Republican presidential nominee and former President Donald Trump held a campaign rally in Grand Rapids with his running mate, J.D. Vance, marking their first appearance together.
Trump, donning a flesh-colored bandage on his ear, used the rally to target Vice President Kamala Harris, who is expected to be the Democratic candidate following President Joe Biden’s sudden exit from the race. Trump’s campaign aims to link Harris to the administration’s immigration and economic policies, which they argue have led to voter dissatisfaction.
“Harris will be easier to beat than Joe Biden would have been,” Trump said to CNN after Biden’s announcement.
Trump’s campaign is focusing on tying Harris to Biden’s immigration policies, blaming them for the increase in illegal crossings at the southern border. Additionally, they plan to criticize the economic situation, highlighting voter concerns over high food and fuel costs and rising interest rates.
“She’s the co-pilot of the Biden vision,” an anonymous Trump adviser stated during the Republican National Convention, where Trump was officially nominated.
Trump’s supporters at the rally got a preview of his likely attacks on Harris. “I call her laughing Kamala. You ever watch a laugh? She’s crazy. You can tell a lot by a laugh. She’s crazy. She’s nuts,” Trump said.
Meanwhile, the Democratic Party faces uncertainty in determining their next steps, with no guarantee that Harris will become the nominee despite Biden’s endorsement. If nominated, Harris, a 59-year-old Black and Asian-American woman, would present a stark generational and cultural contrast to Trump.
Democratic strategist Rodell Mollineau suggested that Harris could energize younger voters and people of color, demographics that Biden struggled to engage. With her background as a prosecutor and former California attorney general, Harris is expected to effectively challenge Trump in the public sphere.
Republican strategist Chip Felkel warned against underestimating Harris, noting her potential appeal to various voter segments. Recent polls indicate a competitive race, with Harris and Trump tied at 44% each in a Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted on July 15-16.
Trump’s campaign, which had anticipated Biden’s potential withdrawal, is ready to redeploy resources to counter Harris. Despite Harris’s potential to attract diverse voter groups, Republican consultant Jeanette Hoffman believes her association with Biden will hinder her campaign.
MAGA Inc CEO Taylor Budowich stated that the group has prepared research on various potential Democratic candidates and is ready for any outcome in the evolving race.
US Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a campaign event at Westover High School in Fayetteville, North Carolina, on July 18, 2024. (Photo by Allison Joyce / AFP) (Photo by ALLISON JOYCE/AFP via Getty Images)
In his letter, Biden called Harris an “extraordinary partner” and said choosing her to serve as vice-president was “the best decision I’ve made. Today I want to offer my full support and endorsement for Kamala to be the nominee of our party this year.”
In a statement on Twitter/X, Harris said: “I thank Joe Biden for his extraordinary leadership as President of the United States and for his decades of service to our country.
“I am honored to have the President’s endorsement and my intention is to earn and win this nomination,” she said on X.
Here is Kamala Harris’s full statement:
On behalf of the American people, I thank Joe Biden for his extraordinary leadership as President of the United States and for his decades of service to our country. His remarkable legacy of accomplishment is unmatched in modern American history, surpassing the legacy of many Presidents who have served two terms in office.
It is a profound honor to serve as his Vice President, and I am deeply grateful to the President, Dr. Biden, and the entire Biden family. I first came to know President Biden through his son Beau. We were friends from our days working together as Attorneys General of our home states. As we worked together, Beau would tell me stories about his Dad. The kind of father—and the kind of man—he was. And the qualities Beau revered in his father are the same qualities, the same values, I have seen every single day in Joe’s leadership as President: His honesty and integrity. His big heart and commitment to his faith and his family. And his love of our country and the American people.
With this selfless and patriotic act, President Biden is doing what he has done throughout his life of service: putting the American people and our country above everything else.
I am honored to have the President’s endorsement and my intention is to earn and win this nomination. Over the past year, I have traveled across the country, talking with Americans about the clear choice in this momentous election. And that is what I will continue to do in the days and weeks ahead. I will do everything in my power to unite the Democratic Party—and unite our nation—to defeat Donald Trump and his extreme Project 2025 agenda.
