Survivors speak out after being wounded in assassination attempt on Trump
Two men shot and wounded during the first attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump at a July campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, are speaking out for the first time since the ordeal. Jim Copenhaver, 74, and David Dutch, 57, sat down for an interview with NBC News.
Both men said the Secret Service and law enforcement failed them and Trump that day when a gunman was able to climb onto the roof of a warehouse approximately 400 yards from Trump and fire his rifle multiple times before being killed by a countersniper team.
Corey Comperatore, a former volunteer firefighter, was killed while shielding his family from the bullets. Both survivors allege that the Secret Service was negligent in handling security protocols.
“Did the Secret Service fail former President Trump and fail you that day?” NBC News’ Tom Llamas asked.
“Oh, yes. Big time,” Dutch said.
“It was a rush job, you know?” Copenhaver said. “It was put together too quickly and they skipped steps.”
Copenhaver and Dutch are dealing with serious health issues after being critically wounded. Copenhaver was shot in the arm and stomach, while a bullet pierced Dutch’s liver.
Since the shooting, Secret Service Director Kim Cheatle stepped down after being criticized by Congress. Acting Director Ronald Rowe testified on Capitol Hill in July, where Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., pressed him for accountability.
“I will tell you, senator, that I will not rush to judgment,” Rowe said. “That people will be held accountable, and I will do so with integrity and not rush to judgment and put people unfairly persecuted.”
“Unfairly persecuted?” Hawley responded. “We’ve got people who are dead!”
Hawley told Rowe he hopes someone will be held accountable for the security failures.
Both Congress and the Secret Service say they are investigating the shooting. The Secret Service has not fired anyone for the July 13 Butler rally shooting.
Lawyers for the two men tell NBC News they plan to file lawsuits and are in the early stages of investigating whom to bring a case against.
Tensions create fractured alliance among Biden, Harris staff: Report
Tensions are rising between the teams of Vice President Kamala Harris and President Joe Biden as the election approaches, according to an Axios report. Ten anonymous sources told Axios that Biden’s aides are struggling with their new supporting role after the president’s withdrawal from the race, creating friction between the two teams — something the White House denies.
Harris’ team expressed concerns about inadequate coordination from the White House regarding Biden’s messaging and schedule, believing this lack of alignment undermines her campaign efforts.
A notable incident occurred recently when Biden held an impromptu press conference just as Harris was set to speak in Michigan, potentially overshadowing her event. Similarly, as Harris appeared on “The View,” Biden held another press event simultaneously.
Additionally, when Harris criticized Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for not taking her call ahead of Hurricane Milton — a claim DeSantis denies — public friction arose between Harris and DeSantis. Shortly after, Biden praised DeSantis, saying he had been in touch with the Florida governor. Axios sources said Biden was not briefed on Harris’ previous comments about DeSantis.
Staffers reported a public disconnect between the two camps regarding “Biden-Harris administration policy” and separating it from a “Harris-Walz administration” agenda. While Biden has praised a working economy under his leadership, economic concerns persist for many voters.
“The White House is lacking someone in the room thinking first and foremost about how things would affect the campaign,” a Harris campaign staffer said.
Before Biden dropped out of the race, his staff was skeptical about passing the torch to anyone.
“At the end of the day, we’d switch to candidates who would, according to polls, be less likely to win than Joe Biden—the only person ever to defeat Donald Trump,” Rob Flaherty, Biden’s deputy campaign manager, said.
The White House has dismissed the claims in the Axios report.
“President Biden endorsed Vice President Harris immediately after leaving the race, rejecting other approaches that would divide the party, and has attested to her leadership abilities and continually made clear his support for her,” a White House spokesperson said. “While ensuring that all critical White House functions are fully staffed, we have made significant changes to guarantee the vice president’s team has all of the support and resources that they need.”
According to Axios, mounting frustrations and tensions lie primarily between Harris and Biden’s senior-level staffers, but mid-level staff are reportedly working well together toward the shared goal of electing Harris in three weeks.
