Back-to-back hurricanes have jumbled the presidential campaign schedules of Democrat Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump.
Trump and Harris have separately gone to Georgia to assess hurricane damage and pledge support. Harris also has visited North Carolina, requiring the candidates to cancel campaign events elsewhere and use up time which is a precious resource in the final weeks before any election. Both Georgia and North Carolina are political battlegrounds.
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Democratic vice presidential nominee Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz greets supporters after speaking at a campaign event, Friday, Oct. 11, 2024, in Warren, Mich. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)
Republican vice president nominee Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, speaks during a campaign event in Greensboro, N.C., Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton)
Democratic vice presidential candidate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz speaks to the crowd during an early voting rally at Palo Verde High School in Tucson, Ariz., Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024. (Kelly Presnell/Arizona Daily Star via AP)
Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris poses for a photo with a supporter after speaking at a campaign event Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024, on the Gila River Indian Community reservation in Chandler, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks at a meeting of the Detroit Economic Club, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
Meanwhile, a recent poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that a solid majority of Hispanic women have a positive opinion of Harris and a negative view of Trump. Hispanic men are more divided on both candidates.
Follow the AP’s Election 2024 coverage at: https://apnews.com/hub/election-2024.
Here’s the latest:
Trump was in Reno, Nevada, on Friday night, where he repeated many of the claims he made in Aurora, Colorado — airing videos of news clips featuring reports of alleged crimes by immigrants.
“We’re now known as an occupied country,” Trump told more than 1,000 people in a ballroom in the Grand Sierra Resort. “I make this vow to you. Nov. 5, 2024, will be liberation day in America.”
The comment sparks an explosion of cheers, followed by chants from the crowd, “USA, USA, USA.”
Aurora’s Republican mayor, former U.S. Rep. Mike Coffman, said the thousands of people who attended the rally were able to see for themselves that the situation in the city had been mischaracterized.
“Again, the reality is that the concerns about Venezuelan gang activity in our city – and our state – have been grossly exaggerated and have unfairly hurt the city’s identity and sense of safety,” he said in a statement.
Kamala Harris and Tim Walz are taking another shot at making their case to gun owners.
Their campaign announced Friday they are launching their newest coalition: Hunters and Anglers for Harris-Walz.
Harris has advocated for stricter gun safety laws, while also underscoring that she and Walz are gun owners.
She told Oprah Winfrey at a campaign event last month that she had a gun and that “if somebody breaks into my house, they’re getting shot.” The vice president revealed earlier this week in a CBS “60 Minutes” interview that her weapon is a Glock pistol and confirmed that she has fired it at a shooting range.
The hunters and anglers group is set to hold a call next week aimed at mobilizing like-minded peers to get behind Harris and Walz.
The campaign announced the new group as Walz on Saturday will join fellow hunters in Minnesota to mark the start of pheasant season
Donald Trump is in a Colorado suburb, aiming to tie the arrivals of migrants to a perception of chaos in smaller communities.
He is doubling down on his pledge to carry out the largest deportation operation in U.S. history.
Trump’s rally on Friday in Aurora, Colorado, marks the first time either presidential campaign has visited this state that votes reliably Democratic in statewide races.
Trump has been consistently loud in his statements on immigration. Over the last few months, he has pinpointed specific smaller communities that have seen large arrivals of migrants, where tensions are flaring over resources.
Vice President Kamala Harris said she will create a bipartisan council of advisers to provide her feedback on her policy initiatives if she makes it to the White House.
Harris announced the initiative while attending an event in Phoenix with Republicans supporting her campaign. She said it’s critical that there is structure in her administration so she could hear from a spectrum of voices.
“I love good ideas wherever they come from,” said Harris, who is making a push to get Republicans with doubts about Trump to support her.
Vice President Kamala Harris laced into former President Donald Trump on Friday for letting Iran “off the hook” while he was in office and argued that she would be a greater champion for Israel’s security than the Republican nominee.
