Harris, Trump hit campaign trail as debate looms

PORTSMOUTH, United States — Kamala Harris and Donald Trump returned to the US campaign trail Wednesday, with new polls showing the White House race remains on a knife-edge less than a week before their crucial first debate.

As they buckled down for the final two-month sprint to Election Day, the latest spasm of gun violence rippled through the United States, with four people killed by a 14-year-old student at a high school in the southern state of Georgia.

Vice President Harris, condemning the "senseless tragedy" of the shooting, urged a halt to the "epidemic of gun violence" plaguing the United States.

She also reiterated her call for a ban on assault weapons -- a position widely opposed by Republicans -- as she addressed a rally in New Hampshire.

Trump, himself the target of an assassination attempt by a gunman in July, said the victims "were taken from us far too soon by a sick and deranged monster."

Security has been beefed up on the trail. Harris spoke Wednesday at a brewery south of Portsmouth on a stage protected on three sides by bullet-proof glass, an apparent first for her, while Trump too used such reinforced protection during a recent outdoor event.

Harris, who has revived Democratic hopes with just 61 days until the November 5 vote, unveiled proposed tax breaks for small businesses as she fleshed out her economic policy.

In a rare break with Biden, she proposed a 28 percent tax rate on capital gains, lower than the 39.6 percent planned by the president, in her latest attempt to appeal to centrist voters.

"We know when the government encourages investment, it leads to broad-based economic growth, and it creates jobs, which makes our economy stronger," Harris said.

Team Trump meanwhile blasted the plans, saying in a statement that Harris's various proposals would lead to tax hikes "on almost 26 million small businesspeople in America."

Trump himself participated in a pre-recorded town hall event that airs at 9:00 pm (0100 GMT Thursday) on conservative-leaning Fox News in Pennsylvania.

The appearance came after the Republican's notable campaign trail absence over the US Labor Day weekend, traditionally the start of the final sprint.

Then on Tuesday,