Early voting underway in Georgia as judge makes ruling about certification
Early voting gets underway in the battleground state of Georgia today. With just three weeks until the election, Georgia remains a big prize with 16 electoral votes.
Donald Trump will be in Atlanta on Tuesday night. He will be speaking at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Center.
Georgia is a key state in the presidential election. Joe Biden won the state in 2020 by 12,670 votes. The result prompted then-President Donald Trump to unsuccessfully challenge the results in court.
In Georgia on Tuesday, a Fulton County judge ruled that certifying elections is a required duty of county election boards and they’re not allowed to refuse the results based on suspicion of miscounts or fraud.
Recent polling shows the race is a dead heat in Georgia with Trump favored in surveys when it comes to issues, such as the economy and immigration. Vice President Kamala Harris scores better on protecting democracy and abortion.
Harris is slated to be in Atlanta on Saturday for a campaign rally.
Harris, Trump turn to PA with 3 weeks to go until Election Day
With exactly three weeks until Election Day, both candidates have their sights set on Pennsylvania. And NASA has launched its ambitious plan to visit the largest planet in our solar system in hopes of making a new discovery. These stories and more highlight your Unbiased Updates for Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2024.
Harris, Trump turn to PA with 3 weeks to go until Election Day
With just three weeks until Election Day, the 2024 presidential candidates are focusing on the key battleground states — and none may be as important as Pennsylvania and its 19 electoral votes. Both Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump took their message once again to the Keystone State on Monday, Oct. 14, each believing that if they win Pennsylvania, they will win the election.
Harris held a rally in the northwestern city of Erie, where Trump visited a few weeks ago. The vice president painted her opponent as a threat to American democracy, warning her supporters of what she calls the dangers of another Trump presidency.
“I believe so strongly that a second Trump term would be a huge risk for America and dangerous,” she said. “Donald Trump is increasingly unstable and unhinged, and he is out for unchecked power. That’s what he’s looking for.”
Harris also urged Pennsylvanians to get out to vote early as mail-in voting is now underway in the state.
Also Monday, former President Trump spoke during a town hall in Oaks, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Philadelphia. He touched on claims he’s a threat to democracy.
“When they talk about a threat to democracy, how about where they take a candidate who won fair and square, they throw them out and they put up a woman who failed, was the first one to drop out of a field of 22 and got no votes?” he said. “And this is the person we’re running against. And she is not a smart woman. That’s true. And we cannot — we’ve had that for four years. We’re not going to have it for another four years.”
Trump cut his town hall short after two attendees required medical attention, with both the former president and moderator South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem commenting on the heat in the venue. Trump then requested music be played for the remainder of the event.
Trump will be back in Georgia on Tuesday as the focus on the battleground states intensifies.
Along with rallies, the candidates are continuing their media tour to reach voters. The vice president will take part in a town hall Tuesday, Oct. 15, hosted by the radio program “The Breakfast Club” and then she will appear on Fox News on Wednesday, Oct. 16.
The group of pro-Palestinian demonstrators staged a sit-in demanding an end to U.S. support for Israel’s war against Hamas. While none of the protesters got into the stock exchange, dozens did cross the security fence put in place by police.
A New York Police Department spokesperson said officers arrested 206 people.
Since the war in Gaza started just over a year ago, more than 42,000 Palestinians have been killed and almost the entire population has been displaced, according to Gaza health officials.
North Carolina man arrested for allegedly threatening FEMA workers
Investigators in North Carolina arrested and charged a man with threatening to harm FEMA workers who were helping parts of the state devastated by Hurricane Helene.
According to the Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office, William Parsons, 44, is charged with “going armed to the terror of the public” — a misdemeanor.
In a statement, the sheriff said while initial reports indicated there was a group of armed militia members threatening FEMA workers, they found Parsons acted alone. Officials said he did have a handgun and a rifle in his possession when arrested.
