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Harris makes pitch to Latino voters at Univision town hall: Top 5 moments

Harris makes pitch to Latino voters at Univision town hall: Top 5 moments

Vice President Kamala Harris on Thursday took questions from Latino voters at a town hall in Nevada, where she was pressed for specifics on her proposals on immigration, the economy and more. Harris faced about a dozen questions during the roughly hour-long event hosted by Univision, where she sought to win over this key demographic group with just 26 days to go before Election Day. The Democratic nominee pointed to her record as vice president and swung ferociously at her opponent, Republican former President Donald Trump, but she was light on specifics on her plans for the country.  Here are the highlights:  VOTERS IN KEY BATTLEGROUND STATES GIVE TRUMP AN EDGE OVER HARRIS ON THIS TOP TIER ISSUE: POLL In the first question of the night, a voter from Tampa asked Harris about rumors that the Biden-Harris administration did not do enough to respond to Hurricanes Helene and Milton. Former President Trump, the Republican nominee, has fanned those rumors, claiming at a recent rally that President Biden’s response to the storms was “the worst hurricane response since Katrina,” invoking the heavily criticized federal response to Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Harris defended the Biden administration, accusing critics of “playing political games” and insisting claims the response was inadequate are “just not accurate.” She said she has been working with people on the ground in Georgia, North Carolina, Florida and other southeastern states to get Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) resources to people in need.  “Another piece of work that I’ve been doing, it’s based on my years of being an attorney general in California, is telling those corporations and those companies that during crisis and emergencies jack up prices,” Harris said. “I’ve seen it happen before, that we’re watching them and at a moment of desperation for these individuals and families, whether it be to be able to get temporary shelter at a hotel for gas prices, for even airline tickets, that we’ll be watching if they’re jacking up prices to make sure they’ll be serious consequence. And that’s the kind of work I will do going forward.” TRUMP CHARGES HURRICANE RESPONSE ‘WORST SINCE KATRINA’ AS BIDEN ARGUES TRUMP ‘ONSLAUGHT OF LIES’ MUST ‘STOP’ Voters pressed Harris for specifics on her plans for immigration and how her policies would differ from President Biden’s.  In her answer, Harris pointed to her recent trip to visit the border in Arizona and her law enforcement career as a prosecutor and California attorney general to show she’s serious about border security.  “I will put my record up against anyone in terms of the work I’ve always done, and it will always be to ensure we have a secure border,” she said.  Harris also criticized Trump for leading Republican opposition to a bipartisan border security deal that was endorsed by the National Border Patrol Council in February. She claimed the bill would have sent 1,500 additional Border Patrol agents to the border and provide law enforcement resources to combat fentanyl trafficking.  Republicans say the border bill provided too many benefits to illegal immigrants, like work permits and taxpayer-funded attorneys, and would have funded sanctuary city jurisdictions that do not cooperate with immigration enforcement. Harris said there is a “false choice” between a secure border and humane immigration policy. But she did not explain how her policies would be different from Biden, who also supported the border bill. DEM STRATEGISTS FRET HARRIS ‘SUGAR HIGH’ IS OVER: ‘IF YOU’RE NOT NERVOUS, YOU’RE NOT PAYING ATTENTION’ An emotional moment came when a Las Vegas woman, Ivett Castillo, told Harris that she recently lost her mother before she could get her immigration status legalized.  “She was never able to get the type of care and service that she needed or deserved,” Castillo said, holding back tears. She asked how Harris would help illegal immigrants who “have to live and die in the shadows.”  Another voter, Francisco Medina of San Diego, California, told the vice president that despite his insurance coverage through the Defense Department, he had to cross the border into Mexico to receive treatment. He asked how she would improve the medical system. “I firmly and deeply believe that healthcare is a right, and should be a right and not just a privilege of those who can afford it or have access to it easily,” Harris said.  She pointed to the Biden administration’s efforts to strengthen the Affordable Care Act and cap prescription drug prices as a starting point for what she’d do as president.  “The work we have done has been about capping the cost of prescription medication for seniors at $2,000,” she said. “My intention as president of the United States is to make that available for not just seniors, but for everyone.” At one point during the town hall, a self-described independent voter said he was leaning towards voting for Trump because Harris did not win the Democratic nomination through the normal primary process. “I’m a little confused,” said Mario Sigbaum, of Santa Monica, California. “Being a candidate without going through the normal process – that is primary elections or through a caucus – that really caught my attention.” He demanded an explanation for how Biden was “completely destituted.”  Harris thanked him for being “candid.” She called Biden’s decision to withdraw from the election amid mounting pressure from the Democratic Party “one of the most courageous a president could make” and said he “put country above his personal interest.”  “He made that decision, he… within that same period of time supported my candidacy and urged me to run,” Harris said. “He and I have been partners for the last four years as his vice president to him as the president. And I am honored to have earned the Democratic nomination.” She went on to say there is a “huge contrast” in this election and asserted Trump would be a “dictator on day one,” calling the situation “unprecedented” with “support for democracy” on the ballot.  In the closing moments of the town hall, one voter asked

