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US elections: Tim Walz and JD Vance to face off in VP debate – live updates

Published

1 year ago

October 1, 2024

Press Room

US elections: Tim Walz and JD Vance to face off in VP debate – live updates

Key events

Entire communities ‘wiped out’ by ‘catastrophic’ impact of Hurricane Helene, Biden says

Joe Biden said entire communities have been “wiped out” by the “catastrophic” impact of Hurricane Helene which has left about 600 people missing or unaccounted for, according to White House estimates.

In a video clip of Biden speaking with North Carolina governor, Roy Cooper, the US president said thousands of federal personnel are being deployed to help support search and rescue missions and remove debris from collapsed buildings.

The other priorities are getting cell networks back online and power restoration, Biden said, adding that recovery is “going to take a while” as the destruction of roads poses a huge logistical challenge to relief efforts.

He said:

I want to express condolences to all the families, to all the families whose loved ones have died or are missing.
Matter of fact, it’s almost equally as bad missing, not knowing whether or not your brother or sister, husband, wife, son or daughter are alive.
And to the survivors, I want you to know the administration is going to be there til we finish the job.

Hurricane Helene was not just catastrophic, it was a historic storm for the entire southeast and Appalachia.
We’re mobilizing every resource to ensure displaced families can begin to return home and devastated communities can begin to rebuild.
My Administration has your back. pic.twitter.com/4ITL8e3kS3
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— President Biden (@POTUS) October 1, 2024

Helene made landfall last Thursday in Florida’s Big Bend region as a category 4 hurricane. Even though it weakened to a tropical storm before moving through Georgia, the Carolinas and Tennessee, the storm’s winds, rainfall, storm surge and flooding ravaged entire communities in its path and has left over 1 million Americans without power. More than 120 people are reported to have been killed across several states.

The Biden administration and local officials have struggled to deliver support to the most heavily impacted states areas, where many survivors have been stranded with no electricity or running water.

Biden will visit North Carolina, where the western part of the state has been devastated by flooding, tomorrow. Presidential candidates Kamala Harris and Donald Trump have expressed condolences to those impacted by the hurricane and are receiving recovery briefings from Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema).

Democratic US vice-president Kamala Harris and former Republican president Donald Trump are expected to watch the VP debate tonight, and Trump has said he would offer a play-by-play commentary of the event on social media.

Harris was viewed by many as the winner of her debate with Trump on 10 September in Philadelphia, which was watched by an estimated 67 million people. Most of the national polls carried out in the week after indicated that her performance had helped her make small gains in the race.

Her lead over Trump rose from 2.5 percentage points on the day of the debate to 3.3 points just over a week later. However, the battleground states – where the election will be decided – remain too close to call. Only one or two percentage points are separating the presidential candidates.

Harris-Trump presidential debate hosted by ABC in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Photograph: Brian Snyder/Reuters

According to Reuters/Ipsos polling, 51% of registered voters say they view JD Vance unfavorably, compared with 39% who view him favourably. That’s a contrast with Tim Walz, who 44% of registered voters view favourably, with 43% reporting an unfavorable view. These results came from a poll conducted between 20 and 23 September.

Kit Maher, a campaign producer with CNN’s political unit, has been told by two sources that these are the surrogates for JD Vance who will be in the spin room for him tonight at the debate:

Jason Miller, senior adviser to Donald Trump
Donald Trump Jr, Donald Trump’s son
Tom Cotton, Arkansas senator
Katie Britt, Alabama senator
Elise Stefanik, a congresswoman representing New York’s 21st district in the House of Representatives and serves as the House Republican conference chair
Byron Donalds, a Republican Florida congressman
Howard Lutnick, the longtime chief executive officer of Cantor Fitzgerald LP

JD Vance surrogates in the spin room tomorrow, per two sources familiar:
Senior Trump Campaign Adviser Jason Miller
Donald Trump Jr.
Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton
Alabama Sen. Katie Britt
House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik
Florida Rep. Byron Donalds
CEO of Cantor…
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— Kit Maher (@KitMaherCNN) September 30, 2024

The 90-minute debate between Vance, 40, a senator for Ohio, and Tim Walz, the 60-year-old governor of Minnesota, will kick off at 9pm New York time and can be viewed on host network CBS News. We will be bringing you the latest updates in our live blog.

My colleague Rachel Leingang took a look at what we know so far about Vance and Walz’s debate style. She writes:

Walz, the Democratic governor of Minnesota, and Vance, a Republican senator from Ohio, have been honing their public speaking skills – and their pointed barbs at each other – in TV appearances and at events around the country in the past few months.
Their experiences in electoral debates haven’t reached the levels or notoriety that come along with a presidential campaign, but both have faced opponents in public debates in past elections.
And given the tightness of the presidential race, and how poorly the first presidential debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump went, there will probably be more people tuned in to the vice presidential debate than in past cycles.
While VP debates don’t usually tip the scales much, they could matter in a close race – and they build profiles for lower-profile politicians who will probably stay on the national scene for years to come.

You can read the full story here:

Tim Walz and JD Vance to face off in VP debate

Good morning, US politics readers.

It’s the day of the vice-presidential debate and Tim Walz and JD Vance are preparing to go head to head in New York City.

The debate will start at 9pm ET and, like the Harris-Trump debate, it will be held in a studio without an audience. Unlike the main presidential debate, the candidates’ microphones will not be muted when it is not their turn to speak – but moderators can mute mics throughout the event.

