amna: good evening. i'm amna nawaz. geoff bennett is away. on the newshour tonight, kamala harris seeks to unify democrats behind her presidential bid with just months remaining before

voters head to the polls. we dive into her record, from her time as san francisco's district attorney through here years as vice president. on capitol hill -- >> can you get briefed on how many times you turned down the term detail when they asked for additional help? amna: they get a few answers as to what led to the assassination attempt on former president donald trump. ♪ >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by -- the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions and friends of the newshour including leonard and norma and the judy and peter blum kovler

foundation. >> a raymondjames financial advisor gets to know you, your purpose, and the way you give back. life well planned. >> and william and flora hewlett foundation. for more than 50 years, advancing ideas and supporting institutions to promote a better world at hewlett.org. and with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions. this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you.

♪ amna: welcome to the newshour, vice president kamala harris is entering uncharted territory after president joe biden announced his withdrawal from the presidential race yesterday. one day later, harris is already the favorite to win the democratic party nomination for president. laura barron-lopez has the latest. [applause] laura: greeted by resounding applause, vice president harris arrived at her campaign office in wilmington, delaware, this afternoon, ahead of her first campaign event as a presidential candidate. pres. biden: with the covid -- excuse me, with the -- laura: it comes after president biden's disastrous debate performance that raise questions about his ability to run. >> there are rigorous conversations taking place at every level of our party. laura: for weeks, the president faced mounting pressure from

allies in his own party to end his campaign. pres. biden: i am running and going to win again. laura: but he insisted he was all in an almost nothing could convince him to drop out. pres. biden: lord almighty is not coming down. laura: during a weekend of isolation at his home in delaware with takeover diagnosis, president biden announced his decision. he wrote in a letter posted x "it has been the greatest honor of my life to serve mr. president but it is in the best interest of my party in the country for me to stand down ." top democrats like the obamas, the clintons, and leaders in congress praised his decision to drop out. even former vice president mike pence applauded the move, writing on x today, "president joe biden made the right decision for our country and i thank him for putting the interests of our nation ahead of his own."

harris herself praised the president at the white house this morning. vp. harris: every day, president joe biden fights for the american people and we are deeply, deeply grateful for his service to our nation. laura: many democrats quickly united by harris. harris tosh campaign racked up $81 million in donations -- harris's campaign racked up $81 million in donations, the largest in history. some who were seen as possible competitors to harris mind up behind her. -- lined up behind her. kentucky governor andy beshear gave his backing this morning. but sidestepped questions about whether he would serve as her running mate. >> the only way i would consider something other than this current job is if i further believed that could help my people and to help this country. laura: governor roy cooper delivered a similar message. >> kamala harris is the person. she is excited to win this thing and i am, too. laura: gretchen whitmer gave her

endorsement but said she would not accept the vice presidency if offered it. >> if they offered it, you will not take it? >> i am not leaving michigan. laura: josh shapiro, gavin newsom, and jb pritzker also said they support harris. although holding back an endorsement, west virginia senator joe manchin confirmed today that he will not challenge the vice president for the nomination. >> you are not interested in running for office, true? >> i am not running for office. laura: on the right, a different story. mike johnson, rebuked by his decision to drop out, he wrote in a statement that it invalidated the votes of more than 14 million americans and joined other republicans in calling for biden to resign from the presidency. former president trump lambasted the move onto social, falsely saying of the democrats, "they stole the race from biden after he won it in the primaries. these people are the real threat

to democracy." team trump is already attacking their new opponent including trump's running mate, j.d. vance, at a rally in his hometown today. >> if you want to lead this country, you should feel grateful for it. should feel a sense of gratitude and i never hear that gratitude come through when i listen to kamala harris. laura: tomorrow, she is expected in milwaukee, wisconsin, for this second full day of her campaign for president. despite trump's fast attacks on harris, democrats are energized and are trying to turn the tables on the republican narrative, pointing out that trump is now the oldest presidential nominee in history. amna: you have been reporting for weeks on the growing calls for president biden to step aside but tell us how he ultimately arrived at the decision to do so just this past weekend. laura: sources familiar with the decision-making told me up until saturday, president biden was still holding firm, still wanting to stay in this race and president biden was alone for much of his covid isolation

which started last wednesday until his two closest longtime advisors, steve ricchetti, and mike tomlin, arrived and huddled with him on saturday -- steve and mike arrived and huddled with him on saturday. they talked to him about him losing support in congress, about donors shutting off money. they ran through polling with him. sources told me. it was not until sunday when president biden decided he was ultimately going to bow out this race and all of his other senior advisors including the campaign chair as well as the chief of staff to the president at the white house were not aware of this decision until about 1:45 p.m. on sunday, literally one minute before the president posted on x his announcement to dole out. i also spoke to senator chris coons of delaware, a longtime ally of biden, who said the president really was weighing staying in this fight. he was deeply torn from a did

