Walz says Harris’ message ‘absolutely clear’ after Biden’s ‘garbage’ remarks

(WASHINGTON) — Amid rising tensions in the Middle East, White House National Security Communications Adviser John Kirby said Sunday that the Biden administration is doing “everything we can to try to prevent this from becoming an all-out war there with Hezbollah across that Lebanese border.”

Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah traded fire earlier Sunday morning, with an Israeli Defense Forces spokesperson saying that Hezbollah launched 150 rockets toward Israel, reaching deeper into the country than many previous strikes. In response, the IDF said it was striking “Hezbollah terrorist targets” in Lebanon. The IDF struck 400 targets on Saturday and said that the attacks will only intensify.

The fresh strikes come as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledges to “take whatever action is necessary to restore security and to bring our people safe back to their homes” near the Lebanese border in the north of the country.

Asked by ABC “This Week” anchor George Stephanopoulos if escalation in the region is inevitable, Kirby said the White House believes a “diplomatic solution” is still possible.

“We believe that there are better ways to try to get those Israeli citizens back in their homes up in the north, and to keep those that are there, there safely, than a war, than an escalation, then opening up a second front there at that border with Lebanon against Hezbollah,” Kirby said.

But Stephanopoulos pushed back, noting it seems like Netanyahu is not listening to the United States’s consistent pleas for de-escalation.

“Look, the prime minister can speak for himself and what — and what — what policy he’s trying to pursue, what operations he’s trying to conduct. We’ll, of course, recognize that the tensions are much higher now than they were even just a few days ago. … But all that does, George, is underscore for us how important it is to try to find a diplomatic solution,” he said.

Hezbollah called the Sunday assault an “initial response” to attacks from Israel earlier this week. In Lebanon and Syria, thousands of people were injured Tuesday by exploding pagers used by Hezbollah members as part of an Israeli operation. Another round of attacks targeting two-way radios used by the group followed on Wednesday. The two attacks killed at least 39 people and injured more than 3,000, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.

Kirby reiterated that the U.S. was “not involved” in these attacks, but refused to say much more than that, saying he would not “get into the details.”

“I will just say, though, George, that we are watching all of these escalating tensions that have been occurring over the last week or so with great concern, and we want to make sure that we can continue to do everything we can to try to prevent this from becoming an all-out war there with Hezbollah across that Lebanese border,” he said.

A panel of United Nations specialists in international law and human rights has condemned Israel’s use of the exploding devices as illegal “booby traps” with the potential of harming civilians.

Israel had a hand in the manufacturing of the devices with this type of “supply chain interdiction” operation having been planned for at least 15 years, a U.S. intelligence source confirmed to ABC News.

In response to a question about the security of U.S. supply chains, Kirby said that President Joe Biden “has made it clear that he wants the American supply chain to be as resilient and as vibrant as possible.”

The attacks, including Israel’s Friday strike on a Beirut suburb that took out a top Hezbollah commander, signal a new stage of escalation in the Middle East and raise fears of that they will increase the likelihood of an expanded conflict in the region.

How these recent attacks impact the efforts to achieve a cease-fire between Israeli and terrorist organization Hamas in Gaza remains an open question.

Kirby conceded to Stephanopoulos that, “We are not achieving any progress here in the last week to two weeks,” and said that Hamas’ leader, Yahya Sinwar, doesn’t appear to be negotiating in good faith.

“But it doesn’t mean that we’re not trying,” he added.

Kirby’s response follows a report from The Wall Street Journal that U.S. officials believe an Israel-Hamas cease-fire deal is unlikely before the end of Biden’s term. When asked Friday about the likelihood of a deal, Biden replied, “A lot of things don’t look realistic until we get them done.”

Stephanopoulos also asked Kirby about alleged election meddling efforts by Iran that U.S. security agencies warned about last week. Kirby said there is “a very robust interagency effort all across the government to deter and to defeat foreign malign actors.

