News Information and Media Site: Nightly Rundown: Harris and Trump’s media blitz; New Jersey detective killed in home invasion; Menendez brothers’ family rallies for release

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By Dan Donahue

Wednesday, October 16, 2024

Good Wednesday afternoon. Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are stepping up their media appearances with less than three weeks to the election, a New Jersey detective was killed in a home invasion, and the Menendez brothers' extended family is rallying for their release.

Here is what's in our Nightly Rundown.

Harris to sit for Fox News interview, Trump town halls airing today

Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump are going on a media blitz, with just 20 days left until Election Day.

Harris, looking to broaden her appeal to GOP voters, is appearing this afternoon with more than 100 Republicans, including former lawmakers who support her candidacy, in a Pennsylvania battleground county. Later, she will sit for her first formal interview with Fox News.

Trump, meanwhile, taped a town hall this afternoon with undecided Latino voters, after appearing this morning in a prerecorded Fox News town hall with an all-female audience, where he declared himself the "father of IVF."

Also during the town hall, Trump doubled down on his recent "enemy from within" comment, after suggesting he would use the military against Democrats and other political adversaries.

Harris, during an audio town hall yesterday, agreed with radio host Charlamagne Tha God after he suggested that Trump's vision for American is "fascism."

The Trump campaign responded, "This is the type of disgusting rhetoric that led to two assassination attempts against President Trump." Trump himself has described Harris as a "fascist" multiple times on the campaign trail.

New Jersey prosecutor's office detective killed in home invasion

A detective with a New Jersey county prosecutor's office was fatally shot during a home invasion last night, authorities said.

Police responded around 10:30 p.m. to a report of several people kicking in the front door at a home, Bridgeton police said in a statement.

The officers found 51-year-old Monica Mosley, a sergeant with the Cumberland County Prosecutor's Office, suffering from a gunshot wound, and she died at the scene, investigators said.

One person, who was found at a hospital after being treated for a gunshot wound, has been detained for questioning, police said. No charges have been filed, and the motive is under investigation.

Menendez brothers' family rallies for their release as D.A. reviews case

While the district attorney is reviewing whether Lyle and Erik Menendez should be resentenced for the 1989 killing of their parents, the extended family of the two brothers is expected to gather this afternoon to push for their release.

Nearly two dozen family members are set to hold a news conference with the brothers' defense lawyer outside a Los Angeles courthouse.

The Menendez brothers said they acted in self-defense when they killed their parents, Jose and Kitty, in their Beverly Hills home, claiming their father had physically and sexually abused them for years. Prosecutors alleged they were after an inheritance.

Not all family members believe the brothers are wrongfully imprisoned. Milton Andersen, one of Kitty Menendez's brothers, has said in the past he believes they are guilty, and should have gotten the death penalty.

Two Navy crew members missing after aircraft crashes in Washington state

The Navy said it is searching for two crew members who are missing after their aircraft crashed east of Mount Rainier on Tuesday.

The jet, a Navy EA-18G Growler, went down during a routine training mission, the Navy said in a statement.

The status of the crew members remained "unknown" as of last night. The cause of the crash is under investigation.

Texas board rejects clemency in "shaken baby syndrome" death row case

The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles denied a request for clemency today for a death row inmate with autism whom many believe is innocent in the 2002 death of his 2-year-old daughter.

Robert Roberson, 57, is set to die by lethal injection on Thursday. It would be the first execution in the country based on the now highly controversial diagnosis known as "shaken baby syndrome."

Roberson told Lester Holt in a jailhouse interview earlier this month that he never harmed his daughter Nikki, and that he woke up one night to find she had fallen out of bed. Hours later, he said, she was unconscious and her lips with blue, and he rushed her to the hospital.

Many lawmakers, medical experts, activists and the former lead detective in the case have now argued that Roberson was wrongfully convicted using flawed science.

On Tuesday, a district court upheld Roberson's execution warrant.

What else we're watching:

Robert Telles, a former Las Vegas-area elected official, was sentenced to 28 years to life in prison, after he was convicted for the 2022 murder of a journalist.

A rabbi was attacked with a wooden stake in Silver Spring, Maryland, on Monday, and the incident is being investigated as a hate crime, authorities said.

A massive fuel tanker explosion in Nigeria has killed at least 147 people, police and state emergency services said.

Former President Jimmy Carter cast his ballot by mail today, weeks after turning 100.

Tennis legend Serena Williams says she's recovering after she had a grapefruit-sized cyst removed from her neck.

The Federal Trade Commission has finalized its new "Click to Cancel" rule, designed to make it easier to cancel unwanted subscriptions.

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