not want to get out of this race but ultimately felt it was the right decision for the country. senator cowan said he felt -- the senator said he felt as if month of relentless focus on the debate is ultimately what hurt president biden's pulling members more than the debate itself. amna: what happens next? walk us through what a potential nominating process for the democrats could look like. laura: the democratic national rules committee is going to be meeting wednesday of this week to establish a framework for how the process is going to work for nominating kamala harris or another nominee. i spoke to members of the d&c rules committee who said that one of the biggest questions they are going to be addressing this week is whether or not they are going to still hold the virtual roll call vote ahead of the physical convention in chicago. that would be sometime between august 1 through fifth. the actual convention is in mid-august. they are try to figure out if they are going to hold it early because they want to be on the strongest footing possible to

basically fight off potential republican litigation regarding ballot access. so it is highly likely that they will still move forward with that virtual roll call vote based on the people i was talking to on the rules committee and a lot of them do expect that kamala harris will be there nominee. laura: you mentioned some of the key folks we have seen come out to back harris as the nominee. is that what we are seeing across the rest of the democratic party, too? laura: we are. she is shoring up support very quickly within this verse 24 hours and just today, vice president harris went to wilmington, delaware, to what was biden hq, which is now harris hq, and president biden phoned in, saying he hoped his staff would give as much of their heart and soul to vice president harris as they did to him. notably, one of the big endorsers for vice president harris is nancy pelosi, the

former speaker, who had expressed to some members that she wanted a more competitive ocess, but harris has secured endorsements from not just nancy pelosi but all of her would-be challengers including governors witmer, schapiro, newsom, and pritzker, all shares endorsed harris. notably, house minority leader hakeem jeffries and senate majority leader chuck schumer have not endorsed her yet. they are expected to meet with her singing sometime this week -- with her soon, sometime this week. when asked by reporters, he did not endorse her. amna: if she were to secure the nomination, what are you hearing about who she might pick as a potential running mate? laura: those considered to be on her short list include governor roy cooper of north carolina, governor andy beshear of kentucky, and then also senator mark kelly of arizona, a notable swing state there, as well as governor josh shapiro of pennsylvania, another big battleground state.

finally, governor jared polis of colorado. all of those men, i am told, are being considered potentially to be her vice president and multiple sources have also told me that they expect vice president harris to pick her own vice presidential candidate as early as this week. democrats are moving on a really fast timeline here because of the fact that they may very well hold that roll call vote for the nominee ahead of their convention in mid-august. amna: laura peron lopez that whirlwind 24 hour in politics -- 24 hours in politics. thank you. although democratic support for harris as the nominee seems to be solidifying, some in the party still want to see an open convention. we'll get two views on this. first up, representative lloyd doggett of texas. he was the first democratic lawmaker to call on president biden to abandon his re-election bid, and has recently called for an open convention. congressman doggett, welcome back to the newshour.

thank you so much for joining us. you have seen what happened in the last 24 hours. the party seems to be lining up behind harris. you previously said that a mini primary of some kind would be good for the next nominee, to help strengthen that person. do you still want to see that happen? rep. doggett: that was the preferable approach. when i called on president biden to step aside three weeks ago, it was in favor of a fair, open, democratic process, but i must say that the 24 hours we have just gone through have been pretty amazing. and there is a question if we had such a primary, who else would be in size. she has secured, as you were just noting in the broadcast, the endorsement of every person that i have heard of who was a possible candidate. so while i think that process would have been better, it would have been better if we had not waited three weeks to get this

to happen. but under these circumstances, i think it is improbable that we do anything other then address this at the convention. i do think there was a reference you just made to the d&c rules that it would be better -- dnc rules that it would be better to ensure they did not preempt us by doing this virtual roll call. it would be better if the vote was actually at the convention. my concern has been that we not have something that just appeared to be a handoff or a decision made here in washington by elected officials but that we engage the whole country. i think the way that is happening is one delegation by state after another is beginning to endorse her. i expect that to happen tonight in my home state of texas when i participate in the delegation meeting. amna: congressman, if there doesn't seem to be anyone who is going to step into challenger and it looks like all the delegates are lining up behind her, she is not at that number

