordable here in Arizona, and we also are seeing crime increase on our streets," Lake told reporters this week.

Lake got help Saturday from Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, Trump's running mate, as the two held a rally in Scottsdale.

Harris' running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, also lobbied voters in Tucson Saturday, as the Harris campaign has rushed supply boxes to volunteers statewide hoping to knock on close to 200,000 doors before election day in an effort to close the gap.

  8:55 PM / November 2, 2024 Georgia judge rejects GOP suit seeking to block acceptance of hand-returned mail ballots

A Georgia judge on Saturday rejected a Republican lawsuit trying to block counties from opening election offices on Saturday and Sunday to let voters hand in their mail ballots in person.

Presidential election 2024 - Figure 19
Photo CBS News

The lawsuit only named Fulton County, a Democratic stronghold that includes most of the city of Atlanta and is home to 11% of the state's voters. But at least five other populous counties that tend to vote for Democrats also announced election offices would open over the weekend to allow hand return of absentee ballots.

The lawsuit was filed late Friday and cited a section of Georgia law that says ballot drop boxes cannot be open past the end of advance voting, which ended Friday. But state law says voters can deliver their absentee ballots in person to county election offices until the close of polls at 7 p.m. on Election Day. 

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Kevin Farmer, in an online hearing, repeatedly rejected lawyer Alex Kaufman's arguments before orally ruling against him.

"I find that it is not a violation of those two code sections for a voter to hand-return their absentee ballots," Farmer said.

Fulton County spokesperson Jessica Corbitt-Dominguez said that as of just before 5 p.m. Eastern Time Saturday, 105 ballots had been received at the four locations.  

Read more here. 

  7:26 PM / November 2, 2024 JD Vance and Donald Trump Jr. slam media, illegal immigration at Arizona campaign rally

Sen. JD Vance of Ohio and Donald Trump Jr. slammed the media and illegal immigration at their last event of the day at an Arizona campaign rally. 

The rally was at an ammunition manufacturer in Scottsdale, where the son of the former president spoke before Vance, Trump's running mate. During his speech, Trump Jr. went on a tear against the media — riling up the crowd to have a deeper disdain for the press and calling it "full-on propaganda."

"Whatever disdain you have for the media, it is not enough," said Trump Jr.

His father sued CBS News on Thursday, alleging the network's editing of a recent "60 Minutes" interview with Vice President Kamala Harris was "deceitful." The network called Trump's claims "completely without merit." Trump has previously filed several lawsuits against media organizations.

Vance focused on the October jobs report before pivoting to illegal immigration, alleging that there are thousands of illegal immigrants in the state because Vice President Kamala Harris "refuses to do her job."

Illegal crossings at the southern border dropped earlier this year and plunged even further after President Biden sharply limited asylum in early June. Migrant crossings have plateaued since then but remained at a low level.   

Reporting contributed by Taurean Small

Presidential election 2024 - Figure 20
Photo CBS News
  6:41 PM / November 2, 2024 2 more Russian disinformation videos targeting U.S. election are circulating online, sources say

U.S. officials believe another two fake videos circulating online and publicly identified by the FBI as an attempt to push false election security claims are likely part of a Russia-backed malign influence campaign ahead of Tuesday's presidential election, two sources familiar with the process told CBS News. 

The news comes after the FBI said in a statement Saturday that the videos "are not authentic, are not from the FBI, and the content they depict is false."

The agency said that one of the videos falsely claims "the FBI has apprehended three linked groups committing ballot fraud, and the second relates to first gentleman Doug Emhoff."

In its statement, the FBI did not say who was behind the videos, and when reached by CBS News, declined to comment further.

Saturday's disclosure brings to four the number of fake videos produced and distributed by Russia to mislead the American electorate that have been publicly identified in recent days by the U.S. government.  

Read more here. 

— By Margaret Brennan and Robert Legare

  5:14 PM / November 2, 2024 First Lady Jill Biden plans to campaign in North Carolina

First Lady Jill Biden plans to travel to North Carolina on Monday where she will attend political events, the White House said on Saturday. According to a preliminary schedule released by her team, the first lady will arrive Monday morning in Greensboro, North Carolina. 

From there she will travel to different political e

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