Democratic delegates and donors coalesce around Kamala Harris. Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu holds talks in Washington at a crucial moment for Gaza cease-fire talks. And officials release body camera footage that shows an Illinois deputy fatally shooting Sonya Massey.
Here’s what to know today.
In just a day, Kamala Harris secures major delegate — and donor — support
Just a day after President Joe Biden announced he was dropping out of the race, Vice President Kamala Harris has secured a majority of pledged Democratic convention delegates.
Seemingly all of Harris’ major potential rivals for the nomination rallied around her, quickly quashing any talk of a contest for the role. Democratic convention delegations across a number of states quickly endorsed Harris as the party prepares for its nominating vote in August. All 50 state Democratic Party chairs have endorsed Harris.
Harris secured an eye-popping sum in donations just as rapidly as she coalesced party support. Her presidential campaign announced that it brought in $81 million in the first 24 hours — one of the biggest fundraising windfalls in history that easily dwarfed anything the Biden-Harris campaign had raised in a single day this election cycle. Much of the giving was driven by online donors contributing via ActBlue, the digital fundraising platform favored by the Democratic Party.
Speaking at her campaign headquarters during her first official visit to the site in Wilmington, Delaware, Harris went after former President Donald Trump. “I took on perpetrators of all kinds,” she said, including “predators who abused women, fraudsters who ripped off consumers, cheaters who broke the rules for their own gain.”
“So hear me when I say I know Donald Trump’s type,” she added.
Harris thanked staffers and praised Biden, saying, “In one term, he has already surpassed the legacy of most presidents who served two terms in office.” Biden called in to the office and told campaign staffers that deciding to step away from the campaign “was the right thing to do.”
More coverage:
- A look at Kamala Harris and her history-making ascent in politics.
- Did these memes just fall out of a coconut tree? Everything to know about the resurfaced quote generating a tidal wave of internet support.
- GOP Rep. Tim Burchett blasted Harris in a social media post, calling her a “DEI vice president.”
- Potential VP pick Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro made his name battling Trump in court as the state’s attorney general — and he could face him again.
Kamala Harris won’t preside over Israeli PM’s speech to Congress as he looks to shore up U.S. support
Harris will not preside over Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s joint address to Congress tomorrow. Instead, Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., will oversee the event, two congressional aides told NBC News.
While the vice president typically presides over joint addresses, Harris is expected to be travelling for her presidential campaign. However, she is expected to meet with Netanyahu separately during his visit.
Cardin, an orthodox Jew, has been a vocal advocate for Israel amid the ongoing offensive in Gaza. Netanyahu’s visit comes as he seeks to strengthen Israel’s relationship with its closest ally as he faces mounting pressure to strike a cease-fire deal that would bring an end to fighting.
An Israeli government spokesman said Netanyahu would address both houses of Congress in a bid “to anchor the bipartisan support that is so important for Israel.” And after Biden dropped out of the race, Netanyahu said the visit would be an opportunity to thank the president “for the things he did for Israel in the war.” One expert on Israeli politics said the president could use his final months in office to “put more pressure on Netanyahu” to agree to a cease-fire deal, enshrining the achievement as part of his legacy.
In addition to meeting with Biden and Harris, aides to both Netanyahu and Trump have also discussed the possibility of a meeting this week, according to six people familiar with the discussions.
“Meeting with Kamala Harris gets a new layer of importance now,” the expert said. “Before, it wasn’t seen as the key to this visit, and now it’s much more significant.”
Police release body camera video in fatal shooting of Sonya Massey
Illinois authorities released body camera footage of Sonya Massey’s final moments before she was killed by law enforcement at her home in Springfield, Illinois. The video shows former Sangamon County Deputy Sean Grayson and a second deputy dispatched to her home in the early morning on July 6. Massey called because she was afraid of an intruder, according to an attorney for her family and Illinois State Police.
