Harris continues media blitz with 3 more national interviews

Oct 9, 2024 9:32 AM – 1856 words

By The Associated Press

Vice President Kamala Harris is continuing her media tour Tuesday with three more interviews for national audiences, with Election Day now just four weeks away.

The Democratic presidential nominee appeared in New York with the women of "The View," spoke with radio host Howard Stern, and taped a show with late-night comedian Stephen Colbert. The trio of appearances comes after Harris granted interviews to CBS' "60 Minutes," which aired Monday night, and Anderson Cooper's podcast, which was released Sunday.

The blitz comes after Harris has largely avoided interviews since replacing President Joe Biden at the top of the Democratic ticket. Long past the midway point of her unexpected presidential campaign and with voting already underway, Harris is still introducing herself to Americans who will determine her fate in this year's presidential election.

Follow the AP's Election 2024 coverage at: https://apnews.com/hub/election-2024.

Here's the latest:

Harris sits down for a beer with Colbert

Harris had a beer during the taping of the "Late Show with Stephen Colbert," though she didn't actually drink much of it.

Colbert asked the vice president to have a beer with him during the taping and noted, "You asked for Miller High Life." Harris opened her beer and took a sip, saying, "The last time I had a beer was a baseball game with Doug," her husband, Second Gentlemen Doug Emhoff.

After his own drink, Colbert joked that it "tastes like the beautiful city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin" where it was brewed.

Colbert then referenced Trump losing manufacturing, auto plants and the election as president and if that made him a loser. Harris said she heard at one of her rallies and "I thought it was funny" before adding with a laugh, "This is what happens when I drink beer.

Harris needles Trump over book’s claims

Harris is highlighting reports that then-President Donald Trump sent COVID-19 test kits to Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2020, when they were still very hard to find in the United States.

Appearing on "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert," Harris was asked about Bob Woodward 's new book, "War" and said, "Donald Trump secretly sent COVID test kits to Putin for his personal use."

"You remember what those days were like? You remember how many people did not have tests and were trying to scramble to get them. Remember how rare it was to have them. You remember people by the hundreds were dying every day," Harris said, adding, "And this man is giving covid test kits to Vladimir Putin. Think about what this means." She added, "He thinks Vladimir Putin is his friend. What about the American people? They should be your first friends."

Trump has denied the book's report, saying the information about the COVID tests was false.

Harris to appear on late-night TV

Vice President Kamala Harris has taped an appearance on the "Late Show with Stephen Colbert," the third of her trio of national interviews.

The Democratic presidential nominee spent Tuesday in New York and appeared on "The View" before sitting for an interview with radio personality Howard Stern and then doing the Late Show appearance.

Perhaps the most memorable of all her answers came on "The View," when Harris was asked to identify a decision where she would have gone another way than President Joe Biden. Harris responded, "There is not a thing that comes to mind."

Colbert also asked Harris what would the major changes compared to Biden. But the vice president still didn't offer major breaks with the current White House occupant, saying, "I'm obviously not Joe Biden, so that would be one change" before noting that she's also not former President Donald Trump.

As she has in the past, Harris also slammed Trump for spreading misinformation around federal recovery efforts related to Hurricane Helene, telling Colbert, "What just upsets me so is that any politician would play political games with these folks."

"Have you no empathy, man," she asked.

Romney reiterates opposition to Trum

p but won’t endorse Harris

Utah's outgoing U.S. Sen. Mitt Romney reiterated Tuesday in Salt Lake City that he will not vote for Donald Trump in November.

But the moderate Republican, who has been one of Trump's most outspoken critics, said he won't be joining a growing group of high-profile Republicans including former U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney and a Trump White House aide, who have publicly endorsed Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris.

"I've made it very clear that I don't want Donald Trump to be the next president of the United States, and you're going to have to do the very difficult calculation of what that would mean, alright," Romney said during a talk at The Hinkley Institute of Politics at the University of Utah.

The Utah senator said he wants to continue to have a voice in a Republican Party that he thinks might need to be rebuilt after this election cycle.

"I believe I will have more influence in the party by virtue of saying it as I've said it," he explained.

Woodward’s book details Trump’s post-presidency calls with Putin

Bob Woodward writes in his new book "War" that Trump has had as many as seven private phone calls with Vladimir Putin since leaving office and that he secretly sent the Russian president COVID-19 test machines in 2020.

