Trump and Harris kick off ad campaign war, placing major TV ad buys in battleground states

Trump and Harris kick off ad campaign war, placing major TV ad buys in battleground states
Trump and Harris kick off ad campaign war, placing major TV ad buys in battleground states
Marilyn Nieves/Getty Images

(WASHINGTON) — Former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris have now kicked off their ad war with both of their campaigns launching major eight-figure ad campaigns targeting each other in key battleground states.

The Harris campaign this week is launching a $50 million three-week ad blitz through the Democratic National Convention next month, with the first ad of her campaign introducing the vice president to voters, highlighting her career and taking hits at her Republican opponent, the campaign announced.

The Trump campaign too has launched its first major television ad in battleground states attacking Harris since as least January, reserving at least $12 million worth of airtime this week, according to ad tracking firm AdImpact.

Trump’s 30-second ad, released by the his campaign, zeroes in on the former president’s ongoing rhetoric that Harris “failed” as President Joe Biden’s border czar, calling her “weak” and “dangerously liberal.”

“This is America’s border czar, and she’s failed us. Under Harris, over 10 million illegally here, a quarter of a million Americans dead from fentanyl, brutal migrant crimes, and ISIS now here,” a narrator in the ad says, followed by an interview clip of Harris appearing to admit she hasn’t visited the border.

“Kamala Harris. Failed. Weak. Dangerously liberal,” the narration continues.

According to AdImpact, the Trump campaign has reserved $12 million worth of airtime across Pennsylvania, Georgia, Michigan, Arizona, Nevada and Wisconsin.

After a week of working to determine the best language to attack Harris since Biden left the 2024 race, this ad campaign reflects the Trump campaign’s push to focus on the border — a major campaign issue for voters.

In response to the Trump campaign’s ad, the Harris campaign suggests that the vice president was focused on addressing the root causes of migration and claimed that at no point in her tenure was she in charge of managing the border.

Harris’ first ad, titled “Fearless” and featuring pictures of Harris over the years — from a toddler to college graduate to vice president — highlights her background as a former prosecutor who is “uniquely suited to take on” the former president, who is now a convicted felon.

“As a prosecutor, she put murderers and abusers behind bars,” a narrator says in the one-minute ad. “As California’s attorney general, she went after the big banks and won $20 billion for homeowners. And as vice president, she took on the big drug companies to cap the cost of insulin for seniors. Because Kamala Harris has always known who she represents.”

The spot then leads into laying out Harris’ vision and attacking Trump, using footage from her first rally of the campaign last week in a high school gym just outside Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

“We believe in a future where every person has the opportunity not just to get by, but to get ahead. Where every senior can retire with dignity,” Harris said in the footage from the rally. “But Donald Trump wants to take our country backward, to give tax breaks to billionaires and big corporations and end the Affordable Care Act.”

This ad is scheduled to run on local and national broadcast, cable programming, streaming and social channels over the next three weeks, including during the Olympic Games, as well as programs like “The Bachelorette,” “Big Brother” and “The Daily Show.”

The Harris campaign has reserved airtime in states like Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Arizona, Georgia, Nevada and North Carolina, according to ad tracking firm Medium Buying.

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Suspect in cold case murder commits suicide days after submitting DNA: Police

Suspect in cold case murder commits suicide days after submitting DNA: Police
Suspect in cold case murder commits suicide days after submitting DNA: Police
Hawaii Police Department

(KAPOHO, Hawaii) — A man recently identified as a suspect in the 1991 murder of a 23-year-old woman has died by suicide, days after a DNA swab from his cheek matched DNA evidence collected at the crime scene 33 years ago, according to the Hawaii Police Department.

Albert Lauro Jr., 57, was identified as a suspect in the murder of Dana Ireland, who had been kidnapped and raped in the Kapoho area of Hawaii Island on Dec. 24, 1991, according to police. She died a day later at a local hospital.

“This case is still under investigation. Albert Lauro Jr. has been linked to the victim by DNA; however, his exact involvement is still under investigation. And his death was ruled a suicide by the forensic pathologist,” Hawaii Police Department Captain Rio Amon-Wilkins told ABC News.

DNA evidence had been recovered from a swab taken from Ireland’s body, from a sheet used to transport her to the hospital and from a t-shirt found at the scene and was used by police to identify a suspect in her murder this month, according to Hawaii PD.

At the time of the murder, there was no match for the evidence in any DNA database, police said.

In 2008, the DNA evidence was sent to the Forensic Analytical Crime Lab in California, and additional DNA evidence was collected from the T-shirt, which matched other samples from the scene, according to Hawaii PD.

DNA experts are now able to take data from a DNA sample and build a family tree based on known DNA from relatives. Earlier this year, an FBI agent from the Honolulu Field Office contacted police investigators with the names of some people who could potentially match the DNA sample — including Lauro Jr., according to Hawaii PD.

Lauro Jr. lived in the Kapoho area at the time of the murder, so police surveilled him, eventually collecting a utensil that he had been using and then threw away. The DNA collected from the utensil matched the DNA evidence connected to the crime, police said.

The evidence established probable cause for the crime of rape. The statute of limitations for the crime had run out, but investigators were able to continue to investigate the case as a murder — though they did not have enough evidence to establish probable cause and arrest Lauro Jr., according to Hawaii PD.

Investigators obtained a court order for a cheek swab from the suspect, then asked him to come to the station and talk to investigators — but he was not taken into custody at the time. After the swab was taken he asked to leave and was allowed to do so. The swab then matched the DNA taken from the scene of the crime 33 years ago after it was analyzed at the California lab, according to Hawaii PD.

“The Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution protects individuals from unwarranted search and seizure,” Hawaii Police Department Chief Benjamin Moszkowicz said in a statement. “In order to obtain a search warrant, investigators would have to have established probable cause for the crime of murder and explained specifically what evidence it was seeking.”

“We remain focused on Dana Ireland, a young woman who was brutally murdered. There is still a lot about this case that we do not know and our investigation into this case continues to push forward. Our search for the truth is not over,” Moszkowicz said.

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Delta reportedly seeking potential damages from CrowdStrike, Microsoft after global IT outages

Delta reportedly seeking potential damages from CrowdStrike, Microsoft after global IT outages
Delta reportedly seeking potential damages from CrowdStrike, Microsoft after global IT outages
Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

(NEW YORK) — Delta Air Lines has reportedly hired a prominent law firm to help the Atlanta-based carrier pursue potential damages from CrowdStrike and Microsoft following the global tech outages that caused a slew of internal computer issues and prompted thousands of canceled flights earlier this month.