Grayson shot Massey in the face after an interaction that escalated over her holding a pot of hot water inside her home. According to the footage, he did not try to get aid after the shooting and discouraged the other deputy from doing so. He has been charged with first-degree murder and other crimes. His next court date is scheduled for Aug. 26.
Secret Service director grilled by Congress on Trump assassination attempt
Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle was questioned by the House Oversight Committee after she said she took responsibility for security failures that led to a 20-year-old gunman shooting Trump during a Pennsylvania rally.
Cheatle has said she’s determined to learn what went wrong at the July 13 rally, but declined to share how many agents were assigned to protect Trump that day, as well as how many times the Secret Service denied Trump’s request for more security resources. She told the committee that the gunman had been “identified as suspicious” before Trump took the stage. Cheatle said Trump was still allowed to continue to the podium because the gunman had not yet been identified as a “threat.”
Members of the House Oversight Committee called on her to resign and grew frustrated with her lack of answers, but Cheatle remained defiant despite the calls for her resignation.
Nashville residents show Jewish solidarity after neo-Nazis converge on city
Residents in Nashville, Tennessee, are pushing a message of peace in the face of harassment from neo-Nazi and white supremacist groups that are coming into the city to spew antisemitic hate. Law enforcement officials and local leaders urged people not to engage with the group, which authorities said was coming from outside the city.
The disruptions began when Patriot Front, identified by the Southern Poverty Law Center as a white nationalist hate group, marched down Broadway and gathered at the plaza across from the state Capitol. A week later, another group sparked a fight. Antisemitic flyers were being spread, an LGBTQ mural was destroyed and parades with antisemitic chants were being held over the course of the first few weeks of July.
After days of incidents that caused tension and fear among the community, neighbors came together in a display of solidarity.
Noah Lyles seeks Olympic gold and he’s doing it all in style
With painted nails, flashy gear and a Yu-Gi-Oh! card tucked in his tracksuit, Noah Lyles is on a mission to dominate the Paris Olympics, and he’s doing it all in style.
Favored to win both the men’s 100- and 200-meter races, Lyles knew that raw talent alone would not make him stand out as an athlete: his personality would set him apart. After being bullied in middle school and facing depression during the pandemic, Lyles’ game-day presence is a culmination of his hard work on and off the track.
After he placed third in the 200-meter race at the Tokyo Games, he regrouped, making adjustments that will set him up to become an Olympic legend. “All I gotta do is be me. And I’m pretty damn good at being me,” he said.
More Olympics highlights:
🤸The gymnastics squad heading to Paris will be the most racially diverse women’s team in history. Olympian — and millennial icon — Dominique Dawes reflects on that shift.
Politics in Brief
First on NBC News: Democratic senators are introducing a bill that would undo a recent Supreme Court ruling that imposed new limits on federal agencies when they issue regulations.
Climate in crisis: The clean energy boom is helping to cut down U.S. greenhouse gas emissions — but not enough, according to a new report.
Trump judgement: Lawyers for Trump appealed a civil fraud judgment from February that found the former president and his company liable for business fraud.
✦ WANT MORE POLITICS NEWS?
Sign up for From the Politics Desk to get exclusive reporting and analysis delivered to your inbox every weekday evening. Subscribe here.
Staff Pick: ‘Doomerism,’ Gen Z and the end of the American dream
A lot can change in the span of a generation — or so it would seem for some Gen Z children of immigrants. Their parents moved to the United States, imagining it as the land of opportunity, but these first-generation Americans now say it’s time to leave. StayTuned Digital Reporter Maya Eaglin talked to some who feel crushed by much of what America has to offer young adults today. Instead, these Gen Zers, beset with ‘doomerism,’ are packing it up and heading abroad. — Joy Y. Wang, senior editorial director
NBC Select: Online Shopping, Simplified
NBC Select’s editors talked to podiatrists to help solve your foot problems. They found the best foot creams for conditions from cracked heels to soreness and deconstructed how to shop for the right walking shoes for you.
Thanks for reading the Morning Rundown. Today’s newsletter was curated for you by Elizabeth Both.
