Election 2024 updates: Harris appears with Charlemagne tha God; Trump hosts Georgia rally

Editor's note: This page reflects the news from the campaign trail for the 2024 election from Tuesday, Oct. 15. For the latest news on the presidential election, read USA TODAY's live election updates for Wednesday, Oct. 16.

Election Day is just three weeks away.

Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump are making their pitches to voters across the country in the final stretch of the 2024 election. Harris joined radio host Charlemagne tha God for a conversation in Detroit, among other stops in the pivotal state of Michigan.

Trump delivered remarks in Atlanta, Georgia, on Tuesday evening, traveling to another pivotal swing state that could decide the race for the White House.

Keep up with the USA TODAY Network's live coverage.

Trump calls on supporters to 'get out and vote' in Georgia

Donald Trump trekked to Atlanta on Tuesday night to deliver his standard stump speech and mark a special occasion: The first day of early voting in the key state of Georgia.

At one point in his roughly 75-minute address, Trump said he wanted just one thing from supporters: "I don't want your money, I don't want anything - I just want you to get out and vote, and get your friends to vote."

In a close 2024 race, turnout operations could be decisive. Trump praised Georgia for setting first-day early voting records on Tuesday. At least 252,000 voters cast ballots at early-voting sites as of 4 p.m. EDT in the Peach State, nearly double the 136,000 who participated in the first day of early voting in the 2020 election

? David Jackson, Reuters

Kamala Harris sits for interview with Charlamagne tha God

Kamala Harris brushed off criticism that she’s too scripted during a Tuesday interview with Charlamagne tha God.

“That would be called discipline,” she said. Harris added that there are parts of her message that she must repeat to make sure that voters are aware of her platform: “Repetition is important.”

Harris also took questions, some live and some recorded, from listeners of the program. Those included questions about reparations for African Americans, which she again said needs to be studied, and her agenda for Black men, which she unveiled on Monday.

During a conversation about immigration, Charlamagne asked Harris why she would “allow” Trump to call her the nation’s “border czar” when she was tasked with addressing the root causes of migration. Harris replied, “You know I’m not giving him permission for that.”

“If I responded to every name he called me, I wouldn’t be focused on the things that actually helped the American people,” Harris added.

– Francesca Chambers

More: 5 key moments from Kamala Harris' interview with Charlamagne Tha God

Georgia judge appears skeptical of election board's hand-count rule

A Georgia judge voiced skepticism at a Tuesday hearing about allowing a controversial ballot hand-count rule from the Georgia State Election Board to go forward in the November election.

The rule, which was passed Sept. 20, requires three separate poll officers in each Georgia voting precinct to hand count the number of ballots and confirm their counts match up. A poll manager is then supposed to confirm those tallies match the figures produced by machines and correct any inconsistency ahead of the state's Nov. 12 county certification deadline.

"Why wouldn't we just pause, especially on the hand-count rule, given what looks like a fairly robust record of chaos that it is sowing?" Judge Robert C. I. McBurney asked at the Tuesday hearing. The lawsuit was brought by the election board for Cobb County, which is near Atlanta and is one of several litigants suing over the rule.

At least 2,400 voting precincts would be impacted, according to Georgia Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, who has said the hand-count rule and other recent changes from the state election board introduce "the opportunity for error, lost or stolen ballots, and fraud."

Backers of the rule, which was passed by three Republican members of the state board, say it will strengthen the election certification process.

? Aysha Bagchi

When will we know the results of the 2024 election?

It's not clear. Voters from coast to coast will want to know whether Donald Trump or Kamala Harris won the 2024 race for the White House on Election Day, but it's not likely.

Election officials will have millions of votes to tabulate, following specific procedures, and the candidates could launch legal challenges in some states.

– Marina Pitofsky

NC gubernatorial candidate Mark Robinson files lawsuit against CNN alleging defamation

Mark Robinson is suing CNN for defamation after they published an article saying he made sexual and racist remarks on a pornographic message board, his campaign announced Tuesday.

The defamation lawsuit demands $50 million in damages from the defendants, which also include Louis Love Money, a North Carolinian who claimed that Robinson had purchased pornography in a music video called “The Lt. Governor Owes me Money” published on YouTube.

CNN declined to comment. Money said he is not hiring a lawyer and joked that he hopes the lawsuit gets his band Trailer Park Orchestra "another 10,000 views on YouTube."

– Sarah Gleason

Trump takes questions at Economic Club of Chicago but declines to answer several

Donald Trump took questions Tuesday during an interview before the Economic Club of Chicago, but he declined to answer several inquiries from Bloomberg editor John Mickelthwait.

For example, Trump did not answer directly on whether he would seek the ouster of Fed Chair Jerome Powell, whether he would seek the break-up of Google, and whether he has speaks regularly with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Mickelthwait also pressed Trump about the utility of tariffs, the centerpiece of Trump's economic proposals, and whether he would accept the outcome of the election with his Democratic opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris.

At one point, Trump claimed that he had a "peaceful transfer of power" in early 2021; Mickelthwait, citing the insurrection of Jan. 6, 2021, said: "Come on, President Trump."

