Minnesota AG Ellison hints he might address pro-Palestinian protesters in DNC speech

(STATESBORO, Ga.) — Len Fatica is a member of a political species that’s practically extinct in deep red Statesboro, Georgia — a rural Democrat.

ABC News traveled to the biggest city in Georgia’s southeastern Bulloch County, with a population of around 34,000. It boasts four different Main Streets (one for each point of the compass) and a persistent gnat problem.

“People are, for the most part, very friendly,” Fatica, the Georgia Democratic Party’s rural council chair, told ABC News. “They will sit down and have a conversation with you even if they disagree with you.”

Plenty of people disagree with Fatica, who’s running for county commission and leading an initiative to attract rural voters to the state Democratic Party. They meet each week at a local coffee shop to talk strategy, and he acknowledged how difficult it is for Democrats to make inroads in rural areas.

“If you look at Bulloch County down here, we’re probably close to 70% that is Republican,” he said. “This is a deep Republican area.”

Fatica accepted the persistent criticism that Democrats left rural voters behind long ago in favor of urban populations, but he believes locals might be gradually drawn back — a possibility suggested when Joe Biden narrowly won the swing state in the 2020 presidential election.

“At one time, it was a Democratic county,” he said. “Talking to Republicans, they feel within 10 years, with the manufacturing jobs that are being moved in, this could become a Democratic county again.”

Fatica highlighted the importance of Democrats taking on Trump’s rhetoric, even when talking to deep red voters.

“We’ve got to punch back, and we’ve got to punch back on the falsehoods that are told,” he said.

Vice President Kamala Harris’ choice of running mate might also move the needle, according to Fatica. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, who formally accepted the nomination at the Democratic National Convention on Wednesday, regularly highlights his rural roots in speeches and rallies.

“Growing up I spent the summers working on the family farm,” Walz said on Aug. 6. “My mom and dad taught us — show generosity toward your neighbors and work for the common good.”

Lifelong Democrats Robin Hutcheson and her daughter Aliya Johnson highlighted how unusual they are, living in Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s northwest Georgia congressional district.

“You see a lot of trucks with Trump flags and a lot of Trump flags in the yard, and we are like little blue dots in a big red sea,” Hutcheson said.

They agreed that Walz could appeal to rural Americans.

“I feel like Tim is genuinely a person who has high morals, who is a good, upstanding person,” Johnson said. “That kind of represents the older style of respectability that I think older voters got used to and that newer voters still want to lean on and believe is the right thing, and a good thing.”

The mother and daughter agreed that Democrats haven’t been this excited since Obama’s bids for the White House.

“This is the first time that we really feel like change is possible,” Johnson said.

Political strategist Fred Hicks noted his belief that Georgia has become competitive because many of the culture wars that defined America for generations have subsided — there are multiple issues rather than a single issue driving people to vote.

“The economic issue is really what’s, I think, pushing people because you have not had the economic growth outside of these urban nodes,” Hicks said of the rural areas.

Peter Fuller is the chair of the northeastern Jackson County’s Democratic Party and knows flipping any rural part of Georgia is a tall order. Trump won 78% of the Jackson County vote in 2020.

“These are counties that have been like this for a while. They are long-term projects,” he said. “Most of these communities are agriculture based. We have issues of either not having population growth, or loss in some cases. Health care is a big one.”

Fuller noted that translating some national policies into something relatable for Jackson County voters can be challenging.

“It’s a lot easier to do with somebody like Tim Walz,” he said.

What remains to be seen is whether the hope and excitement around the Harris-Walz ticket can translate into votes and victory for the Democratic Party in rural America.

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(WASHINGTON) — As the conflict in the Middle East escalates, Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump are both taking a break from campaigning in battleground states on Monday to memorialize the anniversary of the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks on Israel.

