Trump recommits to a Sept. 10 debate and lashes out at Harris at news conference
PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) 鈥� Donald Trump recommitted to debating Vice President Kamala Harris after recently backing out, holding a lengthy news conference Thursday in which he taunted his new rival, boasted of his crowd on Jan. 6, 2021, and lashed out at questions about the enthusiasm her campaign has been generating.
As the Republican presidential nominee addressed reporters at his Palm Beach, Florida, estate, ABC announced that Trump and Harris, the Democratic nominee, have agreed to a Sept. 10 debate, setting up a widely anticipated faceoff in an already unparalleled election. Trump said he had proposed three debates with three television networks in September.
Trump again wrongly insisted there had been a 鈥減eaceful transfer鈥� of power in 2021 and renewed attacks on Republican rivals like Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, whom Trump has harshly criticized since Kemp refused to go along with his false theories of election fraud.
In taking questions from reporters for more than an hour, Trump tried to draw a contrast with Harris, who has not held a news conference since President Joe Biden's withdrawal from the race.
Trump's decision to go on ABC sets up a high-stakes moment in an election where Biden's catastrophic performance in the last debate set in motion his withdrawal.
___
FACT FOCUS: A look at claims made by Trump at news conference
In his first news conference since Vice President Kamala Harris became the Democratic nominee for president, former President Donald Trump said he would debate her on Sept. 10 and pushed for two more debates. The Republican presidential nominee spoke for more than an hour, discussing a number of issues facing the country and then taking questions from reporters. He made a number of false and misleading claims. Many of them have been made before.
Here's a look at some of those claims. ___
CLAIM: 鈥淭he biggest crowd I鈥檝e ever spoken 鈥� I鈥檝e spoken to the biggest crowds. Nobody鈥檚 spoken to crowds bigger than me. If you look at Martin Luther King when he did his speech, his great speech, and you look at ours, same real estate, same everything, same number of people, if not we had more. And they said he had a million people, but I had 25,000 people.鈥�
THE FACTS: Trump was comparing the crowd at his speech in front of the White House on Jan. 6, 2021, to the crowd that attended Martin Luther King Jr.鈥檚 famous 鈥淚 Have a Dream鈥� speech on Aug. 28, 1963, at the Lincoln Memorial.
But far more people are estimated to have been at the latter than the former.
___
Harris and Walz show their support for organized labor with appearance at Detroit union hall
WAYNE, Mich. (AP) 鈥� Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, played up their support for organized labor at a Detroit-area union hall on Thursday, with the Democratic nominee saying 鈥渨e're all in this together鈥� as the new ticket lavishes attention on a crucial base of support.
Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, and Walz, who joined the ticket on Tuesday, spoke Thursday to about 100 United Auto Workers members at Local 900 Hall, which represents Ford鈥檚 Michigan Assembly Plant. The stop occurred shortly after Republican nominee Donald Trump held a press conference in Palm Beach, Florida.
As she proclaimed that it was 鈥済ood to be in the house of labor," Harris described the value of unions, saying they were 鈥渁bout understanding that no one should be made to fight alone鈥� and that 鈥渉ard work is good work.鈥�
鈥淲e have fun doing hard work, because we know what we stand for,鈥� she said. "When you know what you stand for, you know what to fight for. We know what we stand for, and we stand for the people and we stand for the dignity of work, and we stand for freedom. We stand for justice. We stand for equality.
She continued: 鈥淎nd so we will fight for all of it.鈥�
___
A deadly tornado, flooding rains and swollen rivers plague residents in the path of Debby
LUCAMA, N.C. (AP) 鈥� Tornadoes spawned by Debby leveled homes, damaged a school and killed one person early Thursday, as the tropical system dropped heavy rain and flooded communities across North and South Carolina.
It only took 15 seconds for a tornado to devastate Genesis Cooper鈥檚 home in Lucama, North Carolina, a small town about 40 miles (64 kilometers) east of Raleigh. He almost slept through it 鈥� if not for an alert on his wife鈥檚 phone.
He, his wife and their 20-year-old son huddled in a bathroom with blankets. They felt vibrations and heard glass shattering before hearing a sudden boom.
鈥淚 can鈥檛 even describe it. It鈥檚 like, suction, that鈥檚 what it felt like,鈥� Cooper said. 鈥淟ike something is squeezing, like your ears are popping.鈥�
The tornado was one of at least three reported overnight in North Carolina, and perhaps the most devastating. One person was found dead in a home damaged by the Lucama tornado, Wilson County spokesman Stephen Mann said in an email. No further details on the person were immediately provided.
___
Suspects in foiled attack on Taylor Swift shows were inspired by Islamic State group, officials say
VIENNA (AP) 鈥� Both suspects in a foiled plot to attack Taylor Swift shows in Vienna appeared to be inspired by the Islamic State group and al-Qaida, Austrian authorities said Thursday, and investigators found bomb-making materials at one of their homes. Officials said one of the two confessed to planning to 鈥渒ill as many people as possible outside the concert venue.鈥�
Three sold-out concerts were canceled Wednesday because of the plot, devastating Swifties from across the globe. Many of them had dropped thousands of euros (dollars) on travel and lodging in Austria鈥檚 expensive capital city to attend the Eras Tour shows at the Ernst Happel Stadium, which sat empty Thursday morning.
Europe is enamored with the American superstar: The German town of Gelsenkirchen renamed itself 鈥淪wiftkirchen鈥� before its mid-July concerts.
Concert organizers in Austria said they had expected up to 65,000 fans inside the stadium at each concert and as many as 30,000 onlookers outside, where authorities said the suspects planned to strike. The foiled attack was planned for Thursday or Friday, according to Austria鈥檚 interior minister, Gerhard Karner.
Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer defended the decision to cancel the concerts, saying the arrests of the suspects took place too close to the shows, scheduled for Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
___
US and other frustrated mediators call on Israel, Hamas to resume Gaza talks, saying, 'no excuses'
WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� Leaders of the United States, Egypt and Qatar jointly demanded Israel and Hamas return to stalled talks on the war in Gaza next week, saying Thursday that 鈥渙nly the details鈥� of carrying out a cease-fire and hostage release remain to be negotiated. 鈥淭here is no further time to waste, nor excuses from any party for further delay,鈥� they said in a joint statement.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said Thursday, 鈥淧ursuant to the proposal by the U.S. and the mediators, Israel will 鈥� on 15 August 鈥� send the negotiations team to a place to be determined in order to finalize the details of the implementation of the framework agreement.鈥�
President Joe Biden, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and Qatari Emir Tamim al-Thani, mediators in indirect negotiations to end 10 months of devastating war in Gaza, set the talks for Aug. 15, to take place in either Doha, Qatar, or Cairo.
A senior U.S. official, speaking to reporters on condition of anonymity to discuss the push by mediators, said only four or five areas of disagreement over implementation remained to be resolved between the two opponents.
The official cited the timing of a planned swap of Palestinian detainees held by Israel, and hostages held by Hamas, as an example.
___
Maui remembers the 102 lost in the Lahaina wildfire with a paddle out 1 year after devastating blaze
LAHAINA, Hawaii (AP) 鈥� Dozens of Maui surfers, canoe paddlers and boat riders made their way into the ocean off Lahaina on Thursday to remember the 102 people killed when the nation鈥檚 deadliest wildfire in more than a century destroyed the historic town one year ago.
The 鈥減addle out鈥� gathering is a ritual observed in Hawaii in honor of loved ones. So many spectators packed a beach park to watch the surfers that there was little room to move. People blew conch shells both from shore and the water as others dropped flower petals in the ocean.
鈥淭oday we鈥檙e remembering the 102 loved ones we lost, the many injured, those who lost their homes,鈥� Gov. Josh Green said at a news conference. 鈥淲e are grieving for them, still.鈥�
Here鈥檚 what else you need to know about the first anniversary of the Aug. 8, 2023 wildfire:
The wildfire destroyed more than 2,200 homes and left 12,000 people without housing. Thousands spent the past year in hotels and have slowly been moving into rental apartments, houses and temporary modular homes while permanent housing is built.
___
Could 2 NASA astronauts be stuck at the space station until next year? Here's what to know
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) 鈥� NASA is wrestling over how and when to bring two astronauts back from the International Space Station, after repeatedly delaying their return aboard Boeing's troubled capsule.
Do they take a chance and send them home soon in Boeing's Starliner? Or wait and bring them back next year with SpaceX?
Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams have been up there since early June, their planned eight-day mission at the two-month mark and possibly surpassing eight months.
Testing continues, with Boeing expressing confidence in its spacecraft but NASA divided. A decision is expected next week.
This is Boeing's first time launching astronauts, after flying a pair of empty Starliners that suffered software and other issues. Even before Wilmore and Williams blasted off June 5, their capsule sprang a leak in propulsion-related plumbing. Boeing and NASA judged the small helium leak to be stable and isolated, and proceeded with the test flight. But as Starliner approached the space station the next day, four more leaks erupted. Five thrusters also failed.
___
Wall Street rallies to its best day since 2022 on encouraging unemployment data; S&P 500 jumps 2.3%
NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� U.S. stocks rallied Thursday in Wall Street鈥檚 latest sharp swerve after a better-than-expected report on unemployment eased worries about the slowing economy.
The S&P 500 jumped 2.3% for its best day since 2022 and shaved off all but 0.5% of its loss from what was a brutal start to the week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 683 points, or 1.8%, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 2.9% as Nvidia and other Big Tech stocks helped lead the way.
Treasury yields also climbed in the bond market in a signal investors are feeling less worried about the economy after a report showed fewer U.S. workers applied for unemployment benefits last week. The number was better than economists expected.
It was exactly a week ago that worse-than-expected data on unemployment claims helped enflame worries that the Federal Reserve has kept interest rates at too high of an economy-slowing level for too long in order to beat inflation. That helped send markets reeling, along with a rate hike by the Bank of Japan that sent shockwaves worldwide by scrambling a favorite trade among some hedge funds.
At the worst of it, at least so far, the S&P 500 was down nearly 10% from its all-time high set last month. Such drops are regular occurrences on Wall Street, and 鈥渃orrections鈥� of 10% happen roughly every year or two. After Thursday's jump, the index is back within about 6% of its record.
___
US men's basketball team rallies to beat Serbia at Paris Olympics, will face France for gold medal
PARIS (AP) 鈥� Down by 11 in the fourth quarter, against what looked like overwhelming odds, the U.S. Olympic men's basketball team got a spark.
Six points in two seconds.
Kevin Durant and Devin Booker provided that wild sequence to start the comeback, Stephen Curry had a scoring night like almost none other in U.S. Olympic history, and the Americans will play for gold at the Paris Games. Curry scored 36 points, including a go-ahead 3-pointer with 2:16 left, and the U.S. beat Serbia 95-91 in a semifinal classic on Thursday night.
LeBron James had the fourth triple-double in Olympic history for the U.S., which trailed by 17 points in the first half and faced an 11-point halftime deficit 鈥� the biggest one successfully overcome by an American team since NBA players were added to the Olympic mix in 1992.
鈥淚've seen a lot of Team USA basketball,鈥� Curry said. 鈥淎nd that was a special one.鈥�
The Associated Press
