Election 2024: Harris VP search narrows; Trump continues attacks on Harris' race

The plane carrying three Americans who were released from Russia as part of the prisoner swap touched down on U.S. soil.

Gershkovich, Whelan and Kurmasheva are on the plane. Kara-Murza traveled to Germany, where he will be joined by his family.

Biden and Harris are expected to greet the freed Americans.

Biden posted a video to X of him and the families of the Americans freed in the prisoner swap talking on the phone with their loved ones.

"No word is strong enough for this," Vladimir Kara-Murza said in the video. "I was sure I'm going to die in prison because I don't believe what's happening."

"You've done a wonderful thing by saving so many people," Kara-Murza added.

The first national Muslim organization that had declared itself “uncommitted” on Biden's re-election bid is endorsing Harris' candidacy.

Salima Suswell, the founder and chief executive of the Black Muslim Leadership Council Fund, first shared the group’s decision with NBC News today.

“She has shown more sympathy towards the people of Gaza then both President Biden and former President Donald Trump,” Suswell said of Harris. “During Prime Minister Netanyahu’s address to Congress, she decided not to attend. She has repeatedly called for a cease-fire, and I believe she has also expressed empathy towards civilian life and has been very caring as it relates to getting aid to the people of Gaza.”

Read the full story here.

Trump attorneys are again asking the judge who oversaw his New York hush money trial to recuse himself from the case, citing work the judge's daughter has done for Harris.

The request is at least the third Trump's lawyers have made asking Judge Juan Merchan to step aside. They previously alleged that Merchan has a conflict of interest because Harris used his daughter's firm for digital fundraising during the 2020 presidential campaign, but in a letter to the judge made public today, they contended that the issue has become more pronounced since Biden dropped out of the 2024 race.

“Regardless of intent, decisions by Your Honor on the pending Presidential immunity motion and at any sentencing would benefit not only Harris but also the professional aspirations and financial status of Your Honor’s daughter,” Trump attorneys Todd Blanche and Emil Bove wrote.

Vance, main target of Harris and her allies' campaign to frame the GOP ticket as "weird," brushed off the label in an interview that aired on Newsmax this evening.

"If your attitude is that a happily married father of three is a weird guy, call me weird all you want," Vance told the conservative outlet during his visit to the U.S.–Mexico border in Arizona this morning.

Unlike Trump, his running mate, who was quick to fire back that "they're the weird ones" when he was asked about the Harris campaign's messaging, Vance offered a final thought: "I’m happy to be who I am."

Rep. Andy Ogles, R-Tenn., won his primary today, The Associated Press projects, leveraging his endorsement from Trump to fend off a well-funded GOP challenger.

Ogles is a member of the hard-right Freedom Caucus who reintroduced articles of impeachment against Harris last week after she launched her presidential campaign. Ogles defeated Nashville Metropolitan Council member Courtney Johnston, who outraised and outspent the first-term congressman on the airwaves in Tennessee’s 5th District.

Johnson had sought to cast Ogles as a “do-nothing” politician, saying in one of her ads, “Andy Ogles is weak and he’s accomplished nothing. He chases headlines, not results.”

Read the full story here.

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker confirmed in an MSNBC interview that he has had conversations about the "possibility of being the vice presidential candidate."

"I’m not going to say who those people were or talk about those conversations," he told MSNBC's Ari Melber. "But I’m flattered by all of it."

NBC News has reported that other politicians being considered for Harris' running mate include Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.

A hearing committee authorized by the D.C. Bar recommended that Trump ally Jeffrey Clark's law license be suspended for two years over his actions related to the 2020 presidential election.

"As set forth below, we find Disciplinary Counsel has proven by clear and convincing evidence that Mr. Clark attempted dishonesty and did so with truly extraordinary recklessness," the panel wrote in a 216-page report.

The recommendation is not final. If Clark objects to the committee's recommendation, the Board on Professional Responsibility will hear oral arguments at a to-be-determined date.

Trump had considered appointing Clark as acting attorney general in the days leading up to the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.

Trump has a message for conservative foot soldiers: I define the movement, not you.

