Image source, Getty Images

Addressing supporters in Tempe, Arizona, Donald Trump sought to deflect recent questions about his competence with attacks aimed at his opponent, calling Kamala Harris's recent performance at a CNN Town Hall "pathetic". He continued his insults throughout the rally, later calling her a "low IQ person".

While in Arizona - a swing state that shares its southern border with Mexico - Trump doubled down on his frequent criticism of Harris's work on illegal immigration.

"Kamala's migrant invasion given to us through gross incompetence, disqualifies her from even thinking about being president," he said, to roaring applause.

The US was "like a garbage can for the world", the Republican said while describing undocumented immigrants. "Every time I come up and talk about what they've done to our country, I get angrier and angrier."

In early 2021, Joe Biden asked Harris to deal with the “root causes” of Central American immigration. While her goal was to reduce overall immigration to the US, she was not given the job of "border czar", as Trump has suggested.

Samira Hussain
Reporting from Georgia

Samuel L Jackson has just taken the stage in Clarkston, Georgia, encouraging people to get out the vote, saying: “Our vote is our voice. Our voice is our power."

He is followed by director Spike Lee, who is taking the stage to a cacophony of cheers dressed in a burgundy tracksuit.

A bit earlier today, a Republican mayor in a crucial swing state said he wouldn't be voting for his party's nominee and would instead endorse Kamala Harris.

Shawn Reilly, the mayor of Waukesha, Wisconsin, told Fox 6 News that he was "terrified of Donald Trump becoming the next president".

“He’s already been impeached twice, he’s been convicted of felonies, and this is not what the United States needs,” he added.

Reilly said that he also went against the Republican party in 2020 when he privately voted for Joe Biden, and added that he left the party in 2021 after the Capitol riots on 6 January.

• Zooming out: Waukesha County, a key political battleground, has been a Republican stronghold in recent years. No jurisdiction within it voted for Biden over Trump in 2020

Image source, Getty Images

Kayla Epstein
Reporting from Georgia

Image source, Reuters

There are thousands of people here to see Kamala Harris's rally, where she'll be joined by Barack Obama.

The line wraps around the entire campus of the James R Hallford Stadium and traffic is snarled in all directions.

LaTanya Taylor travelled all the way from Kansas City, Missouri, to see Harris and Obama appear together in Atlanta tonight.

She says that Harris represents “change” and names abortion access as her top issue.

She wears a T-shirt with the slogan “Chucks and Pearls” - a reference to two of Harris’s signature accessories.

James Menendez
Newshour presenter

Immigration is one of the biggest issues in this campaign and especially so for Republicans.

Stefanie Crisp-Canales owns a cattle ranch in south Texas, just an hour or so from the Mexican border. Her family has employed Mexicans who’ve come to the US legally for years.

But now she says she’s had enough of large groups of undocumented migrants trespassing across her land and sometimes driving through the farm’s fences.

"They want to leave their country because they’re wanted for other crimes and stuff," she tells me.

When I put it to her that not every migrant who crosses illegally is a criminal she says: "When Border Patrol run their names, they’ll tell us, this one’s wanted in whatever country, right, and this one’s wanted for murder. That’s really scary."

Sometimes Stefanie and her husband Marcus chase after the groups. Isn’t that dangerous, I ask?

"I've had them run after me before, trying to stop me. But usually, once they know that you have a gun, and they see your gun, they'll almost always stop," she replies.

And to underline the point, I notice that the gate to the ranch has a design with two guns and the slogan “We Don’t Dial 911”.

Stefanie believes people won’t stop trying to get across the border until it’s sealed completely. And is Donald Trump the person to do that, I ask?

"I mean right now, that’s our only hope," she says.

Samira Hussain
Reporting from Georgia

People are making their way into this high school football stadium in Clarkston, Georgia.

The stadium has a capacity of more than 15,000 and judging by the star-studded line-up of today's event, Harris's team is expecting to be able to fill this place.

Speaking to supporters at this rally, some admitted to coming here today to be able to catch a glimpse of former president Barack Obama.

This is a real testament to his enduring popularity, despite having left office almost a decade ago.

He remains one of the most popular Democrats in the country. This is the first campaign event he will participate in side by side with Vice President Harris

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

We're less than two weeks away from election day and this evening both campaigns will continue with their attempts to win over key swing states - but they won't be making their cases alone.

Over the next few hours, we'll see the two White House hopefuls backed by not only the vocals of popular artists, but also notable DC insiders - some of whom used to reside at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

Singer James Taylor will be joining Tim Walz in North Carolina, while Kamala Harris will hold her first rally with Barak Obama (and Bruce Springsteen) in Georgia.

