Closing summary
Here is a wrap-up of the day’s key events:
Kamala Harris will travel to Georgia to survey the impacts of Hurricane Helene on Wednesday, her office announced. Harris will receive an on-the-ground briefing and will also provide updates on federal actions that are being taken to support emergency response and recovery efforts in Georgia and other impacted states in the southeast.
The White House said on Tuesday that president Joe Biden will be traveling to North Carolina and South Carolina on Wednesday. Biden will take an aerial tour of areas impacted by Hurricane Helene in western North Carolina, receive operational briefings, and greet with first responders and local officials, the White House said in an announcement.
The federal government has delivered more than 2.6 million ready-to-eat meals and more than 1 million liters of water, homeland security secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said. “At its peak, there were 5.1 million customers without power … we’ve reduced that number of customers without power by 3.8 million people,” he added.
Xavier Becerra, the US health and human services secretary, has declared a public health emergency for South Carolina and Tennessee to address the health impacts of Hurricane Helene. “We will do all we can to help officials in South Carolina and Tennessee respond to the health impacts of Hurricane Helene,” Becerra said in an announcement.
The justice department has launched its first federal investigation of the Tulsa Race Massacre. On Monday, assistant attorney general Kristen Clarke announced the opening of the investigation under the Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crime Act.
Here is Joe Biden’s statement on the negotiations between United States Maritime Alliance and the International Longshoremen’s Association: “Now is not the time for ocean carriers to refuse to negotiate a fair wage for these essential workers while raking in record profits. My administration will be monitoring for any price gouging activity that benefits foreign ocean carriers, including those on the USMX board.”
A new survey from AARP published on Tuesday has vice-president Kamala Harris leading Donald Trump 50% to 47% among likely voters in the battleground state of Pennsylvania. The survey, conducted between the 14th and 24th of September, also showed a significant gender gap, with Harris ahead by 19 percentage points among female voters and Trump leading by 16 points with male voters.
Jimmy Carter, a Democrat who served in the White House between 1977 and 1981, celebrates his 100th birthday today, making him the first US president to reach the milestone. Carter, who has suffered from health issues, including a melanoma that spread to his liver and brain, has been in hospice care at home in Plains, Georgia, since February 2023.
Democratic US vice-president Kamala Harris and former Republican president Donald Trump are expected to watch the VP debate tonight. Trump has said he would offer a play-by-play commentary of the event on social media.
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Here are some of the latest images coming through the newswires of Hurricane Helene:
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