Principals

1. Helene’s damage
2. Dockworkers strike
3. Israel degrades Hezbollah
4. VP candidates’ favorability
5. Nebraska Senate race
6. Progressives expand canvassing operation
7. Victims, enemies may buy InfoWars

PDB: Democrats’ dwindling edge among Latino voters

Sports podcast to release Harris interview … Marine Le Pen trial opens … WSJ: Americans’ reliance on government aid rises to new heights

Helene’s damage keeps growing

Virginia joins Florida, Alabama, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia under federal disaster declarations to cope with the toll of Hurricane Helene, which has killed nearly 100 people, according to the Associated Press. The chief of the Federal Emergency Management Agency is set to visit North Carolina today to survey the damage after a trip to Georgia on Sunday, while Donald Trump is headed to the Peach State. President Biden, meanwhile, will deliver a speech on the response efforts later this morning. As hard-hit cities and towns dig out, the damage wreaked by the storm appears to be exceeding initial estimates. Moody’s Analytics projected property damage between $15 billion and $26 billion, while AccuWeather offered a total damage estimate of as much as $110 billion. “First responders doing the best they can with what they have, but the devastation is incomprehensible,” North Carolina GOP Sen. Thom Tillis posted on X.

— Elana Schor

US confronts disruptive dockworkers strike

The US is bracing for the largest supply chain disruption since the pandemic, with thousands of dockworkers at East and Gulf Coast ports poised to strike. The International Longshoremen’s Association and the United States Maritime Alliance are unlikely to make a deal before their contract expires at the end of Monday. A prolonged strike would likely drive up prices and lead to shortages of goods like chocolate, alcohol, and bananas, and potentially cars, per CNN. It would also add a new wrinkle in the presidential contest, which has been dominated by concerns about the economy and inflation. Business groups have urged the federal government to intervene, but President Biden told reporters Sunday that he wouldn’t do so.

Hezbollah degraded following Israel strikes

A possible ground invasion by Israel of Lebanon looms after Israeli jets killed Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah in an airstrike. The command structure of Hezbollah “has been nearly decimated,” White House spokesman John Kirby said on ABC. “The Hezbollah today is not the Hezbollah that was even just a week ago.” According to The Wall Street Journal, Israel has been carrying out targeted raids in southern Lebanon in preparation for a potential ground invasion. Israeli airstrikes hit Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen on Sunday, and Israel bombed central Beirut on Monday for the first time in a year. President Biden, meanwhile, said that an all-out war “has to be” avoided. Iran, whose supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had a close alliance with Nasrallah, is divided on how to respond to his death.

Walz viewed more positively ahead of debate

Tim Walz is more popular than JD Vance heading into Tuesday night’s vice presidential debate. A New York Times/Siena College poll found that Walz is viewed favorably by 44% of likely voters across three midwestern battlegrounds while Vance is viewed positively by 42% and unfavorably by 48%. Walz is reportedly nervous about the contest; Vance’s goal is to to paint him as a radical liberal, Rep. Tom Emmer, R-Minn., indicated on ABC. “He’s like Gavin Newsom in a flannel shirt,” said Emmer, who is playing Walz in debate prep. “People do not like him once they get to know him and JD will expose that.” Walz may be prepping attack lines on health care: The Harris campaign put out a release today tying Trump’s “concepts of a plan” to Vance’s recent comments on putting sick people into separate risk pools.

Why Republicans are still paying attention to Nebraska

Nebraska GOP Sen. Deb Fischer is in a far closer than expected race this fall against Independent candidate Dan Osborn — an irritant for Republicans who are otherwise feeling good about flipping the Senate. It’s not that Republicans think Fischer will lose — it’s that they are annoyed the race is even a topic of conversation. “If he had more money, I think he could win,” one top Republican strategist told Semafor. “We shouldn’t even be talking about it.” Fischer has a big fundraising advantage, though more than $1.5 million in spending has helped put Osborn’s challenge on the national radar. That’s reflected in the polls, too. Now the Heartland Resurgence group is also putting money into the race for Fischer. NRSC spokesman Mike Berg said the group’s “top priority is protecting our incumbents.” Despite all the static, it’s hard to see Fischer losing given Donald Trump’s strength in Nebraska and the recent failures of independents running in red states to break through.

— Burgess Everett

Progressive group expands ‘neighbor’ canvassing tool

The progressive organization Indivisible is expanding the reach of a voter canvassing tool by bringing it to a new state and partnering with four more organizations. The initiative, called “Neighbor2Neighbor,” aims to boost voter turnout by having volunteers contact their neighbors rather than people who they don’t otherwise have a connection to. The Democrat-aligned organizations Stand Up America, Women’s March, Daily Kos, and Ultraviolet are signing onto the canvassing program, according to an announcement first shared with Semafor, and the group is expanding the operations to Nebraska, meaning it will be active in 16 states. “This race is ripe for disruption, and Dan Osborn, running as an independent, isn’t accepting any Democratic Party support in his bid to unseat Republican incumbent Deb Fischer,” said Sarah Dohl, chief campaigns office for Indivisible. “That’s actually a strength in Nebraska.”

