Harris and Cheney target women voters with abortion rightspublished at 17:06 Greenwich Mean Time 27 October

17:06 GMT 27 October

Rowan Bridge
North America correspondent, Washington DC

Image source, Reuters

If you want to know what the Harris campaign thinks is going to motivate women to come out and vote, you only have to have been watching TV this morning in the US.

As we mentioned earlier, Kamala Harris did a sit down interview with BBC's US partner CBS News where they followed her to her rally in Texas - which she described as "ground zero" for fighting for abortion rights.

Abortion was a central plank of the interview, and something the Harris campaign thinks is a winning issue for them with women since Roe v Wade was overturned in June 2022 under Donald Trump.

There’s also a large gender gap in this year's election, with Harris ahead with women. And they’re doubling down on the effort to energise that group of the electorate to show up on 5 November.

Liz Cheney, the former conservative Republican Congresswoman who is supporting Harris, was also interviewed by CBS.

She brought up the issue of abortion, but also suggested that voters don’t have to let their spouses know how they voted - a message that seemed tailored to women voters.

“Your vote is a secret vote. You should do what you know is right," Cheney said, adding that she believes there will be "a lot of men and women who will go into the voting booth and will vote [with] their conscience" - and those votes will be for Harris.

"They may not ever say anything publicly, but the results will speak for themselves.”

Ottilie Mitchell
Reporting from Madison Square Garden

Image source, Reuters

A sea of red MAGA hats fills the streets of midtown New York outside of Madison Square Garden - where the doors have just opened in the last few minutes for Donald Trump's rally here this evening.

Some Trump supporters have been camping out all night in temperatures that dropped to 12C (55F) ahead of this ‘homecoming’ rally.

Further uptown in the Democratic-dominated city, a megaphone has been blasting out the Harris campaign slogan "we’re not going back".

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

A bit earlier this morning, Republican US Senator Lindsey Graham joined the US Sunday media rounds to defend his close ally, Donald Trump.

Speaking with ABC News, Graham was asked about comments made earlier this week by Trump's White House chief of staff John Kelly, who described his former boss as having fascist tendencies.

The South Carolina senator called Kelly "emotional" and acting out of "desperation".

"He's entitled to his opinion, I just categorically reject it," Graham said.

Graham also noted that while he "admires" the general, he thinks people like Kelly should reflect on their own service before lobbing criticisms at Trump.

Image source, BBC/Bernd Debusmann Jr

I spent much of yesterday at the Kamala Harris rally in Kalamazoo, Michigan, where the vice-president appeared alongside former First Lady Michelle Obama.

Among the Harris supporters I met there is Quianna Decker, a Kalamazoo city commissioner.

Like several other supporters there, Decker said she plans to vote for Harris and said she believes that the celebrity endorsements of Harris - which, besides Michelle Obama, have included Beyonce, Eminem and a slew of other big names - may give Harris a boost ahead of 5 November.

"Not everyone's going to vote the way you want them to vote, but I believe that once people, and that it aligns with bringing the country forward, they will [support Harris]," she said.

In her community, Decker said that abortion access and "women's rights" issues are at the "forefront".

"But people also want to hear about economic development, about housing," she said of the campaign's waning days.

As we just mentioned, Kamala Harris will be out campaigning in Pennsylvania today - a crucial swing state. Here's the state of play:

In a nutshell: It’s hard to win the White House without Pennsylvania, which carries the most electoral votes of all the swing states.

What's the deal now? Pennsylvania’s prized 19 electoral votes makes it one of the most visited states by both candidates. It is also the place where a supporter of Trump was killed at a rally, in a hail of bullets targeting the former president.

2020 margin: Biden by 82,000 votes.

Population: 12.97 million, same as Moscow.

Electoral college votes: 19 of 538.

Famous for: The Liberty Bell, Will Smith and the 72 “Rocky Steps”.