We have 107 days until Election Day. Together, we will fight. And together, we will win.
President Biden announced on Sunday that he will not seek reelection and has endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic Party’s nominee for the upcoming election.
“My fellow Democrats, I have decided not to accept the nomination and to focus all my energies on my duties as President for the remainder of my term,” Biden posted on the social platform X. “My very first decision as the party nominee in 2020 was to pick Kamala Harris as my Vice President. And it’s been the best decision I’ve made.”
Biden continued, “Today I want to offer my full support and endorsement for Kamala to be the nominee of our party this year. Democrats — it’s time to come together and beat Trump. Let’s do this.”
Biden’s initial announcement that he would not seek reelection spurred speculation about the party’s future. However, his endorsement of Harris provides her a significant advantage in the race to replace him as the Democratic nominee.
Harris has several advantages: she was part of the winning ticket in 2020, received millions of votes in this year’s primaries, has been campaigning in swing states, has been a prominent advocate for abortion access, and is the only other candidate with access to the Biden-Harris campaign’s substantial war chest.
Several lawmakers had already expressed their support for Harris if Biden chose not to run. Skipping over the first woman and first woman of color elected vice president could provoke political backlash within the party.
It remains unclear if Harris will face any challengers for the nomination or if the Democrats will push for an open convention or a rapid primary before the Democratic National Convention begins on August 19 in Chicago.
Harris’s 2020 presidential campaign faced significant challenges and ended before the Iowa caucuses, raising questions about her ability to develop a winning message. Additionally, Republicans are expected to target her role as the “border czar” and tie her to ongoing issues like inflation that have affected the Biden administration.
GALVESTON, Texas (KTRK) — Authorities fear at least three people may still be inside a car that was driven off Pier 21 in Galveston early Sunday morning.
According to Lt. Jeff Banks, the Galveston Police Department received a call about a vehicle that drove through the chain and into the water at 21st Street and Harborside Drive around 1 a.m.
Investigators arrived and learned at least one man, identified as the driver, escaped and told police that there were still three others inside.
Banks said he estimates the water is about 20 to 30 feet deep.
Port of Galveston Police and the U.S. Coast Guard joined the search using helicopters, boats, and dive teams. As of 6:15 a.m., Banks told ABC13 that they had located the vehicle, but it was still underwater.
Crews had to wait for several cruise ships to pass before they could begin their efforts to retrieve the car. Banks said they have not confirmed if additional people are inside the vehicle. If they are, the outcome is likely grim since the car has been underwater for hours.
Galveston PD said the driver was transported to the hospital, where investigators are interviewing him. They are still working to find out the cause and whether the driver was intoxicated at the time of the incident
Calls from some Democrats in Congress for President Joe Biden to withdraw from the presidential election have raised questions about how his Democratic replacement would get on the November ballot across the country. State law suggests a new nominee wouldn’t have much of a problem doing so in Texas if the party acts soon.
The two major parties have until Aug. 26 to submit the names of their presidential candidates for the Texas ballot, giving Democrats five weeks to make changes.
The Texas election code states that the Texas Secretary of State can certify a political party’s replacement nominee for president or vice president if the original nominee withdraws, dies or is declared ineligible by the 74th day before the presidential election day, which is Aug. 23 this year, if the party’s state chair submits the replacement nominee no later than 5 p.m. of the 71st day before the election day, which is Aug. 26.
This means if Biden drops out of the presidential race against Donald Trump, the Democratic Party could select a new nominee during its national convention on Aug. 19-22 just in time for the nominee to appear on the Texas ballot.
Biden on Friday vowed to return to the campaign trail next week, according to The New York Times, and Vice President Kamala Harris reassured donors that she and Biden would win the election. This is despite earlier reports that Biden was listening more seriously to the concerns about his candidacy.
The longer Biden waits to withdraw, the harder the logistics of replacing him on the ballot become, according to Votebeat.
Even though Election Day isn’t until Nov. 5, election officials across the country also have to account for state election deadlines and for voters, including members of the military, who will be voting by mail and need additional time to receive and return their ballots. For example, Maricopa County in Arizona said that its ballots need to be finalized by Aug. 22, Votebeat reported.