yet, but she could be at least in the associated press's unofficial survey. why wait until the convention to get this sorted? does it make sense for her as a potential nominee to have more time as the presumptive nominee? rep. doggett: i think, if she is out, is the only person seeking nomination, it would be clear to everyone that she is our nominee. the convention is the traditional place for doing this and with the 50 state roll call and the territories, i think that is probably the best place to do it in the open way and i believe what you are seeing is a tremendous amount of enthusiasm that was lacking only a few days ago. we lagged for a year behind president trump and now we have a fighting chance to overcome him. i think the enthusiasm, the outreach he will be doing will really make this convention an exciting event for people to watch. amna: is that as close to an

endorsement as we are going to get from you right now? you have not outright endorsed her yet. will you? rep. doggett: i think it is just a matter of allowing more than 24 hours to ensure there are no other candidates who want to get into the race. i don't expect there to be any. i expect to do an endorsement along with others who have not yet joined because we think, and i have always thought, that she would be an excellent nominee. i just felt it was important to have a process that allowed any and all comers who could meet the requirements of the rules to come and participate. i anticipated that perhaps some wood. she began with such an advantage with the endorsement of president biden that was so firm yesterday and then by the great work she has done to win over apparently every possible opponent as well as so many other elected officials, governors, party officials around the country, it speaks very well of her and suggests the kind of effective campaign she will be running. amna: tell me more about that

potential campaign, knowing the republican ticket that she would be running against with a potential running mate, how do you think she can best run that came -- run that campaign? what is the message if she is confirmed as the nominee and who do you think would be a good running mate for her to help shore up that message? rep. doggett: first, she can point to the accomplishments of the last 3.5 years. significant accomplishments that both she and president biden had a big hand in. second, i think she will point to the issues that really are touching families these days, the economic issues and how she will respond to those as well as the very important issue of our freedoms, particularly the freedom of health care for women but the freedom of all of us that could be suppressed if donald trump and his gang take over our government, having admired foreign dictators of the type of victor or bond and

seeming to have some affinity for hitler's and hitler's generals. that kind of authoritarian approach is quite a turn from the democracy we have enjoyed and that is very much what is at stake and it will all -- it will also be interesting that we have the youthful candidate in this race. i believe president trump ill be the oldest nominee of any political party in american history and our candidate is more of a new generation and i expect that her vice presidential candidate will be part of that. the nominee will be part of that. as far as vice presidential selection, she has so many to choose from. you have listed several of them. i think the overriding consideration will be who can help us in those battleground states because this is a very close race and frankly, i think it is an uphill race where donald trump has the advantage right now but we have new tactics that are obviously creating great challenges for the republicans as they desperately talk of lawsuits and other claims. it is just an indication that

they do not know how to handle a candidate with the talent and ability to excite voters that vice president harris represents. amna: that is congressman lloyd doggett of texas joining us tonight. thank you for your time. always good to speak with you, sir. rep. doggett: thank you so much. amna: and now for another take on the convention process, i'm joined by california sen. alex padilla. he assumed vice president' harris' seat in the senate when she joined the white house and he's endorsed her for president. senator, welcome. thanks for joining us. sen. padilla: thanks for having me. good evening. amna: there is some folks we have heard who are still sort of talking about an open convention of some kind but are there any murmurs you are hearing about anyone who might step into challenger at this point? >> no. not at this point. even though there was some chatter about the possibility yesterday in the wake of president biden's announcement,

i did not really see that happening. you have seen the outpouring of supporters from coast to coast and everywhere in between. it is both a reflection of the strength of kamala harris and our official democratic nominee for president of the united states, but it does not come by any surprise. i have worked with her for a couple of decades now. if there is one thing about kamala harris, she is truly a coalition builder. it is what you need to be successful in california. it is what the party and the country needs at this moment so i am thrilled to be on board and happy to do whatever i can for the next 106 days to make sure we win in november. amna: as president biden endorsed her to take his place at the top of the ticket, she issued a statement and said something that stuck out. she says she intends to earn and win the nomination. what does that mean to you? what do she need to do? sen. padilla: is two parts.

first, to earn this opportunity, because of her decades of public service, her tremendous track record, the values that she brings to the table, in the near term, yes, this is nothing to be taken for granted. there is respect for delegates and democrats beyond that so you know, we are not talking about this being january before the primary season. we have gone through the primary season with 14 million voters voting for the biden/harris ticket. appreciative of president biden's service throughout his career. he has chosen to step aside and he has thrown his weight behind vice president harris. the rules of the party are such that it will be formalized at the convention so vice president harris i think is being respectful as the reporting has covered. she is working the phones and reaching out not just to members of congress on the hill but