“Make no mistake, as president, I will never hesitate to take whatever action is necessary to defend American forces and interests from Iran and Iran-backed terrorists,” Harris said in a call with Jewish supporters ahead of Yom Kippur. “And I will never allow Iran to acquire a nuclear weapon. Diplomacy is my preferred path to that end. But all options are on the table.”
Harris charged that Trump “did nothing” after Iranian-backed militias attacked U.S. bases and American troops.
But during his time in office, Trump had ordered strikes against Iranian-backed militias as well as a January 2020 operation that killed Qassem Soleimani, the head of Iran’s elite Quds Force, and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the deputy commander of the Iran-backed group in Iraq known as the Popular Mobilization Forces, or PMF.
Trump said he ordered the killing of Soleimani because Soleimani was developing plans to attack American diplomats and service members.
President Joe Biden said ahead of a Friday briefing about hurricane damage that estimates are the Hurricane Milton alone caused $50 billion of damage, while adding that his predecessor, Donald Trump, is “just the biggest mouth” for disinformation about the government’s response.
The president added that the disinformation is a “permanent state of being for some extreme people,” but that he believes the country as a whole wants facts and bipartisan cooperation to address natural disasters.
“I think those who have been spreading these lies to try to undermine the opposition are going, gonna pay a price for it,” Biden added.
Donald Trump has been running a decidedly “bro-y” campaign.
But he will try to expand his appeal with women as he participates in a Fox News town hall focusing on issues impacting women
Fox News Channel announced that host Harris Faulkner will moderate the discussion in front of an audience of women.
“Women constitute the largest group of registered and active voters in the United States, so it is paramount that female voters understand where the presidential candidates stand on the issues that matter to them most,” Faulkner said said in a statement.
Trump’s campaign has aggressively courted men — especially younger men of color — with appearances on podcasts and sporting events popular with the demographic.
Polls have repeatedly shown he is seen more favorably by men than by women.
The Trump sit-down will be taped Tuesday and air the next day, Oct. 16th.
Fox says it has extended a standing invitation to Vice President Kamala Harris to participate in a town hall as well.
A trio of Wisconsin conservatives declared Friday that they support Democrat Kamala Harris rather than Donald Trump in the Nov. 5 election.
Charlie Sykes, a former conservative radio talk show host from Milwaukee; former Republican state Senate Majority Leader Dale Schultz; and former Republican state representative and appellate judge David Deininger told reporters that Trump lacks the character and moral fiber to serve as president.
Sykes said the election is a referendum on constitutional values that the country had always taken for granted before Trump’s political ascendance.
“Republicans have decided winning or staying in power is more important than standing up for these values, which used to be fundamental,” Sykes said. “I’m going to be voting for Kamala Harris for president and it’s not a difficult choice for me. It’s absolutely essential to keep Donald Trump out of the White House.”
Schultz said the country needs real leadership.
“I continue to consider myself a good Republican but it’s time to put the good of the country ahead of the party,” Schultz said.
Deininger said Trump has lied to Americans “about just about everything.”
“A second Trump term would be far worse and far more dangerous,” Deininger said. “If he regains power, he won’t have guardrails to restrain him.”
Doug Emhoff, Kamala Harris’ husband, says Donald Trump won’t debate his wife again because he was badly beaten in their first encounter.
“He’s afraid that that’s going to happen again,” Emhoff says in an interview for the MSNBC show “Morning Joe.”
The husband of the Democratic nominee says Trump would rather spread “this fog of misinformation and disinformation and gaslighting” than face Harris directly.
Emhoff says he doesn’t have the time to be angry at Trump’s criticisms of him and his wife, because that would be a “distraction” and the focus of the Democratic ticket is on campaigning to win the Nov. 5 election.
Democratic vice presidential nominee Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz is firing back at Donald Trump in Michigan for insulting Detroit while campaigning in the city.
Trump said Thursday that if Vice President Kamala Harris wins the White House, “The whole country will be like — you want to know the truth? It’ll be like Detroit.”
Walz was to use a campaign event in nearby Warren, Michigan, to attack Trump’s record in the battleground state, according to prepared remarks shared by the campaign.
