Here's what to watch in the final full week of the presidential campaign

NEW YORK (AP) — Uncertainty reigns entering the final full week of the 2024 campaign with Democrat Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump locked in a fiercely competitive presidential contest. What happens in the coming days will be pivotal in deciding the winner.

Here's what we're watching this week:

Even before the week began, Trump’s campaign risked being knocked off course by controversy. A rally at New York City’s Madison Square Garden late Sunday that was meant to serve as a closing message was instead overshadowed by racist insults, including a comedian who called Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage.”

And with eight days to go until Election Day, history suggests Trump is virtually guaranteed to say or do something else controversial in the final stretch. The only question is whether it will break through.

If there’s one thing we know, it’s that Trump cannot help himself. He’s been using authoritarian-style rhetoric in recent days to suggest that his Democratic opponents, whom he calls “ the enemy within,” are more dangerous to the nation than the threat posed by Russia and China.

Democrats will be combing through every Trump interview and public appearance for something similar to exploit. There are also multiple ongoing criminal investigations into Trump, who has already been convicted of 34 felony charges, that could reveal new information.

Yet Democrats are the first to admit that voter opinions of Trump is so hardened that it would take something truly stunning to change the course of the election.

There is precedent for a final-week stunner, however. Remember, it was Oct. 28, 2016, when former FBI Director James Comey sent a letter to Congress indicating that federal investigators learned of new emails pertinent to the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server.

It would be an understatement to describe Democrats as anxious as Election Day looms. But there was a deliberate effort by Harris’ senior team over the weekend to project optimism to help temper the fear.

Harris senior adviser Jen O’Malley Dillon predicted victory on MSNBC on Sunday: “We are confident we’re going to win this thing,” she said. “We’re seeing extraordinary enthusiasm. This is going to be a close race, and our campaign is exactly where we want to be.”

Harris will try to alleviate Democratic anxiety further on Tuesday when she delivers her “closing argument” at the Ellipse, the same spot near the White House where Trump spoke on Jan. 6, 2021 shortly before his supporters attacked the Capitol.

Harris is expected to focus her remarks on the danger Trump poses to U.S. democracy. She has called her Republican rival “a fascist” in recent days. And she’s been joined by an unlikely ally, Trump’s former chief of staff John Kelly, who has also described Trump as a fascist recently.

But she’s expected to hit broader themes as well, encouraging voters to look behind her at the White House and imagine who will be sitting at the Resolute Desk at a moment of great consequence. She’s aiming to drive home the stakes of the Nov. 5 election for undecided voters — especially moderate Republicans who may be uncomfortable with Trump’s divisive leadership and extreme rhetoric. And while Harris’ team is betting that there is a significant number of moderates who can still be persuaded, progressive Democrats are worried she’s not focused enough on economic issues in the campaign’s closing days.

Democratic anxiety, we have learned, may be a fact of life.

The candidates’ evolving travel schedules will tell us much about the battlegrounds that will matter most on Election Day.

Here’s what we know for sure: Harris and Trump are aggressively competing in just seven swing states that will ultimately decide the election. They are the three so-called “Blue Wall” states — Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin — in addition to Arizona, Georgia, Nevada and North Carolina.

For a political perspective, however, not every one of the seven is created equal.

Harris spent Sunday in Pennsylvania, which may be the election’s biggest prize. Harris is next scheduled to go to Michigan. And after Tuesday’s closing argument in Washington, she plans to visit North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin on Wednesday alone. She heads to Nevada and Arizona on Thursday.

What do we know about Trump’s schedule? He’s booked to host at least one rally every day next week: Monday in Georgia, Tuesday in Pennsylvania, Wednesday in Wisconsin, Thursday in Nevada, Friday in Wisconsin again and Saturday in Virginia.

But as a reminder, these schedules are likely to change based on the campaigns’ intelligence on the ground.

More than 41 million votes have already been cast in the election nationwide. Democrats generally have an advantage in early voting, but so far, at least, Republicans are participating at a much higher rate than they have in the past.

The question: Will it last?