CNBC first reported that Delta had hired Boies Schiller Flexner LLP, the law firm whose chairman David Boies previously represented the U.S. government in the landmark antitrust case against Microsoft.

Although a lawsuit has not yet been filed, CNBC reported that Delta plans to seek potential compensation from both companies.

When asked for further comment on the matter and the report that Delta had hired Boies, a spokesperson for the airline told ABC News that the company had “no information to add.”

Following the tech chaos on July 19, which affected CrowdStrike customers who use Microsoft Windows products, Delta’s systems were disrupted for more than six days, causing widespread flight delays and cancellations, service failures and an influx of frustrated, stranded passengers, which prompted an investigation by the U.S. Department of Transportation.

Crowdstrike said it deployed a fix for the faulty update on July 19, hours after the initial outage.

The IT outage resulted from a faulty software update initiated by CrowdStrike on July 19. Mark Lanterman, chief technology officer at the cybersecurity firm Computer Forensic Services, told ABC News previously that the faulty update subsequently caused a meltdown within Windows operating systems.

“The CrowdStrike update is deep inside the operating system,” Lanterman said. “When that was installed, there was bad code inside of this update. And when Windows came across the bad code, it panicked and it crashed.”

According to a statement from Delta earlier this week, “Upward of half of Delta’s IT systems worldwide are Windows-based.”

On Thursday, Delta announced that “operational reliability [had] returned to normal” across mainline and Delta Connection flights.

“Delta is committed to caring for our customers during this time and has taken a number of other steps to make things right for customers affected by delays and cancellations,” the company said in an announcement.

Those steps included reimbursing out-of-pocket expenses, extended delay refunds, issuing SkyMiles Program miles and travel vouchers, notifying customers of rebooking options, and extending a travel waiver for all customers with travel booked from July 19-28.

According to CNBC, the outages reportedly cost Delta between an estimated $350 million and $500 million.

CrowdStrike and Microsoft did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment.

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Ex-deputy charged in Sonya Massey killing drew ire from previous boss, audio files show

Ex-deputy charged in Sonya Massey killing drew ire from previous boss, audio files show
Ex-deputy charged in Sonya Massey killing drew ire from previous boss, audio files show
Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office

(SPRINGFIELD, Ill.) — An Illinois chief deputy’s concerns regarding Sean Grayson, the former sheriff’s deputy charged with murder in the fatal shooting of Sonya Massey, an unarmed mother of two, are documented in an audio file released Monday.

The recorded 2022 conversation is with Grayson’s then-boss, Logan County Chief Deputy Nathan Miller, who addresses Grayson’s mishandling of a traffic case.

“Seven months on, how are you still employed by us?” Miller said. Grayson responds, “I don’t know.”

The exchange centers around Grayson, who would eventually leave Logan County and join the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office in 2023, being accused of violating department policy and submitting inaccurate reports.

Miller said he and Grayson have “had this conversation before” and called Grayson’s behavior “extremely concerning.”

“Just me asking you those questions, you got a report writing violation for policy. You got an accuracy violation for policy. You got a standard of conduct violation for policy and we’re 48 seconds into this,” Miller said.

Grayson did not receive any policy violations, as Miller put a hold on the report to discuss the inaccuracies with him before officially submitting the document.

Grayson’s integrity was also questioned.

“I’m calling you on your integrity. How does that make you feel?” Miller asked. Grayson replied that he was learning from it.

“If we can’t trust what you say and what you see, we can’t have you in our uniform,” Miller said.

Miller goes on to remind Grayson that “a lot of officers have been charged and end up in jail,” and reminding him that “official misconduct will land you in jail.”

Grayson’s application to Logan County, where he worked from May 2022 to April 2023, included a letter he wrote explaining and apologizing for his two DUIs, as they were flagged in the hiring process.

Grayson, 30, was charged with two DUI offenses in Macoupin County, Illinois, in August 2015 and July 2016, according to court documents. He pleaded guilty to both charges and paid over $1,320 in fines and had his vehicle impounded as a result of the 2015 incident. In 2016, Grayson paid over $2,400 in fines, according to court records.

Documents obtained by ABC News from Logan state that Grayson resigned in April 2023. He began his full-time job as a sheriff’s deputy at Sangamon County three days after leaving Logan.

Grayson is now behind bars, denied bond, charged with three counts of first-degree murder, aggravated battery with a firearm and official misconduct in Massey’s death. He has pleaded not guilty.

“I’m going to say something right now I’ve never said in my career before: we failed,” Sangamon County Sheriff Jack Campbell said at a community event in Illinois Monday evening, “We did not do our jobs. We failed Sonya. We failed Sonya’s family and friends. We failed the community. I stand here today before you with arms wide open to ask for forgiveness.”

Grayson’s attorney has declined to comment.

The Illinois Fraternal Order of Police Labor on Tuesday said it was dropping its initial grievance seeking to have Grayson reinstated and would not be proceeding any further.

The audio file was released as Grayson’s employment history shows he held six different police jobs in the state of Illinois since 2020, according to the Illinois Law Enforcement Training and Standards Board.

According to employment records, Grayson was hired for his first known police job at the Pawnee Police Department in August 2020 and was fired from his most recent job as a sheriff’s deputy at the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Department after the July 6 deadly shooting of Massey.

Prior to his time in law enforcement, Grayson was discharged from the U.S. Army for “misconduct (serious offense),” according to documents obtained by ABC News.

Grayson was discharged on February 24, 2016, after beginning service in the U.S. Army on May 5, 2014. He served for a total of one year, nine months and 19 days, Grayson’s certificate of discharge from active duty shows.

The U.S. Army, citing the Privacy Act and Department of Defense policy, said it is prevented from releasing information relating to the misconduct of low-level employees or characterization of service at discharge.

Grayson was a 91B (Wheeled Vehicle Mechanic) in the Regular Army from May 2014 to February 2016. He had no deployments and left the Army in the rank of private first class, according to an Army spokesman.

Massey’s heartbroken family continues to mourn her death as they seek justice.

“Our whole family is in a disarray. The main focus of everybody is that this animal gets justice and gets exactly what he deserves,” James Wilburn, Massey’s father, told ABC News affiliate KATV.

ABC News’ Tesfaye Negussie contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Trump says Vance ‘loves family’ as he works to clean up his VP’s ‘childless cat ladies’ comments

Trump says Vance ‘loves family’ as he works to clean up his VP’s ‘childless cat ladies’ comments
Trump says Vance ‘loves family’ as he works to clean up his VP’s ‘childless cat ladies’ comments
Stephen Maturen/Getty Images

(WASHINGTON) — Former President Donald Trump is attempting to clean up his vice presidential pick’s resurfaced comments disparaging Democratic officials who don’t have children as “childless cat ladies” with a simple message: Sen. JD Vance “loves family.”