“Maybe if he ever spent any time in the Midwest, he’d know Detroit is experiencing a great American comeback. Crime is down. The city is growing. Factories are opening again,” he was to say. "But all these guys know about manufacturing is how to manufacture bulls—-.”
Walz plans to quote Trump campaigning in the state in 2016 promising that they “won’t lose one” automotive plant if he’s elected. ”I guess, technically, that wasn’t a lie — because he lost 6 of them across the country,” Walz was to say.
Walz also plans to reassure the auto-heavy state that Harris was not trying to ban gas-powered vehicles.
Vice President Kamala Harris will participate in a town hall hosted by Charlamagne tha God on Tuesday, the influential radio host announced on his show Friday.
The appearance comes as Harris’ campaign is looking to shore up support among Black men for her candidacy.
The announcement comes a day after former President Barack Obama delivered a forceful call for Black men to support Harris during a campaign swing in Pennsylvania.
Democratic vice presidential nominee Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz says, “I don’t know if any of us do everything right,” as he tried to draw some distance between the Democratic ticket and President Joe Biden.
Speaking to ABC’s "Good Morning America,” Walz was asked whether he and Vice President Kamala Harris would have done anything different over the last four years.
“Look, I don’t know if any of us do everything right,” he replied. “But I can tell you he’s done everything in the best interests of the American public.”
Harris drew fire from former President Donald Trump when she told “The View” earlier this week that she couldn’t think of a difference with Biden — before saying she would put a Republican in her Cabinet if elected.
Walz also used the interview to try to walk back his call at a fundraiser this week to eliminate the electoral college. Harris’ campaign quickly stated it doesn't support such a move and Walz told ABC, “My position is the campaign’s position.”
Democratic vice presidential nominee Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz greets supporters after speaking at a campaign event, Friday, Oct. 11, 2024, in Warren, Mich. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)
Republican vice president nominee Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, speaks during a campaign event in Greensboro, N.C., Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton)
Democratic vice presidential candidate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz speaks to the crowd during an early voting rally at Palo Verde High School in Tucson, Ariz., Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024. (Kelly Presnell/Arizona Daily Star via AP)
Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris poses for a photo with a supporter after speaking at a campaign event Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024, on the Gila River Indian Community reservation in Chandler, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks at a meeting of the Detroit Economic Club, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
CAMARILLO, Calif. (AP) — A wildfire northwest of Los Angeles burned out of control for a second day Thursday after destroying dozens of homes, but officials said firefighters could get a break with fierce winds expected to subside by evening.
More than 10,000 residents remained under evacuation orders as the Mountain Fire continued to threaten some 3,500 structures in suburban neighborhoods, ranches and agricultural areas around Camarillo in Ventura County. The blaze, which broke out around 9 a.m. Wednesday, had zero containment, and the cause was unknown.
County fire officials said crews working in steep terrain with support from water-dropping helicopters were focusing on protecting homes on hillsides along the fire's northeast edge near the city of Santa Paula, home to more than 30,000 people.
Kelly Barton, 43, watched as firefighters sifted through the charred rubble of her parents’ ranch home of 20 years in the hills of Camarillo with a view of the Pacific Ocean. The crews uncovered two safes and her parents’ collection of vintage door knockers undamaged among the devastation.
“This was their forever retirement home,” Barton said Thursday. “Now in their 70s, they have to start over.”
Her father returned to the house an hour after evacuating Wednesday to find it already destroyed. He was able to move four of their vintage cars to safety but two — including a Chevy Nova he'd had since he was 18 — burned to “toast,” Barton said.
The National Weather Service said a red flag warning, which indicates conditions for high fire danger, would remain in effect until 6 p.m. Winds were expected to decrease significantly but humidity levels will remain critically low, forecasters said.
Officials in several Southern California counties urged residents to be on watch for fast-spreading blazes, power outages and downed trees during the latest round of notorious Santa Ana winds.
Santa Anas are dry, warm and gusty northeast winds that blow from the interior of Southern California toward the coast and offshore, moving in the opposite direction of the normal onshore flow that carries moist air from the Pacific. They typically occur during the fall months and continue through winter and into early spring.