Woodward reports that Trump asked an aide to leave his office at Mar-a-Lago so that the former president could have a private call with Putin in early 2024. Woodward also reports that Putin told Trump not to tell anyone about sending him COVID-19 test machines. Trump's communications director Steven Cheung said the book was filled with "made up stories."

Harris, in an interview Tuesday with radio host Howard Stern, accused Trump of giving the machines to a "murderous dictator" at a time when "everyone was scrambling" to get tests.

"This person who wants to be president again, who secretly is helping out an an adversary while the American people are dying by the hundreds every day," the Democratic presidential candidate.

The Associated Press obtained an early copy of the book, which is due out next week.

Poll shows Harris faring well and Trump faring poorly with Black voters

Black registered voters have an overwhelmingly positive view of Harris, according to a recent poll from the AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

About 7 in 10 Black voters have a somewhat or very favorable view of Harris, with few differences between Black men and women voters on how they view the Democratic candidate.

Black voters' opinions of Trump, by contrast, were overwhelmingly negative, underscoring the challenges he faces as he seeks to erode Harris' support among Black men.

But the poll also found that despite this dramatic gap in views, many Black voters don't see Harris as a candidate who will set the country on a better trajectory or make a substantial difference in their own lives.

Jill Biden to launch 5-day campaign tour for Harris campaign

Jill Biden will return to the campaign trail this week on a tour of battleground states to help boost the Harris-Walz campaign.

Harris' campaign and the White House announced Tuesday that the first lady will depart Friday on a five-day, five-state swing with stops in Arizona, Nevada, Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.

The appearances will mark the first lady's return to campaigning. She had campaigned extensively for her husband, President Joe Biden, when he was running for reelection. But she pulled back after Biden folded his campaign and endorsed Harris to replace him on the Democratic ticket.

With four weeks to go until Election Day, Harris' campaign said the first lady will be urging people to get out and vote. The campaign noted that early voting is set to start Wednesday in Arizona and that mail ballots are going out in the five states that Jill Biden will be visiting.

Democratic senators take different approaches on Biden as he campaigns in swing states

President Joe Biden is campaigning through two key swing states, but two Democratic senators locked in competitive reelection battles are taking markedly different approaches to the outgoing president.

Biden will be fully embraced by Democratic Sen. Bob Casey when he participates in a private campaign fundraiser in suburban Philadelphia for the senior Pennsylvania senator.

But in Milwaukee, where Biden is spotlighting his administration's efforts to replace the nation's toxic lead pipes, incumbent Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin will be conspicuously absent.

Biden has spent scant time on the campaign trail since ending his reelection effort in July. That makes his stops in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin - two tightly contested states that Harris and Trump see as crucial - all the more notable.

But as Biden makes a quick swing through the key states, two Democratic senators locked in competitive reelection battles are taking markedly different approaches to the outgoing president, whose approval ratings in a significant swath of the country remain in the pits.

Casey's and Baldwin's races are also seen as must-wins for Democrats who are trying to maintain their razor-tight control of the Senate.

Trump speaks in Florida as Hurricane Milton approaches

Trump spoke at Trump International Doral in Miami, headlining a memorial service for the attack on Oct. 7, 2023, against Israel, telling his audience the threat of Hurricane Milton wouldn’t have kept him away.

"I think I'm the only person who flew into Florida today," Trump said at the outset of his remarks. "I wouldn't have missed it, regardless."

Milton, a Category 5 hurricane, could come ashore Wednesday in the Tampa Bay region.

Trump said he had never heard of a Category 5 hurricane hitting land. However, hurricanes Andrew and Michael in Florida were Category 5, the latter of which struck during his administration.

Biden spoke with DeSantis about hurricane preparation

President Joe Biden has spoken with Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis to discuss preparations in Florida for the approaching Hurricane Milton and ongoing recovery efforts from the devastation caused by Hurricane Helene.

The White House confirmed the president's call with the governor after Harris earlier on Monday accused DeSantis of "playing political games" and engaging in "political gamesmanship" over the federal response to Helene.

Biden, according to the White House, asked DeSantis "to call him directly if there is anything that can be done to further support the response and recovery efforts."

Harris' office suggested earlier that DeSantis was dodging Harris, saying she reached out to the governor last week but the two never spoke.

DeSantis said that he "didn't know that she had called" and "they didn't call me."

Biden also spoke on Monday with Tampa Mayor Jane Castor and received a detailed briefing from National Weather Service Director Ken Graham on the expected impact Milton will cause.

Graham stressed during the briefing that people in the storm's path should evacuate now while there's time to do so.