WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris opened a media blitz by the Democratic ticket on Sunday by appearing on the popular “Call Her Daddy” podcast about abortion, sexual abuse and other issues that resonate with women, working in some digs at her GOP opponent along the way.
In the roughly 40-minute interview, taped last week, the Democratic presidential nominee spoke about the grit it takes to be a woman seeking public office, the toughness her mother instilled in her and the importance of reproductive rights in this election.
The program is the most-listened-to podcast for women and it has millions of fans tuning in for talk about relationships, sex, mental health and women’s empowerment. The discussion with Harris was on the tame side for the show, with the vice president keeping her message focused, in part, on the value of ignoring people who have doubted her.
“I don’t hear no. I urge all the ‘Daddy Gang,’ don’t hear no, just don’t hear it,” she said. “I think it’s really important not to let other people define you.”
The interview was part of a broader media outreach effort by Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, as the Democrats seek to boost their support in the final 30 days of the campaign against Republicans Donald Trump and JD Vance.
Harris has been criticized for not doing more media interviews.
On the podcast, the Democratic nominee largely stuck to her usual messaging on abortion, and said that in her travels she's seen that even people who have strong opposition to abortion tell her they “are now seeing what’s happening and saying ‘Hmm, I didn’t intend for all this to happen' ” when they see the health problems arising since Roe v. Wade was repealed.
Harris dinged Trump as she has in recent speeches, leaning in on his integrity and saying “this guy is full of lies” when he talks about abortion and other issues. She dismissed Vance’s comments about “childless cat ladies” as “mean, and mean-spirited.”
Trump has continued to stress that abortion policy should be left to the states and that doctors have a duty to provide emergency care to women whose lives are in danger. Vance, for his part, has said his remark about childless women were misinterpreted and that he wants to support families.
There's much more to come from Harris and Walz.
Harris has taped an interview with CBS’ “60 Minutes” that will air Monday night. She is booked Tuesday on Howard Stern’s satellite radio show, ABC’s “The View” and “The Late Show” with Stephen Colbert on CBS. Walz will be on Jimmy Kimmel’s ABC show on Monday.
In a “60 Minutes” excerpt released Sunday, Harris navigated around a question about whether Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was “a real close ally,” saying that “The better question is: Do we have an important alliance between the American people and the Israeli people? And the answer to that question is yes.”
And nearly a week after his verbal stumbles in the only vice presidential debate, Walz used his debut campaign appearance on a Sunday news show to try to fend off criticism of his stand on abortion rights and to “own up” to past misstatements.
Walz's Fox appearance also touched on the turmoil in the Middle East, with anchor Shannon Bream pressing the Minnesota governor on whether Israel has a right to preemptively attack Iran's nuclear and oil facilities in response to Tehran's firing of missiles against Israel. It was a question that Walz did not fully answer during his debate this past week with Vance, an Ohio senator.
Walz said Sunday that “specific operations will be dealt with at the time” and he spoke of ”consequences for what they do."
He said Israel has a right to defend itself and that Harris worked with Israel this past week to repel the Iranian attack. President Joe Biden said last week he would not support an Israeli strike on sites related to Tehran’s nuclear program.
Walz defended a law that he signed as governor to ensure abortion protections, saying it "puts the decision with the woman and her health care providers.”
Trump has said he would not sign a national abortion ban into law, and during the interview Sunday, Walz was asked whether he was calling that “a flat-out lie.”
“Yes ... of course,” Walz said.
Walz also faced questions in the interview about misstatements related to his military service, drunken driving arrest, infertility treatment for his family and claims to have been in Hong Kong during the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre in China.
“I will own up when I misspeak,” Walz said. “I will own up when I make a mistake.”
He said he believes voters are more concerned by the fact that Vance could not acknowledge during their debate that Trump lost the 2020 election to Biden and that there could be restrictions on the infertility treatments, like the intrauterine insemination that his wife, Gwen, received.
“I think they’re probably far more concerned with that than my wife and I used IUI to have our child and that Donald Trump would restrict that," Walz said. "So I think folks know who I am.”
Bream noted that Trump has come out in support of fertility treatments, even as he has said that abortion questions should be decided by states.
Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris speaks to reporters before boarding Air Force Two at Charlotte Douglas International Airport, Saturday, October 5, 2024, in Charlotte, N.C., after a briefing on the damage from Hurricane Helene. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)
Democratic vice presidential candidate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz speaks during a campaign event in York, Pa., Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — A rocket fired from Yemen hit an area of Tel Aviv overnight, leaving 16 people slightly injured by shattered glass, the Israeli military said Saturday, days after Israeli airstrikes hit Houthi rebels who have been launching missiles in solidarity with Palestinians.
