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Former President Donald Trump was booed by people at a Florida summit on Friday after expressing his belief in certain exceptions to abortion.
“Like Ronald Reagan, I strongly believe in exceptions for life of the mother, rape and incest,” Trump said at the Turning Point “Believer’s Summit,” a Christian conservative event.
“I think it’s very important, don’t forget,” Trump continued, as some people in the crowd started booing. “You have to go with your heart, but you also have to win elections.”
Praising his three conservative Supreme Court appointments and the ultimate overturning of Roe v. Wade, Trump said. “Now it’s up to the will of the people in each state.”
“Some will be more conservative in what they vote for, and some will be more liberal,” Trump added. “The people will decide and that’s the way they always wanted it.”
Trump previously suggested he could support a 15-week federal ban with exceptions in the cases of incest, rape and when the life of the mother is in danger, but in April he said abortion rights should be left to the states, offering his clearest stance yet on one of the most delicate and contentious issues in American politics.
His decision not to back a national ban was swiftly denounced by a major anti-abortion rights organization, which said his position did not go far enough.
Former NSYNC member Lance Bass posted a video on Instagram Friday with Vice President Kamala Harris where the duo said they’re saying “Bye Bye Bye” to former President Donald Trump this November, a reference to the 2000 NSYNC hit.
“She has always stood for everything that is right and good,” Bass wrote in the caption of the video. “She’s had my family’s back and I will always have hers!! I’m so ready for Madame President!!”
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Harris also appeared with Bass on the season nine finale of “RuPaul’s Drag Race: All Stars” Friday encouraging viewers to vote in the upcoming election.
Former President Donald Trump is no longer wearing a bandage on his ear.
“Just took off the last bandage off of my ear. I just got it off. I took it off for this group,” Trump said during remarks tonight at Turning Point Action’s “The Believers’ Summit” in Florida.
Trump’s right ear was bloodied after an assassination attempt at a Pennsylvania rally this month. He appeared at the Republican National Convention days later after the incident in Milwaukee wearing a large white bandage over the injured ear.
The FBI said Friday that Donald Trump was hit by a bullet, or a fragment from it, fired by the would-be assassin at his July 13 rally.
“What struck former President Trump in the ear was a bullet, whether whole or fragmented into smaller pieces, fired from the deceased subject’s rifle,” the bureau said in a statement.
The new statement is the most direct from federal law enforcement so far about the nature of Trump’s injury. But it changes little in practical terms.
Some law enforcement officials had previously said publicly that it was unclear whether Trump was hit by a bullet or by shrapnel, which is a fragmented piece of ammunition. Earlier this week, FBI Director Wray testified to congress that “there’s some question about whether or not it’s bullet or shrapnel that hit his ear.”
Other officials questioned whether what struck Trump was the bullet at all, or if he was actually hit by a piece of glass — or even injured while falling down.
Trump himself has repeatedly asserted that he was hit by an in-tact bullet, writing on Truth Social that “it was, unfortunately, a bullet that hit my ear, and hit it hard. There was no glass, there was no shrapnel.”
Former White House physician Rep. Ronny Jackson, who has been monitoring Trump since the assassination attempt, said Friday that “there is absolutely no evidence that it was anything other than a bullet” and suggested Wray was “wrong and inappropriate” for stating otherwise.
Mitch Landrieu, the national co-chair for the Biden-Harris campaign and former mayor of New Orleans, walked back a “defund the police” sentiment voiced by Vice President Kamala Harris in 2020, saying what she meant is she supports being “tough and smart on crime.”
“Her position has always been that you can both be tough and smart on crime, and it requires funding police, but it also requires funding rehabilitation and things that make criminal justice system safer. You can do both,” Landrieu told CNN’s Pamela Brown_._
CNN reported that Harris voiced support for the “defund the police” movement in a radio interview in June 2020 amidst nationwide protests for police reform, just months before denouncing the movement after she joined the Biden presidential campaign.
“This whole movement is about rightly saying, we need to take a look at these budgets and figure out whether it reflects the right priorities,” Harris said on the show, months before denouncing the movement when she assumed her vice-presidential office.
Pressed to clarify the campaign’s stance on police funding, Landrieu touted Harris’ record as a prosecutor, saying she put sex abusers and businesspeople who committed fraud in jail.
But he also said the campaign believes in finding alternatives to police force when someone is having a mental health episode.
“Our actions indicate that she wants to fund the police, but she wants to do the other things as well,” Landrieu said.
Four new Fox News polls released Friday show that Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump are locked in margin of error races with no clear leader in the following races:
- Wisconsin (50% Trump to 49% Harris)
- Pennsylvania (49% each)
- Michigan (49% each)
Harris leads Trump by 6 points in Minnesota (52% Harris to 46% Trump, nearly identical to the 2020 margin there).
The polls were fielded from July 22 -24, after President Joe Biden stepped aside in the race for president.
