LAS VEGAS (AP) — Vice President JD Vance is scheduled to speak Monday at the annual gathering of the Republican Jewish Coalition, an opportunity for him to assuage concerns among conservative Jewish activists about his views toward Israel and his association with controversial figures like Tucker Carlson.
The appearance, which was to be closed to the news media, comes at an extraordinarily sensitive time for Jewish Americans and the U.S. relationship with Israel. Concerns about antisemitism have surged across the political spectrum ahead of the midterm elections. Republicans are eager to portray Democrats as hostile toward Jews and Israel, but they're also dealing with their own internal schisms.
Vance suggested last month that some Israeli officials have sought to manipulate U.S. public opinion in order to prolong the war with Iran. There's also lingering concern over Vance's failure to disavow Carlson, a conservative commentator who last year hosted antisemite Nick Fuentes for a friendly conversation.
“There's a sentiment here of some discomfort over the vice president speaking. Some people are disappointed,” said Terry Platt, a Republican Jewish Coalition member from New York. “We're confused about his true sentiments.”
Vance is widely considered a frontrunner for the Republican nomination to succeed President Donald Trump in 2028. He’s expressed his support for Israel but, unlike Trump, has been viewed as more equivocal or skeptical toward the longtime ally.
Back in June, he sharply criticized members of Israel’s government for opposing Trump’s efforts to resolve the war with Iran.
“If I was in the cabinet of the Israeli government, I might not be attacking the only powerful ally that I have anywhere left in the entire world,” Vance said.
Then in July, Vance said elements of the Israeli government had tried to influence American sentiment to derail negotiations.
“There are some people within their system that we know beyond a shadow of a doubt are manipulating and trying to change American public opinion to keep the war going on indefinitely," he told podcaster Joe Rogan.
Support for Israel has eroded in the United States, although more dramatically among Democrats. Roughly half of Democrats believe that Israel has committed genocide against Palestinians, according to an AP-NORC poll released in July, an accusation that’s been leveled by some human rights organizations and vehemently denied by Israel and the U.S. government.
Republicans are more likely to back Israel, but there's a generational divide, and younger Republicans are more likely than their older counterparts to say the U.S. is too supportive of Israel.
The divide has been disconcerting for some influential Jewish conservatives, who have used the annual Republican Jewish Coalition summits to push back on antisemitism.
“We need a country where elected officials stand proudly with the Jewish community,” U.S. Rep. Lisa McClain of Michigan said Sunday. “That is the work, and it begins before we leave this room.”
A year ago, the coalition’s annual summit was planned as a celebration of the Trump administration’s work to return Israeli hostages held in Gaza since the war began. Instead, it became a days-long condemnation of antisemitism within the conservative ranks sparked by the refusal of Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts to distance the think tank from Carlson after he hosted Fuentes on his show.
At one point during the summit, college students waved red signs that read, “Tucker is not MAGA.”
Bruce Pearl, the Auburn University men’s basketball coach who has emerged as a prominent pro-Israel conservative, previously said that Vance would need to reject Carlson to receive his support.
“If he maintains that connection to that antisemite,” Pearl said in June, “I think that’s going to be bad for antisemitism, because he will bring a lot of Tucker Carlsons with him. He’ll uplift them.”
Vice President JD Vance waves as he disembarks Air Force Two at Joint Base Andrews, Md., following a trip to Maine, Monday, Aug. 24, 2026. (Anna Moneymaker/Pool Photo via AP )
Vice President JD Vance speaks at CompoTech headquarters, Monday, August 24, 2026 in Brewer, Maine. (Anna Moneymaker/Pool Photo via AP)
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) — One person died and about 15 people are missing or unaccounted for after a major flash flood at the Grand Canyon.
The National Park Service said Sunday night that the body of a 46-year-old man was recovered near Crystal Rapids along the Colorado River. Coroner’s officials were at the scene.