A further 14 people sustained minor injuries as they rushed to shelters when air raid sirens sounded before the projectile hit just before 4 a.m. Saturday, the military said.
The Houthi rebels issued a statement on the Telegram messaging app saying they had aimed a hypersonic ballistic missile at a military target, which they did not identify.
The attack comes less than two days after a series of Israeli airstrikes on Yemen’s Houthi rebel-held capital, Sanaa, and port city of Hodeida killed at least nine people. The Israeli strikes were in response to a Houthi attack in which a long-range missile hit an Israeli school building. The Houthis also claimed a drone strike targeting an unspecified military target in central Israel on Thursday.
The Israeli military says the Iran-backed Houthis have launched more than 200 missiles and drones during the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. The Houthis have also been attacking shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden and say they won’t stop until there is a ceasefire in Gaza.
The Israeli strikes Thursday caused “considerable damage” to the Houthi-controlled Red Sea ports “that will lead to the immediate and significant reduction in port capacity,” U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said. The port at Hodeida has been key for food shipments into Yemen in its decade-long civil war.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said both sides’ attacks risk further escalation in the region and undermine U.N. mediation efforts.
In the Gaza Strip on Saturday, mourners held the funerals of 19 people — 12 of them children — killed in Israeli strikes on Friday and overnight.
One of the strikes hit a residential building in the built-up Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, killing at least seven Palestinians, including five children and one woman, and injuring 16 others, health officials said.
In Gaza City, another strike on a house overnight killed 12 people, including seven children and two women, according to Al-Ahli Hospital where the bodies were taken.
Mourners gathered at the hospital in Gaza City Saturday morning. Women comforted each other as they wept over the bodies before they were carried away. One man, stony-faced, cradled a tiny shroud-wrapped body in his arms as he carried it along the funeral procession.
In Al-Aqsa Hospital of Deir al Balah, white body bags containing those killed in Nuseirat were taken from the morgue and loaded onto the back of an open truck to be taken for burial.
Overall, Gaza's Health Ministry said Saturday that 21 people had been killed and 61 were wounded over the past 24 hours.
Israel faces heavy international criticism over the unprecedented levels of civilian casualties in Gaza and questions about whether it has done enough to prevent them.
Israel says it only strikes militants, and blames the Hamas militant group for civilian deaths because its fighters operate in residential areas.
More than 45,200 people have been killed and more than 107,500 wounded in the Gaza Strip since October 2023, when a Hamas attack in Israel killed about 1,200 people and triggered the devastating 14-month war in Gaza. Local health officials do not distinguish between civilians and combatants, but have said more than half of the fatalities are women and children.
The Israeli military organization dealing with humanitarian affairs for Gaza said Saturday it had led a “tactical coordinated operation” delivering thousands of food packages, flour and water to the Beit Hanoun area in the north of the Gaza Strip.
The organization, known by its acronym COGAT, said trucks from the U.N. World Food Program transported 2,000 food packages, 1,680 sacks of flour and thousands of liters of water to distribution centers in the area on Friday.
Aid groups have said previously that military operations and armed gangs have hindered their ability to distribute aid to civilians in need.
Gaza's Health Ministry issued an urgent appeal Saturday for medical and food supplies to be delivered to Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahia, near Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza, while the hospital director described dire conditions.
The ministry said in a statement that there was continuous gunfire and Israeli shelling near the hospital. “Shells have struck the third floor and the hospital’s entrances, creating a state of panic,” the ministry said.
Hospital Director Dr. Husam Abu Safiyeh said the facility was “facing severe shortages."
“Despite promises, we have not received the necessary supplies to maintain electricity, water, and oxygen systems," Abu Safiyeh said. "Our requests for essential medical supplies and staff have largely gone unmet.”
He said the World Health Organization had delivered 70 units of blood, but that the hospital requires at least 200 units to meet urgent needs. He said 72 wounded people were being treated at the hospital.
The shortages extend beyond medical necessities. “Food is very scarce, and we cannot provide meals for the wounded. We are urgently calling on anyone who can provide supplies to help us,” he said. “The staff is working around the clock, yet we cannot even provide meals for them.”
Shurafa reported from Deir al Balah, Gaza Strip. Associated Press writers Elena Becatoros in Majdal Shams, Golan Heights, contributed to this report.
Follow AP’s war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war
Bodies of victims of an Israeli airstrike at the Nuseirat refugee camp are prepared for the funeral prayer outside the Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Men pray over the bodies of victims of an Israeli airstrike at the Nuseirat refugee camp during a funeral prayer outside the Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, Saturday Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Bodies of victims of an Israeli airstrike at the Nuseirat arrive at the Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital before their funeral in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
An Israeli soldier observes the site where the missile launched from Yemen landed Jaffa district, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Tomer Appelbaum)