Across all four states, more than three-quarters of voters say they approve of Biden dropping out of the race, with a slightly smaller majority saying they think he should finish his term as president.
In three of the four states, Harris’s performance against Trump is similar to Biden’s in earlier Fox News polls conducted before the CNN presidential debate in late June (earlier polls were in April for Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, there was no prior poll this cycle in Minnesota.)
A new national poll from the Wall Street Journal released Friday found former President Donald Trump at 49% and Vice President Kamala Harris at 47% in a two-way matchup among registered voters.
In the last Wall Street Journal poll, released in early July, President Joe Biden trailed Trump by 6 percentage points. The survey is the latest to find Harris outperforming Biden among voter groups that traditionally lean Democratic but that had been trouble spots for the president, such as voters of color and younger voters.
The survey also suggests a spike in enthusiasm among Democrats for their presumptive nominee. Overall, 76% of voters say they “feel enthusiastic about my preferred presidential candidate,” up from 44% who said the same previously. That shift comes largely among Democrats: While the Journal’s June 30-July 2 poll found that Democrats were far less likely than Republicans to say they were enthusiastic about their chosen candidate, now, about 4 in 5 voters in both parties are enthusiastic about their nominee.
When independent and third party candidates are included in the presidential matchup, 45% of voters say they back Harris, 44% Trump and 4% independent Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., with others at 1% or less.
Second gentleman Doug Emhoff was “sitting having coffee with my friends” in Los Angeles, fresh out of a spin class last Sunday, approximately 15 minutes before President Joe Biden announced he was withdrawing from the race.
Reminiscing on the whirlwind of the past week on the podcast “Stay Tuned with Preet,” Emhoff, away from his phone, said “my friend’s partner gives me his phone and says ‘I think you need to see this’” before showing him Biden’s letter to the nation announcing his decision.
“Being a really good lawyer, we always start every document at the end,” Emhoff said, adding that he initially missed the portion in which Biden announced his withdrawal. “My friend’s friend said, ‘look at the prior line’ and I looked at it and I said ‘I gotta go!’”
Sprinting to his car a block away, Secret Service agents chasing after him, Emhoff grabbed his phone that had been sitting in his car.
“My phone was literally like self-immolated,” he said. “You could feel the smoke coming out of that phone.” Emhoff said there were a series of messages, all of which read “Call Kamala!”
“So, I finally call,” he said. “She said ‘Where the [pauses without saying expletive] were you?’”
“She basically said, ‘I gotta go, I’m making calls,’” he recalled. He then phoned his two children as he drove home. “As soon as I got to our home in LA, I brewed a pot of coffee, I set up my own little war room on our little kitchen table. I had my laptop, my iPad, my phone, my notebook, and it’s like, ‘OK, I don’t know what I’m doing.’”
“Then all of a sudden phone’s ringing and I was connected with her and her team but it was a bizarre, surreal experience to then have to go through this alone,” he said. CNN previously reported that Emhoff was also making calls to prominent Democrats on Sunday to rally support for his wife.
He said he was not reunited with his wife until the next day at campaign headquarters in Wilmington, Delaware, where Vice President Kamala Harris gave a speech to rouse the campaign staff.
“I cannot tell you how proud I am of her,” he said. “We’re just moving fast.” In the past week, Emhoff has become enmeshed in his wife’s presidential bid — attending events, speaking with donors and finding his place in the campaign.
LaTosha Brown, co-founder of the voter outreach group Black Voters Matter, said Vice President Harris should not be limited to selecting a straight White man as her running mate.
Brown issued a statement this week that encourages Harris to “think outside of the box.” She argues a bold choice will only extend the momentum Democrats are currently enjoying, and that Americans are “ready for something different.”
“America is ready for a new paradigm shift in politics. Vice President Kamala Harris as a presidential hopeful has brought renewed energy and an infusion of money into this presidential election that surpasses anything this country has seen. Her candidacy is evidence that voters want a New America — not defined by gender or race or sex — but one that really represents all of us at our best,” the statement read.
“They do not want the straight white man ticket. This traditional political formula is not applicable in these times and we cannot let fear of losing this race make us cling to a paradigm that no longer serves us. Straight white men have never been able to save this nation by themselves,” Brown said. “While they have been the face of political leadership for decades, America has never moved forward without the prodding, pushing and creative leadership of a diverse group of Americans, particularly women and communities of color. Our nominees should reflect this truth.”
The statement goes on to suggest Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer or Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg should be given equal consideration and that Democrats need to get out of their comfort zones.
Roger Hochschild, former CEO of Discover Financial Services and a major Democratic donor, told CNN that there was “palpable enthusiasm” on a call as Vice President Kamala Harris and top campaign officials discussed what needs to get done in the next 100-plus days leading up to Election Day.
Reproductive health: One of the questions the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee answered was about reproductive health, according to Hochschild.
She “highlighted how her administration will be about freedoms, and taking the country forward, as opposed to repression and taking the country backwards,” he said.
