Leading Democrats in the House are urging the U.S. Army to implement a “strong official response” over a dispute at Arlington National Cemetery last month involving staff members working for former President Donald Trump. Trump, who is running another presidential campaign, participated in a ceremony in late August to mark the third anniversary of the Kabul airport bombing that killed 13 U.S. service members during the 2021 Afghanistan withdrawal. News outlets reported that members of Trump’s staff allegedly had a verbal and physical altercation with an official at the cemetery over whether they could themselves film or take photos in Section 60, a zone for recent U.S. casualties. Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA), the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, and two of his colleagues issued a statement this week, demanding an investigation that could result in penalties and the release of information. Trump and his campaign staff “clearly violated the rules and regulations prohibiting political activities at Arlington National Cemetery by using one of our country’s most hallowed sites for partisan campaign purposes,” they said. A U.S. Army spokesperson said a female official at Arlington National Cemetery, located in Virginia near Washington, D.C., had been “abruptly pushed aside” but ultimately decided not to press any charges, and the matter was closed. Trump has denied there being “conflict or ‘fighting.'” NPR reported that his spokesman, Steven Cheung, “strongly rejected the notion of a physical altercation” and said his team was prepared to release footage to fight defamatory claims. Am I Racist? ONLY In Theaters Tomorrow—Get Your Tickets Now! Gold Star families have appeared in videos that Trump posted to social media, saying they invited the former president to attend and film the event and criticizing Vice President Kamala Harris for her political attacks over the dispute. In their statement this week, the congressional Democrats pressed the Army to “immediately provide information regarding how the event was coordinated” and insisted that the alleged assault “requires a strong official response.” “As with any alleged assault, this incident should be investigated by the appropriate law enforcement authorities and should be subject to an independent charging decision,” the Democrats said, adding the Army should cooperate fully. Failure to “properly investigate” the dispute and hold people accountable, they said, “undermines the integrity and honor of” Arlington “and erodes the longstanding rules, tradition, and norms requiring nonpartisanship in the U.S. military.” Smith was joined by Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD), the ranking member of the Oversight Committee who has also requested an incident report on the Arlington dispute, and Veterans’ Affairs Committee Ranking Member Mark Takano (D-CA).

Abortion is one of the most fraught issues of this election cycle. Democrats have hammered abortion to galvanize their voters, while the topic has become a significant liability for Republicans. Former President Donald Trump, who appointed three of the conservative Supreme Court justices who voted to overturn Roe v. Wade, has sought to thread the needle on this polarizing issue during an extremely tight race. Meanwhile, since the court’s decision, states have been free to decide their own abortion policies. Some have cracked down and passed strict restrictions, while others have enshrined legal abortion in law. Am I Racist? ONLY In Theaters Tomorrow—Get Your Tickets Now! So far, voters in six states have cast ballots on abortion constitutional amendments — California, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Vermont, and Ohio. In every case, the side favoring abortion won. Ohio voters caught Republicans off guard last year when they approved a ballot initiative that nixed Ohio’s 2019 heartbeat abortion ban, which was tied up in the courts at the time. Abortion is now legal up to viability in Ohio, usually considered around 24 weeks. Other pro-life ballot initiatives since the Dobbs case, such as Montana’s unborn legal personhood measure, have also been rejected by voters. This November, 10 more states will put abortion up for a vote. Florida In Florida, residents will vote on a ballot measure that would amend the state constitution to enshrine legal abortion up to the point of viability of the unborn baby, usually around 24 weeks, or “when necessary to protect the patient’s health.” If passed, the Florida measure would nullify the state’s six-week abortion ban, which took effect in May. In April, nearly three in five Florida voters said they would vote for the abortion measure. Arizona In Arizona, voters will cast their ballot for a similar initiative that would amend the state constitution to enshrine legal abortion up to viability, with an exception for the health of the mother. Abortion is currently legal up to 15 weeks in Arizona. The abortion campaign behind the ballot measure has amassed a $9.5 million war chest. Missouri Missouri voters will vote on a ballot initiative that would enshrine legal abortion up to viability. The Missouri Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that the measure would appear before voters in November. A lower court judge had ruled the measure was not specific enough because it did not identify which laws it would repeal. Abortion is currently illegal throughout pregnancy in Missouri except to save the life or preserve the health of the mother. If the ballot initiative is successful, abortion would be legal until viability, around 24 weeks. Colorado Colorado voters will vote on a ballot initiative that would amend the state constitution to recognize a right to abortion and repeal a previous constitutional amendment that prohibited the use of state funds for abortions. Colorado currently has no laws restricting abortion. The ballot initiative would simply declare formally that “the right to abortion is hereby recognized.” Nevada Nevada residents will vote on a ballot initiative that would amend the state constitution to recognize a “fundamental” right to abortion up to viability, although abortions past this point done for the health of the mother would also be legal. Abortion is currently legal up to 24 weeks of pregnancy in Nevada. Nebraska Nebraska has two abortion initiatives on the ballot in November, one for and one against abortion. One initiative would amend the state constitution to recognize a fundamental right to abortion up to viability. The other would amend the state constitution to ban abortion in the second and third trimester. Abortion is currently legal in Nebraska up to 12 weeks, around the end of the first trimester. Montana Montana voters will vote on a ballot initiative that would amend the state constitution to enshrine legal abortion up to viability. Abortion in Montana is legal up to viability. In 2022, Montana voters rejected a measure that would have given unborn babies legal personhood status. This year, the state Supreme Court also ruled that minors do not need parental permission to get an abortion. South Dakota South Dakota residents will vote on a measure that would amend the state constitution to enshrine legal abortion through the end of the second trimester. Abortion is illegal throughout pregnancy in South Dakota except to save the life of the mother. A doctor who performs an abortion in the state is guilty of a felony. New York In New York, one of the deepest blue states, residents will vote on a measure that would amend the state constitution’s equal rights amendment to include anti-discrimination clauses relating to abortion. Last month, a New York judge ruled against Democrats who wanted the word “abortion” to appear in the initiative, saying he did not have a “crystal ball” to predict how the amendment would affect abortion. Abortion is already legal throughout pregnancy in New York. Maryland In Maryland, residents will vote on a measure that would amend the state constitution to guarantee a right to abortion. Abortion is legal throughout pregnancy in Maryland.

