The Latest: Trump and Harris make final pushes in key battleground states

With just over two weeks to go before the 2024 presidential election and the race in a dead heat, Donald Trump and Kamala Harris are hitting the campaign trail in strategic battleground states.

The Republican nominee made three North Carolina stops Monday, including a visit to see storm damage in Asheville. Harris is out to win over suburban voters in key Midwestern battleground states and teaming up with Republican Liz Cheney.

Follow the AP's Election 2024 coverage at: https://apnews.com/hub/election-2024.

Here's the latest:

Walz says some Republicans want to 'move off the MAGA stuff'

Vice presidential nominee Tim Walz says the Democratic ticket is focused on attracting traditional Republicans to support Vice President Kamala Harris for president.

In an interview with Jon Stewart on Comedy Central's ''The Daily Show,'' Minnesota Gov. Walz says a lot of the undecided voters he meets on the campaign trail are Republicans.

Trump endorses the Republican candidate for Alaska's only House seat

Trump participated in a telerally late Monday for Republican Nick Begich, who is challenging Democratic U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola for Alaska's only House seat.

Trump endorsed Begich after the Republican he'd initially backed withdrew following the primary.

Peltola in 2022 became the first Alaska Native in Congress after winning special and regular elections for the seat, defeating opponents including Begich. Trump dismissed her election as a ''fluke.''

Trump and Begich urged supporters to vote early, noting the stakes of the race, with control of the House up for grabs. Over the weekend, Peltola was endorsed by the Alaska Federation of Natives.

She ended the evening by saying, ''I hope to earn your vote, by the way.''

Cheney: ‘We're better than partisanship'

Cheney says that the U.S. has to be able to say, ''We're better than partisanship,'' as she seeks to convince undecided voters to back Harris.

Harris herself says U.S. democracy requires a ''two-party system.'' She says debates are important and disagreements are, too. ''But not name calling.''

She says that Trump wants to focus only on himself and his grievances.

Harris says she's spoken with Americans who are anti-abortion who are surprised and concerned by the post-Roe medical landscape and ''did not intend for the harm'' that some women are now suffering because of increasing abortion restrictions.

Women in some states have lost access to reproductive care in states with strict abortion laws.

She was asked about reproductive rights by an undecided voter who says she is a conservative Christian but she feels the laws post-Roe are less about the unborn and ''more about controlling women.''

Harris is looking to win over Republican voters

Harris — with help from Cheney — is trying to convince Republicans who are concerned about Trump to instead vote for her.

Trump wraps faith campaign event

Trump wrapped up his speech at a campaign event in Concord, North Carolina where he largely tried to appeal to Christian voters by repeating his criticism about transgender athletes and his proposal to conduct a large-scale deportation operation. Trump said that during his administration, he fought for Christians ''like no president has ever fought before.''

Harris begins third campaign event of the day with Liz Cheney

Conservative commentator Charlie Sykes is moderating the third event of the day for Harris and Republican Liz Cheney. It's in Brookfield, Wisconsin.

Sykes said, ''This is not a normal election.''

As Harris took the stage, the crowd cheered and stood for her.

Trump's energetic crowd

There have been repeated affirmations from Trump's Concord crowd, bursts of applause and standing ovations for some of Trump's accomplishments like the appointment of three U.S. Supreme Court justices.

Many in the crowd have joined into a one-sided conversation with Trump as he has mentioned Harris, with numerous shouts of ''go home, Kamala'' and ''the enemy'' when mentions of Democrats have been made.

Trump reflects on his faith, says Harris is ‘very destructive to religion'

Trump spent some time reflecting on the assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13, where a bullet grazed his ear. Trump shared how his parents used to take him to church in Queens and Manhattan.

''As I look back at my life's journey and events, I now recognize that it's been the hand of God leading me to where I am today,'' he said. ''I would like to think that God saved me for a purpose. And that's to make our country greater than ever before.''

Trump said his opponent Kamala Harris is ''very destructive to religion.''

Biden shouts out Harris while honoring artists at a medal ceremony

At a White House ceremony honoring winners of the National Medals of Arts and National Humanities Medals, Biden took a brief detour in his remarks to give a shoutout to Harris' run for the White House.

The line drew a standing ovation from the star-studded crowd that also included directors Spike Lee and Steven Spielberg, and screenwriter Aaron Sorkin.

Biden also told the winners that the moment was a ''very consequential time in the arts and humanities in America'' because ''extreme forces are banning books, trying to erase history, spreading misinformation.''

6 inches of snow delay early voting in Fairbanks, Alaska

Election season has coincided with the first major cold-weather storm, leading to a delayed start for voting in Fairbanks, Alaska.