The arrest followed misinformation and disinformation being spread about FEMA in the wake of the natural disaster and caused FEMA to change the way it was working to help people impacted by Helene because of concerns over workers’ safety.
NASA launches mission to find signs of life on Jupiter moon
The mission, dubbed Europa Clipper, started its long journey to Jupiter’s fourth largest moon on Monday. It’s expected to enter the planet’s orbit in 2030 after a flight of 1.8 billion miles.
Pair of giant pandas set to arrive at the National Zoo
Eleven months after the National Zoo in Washington, D.C. Said goodbye to its giant pandas, two new ones are on their way. The pair of giant pandas have officially left a research facility in China and are set to be flown to D.C., according to Chinese officials.
It’s not yet clear when they’ll arrive. The zoo’s website still says new pandas will be coming by the end of the year, however, on Monday, the Zoo did announce it will be closed Tuesday for the safety of the pandas and staff.
The return of panda diplomacy between China and the U.S. has already seen a pair delivered to the San Diego Zoo with another promised to San Francisco.
2,471-pound pumpkin wins world championship
A 2,471-pound pumpkin won the 51st World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-off Monday in Half Moon Bay, California, south of San Francisco, defeating its closest competitor by six pounds.
Trump unveils new border plan, calling for 10,000 more agents
Former President Donald Trump unveiled a new plan to increase the number of United States Border Patrol agents. He made the announcement Sunday, Oct. 13, at a campaign stop in Prescott Valley, Arizona.
He said that if he’s elected, he would hire 10,000 new agents and boost their salaries by 10%. He also would offer a $10,000 retention and signing bonus to keep the agents currently on the job and bring in new agents.
“If Kamala gets four more years, the entire country will be turned into a migrant camp,” Trump said at his Arizona rally.
Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign denounced Trump’s plan. A spokesperson said Trump has a track record of broken promises and failed leadership on border control.
Harris said she would sign a bipartisan bill that would impose tougher immigration and asylum laws if she were elected president. The bill failed to pass Congress earlier this year.
Harris made a trip to the border in September backing tighter border restrictions.
Border patrol numbers
The Biden-Harris administration did have new lows for migrant crossings into the U.S. following new restrictions on asylum access.
The Border Batrol had around 56,000 crossings in July, 58,000 in August and 45,000 in September. That’s down from 250,000 at the end of 2023.
There are 19,000 agents employed by the U.S. Border Patrol. The Biden-Harris administration lost over 4,200 agents between October 2020 and April 2024 with individuals either quitting or retiring.
Native Americans are marking Indigenous Peoples Day in October 2024 with a push to increase voter turnout in November. Events such as a voting rally in Minneapolis, a forum on Native American voting in Virginia and a project in Utah to register voters are all part of the mobilization and outreach efforts.
In 2020, voter turnout on tribal land in Arizona was significant, providing a boost for Democrat Joe Biden. Janeen Comenote, the executive director of the National Urban Indian Family Coalition, emphasized the importance of involvement during a presidential election year.
“We’re really all about just getting native voters out, not telling them how to vote, but understanding that you have a voice and you’re a democracy, a democracy that we helped create,” Comenote told The Associated Press.
According to the 2020 Census, nearly 10 million people in the United States identify as Native American, making up roughly 3% of the population. The Native American Rights Fund, a nonprofit providing legal assistance to tribes, recently found that 66% of eligible Native Americans are registered to vote.
However, barriers such as lack of addresses and mail delivery on Indian land, and polling places located off reservations, hinder voter participation. Many impoverished Native Americans also lack transportation to travel to vote.
Efforts are underway to tackle these challenges and empower Native Americans to have a stronger voice. While Indigenous Peoples Day is not a federal holiday, it is observed in 17 states.