Swing states: Officials on the call made clear that spending time in battleground states would be a top priority for Harris, and indicated that the new Harris campaign is quickly figuring out the best way to reshuffle her calendar and attend upcoming events, given her new role.
DNC: One other topic of discussion on the call was the upcoming Democratic National Convention, Hochschild said. The campaign made clear now that it is Harris — rather than President Joe Biden — that the party is planning the August convention in Chicago around, they are quickly rethinking everything from the music to performers to guests that would be featured at the DNC.
Defending prior comments about childless adults that have resurfaced and faced backlash this week, Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance said his criticism was directed at the Democratic Party for becoming “anti-family” — not at those who don’t or can’t have children.
“The simple point that I made is that having children, becoming a father, becoming a mother, I really do think it changes your perspective, and in a pretty profound way,” Vance said on Sirius XM’s “The Megyn Kelly Show.”
“This is not about criticizing people who, for various reasons, didn’t have kids. This is about criticizing the Democratic Party for becoming anti-family and anti-child,” Vance said.
Directly responding to his comment in 2021 on Fox News that the country is being run by “a bunch of childless cat ladies,” Vance said he was being sarcastic and the substance of what he said has been lost.
“Obviously, it was a sarcastic comment. I’ve got nothing against cats. I’ve got nothing against dogs. I’ve got one dog,” Vance said. “People are focusing so much on the sarcasm, and not on the substance of what I actually said and the substance of what I said, Megan, I’m sorry. It’s true. It is true that we become anti-family. It is true that the left has become anti-child.”
Speaking of Harris, Vance said, “I wish her stepchildren and Kamala Harris and her whole family the very best. The point is not that she’s lesser. The point is that her party has pursued a set of policies that are profoundly anti-child.”
Watch:
Former President Donald Trump announced that he plans to return to Butler, Pennsylvania, for a rally in honor of the victims of the failed assassination attempt on him there nearly two weeks ago.
Trump said there will be a “big and beautiful” rally for firefighter Corey Comperatore, who died in the shooting, and others who were injured.
“WHAT A DAY IT WILL BE — FIGHT, FIGHT, FIGHT! STAY TUNED FOR DETAILS,” Trump posted on Truth Social.
ABC News is continuing preparations for an upcoming presidential debate, despite former President Donald Trump saying he won’t consider participating in a debate until the Democratic Party formally chooses its nominee.
“Full steam ahead,” an ABC network source told CNN on Friday.
Despite ABC’s preparations for the debate, set to be moderated by anchors David Muir and Linsey Davis, the network’s plan could still be upended like so many other institutions and traditions this year.
“I haven’t agreed to anything. I agreed to a debate with Joe Biden,” Trump, the Republican nominee, said on a press call earlier this week. “But I want to debate with her, and she’ll be no different because they have the same policies. I think debating is important for a presidential race, I really do. You sort of have an obligation to debate.”
Vice President Kamala Harris, now the presumptive Democratic nominee, later told reporters she had agreed to the September 10 debate and accused Trump of “backpedaling.”
“What happened to ‘any time, any place?’” Harris wrote in a post on X.
Even before President Joe Biden dropped out of the race, the campaigns did away with the independent Commission on Presidential Debates, which had arranged the debates for decades, instead agreeing to debates directly arranged by television networks.
A person familiar with the matter said Friday that NBC is “in ongoing discussion with the campaigns,” but it’s unclear whether that involves plans for a debate, or other events like town halls with the candidates.
Vice President Kamala Harris just called into a meeting of her National Finance Committee, where she thanked donors for their support, per a source familiar.
The call was organized by finance chair Rufus Gifford.
Former White House physician Rep. Ronny Jackson, who has been monitoring former President Donald Trump’s physical well-being since the assassination attempt earlier this month, said in a statement that the former president was shot in the ear.
FBI Director Christopher Wray testified on Capitol Hill this week that there was still “some question” about whether Trump was hit with a bullet or shrapnel.
Jackson took on Wray’s testimony directly and wrote “there is absolutely no evidence that it was anything other than a bullet” and suggested Wray was “wrong and inappropriate” for stating otherwise.
Jackson said in a letter he has reviewed Trump’s medical records from Butler Memorial Hospital, which say the former president was treated for a “Gunshot Wound to the Right Ear.”
“Based on my direct observations of the injury, my relevant clinical background, and my significant experience evaluating and treating patients with similar wounds, I completely concur with the initial assessment and treatment provided by the doctors and nurses at Butler Memorial Hospital on the day of the shooting,” Jackson wrote.
Trump’s hospital records from the night of the attempted assassination have not been released.
Trump posts about Wray: The former president also posted a photo of the assassination attempt on Truth Social, writing: “Perhaps FBI Director Christopher Wray will notice there is no shrapnel or glass flying through the ear, only a bloodstained bullet. It’s all so damaging to the Great People that work in the FBI.”