Here’s how the US has helped a tiny fraction of its citizens evacuate war-torn Lebanon

Here’s how the US has helped a tiny fraction of its citizens evacuate war-torn Lebanon

As bombing intensifies around Beirut, only a tiny fraction of the 86,000 Americans and green card holders who reside in Lebanon have been evacuated with U.S. help. The State Department says it’s made some 5,000 seats available on both commercial and chartered flights for U.S. citizens, but there’s a catch: they have to get to the airport amid regular bombings on their own, and many may have to leave family behind.  That’s what’s led to only around a quarter of those seats being filled by 1,100 U.S. citizens, legal permanent residents and family members flying out across 10 U.S.-organized flights, according to advocates.   Since July, the U.S. has had a level 4 “do not travel” advisory for Lebanon encouraging citizens to get out.  On Sept. 27, the State Department said it would not be evacuating Americans, prompting airlines to charge exorbitant prices – between $5,000 and $8,000 per seat. The department then back peddled and said it would help organize flights at reasonable rates.  Some 8,500 U.S. citizens have reached out to the U.S. embassy in Beirut for information and assistance in evacuating.  “We’re going to continue the flights for the time being because we do assess that there is demand,” said State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller. “We believe we have a duty to do everything we can to help American citizens get out of the country.”  1 YEAR AFTER HEZBOLLAH STRIKES, ISRAEL REINFORCES TROOPS AND QUESTIONS MOUNT OVER ‘LIMITED’ OPERATION But human rights attorney Maria Kari says those efforts are futile without a noncombatant evacuation operation (NEO) to bring in U.S. forces to get Americans out.  “The writing was on the wall several months ago that the situation in Lebanon was going to start disintegrating,” she told Fox News Digital.  Kari said many of the U.S. citizens and green card holders in Lebanon she works with have family members who do not hold U.S. passports and refuse to leave the region without a parent or a child.  “The Beirut embassy has made it very clear they’re not processing any new visa applications,” she said.  Kari said the U.S. needs to extend the same protections it did to Israeli Americans who were looking to escape the region after Oct. 7 – allow immediate family members of U.S. citizens to get visas. To the State Department, she said: “You’re not talking about how you’re contributing to the problem of why these flights are not filling up. You’re not talking about how it’s not safe to get to the airport, key sites around the airport, including the road and the residential building by the airport, were bombed in the last few days, right?” The only international airport in Beirut is less than three miles from where Hezbollah is headquartered.  When citizens contact the embassy, they get a response similar to the one shared with Fox News Digital: “We are only assisting U.S. citizens currently in Lebanon and their immediate family members who have a valid U.S. or Schengen visa at this time. A valid visa is required to enter the United States. Lebanese passport holders can travel to Türkiye without a visa.” “It’s absolutely absurd that the U.S. thinks it’s OK to take out Americans and their non-American relatives and drop them off in Turkey – a foreign government not responsible for Americans or Lebanese citizens,” she said. “Just another example of this administration’s failure to protect Americans, first in Gaza and now in Lebanon.” BIDEN AND NETANYAHU SPEAK AFTER REPORT US PRESIDENT CALLED ISRAELI COUNTERPART A ‘BAD F—ING GUY’ On Oct. 19, 2023, the U.S. government created a Visa Waiver Program for family members of Israeli Americans who looked to flee with their loved ones as war broke out.  “We did the right thing there. We have failed consistently to do the right thing for another class of American citizens and their relatives,” said Kari. The security situation in Lebanon is rapidly deteriorating amid Israel’s ground incursion to the home of Hezbollah, but the Biden administration has not yet determined it necessary to declare a noncombatant evacuation to bring in U.S. forces to get Americans out.  It calls to mind Israel’s 2006 incursion into Lebanon, when the U.S. brought in service members to secure safe passage out of Lebanon for some 15,000 U.S. citizens. That time, the IDF bombed Beirut’s international airport and its roadways. “The airport is open, but it’s not open indefinitely. Israel did strike directly at the airport last time. I’m sure that they’re under pressure not to this time, but the pressure is no longer really working for the White House right now,” said Zev Faintuch, head of research and intelligence at international security firm Global Guardian. Some 2,000 have been killed in Israeli attacks on the country, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry. It’s not clear how many of those were Hezbollah militants, but the figure includes 127 children and 261 women. The fighting has sent some 1.2 million – roughly a quarter of the country’s population – fleeing.  The Israeli military said it hit about 185 Hezbollah targets on Tuesday, as Lebanon reported dozens of people killed in Israeli airstrikes. On Wednesday, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it struck southern suburbs in Beirut to target a “weapons productions facility and a Hezbollah intelligence headquarters.” Israeli airstrikes killed Hezbollah’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, and now his successor, too, according to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