Meanwhile, the Trump campaign are targeting Arizona and Nevada - with rallies at 1700 EDT (2200 BST) in Tempe and then later in the night in Las Vegas. He'll be joined by former presidential candidates Vivek Ramaswamy and Tulsi Gabbard alongside the band Common Kings.

We will be keeping track of events in all four states and look to bring you some wider analysis from our correspondents on the ground. Stick with us.

Image source, Reuters

• Swing states are top of mind (again) for both presidential candidates, with events taking place in Georgia,Arizona, Nevada, Michigan and North Carolina in the coming hours
• The race to the White House remains a tight one, with polling averages for a number of these key states showing less than one percentage point separating the two main candidates
• When it comes to stopping foreign interference in US elections, the White House national security adviser says there is a "long way to go", but believes the country has "made progress"
• Meanwhile, Trump has called his opponents "crude, rude and vicious" - Harris has said voters face a "very serious decision" after she praised Republicans who are now backing her
• Elsewhere, the former presidentsaid he would fire Special Counsel Jack Smith- who has brought two federal indictments against him - "within two seconds", if elected
• And US media reports suggest superstar Beyoncé will be joining Harris's campaign in Houston on Friday

BBC's Outside Source has been speaking with US election officials about the threats they faced in 2020, and how they are preparing for the upcoming election.

Tina Barton is a Republican from Michigan and the former city clerk for Rochester Hills. A week after the 2020 election, she received threatening phone calls, where a man told her he will kill her and that she deserved a knife to her throat.

"To have your live threatened is a life changing experience, it impacts the way you secure your home, it impacts the conversations you have with family members about their safety," she says.

“I am my mum's only child and having her listen to the voicemail where someone says when I least expect it they will kill me, that is a hard conversation to have.

"I am living in this state of hyper-vigilance. I am currently viewing everyone as a potential threat and that was not a way that I used to live my life.

Would Harris’s price gouging plan really help US consumers?published at 20:14 British Summer Time 24 October 2024

20:14 BST 24 October 2024

By Ben Chu, policy and analysis correspondent

During her CNN town hall event on Wednesday, Kamala Harris was asked by an undecided voter in Pennsylvania what she would do to tackle the price of groceries.

She said she would introduce a national ban on price gouging, to “stop companies taking advantage of the desperation… of the American consumer and jacking up prices”.

Harris’s plan - according to her campaign team - would only apply to "essential goods during emergencies or times of crisis".

So, it is unclear what - if anything - it would do to bring prices down when there aren’t emergencies, something she was challenged about by CNN’s Anderson Cooper.

And 37 US states already have laws prohibiting price gouging after local states of emergency have been declared.

• BBC Verify has been looking in detail at the Harris plan on price gouging

Divya Arya
BBC World Service

A group of 200 middle-aged Indian American women have come together as the "Chitthi Brigade" to campaign for presidential nominee Kamala Harris.

Chitthi Brigade members are knocking doors in South Asian neighbourhoods hoping to make a desi (South Asian) connection.

It started in 2020 when Kamala Harris thanked her "chittis" in her acceptance speech for the Democrat Party’s Vice-President nomination. "Chitthi" is Tamil for aunt. It struck a chord.

New York-based Shoba Vishwanathan called her friend and they decided they’ll use their Indian networks, that generally came together for festival celebrations, to tap into this energy.

The idea spread via Whatsapp groups and connected women across the US.

“Her Indian roots mattered in that moment, but the outrage against Donald Trump and his policies united us,” she says.

Suba Srini in Washington DC is organising postcard writing sessions and phone banks.

“So many times when we call and the person on the other end realises it’s someone who speaks their native language, they are much more open to sharing and discussing the issues that matter to them,” she says.

Within their communities, it has also help challenge the widespread notion that women vote like their husbands and ‘aunties’ were mainly concerned with getting their children married.

Kayla Epstein
Reporting from Georgia

I’ve encountered many voters who typically voted one way, but this race has made them reconsider. It’s a snapshot of how this election is shuffling pre-conceived notions about voting habits - making the race difficult to predict.

I met some of these voters today at the Briarwood Recreation Center, an early voting site in the Atlanta suburbs.

Drew Sandage always considered himself a Libertarian and voted third party in past elections. But this year he decided to vote for the Democrat, Kamala Harris.

“It’s a little bit of an anti-Trump vote,” Sandage says.

Meanwhile, 35-year-old Kaitlyn Peake cast a ballot for Republican Trump despite always voting for Democrats.

“The way I see voting for Trump and Vance is like a vote to reset the political stage,” she says.

