If it's Thursday, Vice President Kamala Harrison, former President Donald Trump are on the campaign trail with just 33 days to go as Trump responds to this election cycle's first October surprise.

Plus President Biden continues his tour of the southeast states hit by Hurricane Helene with Florida and Georgia

as the death toll continues to rise. And Israel launches another deadly airstrike in Beirut and

carries out new attacks in Gaza as it prepares to retaliate against Iran's unprecedented missile

attack.

Welcome to meet the press now. I'm Kristen Welker in Washington. We are just 33 days out from Election Day, and both nominees are on the trail and swing states as we sort through our first October surprise of the 2024 campaign. District Court Judge

Tanya Chutkin released a 165-page filing from Special Counsel Jack Smith, arguing why his election

interference case should survive following the

Supreme Court's decision on presidential immunity. Smith makes his argument on page one,

writing, quote, although the defendant was the incumbent president during the charged conspiracies,

his scheme was fundamentally a private one.

The filing asserts Trump knew he was spreading lies about the 2020 election

and acted on them leading up to the January 6th attack on the Capitol

as part of a broad scheme to stay in power.

Smith also claims to have forensic evidence.

The president was scrolling Twitter and watching cable

television on January 6th when he made his infamous post claiming Vice President Mike Pence

didn't have the, quote, courage to reject certification of the 2020 election, something

that he didn't have the authority to do. Smith writing, the content of the 224 p.m. tweet was not a message sent to address a matter of

public concern and ease unrest. It was the message of an angry candidate upon the realization that

he would lose power. Now, Mr. Trump's legal team asked Judge Chutkin for additional time to respond to

the filing with a brief

...