Harris, alongside second gentleman Doug Emhoff, marked the day by planting a pomegranate tree at the vice president’s residence — a symbol of hope and righteousness in Judaism. Trump visited Ohel Chabad-Lubavitch — considered a sacred site amongst Hasidic Jews — in Queens, New York, where he had an intimate private visit to the Ohel, the gravesite of the Rebbe at the Old Montefiore Cemetery, where he was seen shaking hands with Rabbis and mingling with leaders.

Later, Trump is scheduled to deliver remarks at a remembrance event with Jewish community leaders at his own property Trump National Doral Miami, his campaign announced.

On Monday, Harris urged the country that as they reflect on the horrors of Oct. 7, they also be reminded “we cannot lose faith.”

“I will never forget October 7, and the world must never forget. What is asked of us? We must work to ensure nothing like the horrors of Oct. 7 can ever happen again, and on this solemn day, I will restate my pledge to always ensure that Israel has what it needs to defend itself, and that I will always work to ensure the safety and security of the Jewish people here and around the world,” Harris pledged.

To commemorate Oct. 7, Harris’ running mate, Gov. Tim Walz visited the “Nova Exhibition” — an exhibit honoring the victims of the Hamas attack — in Culver City, California, on Monday. Walz was greeted by Noa Beer, a survivor of the Oct. 7 attack and an organizer of the Nova Music Festival, and the exhibition’s event producer Virginia Fout upon his arrival at the exhibition, according to the Harris campaign.

Following Hamas’ attacks on Israel on Oct, 7, 2023, and Israel’s ensuing assaults on Gaza, the conflict in the Middle East has become one of the top issues this election cycle. Pressure for a cease-fire has created a rift within the Democratic Party and Republicans are attempting to capitalize on that moment while Trump’s own inflammatory comments continue to face pushback from critics.

Tune into ABC News Live at 8:30 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 7, for “Oct 7th: Race to Survive” — special coverage of the anniversary of the conflict. Veteran correspondent Matt Gutman highlights voices of Israelis and Palestinians impacted by the war and the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

Since Hamas launched its surprise terrorist attack in Israel one year ago, and Israel responded by declaring war, thousands have reportedly been killed or injured. Israel has said its goal is to destroy Hamas and that it attempts to minimize civilian casualties as often as possible. Meanwhile, a humanitarian crisis has unfolded in Gaza, including the collapse of the health care system.

Harris, while stressing the alliance between the United States and Israel, has appealed to the humanitarian crises in Gaza and has repeatedly called for a cease-fire, including at the Democratic National Convention in August, where she officially introduced herself to the public for the first time as the Democratic nominee for the 2024 presidential race.

The Democratic Party is divided on the issue as the war deepens with Iran’s latest attack on Israel. Although Harris has noticeably attempted to thread the needle in an attempt to bridge the ideological gap, concerns remain about whether the Biden-Harris administration lacks influence over Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

In a preview clip released ahead of her interview on CBS News’ “60 Minutes,” Harris remained aligned with President Joe Biden’s position, saying the administration is doing what they can to “allow Israel to defend itself” and that they will continue to put “pressure on Israel and in the region, including Arab leaders” to release the hostages and achieve a cease-fire.

She claimed the negotiations they’ve done with Netanyahu have led to open conversations and changes in Israel’s approach in the region, but dodged the question on whether Netanyahu is a “real close” ally of the U.S., saying, “the better question is: do we have an important alliance between the American people and the Israeli people? And the answer to that question is yes.”

Trump on the campaign trail has made an extensive effort to court Jewish American voters, often claiming that “no President has done more for Israel than I have.” Over the course of the campaign, Trump has participated in Jewish-focused campaign events with the Republican Jewish Coalition and the Israeli-American Council.

He has also been campaigning with major donor and vocal Israel-advocate Miriam Adelson, who is investing nearly $90 million in support of Trump in the final months of the 2024 general election.

At the same time, Trump has repeatedly sparked criticism by attacking Jewish Democrats, including Emhoff and Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer, claiming that Jewish Americans who vote for Democrats should get their “head examined.”

“They have not been your friends. I don’t understand how anybody can support them,” Trump said during his virtual remarks at the Republican Jewish Coalition annual summit last month. “And I say it constantly. If you had them to support and you were Jewish, you have to have your head examined.”