Rally tomorrow: Trump, along with Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance, are expected to hold a rally on Saturday in Minnesota as security around Trump’s rallies and events have been put into question, including where they should be held — whether indoors or in more secure outdoor locations.
Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance said he supports in vitro fertilization for parents with fertility problems, but argued that the religious liberties for Christian hospitals, which prohibit some reproductive health services, need to be protected.
“I know beautiful children, I mean kids that play at my house with my kids that have been brought into the world through IVF. Of course, we want to make it easier for moms and dads to choose life if, of course, they’re in a terrible situation where they have fertility problems,” he said Friday on SiriusXM’s “The Megyn Kelly Show.”
Vance argued that the “problem” with Democrats’ approach on IVF “is they’re trying to take away religious liberty” and he attacked Vice President Kamala Harris, accusing her of suggesting that Christian hospitals “should have to do IVF in the way that Democrats want them to do it.”
“I’m talking about religious liberty here. I think we have to protect the rights of Christian hospitals to operate the way that they want to operate, but of course that’s totally consistent with promoting fertility treatments for parents who need it,” he said.
Vance faced backlash this week over prior comments about childless adults, but he said his criticism was directed at the Democratic Party for becoming “anti-family” — not at those who don’t or can’t have children.
Donald Trump’s campaign released a statement on the former president’s meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the first such meeting between the two men since Trump left the White House more than three years ago.
Netanyahu thanked Trump “for working to promote stability in the region through, among many historic achievements, the Abraham Accords, moving the United States Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, recognizing Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, eliminating Qasem Soleimani, ending the horrific Iran Nuclear Deal, as well as combatting anti-Semitism in America and abroad,” the statement said.
Trump “expressed his solidarity” with Israel following the October 7 Hamas attack, according to the statement, adding that he “pledged that when he returns to the White House, he will make every effort to bring Peace to the Middle East and combat anti-Semitism from spreading throughout college campuses across the United States.”
Former top White House cyber officials in the Biden administration will hold a fundraiser for Vice President Kamala Harris on the sidelines of two of the world’s biggest hacking conferences in Las Vegas next month, according to a flyer for the event viewed by CNN.
Tickets for the “Hackers for Harris” event, as one organizer called it, run at $10,000 for co-sponsors and $2,700 for “VIPs,” according to the flyer.
The event targets a lesser-known source of potential funding for the Harris campaign: corporate executives and security experts who support the Biden administration’s focus on cybersecurity. Many in the cybersecurity community were alarmed by former President Donald Trump’s firing of Chris Krebs, the former head of the Department of Homeland Security’s cyber agency, for calling the 2020 election was secure.
The fundraiser will feature Kemba Walden and Jake Braun, who held leadership positions at the White House Office of the National Cyber Director, which coordinates federal cybersecurity policy and has oversight of agencies’ cyber defenses.
The event will be held on the sidelines of Black Hat and Def Con conferences that draw tens of thousands of security researchers, government officials and corporate executives to Las Vegas each year. Def Con is home to the “Voting Village” where researchers pick apart voting equipment, looking for vulnerabilities with the aim of making the equipment more secure.
Vulnerable Democratic Rep. Don Davis of North Carolina announced that he is endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris, as well as North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper to be her vice president pick, one day after voting for a GOP resolution condemning Harris on the border.
“Today, I announce my endorsement and support of Vice President Kamala Harris for President,” he wrote. “I also believe Governor Roy Cooper, an eastern NC native, would be an excellent choice for vice president. The stakes of this presidential election are incredibly high, with far-reaching implications.”
However, he continued, “At the same time, the administration and Congress must address the concerns of the southern border. These issues cannot be overlooked. I will continue to advocate for comprehensive immigration reform, including securing the border and other issues impacting eastern NC families.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that he hoped Vice President Kamala Harris’ comments forcefully criticizing Israel’s conduct in its war against Hamas in Gaza would not make a ceasefire deal harder to reach.
“I think to the extent that Hamas understands there’s no daylight between Israel and the United States, that expedites the deal,” said Netanyahu to reporters at a meeting with former President Donald Trump. “And I would hope that those comments don’t change that.”
Harris’ office earlier Friday rejected a suggestion from a senior Israeli official that echoed Netanyahu’s remarks. “I don’t know what they’re talking about,” a Harris aide told CNN.
Netanyahu also said he believed the recent movement closer to a deal was because of Israel’s military pressure on Hamas.
“I think there’s been some movement because of our military pressure that we exerted,” said Netanyahu. “I hope there will be sufficient movement to get a deal completed.”
Netanyahu said Israel will be sending a team to Rome for further negotiations “probably in the beginning of the week.”
Former President Trump said Vice President Kamala Harris was “disrespectful to Israel” in her remarks to reporters after her private meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday.
“I think her remarks were disrespectful,” Trump told CNN’s Kristen Holmes at his own meeting with Netanyahu at Mar-a-Lago Friday afternoon. “They weren’t very nice pertaining to Israel. I actually don’t know how a person who is Jewish could vote for her, but that’s up to them.”