‘The epicenter’: How ‘key’ to White House could lie in suburban Georgia county

‘The epicenter’: How ‘key’ to White House could lie in suburban Georgia county

MARIETTA, Ga. — While 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. may sit within the boundaries of Washington, D.C., the key to unlocking its front door could lie in the suburbs outside Atlanta, local officials say. “It’s not just the state, it’s federal,” Cobb County Democratic Party Chair Essence Johnson told Fox News Digital in an interview. “Cobb County is the epicenter. It’s the bellwether of Georgia, but also on the federal level. … That’s why Cobb County is so vital.” Salleigh Grubbs, chair of the Cobb County GOP, told Fox News Digital her area would be “very key in this election.” “I think Cobb County is key,” she said. “I battle with people all the time about whether Cobb is blue or red and that kind of thing. And the reality is is that we do have some of the largest number of Republican voters in the state for our population.” GEORGIA GOP CHAIR SHARES 2-PRONGED ELECTION STRATEGY AS TRUMP WORKS TO WIN BACK PEACH STATE Georgia’s traditionally Republican status flipped when then-Democrat candidate Joe Biden won the state in 2020. Its status as a battleground state was solidified in the 2022 midterms with the victory of Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga. Statewide, Biden beat then-President Trump by less than 1%. In Cobb County, which encompasses parts of the Atlanta suburbs and is anchored by the city of Marietta, Biden’s margin of victory was nearly 15%. Asked how the Democrats’ ground game in Cobb County has changed now that they’re seeking to hold onto Georgia rather than flip it, Johnson said the key was being “intentional” in outreach and meeting “people where they are.” She also signaled that abortion is a top issue for Democrats in this election cycle but noted that it may still be an uphill battle to get certain groups – like Black men and White women – out to the ballot box for Harris. GEORGIA DEMS CHAIR REVEALS MESSAGE TO UNDECIDED GOP VOTERS AS HARRIS WORKS TO BUILD BROAD BASE “We have seen some areas of weakness as far as voters and also reaching those communities to really understand the reason why they feel that they are not being heard,” Johnson said. “They don’t feel that certain policies have reached them. And even though I say there is no specific policy for anybody, reproductive rights impact my son, right? He has a responsibility to reproductive rights because that could be his girlfriend, his partner, his best friend.” She also said suburban White women were “sometimes the weakest link when it comes to voters” but noted that reproductive rights impacted them as well. Meanwhile, the Trump campaign has been seeking to court minority men disenchanted with the Democratic Party, with Trump allies believing the strategy pivotal to winning battlegrounds like Georgia. Grubbs would not say which demographics she believes are key to winning back Cobb County, but she noted the GOP’s road to victory includes focusing on local issues and election integrity. “I don’t tend to look at things like that,” Grubbs said.  “The way I view it more is, particularly on the local level, is what’s going on in your community and what are your values and what is your quality of life, and just translating the quality-of-life issue from the county level all the way to the national level.” She cited the recent port workers strike, supply chain issues and “school quality” as issues with both local and national implications for people. TRUMP VS HARRIS ROUND 2? VOTERS IN KEY GA COUNTY REVEAL IF THEY WANT SECOND DEBATE Grubbs said she also had a focus on Americans feeling confident in the elections: “In this election, everybody needs to get out and vote. Everybody needs to have their voice heard. Everybody needs to be concerned about election integrity.” “They need to know that when they cast a ballot, their vote counts,” Grubbs said. Georgia’s early in-person voting period begins on Oct. 15 and runs through Nov. 1.