“He’s not against anything, but he loves family. It’s very important to him,” said Trump during an appearance on Fox News’ “Ingraham Angle” on Monday night.

“He feels family is good, and I don’t think there’s anything wrong in saying that,” Trump said.

In an unearthed 2021 Fox News interview, Vance suggested that Democratic failures are due to a lack of biological children, specifically pointing out vice president, and current presidential candidate, Kamala Harris; Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg; and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

His comments immediately sparked a backlash from the politicians he named, as well as women who have struggled with fertility — nothing that Vance himself voted against establishing federal protections for IVF.

Harris’ family, including second gentleman Doug Emhoff’s ex-wife and her stepdaughter, all came to her defense, rejecting the idea that family is only biological. Buttigieg told anchor Kaitlin Collins that Vance shouldn’t comment on other people’s children.

The former president attacked Democrats on Monday, accusing them of taking Vance’s words out of context.

“I think they understand it. No, I think they understand it,” said Trump when asked what his message would be to concerned voters, specifically those without children.

“The Democrats are good at spinning things differently from what they were. All he said is, he does like I mean, for him, he likes family. I think a lot of people like family, and sometimes it doesn’t work out.”

Trump then went a step further, saying Vance’s strong family values are actually an asset to the Trump campaign’s coalition of voters when asked to reassure voters that Vance was “an excellent pick.”

“Well, first of all, he has got tremendous support, and he really does among a certain group of people. People that like families,” Trump said.

The former president, attempting to walk a fine line between supporting his newly minted vice presidential pick while also trying not to alienate voters, went on to say that “in many cases” people without a family are better off than those with one.

“You don’t meet the right person, or you don’t meet any person, but you’re just as good, in many cases, a lot better than a person that’s in a family situation,” Trump said.

Vance has spent his time on the trail cleaning up his comments himself, calling them “sarcastic” while at the same time doubling down on his argument.

“Obviously, it was a sarcastic comment,” Vance said on the “Megyn Kelly Show” podcast last week. “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, Megyn, I’m sorry. It’s true. It is true that we become anti-family.”

Vance’s original comments form 2021 mentioned the “choices” those Democrats had made that led them to be “miserable” and “childless cat ladies.”

While Vance claims Democrats are “anti-family and anti-child,” President Joe Biden and Harris have advocated for the child tax credit. The expanded child tax credit put in place during COVID expired in 2021 after pressure from Republicans and independent Joe Manchin. Democrats continue to fight to bring it back — with Biden calling for it to be put back in place in his FY2025 budget.

Trump also had to defend his own comments, which sparked criticism. Over the weekend while speaking to Christian conservatives, Trump told the crowd they won’t have to vote anymore after four years.

The Harris campaign quickly latched on to those comments, accusing Trump of vowing to end democracy, which the former president swiftly rebuked.

“I said, typically Christians do not vote … Don’t worry about the future, vote on — you have to vote on Nov. 5. After that, you don’t have to worry about voting anymore. I don’t care because we’re going to fix it, and the country will be fixed,” Trump told Ingraham, arguing he hadn’t even heard of the criticism. “If you don’t want to vote anymore, that’s OK. And I think everybody understood it.”

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Joaquin Guzman Lopez, son of ‘El Chapo,’ pleads not guilty to federal drug trafficking charges

Joaquin Guzman Lopez, son of ‘El Chapo,’ pleads not guilty to federal drug trafficking charges
Joaquin Guzman Lopez, son of ‘El Chapo,’ pleads not guilty to federal drug trafficking charges
Jason Marz/Getty Images

(CHICAGO) — Joaquin Guzman Lopez, the son of infamous Mexican drug lord “El Chapo,” pleaded not guilty to drug trafficking charges during his first court appearance since his high-profile arrest last week.

Guzman Lopez, 38, appeared in federal court in Chicago on Tuesday in an orange jumpsuit before Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman for charges in an indictment brought by the U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Illinois.

He could face the death penalty if convicted, his lawyer, Jeffrey Lichtman, confirmed to reporters following the court appearance.

His next court date has been set for Sept. 30. Lichtman said there is “massive amounts of discovery” to go through over the next few weeks.

Guzman Lopez was one of two top leaders of the Mexican Sinaloa drug cartel taken into custody by U.S. authorities last week to face charges for their roles in leading the group’s vast drug trafficking enterprise, the Department of Justice said. The operation had been planned for several months, a Homeland Security Investigations official told ABC News.

Guzman Lopez and Sinaloa cartel co-founder Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada were placed under arrest in El Paso, Texas, on Thursday, according to Attorney General Merrick Garland.

The two are accused of overseeing the trafficking of tens of thousands of pounds of cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine and fentanyl into the U.S.

Zambada’s attorney, Frank Perez, claimed that Guzman Lopez “forcibly kidnapped” his client.

“My client neither surrendered nor negotiated any terms with the U.S. government. Joaquin Guzman Lopez forcibly kidnapped my client,” Perez said in a statement on Sunday. “He was ambushed, thrown to the ground, and handcuffed by six men in military uniforms and Joaquin. His legs were tied, and a black bag was placed over his head. He was then thrown into the back of a pickup truck and taken to a landing strip. There, he was forced onto a plane, his legs tied to the seat by Joaquin, and brought to the U.S. against his will. The only people on the plane were the pilot, Joaquin and my client.”

Lichtman told reporters there is no agreement between the defendant and the U.S. government.

“I know that there’s been a massive amount of rumors and things printed in the press,” Lichtman said. “I don’t know what’s real. I don’t know what’s not real. But it shouldn’t really surprise anybody that there’s a story that seems to be changing every few minutes.”

Zambada made his initial appearance Friday morning in El Paso federal court before Judge Anne Berton, according to court records. He pleaded not guilty to the 12 charges in his 2012 indictment in the Western District of Texas and was ordered detained pending his next hearing, scheduled for Wednesday, according to court records.

Zambada faces multiple federal indictments in jurisdictions across the U.S. for his alleged role in the cartel and has been on the run from U.S. and Mexican law enforcement for years. His fellow co-founder of the Sinaloa cartel, Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzman, was extradited to the U.S. in 2017, convicted in 2019 and sentenced to life in prison.

Guzman Lopez’s brother, Ovidio Guzman Lopez, was charged last year with two dozen others as part of a crackdown targeting a global drug trafficking network run through the Sinaloa cartel. According to the charges, the cartel used precursor chemicals shipped from China to fuel the fentanyl crisis plaguing the U.S.

