President Joe Biden exited the 2024 presidential race, endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris and shaking up the Democratic Party only weeks before the convention. And we begin our closer look at Team USA as the Paris Olympic games are just days away. These stories and more highlight The Morning Rundown for Monday, July 22, 2024.
President Biden ends 2024 campaign, endorses Vice President Harris
In a historic — but not shocking — move President Joe Biden announced Sunday, July 21, he’s suspending his 2024 campaign.
He also immediately endorsed his vice president, Kamala Harris, to take his place on the ballot.
No major presidential candidate has ever dropped out of the race this close to election day, or after all the primaries had already ended. President Biden posted on X, saying “it is in the best interest of the party and the country” for him to stand down and focus solely on finishing the remainder of his first and only term.
Harris accepted Biden’s endorsement in her own post on X, saying she intends to “earn and win” the nomination.
There’d been intense pressure leading up to Sunday’s decision, with dozens of democratic lawmakers and donors asking the president to step aside over concerns he would lose the election.
Right now, President Biden is recovering from COVID-19, but he’s expected to address the nation publicly over his decision to drop out of the race.
Prominent names from both sides of aisle react to Biden’s announcement
There was immediate reaction to President Biden dropping out of the 2024 race from prominent people in the Democratic Party, including former President Barack Obama, the Clintons and major labor organizations. There was also reaction from the Republican side of the aisle — House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., is calling for President Biden to resign now.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi both supported Biden’s decision, calling it a difficult one to make, but the right one.
In a joint statement former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton both supported Biden’s decision to drop out and endorsed Vice President Harris.
Former President Obama published a statement to social media following Biden’s announcement, touting Biden’s successes in his long political career, including his time as Obama’s VP. Obama also said the Democratic Party is now entering “uncharted waters.”
On the Republican side, House Speaker Johnson said, “If Biden isn’t fit to run for president, he’s not fit to serve as one.” The Republican nominee, former President Donald Trump, also canceled a presidential debate that was scheduled for October amid uncertainty on who will be the Democratic nominee.
So, what is next for the Democratic Party? It’ll probably be a busy week of further endorsements as questions swirl around who the vice president on the Democratic ticket would be if Harris is the presidential candidate.
After a tumultuous few weeks since debate night, the party as a whole seems reenergized. Reports show Democrats have raised nearly $50 million since Biden’s announcement.
While a lot of attention turns to Kamala Harris in the coming days, it won’t be until the Democratic National Convention in August that the party secures its nominee to take on former President Trump in November.
Secret Service director to testify on Trump assassination attempt
Lawmakers are expected to press the head of the Secret Service at a congressional hearing Monday, July 22, after the assassination attempt of former President Trump on July 13. Director Kimberly Cheatle will be asked how the Secret Service’s biggest failure in four decades happened under her watch.
Cheatle released a statement on Sunday, July 21, in support of independent reviews of the agency’s steps taken that day.
The Secret Service has acknowledged there have been times it did not provide full federal resources to Trump’s campaign, though it did not deny any requests at the Pennsylvania rally where the shooting occurred.
This comes as critics are questioning the agency’s preparations and actions, and calls for the director to step down are growing ahead of her testimony.
Israel strikes Yemen following deadly Houthi attack in Tel Aviv
The Israeli military said it intercepted a missile fired from Yemen early Sunday, just hours after Israel made its first strike on Yemen. That strike came after Houthi rebels launched a drone attack in Tel Aviv Friday, July 19, that killed one person.
Since the Israel-Hamas War began in October, the Iran-backed group has been launching strikes on Israel from Yemen. The strike on Saturday, July 20, is the first time Israel is known to have responded to a Houthi attack — hitting a critical port that Israel says is where the Houthis receive their weapons from Iran.
More flights canceled as Delta struggles after tech outage
Delta Air Lines is struggling to get back to normal after last week’s global cyber software outage. The company canceled more than a thousand flights Sunday, July 21, alone. The airline already had to cancel 3,500 since the Friday, July 19, CrowdStrike outage.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, D, has issued a warning reminding Delta it has to provide customers with adequate assistance and refunds.
In a statement, Delta’s CEO apologized to impacted customers and said canceling flights is always their “last resort.”
Twins Annie & Kerry Xu swinging for success on badminton court in Paris
The summer Olympics will begin on July 26, hosted in Paris, France. But with nearly 600 athletes from the U.S. competing, it’s a tall order to know every single one. So, this week, SAN will highlight a few of them and get to know them and their sport a little better.
Monday, July 22, we have the story of twin sisters who are looking to make a “racket” on the badminton court.
When twins Annie and Kerry Xu were around eight years old, their parents gave them a choice: continue practicing ice skating — which they were excelling at — or select another sport, one they think they would like even more.
Their pick? Badminton.
“I can’t remember where exactly it was because we were eight, but I just remember the ambiance was pretty nice and as I, an 8 year old, I was like this place was so cool I feel I would like this sport just because of the place we were in,” Kerry Xu said.
Now it’s time to look ahead, as the twin sisters from San Jose, California embark on their first Olympic games.
As teens, they competed in junior and national tournaments, where they would hear from their coaches they had what it took to one day make the Olympics.
But the sisters took their time, making sure they were fully prepared for the journey ahead, getting jobs to fund their goal and getting an education — graduating from UC Berkeley while putting athletics somewhat on hold until it was time to focus on their Olympic dreams.
“In 2022, after we had worked for a year and saved up a little bit of money and with our parents’ support, we decided to take that leap of faith and just go for it because we didn’t want to have any regrets later in life,” Annie Xu said.
The 24-year-old twins qualifying for their first Olympic games — feeling a mix of immense joy and relief. They’re going in with an underdog mentality, leaving unnecessary pressure at the door, ready to expect the unexpected.
Their top priority going into the games? To have fun. And they will do so with the support of their family.
“The people standing behind us our parents are our number one supporter … all going to Paris will be watching in the stands … people watching in your journey — that will inspire to be fearless on court and really go for it,” Kerry Xu said.
Annie and Kerry say they used to watch badminton players on their TV growing up; idols that inspired them to go for their dreams.
Now, these talented sisters will be the ones who’ll be inspiring the next generation of badminton players.
“I think it would mean a lot to us, just because when we were growing up, yes we had idols but most of them were from a different country where badminton was more supported so for young girls in the states and other countries to look at two badminton players form the states who really made it and inspire them to take a journey would mean the world to us,” Annie Xu said.
“It would be real cool if there were young girls who look at us and then make that Olympic dream theirs and have that to strive for growing it,” Kerry Xu said. “It would be heartwarming for us.”