In Texas, counties manage the printing of their own ballots and include the names of the candidates given to them by the secretary of state, according to Votebeat.
That office sends those names in late August, after the conventions. Military ballots go out on Sept. 21 and must be printed days ahead of that. Trudy Hancock, the election administrator in Brazos County, told Votebeat that the county’s ballots are typically finished by Sept. 10 to allow for proofing and to account for any delays.
If Biden drops out after ballots are printed, electors – the party representatives who cast their state’s votes for president in the electoral college – could vote for the person the Democratic party nominates as his replacement in states that allow it, Votebeat reported.
To win the presidency in the Electoral College, a candidate must get at least 270 votes from the 538 electors across the country. Each state gets as many electors as it has U.S. senators and representatives in Congress. In most states, including Texas, whoever wins the most votes from voters gets all the Electoral College votes for that state.
In rare instances, some electors have cast votes for someone other than their party’s official nominee, which has stirred some concerns of “faithless electors” in recent years. In Texas, a 2023 update to the state’s election code requires electors to sign an oath that they will vote for the chosen candidate.
SEATTLE — – Jake Meyers hit a go-ahead two-run homer off former Houston reliever Ryne Stanek in the seventh inning, and the Astros beat the Seattle Mariners 4-2 on Saturday night to take sole possession of the AL West lead for the first time this year.
Stuck playing catchup through the first 3 months of the season, Houston has won six of eight to climb into first place all alone.
“It’s awesome to hear but I think it’s the same thing as month one or month two being down 10, 12 games. I think we’ve adopted the same mindset of, we’ve just got to keep winning the game at hand and playing together, and we’re a great team when we do that,” Meyers said.
Seattle lost its fifth straight – its longest losing streak since dropping six in a row in May 2022 – and fell out of first place for the first time since May 11.
“This club is going through a lot of things. It happens through the course of a season,” Mariners manager Scott Servais said. “We’ve got guys who are struggling right now to get some traction and get it going, and they know it. They feel it. And the team in the other dugout across the way is playing very good baseball right now.”
Meyers drove a 1-2 pitch from Stanek (6-3) to right-center field for his 11th homer. Stanek opened the inning by walking Jeremy Peña, and the homer by Meyers cost George Kirby the chance at a victory after he allowed one run in six innings.
Julio Rodríguez snapped Seattle’s 14-inning scoreless drought when his two-run homer off Framber Valdez gave the Mariners a 2-1 lead in the sixth. It was his 11th of the season and Rodríguez nearly hit a second longball in the eighth off Ryan Pressly only to watch Trey Cabbage make a leaping catch at the wall in right field.
“He got me at home (in Houston) so I had to give a subtle one back to him,” Cabbage said.
It was one of two terrific defensive plays by the Astros in the eighth as Joey Loperfidoended the inning with a diving grab of Mitch Garver’s drive into the left-field corner and saved one run from scoring.
“For Joey to run that ball down, that ball is moving away from him and he stayed with it the whole way, got a great jump and dove and caught it. I mean, just two huge plays,” Meyers said.
Valdez pitched 5 2/3 innings. He allowed three hits, four walks and struck out six. Tayler Scott (7-3) got the final out of the sixth before Bryan Abreu, Pressly and Josh Hader closed out the final three innings. Hader earned his 20th save.
“I was throwing to good locations. I think the only bad one I threw was the one Julio was able to get to,” Valdez said through an interpreter.
Kirby allowed four hits and struck out six. Houston’s only run off him came on Peña’s infield single that scored Alex Bregman in the fourth.
UNUSUAL STRIKEOUT
Houston slugger Yordan Alvarez struck out to end the first inning when he was called for a pitch-clock violation for not being ready in the box prior to a 3-2 delivery from Kirby.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Astros: RHPs Justin Verlander (neck discomfort) and Luis Garcia (Tommy John surgery) threw bullpens. Verlander threw about 40 pitches with increased intensity, while Garcia threw 15 pitches. Both are expected to throw again sometime early next week. … C Victor Caratini (hip) was expected to catch for a second straight day at Double-A Corpus Christi.