elected leaders, community leaders, throughout the country, asking for people's support. people are enthusiastically offering their support and it will be formalized at the convention and we have a lot of work to do to reach out to voters and make sure we organize, mobilize, and get out the vote because the stakes of this election remains perilously high. the threat of donald trump and margaret republicans -- maga republicans is worse by the day. amna: we have seen the trump/vance campaign further tying her to the biden campaign and seeing that, you know, policies that they see of his as a failure, she was also tied to. put a challenger at some point right now actually inoculate her from those kinds of attacks to say that she did go through a process question right there was not an anointing of any kind here. >> yes. what i would say is she is being respectful to the process outline. being respectful of delegates

and other important voices within the democratic party infrastructure. but let's also be real. let's not let donald trump and republicans try to change the focus here. they are going to try to attack her because they are misogynistic, they are racists, and worse. they are trying to attack her because they want to pivot away from their agenda. we just came off of the republican national convention, a weeklong of project 2025 talking points with speaker after speaker spewing false heralds -- fossils and a radical agenda -- falsehoods and a radical agenda. nobody wants to go back to the disaster of his administration. let's continue the progress and leadership of the last 3.5 years after the biden/harris administration. for the next four years, it will be a president harris and vice president to be determined administration. amna: tell me more about that to

be determined. if beating donald trump as the number one goal for democrats right now, which potential running mate gives a potential president harris the best chance to beat that ticket? who should it be? sen. padilla: that is a great question for soon-to-be democratic nominee vice president kamala harris. i would not dare to suggest who it ought to be. the great news is the democratic family has a lot of tremendous talent to offer and i am sure vice president harris will pick somebody who is a great governing partner, somebody who will be prepared to take over on day one if need be, and soebody who will be out there campaigning hard, earning the vote of the american public so that we indeed are successful in november. amna: if she is the nominee, should voters look at this as a continuation of a biden/harris administration or does she need to strike a different direction? sen. padilla: i think it will be

building on the success of the biden/harris administration. my god, we have seen a successful president biden's 3.5 years, better than any president in recent history from the inflation reduction act, reducing costs for working families, by an infrastructure package that is not only modernizing infrastructure across the country by creating thousands, you know, millions of good paying jobs. we have seen -- we came out of a pandemic. we are tackling climate change. really putting the united states back in the leadership position globally when it comes to chips and semiconductors and there is more to build on. what i am eager to hear is the voice of vice president harris, a prosecutor, let's not forget come up against the voice of donald trump, a convicted felon. let's take them to task when it comes to reproductive rights,

when it comes to voting rights, and so much more. it is going to be an exciting campaign and i am looking forward to four more full years once president harris is in the white house. amna: that is california senator alex padilla joining us tonight. thanks for speaking. sen. padilla: thank you. amna: let's take a step back now to delve into vice president harris' record and how she arrived at this pivotal moment. william brangham has a look at her path, from the daughter of immigrants to the favorite for the democratic presidential nominee. william: in the blink of an eye, vice president kamala harris went from being president biden's biggest offender -- vp. harris: one thing we know about our president, joe biden, he is a fighter. william: to the person most likely to replace him on the presidential ballot four months from now. harris securing the nomination would be historic the first time , a black woman leads a major party ticket.

but it would be just the latest in a career of firsts for harris a politician who rose , from district attorney to state attorney general to u.s. senator. in 2021, she became the first woman and first black american and south asian american vice president. vp. harris: while i may be the first woman in this office, i will not be the last. [applause] vp. harris: because every little girl watching tonight sees that this is a country of possibilities. william: harris is the daughter of immigrants from oakland, california. her mother was a scientist who immigrated from india to study at uc berkeley. her father was from jamaica, and became a prominent economist at stanford. in elementary school, harris was bussed from her predominantly black neighborhood to a white one, part of an effort to desegregate local public schools.

she lived in california until she was 12, when harris moved with her mother and sister to canada. harris howard.png harris later -- harris later enrolled at howard university, a historically black college in washington, d.c. where she , studied political science and economics. she then returned to the bay area for law school. and it was in san francisco where harris's political career began. in 2003, she was elected the cities tour district of -- city's district attorney. vp. harris: to be a prosecutor is to be engaged in one of the noblest professions that anyone can do or have. william: her career in law enforcement helped propel her to higher office, but also has earned her a good deal of criticism. california's police unions were livid when she didn't press for the death penalty for a man who killed a police officer. she also championed providing a path for some nonviolent, first time drug offenders to get education and job training to prevent them from reoffending.