Trump also criticized Netanyahu, saying in a TIME magazine interview published in April that the Oct. 7 attacks happened “on his watch” and that he has been “rightfully criticized” for the attacks.

“I will say this, Bibi Netanyahu rightfully has been criticized for what took place on Oct. 7,” Trump told TIME, criticizing him again for backing out on what was supposed to be a joint U.S.-Israel operation to assassinate a top Iranian general in 2020.

“It happened on his watch,” Trump said about Netanyahu and the Israel-Hamas war. “And I think it’s had a profound impact on him, despite everything. Because people said that shouldn’t have happened. They have the most sophisticated equipment.”

Still, Trump met with Netanyahu in July, insisting their relationship “was never bad.”

“We’ve had a good working relationship. I was very good to Israel, better than any president has ever been,” Trump claimed after meeting with Netanyahu.

Trump has insisted in his campaign messages that the world was a safer place under his administration, claiming that the Oct. 7 attacks on Israel would not have happened under his presidency and that foreign adversaries are launching attacks because of the Biden-Harris administration’s weakness.

“Ever since Iran has been exporting terror all over the world and, it’s been just unraveling, the whole Middle East has been unraveling, but of course, the whole world has been unraveling since we left office,” Trump said at a campaign event in Waunakee, Wisconsin, last Tuesday just after Iran launched missile attacks on Israel.

Harris also met with Netanyahu in July. After the meeting, she reiterated that Israel has the right to defend itself but added, “how it does so matters.” Harris said that she talked to Netanyahu about her “serious concern” about the collateral damage and suffering of Gazan civilians.

Hamas’ attacks on Oct. 7, 2023, killed about 1,200 people in Israel, with some 250 people kidnapped. And more than 41,000 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health.

“With over 2 million people facing high levels of food insecurity, and half a million people facing catastrophic levels of acute food insecurity, what has happened in Gaza over the past nine months is devastating; the images of dead children and desperate, hungry people fleeing for safety, sometimes displaced for the second, third or fourth time,” Harris said.

ABC News’ Molly Nagle contributed to this report.

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(WASHINGTON) —  House Republicans on Monday released the results of a sweeping three-year investigation they say is the most detailed public accounting yet of the Biden administration’s chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan that left behind hundreds of Americans and thousands of allies, some so desperate they clung to U.S. planes as the last military aircraft departed Kabul in 2021.

The report by House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul — which relied on interviews with 18 top officials and 20,000 pages of documents — blames the White House, its National Security Council and the State Department for being slow to listen to military generals who warned the security situation would deteriorate quickly once U.S. troops began to depart.

The investigation did not, however, find evidence that Vice President Kamala Harris played any role in the planning or execution of the evacuation, although she expressed public support for President Joe Biden’s decision at the time.

Former President Donald Trump and other Republicans have suggested Harris is culpable, noting past comments by the vice president that she was the “last person in the room” when Biden decided to leave Afghanistan.

“Caused by Kamala Harris, Joe Biden, the humiliation in Afghanistan set off the collapse of American credibility and respect all around the world,” Trump told National Guard members and their families in Detroit last month on the anniversary of the 2021 suicide bombing at Kabul’s airport during the evacuation, which killed 13 U.S. service members and some 170 Afghans.

The Biden administration pushed back on the findings by Republicans, calling it a partisan effort that sought to cherry-pick facts ahead of an election.

The Republican probe also is being released ahead of the first political debate between Harris and Trump, which ABC News is hosting on Tuesday night in Philadelphia. Trump and GOP loyalists are expected to hammer the Democratic administration for failing to prepare for a Taliban takeover once U.S. troops began to depart.

“The chaos and devastation that took place in August of 2021 has forever damaged U.S. credibility in the eyes of our allies, while emboldening our adversaries like China, Russia and Iran,” said McCaul, R-Texas. “Yet, not a single person was fired and, to this day, no one was ever held accountable by President Biden or Vice President Harris.”

