6 things to watch for when Kamala Harris debates Donald Trump
CNN
Kamala Harris on Tuesday night faces a task unprecedented in modern political history. On the debate stage in Philadelphia, she will deliver both an opening argument – to the millions of voters who want to know more about her – and a closing argument – for her candidacy and against Donald Trump’s – as their lightning campaign enters its final eight weeks.
Kamala Harris on Tuesday night faces a task unprecedented in modern political history. On the debate stage in Philadelphia, she will deliver both an opening argument – to the millions of voters who want to know more about her – and a closing argument – for her candidacy and against Donald Trump’s – as their lightning campaign enters its final eight weeks. The former president will also find himself in uncharted waters. After skipping the Republican primary debates, Trump will now square off with his second Democratic rival in as many outings – but unlike President Joe Biden, whose campaign imploded onstage in Atlanta in June, Harris presents a vastly different challenge. Harris has so far enjoyed a charmed campaign. She pounced on the nomination after Biden dropped out in July, then surged – in the polls and on the fundraising front – in the following weeks. Her cash advantage is clear. She raised $361 million in August alone, nearly three times Trump’s haul. But the horse race is as close as ever, and there is increasing demand in the electorate for more information about Harris and her policy agenda – a knowledge gap that creates opportunities and stumbling blocks for both camps. There is less mystery surrounding Trump. This is his record seventh presidential general election debate. On the trail, he has thrown out a typically Trumpian mish-mosh of often self-contradicting pledges and positions, promoted then fled from the now-infamous “Project 2025,” and otherwise sought to tie Harris to Biden’s record, particularly on the border, while frequently issuing gender- and race-baiting personal attacks. The fundamental question ahead of their meeting in Philadelphia, one of the highest-stakes national debates in a generation, is whether – and how – one of them can deliver a compelling message to swing voters while bolstering the confidence of their respective bases. Here are six things to watch for on Tuesday night:
The Army gynecologist described in a recent lawsuit as a “predator in uniform” is now being held in the Bell County Jail in Texas, “after apparently violating conditions of liberty imposed by his commander,” according to an Army spokesperson.
Brian Walshe on Thursday came face-to-face for the first time with the man who had been having an affair with his wife before her death, as he took the stand to testify in Walshe’s murder trial.
The Supreme Court on Thursday allowed Texas to use a congressional map that will boost President Donald Trump’s effort to keep Republicans in control of Congress, blocking a lower court decision that found the new boundaries were likely unconstitutional because they were drawn based on race.
The US military carried out a strike Thursday on a suspected drug boat in the Eastern Pacific, killing four people on board, according to a social media post from US Southern Command.
A grand jury voted against indicting New York Attorney General Letitia James after being asked to look at the mortgage fraud case against her a second time, according to multiple people familiar with the development Thursday.
National Guard troops deployed to Washington, DC, can remain there for now, after a federal appeals court on Thursday temporarily froze a judge’s ruling that would have soon required them to leave the city’s streets.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s bad week just got worse. That’s after the long-awaited release Thursday of an inspector general’s report on his sharing of highly sensitive military attack plans on the unclassified app Signal earlier this year.
President Donald Trump has hired a new architect for the White House ballroom amid disputes between the president and his architect originally contracted to complete the project, several sources have told CNN.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth risked compromising sensitive military information that could have endangered US troops through his use of Signal to discuss attack plans, a Pentagon watchdog said in an unclassified report released Thursday. It also details how Hegseth declined to cooperate with the probe.
If nothing else, the controversy over the Trump administration’s second strike on an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean has surfaced a long-overdue debate about its already legally dubious first strikes.
Two top House lawmakers emerged divided along party lines after a private briefing with the military official who oversaw September’s attack on an alleged drug vessel that included a so-called double-tap strike that killed surviving crew members, with a top Democrat calling video of the incident that was shared as part of the briefing “one of the most troubling things” he has seen as a lawmaker.
Authorities in Colombia are dealing with increasingly sophisticated criminals, who use advanced tech to produce and conceal the drugs they hope to export around the world. But police and the military are fighting back, using AI to flag suspicious passengers, cargo and mail - alongside more conventional air and sea patrols. CNN’s Isa Soares gets an inside look at Bogotá’s war on drugs.
Young Americans are “a generation under profound strain” with little confidence in institutions and widespread economic concerns, according to a Harvard Institute of Politics survey of adults younger than 30 released Thursday.