vp. harris: when we're talking about serious and violent crime, lock 'em up. but when we're talking about nonviolent crime, that is actually the crime that is occupying the bulk of the public resources and the beds in our system. -- our state prison system. and we need to have a meaningful system to reduce the likelihood that that revolving door will continue. william: in 2010, harris was elected attorney general of california, overseeing the largest state justice department in the u.s. harris's office took on predatory, for-profit colleges and also secured a nearly $20 billion settlement with banks following the 2008 foreclosure crisis. vp. harris: it was imperative that we not give a blank check of immunity to the banks for their wrong-doing. william: harris's tenure as attorney general also coincided with the rise of the black lives matter movement, and the emergence of criminal justice reform as a major issue. in 2015, harris didn't take a position on a state law that would have required independent investigations when police

killed civilians. harris's office also tried to prevent nonviolent prisoners from being released after the u.s. supreme court ruled that california's overcrowded prisons violated inmate's constitutional rights. at the same time, her office launched implicit bias training for law enforcement officers in 2015. vp. harris: we have developed and implemented a policy on implicit bias and racial profiling. william: in 2016, harris was elected to the u.s. senate in a landslide, becoming only the second black woman to serve as a u.s. senator. vp. harris: i intend to fight for truth and transparency and trust. william: as senator, harris shined in hearings with her pointed, prosecutorial questioning of witnesses, including brett kavanaugh, after he'd been nominated to the u.s. supreme court. vp. harris: can you think of any

laws that would give government the power to make decisions about the male body? >> um, i'm happy to answer a more specific question but sot -- vp. harris: versus female? -- male versus female? >> there are medical procedures. vp. harris: that the government has the power to make a decision about a man's body? william: in 2019, with a growing national profile, harris joined the wide field of democrats who lined up to challenge president donald trump. vp. harris: i stand before you today to announce my candidacy for president of the united states. backtime and or wide -- states. william: but her bid for the white house struggled to gain traction, especially as she faced questions about her record as a prosecutor. >> she put over 1500 people in jail for marijuana violations and then laughed about it when asked if she ever smoked marijuana. she blocked evidence that would have freed an innocent man from death row until the courts forced her to do so.

and she fought to keep a cash bail system in place. that impacts poor people in the worst kind of way. vp. harris: as the elected ag of california, i did the work of significantly reforming the criminal justice system of a state of 40 million people, which became a national model for the work that needs to be done. and i am proud of that work. william: harris dropped out of the race before a single ballot was cast. vp. harris: i will keep fighting every day for what this campaign has been about, justice for the people. william: harris eventually endorsed joe biden, and was then chosen by him to be his running mate. vp. harris: in this election, we have a chance to change the course of history. we're all in this fight. you, me, and joe, together. william: in 2020, biden and

harris won a contentious election. vp. harris: we did it! we did it, joe. you're going to be the next president of the united states. [laughter] william: and as vice president, harris's tenure got off to a rocky start. after being tasked with stemming the root causes of migration to the u.s., harris' first trip abroad as vp was to mexico and guatemala. vp. harris: i want to be clear to folks in this region who are thinking about making that dangerous trek to the united states-mexico border, do not come. do not come. william: with increasing numbers of migrants coming to the u.s.-mexico border, harris was criticized for not visiting the region. >> you haven't been to the border. vp. harris: and i haven't been to europe. [laughter] i don't understand the point that you are making. william: although harris later visited the border, it fed into

the perception that the biden administration was not doing enough to curb illegal border crossings. in 2022, texas' governor, republican greg abbott, bussed migrants literally to her front door in washington, d.c. >> kamala harris was saying "there's no problem on the border." she said the border was secure so i felt the need to be involved in the education process. william: in the summer of 2022, the supreme court's dobbs decision overturning the right to abortion marked a turning point for harris. she emerged as a fierce advocate for the administration on abortion rights and women's rights more broadly. vp. harris: do you not trust women to know what is in their own best interest? you some, some legislators in some state capital, the majority of whom are not women, are in a better position to tell her what she should do? william: and with the senate evenly split between democrats and republicans --

vp. harris: the senate being equally divided, the vice-president votes in the affirmative and the bill, as amended, is passed. william: harris's tie-breaking vote was key in many of the biden administration's legislative victories, including the sweeping inflation reduction act which was america's most ambitious effort yet to tackle climate change. harris also took a leading role in efforts to reduce gun violence, overseeing the first-ever office of gun olence prevention. she spoke with geoff bennett last september. >> -- geoff: absent congressional action, how will that effort make a significant change? vp. harris: well, congressional action is very important. there's no question about that. but, sadly, a lot of folks there just don't have the courage to do it. the work that we are doing is to make sure that we are implementing all of the executive orders that have already been implemented in the past. william: with president biden now out of the race the , 59-year-old kamala harris will again see her career and record closely examined, as she tries to both unify the democratic

