Kamala Harris to take over for Biden after support from Pelosi, Obama
(WASHINGTON) — Vice President Kamala Harris’ emergence as the front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination is a historic moment for the United States, as she seems poised to become the first Black woman and Asian American to lead a major party ticket.
The 2024 general election will be the first since 1976 that does not include someone named Bush, Clinton or Biden on the ticket.
Harris quickly garnered support from influential Democrats and raised a record $81 million within 24 hours of President Joe Biden’s withdrawal from the presidential race. From Sunday to Tuesday evening, Team Harris raised $126 million since the endorsement.
She is preparing for her most significant moment yet, as she hits the ground running and makes the case for why voters should elect her the next president.
Her story began in the San Francisco Bay Area. She was a first-generation American, born to an Indian mother and a Jamaican father who divorced when she was 6 years old.
She attended law school at UC Law San Francisco. She worked her way up the political chain, first as deputy district attorney in Oakland in the 1990s, prosecuting gang violence, drug trafficking and sexual abuse cases. In 2004, she became the first woman to serve as the district attorney in San Francisco. She later became California’s first female and person of color to be elected as attorney general before joining the U.S. Senate in 2017.
Harris gained recognition for her work on the judicial and intelligence committees. She held a strong stance on civil rights and abortion rights, which she questioned future Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh about during his nomination hearing.
Harris ran for president in 2019. Although she was not elected as the Democratic nominee. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard in debating Harris in 2019 criticized her, for example, saying there’s no excuse for her record as a prosecutor and she owed an apology to those who suffered under her reign.
Harris oversaw more than 1,900 marijuana convictions in San Francisco, according to previously unreported records, which became a point of criticism. Her critics pointed to her prosecutors appearing to convict people on marijuana charges at a higher rate than her predecessor, based on city data.
After she dropped out of the race in 2019, Biden chose her as his running mate.
Five years later, she now has the opportunity to become president of the United States.
“My biggest thing is making sure that Trump doesn’t get in the White House,” David Brown, a Democratic voter, said in an AP interview. “But I would want to know what her policies are, that’s the big thing for me.”
Harris has secured commitments from enough delegates to become the presumptive nominee if they all honor their commitment when voting, according to ABC News reporting.
And now speculation is turning to who her running mate would be – with prominent figures in battleground states rising to the top, such as Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro.
“Harris’ team, they’re already talking about picking someone from a potential swing state, somebody who hails from one of these critical states that Harris would need to win the presidency,” said Rachael Bade, a Politico reporter and an ABC News contributor. “They’re trying to figure out a way that she can extend her reach beyond her typical base.”
Other potential running mates for Harris are Governors Andy Beshear of Kentucky, Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan and Roy Cooper of North Carolina.
Though a source familiar tells ABC News’ Mary Bruce the pool is roughly 12 people being considered for Harris’ running mate. Harris is expected to make her announcement by Aug. 7.
Without wasting any time, Harris’ team is launching their first campaign ad hammering Republicans over their anti-abortion rights position.
As Harris steps into the spotlight, she will face criticisms of her past — from Republicans over issues like immigration and Democrats wary of her time as a prosecutor.
Biden had tasked Harris with leading diplomatic efforts in 2021 to address the root causes of migration in three Central American countries. The White House has praised her work, but Republicans have strongly criticized her on the immigration issue.
During her first overseas trip as vice president, she advised Guatemalan migrants not to come to the U.S., which drew criticism from immigration advocates.
With the Democratic convention just weeks away in Chicago, Republicans are taking aim at the likely nominee. Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance made his first solo campaign appearance Monday and attacked Harris.
“If you want to lead this country, you should feel grateful for it,” Vance said. “You should feel a sense of gratitude and I never hear that gratitude come through when I listen to Kamala Harris.”
Vance took another jab at Harris and the Democratic Party at his rally in Virginia Monday evening.
“A couple of elite Democrats got a smoke-filled room and decided to throw Joe Biden overboard,” Vance said. “That is not how it works. That is a threat to democracy.”
Trump has expressed frustration over restarting his campaign now that Biden has exited the race. While Republicans and the Trump campaign used Biden’s age as a problem, with Biden out of the race Trump is now the oldest presidential nominee in history.
Trump himself was once a supporter of Harris. He donated $6,000 to her campaign for reelection as California attorney general, including a $5,000 check.
Both campaigns are gearing up for a fight with only three months left before voters go to the polls.