Lichtman currently represents Ovidio Guzman Lopez as well. The court discussed the conflict Tuesday, with Lichtman saying that both brothers are fine with him representing them. The government said they are OK with it as well.

Lichtman has also represented El Chapo and his wife, Emma Coronel Aispuro, in federal cases.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Kamala Harris donors say early support made them ready to seize this moment

Kamala Harris donors say early support made them ready to seize this moment
Kamala Harris donors say early support made them ready to seize this moment
Montinique Monroe/Getty Images

(WASHINGTON) — America has no shortage of big donors or political fundraisers, but five years ago, a relatively small group of people looked at the crowded Democratic field in U.S. presidential election and came to the same conclusion – they would use their money and influence to support a young senator with little national recognition at the time: Kamala Harris.

Some are familiar names to those who follow campaign finance, media titans with known eyes for plucking promising talent out of large pools: superstar Hollywood talent agent Bryan Lourd, Emmy-winning “Glee” producer Ryan Murphy, filmmaker J.J. Abrams, Jeff Shell – now the president of Paramount Global – and LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman.

But like most campaigns, other early supporters were less well known or moneyed but just as vital: grassroots activists who energized neighbors and posted on social media to drive donations for the woman they wanted to see one day shatter the highest and hardest glass ceiling in America.

“She was not focused on how much money did somebody raise. She was focused on ‘we’re building a community, a network, and a family that believes in my message and wants to help get it to the rest of the country,’ Harris’ 2019 National Finance Chair Jon Henes told ABC News, noting that they raised over 40 million dollars during her primary campaign.

He added, “If you just leave it up to people who can write a big check, you’re not going to be able to build a real movement.”

ABC News spoke to over 25 people from Harris’ 2019 national finance committee, a group in charge of raising money and galvanizing communities to support their candidate. Some of them were known to Harris as a part of her “Ride or Die” crew.

“The finance committee was so diverse – racially, geographically, professionally. It laid the groundwork for this moment,” Henes said. “So what we’re seeing now with these Zoom calls to raise money and the rallies shows the excitement and diversity coming to play.”

The presidential campaign they invested in then fizzled out two months before the 2020 Iowa caucus. Now, however, it has come roaring back – no surprise to many supporters who had watched Harris’ ascent long before the world knew her name.

The prescient early supporters

Neil Makhija, commissioner of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, first met Harris in 2010 when she was running for California attorney general. “I walked up to her and said I had not been that inspired since I heard Barack Obama,” he told ABC News, adding that he further told Harris she would be president one day.

Multiple “bundlers,” as they’re called – people who collect donations from multiple contributors for a candidate and deliver them as a single, large donation – said they saw the same quality in Harris.

Kimberly Marteau Emerson, the regional co-chair of the Southern California Harris Victory Fund PAC, said she also first met Harris in 2010 when she was running for California attorney general. Nearly a decade later, shortly before Harris launched her presidential campaign in 2019, Emerson watched her at an event publicizing her book.

“She communicates like Barack Obama. She is that good. She is a great storyteller,” Emerson says she told her husband, John B. Emerson, also a Harris PAC regional co-chair as well as a Democratic National Convention (DNC) delegate. “She spoke in a way that helped us relate to her and each other. There was a common humanity.”

Emerson said she and her husband knew many candidates who were running in 2020. But the day Harris announced, Emerson texted her: “I’m in.”

Many of Harris’ supporters point to her ability to connect with people. “I thought she had a great people’s touch. And an interest in people in all walks of life,” Wells Fargo Vice Chairman of Investment Banking Frederick Terrell told ABC News. “She was intellectually curious, our conversations were engaging … She will make a fabulous president.”

Yet some people stressed that winning wasn’t the only factor in their decision to invest in Harris.

“I’m a values-based supporter. I’m not a frontrunner supporter,” said Jill Louis, who was one of Harris’ 38 line sisters at the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated, Alpha Chapter at Howard University. “We came up in a time when we believed this country stood for freedom and equality … that’s what we’re so steeped in.”

Jubilation over the new likely Democratic nominee

Many donors with whom ABC News spoke for this story said they have been playing the long game in supporting her. And now, with fewer than 100 days remaining before Election Day, many said they’ve never before experienced this level of excitement in politics.

Just an hour after Biden announced on July 21 that he was no longer seeking reelection, top donor and bundler Alex Heckler was in the audience of the Broadway musical “Suffs,” based on the women’s suffrage movement a century ago and co-produced by Hillary Clinton. As the curtain opened and before the lead actress delivered her first line, Heckler recalls, something unexpected happened.

“Before she can say a word, there was an outrageous applause. People started chanting ‘Kamala’ for a minute,” Heckler told ABC News. “I had chills. People in the crowd were crying.”

Wanda James, a DNC delegate from Colorado, said realizing that Harris would likely be the Democratic presidential nominee took her back to former President Obama’s first campaign.

“I feel all 2008 … You could hear the Beatles singing ‘Here Comes the Sun,’ James said. “My phone was ringing and buzzing so much, my phone was hot.”

Others told ABC News that while they were initially relieved and excited by the news that Biden had stepped down and endorsed Harris for the Oval Office, they are also facing a blunt reality.

“Donors recognize it’s more difficult electing a Black woman – [a] double whammy in this world of misogyny and sexism,” said Susie Tompkins Buell, a longtime Democratic donor and activist who’s also a close friend of Hillary Clinton’s, for whom she also was a campaign bundler. Yet Buell also feels Harris is the clear pick to support.

“It’s so obvious. She has the aura. She’s tenacious. She has it all,” Buell declared, but added that supporters “need to understand the reality of this process … This is uncharted territory for all of us.”

Harris’ VP pick

Should Harris secure the Democratic presidential nomination, one of her first tasks will be to select a vice presidential running mate, a process that has already begun.

Areva Martin, a California at-large Democratic delegate who has known Harris since they were both college freshmen, says she’s comforted by the fact that that Harris is supported by strong Democratic leaders.

“I like that she picked Eric Holder to do the vetting,” Martin said, referring to Barack Obama’s former attorney general. “I think he’s brilliant. Bringing Holder in is bringing the Obama coalition.”

ABC News has confirmed the two frontrunners for Harris’ VP pick remain Arizona Senator Mark Kelly and Pennsylvania Governor Mark Shapiro. Nearly every donor with whom ABC News spoke said they supported both.