UP NEXT
Astros: RHP Ronel Blanco (9-4, 2.56 ERA) has allowed three earned runs or fewer in seven straight starts, but lost to Texas in his last outing before the All-Star break.
Mariners: RHP Bryan Woo (3-1, 2.45) will make just his second start since June 24. Woo allowed four runs in 3 1/3 innings on July 12.
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — The cosmos is providing a full moon for the 55th anniversary of the first lunar landing this weekend, and plenty of other events honor Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin’s giant leap.
Aldrin, 94, the last surviving member of the Apollo 11 crew, headlines a gala at the San Diego Air and Space Museum on Saturday night. He’ll be joined by astronaut Charlie Duke, who was the voice inside Mission Control for the July 20, 1969 moon landing.
Museum President Jim Kidrick couldn’t resist throwing a bash “55 years to the day of one of the most historic moments in not only the history of America, but in the history of the world.”
Can’t make it to San Diego, Cape Canaveral or Houston? There are plenty of other ways to celebrate the moon landing, including the new film “Fly Me to the Moon,” a light-hearted lookback starring Scarlett Johansson.
And you can explore all things Apollo 11 on a special website by the Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and Space Museum.
If nothing else, soak in the full moon Saturday night into Sunday morning.
Here’s a rundown of some Apollo 11 tributes:
‘The Eagle has landed’
NASA’s Kennedy Space Center is holding a moon fest at its tourist stop, just a few miles from where the Saturn V rocket thundered away with Armstrong, Aldrin and Michael Collins on July 16, 1969. Houston’s Johnson Space Center, home to Mission Control, is also getting into the act. Four days after they left Earth, Armstrong and Aldrin, in their lunar module, Eagle, settled onto the Sea of Tranquility at 4:17 p.m. Eastern with barely any fuel remaining. “Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed,” Armstrong radioed from 240,000 miles (386,000 kilometers) away. “No moment united the country quite like when the Eagle landed, as all of planet Earth watched from below,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said Friday in an anniversary message.
‘One small step’
“That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind,” Armstrong proclaimed as he became the first person to step on the moon. Armstrong grew up in northwestern Ohio’s Wapakoneta, now home to the Armstrong Air and Space Museum. The museum’s tribute Saturday begins with a pair of “Run to the Moon” races. followed by model rocket launches and wind tunnel demos. John Glenn, the first American to orbit Earth, hailed from New Concord on the opposite side of the state, some 150 miles (240 kilometers) away. The John and Annie Glenn Museum will be open there Saturday for your astronaut fix.
‘Magnificent desolation’
Aldrin followed Armstrong outside on the moon, uttering “Magnificent desolation.” They spent just over two hours treading the dusty surface, before returning to their lunar module and blasting off to link back up with Collins, the command module pilot who had remained in lunar orbit. Armstrong’s spacesuit for the moonshot was restored in time for the 50th anniversary in 2019. It’s on display at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum in Washington, along with their return capsule. Aldrin and Collins’ spacesuits from Apollo 11 are also part of the Smithsonian collection and currently in storage. Collins died in 2021, less than a year after the 50th anniversary; Armstrong died in 2012.
Splashdown!
The capsule holding Armstrong, Aldrin and Collins — dubbed Columbia — splashed down in the Pacific on July 24, 1969. They were recovered by the USS Hornet, a Navy aircraft carrier that repeated the job for Apollo 12 four months later. The Hornet is now part of a museum in Alameda, California, with a splashdown party planned aboard the ship on Saturday. Some of the original recovery crew will be there. The Apollo 11 astronauts immediately went into quarantine aboard the Hornet and, along with 48 pounds (22 kilograms) of moon rocks and soil, remained off-limits for weeks as they were moved to Houston. Scientists feared the astronauts might have brought back moon germs. Most of the rocks remain locked up inside a restricted lab at Houston’s Johnson Space Center. The Apollo program landed 12 astronauts on the moon from 1969 through 1972.
Next up: Apollo’s twin
NASA aims to send four astronauts around the moon next year — part of a new moon program named Artemis after Apollo’s twin sister in Greek mythology. The SLS rocket for that flyaround — short for Space Launch System — is due at Kennedy Space Center next week. It’s arriving by barge from NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. This core stage will get a pair of strap-on boosters at Kennedy before blasting off in September 2025 — at the earliest — with three U.S. astronauts and one Canadian. None of them will land on the moon; that will come on a following mission with another crew no earlier than 2026.