Asked how Harris’ remarks may have impacted negotiations on a ceasefire deal, Netanyahu said, “Well, we’re trying to get one. To the extent that Hamas understands that there’s no daylight between Israel and the United States that expedites the deal.”
“I would hope that those comments don’t change that,” he added.
Netanyahu said he hopes that after this trip they will be closer to a ceasefire, but “time will tell.”
“We’re certainly eager to have one and we’re working on it,” Netanyahu said.
Trump said he doesn’t have to talk about what his working relationship with Netanyahu would look like if he is elected in a second term.
“We’ve had a good relationship. I was very good to Israel, better than any president has ever been,” Trump said.
Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly, a possible contender for Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate, attacked Sen. JD Vance over his stance on abortion, Ukraine and his comments about childless women.
“I have two daughters and a granddaughter. I really worry about their rights if Donald Trump is elected again and JD Vance is vice president. I mean, that really concerns me,” Kelly told CNN’s Manu Raju.
Kelly also said that Vance’s opposition to aid for Ukraine is deeply concerning.
“If Donald Trump and JD Vance were back in the White House, it would be an utter disaster, and it would have a significant negative impact on our national security and the national security of our allies for decades,” he told reporters.
Asked about Vance’s comments about childless women, Kelly replied: “You know, it’s a ridiculous thing to say about someone. You know, it’s obnoxious, it’s rude, it’s also not surprising.”
The Arizona Democrat refused to say what he spoke about with Harris, but indicated that he is ready to serve as her running mate if asked.
“I’ve been a public servant since I was, even before I was in the Navy. I drove an ambulance when I was in high school. You know, I was a astronaut for 15 years. I flew with an aircraft carrier,” said Kelly.
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, a contender for the Democratic vice presidential nomination, slammed former President Donald Trump for refusing to commit to debate Vice President Kamala Harris until a Democratic nominee is officially selected.
“Let me tell you something: he’s pretty afraid,” Shapiro said in a video posted to X on Friday. “He’s afraid to stand toe-to-toe with our vice president.”
Shapiro claimed that Trump was “scared” because he “can’t run away from his record any longer.”
CNN previously reported that Shapiro was a leading possibility as Harris attempts to select a running mate within the next two weeks.
In a statement Thursday, Trump’s communications director Steven Cheung said it “would be inappropriate to schedule things with Harris because Democrats very well could still change their minds.” Harris has gained public support from enough delegates to become the Democratic nominee, according to a CNN estimate.
Democrats on Wednesday adopted the rules the party will use to choose their presidential nominee, with voting to officially nominate Harris likely to begin August 1.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is currently meeting former US President Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, the office of the prime minister said.
Trump greeted Netanyahu and his wife, Sara, at the steps of Mar-a-Lago. Trump gave Sara two kisses on the cheek and shook Netanyahu’s hand. Facing cameras, Trump gave a thumbs up standing in between them.
As Netanyahu’s motorcade crossed near the property, a group of pro-Palestinian supporters chanted “we want Justice for Palestine now.”
Roads in the area are closed and expected to remain closed for several hours as Netanyahu meets with Trump.
The meeting comes less than a week since the US Secret Service enacted new road closures at Mar-a-Lago following the attempted assassination of the former president.
It’s the first such meeting between the two men since Trump left the White House more than three years ago.
Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said President Joe Biden sullied his legacy by not dropping out of the presidential race sooner, and compared Biden’s decision to step aside to former President Donald Trump’s role in the January 6, 2021, insurrection.
Kennedy said in an interview with CBS News that aired Friday he respects Biden’s long career in public service but said he believes Biden’s handling of the months leading up to his decision to drop out will be a blemish on his record.
“I’ve known Joe Biden for 40 years and I commend him and respect him for the 50 years that he gave in service to our country, but I think he tarred that reputation and that career over the past year by refusing to let go of power,” he said.
Kennedy then offered a comparison to the January 6 Capitol attack, noting “a lot of Americans blame” Trump for the riot centered around the procedure to certify Biden’s 2020 presidential election victory. Kennedy appeared to equate Trump’s role in the insurrection to Biden’s decision earlier this month, noting that neither president stepped away from the office “graciously.”
Vice President Kamala Harris’ office on Friday is rejecting a suggestion from a senior Israeli official that her remarks on Thursday that forcefully criticized Israel’s conduct in its war against Hamas in Gaza could have made a ceasefire deal harder to reach.
“I don’t know what they’re talking about,” a Harris aide told CNN, in response to the senior Israeli official being quoted in Israeli outlets as saying: “Hopefully the remarks Harris made in her press conference won’t be interpreted by Hamas as daylight between the US and Israel, thereby making a deal harder to secure.”
Harris declared that she would “not be silent” about the death and destruction in Gaza during the ongoing Israel-Hamas war after her meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. She also said that Israel has a right to defend itself but “how it does so matters.”
