so linsey, still a lot of questions. >> linsey: maryalice parks, thanks so much.

let's bring in abc's white house correspondent maryalice parks. maryalice, what more are you learning about this tonight? >> reporter: yeah, whit. we don't know much, the trump campaign saying they were hacked by foreign sources. they make reference to a microsoft report that came out yesterday that does say that in june, a group run by the iranian intelligence unit sent a spear fishing email to a high ranking member of the presidential campaign. we asked for more details and microsoft wouldn't specify which campaign. the trump team has not provided more details. in its report, microsoft says it has been tracking attempts at election interference by several bad actors, multiple potential foreign entities. and the white house just a few minutes ago got back to me and would not confirm any of this to me, but they did go on record saying they take any

maryalice, good morning. >> reporter: yeah, mary. good morning.e comes from one of the most famous families in democratic politics, but now independent candidate robert f. kennedy jr., whose campaign has the last two months been marked by a few bizarre stories, says he is ending his campaign backing former president donald trump. overnight, a major endorsement and shake-up in the presidential race. independent candidate robert f. kennedy jr. taking the stage with donald trump. >> i'm very pleased to welcome a man who has been an incredible champion for so many of these values that we all share, and we've shared them for a long time. >> reporter: rfk endorsing the former president. >> don't you want a president who is going to protect america's freedoms? >> reporter: and suspending his own campaign. >> we don't agree on everything, but on the values and the issues that bind us together. >> reporter: telling supporters he will try to remove his name from the ballot in swing states where he could be a spoiler for trump. in this extremely tight race k

abc's maryalice parks is here. good morning, maryalice.ite literally go time now. >> yeah, gio, good morning. it's the end of summer, and that means the start of this final leg in the sprint to the white house. the campaigns are counting down to that debate, and, yes, working to get out the vote now with some ballots in crucial states like north carolina mailed out the end of this week. former president donald trump overnight speaking at the national summit of the controversial parents rights organization moms for liberty known for pushing book bans and upping attacks on public schoolteachers focusing on immigration. >> our country is being poisoned, poisoned, and your schools and your children are suffering greatly. >> reporter: education front and center. gwen walz, wife of democratic vice presidential candidate governor tim a public school teacher herself holding her first solo event with fellow educators. >> say it with me, we are not going back. one more time in your best teacher voice, we are not going back! >> reporter: earlier frid

maryalice, what has the response been to vice president harris' economic plan? >> yeah, i mean, i think that rachael is exactly right. five-point plans rarely win elections, but i think they can help in this case if it makes her look a little more serious compared to donald trump. i mean, rachael is exactly right too in that we've seen such little policy at this point that the fact that she put anything to paper, i think, that, you know, she'll get some points for. you know, progressives that i talk to say that she does get really high marks for talking about food and housing.

maryalice, let's start with you.ot coming out and doing a news conference and speaking to the media answering questions. also, we've seen harris and walz presenting themselves as these warriors, this joyful part of the campaign. what is the strategy here? >> look, i think there's legit criticism there that she hasn't done a press conference yet, hasn't sat for a formal interview. so much has happened in 2 1/2 weeks. there are so many questions. i mean, we're reporters. we like more press conferences all the time. >> whit: of course. >> but she's going to have to define her campaign more. she will have to flush out her policy positions. but that strategy you're talking about, that joyful warrior presence, that excitement leaning into the laughing, it has been effective out there on the campaign trail. amazing how quickly she's kind of branded herself like that, blunting criticism that she laughs too much. she looks and sounds different than president biden. i think that it's reminding democrats they don't have to feel

maryalice parks is at the white house. >> reporter: tonight, kamala harris back home in san francisco closing out a cross country tour with her new running mate, minnesota governor tim walz, and getting a fund-raising boost from former house speaker nancy pelosi, who was central to democrats pushing president biden out of the race. biden today revealing new details about his historic decision. >> although it's a great honor being president, i think i have an obligation to the country to do the most important thing you can do, that is we must, we must, we must defeat trump. >> reporter: biden saying he did not want to be a distraction, and that a number of his colleagues worried he could be a drag on their races. ♪ freedom ♪ >> reporter: tonight, harris starting to lay out her agenda, echoing trump's calls to make tips tax-free at a rally in las vegas. but also saying she would push to raise the minimum wage. >> it is my promise to everyone here, when i am president, we will continue our fight for working families of america. >> reporter: trump accusing harris of stealing his idea, whi

abc's white house correspondent maryalice parks is on the campaign trail tonight in pennsylvania. >> reporter: a new candidate and a whole new race. tonight, hours from the start of the dnc, new polls showing vice president kamala harris transforming the 2024 election dynamic. eclipsing president joe biden in the race to defeat former president donald trump. >> the real and true measure of the strength of a leader is based on who you lift up. that's what we see as strength. we know what strength looks like. that's what strength looks like. anybody who is about beating down other people is a coward. >> reporter: harris now with a six-point lead nationwide among likely voters, in our new abc news "washington post" poll. harris invigorating young voters, now up by 20 points. biden had only been up by two. independent voters now favoring harris by 11 points. biden was down four points against trump. republican vice presidential nominee senator jd vance not taking those numbers to heart. >> kamala harris got a bit of a sugar high a couple of weeks ago but what we've actually seen is from