To practice before Tuesday’s VP debate, Walz has used Pete Buttigieg, transportation secretary and frequent TV news interviewee, as a Vance stand-in – both Buttigieg and Vance are Ivy Leaguers from the midwest and roughly the same age.

Vance has been preparing for the debate with Minnesota Republican congressman Tom Emmer as a stand-in for Walz. On Monday, Emmer gave an insight into how debate practice has been going, telling reporters about portraying Walz: “Quite frankly it’s tough because he is really good on the debate stage.”

Republicans are seeking to frame Walz, the folksy Minnesota governor who has proved to be the most popular figure in the presidential race, as a mean-spirited, ogreish figure. Emmer, who ran unsuccessfully for Minnesota governor in 2010, said: “[Walz] is going to stand there and he lies with conviction, and he has these little mannerisms where he’s just, hey, I’m the nice guy, but he’s not nice at all.”

News

US says Kuwait accidentally shot down 3 American jets

Published

32 minutes ago

March 2, 2026

Press Room

US says Kuwait accidentally shot down 3 American jets

The U.S. and Israel have been conducting strikes against targets in Iran since Saturday morning, with the aim of toppling Tehran’s clerical regime. Iran has fired back, with retaliatory assaults featuring missiles and drones targeting several Gulf countries and American bases in the Middle East.

“All six aircrew ejected safely, have been safely recovered, and are in stable condition. Kuwait has acknowledged this incident, and we are grateful for the efforts of the Kuwaiti defense forces and their support in this ongoing operation,” Central Command said.

“The cause of the incident is under investigation. Additional information will be released as it becomes available,” it added.

In a separate statement later Monday, Central Command said that American forces had been killed during combat since the strikes began.

“As of 7:30 am ET, March 2, four U.S. service members have been killed in action. The fourth service member, who was seriously wounded during Iran’s initial attacks, eventually succumbed to their injuries,” it said.

Major combat operations continue and our response effort is ongoing. The identities of the fallen are being withheld until 24 hours after next of kin notification,” Central Command added.

This story has been updated.

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Satellite images provide view inside Iran at war

Published

13 hours ago

March 1, 2026

Press Room

Satellite images provide view inside Iran at war

Smoke rises over Konarak naval base in southern Iran on Sunday. The base was one of hundreds of targets of U.S. and Israeli forces throughout the country.

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Commercial satellite images are providing a unique look at the extent of damage being done to Iran’s military facilities across the country.

The U.S. and Israeli military campaign opened with a daytime attack that struck Iranian leadership in central Tehran. Smoke was still visible rising from Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s compound following the attack that killed the supreme leader.

An image by the company Airbus taken on Saturday shows the aftermath of an Israeli strike on Iran’s Leadership House in central Tehran. Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in the opening wave of attacks.

Pléiades Neo (c) Airbus DS 2026

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Pléiades Neo (c) Airbus DS 2026

Israel and the U.S. have gone on to strike targets across the country. Reports on social media indicate that there have been numerous military bases and compounds attacked all over Iran, and Iran has responded with attacks throughout the Middle East.

U.S. forces have also been striking at Iran’s navy. In a post on his social media platform, President Trump said that he had been briefed that U.S. forces had sunk nine Iranian naval vessels. U.S. Central Command did not immediately confirm that number but it did say it had struck an Iranian warship in port.

An image captured on February 28 shows a ship burning at Iran's naval base at Konarak.

An image captured on Saturday shows a ship burning at Iran’s naval base at Konarak.

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Numerous satellite images show burning vessels at Konarak naval base in southern Iran. Images also show damage to a nearby airbase where hardened hangers were struck by precision munitions.

Hardened aircraft shelters at Konarak airbase were struck with precision munitions.

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And there was extensive damage at a drone base in the same area. Iran has launched numerous drones and missiles toward Israel and U.S. military installations in Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar. Many drones have been intercepted but videos on social media show that some have evaded air defenses and caused damage in nearby Gulf countries. In Dubai, debris from an Iranian drone damaged the iconic Burj Al Arab, according to a statement from Dubai’s government.

Buildings at an Iranian drone base at Konarak were destroyed in the strikes.

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Iran’s most powerful weapons are its long-range missiles. The Iranian Revolutionary Guards have hidden the missiles deep inside mountain tunnels. Images taken Sunday in the mountains of northern Iran indicate that some of those tunnels were hit in a wave of strikes.

Following Khamenei’s death, Iran declared 40 days of mourning. Satellite images showed mourners gathering in Tehran’s Enghelab square on Sunday.

Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Esmail Baghaei told NPR on Sunday that Iran will continue to fight “foreign aggression, foreign domination.”

A White House official told NPR that Trump plans to talk to Iran’s interim leadership “eventually,” but that for now, U.S. operations continue in the region “unabated.”

A large crowd of mourners fill Enghelab Square in Tehran on Sunday, following the death of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike.

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News

Video: What the Texas Primary Battle Means for the Midterms

Published

22 hours ago

March 1, 2026

Press Room

Video: What the Texas Primary Battle Means for the Midterms

new video loaded: What the Texas Primary Battle Means for the Midterms

The first battle of the midterm elections will be the U.S. Senate primary in Texas. Our Texas bureau chief, David Goodman, explains why Democrats and Republicans across the U.S. are watching closely to see what happens in the state.

By J. David Goodman, Alexandra Ostasiewicz, June Kim and Luke Piotrowski

March 1, 2026