The state Division of Elections canceled early voting Monday in Fairbanks after more than 6 inches of wet, heavy snow fell overnight. That snow transitioned into rain Monday morning, leaving water on top of super compact, hard snow, said Stephen Dennis, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.

The forecast calls for more accumulation Tuesday, with up to 10 inches of snow expected to fall.

Pennsylvania man charged with threatening to kill a state political party employee

The Pennsylvania man has been charged with threatening to kill a state political party employee who was recruiting Election Day poll watchers, the Justice Department said Monday.

Prosecutors say John Courtney Pollard, 62, texted the state political party representative that he was interested in being a poll watcher after the person posted online last month that they were looking for volunteers.

Pollard, of Philadelphia, then sent the person a series of threatening messages, threatening to kill them in one if they didn't respond and threatening to skin them alive in another, prosecutors allege.

The case was brought through the Justice Department's Election Threats Task Force, which was created in 2021 amid escalating threats of violence against election workers nationwide.

Harris' Michigan campaign event has ended

The vice president is now heading to Waukesha County, Wisconsin, for the last event of the day, also with Republican Liz Cheney. This event will be moderated by conservative commentator Charlie Sykes.

‘They're eating gummies, all sorts of things'

In her conversation with Harris, Shriver asked the Democratic nominee about what she is doing to de-stress, saying that Americans say they're turning off the news, they're doing yoga, ''they're eating gummies, all sorts of things.''

But she also says that Americans should not despair. Everyone in a Democracy has the ability to make a decision about the future through their votes. ''Let's not feel powerless,'' she said. ''That's not in our nature.''

Harris: Trump can be manipulated ‘by dictators and autocrats'

Harris says Trump ''has been manipulated and is so clearly able to be manipulated by favor and flattery including by dictators and autocrats.''

She says if he wins the White House, Ukraine will fall to Russia and that will have terrible consequences globally.

Harris praised the bipartisan support for Ukraine in Congress and said she believes it will continue but that she worries about Trump's embrace of Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

With Liz Cheney becoming one of Harris' fiercest advocates — the two are currently at a campaign event together — the Trump campaign is resurfacing a 2019 post made by a Harris campaign spokesman criticizing the former Wyoming representative and daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney.

The post made by Harris spokesman Ian Sams says, ''Liz Cheney helped lead us into Iraq from a special State Department Middle East post her dad's administration created for her.'' The post was made in response to Cheney's then-criticism of Harris.

Democrats have long vilified Dick Cheney for his defense of the Iraq War. Liz Cheney was selected in 2005 by then Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice as principal deputy assistant for near Eastern affairs and to coordinate initiatives in the broader Middle East and North Africa.

Harris continues to reintroduce herself

Harris and Cheney are being interviewed by Maria Shriver, the former first lady of California under Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who says many voters feel they don't know the vice president, and asked her to speak about herself ''to give them a feeling for who you are.''

''I am a wife. I am a mother. I am a sister,'' she said. ''I am a godmother. I love to cook. I started my career as a prosecutor.''

Harris doesn't find Trump funny

Harris says voters should take Trump's rhetoric seriously, rather than writing it off as some ''sick sense of humor.''

''Some people find it humorous, what he says, and it's just silly,'' she said. ''But understand how serious it is.''

She referenced that retired Gen. Mark A. Milley, who served as chairman of the Joint Chiefs under Trump, reportedly described him as ''fascist to the core.''

Liz Cheney has a message for GOP voters who don't want to see Trump in the White House but are scared to go against their party and vote for Harris.

She says Americans can ''vote your conscience and not ever have to say a word to anybody.''

Cheney says she thinks ''millions'' of Republicans will be quietly casting a vote for the Democrat.

Cheney says she's actively supporting Harris because she believes Trump is dangerous, especially because he tried to overturn the results of the 2020 election and still refuses to admit he lost.

Trump has ended his speech at a rally in Greenville, North Carolina

Trump's attacks against Harris are getting nastier

Trump keeps escalating his attacks on Harris at his Greenville, North Carolina, rally, calling her a ''nutjob'' and accusing her of lacking compassion and strength.

He criticized Harris for being at a fundraiser in San Francisco after Hurricane Helene ravaged the U.S. Southeast.

''Kamala Harris does not have the compassion, the smarts or the strength to be the president of the United States,'' he said. ''She just can't do the job.''

Trump has previously called Harris ''mentally impaired,'' and over the weekend he added a profanity when encouraging supporters to vote Democrats out of office.