But the vice president’s office on Friday sought to clarify that her message to Netanyahu behind closed doors mirrored that of President Joe Biden, who also met with Netanyahu on Thursday.
“President Biden and Vice President Harris delivered the same message in their private meetings to Prime Minister Netanyahu: It is time to get the ceasefire and hostage deal done,” an aide to the vice president told reporters, adding that the meeting was “serious and collegial.”
Harris’ office said that her comments on Thursday “tracked with her previous comments on the conflict.”
“She started with rock-solid support for Israel and then she expressed her concern about civilian causalities and the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, as she always does,” said the aide.
Israel’s war on Hamas in Gaza, launched in the wake of the October 7 attacks, has displaced almost all of the strip’s 2 million people and reduced swathes of the territory to rubble.
State of negotiations: High-level ceasefire and hostages negotiations are expected to resume in Rome in the coming days, according to a diplomat familiar with the planning. CIA Director Bill Burns would meet with mediating counterparts from Egypt and Qatar, as well as Israeli intelligence. The CIA declined to comment.
CNN’s Alex Marquardt contributed reporting.
The five days since Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign launched at warp speed have remade the 2024 race – and given Democrats new hope of preventing a second Donald Trump presidency.
Bright green, pro-Harris memes have erupted across social media. Fundraising exploded, with Harris’ campaign saying she raised $126 million between Sunday afternoon and Tuesday evening.
And Democrats were more eager to devote their own time to working to elect Harris: More than 100,000 people signed up to volunteer for her bid, and more than 2,000 applied for campaign jobs, Harris campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon said in a Wednesday memo.
New polls show a race in which Trump had been ahead now having no clear leader.
It’s all made clear how desperate much of the Democratic Party was for a change at the top of the ticket – and how eager its donors and loyalists are to back a candidate who can take on Trump in a more consistent and aggressive way.
The Democratic message is largely the same. Though Harris has put her own spin on it, much of what she’s focused on in recent days – defending women’s reproductive freedom; rejecting “trickle-down economic policies”; standing up for democratic norms and values – mirrors what President Joe Biden had campaigned on.
But it’s coming through more clearly with a new messenger, whose energetic performances on the campaign trail in recent days have laid bare the limitations of the 81-year-old Biden.
Over a dozen youth organizing groups announced their endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential bid on Friday.
The press release cites the vice president’s record on various issues, including combating youth gun violence, climate change and student loan debt. The list of organizations includes Voters of Tomorrow, College Democrats of America and Young Democrats of America.
In effort to mobilize young voters, the campaign will host events focused on the key constituency across battleground states this weekend as part of the “100 Days Weekend of Action,” including organizing its first youth phone bank of the cycle and launching a national distributive program for young voters that includes a youth Discord channel.
“Young voters wield tremendous power — they were crucial in delivering the election for Democrats in 2020 and will be again in 2024. The Vice President deeply believes young voters deserve a seat at the table,” Harris for President National Youth Engagement Director Eve Levenson said in a statement.
“She is fighting to guarantee a future where every young person has affordable quality health care, where everyone has the freedom to make decisions about their own body, where we have dramatically reduced the pace of climate change, and where guns no longer terrorize our classrooms or our streets,” Levenson added.
White women elected officials, celebrities and activists on Thursday rallied support and raised money for Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign.
Women for Harris organizer Elizabeth Minnella said the “White Women: Answer the Call 2024” fundraising call was inspired by the “Win With Black Women” Zoom call, which thousands of Black women joined to support Harris.
“We were inspired by the 44,000 Black women who organized a call in the eight hours following the announcement of Vice President Harris’ candidacy,” she said.
Some of the big names on the call included Rep. Lizzie Fletcher, Rep. Elissa Slotkin, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, singer Pink, soccer icon Megan Rapinoe, and actress Connie Britton.
“We have the opportunity to be a part of something like absolutely incredible and unprecedented putting not only a woman, but a Black woman in office. If you’re not hyped about that, I don’t know what you’re hyped about,” Rapinoe said.
She also announced that the call raised over $2 million.
“I just got off stage in Stockholm, Sweden, and I’m on my way home. It’s three o’clock in the morning and I’ve never felt more awake and alive,” Pink said on the call. “It’s not about which candidate is perfect, it’s which candidate is human and wants to keep us all human. Which candidate is going to inspire us to be better?”
Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has qualified for Nebraska’s presidential ballot, the Nebraska Secretary of State’s office said on Friday.
A spokesperson for the Nebraska Secretary of State said in a statement on Friday the office has validated 4,442 of the signatures submitted by Kennedy’s campaign, surpassing the 2,500 signatures legally required to qualify for Nebraska’s ballot. The secretary of state’s office deemed Kennedy has fulfilled all the requirements to appear on November’s ballot.
The office also considered an objection filed by the Nebraska Democratic Party earlier this month, which argued Kennedy’s past membership in the Democratic Party and affiliations with minor parties in other states make him ineligible to appear as a nonpartisan candidate in Nebraska. The office decided “the matters raised did not require that Kennedy be kept off the ballot.”