“The American people ought to know that the federal government is working hand in glove with their local and state officials to ensure the safety and security of their ballots and their election day activities,” Kirby said.

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(WASHINGTON, D.C.) — For a second day this week, Vice President Kamala Harris is focusing on a key voting bloc that is a critical base for the Democratic Party: Black men.

On Tuesday, Harris will participate in an audio town hall event with Charlemagne tha God, host for the popular “The Breakfast Club” podcast. Also on Tuesday, the vice president is meeting with Black entrepreneurs in Detroit.

Her events come a day after her campaign rolled out a comprehensive plan — just three weeks until the election — to help Black men “get ahead” economically, which includes providing one million fully forgivable loans to Black entrepreneurs and an effort to invest in Black male teachers.

In an interview on “Roland Martin Unfiltered,” also released on Monday, Harris argued that economic policies that consider “historical barriers” facing Black people benefit all Americans.

“If you have public policy, and I’m talking about economic public policy specifically at this point, but if you have public policy that recognizes historical barriers and what we need to do then to overcome,” Harris said. “First, speak truth about them and then overcome them, that in the process of doing that, not only are you directly dealing with the injustices and the legal and procedural barriers that have been focused on Black folks, but by eliminating those barriers, everyone actually benefits, right?”

The focus on Black voters comes after former President Barack Obama sternly chided Black men over “excuses” to not vote for Harris while speaking to a group of Black at a campaign field office in Pittsburgh’s East Liberty neighborhood last week.

“You have [Trump], who has consistently shown disregard, not just for the communities, but for you as a person, and you’re thinking about sitting out?” Obama asked. “And you’re coming up with all kinds of reasons and excuses?”

Harris is polling ahead of Trump with Black voters who are registered to vote, 82-13%, according to the latest ABC News/Ipsos poll. That compares with 87-12% in the 2020 exit poll (a slight 5 points lower for Harris; no better for Trump). Black men are at 76-18% (compared with 79-19% four years ago), the poll found.

These differences from 2020 aren’t statistically significant, and Georgia Sen. Raphael Warnock said he agrees.

“I don’t buy this idea that there will be huge swaths of Black men voting for Donald Trump. That’s not going to happen. What I would urge folks to do is to show up, to understand that if you don’t vote, that is a vote for Donald Trump. That’s the concern.,” said Warnock on a Tuesday campaign call with reporters.

Part of the Harris campaign’s plan for Black men includes legalizing recreational marijuana nationwide. Such a move would “break down unjust legal barriers that hold Black men and other Americans back,” the campaign said in its release.

This takes the Biden administration’s current stance, which includes pardoning people convicted of marijuana possession, a step further. For Harris’ part, such a proposal is evidence of her evolving position. She has become more progressive since her time as attorney general of California when she was heavily criticized for aggressively prosecuting weed-related crimes.

Asked if she ever smoked by Charlamagne tha God back in 2019, Harris responded, “I have. And I inhaled — I did inhale. It was a long time ago. But, yes.”

She went on to clarify that she believes in legalizing the substance.

“I have had concerns, the full record, I have had concerns, which I think — first of all, let me just make this statement very clear, I believe we need to legalize marijuana,” she said. “Now, that being said — and this is not a ‘but,’ it is an ‘and’ — and we need to research, which is one of the reasons we need to legalize it. We need to move it on the schedule so that we can research the impact of weed on a developing brain. You know, that part of the brain that develops judgment, actually begins its growth at age 18 through age 24.”

Her answer garnered backlash due to her record prosecuting the substance, particularly given the racial disparities in punishment nationwide. Harris’ new proposal looks to correct those historical inequities.

But is it enough?

In addition to the new proposals, Harris has aggressively been campaigning in Black communities in the past week, stopping at several local Black-owned businesses and churches in North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Michigan as well as appearing on several media programs with predominately Black audiences.

In September, Harris told a group of Black reporters in a moderated conversation hosted by the National Association of Black Journalists that she was “working to earn the vote, not assuming I’m going to have it because I am Black.”