Harris unveils business loans, cannabis industry opportunities for Black voters
Vice President Kamala Harris is launching a new campaign initiative aimed at mobilizing Black voters, particularly Black men, ahead of the upcoming presidential election. The initiative, called the “Opportunity Agenda for Black Men,” includes provisions for forgivable business loans for Black entrepreneurs.
It also focuses on new studies addressing diseases like sickle cell, which disproportionately affect African American men, and regulating cryptocurrency to protect Black men who invest in digital assets.
Additionally, Harris pledged to legalize marijuana and ensure that Black men can benefit from its business potential.
A New York Times poll released on Saturday, Oct. 12, found that 20% of Black men support Trump, while 15% of all Black voters do, representing a six-point increase from four years ago.
With just 22 days until Election Day, the Democratic Party is bringing in prominent figures to rally Black supporters.
Former President Barack Obama has been making stops in battleground states to speak directly to Black voters, while former President Bill Clinton also spoke to Black voters in Georgia on Sunday, a state he won in 1992.
Harris and Trump spar over health and fitness for office
The 2024 presidential candidates are hitting the campaign trail at a faster pace in the final three weeks before Election Day. On the trail, Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump are highlighting the issue of fitness for office.
Over the weekend of Oct. 12, Harris’ physician, Dr. Joshua Simmons, released a letter saying the 59-year-old Harris “possesses the physical and mental resiliency required to successfully execute the duties of the presidency, to include those of chief executive, head of state and commander-in-chief.”
He went on to say that Harris maintains a healthy, active lifestyle.
The vice president was then quick to call out the former president and what her campaign said is Trump’s reluctance to release his own medical records. Harris told reporters it is clear that Trump does not want the American people to really see whether he is fit to be president.
On the morning of Monday, Oct. 14, Trump responded to the claim on his Truth Social platform.
“I believe it is very important that Kamala Harris pass a test on cognitive stamina and agility,” Trump wrote in a post. “Her actions have led many to believe that there could be something very wrong with her.”
Trump also called Harris slow and lethargic in answering the easiest of questions.
Trump is 78-years-old. His campaign said his overall health is excellent and that he has voluntarily released updates through Rep. Ronny Jackson, R-Texas. Jackson served as Trump’s White House physician before Jackson was elected to Congress. He also treated Trump after a gunman shot Trump at a rally in Pennsylvania in July 2024.
Deputies assigned to the rally said they stopped the 49-year-old suspect as he was driving an unregistered vehicle with a “homemade” license plate. They said the man claimed to be a journalist. He has since been identified by authorities as Vem Miller, a resident of Las Vegas,
The man passed an outer security boundary before being stopped at an inner perimeter, patrolled by local deputies. Authorities said former President Trump was not yet at the rally when the arrest happened, and he was “not in any danger.”
A Fox News Digital report said Miller spoke to the outlet following his arrest. Miller said, according to Fox, “he reported the guns to authorities, which he says he always travels with despite never using them, at a checkpoint to get into Trump’s Coachella rally on Saturday evening and denied that documents Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco said were fake are legit.”
Miller reportedly told Fox News some of the documents use his full Armenian name and others don’t. Miller added, “Yes, I’m 100% a Trump supporter.”
Trump will not golf until after election due to safety concerns: Report
Former President Donald Trump has not played a round of golf since his last assassination attempt on Sept. 15. That’s when Trump was playing golf at Trump International Golf Course in West Palm Beach, Florida, and a Secret Service agent spotted the barrel of a rifle sticking out from the tree line.
Ryan Wesley Routh is facing charges for the attempted assassination. It was also the second attempt on the former president’s life in a two-month span.
On July 13, Trump was shot in the ear while giving a speech on stage in Butler, Pennsylvania, during a campaign rally. The suspect in that case was shot dead by a countersniper team.
Although Trump has received heightened protection since the attempted assassinations, federal agents told Trump they could not ensure his safety at his golf courses, which are very close to public roads, NBC News reports.
If Trump does not play golf until after the election on Nov. 5, it will be the longest time he’s gone without playing the game since the pandemic.
