Trump to speak at D.C. Reflecting Pool as campaign nears finish line

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November 2, 2026 / 7:30 AM EST / CBS News

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What to know leading up to Election Day 2026:

• More than 54 million Americans have already voted early ahead of Election Day, this Tuesday, Nov. 3, according to the University of Florida Voting Lab.
• As the campaign season comes to a close, President Trump will be holding an event Monday at the Washington, D.C. Reflecting Pool.
• A rift between Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed and Haley Stevens, whom he defeated in the primary, spilled into public view as Stevens endorsed Republican Mike Rogers on Sunday. Leading Democrats condemned Stevens, while Mr. Trump praised her decision. 
• Watch live coverage of election results on CBS News Tuesday evening and get  the latest updates on CBSNews.com and streaming on CBS News 24/7.

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Trump to hold event at Washington D.C. Reflecting Pool on day before Election Day

President Trump will be holding an event at Washington, D.C.'s Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool on Monday afternoon, the day before Election Day.

Mr. Trump told reporters that he wanted to hold an event there "just to show how beautiful it is." The president has made renovations to Washington a central theme of his second term in the White House, although the Reflecting Pool renovations have not gone so smoothly. 

"But it's finished," Mr. Trump said. "It looks beautiful. Hasn't worked since 1922. It's always leaked terribly, and it works really well now. We had it working well, but it was vandalized."

The Trump administration announced plans to resurface the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in April and paint it "American flag blue" at the president's request. Images showed the water turning green less than two weeks after Mr. Trump announced that the site had reopened to "rave reviews."

Days later, chunks of peeling paint from the blue coating were spotted in the water. Mr. Trump claimed in a Truth Social post, without any evidence, that it had been vandalized. Five people were arrested for vandalism, but the Justice Department later acknowledged in a court filing that "botched installation" by the contractor was to blame.

Charges were eventually dropped against Olympian David Hearn, who asked the Justice Department's internal watchdog to investigate — a request which was denied. 

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Ken Paxton campaign no longer has Alamo event scheduled

Texas Republican Senate candidate Ken Paxton's campaign will no longer hold an event on the eve of Election Day at the Alamo, as originally advertised.

The campaign has not publicly commented on the change of plans. But Monday's schedule included events in Conroe and Allen, both of which are hundreds of miles from San Antonio, where the Alamo is located. The Allen event is set to start at 6:30 p.m. CT, which would not give him time to get to San Antonio that night. 

The Paxton campaign did not respond to requests for comment. 

Read more here.

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Stevens says she "absolutely" wants Democrats to win Senate but stands by Rogers endorsement

Haley Stevens gave her first interview since she endorsed Republican Senate nominee Mike Rogers on Sunday, telling CNN's Anderson Cooper she felt like there was a "weight off my shoulders."

During their 15-minute interview, Cooper repeatedly asked Stevens why she changed her mind after she reportedly told her colleague Rep. Debbie Dingell in a phone conversation Saturday night that she was not going to endorse Rogers. 

Stevens confirmed the conversation took place but never gave Cooper a direct answer about what changed her mind. She told him, "That's just where I landed with this. I woke up this morning clear-eyed, fresh and, you know, focused on what was in my heart, and that's that."

Asked again what changed her mind, Stevens replied, "I was there and just, you know, alone with my thoughts. I was writing things out, and look, this level of anger and the things that we are seeing — look, we all want Democrats to win. I'm a really proud Democrat. And by the way, Abdul's got every other Democrat with him. He just doesn't have me and a few other people who love this party."

"Nothing with me changed, Anderson," said Stevens, who had previously endorsed El-Sayed.

She cited El-Sayed's alliance with left-wing streamer and political commentator Hasan Piker and a controversial ad from Rebellion PAC that tied the war in Gaza to increased costs at home. It shows a couple in a grocery store shopping for food for their children, and the woman instructs her husband to put the eggs back. The children still "like eggs," she tells him. "But we have to set that $7 aside for killing Palestinians." El-Sayed said his campaign had nothing to do with the ad.

"That ad was very painful," Stevens said. "There are so many Democrats who want to vote for our Democratic nominee, and they're just being told, 'Hey, this is a party you don't belong in, or this is a campaign you don't belong in.'"

Stevens told Cooper she "absolutely" wants Democrats to take control of the Senate after Election Day and that it's essential for Democrats to retain the seat in Michigan to take control of the Senate.