party behind her bid, and then turn her sights on defeating the former president. for the pbs newshour, i'm william brangham amna: to discuss the future of the presidential race, i'm joined by our politics monday team. that's amy walter of the cook political report with amy walter and tamara keith of npr, who is in rehoboth beach with the pool of reporters covering president biden. great to see you both. you saw laura reported on the daily show support from democratic lawmakers lining up behind vice president harris and a lot of the names you had been floated as potential challengers, governor gavin newsom, governor gretchen whitmer of michigan, transportation secretary pete buttigieg, have all endorsed for now. why do you think the party coalesced around her so quickly? amy: i think they realized that it was getting late very quickly. and that there is only three

weeks until the convention. we only have four months until election day. and that they had spent three weeks basically wringing their hands after the june 27 debate about what to do about joe biden , watching their call numbers releasing fairy deeply and down ballot candidates really starting to get incredibly nervous about the impact of the top of the ticket on their own races. i think what they saw was that they needed to lineup immediately behind a different candidate and put all their effort into making that work. amna: she has hit the ground running. vice president harris visited the campaign headquarters earlier today, i trust the staff that is now her team and she delivered this message about how she plans to take a powerful message directly to former president trump. take a listen. vp. harris: -- creditors who

abused women, fraudsters who ripped off consumers. cheaters who broke the rules for their own game. so hear me when i say, i know donald trump's type. amna: there is the taking on donald trump part of this and there is also the potentially shoring up parts of the voting blocks where president biden had been weak. what is the harris strategy there? can she do that? tamara: already, young voters are more excited than they were before. she is a very meme-able candidate and her videos are all over tiktok and young people are excited. you are seeing, and i will be honest, i cannot fully explain it, but you are seeing coconut emojis all over the place because of something she said a year ago that has become a meme. she is bringing new life to this campaign for democrats as we

have talked about many times before and even before that very bad debate that president biden had. democats had an unease with him. they were worried he was too old. democrats told pollsters and said it in focus groups that they hoped the party would have another candidate. i don't think many people imagined that it would happen exactly this way but this is what has happened. president biden had said he is a big believer in fate. fate intervened with that debate and then the three weeks are just growing concern and anxiety among democrats and you saw it with the fundraising. $81 million in the first 24 hours, that is record-breaking fundraising coming from small dollar donors. these are people, 60% of them were new according to the campaign. these are people who had been holding back, who were not excited, and there was some sort of a pent-up demand among democrats to show that excitement. she's also certainly reaching out to african-american voters.

the divine nine black sororities and fraternities and there is a well of energy that exists for harris and who she is in a history she could make. republicans also want to tap into that and paint her as extreme. amna: from what we know about why voters have been backing away from the biden/harris campaign in the last several months, the donor support is one thing. party officials and lawmakers lining up behind her is another. does all of that translate to the polls? do we know? amy: that is the question. so just to get a little bit wonky for one second, but i think we have to be careful not to look at polls taken before sunday as indicative of where kamala harris is in terms of her matchup with donald trump or even how people feel about her. they may have answered polls in which they said when asked, what

do you think about kamala harris being the president or running? but they are hypothetical in the same way that i can ask you about something theoretical about like a meal you are going to have but until you ashley have it, you cannot really tell me what the experience was so i think it's going to be an interesting few weeks as people start to digest this. and you are right, i think at minimum what it does is it does energize both the donor base and voter base that has been sort of depressed, for lack of a better term, so what this does is it helps to raise her floor. in other words, if she gets the base back, that is really good news if you are the harris campaign. the challenge is going to be getting those swing voters onto her side, and that, we don't know yet how they are going to react either to her, the way she came into this position, and the fact, remember, she does bring some energy to the democratic base, but she carries all the

same baggage because as we will hear from republicans, she was, you know, principally sourced to work on the border. she is in the white house when a whole bunch of other stuff past including the inflation reduction act and others that they are no doubt going to remind voters that she cannot separate herself from the actions of the administration as a whole. amna: we have already seen republicans working very hard to link her to president biden, to what they call his failed policies and if you look at the republican play, naming j.d. vance to the ticket was really a doubling down on the base, and it is a straight play for the blue wall, the four states he kept mentioning over and over of michigan, wisconsin, pennsylvania. in the world of potential running mates for a possible president harris nomination, not

