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President Donald Trump said that Vice President JD Vance's outreach to Iran was about helping the country get medical supplies, after US media reported Vance had written to Tehran's top security official to revive peace talks.

Vance sent the letter to Iranian Security Council chief Mohsen Rezaei in a bid to revive peace negotiations, the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times reported on Wednesday, citing US officials and people familiar with the matter.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Vance sent the letter at Trump's direction. When asked by reporters later on Wednesday if he directed Vance to reach out to Iran to restart peace negotiations, Trump said: "No."

"What that is is they need help with medical supplies and various things. He (Vance) asked me what I thought. I said, if you want to do that, that's okay. Basically, it's getting supplies in to help people that are not well," Trump told reporters.

Republican U.S. Senate candidate Mike Rogers and Sen. Ted Cruz on Wednesday criticised Democrats and accused Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed of antisemitism at a Republican Jewish Coalition event in Oakland County, Michigan.

Rogers claimed El-Sayed was the only candidate whose primary victory the Muslim Brotherhood supported.

Cruz alleged that Iran, Qatar, and China were funding protests to divide Americans, describing antisemitism as "a poison that is ripping this country apart."

FBI and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) employees will not monitor voting locations during the upcoming midterm elections, although other law enforcement agents will, a government official said in a court filing on Oct. 28.

The official, Eric Neff, acting chief of the Voting Section in the department's Civil Rights Division, said monitors would include employees from the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Federal Bureau of Prisons, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.

The Department of Justice confirmed earlier Wednesday that it plans to send 1,000 workers to monitor polls across all 50 states.

Neither man is on the ballot but Republican President Donald Trump and Democratic former President Barack Obama took prominent roles on the campaign trail on Wednesday, with less than a week to go before congressional races that could shift the balance of power in Washington.

Obama appeared in Morrow, Georgia, near Atlanta, where he urged voters to support Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff, who faces a challenge from Representative Mike Collins, a Republican.

"There is a moral component to the choices we face right now," Obama said.

The S&P 500 recently hit another record high, and it's easy to feel good when your investments are growing. But what happens when the market changes direction? NTD speaks with financial planner Lawrence Sprung about this and more.

A splash of color streaked across the pavement in Central Park on Wednesday as organizers of the TCS New York City Marathon held its annual ceremonial painting of the 'blue line' to mark the race's 50th year of tracing through the city's five boroughs.

Ted Metellus, race director and chief event production officer for the TCS New York City Marathon, said the ceremonial line does more than guide the leaders.

"The 'blue line' was really something that symbolized the connection of the five boroughs there," he said. It gives lead athletes a direction, he added, and connects the city as a whole.

More than 60,000 runners are expected to take their places on the starting line on Sunday.

Minutes of silence were held across Spain on Thursday as the country mourned the 68 victims of Wednesday's deadly train crash.

Spain's government has declared three days of national mourning for those killed in the crash, which Transport Minister Oscar Puente said happened after several trains stopped due to a signal failure. A state-run Renfe train was then authorized to proceed at normal speed, even though there was a stationary Iryo-operated train ahead, Puente said on Wednesday.

Dozens of people gathered outside Madrid's town hall on Wednesday to observe a minute of silence for victims of the fatal train accident. During the silence, some participants held signs in Spanish reading "corruption kills" before chanting calls demanding Puente's resignation.

Less than one week ahead of election day, Republican U.S. Senate nominee Ken Paxton is making a final dash around Texas to get out the vote. NTD's Fiona Ji is on the ground to find out what issues matter most to Texans.

Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton addressed supporters at a rally in Van Nuys, California, as he continued campaigning across the state with his "Bring California Back Tour." With the election less than a week away, he's hoping to gain support from undecided voters.

Democratic Congressman Chris Pappas and Republican John Sununu met in the final debate of their U.S. Senate race last night.

Asked how they would address rising home heating costs, Sununu said the focus should be on "long-term energy stability," developing the infrastructure necessary to deliver low-cost electricity.

On the question of how to lower grocery costs, Pappas pointed to President Donald Trump's tariffs and said he supports efforts to exempt small businesses, and groceries in particular, from tariffs.