Cooper pointed out that in August, Stevens had posted on social media that Rogers would be "another rubber stamp for Donald Trump's dangerous agenda. We can't afford to give MAGA another Senate seat in November." He asked Stevens, "Why is it OK now ... why can you afford to give MAGA another Senate seat in November?" 

Stevens replied, "Well, why is it OK to have the Democratic Party and a top nominee injecting ... this type of anger and lack of kindness?"

Cooper asked if she was referring to being disinvited from a planned joint appearance with El-Sayed Sunday.

"Anderson, I was just trying to help this campaign and stand up for people who feel hurt," Stevens replied. 

Cooper interviewed Dingell immediately following Stevens' appearance, and Dingell described the back-and-forth between the CNN host and her colleague as "one of the most painful interviews I have ever watched."

"I'm very concerned that this has all become a distraction," Dingell said.

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Trump held campaign rallies in Kansas and Iowa on Sunday

President Trump spoke Sunday at campaign rallies in Iowa and Kansas, two states with unexpectedly tight Senate races. 

The president spoke for almost 90 minutes Sunday evening in Salina, Kansas, marking his final campaign stop before Tuesday's election. 

"This is my 30th rally, and I'm closing it down tonight. This is it. I had to come here to make sure that Roger got elected," he said of Kansas GOP Sen. Roger Marshall, who is being challenged by Democrat Adam Hamilton.

Earlier, in Dubuque, Iowa, he rallied for Republican Senate candidate Ashley Hinton and gubernatorial candidate Zach Lahn.

The weekend's rallies in both states were briefly called off on Thursday in favor of telerallies, but the White House announced a day later that they were back on.

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These battleground races will determine House and Senate control

Control of the House of Representatives will come down to a number of battleground seats. CBS News has identified  47 House districts that will likely determine which party will have the majority.

Of those seats, 20 are currently held by Democrats and 27 are held by Republicans.  Republicans currently hold a razor-thin majority, with 218 seats, plus an independent who normally caucuses with them. Democrats hold 214 seats. There are two vacancies.

CBS News' Battleground Tracker model estimated on Oct. 25 that Democrats are on track to take control of the House with 229 seats. There is still a path for the GOP to keep the House: The Battleground Tracker's estimates ranged from 215 Democratic seats — which would give Republicans a narrow majority — to 237 seats.

On the Senate side, CBS News has identified 11 key races that could determine control of the Senate.

Eight of those seats are currently held by Republicans: Alaska, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina and Texas.

The other three are held by Democrats: Georgia, Michigan and New Hampshire.

Republicans currently hold 53 Senate seats to the Democrats' 47. 

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El-Sayed raised $1.2 million since Stevens endorsed Rogers, campaign official says

A campaign official for Michigan Democrat Abdul El-Sayed confirmed to CBS News that they've raised over $1.2 million for his Senate campaign since his primary rival Rep. Haley Stevens publicly backed Republican Mike Rogers on sunday. 

The number was first reported by Politico.

It comes as Democrats express they feel betrayed by Stevens' endorsement of a GOP nominee.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called Stevens' endorsement a "despicable act" while House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi said Stevens "has chosen to dangerously betray Michigan families' healthcare, freedoms and future with her horrific endorsement of Mike Rogers."

El-Sayed said "none of this matters" and that he is more focused on issues important to the 10 million Michiganders.

"I'm a lot more focused on the 9,999,998 that are not the ones you guys are talking about, okay? They pay too much in gas. They pay too much in groceries," he told reporters, brushing off questions about Stevens and Rogers.

"At the end of the day, I actually don't think about Haley Stevens," he added. "I'm just less interested in the politics of it all than I am in the policy of it all. … None of this matters."

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Federal judge throws out effort to block certification of Alaska Senate results

A federal judge in Alaska threw out out the Trump administration's lawsuit seeking to block certification of the state's Senate election results in this week's midterm elections if the Republican incumbent Sen. Dan Sullivan loses.

U.S. District Judge Sharon L. Gleason wrote in a 20-page order Sunday that the Justice Department did not have proper legal standing to bring the suit last week. The suit aimed to block the state's election results from being certified because a teacher named Daniel J. Sullivan is also on the state's ballot, alleging that it was a deliberate effort confuse voters and aid the Democrat in the race, Mary Peltola.

The Justice Department filed a notice of appeal.

Read more here.

Madness in Michigan after Democratic Rep. Haley Stevens endorses GOP candidate Mike Rogers

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