Image source, Getty Images

Moving away from the morning interview circuit, we can now bring you an update from the campaign trail, where some 1,000 faith leaders have endorsed the vice-president, according to CNN.

The endorsements for Kamala Harris come as she courts voters today in Pennsylvania, a key swing state that could decide the outcome of the election.

She's beginning her Sunday morning with a stop at a Philadelphia church before she plans to make stops elsewhere in the Democratic-leaning city.

Addressing congregants in the Church of Christian Compassion in Philadelphia, Harris said, “joy cometh in the morning,” ⁦and “morning is on its way,” seemingly alluding to a potential Harris victory on 5 November.

Philadelphia is a largely Democratic city, but turnout from these voters will be essential to Harris's success in winning the state and potentially winning the White House.

As we've been reporting, Donald Trump will be in New York this evening for a rally where he'll be joined by supporters like Elon Musk, Tucker Carlson and former presidential candidate Robert F Kennedy Jr.

But it's unlikely he can win the state in the presidential election, as New York has backed Democratic candidates in presidential races for decades.

So, why is he doing it?

One major reason is that his campaign can boost Republicans' chances in moderate districts, which could tip the balance of power in the House. This ultimately helps ensure supportive lawmakers in Congress.

In the Empire State, there are six important House races — Districts 1, 4, 17, 18, 19 and 22 — that could determine whether Democrats or Republicans control the lower chamber after November.

• Trump's strategy to target Democratic states goes beyond New York, writes the BBC's Kayla Epstein

Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from Michigan

Image source, EPA

Among the most newsworthy parts of Donald Trump's interview with Joe Rogan on Friday was his plan to end incomes taxes and replace them with tariffs - a central part of his plan to largely overhaul the US tax system.

"We will not allow the enemy to come in and take our jobs and take our factories and take our workers, and take our families, unless they pay a big price," he told Rogan. "And the big price is tariffs."

Trump has already floated the idea of eliminating income taxes several times in the past, including on tips, overtime pay, and social security benefits, as well as renewing his 2017 tax cuts which will expire next year.

To offset the revenue that the US government earns from income taxes - of which personal income taxes alone generate $5 trillion a year - he has proposed sweeping tariffs of 20% on imports from abroad.

Experts have warned, however, that tariffs - which bring in only about 2% of federal income each year - would likely not make up for the shortfall.

The non-partisan Tax Foundation, for example, says Trump's overall tax plan could actually increase the federal deficit by about $3 trillion over 10 years.

Still, Trump has insisted that the concept could work.

"When we were a smart country, in the 1890s...this is when the country was relatively the richest it ever was," he said earlier in October. "It had all tariffs. It didn't have an income tax."

If he wins, however, it is unclear when this would happen.

Over the weekend, Trump advisor Jason Miller told reporters that eliminating income taxes was an "aspirational" goal, and that the initial focus would be on extending the 2017 tax cuts, as well as other targeted tax cuts.

• Here's where Donald Trump stands on 10 key issues

During his CNN interview, vice-presidential candidate JD Vance was also asked about Trump's previous remarks about dealing with "the enemy from within" the US, which he made while referring to "radical left lunatics".

He repeated the phrase days later when referring to California congressman Adam Schiff and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. And on Friday, during his interview with American podcaster Joe Rogan, he repeated it once more.

Vance was pressed repeatedly by Jake Tapper about these remarks, but the former president's running mate insisted that they were not about Democratic party leaders but "far-left lunatics".

Vance said Trump would not unleash the military on "Americans writ large".

He added: "A lot of old Neoconservatives, they have a fundamental difference with Donald Trump on the question of peace and war. I believe Donald Trump is the candidate of peace."

Texas is "ground zero" for what we're fighting for, Kamala Harris tells CBS's Norah O'Donnell in a sit-down interview that aired this morning that largely focused on abortion and reproductive care.

O'Donnell was given access behind the scenes of the Harris campaign while she travelled to Houston, Texas, on Friday for her largest campaign rally yet.