Last week, McCaul issued a subpoena for Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s testimony on the withdrawal, threatening to hold him in contempt if he doesn’t testify on Sept. 19. In a written statement, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller noted that Blinken has already testified on Afghanistan and the State Department provided the 20,000 pages of documents the committee was relying on to inform its investigation.

“Though the secretary is currently unavailable to testify on dates proposed by the committee, the State Department has proposed reasonable alternatives to comply with Chairman McCaul’s request for a public hearing,” Miller said. “It is disappointing that instead of continuing to engage with the Department in good faith, the committee instead has issued yet another unnecessary subpoena.”

On the investigation, Miller accused Republicans of politicizing the war and “presenting inaccurate narratives.”

“The State Department remains immensely proud of its workforce who put themselves forward in the waning days of our presence in Afghanistan to evacuate both Americans and the brave Afghans who stood by our sides for more than two decades,” he said.

While many of the details included in the Republican investigation have already become public through media reports and internal government reviews, among the more interesting details come from inside-the-room accounts of U.S. Embassy personnel.

At one point, according to Republicans, staff grew so panicked at the rushed evacuation that they began filling Tupperware containers with passports and visa foils to burn as Taliban forces arrived outside their building. Classified documents were eventually left behind in the scramble, according to the report, although the report doesn’t say how many or what type.

Meanwhile, the NSC was slow to establish criteria for who was eligible for evacuation, a standard the report says changed hourly. At one point, electronic visa letters known as “hall passes” were given to eligible Afghans, but the documents were so easily replicated that bootleg copies began circulating and the U.S. quickly scrapped the plan, according to the report.

The report also paints a picture of a State Department and NSC slow to understand the danger U.S. personnel were in as the Afghanistan government collapsed and the Taliban took control.

Ambassador Ross Wilson, who was brought out of retirement in the Trump administration to serve in Afghanistan and was the top American diplomat in Kabul at the time of the withdrawal, was allegedly reluctant to trigger a military-led evacuation, according to the report. Wilson has spoken publicly before that his staff worked feverishly in those final days to try to process as many travel documents as possible to help qualified people evacuate.

Biden has defended the State Department’s handling of the evacuation in the wake of the operation.

“In the 17 days that we operated in Kabul after the Taliban seized power, we engaged in an around-the-clock effort to provide every American the opportunity to leave. Our State Department was working 24/7 contacting and talking, and in some cases, walking Americans into the airport,” Biden said in 2021 in the wake of the withdrawal.

Biden and other Democrats have also defended the decision to pull out U.S. troops and shutter the embassy after 20 years in the country, saying their options were limited after Trump struck a deal with the Taliban to depart by May 1, 2021.

Trump’s agreement with the Taliban included the departure of U.S. troops and the release of 5,000 Taliban fighters from Afghan prisons so long as the Taliban promised not to collaborate with al-Qaeda or engage in “high-profile” attacks.

Wanting to bring an end to the war and concerned that Taliban fighters might target American service members if the U.S. reneged on the deal, the Biden administration stayed the course but amended the U.S. withdrawal deadline to Aug. 31, 2021.

“He could either ramp up the war against a Taliban that was at its strongest position in 20 years and put even more American troops at risk or finally end our longest war after two decades and $2 trillion spent,” said Sharon Yang, the White House spokesperson for oversight and investigations. “The President refused to send another generation of Americans to fight a war that should have ended long ago.”

Military generals in charge at the time have previously testified that their recommendation to Biden earlier that year was to maintain some 2,500 troops beyond that date regardless of what Trump had agreed to.

“At the end of 20 years, we the military helped build an army, a state, but we could not forge a nation. The enemy occupied Kabul, the overthrow of the government occurred and the military we supported for two decades faded away,” Gen. Mark Milley, who served as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the time of the withdrawal, testified last March.

“That is a strategic failure,” he said.

ABC News’ Emily Chang, Matthew Seyler and Shannon Kingston contributed to this report.

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