Yet a few donors had different ideas. Takeila Hannah, who held the first large fundraiser for Harris in North Carolina during her 2019 campaign, said prior to state Gov. Roy Cooper announcing on July 29 that he was withdrawing from consideration for the position that she would also strongly support him for the job.

“What they have in common is they’ve both been [attorneys general] of states. That’s a language they can speak … they both come from the law,” said Hannah.

Dr. Manan Trivedi, a Democratic donor and former candidate for Pennsylvania’s 6th congressional district, echoed several others with whom ABC News spoke in saying he hoped Harris would make a more unconventional pick to continue shaking up the race. His choice is Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

“I know it’s not going to happen. But as a dad of two daughters and a successful wife, I think we’re overdue,” Trivedi said. “And I think Gretchen Whitmer is a dominant force and we need Michigan; it’s not just because she’s female. She has a great record and it brings the race into stark contrast.”

Looking ahead

Since President Biden withdrew from the presidential race just over one week ago, the Harris campaign said it has so far raised over $200 million, including the record-shattering $81 million in donations it received in the 24 hours immediately following Biden’s announcement. That enthusiasm, some donors believe, demonstrates high-level support for the candidate.

Asif Mahmood was deputy national finance chair for Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign, as well as the financial point person for Asian outreach for Harris’ 2019 campaign. He notes that there are “stark differences” between 2016 and now that work in Harris’ favor, one of which is the major boost Harris has received due to the presidential race focusing on Biden’s age and other perceived weaknesses for as long as it did.

“In 25 years, I haven’t seen the energy Kamala is enjoying right now,” Asif told ABC News. “This is more than Obama energy.”

Even so, Asif said, the campaign cannot afford to be complacent, particularly regarding the swing states that Clinton lost to Trump in 2016. He expects campaign workers to visit those states to bolster efforts there.

Fundraiser Tina Duryea, who’s also a Connecticut delegate to the Democratic National Convention, said it’s not just the big checks that are significant in this moment. Duryea says she raised a respectable amount of money for Harris from grassroots supporters in the 24 hours after Biden’s withdrawal.

“I did TikToks, Facebook posts, Threads, Instagram, and raised 30 thousand from small-donor donations,” Duryea told ABC News.

Michael Kempner, founder and CEO of the global PR film MikeWorldWide, who’s accustomed to collecting high-dollar donations for Democratic candidates, said the Harris candidacy is generating renewed interest from potential supporters.

“I’ve received close to a 100 texts, emails and calls from people who want to be more involved who previously were not enthusiastic,” Kempner said. “The level of excitement feels Obama-esque. There’s a level of enthusiasm [that] in my 40 years I have never experienced.”

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Two men fatally shoot each other in California road rage incident

Two men fatally shoot each other in California road rage incident
Two men fatally shoot each other in California road rage incident
Oliver Helbig/Getty Images

(LOS ANGELES) — Two men are dead after they fatally shot one another in an apparent road rage incident in Southern California, according to the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department.

One of the men had his two children in the car — ages 2 and 5 — at the time of the double shooting.

“It could’ve been so incredibly simple, but unfortunately we have two people who lost their lives instead,” Mara Rodriguez, spokesperson for the sheriff’s department, told Los Angeles ABC station KABC.

Jonathan McConnell, 38, who was driving a motorcycle, was involved in a hit-and-run traffic collision on the 210 Freeway with Aaron Harris, 37, who was driving a sedan, according to the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department.

McConnell split lanes and collided with the sedan occupied by Harris and his two children, the sheriff’s department said.

Harris then followed McConnell off the freeway and into a parking lot. McConnell met several people known to him in the parking lot, according to the sheriff’s department.

Harris then stopped his vehicle and shouted threats at McConnell. When McConnell approached the vehicle, Harris fired a gun at him, authorities said.

McConnell then returned fire. Both men died after they were shot, the sheriff’s department said.

An unnamed adult male at the scene also received a non-fatal gunshot wound to his hand during the incident, the sheriff’s department said.

The children were unharmed in the exchange of gunfire, officials sad.

“We all get angry on the roads sometimes, especially these days there’s so much traffic out there and so many things going on,” Rodriguez told KABC. “But this is a great example of how things can go so wrong so quickly.”

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Patients sue hospital system after thousands possibly exposed to HIV, hepatitis

Patients sue hospital system after thousands possibly exposed to HIV, hepatitis
Patients sue hospital system after thousands possibly exposed to HIV, hepatitis
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(PORTLAND, Ore.) — A lawsuit is accusing an Oregon health care system of negligence after more than 2,000 patients were possibly exposed to HIV and hepatitis.

The plaintiffs — known as E.P, K.R., C.R. and D.C. — all of whom live in Clackamas County, Oregon, said they all received anesthesia for surgeries at various medical centers under Providence Health between March 2022 and February 2024, according to the complaint.

All the patients were later informed that the physician who administered anesthesia “failed to adhere to infection control procedures” and, as a result, all had potentially been exposed to hepatitis B, hepatitis C and HIV, the complaint says.

It is unclear which protocols were violated. Providence Health declined ABC News’ request for comment, citing “pending litigation.”

Hospital and health officials announced earlier this month that as many as 2,200 patients were possibly exposed to the infections. Providence said in a statement on July 11 that patients were at low risk of exposure and that those who were exposed would either receive a letter in the mail or a notification on the MyChart portal used by Providence.

“Out of an abundance of caution, we are encouraging these patients to get a blood test to screen for the aforementioned infections, at no cost,” Providence said in a statement. “If a patient tests positive, Providence will reach out to discuss their test results and next steps. ”

At the time, Oregon Health Authority said in a statement there were no investigations underway but “acknowledge[d] the worry, pain and loss suffered by anyone affected by a health care-associated infection (HAI).”

According to the complaint, the anesthesiologist was employed by Oregon Anesthesiology Group (OAG) but treated patients at various Providence medical centers between 2017 and 2023.

OAG stopped providing services to Providence in November 2023. In June 2024, OAG learned that one of its anesthesiologists had violated infection control practices. The physician was suspended and, following an investigation, terminated, the lawsuit states.

The group did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment.

“The safety of our patients is our top priority. When we learned that the physician had violated infection control practices, we suspended him, informed our partners Legacy Health and Providence, and then began an investigation that resulted in the physician’s termination,” OAG said in a statement earlier this month, according to USA Today. “Even though the risk of infection was low, new protocols and procedures have been put in place to prevent similar incidents in the future.”

The lawsuit states that the patients now have to undergo medical treatment for exposure “which would not have been necessary in the absence of [the d]efendants’ violations alleged herein, and have to live with severe emotional and mental anguish due to [the defendants’] negligence.”