Her campaign launched a “Black Men Huddle” organizing call on Monday, which featured remarks from campaign senior officials Tony West, Brian Nelson, Quentin Fulks and Rep. Cedric Richmond. Later, there was a weekly event focused on Black men supporting Harris featuring actor Don Cheadle.

“What the vice president is doing is giving us the tools to be able to go and have meaningful, impactful conversations when Black men turn back around to us and say, ‘Well, what’s in it for me,’ I think that we have policy and tools like this that we can say exactly that,” said Fulks.

Doc Rivers, who interviewed Harris for his “ALL the SMOKE” podcast on Monday, said he agreed with Obama’s comments last week and pushed for Black men to cast their ballots.

“I agree 100% with President Obama — it’s unacceptable not to vote. When you look back at what your parents and your grandparents had to do to get the right to vote, that’s unacceptable for me,” said Rivers. “But there are Black men who out there that feel hopeless, they don’t believe a vote helps them in either way, and I’m here to tell them they’re wrong.”

ABC News interviewed Black men in Pittsburgh’s predominately Black Homewood Brushton neighborhood last Friday about their impressions of Harris and what she needed to do to get their vote.

Aquail Bey, a student at The Community College of Allegheny County and president of its veterans club, said Harris needs to meet them where they are and genuinely speak with them.

“She’s doing a good job right now, but I think she should have — go to places where they are, you know, meet them on their own terms, you know. Go to the neighborhoods where they are, go to the barber shops … ” Bey said. “Wherever the Black men are, go to where they are, speak to them a way that they understand.”

Aaron Stuckey said people shouldn’t assume Black men aren’t getting behind Harris.

“Just poll us instead of assuming that that’s where we’re not going,” he said.

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(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden on Thursday called the Federal Reserve’s rate cut the day before an “important signal” from the Fed to Americans that inflation is cooling, but he cautioned that it “doesn’t mean the work is done” to improve the economy.

In remarks on Thursday at the Economic Club of Washington, D.C., Biden said, “Yesterday was an important day for the country.”

“Two and a half years after the Federal Reserve began raising interest rates, it announced that it began lowering interest rates,” Biden said. “I think it’s good news for consumers, and that means the cost of buying a home, a car, and so much more would be going down. And it’s good news in my view, for the overall economy.”

The president in his remarks discussed how far the U.S. has come since the COVID-19 pandemic, including supply chain issues, high costs of food and goods, and baby formula shortages. He also checked through all of his legislative achievements such as the American Rescue Plan, Inflation Reduction Act, Chips and Science Act and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

“At its peak, as you all know, inflation was 9.1% in the United States. Today it’s much closer to 2%,” Biden said. “It doesn’t mean our work is done. Far from it. Far from it, no one should confused why I’m here. I’m not here to take a victory lap. I’m not here to say, ‘A job well done.’ I’m not here to say ‘We don’t have a hell of a lot more work to do.’ We do have more work to do.”

White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients told reporters on a call previewing Biden’s remarks that president and Vice President Kamala Harris are still looking ahead to the work that is not finished, pointing to the cost of child care and housing as two of the biggest areas.

One White House official on the call was asked about whether the administration was concerned about rising unemployment in response to today’s rate cut, but the official brushed off the concern, saying that the Fed’s data today shows “the labor market remaining solid,” and adding that unemployment has “remained the lowest on average of any administration in 50 years.”

A reporter also asked whether rising tensions in the Middle East could be a setback in the fight against rising inflation. The different White House official said that it is one of the “geopolitical risks that we consistently monitor.”

“But our assessment, you know, right now is that the economy is in a healthy place, and that the kind of range of risks, while we continue to monitor them are do not pose a significant risk to the to the outlook,” the White House official added.

In his remarks Thursday, Biden also falsely claimed that he has “never once spoken to the chairman of the Fed since I became president.” He actually met with Jerome Powell in the Oval Office in May 2022.

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