many here, where do you democrats have the most potential advantage? who could help her out most of meted against this republican ticket? >> there are some swings. the governor of pennsylvania, for instance, or the governor of north carolina, roy cooper, who is someone who is actually quite popular in a swing state, if you are being generous. he is a democrat who has won twice with trump on the ballot. that is a state that has been a reach for democrats and is something they could be looking for but i also want to just be realistic about how important the vice presidential pick is. we all love to talk about it. it's extremely fun and great to play those games and think about scenarios but in the end, the president, the nominee is running for president. the vice presidential nominee can only do so much. they can do harm but they can only help so much. amna: amy, do you agree with

that? amy: absolutely. it helps around the margins but in an era where everything is decided by the margins, i think that is important. there is also the question about sending a message not just about the candidate, who they are and where they are from, but what their age is, what their background is. it would be a generational shift to pick somebody like josh shapiro who is in his late 40's and having kamala harris, it would also, you know, sort of make a gen x argument for the democrats versus a baby boom presidential candidate on the republican side. amna: i realize there's still questions ahead. democrats have to work out the rules for the infrastructure moving forward but you noted as we began this conversation that it was three weeks ago, that debate unfolded that led to this whirlwind of activity. we have seen in the last few weeks, and we have basically that exact same time to go

before the democratic convention begins. is the chaos portion of this election cycle over or is there greater uncertainty ahead? >> are never going to say anything is over. we do have to, as tam pointed out, and laura, the campaign infrastructure is self seems to be settling into place. basically, they are can bit -- conveying the biden campaign to the harris campaign and that will take a little bit of time. i'm sure there will be some bumps along the way there. harris has to go out and perform as a candidate. she has not had to do that as a candidate since she was -- well, not even on the trail. in 2020, when they were campaigning remotely and before that in her failed. for the nomination. this is a very different experience that she is going to have to get up to speed on. amna: different experience for all of us to cover as well.

go ahead. tamara: i think it is going to be a race to define harris between republicans and the trump campaign and harris and her campaign. amna: alright. that is our politics monday team. always great to see you both. thank you. >> you are welcome. ♪ amna: more than a week after the assassination attempt on former president trump, secret service director kimberly cheadle testified before the house oversight committee today. lawmakers from both parties were visibly angry with her testimony. it comes as calls for her resignation grow and the investigations into the agency multiply. nick schifrin has our report. >> the committee will come to order. nick: during a bruising bipartisan blowup -- >> cut corners when it comes to

protecting one of the most well-known individuals on the planet. >> that is not my question, and now, i think you are evading the question. nick: kimberly cheadle was tightlipped despite demands from both parties for her resignation. >> i believe that you should resign. >> because donald trump is alive, and thank god he is, you look incompetent. if he had been killed, you would look culpable. nick: it has been nine days since the secret service's no significant failure in more than 40 years. former president donald trump, his ear pierced by bullets fired from a military style rifle from 450 feet away. she confirmed local law enforcement photographed the shooter 18 minutes before trump began but the secret service initially identified him only as suspicious rather than a threat. illinois democrat roger christian. >> that doesn't look like suspicious behavior.

that looks like threatening behavior to me and the rally was not paused at that point either, correct? >> i can tell you as i stated earlier, sir, the moment that the shift surrounding the president were aware of an actual threat -- >> that is a threat right there. the guy is on the roof and everybody yelling at him. nick: she confirmed that the shooter, thomas matthew crooks, used a drone to surveil part of the site and brought explosives and a detonator. she also said she apologized to former president trump and that the buck stops with her. >> on july 13, we failed. as a director of the united states secret service, i take full responsibility for any security lapse of our agency. nick: but she declined to answer many questions because of multiple ongoing investigations including how exactly crooks got on the roof with a direct line of sight of trump and killed corey comperatore while he shielded his family. arizona republican andy biggs. >> what did they determine was

going to be the event parameters? >> i don't want to speak to the specifics. >> this is a specific that you want to know. as someone who said the buck stops with me, i'm going to stay at my job and give the answers to the american people and i know what happened, except for you are not going to tell us. you are not going to tell the american people. nick: she refused to answer questions about a topic multiple democrats rates, crooks -- raised, crooks's legal access to firearms. >> how did he actually bring it onto an unsecured perimeter who for days had been planning a mass shooting event? i think that, madam director, with all due respect, the answers that we have received here in this hearing today are completely unsatisfactory. nick: she insisted the secret

service approved trump campaign lawyer requests for security at the rally but she refused to say whether the secret service rejected previous requests for additional security as confirmed by her spokesman this weekend and highlighted by ohio republican and judiciary chairman jim jordan. >> were you guessing or lying when you said you did not return -- turn down requests from president trump's detail? >> neither, sir, and i appreciate the question. >> what were you doing? those statements don't jive. >> today, the secret service agents who defended trump by risking their own lives were called heroes. their boss left the hearing as a villain. >> this committee is not known for its bipartisan -- it's model of bipartisanship, but i think today, we came together unanimously in our disappointment for your lack of answers. nick: for the pbs news hour, i am nick schifrin. ♪