“Barring any legal challenges, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will be listed on Nebraska’s general election ballot as a nonpartisan candidate in the US presidential race,” according to the statement.
Nebraska marks the latest potential battleground state where Kennedy has gained ballot access, putting him in play for the state’s five electoral votes, including the sole electoral vote awarded to the winner in Nebraska’s 2nd Congressional District. Former President Donald Trump won that electoral vote in 2016, but President Joe Biden flipped it in 2020.
Including Nebraska, Kennedy has gained ballot access in 12 states. He’s qualified for the ballot in battleground states Michigan and North Carolina, along with California, Utah, Hawaii, New Mexico, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Delaware and South Carolina. In total, Kennedy is eligible for 145 electoral votes.
Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley offered no apologies Thursday for the “tough things” she said about former President Donald Trump during their bruising Republican primary fight, but she told CNN’s Jake Tapper she does not doubt her choice to support the former president over presumptive Democratic nominee Kamala Harris in the November election.
In her first interview since endorsing Trump and speaking at the Republican National Convention, Haley said President Joe Biden’s decision to drop out of the race Sunday did not come as a surprise.
“I wasn’t surprised, and I didn’t take happiness in it,” Haley said of Biden’s announcement. “I think through the whole campaign, I fought for mental competency tests. I wasn’t doing it to be disrespectful. I wasn’t doing it to be mean. I was doing it because I think it’s not just Joe Biden. There is an issue we have in DC, where people will go into office and they won’t let go. And then their staffers and their family keep propping them up, and it’s a problem for the American people.”
Haley added: “I never thought he would make it to the election. I always said a vote for Joe Biden is a vote for Kamala Harris, and I think that’s what’s playing out.”
Haley’s comments come in the wake of her decision to endorse Trump and speak at the GOP convention last week following a tumultuous primary, during which she repeatedly attacked the former president as “toxic,” “unhinged” and lacking “moral clarity.” In a wide-ranging interview, Haley brushed aside the rhetoric as just part of a campaign — which included Trump’s attacks on Haley and her husband while he was deployed overseas.
Vice President Kamala Harris voiced support for “defund the police” in a radio interview in June 2020 amidst nationwide protests for police reform, just months before denouncing the movement after she had joined the Biden presidential campaign.
Harris said in the June radio interview the movement “rightly” called out the amount of money spent on police departments instead of community services such as education, housing, and healthcare, emphasizing that more police did not equate to more public safety.
“This whole movement is about rightly saying, we need to take a look at these budgets and figure out whether it reflects the right priorities,” Harris said on a New York-based radio program “Ebro in the Morning” on June 9, 2020, adding that US cities were “militarizing police” but “defunding public schools.”
Harris made her comments just weeks after the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer galvanized the “defund” movement among progressive activists. At the time, Harris was six months removed from ending her own presidential campaign and was still two months away from being tapped as Joe Biden’s vice presidential nominee.
After Harris was selected as Biden’s running mate in August 2020, the Biden campaign tried to make it clear she opposed defunding the police – and said she supported increasing police funding.
“Joe Biden and Kamala Harris do not support defunding the police, and it is a lie to suggest otherwise,” Sabrina Singh, Harris’ then-press secretary said in October 2020. “Throughout her career, Sen. Harris has supported increasing funding to police departments and boosting funding for community policing.”
Vice President Kamala Harris is a “steadfast” friend of Israel, White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said Thursday.
“I can tell you for sure because I’ve been in the room with her, since my two and a half years of being here at the White House, that Vice President Harris shares President Biden’s steadfast commitment to the nation of Israel, to the security of the Israeli people, to making sure Israel can defend itself against attacks like they suffered on the seventh of October. She’s been a full partner,” Kirby said.
However, he would not say whether she would consider herself a Zionist, similar to how President Joe Biden has described himself.
“I won’t speak for the vice president in that level of detail, but I can tell you having seen her at work: She absolutely believes in all the facets of a free, secure, independent Israel, the nation of Israel, and the safety and security of the Israeli people. And she has been working harder than just about anybody to make sure that that as a team we are looking after our commitments to our neighbors, and our allies, our friends in Israel,” he told CNN.
Vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance echoed former president Donald Trump’s criticisms of Vice President Kamala Harris, saying she is a more liberal candidate than President Joe Biden.
He argued that Biden stepping down and handing the reins to Harris is “fundamentally illegitimate” and that Republicans, by contrast,” respect the democratic process.
“I’ve been making this pitch to Democratic primary voters: This was fundamentally illegitimate. We do actually respect this process, and we think we should have to earn your vote, not like throw off one candidate, replace him with somebody else,” Vance said in a live interview on Donald Trump Jr.’s podcast from Mar-a-Lago.
“Kamala Harris has no democratic legitimacy,” Vance said. “Look at her record, Don. It is the worst record imaginable.”