President Joe Biden said on Friday that he would be returning to the campaign trail next week to continue to take on rival Donald Trump, as he contends with the fallout from his COVID-19 diagnosis and growing calls from Democrats for him to bow out, including from Ohio Sen, Sherrod Brown on Friday evening, the fourth senator to do so.
“I look forward to getting back on the campaign trail next week to continue exposing the threat of Donald Trump’s Project 2025 agenda while making the case for my own record and the vision that I have for America: one where we save our democracy, protect our rights and freedoms, and create opportunity for everyone,” Biden said in a statement.
“The stakes are high, and the choice is clear,” Biden added. “Together, we will win.”
The president also criticized Trump’s Thursday night keynote speech at the Republican National Convention, saying the former president “focused on his own grievances, with no plan to unite us and no plan to make life better for working people.”
“Last night the American people saw the same Donald Trump they rejected four years ago,” Biden wrote.
President Joe Biden walks toward Air Force One, at Harry Reid international airport in Las Vegas, on July 17, 2024. Tom Brenner/Reuters
Biden has been sidelined since Wednesday when he was diagnosed with COVID-19 moments before delivering remarks in Las Vegas at the UnidosUS conference, the largest Latino civil rights group in the country. He abruptly cut his trip short and flew to his beach home in Rehoboth Beach, Del.
Boarding Air Force One Wednesday, Biden struggled to walk up the shorter stairs that pull out from under the plane. And after arriving in Dover, he again struggled deplaning, and Secret Service appeared to physically help him into the waiting SUV.
But Biden’s determination to return to the campaign trail appears to be because his team is reenergized by Trump’s speech.
“He’s playing the greatest hits from 2016 – Trump has not changed, he has not moderated, he has gotten worse,” a Biden adviser said Thursday night. “And he is making no appeal to moderates.”
The president said Trump laid out a “dark vision” for America’s future and that “Together, as a party and as a country, we can and will defeat him at the ballot box.”
But his party is not together. Democrats remain split on whether Biden can beat Trump in November and on Friday at least 10 Democrats joined the chorus calling on Biden to resign, including Texas Rep. Marc Veasey, the first member from the influential Congressional Black Caucus to do so.
US former President and 2024 Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump raises a fist as he arrives for the third day of the 2024 Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wis., on July 17, 2024. Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images
“Mr. President, with great admiration for you personally, sincere respect for your decades of public service and patriotic leadership, and deep appreciation for everything we have accomplished together during your presidency, it is now time for you to pass the torch to a new generation of Democratic leaders,” Veasey co-wrote in a letter with Reps. Jared Huffman, Chuy Garcia, and Mark Pocan.
“We must defeat Donald Trump to save our democracy… At this point, however, we must face the reality that widespread public concerns about your age and fitness are jeopardizing what should be a winning campaign,” the four congressmen added.
Brown, in a close reelection fight, said in a statement that many Ohioans had contacted him.
“Over the last few weeks, I’ve heard from Ohioans on important issues, such as how to continue to grow jobs in our state, give law enforcement the resources to crack down on fentanyl, protect Social Security and Medicare from cuts, and prevent the ongoing efforts to impose a national abortion ban. These are the issues Ohioans care about and it is my job to keep fighting for them,” he said.
“I agree with the many Ohioans who have reached out to me. At this critical time, our full attention must return to these important issues. I think the President should end his campaign,” he said.
Democratic Sen. Martin Heinrich of New Mexico and Democratic Rep. Greg Landsman, who represents a battleground Ohio district, both also pointed to Trump and the risk to “democracy” for reasons Biden should exit.
“There is too much on the line, and we have to be able to make that case to the American people about the change we need and the country we all deserve,” Landsman wrote in his statement. “After weeks of consideration and hundreds of conversations with constituents, I have come to the conclusion that Joe Biden is no longer the best person to make that case.”
Rep. Zoe Lofgren of California, a close ally of former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, in a letter addressed to the president on Thursday, but was first reported on Friday, made a similar argument doubting Biden can effectively run a winning campaign.
