Gov. Murphy expected to name George Helmy to replace Bob Menendez as NJ senator
(TRENTON, N.J.) — New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy is expected to name his former chief of staff and longtime friend and political ally, George Helmy, as interim senator to replace Bob Menendez in the wake of him being convicted of fraud.
Murphy will hold a news conference in Newark on Friday to officially announce his selection for who will fill the remainder of the resigning Menendez’s term in the U.S. Senate.
Menendez wrote to Murphy last month saying he will resign from the Senate as of Aug. 20.
Murphy declined to confirm Helmy is his pick during an interview on local station WYNW on Thursday morning, instead promising an announcement “over the next couple of days.”
“That is the rumor. He’s a great guy, great professional. Great human being,” Murphy told the Fox station when pressed about if Helmy is the pick. “But nothing official, nothing to report.”
ABC News has reached out to Murphy’s office for comment on the reports that he will choose Helmy.
If Murphy names Helmy as the interim senator, that means bypassing Rep. Andy Kim, D-N.J., who is the Democratic nominee in New Jersey for the U.S. Senate and is likely to be elected in November for the full term. A representative for Kim deferred any comment until the official announcement.
Friday is also the last day Menendez can remove his name from the November ballot. The 70-year-old is still officially on the ballot running for his seat as an independent candidate.
Menendez, who had served as senator in New Jersey since 2006, was convicted on all counts, including bribery, fraud, acting as a foreign agent and obstruction, in a federal trial last month.
He planned to appeal his conviction and said he was “deeply disappointed” by the jury’s decision. His sentencing was set for Oct. 29.
“I have never violated my oath,” he said outside the courthouse following his conviction. “I have never been anything but a patriot of my country and for my country. I have never, ever been a foreign agent.”
(PHILADELPHIA) — Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump will meet for the first time on Tuesday for the ABC News presidential debate.
It is the only debate the two have scheduled and comes at a critical point as polls show a neck-and-neck race with just eight weeks until Election Day.
The two will face off on key issues starting at 9 p.m. ET. The debate will air on ABC and stream on ABC News Live, Disney+ and Hulu.
Here’s how the news is developing:
Trump campaign spokesperson says he’s not engaged in traditional debate prep
Trump campaign spokesperson Danielle Alvarez said Tuesday morning on ABC News Live that Trump “does not do traditional debate prep” and reiterated that he has been campaigning and engaging in policy discussions instead.
“I would say that the president does not do traditional debate prep. He’s on the campaign trail constantly. We see him in key battleground states every week, joined by tens of thousands of patriots,” she said. “We know that he does tough interviews, both nationally, locally.”
“That’s truly how he prepares for these debates, having those conversations every day. He’s ready to step back into the White House,” she continued. “We also know that he prefers to have those policy discussions, and he’s been doing that with elected members in Congress like Matt Gaetz, with former Congress member Tulsi Gabbard and others — very similar to what he did to prepare for that first debate against Joe Biden. He has prepared in a similar way again, just by getting out there and talking every day to voters and talking to media.”
-ABC News’ Soorin Kim, Lalee Ibssa and Kelsey Walsh
Harris not ‘underestimating’ Trump ahead of debate: Source
Just hours away from the debate, a campaign source is setting expectations that Harris is not “underestimating” Trump’s ability to debate, and that it would be a “mistake” to do so.
The Harris team expects Trump to be “good” at debating, stressing that Trump has done this more than anybody else, while it will be Harris’s first presidential debate.
The Harris campaign is “happy to get under [Trump’s] skin,” and they hope that bringing former Trump officials into the spin room later this evening will accomplish this.
On a campaign call last night, a source said Harris is ready for any version of Trump that shows up — whether it’s the presidential Trump, the more mellow Trump during the Biden debate or a more aggressive version.
-ABC News’ Selina Wang
8 hours until the Harris-Trump ABC debate, here is how to watch tonight
The consequential Harris-Trump face-off will air live tonight at 9 p.m. ET on ABC and stream on ABC News Live, Disney+ and Hulu.
ABC News Live is available on Samsung TV+, The Roku Channel, Amazon Fire TV devices, YouTube, Tubi, the ABC app, and ABC.com.
ABC News Digital and 538 will live blog the latest from the debate stage with coverage, analysis and fact checks.
SiriusXM users can listen to the debate on Channel 370.
The prime-time pre-debate special, “Race for the White House,” will air at 8 p.m. ET and stream on ABC’s platforms.
President Joe Biden will be watching the debate from New York, where he’s going to be for 9/11 memorial events, according to White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.
“The president will definitely be watching,” she said in Monday’s briefing.
Jean-Pierre wouldn’t give details on any conversations about the debate between Harris and Biden or whether he’s given her any takeaways from his own last face-off with Trump, but she said the president was “very proud” of Harris.