It is not a new edict after the GOP convention featured a condensed, Trump-centric platform that softened the party’s long-standing positions on abortion and broke with its orthodoxy on trade and entitlements. But it was reinforced loudly this week when Trump’s campaign delighted in the Heritage Foundation’s announcement that the head of its controversial Project 2025 was stepping down, delivering a warning to others looking to link themselves to Trump: This “should serve as notice ... it will not end well for you.”

Read the full story here.

Polls have closed in Tennessee, which is holding primaries today. The main race to watch is in the GOP-leaning 5th District, where Rep. Andy Ogles is looking to fend off a well-funded primary challenger, Nashville Metropolitan Council member Courtney Johnston. 

Ogles is a Trump-backed member of the hard-right Freedom Caucus. But Johnston has sought to cast him as a “do-nothing” politician, and he could be plagued by some negative headlines involving fabricating parts of his résumé. 

The primary will also set the matchup in the state’s Senate race, with GOP Sen. Marsha Blackburn running for a second term. 

State Rep. Gloria Johnson is the top Democrat in the primary. She has garnered national attention as one of the so-called “Tennessee Three,” referring to the Democratic state lawmakers who launched a gun violence protest on the state House floor last year. 

Trump and authorized committees made a fundraising haul of $138.7 million in July, bringing the campaign's cash on hand total to $327 million, the Trump campaign said in a news release today. The figure is an increase from the roughly $112 million his campaign said it raised in June.

NBC News cannot verify the figures as Federal Election Commission reports for July have not yet been released.

The Harris campaign said that it raked in $81 million within the first 24 hours of Biden's dropping out of the race last month and that it had raised $200 million during the first week of her campaign.

Vance brought his fiery campaign rhetoric on immigration to the U.S.-Mexico border today as the Trump campaign drubs Harris over the Biden administration’s approach to border security.

Sharpening his attacks on Harris on the stump in recent days, Vance visited an unfinished part of the border wall in Arizona — a stark visual to drive home the campaign’s juxtaposition of Harris’ and Trump’s records.

“It is not hard to secure the southern border. You just have to reimplement some commonsense policies,” Vance said after he received a briefing from border patrol union members, a representative from the sheriff’s department and a local rancher.

Read the full story here.

Vance, Trump's running mate, joined TikTok today. He follows Trump's and the Trump campaign's accounts on the social media platform.

Vance collaborated with the Nelk Boys, prominent YouTubers, who welcomed him to the video sharing app in his first video post.

Harris joined TikTok last week and has posted a series of campaign videos.

Sen. Gary Peters of Michigan, the chair of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, told NBC News today that it’s “very possible” that Democrats will hold as many as 52 Senate seats after this election cycle.

The path to 52 would include defending Democratic-held seats in two red states and a slew of purple states and flipping seats in Republican-leaning Texas and Florida, where GOP incumbents are favored. Peters said that the “candidate-to-candidate” matchups favor Democrats over “flawed” Republicans” — and that Harris has energized voters.

“With Vice President Harris now at the top of the ticket, it’s just been remarkable to see the outpouring of support for her. It’s certainly been great. The amount of energy that is on the ground is something I haven’t seen for a long, long time. And that’s going to bode very well for all of our Senate races across the country,” said Peters, who heads the campaign arm for Senate Democrats. “Having the energy on the ground with the Harris campaign just gives momentum to each of the candidates to make sure that they win in the end.

“We’re looking at both Texas and Florida. Those numbers are strong. And we’re expecting big turnout to help our Democratic candidates,” he added. “I’m very optimistic for both Texas and Florida.”

Harris joined Biden's call today with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the White House said in a readout of the conversation.

Biden discussed "efforts to support Israel’s defense," and he "stressed the importance of ongoing efforts to de-escalate broader tensions in the region."

The readout did not disclose what Harris discussed in the call.

Harris met with Netanyahu last Thursday when he visited the White House. She said she expressed her concerns over the humanitarian situation in Gaza.

A New York appeals court today denied Trump's bid to dismiss the partial gag order against him in his criminal case.

Trump had argued the gag order was unnecessary and should be dismissed after he was convicted in May on 34 counts of falsifying business records related to a hush money payment to porn actor Stormy Daniels in the closing days of the 2016 campaign.