Harris was pressed in the interview, which was taped earlier this week, on what abortion restrictions she would support if elected and if she would support abortion after foetal viability - a question that Harris seemed to dodge.

"I support Roe v Wade being put back into law by congress," she repeats to O'Donnell.

• For context: In 1973, in a case called Roe v Wade, the Supreme Court ruled that a woman's right to terminate her pregnancy was protected by the US Constitution up until the point of foetal viability, which is about 24 weeks

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Reuters

Vice-presidential contender JD Vance is sitting for an in-depth interview with CNN's Jake Tapper and it's been a fiery interview so far.

Tapper has pressed Vance on comments made last week by former White House chief of staff John Kelly, where he told the New York Times that Donald Trump had fascist tendencies.

Vance repeats his previous attacks of Kelly and calls him a "disgruntled employee" before he deflects Tapper's questions about whether the former chief of staff's comments should be of concern.

"They were wrong about everything and now they're coming after Donald Trump," Vance says of former Trump officials who have spoken out in recent days.

He then hits out at the vice-president, saying the only reason there are fewer people criticising her is"because she doesn't fire people who fail".

"Kamala Harris protects failures in government. Donald Trump fires them."

Iona Hampson
Reporting from New York

As we've been reporting this morning, Donald Trump will be holding a rally at Madison Square Garden tonight - a venue with signs all around dubbing it "the world's most famous arena".

Tied into the iconic venue in New York City is Penn Station.

So far this morning, we have crowds of rally attendees turning up early in Make America Great Again merchandise, a media line to get in and people coming out of the station wondering why these New York streets are much busier than usual.

Image source, Reuters

It's nearing 09:00 local time (13:00 GMT) on the east coast of the US and the candidates are preparing for another busy day.

Kamala Harris will be in the key battleground state of Pennsylvania for the Democrats, where she'll attend a Sunday morning church service in West Philadelphia, followed by a visit to a barbershop, according to local US media.

She will also visit a Puerto Rican restaurant and meet families at a youth basketball centre, the reports say.

Vice-President Harris will also be appearing in an interview with Norah O'Donnell, which will be broadcast by CBS News shortly.

Donald Trump will speak at a rally at New York's Madison Square Garden in the evening but before that his fellow Republican running mate JD Vance will be doing a series of interviews with US broadcasters, including the BBC's US partner CBS.

We'll bring you the latest lines as we get them.

Image source, Getty Images

As we mentioned earlier, swing states - where either candidate stand a chance of winning - play a crucial role in winning the election, which is why Kamala Harris and Donald Trump have been devoting much of their time in these places.

Pennsylvania,with 19 electoral college votes up for grabs, has been the most visited state for both Harris - 13 visits - and Trump, with 11 visits, according to US outlet Axios.

Michigan is the next most popular campaign stop for Trump, on nine visits, and Harris, on seven. Both are vying for the state's 15 electoral votes.

Wisconsin - part of the big three in the Midwest, along with Pennsylvania and Michigan, and with 10 electoral votes - has seen six visits from Harris and five from Trump.

Both candidates have campaigned in Georgiafive times, while in North Carolina, Trump has visited seven times and Harris four times. Both states have 16 electoral votes.

In Nevada, with six electoral votes in play, Trump has campaigned four times and Harris three, while in Arizona, Harris and Trump have both been three times, where there are 11 electoral votes.

To put things in perspective, some 36 states considered non-swing states have had no visits from either candidate, Axios reports.

It's been an extremely busy week for both of the US presidential hopefuls and there's unlikely to be any let up between now and the big day.

So what should we expect next in this election race full of twists and turns?

Kamala Harris:

Will be campaigning in Philadelphia, in the swing state of Pennsylvania.

The state proved pivotal in 2020, as it was one that Biden was able to flip to the Democrats.

It's considered one of the seven swing states this time around that's likely to determine the overall winner.

Donald Trump:

Is campaigning in his home state of New York, with a rally at Madison Square Garden.