A secret message in the ladies' room

Harris is campaigning with Republican Liz Cheney at the Royal Oak Theater in Michigan, and inside the ladies' room, there's a secret message for women voters.

''Woman to woman — your vote is secret,'' the notes read. ''Support reproductive rights this November.''

The pink sticky notes are taped inside every stall.

After Trump's campaign appearance at a McDonald's drive-thru, Harris criticized him for not supporting an increase in minimum wage

Harris also pointed to a nonpartisan analysis that said Trump's policies would deplete Social Security.

''Donald Trump clearly doesn't understands the needs of working people.''

At a North Carolina rally, Trump said Harris and the Biden administration haven't done enough to help after Hurricane Helene

At a rally in Greenville, North Carolina, Trump attacked his opponent and the Biden administration, claiming they haven't properly supported the western part of the state after it was battered by Hurricane Helene last month.

He repeated an incorrect claim that the federal government doesn't have enough money for hurricane victims because it is being used to help immigrants in the country illegally.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency's disaster relief fund gets replenished every year by Congress and is used to pay for recovery from natural disasters. The agency said that money is only used for disaster-related efforts and hasn't been diverted to support border issues.

Harris responded to Trump's accusations that she never worked at McDonald's while she was a college student

''Did I?'' she said while getting off Air Force Two in Michigan. ''I did.''

Harris also gave a thumb's up.

The White House pushed back against statements by Trump that the administration failed to help after Hurricane Helene

Jean-Pierre noted that 5,500 federal personnel were in North Carolina and Florida after Helene and Hurricane Milton. And she said $2 billion in federal assistance had been approved for those affected in North Carolina.

''They are dangerous,'' Jean-Pierre said of Trump's remarks. ''They are unhelpful. It is not what leadership looks like.''

Trump supporters in North Carolina wait in line to hear him speak

Under sunny skies in Greenville, North Carolina, most of the thousands of supporters of Donald Trump seemed cheerful and upbeat while in the queue to hear the former president speak inside East Carolina University's basketball arena.

Several people interviewed said immigration and the economy, particular inflation and taxes, were among their greatest concerns. Some remain worried about the ultimate electoral outcome in North Carolina and that they expected any final Election Day result nationally to be challenged by whichever side is trailing.

Early in-person voting historically has been favored by Democrats in North Carolina, with Republicans more inclined to cast ballots on Election Day. But GOP officials have emphasized this cycle voting during the 17-day period that began last week.

Monica Loch of Mebane, in her late 50s and listed as a registered unaffiliated voter, said she tried to vote on the first day but the lines were too long for her to wait. But she was resolute to vote. Loch sounded resigned to a painful path to a final electoral result.

''I can only hope and pray that Trump does win — and I'm not sure,'' Loch said. ''I'm not sure with the climate of everybody being quite honestly so nasty and stuff. I cannot get a good read on it.''

Harris got a big round of applause when she said the government shouldn't be telling women what to do with their bodies

Harris was asked a question from an audience member about maternal mortality in the U.S. She said the U.S. needs to do better and that abortion rights are one piece of better healthcare for women.

Donald Trump has concluded his news conference in the Asheville area

Asked by a reporter how likely he felt he was to win North Carolina, the Republican nominee turned to the line of supporters behind him.

''Let me ask you, do you think I'll win North Carolina?'' he asked.

''He'll win,'' responded one of the people behind him.

Donald Trump is picking an argument with North Carolina's Democratic governor

Cooper held a briefing earlier on Monday where he asked Trump to ''not share lies or misinformation'' about the disaster response.

Harris is asked about how she'd make it easier for the ‘sandwich' generation

The first question for Harris during a moderated conversation with Republican Liz Cheney was about how she'd help make it easier for people in the ''sandwich'' generation, who are caring for their parents and also their small kids.

The voter, Alexandra Miller, has a 7-year-old and a 72-year-old mother who she also cares for, and she teared up explaining it to the Democratic nominee. She says it's impossibly hard and expensive.

Harris says ''this issue for me is a matter of dignity.'' She says she will restructure so Medicare covers the cost in-home healthcare for older people, so there would be assistance.

She's campaigning with Republican Liz Cheney and talking to a group of voters in suburban Pennsylvania. She says Donald Trump's vitriolic rhetoric has dominated American discourse for too long.

She says it's been used ''in a way that has been using the power of the presidency to demean and divide us.''

She says Americans are exhausted by Trump's rhetoric and ready for a return to caring about neighbors.

Trump's photo opportunity at a Pennsylvania McDonald's resonated with at least one supporter in North Carolina

Republican U.S. Rep. Chuck Edwards noted he also owns McDonald's franchises and that Trump had learned to make French fries a day earlier.