“What I can say is, that he’ll be watching, he supports, obviously, the vice president, is very proud of her, and I just don’t have anything else to add,” she said.
– ABC News’ Cheyenne Haslett
5 things to watch in the high-stakes Harris-Trump faceoff
Harris and Trump square off Tuesday at what could be their only presidential debate, setting high stakes for an event expected to be viewed by millions of Americans and a key sliver of undecided voters. Here’s what to look out for.
Can Trump stay focused on policy? Staying on message on his four-year economic record is key, while veering into personal attacks would be counterproductive, allies told ABC News.
Harris has dual goals: make the case for herself as someone who would be a capable president and get under Trump’s skin. How will she introduce herself to undecided voters?
Read the rest of the five things to watch for in the debate here.
Walz fundraising email says ‘Trump is sure to talk about his twisted version of freedom’
Gov. Tim Walz, Harris’ running mate, previewed the vice president’s upcoming debate with Trump in a fundraising email on Tuesday morning — contrasting their campaign’s message on the economy and freedom with Trump’s platforms.
“She’s going to show everyone watching what this movement is all about: supporting families like yours and mine and building a future where everyone has the opportunity not just to get by, but to get ahead,” the email reads. “Donald Trump is sure to talk about his twisted version of freedom,” Walz claimed in the email.
-ABC News’ Isabella Murray
Harris and Trump to have various surrogates in spin room
Harris and Trump will have a handful of surrogates representing them in the spin room following the debate.
Harris will have Govs. Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, Gavin Newsom of California, Roy Cooper of North Carolina and Michelle Lujan Grisham of New Mexico representing her in the spin room post debate, a campaign official confirmed to ABC News.
In addition to attending a watch party hosted by the Trump campaign, GOP vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance will also participate in the spin room.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Gov. Doug Burgum, tech entreprenuer Vivek Ramaswamy, Sen. Marco Rubio, Rep. Bryon Donalds, and Sen. Rick Scott are also expected to appear on behalf of Trump.
-ABC News’ Fritz Farrow, Gabriella Abdul-Hakim, Will McDuffie, Kelsey Walsh, Lalee Ibssa, and Soo Rin Kim
Debate will show ‘strength and success’ of Trump vs. ‘devastation and weakness’ of Harris: Stefanik
House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik teed up her expectations for tonight’s presidential debate, telling reporters that Harris “cannot hide forever.”
“Tonight at the debate, the country will finally get to see the stark contrast between the strength and success of President Trump’s America-first policies and the devastation and weakness of Kamala Harris’s radical, failed, far-left agenda,” Stefanik, the fourth-ranked House Republican, claimed at a news conference in the Capitol Tuesday morning.
-ABC News’ John Parkinson
Harris campaign says it’s hosting 1,300 watch parties, Walz to deliver remarks in Arizona
Harris’ campaign said it’s hosting more than 1,300 debate watch parties across the country, and running mate Gov. Tim Walz will deliver remarks at one of them in Phoenix Tuesday night.
The watch parties will be in all 50 states, with more than 100 planned on college campuses, according to the campaign. The events will be used for volunteers to make calls to battleground-state voters and share debate content on digital platforms.
More than 300 of the planned watch parties will be group specific, including Republicans for Harris-Walz and Veterans for Harris-Walz events in Arizona, North Carolina and Georgia. There will also be Latino house parties in Arizona and labor-organized events in Pennsylvania, according to the campaign.
-ABC News’ Fritz Farrow, Gabriella Adbul-Hakim and Will McDuffie
Harris tweet: ‘America, see you tonight’
Looking ahead to Tuesday night’s debate, Vice President Kamala Harris tweeted “America, see you tonight.”
Before departing for Philadelphia on Monday, Harris told reporters that she’s feeling “good.” She also gave a thumbs up.
The vice president’s tweet also included a link to a list of debate watch parties the campaign is hosting across the country.
-ABC News’ Fritz Farrow
Harris releases new ad repurposing Obama’s dig at Trump
Vice President Kamala Harris repurposed former President Barack Obama’s suggestive dig at Trump over what Obama called his “weird obsession with crowd sizes” while speaking at the Democratic National Convention last month.
“Here’s a 78-year-old billionaire who has not stopped whining about his problems …” Obama said in the clip used in the ad, just before a clip of Trump at rally plays.
“Ooh, she had a big crowd! Ooh, that crowd,” Trump said in the snippet, mocking news reports about turnout for Harris.
“This weird obsession with crowd sizes… it just goes on, and on, and on,” Obama says as the ad returns to him, followed by shots of small Trump crowds and sounds of crickets chirping.
“America’s ready for a new chapter. We are ready for a President Kamala Harris,” Obama says.
The Harris campaign said the ad, titled “Crowd Size,” will air on Fox News the day of the debate because “Trump is known to watch” the network.
