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The Latest: Biden decries 'extremism' on the Supreme Court, lays out plans for reforms

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The Latest: Biden decries 'extremism' on the Supreme Court, lays out plans for reforms
News

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The Latest: Biden decries 'extremism' on the Supreme Court, lays out plans for reforms

2024-07-30 08:56 Last Updated At:09:00

President Joe Biden decried “extremism” that he says has undermined public confidence in the U.S. Supreme Court. He has called on Congress to quickly establish term limits and an enforceable ethics code for the court’s nine justices. He also called on lawmakers to ratify a constitutional amendment limiting presidential immunity.

The FBI says former President Donald Trump has agreed to be interviewed as part of the investigation into the assassination attempt in Pennsylvania earlier this month.

Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign raised $200 million since she emerged as the likely Democratic presidential nominee last week, an eyepopping haul in her race against former President Trump.

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

Here's the Latest:

Rapper Megan Thee Stallion will join Vice President Kamala Harris for a special performance during her campaign stop in Atlanta on Tuesday.

A Harris campaign spokesperson confirmed the hip-hop star’s performance alongside the vice president in a post on X on Monday night.

The Harris campaign is promising a large rally in Atlanta, on par with the large events that Republican former President Donald Trump has made his signature.

If Vice President Kamala Harris were to ascend to the presidency, she would become the first female president, but also one who is also multiracial.

The daughter of a Jamaican father and an Indian mother, both of whom immigrated to the U.S. during the Civil Rights Movement, Harris’ historic presidential bid has again put a spotlight on American identity politics and the growing number of people who say they are multiracial.

Different countries divide people into categories depending on different national traditions. The U.S., with its slavery-molded history, divides people into Black or white, and nine million people identified as multiracial in 2010.

When Harris ran for vice president in 2020, 33.8 million people in the U.S. identified as being more than one race, according to the census.

In an address at the LBJ Presidential Library in Austin, Texas, President Joe Biden said Monday that “extremism” on the U.S. Supreme Court is undermining public confidence in the institution and called on Congress to quickly establish term limits and an enforceable ethics code for the court’s nine justices. He also called on lawmakers to ratify a constitutional amendment limiting presidential immunity.

Biden, who has less than six months left in his presidency, detailed the contours of his court proposal while marking the 60th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act. His calls for dramatic changes in the court have little chance of being approved by a closely divided Congress with 99 days to go before Election Day.

“Extremism is undermining the public confidence in the court’s decisions,” Biden said. He added, “We can and must prevent abuse of presidential power and restore faith in the Supreme Court.”

Biden pointed to the 2013 high court decision that gutted the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the 2022 decision overturning Roe v. Wade and rolling back abortion rights, and a 2023 decision “eviscerating” affirmative action in college admission programs as three prime examples of what he saw as “outrageous” decisions that have shaken Americans’ faith in the high court.

A series of hastily organized Zoom calls to raise money and rev up supporters have been quickly stirred up over the past week in support of Vice President Kamala Harris' campaign for president — including one on Monday night billed as “White Dudes for Harris.”

In the past week, tens of thousands of people have joined virtual gatherings spun up by activists and outside organizations to rally support for the vice president among specific groups including Black women, Hispanic women, Black men, Asian Americans, Native Americans and the LGBTQ+ community.

The calls reflect how Democrats, including Biden, have frequently relied on voters from broad and disparate backgrounds to piece together a diverse coalition of support.

Organizers of Monday night’s “white dudes” Zoom expect 100,000 attendees to join a gathering featuring appearances from actors including Mark Ruffalo, Sean Astin, Mark Hamill and Bradley Whitford. Also set to participate: Democratic officials including Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, all of whom have been mentioned as potential running mates for Harris.

Vice President Kamala Harris highlighted endorsements from mayors of border towns in swing-state Arizona Monday as she looks to blunt the impact of Republican criticism of her handling of illegal border crossings.

Harris’ campaign said she was backed by the mayors of Bisbee, Nogales, Somerton, and San Luis, as well as by Yuma County Supervisors Martin Porchas and Tony Reyes. The mayors were elected without party affiliation but represent left-leaning communities. Porchas and Reyes are Democrats.