Far from being considered a swing state, New York has backed the Democratic candidate for decades. But the storied venue holds such a prominent place in US culture that it offers an opportunity to amplify Trump's message.

The BBC's US news partner CBS News says Trump is due on stage at 17:00 local time (21:00 GMT). Thousands of people are expected to be drawn to the event, some of whom camped out overnight on Saturday in the hope of gaining entry.

Whatever else happens next, we'll be here covering the presidential race live every step of the way.

Let's take a step back for a moment and get a reminder of some of the basic facts about next month's much-anticipated US presidential election.

When is the election?

Tuesday 5 November 2024

Who can vote?

American citizens aged 18 and over. All voters must register (except in North Dakota) and US citizens living abroad can apply for a postal vote.

Who are the candidates?

Vice-President Kamala Harris is running for the Democrats, after President Joe Biden dropped out and no other Democrats stood against her.

Former US President Donald Trump represents the Republicans and is attempting to be elected as president for a second time.

How is the winner decided?

Each US state - there are 50 in total - has a number of electoral college votes, roughly based on its population. With 538 electoral votes up for grabs, Harris or Trump must win at least 270 to become the next president.

What are they voting for?

As well as the US president, Americans will also be voting for members of Congress, who play a key part in passing laws.

When will the winner be declared?

Usually on the night of the election, but in 2020 it took a few days to count all the votes.

The president-elect is officially sworn into office in January 2025 at the inauguration in Washington DC.

• Everything you need to know about how the US election 2024 works

A short while ago we heard from BBC News's North America editor Sarah Smith, who recapped the week for us on the Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme. Here's what she picked out:

All to play for: The polls are essentially tied, maybe with a slight advantage for Donald Trump. Both campaigns are pulling out all the stops with less than two weeks to go.

Star power: Bruce Springsteen and Beyoncé turned out to campaign for Harris, while Trump sat down with America’s number one podcaster, Joe Rogan.

Harris issues dark warnings: The Democratic candidate has been referring to comments made by Trump's former chief of staff, John Kelly, who said he thinks Trump meets the general definition of fascist.

Trump campaign accuses Labour: The former president's campaign claimed the UK's Labour party is breaking the rules and interfering in the US election.

Gender divide: Trump is looking to reach young men who don't normally vote but might be persuaded to turn out for him. Harris has been trying to reach mostly college-educated women and those who don't normally vote Democrat but who she hopes might be persuaded to vote against Trump. BBC's US Special Correspondent Katty Kay has written a piece on this.

Swing states - also referred to as battleground states - are those where both candidates stand a chance of winning as power can shift from one party to another, hence the reference to swinging.

Voting in swing states is hard to predict but, in the final stretch leading up to polling day, presidential nominees Kamala Harris and Donald Trump have been spending much of their time and effort in these places.

This year's race to the White House will likely come down to seven key swing states: Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Georgia, Michigan, Arizona and Nevada.

Voters in some of these states tell the BBC what it's like to live in a swing state during an election and who they plan to vote for.

And if you're keen to know more about the history of swing states, this handy video tracks when the term first became popularised.

As we've been reporting, Michelle Obama took to the stage yesterday at a rally in Kalamazoo, Michigan, in her first appearance on the campaign trail alongside Kamala Harris.

"If we want to help this country finally turn the page on the politics of hatred and division we can't just sit around and complain – no, we've got to do something," the former first lady told the crowd. Watch below.

Trump said yesterday that he believes Arab-American and Muslim voters can "turn the election" one way or another.

At a rally in Novi, Michigan, last night the former president was joined on stage by a number of Arab-American and Muslim community leaders, who gave him their support.

The state is home to the 'Uncommitted' movement, which does not support Trump, but has refused to endorse Harris for what they see as a failure to take a more firm stance against Israel during the war in Gaza, such as committing to a weapons ban.

At the rally in Michigan, community leaders endorsed Donald Trump, watch below.