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) said during a post-debate analysis this week that the key takeaway he walked away from the debate with was that Vice President Kamala Harris was unable to defend her record in the Biden-Harris administration. Cruz made the remarks during an episode of his “Verdict” podcast with co-host Ben Ferguson while breaking down how President Donald Trump and Harris each performed during Tuesday’s ABC News debate. “What tonight illustrated is that Kamala Harris is utterly incapable of defending her own record,” he said. “What we saw tonight, this was her stump speech, and this was her DNC convention speech, cut into sound bites and repeated.” Am I Racist? ONLY In Theaters Tomorrow—Get Your Tickets Now! Cruz noted that Harris avoided answering questions posed to her by Democrat-friendly moderators David Muir and Linsey Davis, including whether or not people were better off today or under the Trump administration. “Kamala refused to answer it at all,” he said. “She didn’t say yes. She didn’t say people’s lives are better. She said nothing at all.” “If I were to predict, we’re not going to see Kamala emerge from the basement until Election Day,” Cruz added. “It’s like the groundhog until she sees her shadow on election day, she doesn’t get to come out of the basement.” He said that Harris might be able to get away with not having to campaign because the media is so desperate for her to win that “they were going to say that whatever happened — she could literally fall to the ground and start screaming and wailing and kicking her feet in the air — and they would say she won.” “So that that was going to be the narrative regardless, I will say what we learned is she doesn’t have a good answer to her own record,” he concluded. WATCH: The debate proved that Kamala Harris is utterly incapable of defending her own record. She can’t claim with a straight face that Americans are better off now than they were four years ago. Instead of discussing her policies, Kamala Harris reverted to sound bites and repeated… pic.twitter.com/loE2oW97Js — Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) September 11, 2024

Former President Donald Trump will hold a town hall event in the heavily Democratic city of Flint, Michigan, on Tuesday, September 17, as he seeks to flip the Great Lakes State back to red in November. The town hall is set to begin at 7:00 p.m. ET and moderated by Arkansas Republican Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, according to the Trump campaign. “After Michigan voters have been forced to suffer three and a half years of Kamala Harris and Joe Biden’s dangerously liberal policies, President Trump will meet with Michiganders to listen to their concerns and share his vision to make America affordable again,” Team Trump said in a statement. “The auto industry is the backbone of Michigan’s economy, and Kamala Harris’ actions have only shown that she will destroy it,” the statement added. “If Kamala Harris has her way with a gas-powered car ban, Michigan will lose, at a minimum, 40,000 jobs. It’s painfully clear that Michiganders cannot afford four more years of Kamala Harris, and voters in the Great Lakes State are eager to hear how President Trump will lower inflation and protect the auto industry.” BREAKING: President Trump to hold Flint, Michigan town hall next Tuesday at 7PM ET. pic.twitter.com/qIMJIdLm27 — Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) September 12, 2024 The Biden-Harris administration issued a rule earlier this year requiring auto manufacturers to produce more electric vehicles and tightened regulations on tail-pipe emissions, which target gas-powered vehicles. The Kamala Harris campaign attempted to distance the vice president from the administration’s policies, saying last month that she “does not support an electric vehicle mandate.” During her first major interview as the Democratic nominee, however, Harris doubled down on her commitment to addressing the “climate crisis.” “The most important and most significant aspect of my policy perspective and decisions is my values have not changed,” she told CNN’s Dana Bash. “You mentioned the Green New Deal. I have always believed, and I have worked on it, that the climate crisis is real, that it is an urgent matter to which we should apply metrics that include holding ourselves to deadlines around time.” Am I Racist? ONLY In Theaters Tomorrow—Get Your Tickets Now! Flint, known as “Vehicle City” for its boom during the height of the auto industry in Michigan, is now a heavily Democratic area whose population has declined for decades. When Flint was at the center of a water crisis nearly a decade ago, Trump traveled to the city to tour the water plant. Trump’s motorcade in 2016 was met by angry Flint residents who told him to “go home.” Trump lost Genesee County, where Flint is the largest city, to both Hillary Clinton in 2016 and Joe Biden in 2020 by nearly 10 points. Michigan is a vital battleground state for Trump and Vice President Harris in the 2024 election. Polls currently show Harris barely leading Trump by less than one point in the state, according to the RealClearPolitics average.

'Does she, Kamala Harris, need to do more?'

Honestly, wouldn't be surprised if this hits before the end of 2024 the way this year is going

'Money is influence, it's access'

'Created an obscure method to collect information'

'Industrial policy that Democrats get criticized for'

She was quick to provide an online update