A five-judge panel of the state Appellate Division, a midlevel appeals court, disagreed. It backed a ruling by Judge Juan Merchan that the order should remain in place until sentencing, which the judges called “a critical stage of the criminal proceeding,” or until the case is otherwise disposed of.

Read the full story here.

New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu cautioned fellow Republicans to change their tactics against Harris, arguing that winning in November "is not through character attacks or personal insults" in an op-ed published today.

"In fact, those attacks are unlikely to bring a single new voter on board," Sununu wrote in The New York Times. "Catchy one-liners — calling Vice President Kamala Harris a 'bum,' 'not a serious person' and 'bottom of the barrel' — might rile up the base, but they do little to connect with independent voters needed to close the deal in November."

Trump sought to combat Harris and her allies’ labeling him and his running mate as “weird,” saying in an interview with conservative media personalities Clay Travis and Buck Sexton today that he isn't weird.

“Well, they’re the weird ones,” Trump said. “And if you’ve ever seen her with a laugh and everything else, that’s a weird deal going on there. They’re the weird ones. Nobody’s ever called me weird. I’m a lot of things. But weird I’m not.”

Trump went on to describe himself as “upfront” and said Vance is “not at all” weird.

Schumer told NBC News today that Trump and Vance are "ludicrous" and "unhinged" after Trump called Schumer "a proud member of Hamas” yesterday.

“We have to respond in two ways. One, we have to make it clear to the American people how ludicrous, how unhinged, this group, the Trump/Vance ticket, is,” Schumer said. “But at the same time, the high road remains. We have to show the American people what we want to do for them.”

“Every day either Donald Trump or Vance make some kind of crazy statement, and it’s catching up with the American people," Schumer added.

Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., said that Trump's remark to Black journalists at an event in Chicago yesterday had been "misunderstood" while insisting that Harris has "confused" her racial identity by sometimes emphasizing that she's Black and sometimes discussing her Indian heritage. Harris is Indian through her mother and Jamaican via her father.

Asked by NBC News for his reaction to Trump's questioning Harris' racial identity, Cramer said, "I think that when you use nuance or satire with people that aren't that bright, you're easily misunderstood and probably should try to avoid it."

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has big plans for the Supreme Court and federal judiciary if Democrats win the 2024 elections, from imposing ethical standards and preventing litigants from “shopping” for friendly judges to legislatively reversing its rulings on abortion and presidential immunity.

“It’s a very big priority,” Schumer, D-N.Y., told NBC News in an interview Thursday before the Senate left for a five-week summer recess. “I feel very strongly for the sake of the republic, we need reform in the courts.”

Read the full story here.

Democratic Rep. Jared Moskowitz, who is Jewish, took aim at progressive Democrats who oppose the selection of Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro as Harris' running mate, saying that progressives "don't want a Jew."

“These Progressives don’t want a Jew. Let’s say it out loud," Moskowitz, of Florida, wrote on X. "Imagine if moderate Dems said they didn’t want a certain minority. The condemnations would be deafening. Yet now we hear much silence.”

Moskowitz's X post was in response to an article published yesterday by The Hill that cited progressive leaders and groups opposing Shapiro's candidacy, with some questioning his record on Israel-related issues and school vouchers.

Freshman Rep. Andy Ogles, R-Tenn., is in a hotly contested primary today against Nashville Metropolitan Councilmember Courtney Johnston. 

Ogles is a member of the ultraconservative Freedom Caucus who reintroduced articles of impeachment against Harris last week after she launched her presidential campaign. Ogles has former President Trump’s endorsement in the race, and has touted that endorsement on the airwaves. But Johnston has sought to cast Ogles as a “do-nothing” politician. 

“Andy Ogles is weak and he’s accomplished nothing,” Johnston says of the congressman in one of her ads. “He chases headlines, not results.”

Johnston has outspent Ogles on the airwaves, according to the ad-tracking firm AdImpact. She has also had a boost from a super PAC, Conservatives With Character, which is funded by some prominent Tennessee donors and politicians, including former GOP Sen. Bill Frist. Former GOP Sen. Bob Corker has also donated to Johnston’s campaign. 

Harris honored Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee at her funeral in Houston today, calling her, "a true champion, a fierce champion for justice."

She added that Jackson Lee, a California Democrat, "was a woman of deep faith and deep compassion," and lauded Alpha Kappa Alpha, the historically Black sorority that both women were members of.