Additionally, the complaint states that hepatitis and HIV are often not detectable for months after initial infections, so the patient “will live with the anxiety, stress, and emotional distress that they may be infected with hepatitis B, hepatitis C and/or HIV.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states that HIV and Hepatitis C may be detected as early as weeks after exposure.

The plaintiffs are suing for negligence and/or gross negligence on the part of Providence and OAG and have asked for a jury trial. They are seeking class action certification and also asking for an unspecified amount in damages, injunctive relief, declaratory judgments, costs and attorneys’ fees, according to the complaint.

“Over 2,000 patients have now learned they were at risk of having contracted an infectious disease because of the defendants’ alleged failure to implement proper protocols to prevent this possible exposure,” Adam Polk of Girard Sharp, one of the attorneys representing the plaintiffs, said in a statement to ABC News.

“Since shortly after these notifications were sent out, we have been speaking with patients on a daily basis who were impacted by the potential exposure, they are obviously distressed and concerned about their health and the health of their loved ones,” attorney Joe Sauder of Sauder Schelkopf, who is also representing the plaintiffs, told ABC News in a statement.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Election 2024 updates: Harris says she still hasn’t picked VP

Election 2024 updates: Harris says she still hasn’t picked VP
Election 2024 updates: Harris says she still hasn’t picked VP
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(WASHINGTON) — Vice President Kamala Harris is moving full steam ahead in her bid for the White House, with her campaign saying Sunday it has raised more than $200 million in less than a week.

Former President Donald Trump and his running mate, Sen. JD Vance, have several campaign events set up this week as they aim their attacks on Harris.

Harris has secured commitments from enough delegates to become the presumptive nominee if they all honor their commitment when voting, according to ABC News reporting.

Here’s how the news is developing:

Top Biden adviser Anita Dunn leaving White House to help pro-Harris super PAC

Anita Dunn, a top adviser to President Joe Biden, is leaving the White House next week to advise the largest super PAC supporting Vice President Kamala Harris, a source close to Dunn told ABC News.

This marks the first major shakeup to Biden’s inner circle since he announced he was dropping out of the presidential race. Dunn played a key role in Biden’s 2020 campaign and was previously a top adviser to President Barack Obama’s 2008 and 2012 campaigns.

“It’s been an honor and privilege to serve in this White House, with this President and this team, during this transformational term,” Dunn said in a statement shared with ABC News. “I am grateful to President Biden and Vice President Harris for their leadership and giving me the opportunity to be part of what they have accomplished for the American people.”

Dunn will be a senior adviser to the super PAC Future Forward and an adviser to its partner organization Future Forward USA. She will work on super PAC efforts that will coordinate with the Harris campaign, according to the source close to Dunn.

Biden said in a statement that he was grateful for Dunn’s work.

“I deeply value her counsel and friendship and I will continue to rely on her partnership and insights as we finish the job over the next six months,” he said.

-ABC News’ Selina Wang

Schumer says he’s not worried about Senate majority if Harris picks senator for VP

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer brushed off concerns Tuesday about keeping the Senate majority if Kamala Harris were to select a Democratic senator as her vice presidential pick.

“I have total confidence that Vice President Harris will choose a great vice-presidential candidate,” Schumer said during his weekly press conference.

Schumer dodged a question about the possibility of a key swing state opening if Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly is chosen as Harris’ running mate.

-ABC News’ Lauren Peller

Harris says she still hasn’t picked VP

Harris told reporters she still hasn’t decided who her running mate will be as she boarded a plane Tuesday for a trip to Atlanta.

“Madam vice president, have you chosen your VP yet? Have you chosen yet?” ABC News’ Fritz Farrow asked.

“Not yet,” Harris said with a smile as she stopped midway up the steps of Air Force Two.

-ABC News’ Justin Gomez

Biden says he’s talking with Harris about VP choices

President Joe Biden told reporters Monday night after returning from a trip to Texas that he’s “talking” with Harris about her choices for vice president.

Biden was also asked about hitting the trail for Harris, and said he “did” with his trip.

-ABC News’ Molly Nagle

Vance, in 2020, said those without kids are ‘more sociopathic’

As Vance continues to face criticism for his 2021 comments about “childless cat ladies,” more of his previous comments about individuals without kids have resurfaced.

In a podcast from November 2020, Vance said those without kids — especially in America’s leadership class — were “more sociopathic” than those with kids and made the country “less mentally stable.”

Vance’s comments occurred on the podcast after he discussed the impact having children had on him.

Vance also added that the “most deranged” and “most psychotic” people on Twitter, now known as X, are people who don’t have kids.

“There’s just these basic cadences of life that I think are really powerful and really, really valuable when you have kids in your life, and the fact that so many people, especially in America’s leadership class, just don’t have that in their lives, you know, I worry that it makes people more sociopathic, and ultimately, our whole country a little bit less less mentally stable,” Vance said in the podcast.

“And of course, you talk about going on Twitter. Final point I’ll make is you go on Twitter, and almost always the people who are most deranged and most psychotic, are people who don’t have kids at home.”

CNN was the first to report on the podcast.

-ABC News’ Hannah Demissie

Trump out with $12M ad buy criticizing Harris on the border

Trump’s campaign is targeting Harris in its biggest television ad buy since at least January, reserving eight-figure dollar worth of airtime in six key battleground states, according to ad tracking firm AdImpact.

The 30-second ad zeroes in on the rhetoric that Harris “failed” in her role handling immigration issues in President Biden’s administration, calling her “weak” and “dangerously liberal.”

“This is America’s border czar, and she’s failed us. Under Harris, over ten million illegally here, a quarter of a million Americans dead from fentanyl, brutal migrant crimes, and ISIS now here,” a narrator in the ad says, followed by an interview clip of Harris appearing to admit she hasn’t visited the border.

Harris was assigned to address the root causes of migration in Central and South America. She made one visit to the southern border operations in June 2021.

The Harris campaign hit back that Trump was responsible for “killing the toughest border deal in decades” and accused him of misrepresenting her record.

“As a former district attorney, attorney general, and now vice president, Kamala Harris has spent her career taking on and prosecuting violent criminals and making our communities safer. She’ll do the same as president,” said Harris campaign spokesperson Ammar Moussa.

-ABC News’ Soorin Kim and Gabriella Abdul-Hakim

Trump attempts to clean up Vance’s ‘childless cat ladies’ comments

Appearing on Fox News The Ingraham Angle on Monday night, Trump attempted to clean up his vice presidential pick’s previous comments about “childless cat ladies,” but didn’t really address the comments.

Instead, he rambled about how Vance is pro-family.