She was raised in a Democratic family in the liberal-leaning Bay Area, but wants to see a presidency that backs more traditional views.

She adds that she does not agree with Democrats' support for transgender rights and believes that on abortion, the party was “too aggressive - they’re too liberal”.

Speaking to reporters moments ago in Philadelphia, Kamala Harris has again hit out at her campaign rival Donald Trump.

Harris says people have been presented with a "very serious decision... Donald Trump who will sit in the oval office, stewing plotting revenge".

Or, she says, "what I will be doing, which is responding... with a to-do list, understanding the need to work on lifting up the American people".

Harris later adds that she believes having a number of Republicans endorse her candidacy - including over the last few days the mayor of Waukesha and former representative Fred Upton - shows that "people who have been leaders in this country, regardless of their political party, realise what's at stake".

Image source, Josh Zygielbaum

The BBC OS Team has been speaking with US election officials about the threats they faced in 2020, and how they are preparing for the upcoming election.

Josh Zygielbaum is a Democrat from Denver and the elected Adams County Clerk and Recorder.

He wears a bullet-proof vest to work every day after a man followed him home from work in 2020.

"Before I get out of the car I check my mirrors, I look around. When I leave my house I look around, it is constant concern," Zygielbaum told BBC OS.

"The threat is very real to us and it is very scary. I spent almost six years in the Marines and oftentimes now I am back at that heightened level of concern and I carry a firearm with me."

Asked why he continues his work despite the threats, he said: "I love what we do, I believe in democracy and this is the foundation piece of our country, without that we would not have the democracy we have. Without that you are either back to a monarchy or a dictatorship.

"It is very important to me to continue our way of life, especially for the future, for my kids and grandkids."

Natalie Sherman
New York business reporter

Over the last four years, the US has seen a swell in unionisation, public support for unions and strike activity.

The latest example is Boeing, where factory workers on Wednesday rejected, for a second time, a pay offer from the company, further extending the strike.

In theory, the rise of labour power could be a good sign for Democrats, who have long counted unions as an important part of their base and been supportive of issues, like stronger worker protections, that have been key labour priorities.

But as Donald Trump has made appeals to union rank-and-file a key part of his campaign, that’s not how it has played out.

Kamala Harris and Tim Walz have won endorsements from key organisations such as the United Autoworkers, the AFL-CIO, and the Boeing machinists.

But other major unions, such as the Teamsters, have withheld endorsements at the national level, a sign of fierce internal divisions among its members about the candidates.

This divide is playing out especially visibly in swing states such as Michigan and Pennsylvania. For example, though the leadership of the US Steelworkers union backed Harris, Trump has held rallies in Pennsylvania spotlighting support he is receiving from local members of the union.

Earlier we brought you the news that 15 calls made to the emergency services after an assassination attempt on Donald Trump have been released.

You can listen to a few of those in the video above.

The US Justice Department has given an update on cases against four men accused of threating election workers across state lines.

• A man from Alabama was sentenced to 30 months in prison for sending threatening messages to officials, saying they would be executed and sending a picture of Woody from Toy Story with a projectile in his back
• Two men, from Florida and Philadelphia, were charged for telling staff they would be raped and killed
• A man from Colorado pleaded guilty to threatening officials, including saying he could shoot a state judge. The man also admitted to illegally possessing multiple firearms and ammunition

The Justice Department set up its Election Threats Task Force in June 2021, six months after Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol.

The BBC has been speaking to election worker on the front line of these conspiracy theories, braced for threats against them in the final weeks of the campaign.

Image source, Reuters

Donald Trump says he would fire Department of Justice (DOJ) Special Counsel Jack Smith, immediately if he were elected to a second term in the White House. Smith has brought two federal indictments against Trump.

"It's so easy. I would fire him within two seconds. He'll be one of the first things addressed," he says as he addresses radio host Hugh Hewitt's question on whether he would pardon himself.

Image source, Getty

Beyoncé will appear at Kamala Harris' Houston rally on Friday evening.

A source familiar with the plans confirmed the star's appearance in comments to BBC's US partner CBS.

Previously, Beyoncé was expected to appear at the Democratic National Convention, but ultimately did not attend the event.

Image source, Reuters

The White House national security adviser says that US has "made progress" in identifying foreign interference in its elections, "but there's a long way to go to get to where we need to be".

Jake Sullivan says the US now has systems that "rapidly identify deep fakes and and call them out", and that these systems had even spotted foreign interference "over the course of the last few days".

"We are not where we need to be, I acknowledge that," Sullivan adds as he calls out Russia and Iran for attempting to interfere in the November election.

• Read more: What to know about US election hacking, Iran and other countries