Trump, of course, has for years encouraged his supporters to cast only in-person ballots on Election Day. The practice put the GOP at a significant disadvantage. He largely reversed course in recent months as he and his party acknowledged the obvious benefit of being able to bank their votes as early as possible.

Because of the Republican participation, the early turnout was breaking records last week in swing states such as Georgia and North Carolina.

But with the GOP more focused on “election integrity” rather than a traditional get-out-the-vote operation, it’s unclear whether the uptick in Republican early voting will continue. Democrats hope it won’t.

History may one day decide that the most significant thing Trump said in the closing days of the 2024 election is the thing that many voters barely notice anymore: his persistent warnings that this election is rigged against him.

Indeed, as Election Day approaches, Trump is increasingly warning his supporters that he will lose on Nov. 5 only if his political opponents cheat. Such statements have no basis in fact. There was no evidence of significant voter fraud in the 2020 election, which Trump lost, and there is no evidence that Trump’s adversaries can or will rig this election against him either.

Still, Trump’s unfounded warnings make an already tense and violent election season even more fraught. And there are real threats that foreign adversaries — especially Russia, China and Iran — will meddle in the election.

At the same time, the Republican National Committee has invested tens of millions of dollars into an operation to mobilize thousands of polling place monitors, poll workers and attorneys to serve as “election integrity” watchdogs. Democrats are worried that the effort could lead to harassment of election workers and undermine trust in the vote.

Both parties are aggressively preparing for long legal battles no matter who wins.

U.S. presidential elections are rarely shaped by foreign affairs, but the wars in the Middle East have been escalating at the very moment that millions of voters are preparing to cast ballots.

It’s still unclear how Iran will respond to Israel’s unusually public airstrikes across Iran on Friday but Israel did not target oil or nuclear sites, a sign that a much more serious escalation may have been avoided. In another indication that this conflict may not spiral out of control, the Islamic Republic insisted the strikes caused only “limited damage” and the messaging from Iranian state-run media downplayed the attacks.

If the region spirals further toward all-out regional war or holds steady at an already devastating and destabilizing level of violence could also determine the extent to which the Middle East conflict shapes the U.S. election.

The issue has been especially difficult for Harris to navigate as she simultaneously vows to support Israel and offers empathy for those tens of thousands of Palestinians killed by Israel’s response to Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attacks. The Democratic vice president continues to face intense pressure from her party’s progressive base, which has been extremely critical of Israel.

FILE - This combination of images shows Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris at separate campaign events Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024, in Duluth, Ga., and Aston, Pa., respectively. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, left, Matt Rourke, File)

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, with Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker, right, takes a selfie with patrons at a campaign stop at Famous 4th Street Delicatessen in Philadelphia, Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally at Madison Square Garden, Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Supporters cheer as Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker speaks during a community rally with Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris at the Alan Horwitz "Sixth Man" Center, Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

Supporters of Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump hold up flags during a Trump rally in Northbrook, Ill., Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, speaks before Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump at a campaign rally at Madison Square Garden, Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz greets members of the crowd at a Harris-Walz campaign's "Fighting for Reproductive Freedom" bus tour stop and canvass kick-off event outside their campaign office in Henderson, Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024. (Rachel Aston/Las Vegas Review-Journal via AP)

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a community rally at the Alan Horwitz "Sixth Man" Center, Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally at Madison Square Garden, Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a community rally at the Alan Horwitz "Sixth Man" Center, Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump and former first lady Melania Trump wave at a campaign rally at Madison Square Garden, Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

This combination of file photos shows Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump, left, speaking at at a town hall on Oct. 20, 2024, in Lancaster, Pa., and Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, right, speaking at a campaign rally on Oct. 14, 2024, Erie, Pa. (AP Photo)

Israel's military said it detained 100 suspected Hamas militants in a raid on a hospital in northern Gaza over the weekend.

Israeli forces raided Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahiya on Friday, detaining 44 male staff, according to the World Health Organization. Palestinian medical officials said the hospital, which was treating some 200 patients, was heavily damaged in the raid.