A week into her sudden promotion to the top of the Democratic presidential ticket, Harris is getting her campaign off the ground and refining her pitch to voters with less than 100 days before Election Day. Republicans are trying to make the border a political liability for Harris just as it was for President Joe Biden before he ended his reelection campaign.

Republican Rep. Mike Kelly of Pennsylvania witnessed the assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump firsthand and will now lead the House task force charged with investigating what went wrong and recommending solutions to help ensure such an attack doesn’t happen again.

Kelly represents the city of Butler, where the July 13 attack occurred. He attended Trump’s campaign rally and sponsored the legislation to create the task force, saying his community was grieving and that “the people of Butler and the people of the United States deserve answers.”

Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York jointly announced on Monday that 13 lawmakers, seven Republicans and six Democrats with backgrounds in law enforcement, legal affairs and the military, had been appointed to the task force. It will issue a final report before Dec. 13.

“We have the utmost confidence in this bipartisan group of steady, highly qualified, and capable members of Congress to move quickly to find the facts, ensure accountability, and help make certain such failures never happen again,” Johnson and Jeffries said in their statement.

A video that uses an artificial intelligence voice-cloning tool to mimic the voice of Vice President Kamala Harris saying things she did not say is raising concerns about the power of AI to mislead with Election Day about three months away.

The video gained attention after tech billionaire Elon Musk shared it on his social media platform X on Friday without explicitly noting it was originally released as parody.

By late Sunday, Musk had clarified the video was intended as satire, pinning the original creator’s post to his profile and using a pun to make the point that parody is not a crime.

The video uses many of the same visuals as a real ad that Harris, the likely Democratic presidential nominee, released launching her campaign. But the fake ad swaps out Harris’ voice-over audio with an AI-generated voice that convincingly impersonates her.

A New Jersey judge on Monday denied an effort to keep Robert F. Kennedy Jr. from running for president under the state’s sore loser law.

Judge Robert Lougy denied a request by attorney Scott Salmon, who sought to keep Kennedy from appearing on the Nov. 5 presidential ballot as an independent. He said the law compelled him to dismiss the case but that Salmon could still raise complaints to the state’s top elections official, Secretary of State Tahesha Way.

Kennedy’s famous name and a loyal base have buoyed his bid for the White House, and he could do better than any independent presidential candidate in decades. Strategists from both major parties worry he might negatively affect their candidate’s chances.

President Joe Biden has unveiled a long-awaited proposal for changes at the U.S. Supreme Court, calling on Congress to establish term limits and an enforceable ethics code for the court’s nine justices. He’s also pressing lawmakers to ratify a constitutional amendment limiting presidential immunity.

The White House on Monday detailed the contours of Biden’s court proposal, one that appears to have little chance of being approved by a closely divided Congress with just 99 days to go before Election Day.

Still, Democrats hope it’ll help focus voters as they consider their choices in a tight election. The likely Democratic nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris, who has sought to frame her race against Republican ex-President Donald Trump as “a choice between freedom and chaos,” said the court’s fairness had been called into question following recent decisions.

The FBI says the gunman in the assassination attempt of former President Donald Trump looked online for details about mass shootings, power plants and improvised explosive devices.

Thomas Matthew Crooks also searched for information about the attempted assassination earlier this year of Slovakia’s prime minister. That’s according to Kevin Rojek, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Pittsburgh field office.

The FBI has also says Crooks looked for information about how far away Lee Harvey Oswald was from President John F. Kennedy during the November 1963 assassination.

The FBI says former President Donald Trump has agreed to be interviewed as part of the investigation into the assassination attempt in Pennsylvania earlier this month.

It's customary for federal agents to seek to interview victims of crimes during the course of their investigation.

Kevin Rojek, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Pittsburgh field office, says investigators want to get Trump’s perspective on what happened July 13 in Butler, Pennsylvania.

The FBI said Friday that Trump was struck by a bullet or a fragment of one during the assassination attempt.

