Elections 2024 live: What time and how to watch Vance and Walz take the vice presidential debate stage tonight

White House National Security Council Spokesperson Sean Savett says President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris are monitoring the Iranian attack against Israel from the White House Situation Room and re receiving regular updates from their national security team.

President Biden directed the US military to aid Israel’s defense against Iranian attacks and shoot down missiles targeting Israel.

Donald Trump has weighed in on the missile attack Iran launched at Israel on Tuesday, issuing a rambling, apocalyptic statement in which he declared the world “on fire and spiraling out of control.”

“We have no leadership, no one running the Country,” the former president posted, disingenuously, on his flagging Twitter clone, Truth Social. “We have a non-existent President in Joe Biden, and a completely absent Vice President, Kamala Harris, who is too busy fundraising in San Francisco, a City which she and Gavin Newscum totally destroyed, and staging fake photo ops. No one is in charge and it’s not even clear who is more confused: Biden or Kamala. Neither has any idea what is even going on.”

Trump went on, claiming, untruthfully, that when he was in office, “Iran was in total check.”

Justin Rohrlich reports.

Iran has launched an unknown number of missiles at Israel. Air raid sirens have sounded across the country, lights are visible in the skies over Tel Aviv and explosions can be heard.

Follow our full coverage here

In 2016, Jeff Walz donated to Donald Trump’s campaign.

Now, eight years later, the 67-year-old’s brother Tim Walz is taking on the former president having joined Vice President Kamala Harris on the Democratic Party’s 2024 ticket.

And Jeff appears to be far from happy with his sibling’s political aspirations.

Rachel Sharp reports.

Tonight sees CBS News host the vice presidential debate between Ohio Senator JD Vance and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz in New York.

It is the first and only meeting between the two vice presidential candidates. Voters in several states have already begun receiving their ballots for the election presidential election on November 5.

Moderating the debate will be Norah O’Donnell, anchor and managing editor of CBS Evening News, and Margaret Brennan, moderator of Face the Nation and chief foreign affairs correspondent. No audience will be present for the debate.

Here’s what you need to know about tonight’s moderators, per CBS News.

Norah O’Donnell

O’Donnell has earned multiple Emmy Awards over her nearly three decades of experience in journalism. She is covering her eighth presidential election and has interviewed every living president of the United States.

She has been anchor and managing editor of the CBS Evening News since 2019, leading CBS News’ flagship broadcast from Washington, DC. O’Donnell recently secured a historic interview with Pope Francis.

O’Donnell has conducted interviews with newsmakers in Washington and beyond for the CBS Evening News, including President Biden’s first interview since taking office; an exclusive sit-down with Vice President Mike Pence after the killing of Iranian military commander Qasem Soleimani; the first-ever interview with the four highest-ranking women in the US military; an exclusive interview with a former staffer for New York’s then-Governor Andrew Cuomo who alleged sexual harassment; and more.

She also contributes to 60 Minutes and is the host of CBS News 24/7’s Person to Person.

O’Donnell joined CBS News in 2011 as chief White House correspondent and was the co-anchor of CBS This Morning from 2012 to 2019.

She began her career as a print reporter for Roll Call, a Capitol Hill newspaper, before working for more than a decade at NBC News, where she covered the Pentagon, Congress and the White House. O’Donnell is a graduate of Georgetown University’s College of Arts and Sciences.

Margaret Brennan

Brennan has been moderator of Face the Nation since 2018, when she became the second woman to host the prestigious Sunday morning public affairs program. She has interviewed world leaders like Presidents Joe Biden and Donald Trump, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and French President Emmanuel Macron, as well as congressional leaders including House Speakers Mike Johnson, Kevin McCarthy and Nancy Pelosi.

In 2023, Face the Nation was recognized with a Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in TV Political Journalism, citing Brennan’s moderating approach as “measured, completely consistent, researched and prepared”.

Before becoming moderator of Face the Nation, she held several roles at CBS News, including State Department and White House correspondent. She remains the network’s chief foreign affairs correspondent.

She has covered historic moments such as the landmark nuclear deal with Iran; restoration of diplomatic ties with Cuba; the standoff with North Korea; the conflict in Ukraine; and the accord to transfer control of Syria’s chemical weapons. She broke the news that members of Trump’s Cabinet were discussing invoking the 25th Amendment following the January 6 attack on the US Capitol, and her interview with Kevin McCarthy in 2023 played a role in his ouster as speaker just days later.

She began her career as a producer at CNBC and spent a decade covering global financial markets before joining CBS News in 2012. Brennan graduated from the University of Virginia in 2002.

Donald Trump issued the following statement on Iran’s imminent attack on Israel — currently underway.

"The World is on fire and spiraling out of control. We have no leadership, no one running the Country. We have a non-existent President in Joe Biden, and a completely absent Vice President, Kamala Harris, who is too busy fundraising in San Francisco, a City which she and Gavin Newscum totally destroyed, and staging fake photo ops. No one is in charge and it’s not even clear who is more confused: Biden or Kamala. Neither has any idea what is even going on.

When I was President, Iran was in total check. They were starved for cash, fully contained, and desperate to make a deal. Kamala flooded them with American cash and, ever since, they’ve been exporting terror all over, and unraveling the Middle East.

Under 'President Trump,' we had NO WAR in the Middle East, NO WAR in Europe, and Harmony in Asia, No Inflation, No Afghanistan Catastrophe. Instead, we had PEACE. Now, War or the threat of War, is raging everywhere, and the two Incompetents running this Country are leading us to the brink of World War III. You wouldn’t trust Joe or Kamala to run a lemonade stand, let alone lead the Free World.

It is no surprise that Iran desperately wants Kamala Harris to be President, because they know as long as she is in power, they can take advantage of America. That is why they have tried to target me.

If I was in charge, October 7th never happens, Russia/Ukraine never happens, Afghanistan Botched Withdrawal never happens, and Inflation never happens. If I win, we will have peace in the World again. If Kamala gets 4 more years, the World goes up in smoke."

Harris and Biden are both in Washington, DC, and met with national security official this morning.

Republican organizers in battleground states are worried that the Trump campaign isn’t doing enough to drive GOP turnout, as Kamala Harris maintains a roughly three per cent lead in national polls and similar margins in battleground states.

GOP operatives told Politico that the Trump campaign’s tactics to reach voters, relying heavily on super PACs and an army of “Trump Force 47” volunteers to knock on doors and get out the vote, hasn’t made as much of a dent as they would’ve wished in key toss-up states like Michigan and Nevada.

“There’s really no organization,” a Republican operative in Nevada told the outlet. “He comes out, they scramble to do a rally … but after that, there’s just really nothing else.”

Josh Marcus reports.