NEW YORK (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris raised $27 million at a packed New York City fundraiser on Sunday, her largest fundraising haul since she took over at the top of the ticket from President Joe Biden, according to a Harris campaign aide.
Though Harris has far more money than former President Donald Trump, the money will be needed to compete with pricey advertising by deep-pocketed outside groups that support Trump, said the aide, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private fundraising details.
The blockbuster fundraiser was held at Cipriani Wall Street in a massive Greek Revival ballroom with over a dozen columns. Much of the crowd stood shoulder to shoulder as Harris needled Trump for refusing to debate her again.
“My opponent seems to be looking for an excuse,” Harris told the crowd. “I feel very strongly that we owe it to the American people, to the voters, to meet once more before Election Day."
She reiterated that later, telling reporters after landing outside Washington, “We have more to discuss.”
Trump has rejected more debates, saying Saturday that “it's just too late.”
“Voting is already started,” he said at a rally in Wilmington, North Carolina. Voters cast the first in-person ballots last week in Minnesota, South Dakota and Virginia, the states with the first early in-person voting opportunities. About a dozen more states will follow by mid-October.
Harris also said she would deliver a speech Wednesday outlining her economic vision, saying there is “more we can do to invest in the aspirations and ambitions of the American people while addressing the challenges they face.”
She cited the high cost of home ownership and stubbornly high grocery bills as examples.
“I grew up a middle-class kid and I will never forget where I came from,” she said.
By fleshing out her economic agenda in more detail, Harris can address an issue that's front of mind for voters after prices soared during Biden's presidency and distance herself from the president's economic track record. Trump has criticized her for being slow to release detailed policy proposals of her own since she rose to the top of the ticket.
Harris has said she'd push for middle-class tax cuts and tax hikes on the wealthy and corporations, and she adopted Trump's proposal to end taxes on tipped wages, though she'd limit her plan to low- and middle-income taxpayers. She's also criticized Trump's plan to impose large tariffs on most imported goods, which she says would severely raise the cost of goods.
Neither Harris nor Trump has a decisive edge with the public on the economy, according to the latest poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. The survey suggests Harris is gaining ground on an issue that was once a clear strength for Trump.
About 4 in 10 registered voters say Republican Trump would do a better job handling the economy, while a similar number say that about the Democratic vice president, according to the poll. About 1 in 10 voters don’t trust either candidate, and a similar share has equal faith in them.
The new poll found that the economy is one of the most important issues for about 8 in 10 voters as they consider which candidate to support, dwarfing other top issues like health care and crime.
Harris has backed away from the liberal positions she took during her ill-fated 2020 presidential campaign, including proposals to ban fracking, establish a single-payer health care system and decriminalize illegal border crossings.
Cooper reported from Phoenix.
Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris speaks to members of the media upon her arrival at Andrews Air Force Base, Md., Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke/Pool)
Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris walks over to speak to members of the media upon her arrival at Andrews Air Force Base, Md., Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke/Pool)
Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris speaks to members of the media upon her arrival at Andrews Air Force Base, Md., Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke/Pool)
Israel’s air force carried out dozens of airstrikes early Monday on southern Lebanon, state media and the Israeli military said.
Separately, Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip killed eight Palestinians, including five children, on Monday morning, according to Palestinian medical officials.
Residents of different villages in southern Lebanon posted photos on social media that they said showed their towns being struck. The state-run National News Agency also reported airstrikes in different areas.
The Israeli military’s Arab-language spokesperson said Israel’s air force was attacking targets related to Lebanon’s Hezbollah militant group. The spokesman said more details would be released later.
The wave of airstrikes came after a tense day in which Hezbollah fired over 100 rockets into northern Israel, with some landing near the city of Haifa. Israel launched hundreds of airstrikes as well.
Hezbollah’s rocket attack came after an Israeli airstrike on a Beirut suburb on Friday killed a top Hezbollah military commander and more than a dozen Hezbollah members, along with dozens of civilians including women and children.
Last week, thousands of communications devices, used mainly by Hezbollah members, exploded in different parts of Lebanon, killing 39 people and wounding nearly 3,000. Lebanon blamed the attacks on Israel, but Israel did not confirm or deny its responsibility.