The Democratic National Committee says it's investing at least $8.3 million in state parties around the country this cycle, which it says is 25% more since 2020.

In a memo released Monday detailing its strategy with Election Day now less than 100 days away, the DNC said those investments include nearly $2 million being sent to state party officials in Colorado, Indiana, Kansas, Maryland, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Mexico, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington and elsewhere with an eye toward boosting down ballot races.

The party is also concentrating on a program to boost Democrats in traditionally Republican states, and said it has spent $4.5 million-plus on the initiative, which included key 2023 races -- like Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear’s reelection in Kentucky.

Beshear is now being mentioned as a possible running mate for Vice President Kamala Harris, who's poised to formally clinch the Democratic presidential nomination in a matter of days.

Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign has raised $200 million since she emerged as the likely Democratic presidential nominee last week, an eyepopping haul in her race against the Republican nominee, former President Donald Trump.

The campaign, which announced its latest fundraising total Sunday, said the bulk of the donations — 66% — comes from first-time contributors in the 2024 election cycle and were made after President Joe Biden announced his exit from the race and endorsed Harris.

Over 170,000 volunteers have also signed up to help the Harris campaign with phone banking, canvassing and other get-out-the-vote efforts.

Osama Siblani’s phone won’t stop ringing.

Just days after President Joe Biden withdrew his bid for reelection and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris for the Democratic presidential nomination, top officials from both major political parties have been asking the publisher of the Dearborn-based Arab American News if Harris can regain the support of the nation’s largest Muslim population located in metro Detroit.

His response: “We are in listening mode.”

Harris, who is moving to seize the Democratic nomination after Biden stepped down, appears to be pivoting quickly to the task of convincing Arab American voters in Michigan, a state Democrats believe she can’t afford to lose in November, that she's a leader they can unite behind.

Community leaders have expressed a willingness to listen, and some have had initial conversations with Harris’ team. Many had grown exasperated with Biden after they felt months of outreach had not yielded many results.

FILE - Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk addresses the European Jewish Association's conference in Krakow, Poland, Jan. 22, 2024. A manipulated video that mimics the voice of Vice President Kamala Harris to impersonate her is raising concerns about the power of artificial intelligence to mislead just three months away from November's elections. The video gained attention after Musk shared it on his social media platform X on Friday, July 26, without noting it was originally released as parody. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski, File)

FILE - Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk addresses the European Jewish Association's conference in Krakow, Poland, Jan. 22, 2024. A manipulated video that mimics the voice of Vice President Kamala Harris to impersonate her is raising concerns about the power of artificial intelligence to mislead just three months away from November's elections. The video gained attention after Musk shared it on his social media platform X on Friday, July 26, without noting it was originally released as parody. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski, File)

FILE - Rep. Mike Kelly, R-Pa., is pictured at the Capitol in Washington, Oct. 13, 2023. Kelly will lead a House task force charged with investigating the assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump. Kelly was appointed leader of the effort on Monday, July 29, 2024. Kelly was present at the Trump rally and his congressional district includes the city of Butler, Pa., where the attack occurred. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

FILE - Rep. Mike Kelly, R-Pa., is pictured at the Capitol in Washington, Oct. 13, 2023. Kelly will lead a House task force charged with investigating the assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump. Kelly was appointed leader of the effort on Monday, July 29, 2024. Kelly was present at the Trump rally and his congressional district includes the city of Butler, Pa., where the attack occurred. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally, Saturday, July 27, 2024, in St. Cloud, Minn. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally, Saturday, July 27, 2024, in St. Cloud, Minn. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

FILE - Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during the Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc.'s Grand Boulé, Wednesday, July 24, 2024, in Indianapolis. An election year that was already bitterly partisan has been completely upended by President Joe Biden’s decision to drop out of the 2024 White House race and endorse Vice President Kamala Harris. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings, File)

FILE - Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during the Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc.'s Grand Boulé, Wednesday, July 24, 2024, in Indianapolis. An election year that was already bitterly partisan has been completely upended by President Joe Biden’s decision to drop out of the 2024 White House race and endorse Vice President Kamala Harris. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings, File)

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are off to another strong start, though coach Todd Bowles understandably is playing down the significance of being 2-0 for a fourth straight season.