— Morgan Chalfant

InfoWars’ victims and enemies consider buying it

Some of the subjects of Alex Jones’ darkest and wildest conspiracy theories could end up taking over his iconic, unhinged InfoWars brand in less than two months, Semafor’s Max Tani reports. A Houston judge ruled last week that a bankruptcy trustee could liquidate and auction off Jones’ Free Speech Systems, the parent company of InfoWars. The auction has sparked serious behind-the-scenes interest among liberal groups and some nonprofit organizations dedicated to fighting misinformation. The president of media watchdog Media Matters for America, Angelo Carusone, said the organization was equally interested in InfoWars’ digital channels as well as its archives, which may contain interesting revelations. “As we saw with the Tucker tapes, the archives could contain unbroadcasted material that ends up having real news value — not schadenfreude — but actually useful information,” he said.

Beltway Newsletters

Punchbowl News: Some Republicans admit they haven’t achieved enough legislatively to campaign on. Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-Texas, said he’s telling candidates to strike a personal tone and focus on achievements that impacted their districts. “What have you done for the people that you represent, not what we’ve done — because that’d be a very, very short conversation,” he said.

Playbook: Two elected officials on the ground in storm-devastated North Carolina advised politicians should stay away for the time being. “The people in my district really don’t want to see politicians,” said Republican Rep. Chuck Edwards. “They want to see water. Food. Cell towers and power restored, and the ability to contact their loved ones. Photo ops are not what’s needed.”

WaPo: DSCC chair Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., expects abortion ballot measures to lift up Democrats in tight Senate races in Arizona, Montana, and Nevada.

Axios: Donald Trump has attacked Kamala Harris as a flip flopper, but he’s also changed his tune on several policies, including banning TikTok and capping state and local tax deductions.

White House

• President Biden said he will visit communities impacted by Hurricane Helene when it won’t disrupt emergency response efforts. Vice President Harris is set to receive a briefing from FEMA this evening.
• Biden is delivering a speech celebrating the 2024 US Olympic and Paralympic teams later this morning.

Congress

• Rep. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., said internal Senate campaign polling has Harris “underwater” in Michigan. — Axios

Courts

• The Justice Department charged three members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps accused of hacking Donald Trump’s campaign.

Polls

• Kamala Harris’ edge over Donald Trump among Latino voters is the smallest Democrats have seen in the past four presidential cycles, according to a new NBC/Telemundo/CNBC poll.

On the Trail

• Some Republicans distanced themselves from Donald Trump following his comment about Kamala Harris being “mentally disabled.”
• Harris raised $55 million in California fundraisers over the weekend.
• Trump at a rally in Pennsylvania suggested a “one rough hour” to allow police to handle crime during which officers would be under fewer restrictions, drawing comparisons to “The Purge” film series.
• The group Republican voters Against Trump is launching a final $15 million advertisement campaign targeting swing states that features direct-to-camera spots with former Trump voters who say they are now supporting Harris.

Foreign Policy

• The US is sending more troops to the Middle East, putting others on standby, and keeping an aircraft carrier in the region.
• The White House said President Biden has approved $567 million in defense support for Taiwan.

Technology

• California Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed a bill that would have set requirements for advanced AI model developers to create protocols to prevent catastrophes.

Media

• Ex-NBC News anchor Brian Williams is in “late-stage discussions” about hosting an Election Night show on Amazon Prime Video. — Variety
• Saturday Night Live returned for its 50th season with a cold open featuring Maya Rudolph as Kamala Harris, James Austin Johnson as Donald Trump, Jim Gaffigan as Tim Walz, Bowen Yang as JD Vance, Andy Samburg as Doug Emhoff, and Dana Carvey as President Biden.

Big Read

• Shigeru Ishiba may be a more disruptive prime minister than the Japanese and American establishments may like, Politico’s Matthew Kaminski writes. He has called for the agreement for the deployment of US military forces in the country to be revised, as well as the pacifism provisions in the Japanese constitution to be amended. And he has discussed an Asian version of NATO, making Japan a peer to the US. “He could be a problem for the U.S.,” said Gerry Curtis, a retired Columbia scholar of Japan. “He thinks the deal with the U.S. is outdated, has an occupation stink to it.”

Blindspot

Stories that are being largely ignored by either left-leaning or right-leaning outlets, curated with help from our partners at Ground News.

What the Left isn’t reading: More American adults identify as Republican or lean toward the Republican Party than identify as or lean towards Democrats, according to a new Gallup analysis of recent polling.

What the Right isn’t reading: JD Vance attended an event in Pennsylvania with an evangelical leader who said Kamala Harris used “witchcraft.”

Principals Team

Editors: Benjy Sarlin, Elana Schor, Morgan Chalfant

Reporters: Burgess Everett, Kadia Goba, Joseph Zeballos-Roig, Shelby Talcott, David Weigel

David Weigel is a politics reporter at Semafor who writes the Americana newsletter.

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