Trump reposted a social media post from conservative activist Laura Loomer purporting to show Harris’ birth certificate in an attempt to falsely claim that the vice president hasn’t always identified as Black.

"Nowhere on her birth certificate does it say that she is BLACK OR AFRICAN," Loomer's post says. "Donald Trump is correct. Kamala Harris is NOT black and never has been." The post also includes an unverified claim that Harris descended from slave owners.

In an extensive interview with NBC News, Sen. JD Vance declined to say he regretted his comments about childless Americans and praised the Russian prisoner swap that freed four Americans, putting him at odds with Trump who criticized it.

Asked about comments he made in a 2021 interview on Fox News when he said Harris was one of the "childless cat ladies" who "want to make the rest of the country miserable," he said, "I said what I said then, and what I believe now is that I think we should be more pro-family."

Following the release of four U.S. residents who were wrongly imprisoned by Russia, Vance said it is "great that Evan and Paul Whelan are coming home."

When asked about Trump's comments about Harris "turning Black" at the NABJ convention, Vance offered that Trump's point is that she is a "chameleon" who "presents a different face depending on the audience she speaks to."

When asked about Trump’s refusal to say yes when asked if his running mate was ready, Vance said he would "certainly" be ready to assume the presidency on Day One but added that he believed Trump was in great health and would serve all four years of his term if re-elected.

"What Donald Trump said is that politically, the vice president doesn’t really matter that much," Vance said. "Most people vote for either the 'President Kamala Harris' or the 'President Donald Trump.' And I think that’s fundamentally true."

Trump said the prisoner exchange with Russia that freed four U.S. residents is "bad precedent for the future," putting him at odds with his own running mate, Sen. JD Vance, who praised the swap.

The former president said on Truth Social that Russia is extorting the U.S. and that negotiators "never make good deals." He also questioned if there was any money exchanged in the deal and the criminal records of those returning to Russia.

National security adviser Jake Sullivan said that no money was exchanged for the prisoners during a White House press briefing today.

Trump further claimed that he got back many hostages without giving the opposing country anything and pressed for more details on the swap.

A spokesperson for Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, who is among those being vetted as Harris' potential running mate, confirmed the governor has canceled fundraisers in the Hamptons this weekend that were originally scheduled to raise money for his PAC.

“The Governor’s trip was planned several weeks ago and included several fundraisers for his own campaign committee,” Shapiro spokesperson Manuel Bonder said. "His schedule has changed and he is no longer traveling to the Hamptons this weekend."

Shapiro, a first-term governor, is considered a top contender to be Harris’ running mate and discussed the role with Harris’ team on Wednesday.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said earlier today that Harris should pick whomever will help her win in November as a running mate.

“I’m not interviewing for anything. I just am who I am and put it out there," Walz said. NBC News has reported that Harris campaign requested vetting materials from Walz.

Asked what qualities are important for a running mate to possess, Walz demurred and said the choice is up to Harris alone.

“I want to see that person first and foremost who is compatible with whatever the vice president wants," Walz said. "Whatever she wants, is it in this moment and just to be candid, to put a ticket together that wins in November, and continues to implement the policies that we’ve seen out of this administration."

At a White House press briefing following the prisoner exchange between Russia, the U.S. and others, national security adviser Jake Sullivan said that Harris will join Biden at Andrews Air Force Base tonight to greet Paul Whelan, Evan Gershkovich and others.

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre also mentioned Harris’ involvement in the exchange, noting that she met with the German chancellor shortly after Biden did earlier this year.

Cornel West is a far-left academic and independent presidential candidate who has compared Donald Trump to Hitler and Mussolini, but Republicans are coming to his aid in a legal fight over ballot access in North Carolina.

The RNC and state GOP filed amici briefs on West's behalf in federal court this week and a leading Republican state lawmaker wrote an op-ed defending West, suggesting the Republican-controlled Legislature may need to take action on West's behalf.

Republicans are crying foul after the state Board of Elections voted not to give a West-affiliated party a spot on the ballot after NBC News and others revealed secret efforts to help West's cash-strapped campaign collect signatures to qualify. As one prominent pro-Trump operative put it, West's presence on the ballot "helps take away votes from" Democrats by splitting the progressive vote.