“We have doors to knock on, we have people to talk to, we have phone calls to make, and we have an election to win,” Harris said Monday in Wilmington, Delaware.
(WASHINGTON) — In a new comments, Gwen Walz, the wife of Democratic vice presidential contender Tim Walz, for the first time discussed what she called the “incredibly personal and difficult experience” of using fertility treatments to have children, how she says the couple barely felt comfortable telling anyone at the time, and the specifics of her treatment, which was intrauterine insemination, or IUI — not IVF, as had been broadly assumed.
Her husband has often talked on the campaign trail about their struggle in general terms, connecting their experience to the bans on in vitro fertilization (IVF) put in place this past spring in Alabama and attacking Republicans over reproductive rights restrictions.
“Like millions of families across the country, for years, Tim and I tried to start a family through fertility treatments. We followed the journey that is infertility — the anxiety, the agony, and the desperation that can eat away at your soul,” Gwen Walz said in comments to Glamour and later confirmed to ABC News.
“Knowing that pain, I cannot fathom the cruelty of politicians who want to take away the freedom for couples to access the care they need. After seeing the extreme attacks on reproductive health care across the country — particularly, the efforts in Alabama that jeopardized access to fertility treatments — Tim and I agreed that it was time to formally speak out about our experience,” she said.
Her husband has frequently talked about their fertility journey generally, referring to IVF and treatments “like it,” but not using the term IUI — likely known only to a narrower audience.
While recently speaking at a rally in Detroit, Tim Walz said that it would be “dangerous” to ban “things like IVF as well as IVF,” saying “this is very personal for my family. When my wife and I decided to have children, we went through two years of fertility treatment.”
And in an interview earlier this month, grouping GOP vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance in with Republicans who support restrictions on IVF, Walz said that if it were “up to him, I wouldn’t have a family because of IVF and the things that we need to do.”
“My kids were born through that direct, you know, that way,” Walz said.
But IUI is different from IVF, and has not come under the same levels of attack because it does not involve freezing, transferring or discarding embryos.
It’s a minor distinction in some respects — fertility advocates say the Walz family’s experience certainly gives them credibility to talk about how important access to fertility treatment is, regardless of using IVF or the lesser-known IUI — but it would’ve mattered in Alabama, for example, because the Walz family would not have lost access to their care after the state’s recent Supreme Court decision.
The decision, which put IVF into the spotlight on a national scale, determined frozen embryos qualify legally as children. It forced half of the state’s fertility clinics to put IVF treatments on hold for weeks because they didn’t want to be held liable for discarding unused embryos, a normal part of the process.
The detail that Gwen Walz did not use IVF, but rather a different treatment, quickly led to an attack from Vance, who said Tim Walz “lied” and should know the difference, having been involved in the process.
“Like, you know the difference, right? Anybody who’s had a friend or themselves gone through fertility treatments, you know the difference. So, why lie about it? I just don’t understand it,” Vance said.
In response, the Harris campaign called Vance’s attack “just another example of how cruel and out of touch Donald Trump and JD Vance are when it comes to women’s healthcare.”
“Infertility is a deeply personal journey, but the Governor and Mrs. Walz came forward to share their story because they know that MAGA attacks on reproductive rights are putting all fertility treatments at risk,” said campaign spokesperson Mia Ehrenberg in a statement.
Ehrenberg said Tim Walz “talks how normal people talk” and “was using commonly understood shorthand for fertility treatments.”
Gwen Walz, speaking at a Rural Council event at the Democratic National Convention on Tuesday, did not seem to mind her husband’s general descriptions of their treatment journey. She remarked that “they’re fact-checking us on every single little tiny thing,” and joked that she wouldn’t attempt to give the exact number of students she graduated with in her small high school class in rural southwestern Minnesota.
In the interview about her fertility treatment, she said she hadn’t wanted to be outspoken about the details of her journey until recently, because of how painful it was. Back in the early 2000s, during the process, she said she only told a neighbor who was a nurse and could help her with her regularly-needed shots.
“I’d rush home from school and she would give me the shots to ensure we stayed on track. Many of our closest family and friends were surprised when we shared these experiences so many years later,” she said.
The details of Walz’ fertility journey led some organizations to clarify their past descriptions, including the IVF advocacy group RESOLVE.
In a statement, the group said it “regrets” if the organization contributed to any confusion about the type of fertility treatments used by Walz and his wife but said they continue to welcome Walz’s advocacy and support.
