Rally dates are set. Venues are chosen. The only thing missing for Harris' blitz is her VP choice

WASHINGTON (AP) — The dates are set. The venues are chosen. The only thing missing from this week's campaign blitz with Vice President Kamala Harris and her 2024 running mate is the name of the running mate.

After a weekend spent interviewing finalists, Harris must decide on her wingman before the two set off Tuesday on a tour across key battleground states where they will introduce the new Democratic ticket to voters and highlight the stakes of the election.

Everything about her campaign has been rapid-fire out of necessity. She's only been a candidate for a little over two weeks, since President Joe Biden bowed out of the race following a dismal debate performance and escalating calls within the Democratic party for him to step aside. The Democratic National Committee chair said Friday that Harris had already secured enough votes to become the party's nominee and will accept the nomination Monday night when voting ends.

And about 8 in 10 Democrats say they would be somewhat or very satisfied if Harris became the Democratic nominee for president, according to a survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, which was conducted after Biden withdrew from the race.

Harris has had to do condensed vetting of her potential running mates as the party's convention draws near. That means there’s not much time left for advocates for and against different picks get in their final licks.

Harris was zeroing in on three running mate contenders, whom she interviewed Sunday in Washington. They were Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, according to a person familiar with the process who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to discuss the negotiations. Three other men have been in the mix: Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.

Walz is in his second term as governor of Minnesota. He has made his state a bastion of liberal policy and, this year, one of the few states to protect fans buying tickets online for Taylor Swift concerts and other live events. He comes from rural America and in his first race for Congress, Walz upset a Republican incumbent.

Walz spoke before an energetic crowd at a fundraiser Monday evening in downtown Minneapolis, but didn't drop any hints about his status on Harris’ shortlist. But the governor spoke of a “politics of joy” that he hopes to spread on the campaign trail on behalf of Harris.

“We’ve got to run this campaign against the serious threat that’s there, but we have to do it every single day with a sense of joy,” he said.

Walz also criticized Donald Trump and Republicans who wanted to regulate what books children read and undermine abortion rights.

The Minnesota Democratic Party, meanwhile, posted a booster for Walz online. “IMPORTANT PSA: There’s no ‘T’ sound in ‘Walz’ (But there is one in ‘Vice President Walz’)," the group wrote with a winking smiley face emoji.

Some congressional Democrats have promoted Kelly, a former Navy pilot and astronaut whose state has more than 370 miles or 600 kilometers of border with Mexico. They say his selection could help defuse Trump's arguments that the Biden-Harris administration’s immigration policies are too relaxed.

Shapiro has prominent supporters, too, like Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker. She caused a stir by posting a video Friday depicting several Philadelphia-area officials and Democrats promoting Harris, but also playing up Shapiro as her running mate. A person familiar with the mayor's thinking said she had no insider knowledge about Harris' intentions.

When asked about the veepstakes Monday, Shapiro said he had no information.

“I got nothing for you, man," he told an Associated Press reporter as he arrived at the Pennsylvania state capitol in Harrisburg. "Have a great day.”

Both Kelly and Shapiro have seen their detractors become more vocal as Harris closes in on a decision.

Some labor groups have criticized Kelly, saying he opposes proposed legislation they argue would boost union organizing. The senator’s office counters that while he did not co-sponsor the proposed legislation, he has said he would vote for it.

The nonprofit Institute for Middle East Understanding has been vocal about Shapiro, saying in a statement last week that he was not the right candidate for the job.

Shapiro has aggressively confronted what he views as antisemitism cropping up from pro-Palestinian demonstrations and he has professed solidarity with Israel in its drive to eliminate Hamas as it Israel battles the militants in Gaza. But he’s also criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, while suggesting that any end to the Israel-Hamas war requires the removal of Hamas from power.

Harris and her running mate — whoever that is — will launch Tuesday into an aggressive battleground state tour that begins in Philadelphia on Tuesday and winds later in the week through Wisconsin, Michigan, North Carolina, Arizona and Nevada. A scheduled stop in Savannah, Georgia, was canceled due to the expected effects of Hurricane Debby.

Campaign officials are aware that momentum can be fleeting and are working to capitalize on the energy now, while managing expectations by continuing to emphasize that the race with Republican nominee Donald Trump is tight. But the strong rollout has allowed the Harris campaign to put a number of states back in play that had been feared out of reach when Biden remained at the top of the ticket.

Trump’s running mate, JD Vance, was heading out on almost exactly the same campaign schedule as Harris: Philadelphia on Tuesday, Eau Claire, Wisconsin, and Detroit on Wednesday and Raleigh, North Carolina, on Thursday.