amna: in the days other headlines, -- in the day's other headlines, israeli airstrikes tore through buildings in and around the southern gaza city of khan younis, killing at least 38 people. medical staff at nasser hospital called the situation "out of control". the overall death toll in gaza has now surpassed 39,000 since the war began. that's according to the hamas-run gaza health ministry. those strikes come as israel ordered a new evacuation for an area near khan younis that it had designated a humanitarian zone. israel now says hamas fighters have embedded there. many palestinians expressed anguish over being uprooted once again. >> we do not know where we are walking in god's vast land. every day we are displaced. this is the seventh or eighth time we have been displaced. while we were sleeping in our homes, they started shooting at us. bombing from everywhere.

amna: also today, israel announced the death of two israeli hostages. they've been identified as 76-year-old alex dancyg and yagev buchshtab who was 35. officials say they were kidnapped from their homes in southern israel during the october 7 attack. that comes as prime minister benjamin netanyahu met with several families of those held in gaza before departing for washington. he's due to meet with president biden this week, and has reportedly requested a meeting with donald trump. netanyahu will address a joint session of congress on wednesday. a gunman in croatia killed six people and wounded half-a-dozen others at a nursing home today. the shooting took place in the town of daruvar in the center of the country. officials say the victims were residents of the home, mostly in their 80's and 90's, and included the suspect's mother, as well as an employee. the suspect is in policy custody, and authorities are trying to determine a motive. the country's prime minister said he was, quote, "horrified and dismayed" by the attack. body camera footage released today shows the chaotic moments in which a black woman in springfield illinois was shot

and killed by a white sheriff's deputy. authorities say sonya massey had called 911 earlier this month to report a suspected prowler. one video from the encounter that followed shows former sangamon county sheriff's deputy sean grayson yelling at her about moving a pot from the stove. a bit later in the video he pulls his gun, she ducks, and he then fires his pistol at her three times. greyson was fired last week. he faces 45 years to life for murder, among other charges. greyson has pleaded not guilty. wildfires and extreme temperatures are wreaking havoc across large parts of the western united states. almost 11 million americans are under an excessive heat warning today. temperatures remain high in the pacific northwest, where a number of wildfires are ongoing in places like oregon and washington. fires are also blazing in both northern california and near los angeles.

in utah, meanwhile, evacuation orders have been lifted for a wildfire near salt lake city. but officials warned residents to remain ready to evacaute, with the fire only partially under control. hunter biden has dropped a lawsuit against fox news over the use of explicit images of him in a streaming series. the complaint had accused fox of violating new york's so-called revenge porn law. the case stemmed from a fictional fox nation mini-series from 2022 that featured graphic images of the president's son as part of a mock trial. fox had described the lawsuit as "entirely politically motivated" . the dismissal notice was filed the same day that hunter's father, president joe biden, dropped out of the 2024 race. a court in central russia has convicted a russian-american journalist of spreading false information about the military in a rushed and secret trial. alsu kurmasheva is a journalist with the u.s.-funded radio free

europe-radio liberty based in prague. she was sentenced to six and a half years in prison, which her employer called a "mockery of justice." today a state deparment spokesperson called for kurmasheva's release. >> she's a dedicated journalist who is being targeted by russian authorities for uncompromising commitment to speaking the truth, and her principaled reporting. journalism is not a crime. amna: kurmasheva is one of nine u.s. citizens known to be detained in russia. the arrest of americans has become increasingly common, as tensions between the two nations escalate over the war in ukraine. on wall street today,stocks ended higher as tech shares rebounded from last week's losses. the dow jones industrial average gained more than 100 points to start the week. the nasdaq jumped 280 points, to close above 18,000. the s&p 500 also ended sharply higher. and lebron james has been selected as the men's flag-bearer at friday night's opening ceremony at the paris olympics.

the nba's all-time leading scorer heard the news in london, surrounded by his teammates. fellow superstar steph curry nominated him. james will be the first u.s. men's basketball player to carry the flag. he first appeared at the olympics in 2004. team u.s.a's female flagbearer is due to be revealed tomorrow. and that's the newshour for tonight. i'm amna nawaz. on behalf of the entire newshour team, thank you for joining us. ♪ >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by -- ♪ >> supported by the macarthur foundation, committed to building a more just, verdant, and peaceful world. more information at macfound.org. and with the ongoing support of these institutions.

this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. ♪ [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy.] >> you are watching pbs.

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