Despite going on to win the NFC South each of the past three years, the Bucs had to overcame midseason struggles and inconsistency — especially under Bowles in 2022 and 2023 — to finish on top of a division where they're expected to be challenged again by the New Orleans Saints and Atlanta Falcons.

“It's a new season, still have a lot of games left,” quarterback Baker Mayfield said after Sunday's 20-16 road win over the Detroit Lions, who defeated Tampa Bay twice last season, including in the divisional round of the playoffs.

“It was a big win," Bowles echoed. "But it's 2-0. ... We won the first two games last year and you see what happened after that.”

Two years ago — with Tom Brady in the final season of his career, and Bowles beginning his stint as coach — the Bucs rallied to win the division with a losing record (8-9). They dropped six of seven following a 3-1 start in 2023, then went 5-1 down the stretch to repeat as division champs and make the playoffs for the fourth straight season.

Sunday's confidence-bolstering win at Detroit, which came within one victory of reaching the Super Bowl last season, served notice that the Mayfield-led Bucs have a chance to better this year.

“There's a lot of stuff that we can fix,” Mayfield said after Tampa Bay was outgained 463 yards to 216 and converted just two of 10 third downs against the Lions, who turned ball over twice and only scored one touchdown on seven trips inside the red zone.

“But for us, building chemistry and building this resiliency and the culture that we want, this is a huge win,” Mayfield added, “so we have to continue to build on that.”

The offense wasn't nearly as efficient against Detroit as it was the previous week in a 17-point victory over Washington, but receiver Chris Godwin continues to thrive as he gets acclimated to the system installed by first-year offensive coordinator Liam Coen.

Godwin had seven catches for 117 yards and a touchdown — all in the first half — against the Lions. Through two games, the eighth-year pro has 15 receptions for 200 yards. With two TDs receiving, he's already matched his total from last season.

The offensive line had problems protecting Mayfield, allowing five sacks while playing without starting RT Luke Goedeke (concussion). The number would have been higher if not for the quarterback's mobility and knack for escaping pressure.

CB Zyon McCollum, who cleared the concussion protocol in time to be cleared to play against Lions, intercepted Jared Goff on the first offensive play of the game. S Christian Izien, who came off the bench in Week 1 to play cornerback after the Bucs lost three players to injury at the position, started Sunday and had an interception while filling in for injured All-Pro S Antoine Winfield Jr. (foot).

After showing signs of life with 112 yards rushing the previous week against Washington, the running game looked a lot like the listless ground attack that ranked last in the NFL each of the past two seasons. Detroit limited the Bucs to 70 yards on 23 attempts. Mayfield led the way with 34 yards on five carries, including an 11-yard TD run that put Tampa Bay ahead for good.

There was encouraging news Monday on DT Vita Vea (knee), who left Sunday's game in the second half and did not return.

“He's got an MCL sprain, grade 2,” Bowles said. “Right now, he's day to day but not ruled out” for Sunday's game against visiting Denver.

1 — The number of red-zone touchdowns allowed by the Bucs' defense despite the Lions making seven trips inside the Tampa Bay 20. Opponents have had six or more red-zone possessions in a game against Tampa Bay 15 times since 2000. Sunday was the only time in that stretch the defense yielded one or fewer TDs.

The Bucs host the Broncos and rookie quarterback Bo Nix on Sunday. They also faced a rookie QB in Week 1, defeating No. 2 overall draft pick Jayden Daniels and Washington. Since Bowles arrived in Tampa Bay as defensive coordinator in 2019, the Bucs are 11-5 against rookie QBs.

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl

Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield scrambles for a 11-yard touchdown during the second half of an NFL football game against the Detroit Lions, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield scrambles for a 11-yard touchdown during the second half of an NFL football game against the Detroit Lions, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles speaks to the media after an NFL football game against the Detroit Lions in Detroit, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles speaks to the media after an NFL football game against the Detroit Lions in Detroit, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

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