maryalice, what has the response been to vice president harris' economic plan?is exactly right. five-point plans rarely win elections, but i think they can help in this case if it makes her look a little more serious compared to donald trump. i mean, rachael is exactly right too in that we've seen such little policy at this point that the fact that she put anything to paper, i think, that, you know, she'll get some points for. you know, progressives that i talk to say that she does get really high marks for talking about food and housing. it was interesting, like you said, she's talking about how she wants to go after big chains, bit corporations she thinks have engaged in price gouging. republicans say that's the wrong place to place blame, but we'll see if voters buy in to that tact when it comes to high food prices. housing is interesting because so much is decided at the local level. zoning decisions are decided at the local level. everyone across the board knows it's a crisis, but it's actually really hard for the federal government to work on. i think she

you heard in maryalice parks' piece as a communist.eeds to go out there and show who she is and what her agenda is for the next four years in contrast to what the republicans are saying about her. >> gio: all right. jonathan karl as always, thank you so much, my friend. and abc news will cover the democratic national convention in chicago this week beginning monday in primetime streaming on abc newslive at 7:00 p.m. eastern and then right here on the network at 10:00 p.m. monday night. tune into a special edition of "this week" later this morning. martha raddatz is at the dnc in chicago and we'll speak to illinois senator tammy duckworth and mayor brandon johnson before the convention kicks off on monday. mary? >> mary: okay, gio, overseas now. ukraine continues its incursion in russia's kursk region. breaking overnight, the ukrainian air force reporting it's destroyed a second bridge in the region. this after another bridge was demolished on friday. the bridges are critically important for supplying russian troops. this comes of cours

abc's maryalice parks is following that side of the story. good morning, maryalice.do you hear? >> reporter: the white house is telling us that has been closely monitoring these events, talking to his national security team throughout the evening. the administrative officials have been talking continuously to their israeli counterparts. the spokesperson wrote, we will keep supporting israel's right to defend itself, and we will keep working were regional stability. that is the concern. the u.s. has been on high alert these last few weeks rushing an additional carrier strike group to the region to deter iran as weighing its own possible retribution strikes against israel. the region as you heard there, just more intense after those back-to-back assaults. the big question now, will this escalation overnight impact those ceasefire talks that were set to get under way in egypt? the fact that both sides seem to have focused squarely on military targets and that iran has not yet added to this response could be a good sign for those talks to go forward. i will tell you the

let's bring in abc's white house correspondent maryalice parks. what are you learning?> reporter: we don't know much, the trump campaign saying they were hacked by foreign sources. that's their claim. they reference a microsoft report that came out yesterday that said in june a group run by irani intelligence unit sent a spear fishing email to a campaign. we asked for more details and microsoft wouldn't specify which campaign. the trump team has not provided more details. in its report, microsoft says it's been tracking election interference attempts from many bad actors and potential foreign entities. the white house would not confirm any of this to me, but they did go on record saying they take any reports like this extremely seriously. >> another concern in this election. thanks. tune in tomorrow morning for more of jon karl's interview with jd vance. >>> now a disturbing mystery in maui. the fbi and maui police are investigating improvised explosive devices in multiple locations. the fbi now issuing a warning to the public as they search for a suspect. here's abc's

maryalice parks joins us from washington.e are learning more about how democrats plan to honor biden at their convention. >> reporter: that's right. this was supposed to be his convention. it is a delicate and unique challenge for democrats to honor him and acknowledge how quickly everything in this race changed. we know the president and the first lady will be speaking monday night. his team says there will be nods to the president, big and small, throughout the week, including some of his hallmark quotes highlighted throughout the convention site. >> abc news will cover the democratic national convention in chicago beginning monday streaming live at 7:00 p.m. eastern and beginning at 10:00 p.m. monday night. martha raddatz is at the dnc in chicago and will speak to tammy duckworth. and mayor brandon johnson before the convention kicks off on monday. >>> hurricane ernesto battering bermuda. strong winds knocking down trees and power lines, more than a half foot of rain falling. officials are warning for the potential of life

let's bring in maryalice parks who joins us from the white house. mary alice, what are you hearing? were not involved in any military operations, but did provide intelligence, surveillance. the u.s. officials are breathing a sigh of relief. president biden was getting updates throughout the day from his national security team. they also had intelligence that hezbollah was planning an extensive attack. it seems to israel was able to undercut that defend itself. earlier this month, the pentagon rushed military assets to the region, including that second carrier strike group with four accompanying destroyers. there's a squadron of f-22 fighter jets in qatar. all of this to deter any further escalation from iran or its proxies. we're told that both of the strike groups will stay. there's concern about whether iran could still be thinking about a retaliatory strike in response to that hamas leader that was killed in tehran. as far as the cease-fire talks, the white house telling me, that even though hamas rejected the proposal, they think the meets were constructive. but real questions a