“I want to be clear that should you formally become the Democratic nominee for President I will do everything I can to promote your candidacy and to work for your success,” Lofgren wrote in the letter obtained by ABC News. “Unfortunately, I greatly doubt that the outcome will be positive, and our country will pay a dreadful price for that.”
Biden campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon admitted on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” Friday that they have seen Biden’s support slip.
“I’m not here to say that this hasn’t been a tough several weeks for the campaign,” O’Malley Dillon said. “There’s no doubt that it has been, and we’ve definitely seen some slippage in support, but it has been a small movement, and you know this, the reason is because so much of this race is hardened already.”
In what was a bruising day for the president, with the calls from congressional Democrats urging him to drop out swelling to 34 by ABC News’s count, Biden did get critical support from the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.
The group’s political arm, BOLD PAC, on Friday endorsed the president, a week after his call with the group, saying he and Vice President Kamala Harris “have delivered for the Latino community.”
Amid news of more congressional Democrats on Friday joining calls for Biden to step aside, his campaign said it recognizes that the “urgency” of beating Donald Trump has led some Democrats to publicly abandon their support of the president leading the ticket — though they remain confident the party will unite by November.
“While the majority of the caucus and the diverse base of the party continues to stand with the President and his historic record of delivering for their communities, we’re clear-eyed that the urgency and stakes of beating Donald Trump means others feel differently,” Biden campaign spokesperson Mia Ehrenberg said in a statement to ABC News.
“We all share the same goal: an America where everyone gets a fair shot and freedom and democracy are protected,” Ehrenberg added. “Unlike Republicans, we’re a party that accepts – and even celebrates – differing opinions, but in the end, we will absolutely come together to beat Donald Trump this November.”
The historic First Baptist Church sanctuary built in the 1800’s went up in flames Friday evening.
The fire reached four alarms after the roof partially collapsed, but it has now been contained.
Senior Pastor Robert Jeffress says he’s grateful no congregants were harmed.
Crews were first called to the church at the corner of San Jacinto and North Ervay Street just after 6 p.m.
Courtesy: Darryl Dc Clark
First responders were met with heavy smoke when they first arrived. It originated as a two-alarm fire but quickly grew to four alarms.
Things seemed to be mostly under control until the flames rekindled around 7:35 p.m. when the roof partially collapsed.
FOX 4 crews were on the ground when part of the Historic Sanctuary building collapsed, re-igniting the fire.
Dallas Fire-Rescue called for a fourth alarm at 8:14 p.m. Dozens of firefighters have been on scene all afternoon trying to control the flames and pushing people back to safety.
Jeffress said no one has been hurt.
“I was baptized there when I was 6, I was ordained in ministry when I was 21. It holds a lot of memories. We thank God that nobody has been hurt. We had just concluded vacation bible school with over 2,000 kids. They were all gone, so God has protected us through all this,” Jeffress told FOX 4. “I’m grateful that the church is not bricks or mortar or wood; it’s people.”
Residents are still urged to avoid the area while fire crews monitor hot spots overnight.
Investigators believe the fire may have started in the church’s basement.
Once the building is deemed structurally safe, investigators will go in to investigate the cause of the fire.
Most firefighting operations began to shut down around 2 in the morning.
On Saturday morning, crews were still in the area of the church, spraying water to extinguish hot spots.
First Baptist Dallas
First Baptist Dallas was started in 1868, but the red brick building, known as the historic sanctuary was not built until 1890, according to the Texas Historic Commission.
It is the only downtown Dallas Church still on its original site.
TEXAS (KTRK) — Taxpayers are encouraged to take advantage of this year’s tax-free weekend, which runs from Friday, August 9 through Sunday, August 11.
The video above is from ABC13’s 24/7 livestream.
During this special weekend, most clothing, footwear, school supplies, and backpacks under $100 can be bought without paying sales tax.
Items must be purchased from an in-person or online Texas store, or a catalog seller doing business in Texas.
In most cases, you do not need to give the seller an exemption certificate to buy qualifying items tax-free. The sales tax exemption applies to qualifying items you buy during the sales tax holiday.