Claiming that the media is disinterested in focusing on Harris’ record, Vance said she will be rebranded as a moderate to win over voters in November.
“Kamala Harris, I have to say, is far worse,” Vance said of her liberal views in comparison to Biden. “Some of these nonprofit groups that rank who is the most liberal Senator, Kamala Harris, consistently the most liberal senator in the entire United States Senate, and now, they’re going to rebrand her as a like a right-wing Democrat, basically, because that’s the theory of the case to how they can make her most politically palatable to the general electorate.”
Vance criticized Harris for supporting an end to fracking and providing universal healthcare for undocumented immigrants as well as her policy on the US border.
The election authorities of at least 48 states, both Republicans and Democrats, say there are no obstacles that would prevent Vice President Kamala Harris from getting on election ballots if she becomes the official Democratic presidential nominee, as expected.
The findings of a CNN survey of all 50 states undercut the claims of House Speaker Mike Johnson, who said both before and after President Joe Biden dropped out of the race on Sunday that there are legal “impediments” in some states to a party switching presidential candidates as the Democrats did.
There was not a single state election authority that told CNN Harris would face a ballot issue as the official nominee; election authorities in two states — Florida and Montana — did not respond to requests for comment, but a review of the states’ ballot access rules suggests Harris is not likely to face an issue there either.
Johnson, a lawyer, said on ABC News Sunday that “it would be wrong and I think unlawful in accordance to some of these state rules for a handful of people to go in the backroom and switch it out because they’re – they don’t like the candidate any longer.” He said on CNN Monday that “in some of the states, there are impediments to just switching someone out like that.”
The 48 states (plus the District of Columbia) whose election authorities have said the official Democratic nominee will not have ballot issues include the seven states with the closest margins in the 2020 election, which are widely considered the key swing states again in 2024: Georgia, Arizona, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Michigan and Nevada. The 48 states also include the 15 states where former President Donald Trump, the Republicans’ 2024 nominee, had his highest share of the vote in 2020.
Johnson’s office did not respond to CNN’s requests to identify the “impediments” he claimed some states have.
“RuPaul’s Drag Race: All Stars” ends its ninth season on Friday, but not without a PSA from a VIP: Vice President Kamala Harris.
Harris, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, stopped by the beloved reality show to remind viewers about the importance of voting. Her message will appear in Friday’s finale, which airs on Paramount+.
“Each day we are seeing our rights and freedoms under attack, including the right of everyone to be who they are, love who they love, openly and with pride,” Harris said, while surrounded by a crew including former NSYNC member Lance Bass, “Saturday Night Live” alumna Leslie Jones and “Drag Race” judge Michelle Visage. (RuPaul was absent from the clip.)
“So as we fight back against these attacks, let’s all remember — no one is alone,” Harris said. “We are all in this together. And your vote is your power.”
Harris ended her message by encouraging viewers to register to vote and clapping along to RuPaul’s optimistic anthem “A Little Bit of Love.”
Former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential bid in a video released Friday.
“Michelle and I couldn’t be prouder to endorse you and to do everything we can to get you through this election and into the Oval Office,” the former president told Harris on a phone call joined by his wife, according to the video.
Harristhanked the Obamas for their support and expressed gratitude for their decadeslong friendship.
“Oh my goodness. Michelle, Barack, this means so much to me. I’m looking forward to doing this with the two of you, Doug and I both. And getting out there, being on the road,” the vice president said.
“But most of all, I just want to tell you the words you have spoken and the friendship that you have given over all these years mean more than I can express, so thank you both. It means so much. And we’re gonna have some fun with this too, aren’t we?” she added.
The former first lady said she is proud of Harris and expects the upcoming election to be historic.
“I can’t have this phone call without saying to my girl, Kamala, I am proud of you. This is going to be historic,” she told Harris.
After Vice President Kamala Harris accused former President Donald Trump of “backpedaling” on a debate, the Trump campaign said Thursday it would not commit to any future debates until the Democratic Party formally chooses a nominee.
President Joe Biden’s decision to step down from the Democratic ticket threw previous debate plans into doubt. While the Biden and Trump campaigns had agreed to a debate hosted by ABC on September 10, it is unclear if it will go on as planned.
“I have agreed to the previously agreed upon September 10th debate, he agreed to that previously,” Harris said Thursday. “Now it appears he’s backpedaling. But I’m ready. And I think that the voters deserve to see the split screen that exists in this race on a debate stage and so, I’m ready. Let’s go.”
Steven Cheung, Trump’s campaign communications director, said Thursday that it “would be inappropriate to schedule things with Harris because Democrats very well could still change their minds,” since Harris is only the party’s presumptive nominee.
Harris quickly hit back on social media. “What happened to ‘any time, any place’?” she said.
Democratic delegates are expected to vote virtually to confirm Harris as the party’s nominee by August 7. Trump, for his part, officially clinched the Republican nomination last week at the Republican National Convention.