The Mountain Fire was burning in a region that has seen some of California’s most destructive fires over the years. The fire swiftly grew from less than half a square mile (about 1.2 square kilometers) to more than 16 square miles (41 square kilometers) in little more than five hours on Wednesday. By Thursday afternoon it was mapped at nearly 31 square miles (80 square kilometers) and Gov. Gavin Newsom had proclaimed a state of emergency in the county.
Marcus Eriksen, who has a farm in Santa Paula, said firefighters kept embers from spreading to his home, his vehicles and other structures even as piles of compost and wood chips were engulfed.
The flames were up to 30 feet (9 meters) tall and moving quickly, Eriksen said Thursday. Their speed and ferocity overwhelmed him, but the firefighters kept battling to save as much as they could on his property. Thanks to their work, “we dodged a bullet, big time,” he said.
Sharon Boggie said the fire came within 200 feet (60 meters) of her house in Santa Paula.
“We thought we were going to lose it at 7:00 this morning,” Boggie said Thursday as white smoke billowed through the neighborhood. She initially fled with her two dogs while her sister and nephew stayed behind. Hours later the situation seemed better, she said.
The Ventura County Office of Education announced that more than a dozen school districts and campuses in the county were closed Thursday, and a few were expected to be closed Friday.
Two people suffered apparent smoke inhalation and were taken to hospitals Wednesday, fire officials said. No firefighters reported significant injuries.
Utilities in California began powering down equipment during high winds and extreme fire danger after a series of massive and deadly wildfires in recent years were sparked by electrical lines and other infrastructure.
Power was shut off to nearly 70,000 customers in five counties over the heightened risk, Southern California Edison said Thursday. Gabriela Ornelas, a spokesperson for Edison, could not immediately answer whether power had been shut off in the area where the Mountain Fire was sparked.
The wildfires burned in the same areas of other recent destructive infernos, including the 2018 Woolsey Fire, which killed three people and destroyed 1,600 homes near Los Angeles, and the 2017 Thomas Fire, which burned more than a thousand homes and other structures in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties. Southern California Edison has paid tens of millions of dollars to settle claims after its equipment was blamed for both blazes.
Weber reported from Los Angeles. Jaimie Ding and Stefanie Dazio in Los Angeles; Ethan Swope in Camarillo; Eugene Garcia in Santa Paula; Amy Taxin in Orange County; Kathy McCormack in Concord, New Hampshire; and Sarah Brumfield in Washington, D.C., contributed to this report.
Tracey Tanner pets Brownie the goat while watching the Mountain Fire burn around Swanhill Farms in Moorpark, Calif., on Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
Inmate firefighters battle the Mountain Fire at Swanhill Farms in Moorpark, Calif., on Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
A firefighter battling the Mountain Fire watches flames from a firing operation burn off vegetation around Swanhill Farms in Moorpark, Calif., on Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
Flames from the Mountain Fire burn along a hillside as horses gallop in an enclosure at Swanhill Farms in Moorpark, Calif., on Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
Horses gallop in an enclosure at Swanhill Farms as the Mountain Fire burns in Moorpark, Calif., on Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
Flames from the Mountain Fire leap along a hillside as a horse stands in an enclosure at Swanhill Farms in Moorpark, Calif., on Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
Tiffany Hobelman leads a horse named Koshan from an enclosure at Swanhill Farms as the Mountain Fire burns in Moorpark, Calif., on Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
Flames from the Mountain Fire leap along a hillside as horses gallop in an enclosure at Swanhill Farms in Moorpark, Calif., on Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
Todd Howard, left, sifts through the remains of his parents' fire-ravaged property with the help of firefighters after the Mountain Fire swept through, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024, in Camarillo, Calif. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)
Todd Howard, left, sifts through the remains of his parents' fire-ravaged property with the help of firefighters after the Mountain Fire swept through, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024, in Camarillo, Calif. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)
Todd Howard sifts through the remains of his parents' fire-ravaged property after the Mountain Fire swept through, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024, in Camarillo, Calif. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)
Todd Howard sifts through the remains of his parents' fire-ravaged property after the Mountain Fire swept through, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024, in Camarillo, Calif. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)
Firefighters and sheriff's deputies push a vintage car away from a burning home as the Mountain Fire burns in Camarillo, Calif., on Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
Todd Howard sifts through the remains of his parents' fire-ravaged property after the Mountain Fire swept through, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024, in Camarillo, Calif. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)
Marvin Meador sifts through his fire-ravaged property after the Mountain Fire swept through, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024, in Camarillo, Calif. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)
A worker digs a trench in front of a fire-ravaged property after the Mountain Fire swept through, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024, in Camarillo, Calif. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)