Israel has raided several hospitals in Gaza over the course of the yearlong war, saying Hamas and other militants use them for military purposes. Palestinian medical officials deny those allegations and accuse the military of recklessly endangering civilians.

The Israeli military has called on Palestinians to evacuate northern Gaza, where it has been waging a large offensive for more than three weeks. The U.N. said earlier this month at least 400,000 people are still in northern Gaza and hunger is rampant as the amount of humanitarian aid reaching the north has plummeted over the past month.

Israel’s offensive in Gaza has killed over 43,000 Palestinians, according to local health authorities, who do not differentiate between militants and civilians, but say more than a half were women and children. The Israel-Hamas war began after Hamas-led militants on Oct. 7, 2023, blew holes in Israel’s security fence and stormed in, killing some 1,200 people — mostly civilians — and abducting 250 others.

Lebanon’s Health Ministry says the total toll over the past year there is over 2,600 killed and 12,200 wounded. The fighting in Lebanon has driven 1.2 million people from their homes, including more than 400,000 children, according to the United Nations children’s agency. Israeli strikes have killed much of Hezbollah’s top leadership since fighting ramped up in September.

Here’s the latest:

BEIRUT — Successive Israeli airstrikes have pummeled the southern port city of Tyre in Lebanon following an evacuation warning from the Israeli military for parts of the city, Lebanon's state-run National News Agency reported.

Footage aired by local media and the Lebanese Civil Defense showed thick plumes of smoke rising against the Mediterranean skyline, with fires and widespread destruction of residential buildings. No casualties have been reported immediately.

Following the Israeli evacuation warning, Lebanese Civil Defense teams patrolled the city with loudspeakers, urging residents to leave the area immediately.

CAIRO — Egypt’s president on Monday called for coordinated international efforts to establish a cease-fire in Gaza and Lebanon, a day after he proposed a two-day cease-fire between Hamas and Israel.

President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi’s comments came in a meeting in Cairo with Manfred Weber, the chairman of the European People’s Party, the largest political group in the European Parliament.

“The president stressed the need for all international parties, including the European Union, to combine efforts to push hard for … a cease-fire in Gaza and Lebanon,” el-Sissi’s office said in a statement. He also called for Israel to halt raids in the occupied West Bank, and allow unfettered and immediate delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza.

El-Sissi told reporters Sunday that Egypt, a key mediator between Hamas and Israel, has proposed a two-day cease-fire during which four hostages held in Gaza would be freed.

He said the proposal, which aims to jumpstart the stalled negotiations, also includes the release of some Palestinian prisoners, the delivery of humanitarian aid to besieged Gaza and negotiations on making the cease-fire permanent.

Global oil prices are falling sharply Monday after a retaliatory strike by Israel over the weekend targeted Iranian military sites rather than its energy infrastructure as had been feared.

Prices for crude spiked globally on Oct. 2, after Iran fired nearly 200 missiles into Israel, part of a series of rapidly escalating attacks between Israel and Iran and its Arab allies that threatened to push the Middle East closer to a regionwide war.

Iran is the world’s seventh largest oil producer, but if the conflict in the Middle East were to spread, it could drag in some of the world’s largest energy producers. The United States is the world’s largest producer of crude.

On Monday, the price of benchmark U.S. crude and Brent crude, the international benchmark, tumbled 6%.

The Israeli military said its aircraft targeted facilities that Iran used to make the missiles fired at Israel as well as surface-to-air missile sites. There was no indication that Iran’s oil or nuclear sites were hit.

MOSCOW — Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Monday that Moscow has been doing all it can to prevent the further escalation after Israeli strikes on Iran.

Lavrov said that “we are doing everything possible to help end the escalation and defuse the situation.”

“Of course, Israel’s strikes on Iran, which are presented as a response and that now the response has happened, we are even, no actions needed, is an uneasy situation,” he said. “But we hope that the (U.N.) Security Council will be able somehow to help calm the situation.”

He noted that “at this stage, the worst-case scenario has been avoided” for now, but added that “there are someone who want to heat the flame up to the extent when the U.S. get involved.”

