July 22, 2024 12:44 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris has received the backing of more than half of the Democratic delegates she needs to become her party’s nominee. She has also set a new fundraising record in her first 24 hours as a presidential candidate, as top Democrats move to coalesce around her in their bid to defeat Republican Donald Trump. Aiming to put weeks of party drama over President Joe Biden’s candidacy and prospects in November behind them, prominent Democratic elected officials, party leaders and political organizations are quickly lining up behind Harris. The Democratic worries over Biden’s fitness for office have been replaced by fresh signs of party unity. Key endorsements Monday, including Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, left a vanishing list of potential rivals to Harris. Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, who had been one of the notable holdouts to Harris, initially encouraging a primary to strengthen the eventual nominee, endorsed Harris Monday. Pelosi said she was lending her “enthusiastic support” to Harris’ effort to lead the party. (Photo: AP)
July 21, 2024 5:00 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris is moving swiftly to lock up Democratic delegates behind her campaign for the White House after President Joe Biden stepped aside amid concerns from within their own party that he would be unable to defeat Donald Trump. Biden’s exit is a seismic shift to the presidential contest that upends both parties’ carefully honed plans for the race. Prominent Democratic elected officials, party leaders and political organizations have quickly lined up behind Harris since Biden announced he was dropping his reelection campaign. They’re trying to put weeks of intraparty drama over Biden’s candidacy behind them.
July 22, 2024 4:52 am
Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro endorsed Kamala Harris as the Democratic nominee for the 2024 presidential election. The endorsement comes after President Joe Biden announced that he would be ending his reelection campaign on Saturday. Biden also endorsed Harris. Shapiro’s full endorsement said: “When our founders came together in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to declare our independence and establish our democracy, they did so with the clear understanding that we would only succeed if we were united. In the 248 years since, our country and our people have been tested – but the American spirit has always triumphed. “Despite our individual differences, when our safety was threatened, when our values and freedoms were attacked, when the stakes were high, Americans have found ways to come together and unite behind a common cause and common purpose. That’s the lesson of our founders who gathered in Pennsylvania two-and-a-half centuries ago – and it’s the lesson our Party must learn from now. “I’ve known Kamala Harris for nearly two decades – we’ve both been prosecutors, we’ve both stood up for the rule of law, we’ve both fought for the people and delivered results. Kamala Harris is a patriot worthy of our support and she will continue the work of generations of Americans who came before us to perfect our union, protect our democracy, and advance real freedom. She has served the country honorably as Vice President and she is ready to be President.
July 22, 2024 9:57 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — Sen. Joe Manchin says he won’t compete with Vice President Kamala Harris for the Democratic presidential nomination now that President Joe Biden has left the race. The West Virginia senator left the Democratic Party this year but had considered re-registering to vie for the nomination against Harris. But Manchin told CBS News on Monday he would not be a candidate. Additional endorsements Monday have left a dwindling list of potential rivals to Harris, who’s still the only candidate. Harris is moving swiftly to secure Democratic delegates behind her White House campaign since Biden stepped aside Sunday amid concerns from within their own party he’d be unable to defeat Republican Donald Trump.
July 21, 2024 5:06 am
NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump’s campaign has spent the last year-and-a-half viciously attacking Joe Biden, ridiculing his policies, mocking his fumbles and relishing a rematch they felt they were winning. But they have also spent weeks preparing for the possibility that Biden might exit the race, readying a bevy of attacks against Vice President Kamala Harris that they unleashed as soon as Biden made his stunning announcement Sunday that he would step aside. Biden soon after endorsed Harris, who was quickly winning support from Democrats to be the party’s nominee. The shakeup less than four months before Election Day lays out new challenges for Trump’s team, which had until recently been focused on contrasting the former president’s vigor and mental acuity with Biden’s.
July 22, 2024 5:04 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Secret Service’s director says the roof where a shooter opened fire at Donald Trump’s Pennsylvania rally was identified as a potential vulnerability days before the event. Director Kimberly Cheatle made the comments Monday as she was grilled by lawmakers over the July 13 assassination attempt of the Republican presidential nominee. Cheatle acknowledges the agency was told about a suspicious person “between two and five times” before the assassination attempt of the former president. Cheatle told lawmakers during a congressional hearing, “On July 13, we failed.” Cheatle was berated for hours by Republicans and Democrats, repeatedly angering lawmakers by evading questions about the investigation into the shooting.
July 22, 2024 4:57 am
BROWNSVILLE, Pa. — (WPXI) – Flames have torn through a church in Fayette County. Dispatchers say emergency crews were called to Market Street in Brownsville at around 5:35 p.m. Firefighters from Brownsville Fire Company say their crews were met with heavy fire and smoke coming from the abandoned First Baptist Church. Part of the church collapsed while crews were battling the flames. A machine will be brought in to tear down the rest of the damaged wall. One firefighter was taken to a hospital to be treated for heat exhaustion. Investigators say the church has been condemned for years. 13 departments that came from both Fayette and Washington counties responded to the fire. The Pennsylvania State Police Fire Marshal has been called to investigate the cause of the fire.
July 22, 2024 5:02 am
NEW YORK (AP) — Airlines, including Delta Air Lines, continued to struggle to restore operations two days after a faulty software update caused technological havoc worldwide and resulted in several carriers grounding flights. Delta Chief Executive Ed Bastian said in a statement Sunday that flight cancellations continued as the airline tried to recover its systems and restore operations. He noted that the pause in Delta’s operations resulted in more than 3,500 Delta and Delta Connection scrubbed flights. Delta has been offering waivers to affected customers.
July 22, 2024 4:26 pm
DETROIT (AP) — U.S. auto safety regulators are investigating complaints that some Ram pickups and Jeep Wagoneer SUVs can lose power, shift into park and apply the emergency brake. The probe announced Monday covers about 150,000 vehicles made by Stellantis from 2022. All have a 5.7-liter Hemi e-Torque mild hybrid system. The agency says the system converts energy from braking to power some electrical components. The system has a 48-volt battery pack and a motor generator that sends power to the crankshaft during gear changes. The agency says it has 80 complaints from owners that the engines can shut down, often at low speeds. Sometimes they can’t be restarted. Investigators will look into how often the problem happens and the cause of the engine stalling. Stellantis says it’s cooperating in the probe.
July 22, 2024 2:59 am
NEW YORK (AP) — The last surviving original member of the Four Tops has died. Abdul “Duke” Fakir was 88. He was a charter member of the Motown group along with lead singer Levi Stubbs, Renaldo “Obie” Benson and Lawrence Payton. Between 1964 and 1967, the Tops had 11 top 20 hits and two No. 1′s: “I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)” and the operatic classic “Reach Out I’ll Be There.” Other songs, often stories of romantic pain and longing, included “Baby I Need Your Loving,” “Standing in the Shadows of Love,” “Bernadette” and “Just Ask the Lonely.” (Photo: AP)