A firefighter walks through smoke while battling the Mountain Fire on Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024, in Santa Paula, Calif. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
A helicopter drops water as the Mountain Fire burns along South Mountain Rd. on Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024, in Santa Paula, Calif. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
The Mountain Fire burns above South Mountain Rd. on Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024, in Santa Paula, Calif. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
Kelly Barton, left, is hugged by a family friend after arriving at her parents' fire-ravaged property in the aftermath of the Mountain Fire, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024, in Camarillo, Calif. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)
Marvin Meador walks on the remains of his fire-ravaged property after the Mountain Fire swept through, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024, in Camarillo, Calif. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)
A firefighter prepares to douse flames while battling the Mountain Fire on Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024, in Santa Paula, Calif. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
A firefighter climbs off an engine while battling the Mountain Fire on Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024, in Santa Paula, Calif. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
Firefighters with the Culver City Fire Department extinguish hot spots at a home destroyed by the Mountain Fire in Camarillo, Calif., Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024. (Stephen Lam/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)
Firefighter Missy Forrett with the Beverly Hills Fire Department puts out flames at a home destroyed by the Mountain Fire in Camarillo, Calif., Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024. (Stephen Lam/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)
A horse stands in an enclosure as the Mountain Fire burns behind on Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024, in Santa Paula, Calif. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
A firefighter prepares to douse flames while battling the Mountain Fire on Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024, in Santa Paula, Calif. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
A firefighter watches as flames from the Mountain Fire consume a home in Camarillo, Calif., on Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
Flames engulf a structure during the Mountain Fire in Camarillo, Calif., Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024. (Stephen Lam/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)
Flames consume a home as the Mountain Fire burns in Camarillo, Calif., on Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
Smoke rises from the Mountain Fire as seen from a commercial flight near Ventura County, California, Wednesday Nov. 6, 2024. (Stephen Lam/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)
In this aerial still image provided by KABC-TV, shows Los Angeles County Fire Department crews scrambled to contain a small blaze fed by erratic wind gusts that pushed flames through dry brush near Broad Beach along Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu on Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024. (KABC-TV via AP)
In this aerial still image provided by KABC-TV, shows Los Angeles County Fire Department crews scrambled to contain a small blaze fed by erratic wind gusts that pushed flames through dry brush near Broad Beach along Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu on Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024. (KABC-TV via AP)
Flames consume a home as the Mountain Fire burns in Camarillo, Calif., on Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
Firefighters work against the Mountain fire, Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024, near Camarillo, Calif. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
Flames consume a home as the Mountain Fire burns in Camarillo, Calif., on Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
Firefighters work through heavy winds and smoke in the Mountain fire, Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024, in Camarillo, Calif. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
A firefighter works in the Mountain fire, Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024, near Camarillo, Calif. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)
Flames engulf a structure during the Mountain Fire, Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024, near Camarillo, Calif. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)
A helicopter drops water over a burning home in the Mountain fire, Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024, near Camarillo, Calif. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
A political sign sits in front of a destroyed home in the Mountain fire, Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024, near Camarillo, Calif. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)
A fire burns a house in the Mountain fire, Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024, in Camarillo, Calif. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
A firefighter, moves bicycles as he works against the Mountain fire, Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024, near Camarillo, Calif. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)
A helicopter drops water over flames in the Mountain fire, Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024, near Santa Paula, Calif. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)
CORRECTS CAR - Firefighters and sheriff's deputies push a vintage car away from a burning home as the Mountain Fire burns in Camarillo, Calif., on Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
Television reporters film as flames from the Mountain Fire consume a home in Camarillo, Calif., on Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)