Here’s the latest:
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Palestinian medical officials say Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip have killed eight Palestinians, including five children.
A girl and her parents were killed in a strike on a school sheltering displaced people in central Gaza early Monday. The girl’s two siblings were wounded.
Israel has struck several such schools-turned-shelters, saying militants hide out in them.
Another strike hit a home near the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the central town of Deir al-Balah, killing a mother and her four children, aged 4 to 8.
The casualties from both strikes were described in hospital records, and an Associated Press reporter saw the bodies.
Israel says it tries to avoid harming civilians but rarely comments on individual strikes.
Gaza’s Health Ministry says over 41,000 Palestinians have been killed since the start of the war. It does not say how many were fighters. It says a little over half were women and children.
The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting around 250. Around 100 of the captives are still being held in Gaza, and a third of them are believed to be dead.
CANBERRA, Australia — Australia has announced it will provide an additional 10 million Australian dollars ($6.8 million) in aid to Gaza, bringing the total since the Israel-Hamas war began on Oct. 7 last year to AU$82.5 million ($56.2 million).
A government statement said on Monday the new money would focus on women and children. It would be provided through the United Nations Population Fund, a sexual and reproductive health agency, and the U.N. agency responsible for aiding children, UNICEF.
“Australia continues to push for safe, rapid and unimpeded humanitarian assistance to people in desperate need, and for all aid workers to be protected,” the statement said.
MUWASI, Gaza Strip — As the first rain of the cool season starts to fall in the Gaza Strip, displaced Palestinians living in the sprawling Muwasi tent camp are struggling to cope with flooding that is exacerbating the humanitarian crisis.
Some children are entertained by the novelty of walking barefoot in the ankle-deep water, but their parents are less amused. The adults try to save what they can from their family's tents. One mother tries to dry her temporary home with a mop.
“We woke up in the morning to find the tents with rainwater pouring on us, and water from the streets entering on us,” said Rana Goza’t, a displaced person from Gaza City. “This is the beginning of winter. What will happen in the coming days?”
Suhail Al-Barawi, a displaced person from Beit Lahiya, was helping to build sand barriers to prevent more flooding in the camp.
“People wish for rain," he said, "and we say, ‘Oh God, do not give us rain.’”
The nearly yearlong war between Israel and Hamas has displaced 90% of Palestinians in Gaza, according to the United Nations.
Israel’s defense minister says recent attacks on Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon are a step toward facilitating the return of displaced Israelis to their homes in the north of the country.
Speaking Sunday evening after visiting the military’s Northern Command headquarters, Yoav Gallant described the recent air strikes on the southern suburbs of Beirut as “significant, important and powerful.”
He says Israel will take all necessary measures to ensure “the safe return of Israel’s northern communities to their homes.”
Israeli attacks since Friday have killed dozens in Lebanon, including a veteran Hezbollah commander. Hezbollah responded with more than 100 missile attacks in northern Israel early Sunday, sending hundreds of thousands of Israelis into air raid shelters.
Gallant says: “The past week has been the most difficult in the history of Hezbollah’s existence —especially over the past day.”
Israeli army jeeps move into the West Bank city of Nablus during a raid, Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024,(AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed).
An emergency worker speaks on the phone during rescue efforts at the site of Friday's Israeli strike in Beirut's southern suburb, Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
A couple try to salvage some of their belongings from a damaged apartment at the site of Friday's Israeli strike in Beirut's southern suburb, Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
A Hezbollah supporter carries a Palestinian flag near a picture of Hezbollah commander Ibrahim Akil, during Akil's funeral procession in Beirut's southern suburb, Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
Israeli Iron Dome air defense system fires to intercept rockets that were launched from Lebanon, in northern Israel, Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Baz Ratner)
Smoke rises from an Israeli airstrike on Kfar Rouman village, as seen from Marjayoun town, south Lebanon, Monday, Sept. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Smoke rises from an Israeli airstrike on Khiam village, as seen from Marjayoun town, south Lebanon, Monday, Sept. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Smoke rises from an Israeli airstrike on Kfar Rouman village, as seen from Marjayoun town, south Lebanon, Monday, Sept. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