The Harris campaign’s vetting team has met with several contenders for her vice presidential pick, two sources familiar with the matter told NBC News.

They include Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.

Kelly missed at least two votes yesterday between noon and 6 p.m. and according to his aide was “off campus," a source said.

In remarks during his visit to the southern border in Cochise County, Arizona, Vance repeatedly went after Harris’ record on the border. He adopted Trump’s characterization of her as a “border czar” who did nothing to curb the increased rates of migrants crossing the border. In 2021, Biden tasked Harris with addressing the root causes of migration to the border by people from Central American countries.

While decrying the Biden administration’s release of some migrants into the U.S., Vance blamed Harris for bringing “poison” into the country, referring to the trafficking of illicit drugs such as fentanyl.

“There are a lot of parents that won’t wake up, because when you take fentanyl, you don’t wake up, it takes your life. So there are a lot of kids out there who have been deprived of second chances with their moms and dads,” he said. “There are a lot of moms and dads out there who will never see their kids walk down the aisle because of what Kamala Harris has at this border. The human toll of this is the thing that we cannot forget.”

A day after attacking the vice president on race during a contentious interview with Black journalists, Trump posted a picture on his Truth Social website of Harris wearing a sari alongside members of her family. Trump and his allies have falsely accused Harris, who is biracial, of deciding to “turn Black.”

Harris, the first Black and Indian American vice president, attended the historically Black Howard University and is a member of the first intercollegiate Black sorority, Alpha Kappa Alpha.

Leaders of the national "uncommitted" movement are calling for speaking slots at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago later this month.

During a Zoom news conference this morning, Abbas Alawieh, an uncommitted delegate from Michigan and co-founder of the group, outlined the movement’s specific demands. Alawieh previously worked for progressive "squad" members Reps. Cori Bush, D-Mo., and Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich.

The demands from the pro-Palestinian group include five minutes of speaking time for Dr. Tanya Haj-Hassan, a humanitarian aid worker who spent time in Gaza, five minutes of speaking time for a Democratic lawmaker affiliated with the uncommitted movement, a meeting with Harris and language in the party’s platform calling for a permanent cease-fire in Gaza.

Alawieh said that since Harris became the de facto Democratic nominee, there has been more of a receptive shift toward his movement. "There is an openness to engaging with our movement that feels like a shift from how our requests were being treated previously," he said.

The Democratic-led Senate will hold a key test vote today on a bipartisan bill to expand the child tax credit and provide some tax breaks for businesses.

But it’s not clear Democrats have enough Republican support to break a filibuster and advance the bill toward a final vote, as many GOP senators oppose it.

“This should be a no-brainer,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., told reporters. “Right now, the only ones standing in the way are Senate Republicans. Everyone else, even House Republicans, are for this.”

Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are expected to speak by phone later today, according to a U.S. official.

The call comes amid concerns about a possible escalation in the Middle East following the killing in Tehran of Hamas' political chief, Ismail Haniyeh, yesterday. 

Both Hamas and Iran accused Israel of killing him.

Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., met with Harris’ vetting team yesterday afternoon amid her selection process for a running mate, two sources familiar with Kelly’s movements told NBC News.

It is unclear whether Harris herself was involved in the meeting, the sources said.

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, who is considered another potential running mate for Harris, also met with her vetting team yesterday, NBC News reported.

At a conference of the National Association of Black Journalists, Trump questioned Harris’ racial identity. “I didn’t know she was Black until a number of years ago when she happened to turn Black,” he said. NBC’s Garrett Haake reports for "TODAY."

A prisoner swap was underway between the United States, Russia and other countries today, according to a senior Biden administration official.

The trade is a rare example of cooperation amid heightened political tensions between the U.S. and Russia, including from sanctions imposed on Russia and Russian officials over the invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Relations between the two countries had been strained before the invasion, following Russian interference in the 2016 election and its annexation of Crimea.

The most high-profile known U.S. prisoners in Russia right now are Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan. It is not confirmed that they are part of this swap.

Read the full story here.

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro met with Harris’ vetting team yesterday as her selection process for a running mate nears its end, a source familiar with the meeting told NBC News.