“He made a statement having to do with families. That doesn’t mean that people that aren’t a member of a big and beautiful family with 400 children around and everything else, it doesn’t mean that a person doesn’t have, he’s not against anything, but he loves family. It’s very important to him. He grew up in a very interesting family situation, and he feels family is good, and I don’t think there’s anything wrong in saying that,” Trump said downplaying Vance’s comments.

Gloria Steinem, Chelsea Clinton and more participate in ‘Women for Harris’ call

The Democratic National Committee held a “Women for Harris” call on Monday night.

Over the course of two-and-a-half hours, viewers heard from Chelsea Clinton, California Sen. Laphonza Butler, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Gloria Steinem, Ana Navarro and leaders of organizations like Emily’s List and Mom’s Demand Action.

Clinton lamented her mother’s loss in 2016 but told viewers that defeating the former president is even more important than it was in 2016 because Americans now have a “record” of things to hold him accountable for.

“My mom put a few more cracks in that glass ceiling. And Vice President Harris is going to obliterate that glass ceiling,” Clinton said.

The call included a host of organizations who support Harris, including Black women who held the first iteration of these pop up fundraising calls with the group Win with Black Women. Glynda Carr, founder of Higher Heights PAC, which supports Black women leadership, told attendees what made this call uniquely important was the realization that women from all walks of life are “stronger together.”

Another “Women for Harris” call is planned for Tuesday night.

Harris launches $50 million ad campaign

Vice President Kamala Harris rolled out an aggressive $50 million, three-week advertising blitz for the first ad of her presidential campaign on Tuesday, in which she introduces herself to voters, highlights her career and takes hits at former President Donald Trump.

“The one thing Kamala Harris has always been: fearless,” a narrator says at the start of the minute-long ad, as pictures of Harris over the years — from a toddler to college graduate to vice president — flash on screen.

“As a prosecutor, she put murderers and abusers behind bars,” the narrator continued. “As California’s attorney general, she went after the big banks and won $20 billion for homeowners. And as vice president, she took on the big drug companies to cap the cost of insulin for seniors. Because Kamala Harris has always known who she represents.”

The spot then leads into laying out Harris’ vision and attacking Trump, using footage from her first rally of the campaign last week in a high school gym just outside Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

“We believe in a future where every person has the opportunity not just to get by, but to get ahead. Where every senior can retire with dignity,” Harris said in the footage from the rally. “But Donald Trump wants to take our country backward, to give tax breaks to billionaires and big corporations and end the Affordable Care Act.”

“But we are not going back,” she added.

Harris campaign chair, Jen O’Malley Dillon, said in a statement that because of Harris’ prosecutorial, congressional and vice-presidential experience, the vice president is “uniquely suited to take on Donald Trump, a convicted felon who has spent his entire life ripping off working people, tearing away our rights, and fighting for himself.”

‘White Dudes for Harris’ raises over $4 million in 3 hours

The “White Dudes for Harris” livestream held on Monday night raised over $4 million over three hours in support of Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential bid, organizers said.

The event featured participants from politics and a parade of celebrities — including “The Dude” himself, The Big Lebowski’s Jeff Bridges — all making their own call to action for other white men to step up in their support for Harris.

Over 190,000 people tuned into the Zoom call, organizers of the unofficial event said at the conclusion of the stream.

Among the recognizable faces that cropped up during the livestream were Star Wars icon Mark Hamill, Supernatural alum Misha Collins, The West Wing alum Bradley Whitford, Frozen’s Josh Gad and singer Josh Groban. Several potential running mates for Harris also joined the event, including North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, who withdrew from contention for vice president on the Democratic ticket around the time he spoke at the meeting. He did not mention his withdrawal on the call.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and Michigan Sen. Gary Peters, all still in the running for Harris’ vice-presidential pick, were also part of the “White Dudes for Harris” meeting.

JD Vance said Democratic ticket switch to Harris was ‘sucker punch’: Report

Sen. JD Vance, running mate to former President Donald Trump, said over the weekend that Kamala Harris moving to the top of the Democratic ticket was a “sucker punch,” according to the Washington Post.

“All of us were hit with a little bit of a political sucker punch,” Vance said to donors over the weekend in Minnesota, per an audio recording the paper said it had obtained. “The bad news is that Kamala Harris does not have the same baggage as Joe Biden, because whatever we might have to say, Kamala is a lot younger. And Kamala Harris is obviously not struggling in the same ways that Joe Biden did.”

When asked about the report and Vance’s “sucker punch” comment, a spokesperson for the vice presidential contender took aim at Harris.

“Poll after poll shows President Trump leading Kamala Harris as voters become aware of her weak, failed and dangerously liberal agenda. Her far-left ideas are even more radioactive than Joe Biden, particularly in the key swing states that will decide this election like Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin,” Vance spokesperson William Martin said in a statement.

North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper will not be Kamala Harris’ VP pick

North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper issued a statement on Monday night signaling that he’s removed himself from contention as a vice presidential running mate for presidential candidate Kamala Harris.

“I strongly support Vice President Harris’ campaign for President. I know she’s going to win and I was honored to be considered for this role. This just wasn’t the right time for North Carolina and for me to potentially be on a national ticket,” he said in a post on X.

“As l’ve said from the beginning, she has an outstanding list of people from which to choose, and we’ll all work to make sure she wins,” he added.

Trump says he’ll ‘probably end up debating’ Harris

Former President Donald Trump seems to be one step closer to formally agreeing to debate his opponent for the presidency, Vice President Kamala Harris.

During an interview on The Ingraham Angle Monday night, Trump told the Fox News host that he will “probably end up debating” Harris. In his remarks, though, he also appeared to downplay the necessity of debates.

“I want to do a debate, but I also can say this. Everybody knows who I am. And now people know who she is,” he said.

“If you’re going to have a debate, you gotta do it, I think, before the votes are cast. I think it’s very important that you do that. So, the answer is yes, but I can also make a case for not doing it,” Trump said.

A short while later, a spokesperson for Harris’ campaign issued a statement on Trump’s comments on Fox, insisting that the vice president will be at the next debate no matter what.

“Why won’t Donald Trump give a straight answer on debating Vice President Harris? It’s clear from tonight’s question-dodging: he’s scared he’ll have to defend his running mate’s weird attacks on women, or his own calls to end elections in America in a debate against the vice president. Vice President Harris will be on the debate stage September 10th. Donald Trump can show up, or not,” the statement said. 