Donald Trump is hearing from supporters who were involved in the response to Hurricane Helene in and around Asheville

Mike Stewart, owner of Pine View Buildings, thanked the Republican nominee for visiting the region and offered to pray for him.

Putting a hand on Trump's shoulder, Stewart prayed to God, ''I ask that you anoint Donald Trump.''

Republican Liz Cheney says she's staunchly conservative — and that's why she's supporting Democrat Kamala Harris

Cheney is campaigning with Harris in battleground states Monday. She says the most conservative value of all is to be ''faithful to the Constitution.'' And she believes Harris will be, and more importantly, Republican Donald Trump will not be.

The women were talking in a conversation moderated by a GOP strategist. They began their day in Pennsylvania. The women spoke to a crowd of voters, sitting in front of signs that read: ''Country over Party.''

Donald Trump has arrived in Asheville, North Carolina, to see the damage caused by Hurricane Helene

He visited a part of Asheville heavily damaged by the hurricane. There were huge piles of debris near where he stopped, with abandoned cars and many buildings smashed or knocked off their foundations.

Trump again criticized the federal government for what he said was not a good enough job helping people recover. He said that if elected president, he would stand with the region until ''the communities are fully rebuilt.''

Walz responded to Donald Trump's McDonald's stop

Trump visited a Pennsylvania McDonalds on Sunday, gleefully working the fry station and answering questions from reporters in the drive thru.

Walz was also asked on ''The View'' to name one nice thing about Trump, but demurred. He offered only that one positive is, ''He will not be president again.''

Walz was asked about his past misstatements and said it was important to be precise about his words

But he said that wasn't the same as Republican former President Donald Trump's constant, deliberate misstatements.

''I do think it's important that we're careful about how we speak,'' Walz said of making previously misleading statements, that he later had to correct. Those included talking about his service in the National Guard and past travel to China.

After Harris struggled on ‘The View' to come up with differences between her possible administration and Biden's, Walz was ready

Walz was asked about how the Democratic ticket would bring change after Election Day.

He pointed to Harris proposing expanding Medicare funding so that it covers home-care costs for the ''sandwich generation,'' or Americans caring for aging parents and children at the same time.

''I think she's really leaning into these issues that impact people first,'' Walz said, ''Those are pretty big differences.''

Vice President Kamala Harris' running mate, Tim Walz, is appearing on ABC's ‘The View'

Walz said of one of his unofficial campaign slogans, ''Mind your own damn business,'' is a good way to live, making Americans better neighbors.

North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper said he's asking Trump to ‘not share lies or misinformation' when he visits Asheville on Monday

Western North Carolina will recover, Gov. Cooper said at a storm recovery effort briefing Monday in Asheville, but they ''don't need the election process to hurt recovery efforts.''

Cooper said a bipartisan bill that he signed increases opportunities to vote, giving county boards and voters more flexibility, but disinformation and misinformation that hurts the people they're trying to help ''needs to stop.''

Many storm survivors lost everything and they want help and truth, he said.

Arnold Palmer's daughter reacts to Donald Trump's references to her father

One of the late golf legend Arnold Palmer's daughters calls Donald Trump's references to her father's genitalia ''a poor choice of approaches'' to honoring his memory, adding that she wasn't upset by the remarks.

''There's nothing much to say. I'm not really upset,'' Peg Palmer Wears, 68, told The Associated Press in an interview Sunday. ''I think it was a poor choice of approaches to remembering my father, but what are you going to do?''

On Saturday in Latrobe, Pennsylvania — the city where Palmer was born in 1929 and learned to golf from his father — Trump kicked off his rally in the campaign's closing weeks with a detailed, 12-minute story about Palmer that included an anecdote about what Palmer looked like in the showers.

''When he took the showers with other pros, they came out of there. They said, ‘Oh my God. That's unbelievable,''' Trump said with a laugh. ''I had to say. We have women that are highly sophisticated here, but they used to look at Arnold as a man.''

US Supreme Court rejects an appeal from former Trump attorney Michael Cohen

The Supreme Court rejected an appeal Monday from former Trump attorney Michael Cohen, who was trying to hold Trump liable for his jailing that he said was retaliation for writing a tell-all memoir.

The justices did not explain their reasoning in the brief, routine order.

Cohen had asked the high court to revive a lawsuit filed after his early release from prison during the coronavirus pandemic was quickly reversed. Authorities said he wouldn't accept some conditions of his release, but Cohen said he'd only asked if he could speak to the media about his memoir. He sued Trump, then-Attorney General William Barr and prison officials.