“We support all paths to parenthood and have welcomed Gov. Walz’s support of our community and our advocacy issues, since our federal Advocacy Day in 2017 during his tenure in Congress,” Barbara Collura, President and CEO of RESOLVE, said in a statement.
“The ongoing conversation around the importance of IVF access and other fertility treatments has made millions of would-be parents across the country feel seen. We need our elected representatives at the state and federal level, and government officials to do everything in their power to make it easier, not harder, for people to build their families,” Collura said.
(CHICAGO) — After an emotional tribute to President Joe Biden Monday night, the scene at the Democrats’ gathering on Tuesday shifts to appearances by former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama.
In their highly anticipated prime-time speeches, the Obamas are expected to help clearly “pass the torch” to Kamala Harris, who will be holding a rally in Milwaukee this evening ahead of her acceptance speech Thursday night.
Here’s how the news is developing.
Former Trump official Stephanie Grisham speaks in favor of Harris
The DNC is highlighting several former supporters of former President Donald Trump this week, including everyday Americans who previously voted for him who are now backing Harris.
But Grisham, a former White House press secretary, is the first of several former Trump officials slated to speak at the convention. She described herself not only as a former supporter of Trump but as a “true believer” who has since changed her tune.
“He has no empathy, no morals and no fidelity to the truth,” she said of Trump.
“When I was press secretary, I got skewered for never holding a White House briefing,” Grisham added. “It’s because, unlike my boss, I never wanted to stand at that podium and lie. Now, here I am behind a podium advocating for a Democrat. And that’s because I love my country more than my party.”
Common performs: ‘Be fortunate, y’all, for Kamala Harris’
Rapper Common and gospel musician Jonathan McReynolds took to the stage.
Common changed up the lyrics to his song “Fortunate” for the DNC, rapping, “Be fortunate, y’all, for Kamala Harris.”
Jason Carter says Harris ‘carries my grandfather’s legacy’
Jason Carter, the grandson of former President Jimmy Carter, was the first speaker of the night.
“Kamala Harris carries my grandfather’s legacy,” he said. “She knows what is right and she fights for it. She understands that leadership is about service, not selfishness.”
Jimmy Carter, who is in hospice care and is nearing his 100th birthday in October, told his family he wants to make it to vote for Harris in November, Jason Carter said.
“Papa is holding on. He is hopeful, and though his body may be weak tonight, his spirit is as strong as ever,” Jason Carter said.
Patti LaBelle performs during in memoriam
Patti LaBelle, renowned as the “Godmother of Soul,” took to the stage to sing “You Are My Friend” while an in memoriam played behind her.
Those remembered included former first lady Rosalynn Carter and California Sen. Dianne Feinstein.
Night 2 of the DNC kicks off
The second night of the DNC is officially underway in Chicago.
Tonight’s theme is “A bold vision for America’s future” and will feature a keynote address by former President Barack Obama.
The convention will also hold a ceremonial roll call for Harris, who became the official Democratic presidential nominee following a virtual roll call earlier this month.
Israeli American Council hosts ‘Hostage Square’ art exhibition just blocks from United Center
A group of Israeli and American artists showcased their work throughout the day Tuesday to draw attention to the more than 100 hostages still being held by Hamas in Gaza.
The Israeli American Council (IAC), a nonprofit organization that advocates for the Israeli American community, held the pop-up exhibition it called “Hostage Square” in an empty lot about five blocks east of the United Center, where the DNC is being held through Thursday.
All the art was created in response to the Oct. 7 attacks in Israel, said Jeff Aeder, a Chicago-based real estate investor who put the exhibition together over the last four weeks.
The show “is a much more effective way at looking at a different narrative, opposed to two groups yelling at each other, to highlight the plight of the hostages and the trauma that has been felt by the Jewish world,” he said. “Art is a good way for people to tell these stories.”
Throughout the day Tuesday, about a thousand people visited the exhibition, according to Aeder, including Michael Herzog, Israeli ambassador to the U.S., and families of several hostages.
Aeder said he is determining if the art will travel to different locations. He said he is realistic, knowing “it’s very hard” to summon change through artwork. But he hopes the exhibition is one of “a thousand different points of contact” with the public to create awareness about the plight of the hostages and their families.
“We need to continually do everything we can to bring attention to it, because we never know what’s going to touch somebody,” he said. “Being silent is not an option.”