Megan Thee Stallion to perform at VP Kamala Harris’ campaign rally in Atlanta: Source

Rapper Megan thee Stallion will give a special performance at Vice President Kamala Harris’ rally in Atlanta, Georgia, on Tuesday, a source familiar confirmed to ABC News.

In addition to Megan thee Stallion, Georgia Sens. Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock and former Rep. Stacey Abrams will be in attendance, supporting Harris’ 2024 presidential bid.

The news was first reported by Billboard.

Marianne Williamson suspends her Democratic presidential bid, again

Democratic long-shot nominee Marianne Williamson has suspended her campaign for president, announcing on X Monday that it is “time to let go” of her bid for the White House.

Williamson said she failed to register for the Democratic National Convention’s candidate directory by Saturday evening’s deadline.

Harris will be at ABC News debate with or without Trump, her campaign says

Vice President Kamala Harris will be at ABC News’ Sept. 10 debate with or without former President Donald Trump, her campaign communications director said Monday.

“As Vice President Harris said last week, the American people deserve to hear from the two candidates running for the highest office in the land and she will do that at September’s ABC debate,” her campaign communications director, Michael Tyler, said in a statement first reported by the Hill. “If Donald Trump and his team are saying anything other than ‘we’ll see you there’ — and it appears that they are — it’s a convenient, but expected backtrack from Team Trump. Vice President Harris will be there on September 10th — we’ll see if Trump shows.”

While Harris has previously affirmed her intention to be at the debate, this statement takes it a step further by saying she’ll show up regardless of Trump’s presence.

Trump accepted the debate when Biden was still the presumptive Democratic nominee, though his campaign has since said they’re waiting until there is an official Democratic nominee before agreeing to debates.

Election content on social media ‘could be propaganda’ for foreign adversaries: ODNI

Content about the election on social media “could be propaganda” for foreign adversaries, officials with the Office of the Director of National Intelligence warned on Monday.

“The American public should know that content that they read online, especially on social media, could be foreign propaganda, even if it appears to be coming from fellow Americans or originating in the United States,” an ODNI official said on a conference call with reporters on Monday. “In short, foreign influence actors are getting better at hiding their hand and using Americans to do it.”

Russia is still pervasive in this space and remains the biggest threat to the election, according to the officials.

The officials also warned that the influence operators will use the assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump “as part of their narratives portraying the event to fit their broad goals.”

-ABC News’ Luke Barr

DNC says it raked in $6.5M in grassroots donations in 24 hours after Biden endorsed Harris

The Democratic National Committee is claiming it has raised $6.5 million in grassroots donations in the 24 hours after President Biden’s endorsement of Vice President Harris on July 21.

The DNC said $1 million was donated in the 5 p.m. hour alone for what they’re claiming is a record for its best online fundraising day of all time.

The DNC is making a significant push in battleground states, investing an additional $15 million into those crucial states this month to fund new field offices, build data infrastructure, mobilize volunteers and strengthen coordinated campaigns.

“Democratic voters, volunteers, and grassroots donors are fired up,” chairman Jaime Harrison said in a memo. “We are confident that in our battleground states, Democrats will win up and down the ballot in November.”

-ABC News’ Gabriella Abdul-Hakim

5:28 PM EDT
Gov. Andy Beshear rallies for Harris in Atlanta, calls out JD Vance

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear spoke on Sunday at the opening of Kamala Harris’ campaign office in Forsyth County, Georgia.

The possible VP pick for Harris has been an effective surrogate for the vice president’s White House bid over the weekend, coming to the metro Atlanta event fresh off of a stump in Iowa on Saturday night.

The red-state governor introduced himself to the Southern audience on Sunday while boosting Harris’ candidacy and taking a number of swipes at Trump’s Vice Presidential pick, JD Vance.

“Are you ready to beat Donald Trump? Are you ready to beat JD Vance? Are you ready to elect Kamala Harris president of the United States of America?” Beshear asked the crowd, adding, “Let’s win this race,”

“Let me tell you just a bit about myself,” Beshear said. “I’m a proud pro-union governor. I’m a proud pro-choice governor. I am a proud pro-public education governor. I am a proud pro-diversity governor and I’m a proud Harris for president governor,” he added.

Calling out Vance, Beshear said, “Just let me be clear. JD Vance ain’t from Kentucky. He ain’t from Appalachia. And he ain’t gonna be the vice president of the United States.”

-ABC News’ Isabella Murray

2:18 PM EDT
Former Vice President Al Gore endorses Kamala Harris

Former Vice President Al Gore endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris on Sunday.

“As a prosecutor, [Kamala Harris] took on Big Oil companies — and won. As [VP], she cast the tie-breaking vote to pass the most significant investment in climate solutions in history, the Inflation Reduction Act. That’s the kind of climate champion we need in the White House,” he wrote on X.

“With so much at stake in this year’s election — from strengthening democracy in the US and abroad, to expanding opportunity for the American people, to accelerating climate action — I’m proud to endorse Kamala Harris for President,” he added.

-ABC News’ Oren Oppenheim

July 28, 2024, 10:42 AM EDT
Vance says Trump ‘doesn’t care’ about his past criticism

During a quick stop at a diner in Minnesota on Sunday morning, Sen. JD Vance on Sunday spoke about his past criticisms of former President Donald Trump.

When asked by ABC News if he and Trump have talked about his past criticism of the former president, Vance said yes, adding that Trump “doesn’t care about what I said eight years ago.”

“I mean, look, President Trump and I have talked a lot about this,” Vance said. “In fact, I sometimes joke that I wish that he had the memory of Joe Biden, because he’s got a memory like a steel trap, and he certainly remembers criticisms that people have made.”

“But this is where the media, I think, really misses Trump — Donald Trump accepts that people can change their mind, and you ask, ‘Why did I change my mind on Donald Trump?’ Because his agenda made people’s lives better,” Vance said.

“This whole thing is not about red team versus blue team or winning an election for its own sake. It’s about getting a chance to govern so that you can bring down the cost of groceries, close that border and stop the fentanyl coming across our country for four years,” Vance continued, saying he was “wrong” about Trump.

“He did a better job of that than anybody that I’ve ever seen as president in my lifetime. So I changed my mind, because he did a good job. And that’s what you do when people do a good job and you’re wrong. I’ve talked to President Trump a lot about it, but look, he, I mean, he just, he doesn’t… He doesn’t care about what I said eight years ago. He cares about whether we together [and] can govern the country successful.”

When asked again if the two have talked about the subject, specifically in the last week since his comments have resurfaced, Vance admitted that they haven’t spoken about it and their conversations have focused on the race ahead.

-ABC News’ Kelsey Walsh, Soorin Kim and Hannah Demissie

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