WASHINGTON (AP) – The Latest on the 2016 campaign (all times EDT):
4 p.m.
Hillary Clinton’s campaign says she raised $154 million last month for her presidential bid.
September was Clinton’s best fundraising month yet, landing $84 million plus another $70 million for Democratic Party committees.
Clinton’s campaign and joint accounts with the party began this month with $150 million in the bank, her aides say.
Donald Trump has not yet reported his September fundraising but said he raised a formidable $18 million for his campaign and the Republican Party in a single day last week.
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3 p.m.
Donald Trump’s friends and even his foes agree that he’s at his best in scripted moments – such as when he speaks with the aid of a teleprompter.
But Trump’s frequent unscripted moments are often drowning them out, diverting attention from his economic message and alienating women and minorities with early voting already underway in some states.
His speech Friday night in Michigan was the latest example of Trump’s sharpened focus on the economy and on Hillary Clinton’s shortcomings.
But earlier this week he fueled a political firestorm by attacking a former Miss Universe, first seizing on her weight and then calling on the world to view her “sex tape.”
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1:30 p.m.
The head of the Homeland Security Department says hackers have made their way into state election systems “in a few cases,” but the federal government hasn’t found “any manipulation” so far of voting information.
Jeh (jay) Johnson says 21 states have contacted the agency for help in safeguarding their election systems, and he’s urging additional requests for cybersecurity assistance.
A department official told The Associated Press on Friday that hackers have targeted the voter registration systems of more than 20 states in recent months.
Federal officials and many cybersecurity experts have said it would be nearly impossible for hackers to alter an election’s outcome because election systems are decentralized and generally not connected to the internet.