Harris was not present at the meeting with Shapiro, the source said. Bloomberg first reported the meeting.

Shapiro and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer rallied together for Harris on Monday in the Philadelphia suburbs.

Harris' vetting team also met with Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., yesterday afternoon, two sources familiar with Kelly’s movements told NBC News.

Harris is scheduled to deliver a eulogy for Democratic Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee in Houston today at 1:20 p.m. CT, according to the White House.

The congresswoman died last month at the age of 74 following a battle with cancer. She had served in the House since 1995.

Harris was her longtime friend as they bonded over their work as elected officials and as members of Alpha Kappa Alpha, the nation’s first historically Black sorority. 

The Democratic National Committee's virtual roll call to nominate Harris for president began today at 9 a.m. ET and will end Monday.

DNC Chair Jaime Harrison announced Tuesday that only Harris qualified for the ballot and 3,923 delegates petitioned to put her on the ballot for the nomination. The DNC said that Harris secured the support of 99% of participating delegates.

Democrats are holding the unusual pre-convention virtual roll call to finalize the nomination before an Aug. 7 ballot access deadline in Ohio.

Republican Voters Against Trump is rolling out its biggest ad campaign yet, putting $3.5 million behind video ads and billboards in key swing states featuring testimonials from people who voted for Trump and now plan to support Harris.

“Trump is not running for the country or democracy,” a woman named Beth says in one of the ads. “He’s running to keep himself out of jail. He is a criminal, and he should be prosecuted for his crimes. Kamala is a prosecutor. She is going to uphold the rule of law.”

The billboards feature photos of battleground state voters next to block text that reads: "I’m a former Trump voter. I love the Constitution. I’m voting for Kamala Harris."

More than 400 venture capitalists and tech leaders have pledged their support for Harris’ presidential campaign.

Entrepreneurs Mark Cuban and LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman are among the growing list of business leaders who've signed a letter published on a new “VCs for Kamala” website.

“We spend our days looking for, investing in and supporting entrepreneurs who are building the future,” the letter says. “We are pro-business, pro-American dream, pro-entrepreneurship, and pro-technological progress.”

“We also believe in democracy as the backbone of our nation. We believe that strong, trustworthy institutions are a feature, not a bug, and that our industry — and every other industry — would collapse without them,” it continues. “That is what’s at stake in this election. Everything else, we can solve through constructive dialogue with political leaders and institutions willing to talk to us.”

Vance, Trump’s running mate, is scheduled to visit the U.S.-Mexico border in Cochise County, Arizona.

Vance is expected to attack Harris on her record on immigration as Trump has sought to paint Harris as a “border czar” who has failed to stem the flow of migrants after Biden in 2021 tasked her with addressing the root causes of migration with a focus on Central America.

Vance's visits to Western states this week come amid recent backlash for past comments criticizing women who do not have children, whom he called “childless cat ladies.”

Harris and her future running mate will travel to battleground states across the country next week, with the first stop in Philadelphia on Tuesday, her campaign announced.

In addition, from Aug. 6-10, Harris and her soon-to-be running mate will travel to Eau Claire, Wisconsin; Detroit; the Research Triangle area in North Carolina; Savannah, Georgia; Phoenix and Las Vegas.

A source familiar with the matter told NBC News earlier this week that the choice of Philadelphia as the first stop didn't mean Harris had tapped Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro as her running mate.

NBC News' Chuck Todd, Steve Kornacki and Dasha Burns report on the latest developments in the presidential race. Trump speaks at the National Association of Black Journalists and Harris prepares to hit the campaign trail in seven battleground states.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., announced a bill today that would ensure that presidents do not have criminal immunity.

The legislation is a direct response to the Supreme Court’s ruling last month that Trump has some immunity for aspects of his presidential conduct. However, even if the bill passes the Senate, it would face an uphill climb in the House, which is controlled by Republican allies of Trump.

Read the full story here.

Trump said once again yesterday that he would pardon Jan. 6 rioters if he wins the election, repeatedly lying about what happened during the violent attack on the U.S. Capitol, which injured more than 140 police officers.

“Oh, absolutely, I would. If they’re innocent, I would pardon them,” Trump said during a panel at the National Association of Black Journalists’ annual conference. “They were convicted by a very tough system.”

Read the full story here.