He told Fox News on Sunday that Harris’ pick doesn’t matter to him. “Whoever she chooses, the problem is going to be Kamala Harris’ record and Kamala Harris’ policies,” he said, adding, “It’s not going to be good for the country.”

Harris' early rallies have attracted enthusiastic thousands. Campaign officials say each stop will be loaded with local election officials, religious leaders, union members and more in an effort to show the diversity of her coalition. Some Republicans will also appear with her, according to the campaign.

The campaign this week launched “Republicans for Harris.” The program will be a “campaign within a campaign,” according to Harris’ team, using well-known Republicans to activate their networks, with a particular emphasis on primary voters who backed former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley.

Associated Press writers Michael Goldberg in Minneapolis, Hannah Fingerhut in Des Moines, Iowa, Steve Peoples in New York and Mark Scolforo in Harrisburg, Pa., contributed to this report.

FILE - Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a campaign rally, July 30, 2024, in Atlanta. Harris, the daughter of immigrants who rose through the California political and law enforcement ranks to become the first female vice president in U.S. history, is poised to secure the Democratic Party's presidential nomination Monday, Aug. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/John Bazemore, File)

FILE - Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at an event in Manassas, Va., Jan. 23, 2024, to campaign for abortion rights. Harris, the daughter of immigrants who rose through the California political and law enforcement ranks to become the first female vice president in U.S. history, is poised to secure the Democratic Party's presidential nomination Monday, Aug. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)

FILE - California State Attorney General Kamala Harris speaks to California Democrats, May 16, 2015, in Anaheim, Calif. Harris, the daughter of immigrants who rose through the California political and law enforcement ranks to become the first female vice president in U.S. history, is poised to secure the Democratic Party's presidential nomination Monday, Aug. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File)

Rally dates are set. Venues are chosen. The only thing missing for Harris' blitz is her VP choice

FILE - Vice President Kamala Harris delivers remarks at a Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority gathering in Houston, July 31, 2024, in Houston. (AP Photo/LM Otero, File)

Rally dates are set. Venues are chosen. The only thing missing for Harris' blitz is her VP choice

Russia’s Federal Security Service on Friday accused six British diplomats of spying and said a decision has been made to withdraw their accreditation.

Russian state TV quoted an official from the security service known as the FSB as saying that they will be expelled. The expulsions come as Prime Minister Keir Starmer visits Washington for talks with President Joe Biden that will include Ukraine’s request to use Western-supplied weapons against targets inside Russia.

Starmer said on his way to the U.S. that Britain does not “seek any conflict with Russia.” “Russia started this conflict. Russia illegally invaded Ukraine. Russia could end this conflict straight away,” he told reporters.

“Ukraine has the right to self-defense and we’ve obviously been absolutely fully supportive of Ukraine’s right to self-defense — we’re providing training capability, as you know. But we don’t seek any conflict with Russia — that’s not our intention in the slightest,” he said.

The FSB said it received documents indicating that the diplomats were sent to Russia by a division of the U.K. Foreign Office “whose main task is to inflict a strategic defeat on our country,” and that they were involved in “intelligence-gathering and subversive activities.”

Based on these documents and “in response to numerous unfriendly steps by London,” the Russian Foreign Ministry withdrew the accreditation of the diplomats, the FSB said, without identifying them. It warned that if other diplomats are found to be carrying out “similar actions,” the agency “will demand early termination of their missions” to Russia.

Russian state TV said in a report that the six diplomats had met with independent media and rights groups that have been declared “foreign agents” — a label the Russian authorities have actively used against organizations and individuals critical of the Kremlin.

The British Embassy in Moscow did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press. There was no immediate comment from Britain's Foreign Office.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said in an online statement that “We fully agree with the assessments of the activities of the British so-called diplomats expressed by the Russian FSB. The British Embassy has gone far beyond the limits outlined by the Vienna Conventions." She said the diplomats were carrying out “subversive actions aimed at causing harm to our people.”

Expulsions of diplomats — both Western diplomats working in Russia and Russian diplomats working in Western countries — have become increasingly common since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

Russian news outlet RBC counted last year that Western countries and Japan expelled a total 670 Russian diplomats between the beginning of 2022 and October 2023, while Moscow expelled 346 diplomats in response. According to RBC, it was more than in the previous 20 years combined.

In May the U.K. expelled Russia’s defense attaché in London, alleging he was an undeclared intelligence officer, and closed several Russian diplomatic properties in Britain that it said were being used for spying.

FILE - The British Embassy building, center, with the Russian Foreign Ministry building, second right, in Moscow, Russia, Friday, March 16, 2018. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin, File)

FILE - Birds fly with the British Embassy building at center in the background in Moscow, Russia, Friday, March 16, 2018. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin, File)