JERUSALEM — The Israeli military said it detained 100 suspected Hamas militants in a raid on a hospital in northern Gaza over the weekend.

Israeli forces raided Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahiya on Friday, detaining 44 male staff, according to the World Health Organization. Palestinian medical officials said the hospital, which was treating some 200 patients, was heavily damaged in the raid.

Israel has raided several hospitals in Gaza over the course of the yearlong war, saying Hamas and other militants use them for military purposes. Palestinian medical officials deny those allegations and accuse the military of recklessly endangering civilians.

An Israeli military official, speaking on condition of anonymity in keeping with regulations, said there was heavy fighting around Kamal Adwan Hospital, though not inside it, and that weapons were found inside the facility.

The official said medical staff were detained and searched because some of the militants had disguised themselves as medics. The official said the military had helped international organizations relocate 88 patients and medical staff to other hospitals in the weeks leading up to the raid, and that during the raid itself, troops had brought 30,000 liters of fuel and medical supplies from international organizations to help keep the facility running.

The Israeli military has called on Palestinians to evacuate northern Gaza, where it has been waging a large offensive for more than three weeks.

The UN said earlier this month at least 400,000 people are still in northern Gaza and hunger is rampant as the amount of humanitarian aid reaching the north has plummeted over the past month.

— By Melanie Lidman

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — The head of Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard made his first public comments Monday after Israel’s weekend attack on the country.

Gen. Hossein Salami, in a condolence message to Iran’s regular military, called Israel’s strike “illegitimate and illegal.” Four soldiers in Iran’s air defense network were killed in the attack on Saturday, as was one civilian, Iranian state media say.

The attack was “a sign of miscalculation and the inability” of Israel on the battlefield with Iranian-backed militants “particularly in Gaza and Lebanon.”

The “bitter consequences will be beyond the imagination of the occupiers,” Salami added, referring to Israel.

BAGHDAD, Iraq — Iraq has submitted a memorandum of protest to the Secretary-General of the United Nations and the U.N. Security Council saying Israel violated its airspace in carrying out its attack on Iran over the weekend, the Iraqi prime minister’s office said in a statement.

The statement said that Israeli “aggressor aircraft violated Iraq’s airspace and sovereignty and used Iraqi airspace to carry out the attack on the Islamic Republic of Iran on Oct. 26.”

It added that Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani had directed Iraq’s foreign minister to discuss the matter with the United States. The two countries recently reached an agreement to begin winding down the mission of a U.S.-led coalition formed to fight the Islamic State militant group and to withdraw many of the U.S. troops who remain in the country.

On Sunday, the Iran-backed Iraqi militia Kataib Hezbollah issued a statement accusing the U.S. of coordinating with Israel to use Iraqi airspace to launch the attack on Iran and threatening retaliation against U.S. forces.

UNITED NATIONS — The U.N. Security Council scheduled an emergency meeting Monday afternoon at Iran’s request on Israel’s air strikes against the country.

Switzerland, which holds the council’s rotating presidency, announced the meeting on Sunday and said the Iranian request was supported by Russia, China and Algeria, the Arab representative on the council.

The social platform X has suspended a new account on behalf of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei that posted messages in Hebrew.

The account was suspended early Monday with a brief note appended to it saying: “X suspends accounts which violate the X Rules.” It wasn’t immediately clear what the violation was. The Elon Musk-owned social media company did not respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press.

The move came after Israel openly attacked Iran for the first time this weekend. Khamenei said in a speech on Sunday that Israel’s strikes — in response to Iran’s ballistic missile attack this month — “should not be exaggerated nor downplayed,” while stopping short of calling for retaliation.

The X account opened Sunday with a message in Hebrew reading: “In the name of God, the most merciful,” a standard Islamic greeting.

Khamenei’s office has maintained multiple accounts for the 85-year-old supreme leader on X for years and has sent messages in a variety of languages in the past.