Weekend flooding forced the evacuation of dozens of people, swept large boulders and metal structures into the river and knocked out the sole water pipeline that serves tourists and residents, the park service said.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) — A major flash flood at the Grand Canyon forced the evacuation of dozens of people, swept large boulders and metal structures into the Colorado River and knocked out the sole water pipeline that serves tourists and residents, the National Park Service said Sunday.
Starting Monday, tourists won't be able to stay overnight at lodges and hotels within Grand Canyon National Park. Year-round residents are being asked to conserve water.
“These measures are crucial for ensuring the safety and sustainability of water resources,” the park said in a statement.
The flooding in Arizona's Bright Angel Creek, which flows into the river, happened Saturday afternoon. More than 60 people were evacuated from the depths of the canyon. The park service says it has yet to account for 15 people and asked anyone with details about hikers or campers in the canyon to get in touch. The Arizona Department of Public Safety was helping with additional evacuations Sunday.
Parth Desai was hiking through a narrow passage in Bright Angel Canyon with fellow physicians and a park ranger when the downpour started Saturday.
“We saw the creek flood, waterfalls coming up out of nowhere, boulders, mud, landslides happening everywhere,” he said.
Later, as they made their way toward Phantom Ranch, a colleague shouted “Up, Up, Up, Up!” as a 4-foot (1-meter) debris wall headed toward them and they ran up into a patch of cacti, he said. They were rescued by helicopter late Saturday after making it to the Phantom Ranch area, he said.
Torrents of water wiped out footbridges over the creek and altered the landscape, widening the creek bed and extending an existing river rapid or creating a new one. The flood was a major blow to an enduring effort to modernize the pipeline that serves 6 million visitors a year and roughly 1,600 residents of Grand Canyon Village.
“Heaven help us if the whole thing down there at the bottom has to be reconstructed,” said Jack Schmidt, director of the Center for Colorado River Studies at Utah State University. “Where are they going to get the money? It's a nightmare for the park service. And thank God nobody was hurt or killed.”
Halting overnight stays at the park because of a lack of water is rare, although the pipeline frequently has failed over the years.
A $208 million rehabilitation of the pipeline and upgrades to the associated water delivery system started in 2023, with the park service calling it a crucial investment to ensure the park can meet the needs of residents and visitors. The project was expected to be completed next year.
Lodging is still available just outside the park's South Rim entrance station in Tusayan.
Popular tourist spots, including the Bright Angel Campground, the North Kaibab Trail and Phantom Ranch, home to a historic canteen and dormitories, remained closed Sunday.
Erica Viola said she and about 50 other hikers at that campground watched the creek rise Saturday and debris start to flow by, including what looked like a bunkhouse. The helicopter ride out cut her adventure short by two days, she said.
About half an inch to 1 inch (1 to 2.5 cm) of rain fell within about 20 minutes on a rocky slope where there’s a steep drop in elevation, said National Weather Service meteorologist Darren McCollum in Flagstaff. The deluge was preceded by two smaller systems that drenched the area hours earlier.
“So when the main storm moved in, torrential rain fell on everything that was already soaked, and that caused all the problems that we're seeing," McCollum said.
The weather service said the flooding happened on the north side of the Grand Canyon, where Bright Angel Creek comes from the North Rim down to the Colorado River, dropping around 6,000 feet (1,828 meters).
More rain and thunderstorms were possible for the area into Monday.
Stengle reported from Dallas. Jeffrey Collins in Columbia, South Carolina, Holly Ramer in Concord, New Hampshire, and Christopher Weber in Los Angeles also contributed.
This photo shows Grand Canyon National Park in northern Arizona on Sunday, Aug. 30, 2026, after it was hit by heavy flooding a day earlier. (Craig Sanderson via AP)
This photo shows Grand Canyon National Park in northern Arizona on Sunday, Aug. 30, 2026, after it was hit by heavy flooding a day earlier. (Craig Sanderson via AP)
Bright Angel Creek near the Phantom Ranger Station in the Grand Canyon, Arizona, is seen after flash flooding from storms, Saturday, Aug. 29, 2026. (Parth Desai via AP)