– David Jackson

Charlamagne Tha God will host Harris town hall

Radio personality Charlamagne Tha God will host a town hall-style conversation with Vice President Kamala Harris Tuesday.

"The Breakfast Club" host with 8 million monthly listeners asked Michigan residents to submit questions ahead of his chat with Harris. The special will air at 5 p.m. ET. Listeners around the country can tune into the discussion online for free, on iHeartRadio, and on the iHeartRadio app.

Before Harris ascended to the top of the ticket, Charlamagne Tha God was critical of Joe Biden's reelection campaign.

--Rachel Barber

Trump ally disagrees with GOP nominee's suggestion to deploy military domestically

Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., told CNN Monday that he disagrees with former President Donald Trump's suggestion to deploy the U.S. military inside the country to secure the election.

"That's been long-standing law in our country since the founding of the republic," Donalds told CNN's Kasie Hunt.

The fierce Trump ally's comments represent a break from the Republican nominee who told Fox News on Sunday that the military should be called “if really necessary” to deal with “radical-left lunatics” and "the enemy from within."

--Rachel Barber

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Harris hits Trump on town hall

Video of Donald Trump bopping to the beat of his music playlist - from Luciano Pavarotti to the Village People, for nearly 40 minutes - triggered more questions Tuesday about the former president's mental state.

"Hope he's okay," said Trump's opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, in a post on the social media platform X.

Trump, who cut short a town hall and called for a musical interlude after two medical emergencies interrupted the event, called the impromptu concert a success.

Referring to medical treatment of attendees, Trump said on his Truth Social platform: "We started playing music while we waited, and just kept it going. So different, but it ended up being a GREAT EVENING!"

– David Jackson

Georgia judge rules counties must certify November election results

Local election officials in Georgia don't have an option when it comes to certifying the election results this November, a state judge ruled Tuesday.

Judge Robert C. I. McBurney was ruling on the claim of Julie Adams, a Republican member of Atlanta's Fulton County election board, that she has discretion over whether to certify election results. She argued that, given she has taken an oath to prevent fraud or abuse, she should have the right to withhold certification if she believes the results aren't reliable.

However, McBurney wrote that if officials like herself were "free to play investigator, prosecutor, jury, and judge," then "Georgia voters would be silenced." McBurney added that Adams could report any concerns about fraud or error to a prosecutor.

The ruling comes amid rising fears that local officials may sow chaos or confusion this November election by refusing to certify results by the state's Nov. 12 deadline – one week after the election.

Lawyers for Adams didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

– Aysha Bagchi

DOJ sues Virginia over removing noncitizen voters from rolls within 90 days of election

Another dispute over how to prevent noncitizens from voting Nov. 5 has erupted in Virginia, where the U.S. Justice Department says the state is cancelling registrations too close to the election and GOP Gov. Glenn Youngkin argues this has been state policy for 18 years.

The department sued the state on Friday for removing voters from the registration rolls within 90 days of the election, which is nicknamed a “quiet period,” in violation of a 1993 federal voting law.

Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke, head of the civil rights division, said in a statement the policy “places qualified voters in jeopardy of being removed from the rolls and creates the risk of confusion for the electorate.”

Youngkin said a state law approved in 2006 calls for removal of any voter who stated they were a noncitizen while filling out motor vehicle records and then either accidentally or intentionally became registered to vote.

“This is unprecedented, and I stand by my duty to ensure fair, safe, and accurate elections in Virginia – no exceptions,” Youngkin said in a statement on X.

Studies by the Brennan Center for Justice and the libertarian Cato Institute have found no widespread fraud from noncitizens voting. But Republicans have made the prevention of noncitizen voting a rallying cry in the closely fought election.

--Bart Jansen

How many days until Election Day?

Election Day is 20 days away, on Nov. 5, 2024.

Latest presidential polls: Where do Harris, Trump stand?  

The 2024 election is shaping up to be an incredibly tight race. In a Real Clear Politics average of national polls on Monday, Harris led Trump by 1.7 percentage points, which is within the margin of error for many of the surveys.

Harris and Trump are also neck-and-neck in the battleground states. For example, Trump was leading Harris by 1 percentage point in a Real Clear Politics average of Pennsylvania polls on Monday, while Harris led by 0.3 percentage points in Wisconsin.

? Marina Pitofsky

What's Harris' schedule today?

Harris is expected to arrive in Detroit late Monday night. On Tuesday, she is scheduled to join radio host Charlemagne tha God for a conversation in Detroit that will air live at 5 p.m. ET on radio stations that broadcast "The Breakfast Club" program, the radio host said in a video promoting the event. Harris will also make a local stop with Black entrepreneurs in Detroit, according to her campaign.

She's scheduled to return to Michigan Friday to make stops in Grand Rapids, Lansing and Oakland County, according to her campaign.

– Clara Hendrickson

What's Trump's schedule today?

The former president is traveling to the Peach State on Tuesday, delivering remarks in a crucial swing state. He'll also  take part in a pre-taped televised town hall hosted by Fox News on Tuesday. The event will feature an all-female audience as he tries to win support from the crucial voting bloc that has gravitated toward Harris.

– Rachel Barber

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Election 2024 updates: Where are Trump, Harris tonight?