The 30-second ad is set to air nationally on cable news and in local West Palm Beach and Philadelphia markets.
– ABC News’ Fritz Farrow, Gabriella Abdul-Hakim, and Will McDuffie
Anthony Scaramucci among former Trump officials to serve as Harris surrogates in Philadelphia
Anthony Scaramucci and Olivia Troye, former Trump administration officials, will serve as Kamala Harris surrogates in Philadelphia today, the Harris campaign announced.
“Listen, don’t take it from us: Take it from the ones who know Donald Trump the best and who are telling the American people exactly how unfit Trump is to serve as president,” Harris spokesman Michael Tyler said.
Scaramucci served as Trump’s White House communications director. Troye served as the Homeland Security adviser to Vice President Mike Pence, as well as a top aide on the Trump White House coronavirus task force.
According to the campaign, they plan to discuss their support of Harris ahead of tonight’s debate.
They are among numerous former Trump staffers who continue to speak out.
– ABC News’ Will McDuffie, Fritz Farrow, and Gabriella Abdul-Hakim
Debate day arrives in Philadelphia
The stage is set for tonight’s high-stakes showdown in Philadelphia.
The lecterns are placed six feet apart at the National Constitution Center – where Donald Trump and Kamala Harris will meet in person for the first time.
The 9 p.m. ET matchup comes with just eight weeks to go until Election Day amid a tumultuous and unpredictable campaign.
The debate, moderated by David Muir and Linsey Davis, will air on ABC and stream on ABC News Live, Disney+ and Hulu. Viewers can also stream the debate on the ABC app on a smartphone or tablet, on ABC.com and connected devices. A prime-time pre-debate special will start at 8 p.m. ET.
(COLUMBIA, S.C.) — Homeland Security Investigations has seen a 300% increase in foreign victims of financial sextortion, according to the head of the center that investigates cybercrimes at the Department of Homeland Security.
“We have seen an 86% drop in domestic victims of financial sextortion since that time, unfortunately, what we’ve seen is almost 300% increase in foreign victims of financial sextortion,” Mike Prado the head of HSI’s Cyber Crime Center told ABC News.
Sextortion is when a victim sends explicit material to a scammer and then is threatened with public posting unless they pay the scammer money.
The HSI Cyber Crimes Center focuses on all things cyber – but they primarily focus on online child sexual exploitation, according to Prado.
“The threat that we talk about has evolved so rapidly from even a few years ago that we’re deploying new tools, new techniques, new proactive measures and new preemptive strategies to try to combat the continued prevalence of online child sexual exploitation and abuse,” Prado said.
The two most prevalent areas that sextortion scams take place is in the Ivory Coast and in Nigeria, according to Prado. Homeland Security Investigations has an agent detailed to the Ivory Coast to work with local authorities due to the non-extradition rules they have.
Prado added the scams are not sexual in nature, but just look to get money from victims.
Working to end child sexual abuse
Criminals who want to abuse children are attempting to get children off social media platforms and onto encrypted apps, outside the eyes of law enforcement, according to Prado.
“Everywhere children are congregating online, predators are aware of that and then taking them off platform into other more encrypted chat rooms and areas where they can have encrypted conversations outside the eyes of law enforcement and outside the lot, outside the eyes of the tech industry and abusing these abusing these children,” he said.
Predators, he said, “stop at nothing” to abuse a child.
There has also been an unpick in the use of artificial intelligence to create images using children who haven’t been the victim of abuse.
“It is probably the most concerning emergent threat that is now a reality that our agents are dealing with on a daily basis out in the field, and that our agents at the cyber-crime center are dealing with on a daily basis,” he said. “This generative AI problem is going to exponentially grow the number of images that our agents are having to sift through to determine if a child has actually been directly abused or indirectly abused through the use of generative AI.”
To stop online predators, HSI deploys agents in 200 field offices around the country, and 93 foreign offices in 73 counties.
“These cases are tremendously important to us,” he said.” I want to continue to make it a priority that these cases be worked as expeditiously as possible.”
(WASHINGTON) — In Vice President Kamala Harris’ bid for the White House, her pathway to the coveted 270 electoral votes has evolved now that she is the Democratic Party’s nominee — as she can potentially fare better than President Joe Biden in regions like the Sun Belt.
Biden’s decision to leave the 2024 race last month and Harris’ ascension to the top of the ticket has injected fresh enthusiasm into the contest — and the Harris campaign is looking to capitalize on that during a tour of battleground states this week with her newly minted running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, which includes stops in the Sun Belt states of Arizona on Friday and Nevada on Saturday.
The Sun Belt — which includes states in the South and West, ranging from Florida and Georgia through the Gulf states into California — contains several 2024 battleground states that both Harris and former President Donald Trump will target in their effort to win in November.