-ABC News’ Mark Guarino
Bernie Sanders to discuss economy in prime-time speech
Sanders is slated to speak in the 9 p.m. ET hour tonight, and according to released excerpts of his speech, he will focus on the economy.
The independent senator worked with the Biden-Harris administration to achieve price negotiations with Medicare on commonly used prescription drugs. The administration announced last week that a deal was reached to lower the cost of 10 medications.
“When the political will is there, government can effectively deliver for the people of our country,” Sanders will say. “We need to summon that will again — because too many of our fellow Americans are struggling every day to just get by — to put food on the table, pay the rent, and get the health care they need.”
“These oligarchs tell us we shouldn’t tax the rich; we shouldn’t take on price gouging; we shouldn’t expand Medicare to cover dental, hearing and vision; and we shouldn’t increase Social Security benefits for struggling seniors,” he’ll go on to say. “Well I’ve got some bad news for them. That is precisely what we are going to do, and we’re going to win this struggle because this is precisely what the American people want from their government.”
-ABC News’ MaryAlice Parks
Emhoff, Schumer, Sanders and more will speak tonight
Before the Obamas take the stage Tuesday, the DNC will feature speeches from second gentlemen Doug Emhoff, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sen. Bernie Sanders, according to the convention’s schedule.
Maryland Senate candidate Angela Alsobrooks will deliver the keynote remarks.
Remarks are also expected from former Trump White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham, as well as Jason Carter and Jack Schlossberg, the grandsons of former Presidents Jimmy Carter and John F. Kennedy, respectively.
Rep. Frost on Gen Z’s excitement for Harris
Rep. Maxwell Frost, the youngest member of Congress, spoke with ABC News Live anchor Kyra Phillips about the enthusiasm Gen Z has for Kamala Harris.
“Young people are excited about Kamala Harris and I think it’s for many different reasons,” he said. “No. 1, it’s her authenticity. She’s been going viral on TikTok, online, Twitter and a lot of it has to do with her as a human, her as a person, the things she loves, who she is, and the things she says.”
Frost added that young people like Harris because “they hear her message, and then they see themselves represented in her and what she’s fighting for and all the amazing people that we have here today.”
Rep. Maxwell Frost, the first member of Generation Z in Congress, talks about the importance of Kamala Harris and the role of young Americans in politics.
-ABC News’ Isabella Meneses
Trump’s former press secretary Stephanie Grisham to speak tonight
Stephanie Grisham, former President Trump’s third White House press secretary, will speak tonight at the DNC, ABC News can report.
Protesters interrupt Tim Walz’s women’s caucus remarks
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s remarks Tuesday to the women’s caucus at the DNC were interrupted by pro-Palestinian protesters.
Walz was recognizing the role women had in aiding him as governor, and was praising former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Vice President Kamala Harris before demonstrators started chanting, “Stop killing women in Gaza! Stop killing women in Gaza!”
They unfurled banners in the middle of the room as the audience tried to drown out their protest.
Walz briefly paused his remarks and looked at the protesters before continuing his speech, without acknowledging them.
The protesters were escorted out of the ballroom where they continued their calls for a cease-fire in Gaza and for the end of arms transfers to Israel.
A delegate, who only identified herself as Michelle and a New York delegate, fiercely countered the protesters, accusing them of helping Donald Trump by protesting.
-ABC News’ Fritz Farrow
10 arrests made during Monday’s DNC fencing breach
There were 10 arrests made during Monday’s fencing breach at the DNC, Chicago Police Superintendent Larry Snelling told reporters on Tuesday.
“I couldn’t be more proud of how Chicago Police Department responded under those circumstances,” Snelling said. “We put on display the trainings and the preparation that we’ve been engaged in for over a year now. That being said, moving forward, we do expect to see, or protest or demonstrate tactics again. We’re up to the challenge.”
Snelling said there were 13 arrests total on Monday, which ranged from criminal trespass to battery on a police officer.
On reports that protesters were “assaulted” by police, the superintendent pushed back hard.
“Those police officers responded perfectly, and we got body cam footage to prove it. They were not hospitalized for injuries.”
-ABC News’ Luke Barr
Flashback: Obama calls Harris attractive
On Tuesday night, former President Barack Obama gives a highly anticipated speech in which he is expected to make a forceful case for electing Harris. It won’t be the first time that Obama spoke glowingly of Harris — in fact, he has gotten in trouble for it before. Back in 2013, he spoke at a fundraiser in California that Harris attended and said of the then-California attorney general, “She is brilliant and she is dedicated and she is tough, and she is exactly what you’d want in anybody who is administering the law, and making sure that everybody is getting a fair shake. She also happens to be by far the best-looking attorney general in the country.” The comment on Harris’s looks sparked a backlash for being sexist and inappropriate, and he apologized the next day.
