Breaking News: Trump vows to ‘end all sanctuary cities’; Harris says ex-president calling himself ‘father of IVF’ is bizarre – US elections live… See more

Trump says he will use executive privilege to enact plan; vice-president says Trump to blame for abortion laws that put IVF treatment at risk in US states

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The funeral service for Ethel Kennedy is getting underway at the Cathedral of St Matthew the Apostle in Washington, DC and Joe Biden is going to deliver the eulogy. Former Democratic presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton and House Speaker emerita Nancy Pelosi are also attending and will deliver remarks.

Kennedy died last week at the age of 96 just days after suffering a stroke. She was the widow of Senator Robert F Kennedy and raised their 11 children after he was assassinated in 1968 while running for president, and she remained dedicated to social causes and the family’s legacy for decades thereafter. Here is the Guardian’s obituary.

Many Kennedy family members are attending the memorial and there will also be remarks from Martin Luther King III, the descending of civil rights leader Rev Dr Martin Luther King Jr. Stevie Wonder is due to perform at the service.

Biden became the first second US president to be a Catholic and the first since John F Kennedy, who was assassinated in 1963, five years before his younger brother Bobby.

The day so far
In a Fox News town hall, Donald Trump called himself “the father of IVF” and said he and others in the Republican party support the fertility treatment – even though his congressional allies have blocked federal legislation to guarantee its availability. Kamala Harris said her opponent’s comments were “quite bizarre”, while her campaign held a press conference where victims of the migrant family separation policy implemented under Trump’s presidency testified about the harm they endured. Meanwhile, special counsel Jack Smith argued that Trump was responsible for the January 6 attack in a new filing, as he seeks to get his prosecution in the election subversion case back on track.

Here’s what else has happened today:

Trump also proposed doing away with sanctuary cities by executive order, though an earlier attempt when he was president failed.
Michelle Obama will on 29 October headline a rally in Georgia aimed at turning out young voters, while Barack Obama will next week campaign for Harris in Michigan as early voting begins.
Harris will this evening appear on the conservative Fox News network for an interview with anchor Bret Baier.

Harris calls Trump comments on IVF ‘quite bizarre’
Reacting to Donald Trump’s quip earlier today that he was “the father of IVF” and supported keeping the fertility treatment accessible, Kamala Harris said the remark was quite bizarre and flew in the face of the former president’s record on the issue.

“I found it to be quite bizarre”, the vice-president said just before boarding a flight in Detroit bound for Trenton, New Jersey. “He should take responsibility for the fact that one in three women in America lives in a Trump abortion ban state. What he should take responsibility for is that couples who are praying and hoping and working toward growing a family have … been so disappointed and harmed by the fact that IVF treatments have now been put at risk.”

Let’s not be distracted by his choice of words. The reality is, his actions have been very harmful to women and families in America on this issue.

Harris also demurred when asked if she agreed with Barack Obama’s comments towards Black men encouraging them to vote for her:

Let me first say that I’m very proud to have the support of former president Barack Obama, and I think that the important point that I will make over and over again is I don’t assume to have the vote of any demographic locked down.

The Guardian’s Robert Tait reports that Kamala Harris has said Donald Trump is a “fascist”, an escalation in her rhetoric against him. Here’s more:

Kamala Harris has agreed that Donald Trump is a fascist in her most forthright statement yet in casting her presidential opponent as a potential autocrat harboring authoritarian visions should he return to the White House.

The US vice-president and Democratic nominee crossed a psychologically important boundary in addressing the issue of fascism in an interview with Charlamagne Tha God, an influential radio host whose audience reaches a predominantly Black audience of 8 million listeners monthly. The talk happened during a campaign stop in Detroit, the centre of a battle between the two candidates for the battleground state of Michigan.

Setting out the electoral options in the hourlong phone-in interview, Harris was initially cautious, telling her host that voters in the 5 November election “have two choices … and it’s two very different visions for our nation” before giving a vague definition of her vision.