Harris says she’s full of ‘resolve,’ urges supporters to ‘accept the results of this election’ in concession speech

November 6, 2024

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(WASHINGTON) — Vice President Kamala Harris said her heart is “full of resolve” after losing the presidential election to former President Donald Trump.

“My heart is full today — full of gratitude for the trust you have placed in me, full of love for our country, and full of resolve,” Harris said Wednesday at her alma mater, Howard University, in Washington, D.C.

“The outcome of this election is not what we wanted, not what we fought for, not what we voted for. But … the light of America’s promise will always burn bright as long as we never give up,” Harris said.

“We must accept the results of this election,” she said.

Harris’ defeat came as Trump won the swing states of Pennsylvania, Georgia and Wisconsin overnight. Trump won another swing state, Michigan, on Wednesday.

Trump’s victory underscores just how deep voters’ frustrations were surrounding inflation and immigration, Republicans’ two top issues this election cycle as polls consistently showed Americans’ unhappiness with how President Joe Biden handled them. Trump’s return to the White House also suggests that Democrats were not motivated enough by the prospect of electing the first female president and that its base’s fury over the Supreme Court’s revocation of constitutional abortion protections has waned since 2022.

Harris had an extremely hurried campaign, which began this summer when Biden dropped out of the race and endorsed his vice president.

Biden, who plans to address the nation on Thursday, spoke with Harris on the phone Wednesday to congratulate her on “her historic campaign,” the White House said.

Trump and Harris also spoke by phone on Wednesday, according to the Trump campaign. Harris told Trump she will work with Biden to ensure a peaceful transfer of power, unlike the transition in 2020, according to an email Harris campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon sent to campaign staff.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

University of Idaho murders: Judge to weigh change of venue decision

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(MOSCOW, Idaho) — The suspect in the murder of four University of Idaho students, Bryan Kohberger, is in court Thursday as the judge weighs whether to change the venue for his trial.

Kohberger’s lawyers hope to move the trial to a different county, arguing the local jury pool in Latah County, which encompasses the college town of Moscow, was tainted by pretrial publicity.

Defense lawyers surveyed Latah County residents and said their results found that the “pressure to convict” Kohberger was shown to be “so severe” the venue couldn’t possibly be impartial.

The defense said one respondent answered they would “burn the courthouse down” if he were not convicted. The same survey, according to the defense, found “much less emotional” responses from people living closer to Boise, where Kohberger’s lawyers suggested the trial be moved.

“The traumatized town of Moscow is understandably filled with deeply held prejudgment opinions of guilt,” defense attorney Elisa Massoth said in a filing this month.

The prosecution has said the case has national and international interest, and that the case has been covered plenty in Boise, so a change of venue would not solve any problem.

Prosecutors argued in a filing this month that the defense “failed to establish that a fair and impartial trial cannot be held in Latah County.”

Moscow Mayor Art Bettge said in a statement last week that, if the case stayed in Latah County, “I firmly believe people would be able to set aside any personal feelings they have … set aside any information they may have read or heard … and make a determination of guilt or not guilty based on the evidence presented in the courtroom and deliberate according to the instructions provided to them.”

The trial is scheduled to start on June 2, 2025, and run until Aug. 29, 2025. Judge John Judge said in June that if the venue changes, the trial date would still hold.

Kohberger is accused of stabbing four University of Idaho students to death in an off-campus house in the early hours of Nov. 13, 2022. Ethan Chapin, 20; Madison Mogen, 21; Xana Kernodle, 20, and Kaylee Goncalves, 21, were all brutally murdered during the break-in.

Kohberger, who was a criminology Ph.D. student at nearby Washington State University at the time of the crime, is charged with four counts of first-degree murder and one count of burglary.

A not guilty plea was entered on Kohberger’s behalf. If convicted, he could face the death penalty.

ABC News’ Sasha Pezenik and Julie Scott contributed to this report.

Judges press New York AG as Trump appeals his 4M fraud judgment

Judges press New York AG as Trump appeals his $454M fraud judgment

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(NEW YORK) — Seven months after a trial judge fined Donald Trump $454 million for business frauds that the judge said “shock the conscience,” a New York appeals court appeared skeptical Thursday of some of the arguments underpinning the New York attorney general’s case against the former president.

