GEOFF BENNETT: Welcome to the "News Hour."

Three weeks to go until Election Day, and the race for president remains a dead heat.

Vice President Kamala Harris is in Detroit tonight meeting with business owners and hitting the radio waves to make her case, especially to Black male voters.

But we start tonight in Chicago, where Donald Trump talked tariffs and tax cuts at an economic event and defended reported conversations he's had with Vladimir Putin since leaving office.

Here's Stephanie Sy.

(APPLAUSE) DONALD TRUMP, Former President of the United States (R) and Current U.S. Presidential Candidate: Thank you very much.

STEPHANIE SY: Donald Trump faced a grilling at the Economic Press club of Chicago today and was evasive when asked directly about his recently reported phone calls with Russia's president.

JOHN MICKLETHWAIT, Editor in Chief, Bloomberg News: Can you say, yes or no, whether you have talked to Vladimir Putin since you stopped being president?

DONALD TRUMP, Former President of the United States (R) and Current U.S. Presidential Candidate: Well, I don't comment on that, but I will tell you that, if I did, it's a smart thing.

If I'm friendly with people, if I have a relationship with people, that's a good thing, not a bad thing, in terms of a country.

He's got 2,000 nuclear weapons.

And so do we.

STEPHANIE SY: Bloomberg News editor John Micklethwait also questioned Trump's plan for broad tariffs.

JOHN MICKLETHWAIT: Yes, you're going to find some people who would gain from individual tariffs.

The overall effect could be massive in terms of the economy.

DONALD TRUMP: I agree.

I agree it's going to have a massive effect, positive effect.

It must be hard for you to spend 25 years talking about tariffs as being negative and then have somebody explain to you that you're totally wrong.

WOMAN: Donald John Trump.

STEPHANIE SY: The interview comes one day after a bizarre Trump town hall in Oaks, Pennsylvania.

DONALD TRUMP: Hold it.

A doctor, please.

Doctor.

STEPHANIE SY: The event was twice interrupted by medical emergencies in the audience as medics responded.

DONALD TRUMP: Put on Pavarotti singing "Ave Maria," nice and loud.

STEPHANIE SY: Trump requested Italian opera from the deejay.

Then Trump turned the town hall into a half-hour listening party after the two ill attendees were carried away on stretchers.

DONALD TRUMP: Those two people that went down are patriots and we love them.

And because of them, we ended up with some good music, right?

(CHEERING) STEPHANIE SY: Meantime, Vice President Kamala Harris is in Detroit, Michigan, tonight, continuing to try and shore up support from black men.

She participated in a radio town hall with Charlamagne tha God, host of "The Breakfast Club."

KAMALA HARRIS, Vice President of the United States (D) and U.S. Presidential Candidate: Part of the challenge that I face is that they are trying to scare people away, because they know they otherwise have nothing to run on.

Ask Donald Trump what his plan is for black America.

Ask him.

What you -- I will tell you what it is.

Look at Project 2025.

Project 2025 tells you, the plan includes making police departments have stop-and-frisk policies.

STEPHANIE SY: It's the latest stop on her multiplatform media blitz aimed at younger black voters.

QUESTION: So, V.P., are you with me?

KAMALA HARRIS: I'm with you.

STEPHANIE SY: This interview aired yesterday with The Shade Room, another outlet with a massive black audience.

KAMALA HARRIS: We cap the cost of prescription medication at $2,000 a year for seniors and capped the cost of insulin at $35 for our seniors.

That's our grandparents, our parents.

Black folks are 60 percent more likely to be diagnosed with diabetes.

His plan would eliminate that cap.

STEPHANIE SY: Harris is trying new tactics at her rallies too.

Please roll the clip.

STEPHANIE SY: In Erie, Pennsylvania, last night, she played out a highlight reel of Trump's recent comments, calling on the National Guard and possibly the military to handle - - quote -- "the enemy from within."

KAMALA HARRIS: Donald Trump is increasingly unstable and unhinged.

(CHEERING) KAMALA HARRIS: And he is out for unchecked power.

That's what he's looking for.

STEPHANIE SY: Harris' running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, was in Pennsylvania today to try and win over rural voters.

GOV.

TIM WALZ (D-MN), Vice Presidential Candidate: Family farms, we share a proud tradition, history of feeding and fueling this country, rural neighbors foundational to America's success.

And I promise you this.

Vice President Harris and I, when we win this election, we will have rural Americans' back, just like they have had our back.

STEPHANIE SY: Walz will rally in Pittsburgh tonight as President Biden heads to Philadelphia.

And Trump's V.P.

pick, Ohio Senator J.D.

Vance, will hold a town hall in Lafayette Hill, a Philly suburb.

Both campaigns have their eyes locked on the Keystone State.

For the PBS "News Hour," I'm Stephanie Sy.