—538’s Nathaniel Rakich
Obamas to share details of friendship, support for Harris
When former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama speak at the DNC on Tuesday, they will highlight their friendship with Harris that they say goes back 20 years, according to a source familiar.
The Obamas have been in regular touch with Harris over the years, providing counsel and being a sounding board, too, the source said. Over the last few months in particular, the Obamas have been in close contact with the vice president and supported her campaign in any way they are able, the source said.
Their remarks on Tuesday will turn the page from the Biden administration and focus on how Harris and Walz are the leaders the country needs right out, the source said.
The source highlighted how the Obamas have campaigned for Harris and worked to energize young voters.
-ABC News’ MaryAlice Parks
DNC will start half an hour earlier on Tuesday
The DNC will start its programming half an hour earlier than originally planned on Tuesday after Monday’s program had a delayed start that pushed President Joe Biden’s speech past prime time and cut short his farewell.
“We had so much energy and enthusiasm for our president, our ticket, from our speakers and the audience reaction that I recognize that did put us a little bit behind schedule, but we are working with — we made some real-time adjustments last night to ensure we could get to what the delegates and the viewers really came for, which, of course, is President Biden,” Alex Hornsbrook, the executive director of the convention, told reporters this morning.
“And we’re working with our speakers and making some other adjustments for this evening, including beginning at 5:30 to make sure that we stay on track for that tonight,” he added.
-ABC News’ Fritz Farrow
Obamas to make prime-time speeches
The attention on Day 2 of the Democrats’ gathering shifts from celebrating President Joe Biden to prime-time speeches from former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama. They’ll help pass the party torch to Kamala Harris.
The convention will also hold a ceremonial roll call to nominate Harris, which follows the party’s virtual process doing so earlier this month. Harris officially had the vast majority of delegate votes needed to secure her nomination when that process ended on Aug. 6.
It’s expected that California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Harris’ home state delegation will cast the vote putting her over the top.
(ATLANTA) — The Fulton County judge overseeing Donald Trump’s Georgia election interference case on Thursday tossed out three more counts in the indictment, two of which the former president was facing.
The judge, Scott McAfee, previously threw out six counts in the indictment, three of which were against Trump.
“President Trump and his legal team in Georgia have prevailed once again,” Trump attorney Steve Sadow said in a statement following Thursday’s order. The trial court has decided that counts 15 and 27 in the indictment must be quashed/dismissed.”
Trump still faces eight counts in the case. He originally was charged with 13.
In his ruling Thursday, Judge McAfee dismissed three counts that related to the filing of false documents in federal court — essentially finding that the state did not have the authority to bring charges for alleged crimes committed against the federal government.
McAfee wrote that those three counts “lie beyond this State’s jurisdiction and must be quashed.”
The three counts include attempt to commit filing false documents, conspiracy to commit filing false documents, and filing false documents.
The motion to dismiss was brought by two of Trump’s codefendants, John Eastman and Shawn Still, on grounds related to the supremacy clause.
In a separate order Thursday, McAfee declined a motion to throw out the top racketeering — or RICO — charge in the indictment, writing that it is “facially sound and constitutionally sufficient as alleged.”
ABC News contributor Chris Timmons, a former Georgia prosecutor, said that Thursday’s ruling dismissing the charges “is definitely a win for the defense” but that “it’s not a significant victory” because the overall RICO charge remains in place.
“The actions in federal court can and likely will be brought in at trial as ‘acts in furtherance of the RICO conspiracy’ which don’t need to be crimes,” Timmons said.
A spokesperson for the Fulton County district attorney’s office told ABC News they were reviewing the order and had no further comment.
Trump and 18 others pleaded not guilty last year to all charges in a sweeping racketeering indictment for alleged efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in the state of Georgia.
Four defendants subsequently took plea deals in exchange for agreeing to testify against other defendants.
A Georgia court of appeals paused the case in June pending the resolution of an appeal of the disqualification ruling that allowed District Attorney Fani Willis to stay on the case.
Oral arguments in that appeal are currently scheduled for Dec. 5, a month after the presidential election.
The former president has blasted the district attorney’s investigation as being politically motivated.