A panel of five judges at New York’s Appellate Division, First Department heard Trump’s appeal and peppered both sides with concerns about the case — appearing to question some of the key elements of the state’s case, including the application of a consumer fraud statute, the justification for the financial penalty prosecutors sought, and the private nature of the transactions in question, mirroring well-worn defense arguments that failed during the case’s lengthy trial this year.

Trump himself did not attend Thursday’s hearing in New York.

“We have a situation where there were no victims, no complaints,” argued D. John Sauer, the same attorney who successfully argued Trump’s presidential immunity appeal to the Supreme Court earlier this year. “How is there a capacity or tendency to deceive when you have these clear disclaimers?”

While the judges expressed some skepticism about some of the defense’s claims — with one judge remarking that factual inaccuracies could have resulted in Trump’s statements being “completely fallacious” — some of the defense arguments were echoed in the judges’ questions.

“The defendants’ statements were not made for ordinary people,” noted Associate Justice David Friedman. “They were directed at some of the most sophisticated actors in business.”

Deputy Solicitor General Judith Vale, arguing for New York Attorney General Letitia James, emphasized the magnitude of Trump’s alleged misstatements and their importance to the banks that loaned the former president hundreds of millions of dollars.

“Deutsche Bank would not have given these loans without the financial strength being inflated,” Vale said. “The financial statements were coming in each year, and they were important, critical to the loans each year.”

A series of questions also focused on the New York fraud statute — Executive Law 63 (12) — that the attorney general used to bring her case. Trump’s lawyers have insisted the law should not apply to profitable transactions between financial institutions and the Trump Organization.

“How do we draw a line or put up some guardrails to know when the attorney general is operating within her broad sphere or 63(12) or going into an area where she doesn’t have jurisdiction?” asked Associate Justice John R. Higgitt.

Vale responded by arguing that Trump’s frauds impacted consumers by inserting false and misleading information into the marketplace, and that Trump’s fine has a deterrent effect.

“A big point of these statutes is for the attorney general to go in quickly to stop the fraud and illegality before the counterparties are harmed,” Vale said.

When pressed about the size of the penalty and whether it was “tethered” to the limited harm incurred by the banks that did business with Trump, Vale argued that the profitability of the transactions should not give Trump a free pass to use false information.

“It is not an excuse to say our fraud was really successful so we should get some of the money,” said Vale.

In an 11-week trial that concluded in February, New York Judge Arthur Engoron found that Trump, his eldest sons, and two top Trump Organization executives exaggerated Trump’s wealth to secure better terms from lenders, for which he fined the former president $454 million.

Trump, following the ruling, secured a $175 million bond while he appeals the judgment.

49ers’ Ricky Pearsall shot in ‘attempted robbery’ in San Francisco: Police

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(SAN FRANCISCO) — San Francisco 49ers rookie Ricky Pearsall was shot during an “attempted robbery” in San Francisco’s Union Square, according to police.

The 23-year-old “sustained a bullet wound to his chest and is in serious but stable condition,” the San Francisco 49ers said in a statement.

Shortly before 4 p.m. local time, police responded to a report of a shooting and found two men “suffering from injuries,” San Francisco Police Department said in a statement.

“During the attempted robbery, a physical altercation ensued, and both the suspect and victim were injured,” according to SFPD.

Preliminary information indicates the wide receiver was targeted for a Rolex watch he was wearing, sources confirmed to ABC News.

Pearsall was walking along a street when a 17-year-old suspect from Tracy, California, approached and tried to rob him, police said during a briefing outside of San Francisco General Hospital.

Police said Pearsall was not targeted because he is a football player, it was a random street robbery.

The suspect is in custody and charges are pending at this time, police said in a statement.

San Francisco Police Chief William Scott told a press conference that the investigation into the incident was still active.

“This kind of violence is simply unacceptable in our city, and we will do everything in our power to work with District Attorney Brooke Jenkins to assure that justice is served in this matter,” he said.

Asked whether the suspect had accomplices, Scott replied: “Right now, we believe it was one lone person. That may change as we get video evidence.”

Jenkins told the press conference that she expected to make a charging decision “by the middle of next week, either Tuesday or Wednesday.” Any charges will be filed in a juvenile court given the suspect’s age, Jenkins added.

San Francisco Mayor London Breed, meanwhile, described the incident as “terrible and rare.”

Pearsall — a first-round draft pick — had been dealing with a shoulder injury during the preseason and returned to practice last week, according to the National Football League.

ABC News’ Erica Morris contributed to this report.