Biden’s campaign, focused on saving democracy and the threat Trump poses in the effort, struggled to capture the energy needed to mobilize voters in the Sun Belt states he narrowly won during the 2020 election — including Arizona and Georgia, experts told ABC News. Now Harris’ campaign is working to appeal to the coveted Sun Belt voters who could help her win the White House.
Broadening Harris’ base
Republican and Democratic strategists both agree that the momentum Harris has been able to garner has paved new lines in the Sun Belt that the campaign can now realistically cross.
Chuck Coughlin, a longtime Republican consultant in Arizona, said Harris can make inroads in Arizona where Biden was not able to.
“Harris seems to have grasped the ‘I’m looking forward, they’re looking backward’ narrative and Arizona is a forward-looking state,” said Coughlin, who is now registered as a “PND” or “Party Not Designated” after leaving the party in 2017.
Lorna Romero, an Arizona GOP strategist, told ABC News that the campaign’s “forward looking” messaging is what a lot of voters are looking for in a candidate. However, she said she thinks Harris will have to do a lot more if she wants to win over Republicans in the state that Biden narrowly won in 2020 by roughly 10,000 votes.
“I think Harris really needs to separate herself from the Biden administration because what Republicans have been doing has been pointing out the failures under Biden like the border,” Romero said of Arizona, a state where the immigration and border debate — a key voter issue in 2024 — has raged.
And Harris’ campaign is working to sway some of those Republican voters. In order to win the Sun Belt states, Harris will not only have to appeal to her base, but also woo moderate and Republican voters. The campaign has launched a grassroots organizing program nationwide to attract Republicans called “Republicans for Harris.”
No matter the party, issues such as immigration and the economy are top of mind for Arizona residents, according to Coughlin. But issues such as abortion have galvanized voters on both sides of the aisle to head to the polls.
In Arizona, abortion will appear on the ballot in November after an Arizona Supreme Court decision revived an 1864 near-total abortion ban, which could potentially punish providers who provide an abortion. Before the Arizona Supreme Court decision, the state had a 15-week abortion ban in place.
Coughlin said he thinks abortion on the ballot could be a major “turnout mechanism” in the state.
Romero says these issues will make for a tough balancing act for Harris over these next few months between “alienating” swing voters and keeping progressives “happy.”
Morgan Jackson, a Democratic strategist from North Carolina, said she thinks Harris’ chances of winning over that battleground Sun Belt state will be a lot simpler.
Although Biden lost North Carolina in 2020 by some 90,000 votes, Jackson said she thinks the state’s rapidly growing population of young, college-educated adults who prioritize issues such as abortion will help to flip the state.
In 2023, Raleigh — which is home to a consortium of colleges and universities — was America’s third fastest-growing city, according to the Census bureau.
“The way you win North Carolina is you run up the score in the urban and suburban areas, and just try to limit your losses in the rural areas, and I think Kamala Harris is well positioned to do so,” Jackson said.
In Georgia, which played a crucial role in Biden’s 2020 victory after it went blue for the first time since 1992, strategist Amy Morton said she is already seeing the effects of Harris leading the party’s ticket.
“For all of our clients, we will need to revise our projections for turnout upward,” Georgia Democratic strategist Amy Morton told her team after a flood of Harris endorsements when Biden dropped out of the race. “That’s the impact Harris will have on the ticket.”
Voter enthusiasm in the Sun Belt
Harris is doing better than Biden in the Sun Belt’s swing states, according to 538’s polling average.
For example, in Arizona, Trump leads only by a half point margin — 44.8% to Harris’ 44.4%, according to 538’s polling average. Biden left the race polling at 39.5%. In Georgia, 538’s polling average shows Trump leads by a small and similar margin — 45.8% compared to 45.2% for Harris; Biden polled at 39.2% before leaving the race.
Loomis Henry, an independent voter and Arizona native, plans to attend the rally Harris and Walz are hosting in Phoenix on Friday.
“I’m completely blown away. And it’s the first time I have felt invigorated and excited about politics,” Henry said.
Although previously unfamiliar with Walz, the governor’s “Minnesota nice” persona has won him over, Henry said.
“I’m like, where’s this guy been hiding? He seems like he’s really a working-class guy and authentic. And I think that has been lacking from politics for so long,” Henry said.
Stephanie Munoz, a 35-year-old from Phoenix, who also plans to attend Friday’s rally approved of the addition to the Harris ticket, too.
“A lot of people criticize Kamala Harris for being like a prosecutor and too uptight and I feel like he brings in more of that warmth feeling, and they play off each other very well,” Munoz said.
Henry told ABC News that regardless of party, the country is ready to move on from its “divisions,” and he thinks Harris will help to ease those tensions.
“I think she just needs to be herself,” said Henry. “I think she’s likable, and I think if she just has more direct dialogue with our country, people will see this and a lot of this ugly right and left, and division — I think she can slowly thaw that out a little bit.”