A second message corresponded to a speech Khamenei gave on Sunday and was sent on his English account as: “Zionists are making a miscalculation with respect to Iran. They don’t know Iran. They still haven’t been able to correctly understand the power, initiative, and determination of the Iranian people.” The message referred to Israel’s attack Saturday on Iran.

This isn’t the first time Khamenei has seen a suspension or removal from social media. In February, Meta removed Facebook and Instagram accounts for the supreme leader over his support of the militant group Hamas after its Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel.

Social media platforms like X and Facebook have been blocked in Iran for years, requiring Iranians to use virtual private networks to access them.

TEHRAN, Iran — Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian says his country will respond to Israel “appropriately," after Israel openly attacked Iranian military sites for the first time this weekend.

“We are not seeking war, but we will defend the rights of our nation and country and will respond appropriately to the Zionist regime’s aggression,” Pezeshkian was quoted by state TV on Sunday as saying.

Pezeshkian also said the U.S. had promised Iran to stop the war in Gaza and Lebanon if Iran restrained. “They had promised to end the war in response to our restraint, but they did not keep their word,” he said.

The Iranian president also warned tensions will escalate if Israel’s aggression continues, adding, “We know that the United States is encouraging Israel to commit these atrocities.”

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Iran announced Sunday that a civilian had been killed in Israel’s attack on the country, without offering any details on the circumstances of his death.

The state-run IRNA news agency identified the dead man as Allahverdi Rahimpour and said he lived in a suburban area of southwestern Tehran.

While offering no details on what he was doing or where he was killed, IRNA made a point to say he was not a member of Iran’s armed forces.

Iran has offered few details on the attack and the damage caused by them so far.

Smoke rises from buildings hit in Israeli airstrikes in Tyre, southern Lebanon, Monday, Oct. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Mohammad Zaatari)

Smoke rises from buildings hit in Israeli airstrikes in Tyre, southern Lebanon, Monday, Oct. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Mohammad Zaatari)

A building destroyed in an Israeli airstrike in Tyre, southern Lebanon, Monday, Oct. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Mohammad Zaatari)

Smoke rises from buildings hit by Israeli airstrikes in Tyre, southern Lebanon, Monday, Oct. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Mohammad Zaatari)

Journalists work as smoke rises from a building hit in an Israeli airstrike in Tyre, southern Lebanon, Monday, Oct. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)

Smoke rise from buildings hit in Israeli airstrikes in Tyre, southern Lebanon, Monday, Oct. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Mohammad Zaatari)

Smoke rises from buildings hit in Israeli airstrikes in Tyre, southern Lebanon, Monday, Oct. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Mohammad Zaatari)

Smoke rises from a building hit in an Israeli airstrike in Tyre, southern Lebanon, Monday, Oct. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Mohammad Zaatari)

Smoke rises next of a destroyed building hit in an Israeli airstrike in Tyre, southern Lebanon, Monday, Oct. 28, 2024.(AP Photo/Mohammad Zaatari)

Journalists film as smoke rises from buildings hit in Israeli airstrikes in Tyre, southern Lebanon, Monday, Oct. 28, 2024.(AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)

Smoke rises from an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut, Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut, Lebanon, Lebanon, Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

In this photo provided by the Israeli army, armed Israeli Air Force planes depart from an unknown location to attack Iran, Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024. (Israeli Army via AP)

In this photo provided by the Israeli army, armed Israeli Air Force planes depart from an unknown location to attack Iran, Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024. (Israeli Army via AP)

In this photo released by an official website of the office of the Iranian supreme leader, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei sits in a meeting in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024. (Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader via AP)

This satellite photo from Planet Labs PBC shows damaged buildings at Iran's Khojir military base outside of Tehran, Iran, Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024. An Israeli attack on Iran damaged facilities at a secretive military base southeast of the Iranian capital that experts in the past have linked to Tehran's onetime nuclear weapons program and at another base tied to its ballistic missile program, satellite photos analyzed Sunday by The Associated Press show. The damaged structures are in the bottom center of the image. (Planet Labs PBC via AP)

In this photo released by an official website of the office of the Iranian supreme leader, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei waves to the crowd in a meeting in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024. (Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader via AP)