Cohen served time after pleading guilty to tax evasion and campaign finance charges in 2018. He said Trump directed him to arrange the payment of hush money to a porn actor to fend off damage to his 2016 presidential bid. Trump has denied wrongdoing.

She made the comments during an interview with ABC's ''Good Morning America'' about revamped White House tours. The interview aired Monday morning.

Asked by Deborah Roberts if it would be tough to leave the White House, Biden said ''we're starting a new chapter of our lives, a new journey.''

Roberts asked if her husband made the correct decision to stop his bid for another four years.

''It was the right call, yes,'' the first lady said.

Harris' campaign maintains a large financial advantage over Trump's

The vice president's campaign, the Democratic National Committee and state parties raised more than $359 million in September alone.

But Harris' campaign is spending heavily too. It raised about $222 million on its own in September, only to pay out about $270 million over the same period — helping to boost a large advertising push.

The Harris campaign and affiliated committees entered October with $346 million on hand, according to federal filings.

Trump's campaign, the Republican National Committee and affiliated groups previously reported raising $160 million in September. By October, they had $283 million in the bank.

How does abortion translate? Ballot measures are a challenge for interpreters

In 388 places across the U.S. where English isn't the primary language among communities of voters, the federal Voting Rights Act requires that all elections information be made available in each community's native language.

Such translations are meant to help non-native English speakers understand what they're voting for. But vague or technical terms can be challenging, even more so when it comes to Indigenous languages that have only limited written dictionaries.

For example, there's no single word for abortion in the native language of the Ute Mountain Ute tribe in Colorado's Montezuma County. New York's referendum doesn't even use the word ''abortion,'' making it all the more challenging to convey intent, advocates complain. And how exactly should the science of ''viability'' in the Florida and Nevada measures be explained in the oral traditions of the Seminole and Shoshone tribes?

The Navajo and Hopi tribes get more material translated than most, and they have more than enough voters to sway outcomes.

▶ Read more about translating ballot measures into other languages.

Voters remain largely divided over whether they prefer Republican Donald Trump or Democrat Kamala Harris to handle key economic issues, although Harris earns slightly better marks on elements such as taxes for the middle class, according to a new poll.

A majority of registered voters in the survey by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research describe the economy as poor. About 7 in 10 say the nation is going in the wrong direction.

But the findings reaffirm that Trump has lost what had been an advantage on the economy, which many voters say is the most important issue this election season above abortion, immigration, crime and foreign affairs.

''Do I trust Trump on the economy? No. I trust that he'll give tax cuts to his buddies like Elon Musk,'' said poll respondent Janice Tosto, a 59-year-old Philadelphia woman and self-described independent.

An AP-NORC poll conducted in September found neither Harris nor Trump had a clear advantage on handling ''the economy and jobs.'' But this poll asked more specific questions about whether voters trusted Trump or Harris to do a better job handling the cost of housing, jobs and unemployment, taxes on the middle class, the cost of groceries and gas, and tariffs.

Trump takes questions at a barbershop in the Bronx

Donald Trump went to a barbershop in the Bronx section of New York for a segment with commentator Lawrence Jones that aired Monday on ''Fox & Friends.''

He took questions from clients at the business about immigration, energy and taxes. The barbers wore a black shirt with the phrase ''Make Barbers Great Again.''

One of the clients asked Trump if, once he generated enough revenue with some of his proposals, it would be possible to eliminate federal taxes.

''There is a way. There is a way,'' Trump said, adding that in the 1890s, people did not have to pay income taxes.

''What?'' Trump said. ''How many heads can you take care of? That's a lot.''

Trump asked how much average hair cuts cost and how much they had gone up. He was told they had gone up from a range between $12 and $15 to between $30 and $40.

Toward the end of the visit, Trump told the men ''you guys are the same as me. It's the same stuff. We were born the same way.''

Some Jewish voters in presidential swing states reconsider their longtime devotion to Democrats

For Rona Kaufman, the signs are everywhere that more Jews feel abandoned by the Democratic Party and may vote for Republican Donald Trump.

''The family that is my generation and older generations, I don't think anybody is voting for Harris, and we've never voted Republican, ever,'' Kaufman, 49, said, referring to Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris. ''My sister has a Trump sign outside her house, and that is a huge shift.''

How big a shift? Surveys continue to find that most Jewish voters still support the Democratic ticket, and Kaufman acknowledges that she's an exception.

Still, any shift could have enormous implications in Pennsylvania, where tens of thousands of votes decided the past two presidential elections. Many Jewish voters say the 2024 presidential election is like no other in memory, coming amid the growing fallout from Hamas' brutal attack on Israelis last year.