Friday morning news: August 23, 2024

DNC Kamala » Vice President Kamala Harris publicly accepted her party’s presidential nod last night.

HARRIS: On behalf of everyone whose story could only be written in the greatest nation on earth, I accept your nomination to be president of the United States of America.

Harris was already officially nominated by the party in an online vote weeks ago.

After her speech, Harris trekked to another part of Chicago’s United Center and briefly addressed a group of staffers and supporters at a post-convention party.

Other speakers on the final day of the Democratic convention included Senators Mark Kelly and Elizabeth Warren and North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper.

DNC Carolina report » Throughout the Democratic convention this week, one topic came up over and over again. WORLD political reporter Carolina Lumetta reports from Chicago.

LUMETTA: It’s the first presidential election since the downfall of Roe v. Wade, and the Democratic National Convention has put the issue at the forefront of nearly every speech.

The issue even saturated the roll call when each state elected Harris and Walz as the Democratic nominees. Texas delegate Kate Cox sued her state last year after pro-life protections meant she could not abort her unborn child, who doctors said would not survive, in state. She flew elsewhere and blamed Trump for pro-life laws spreading across the country.

COX: Today, because I found a way to access abortion care, I am pregnant again. [cheers] and my baby is due in January just in time to see President Kamala Harris sworn in as president of the United States.

And both Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Gov. Tim Walz hammered the abortion issue in their convention speeches.

For WORLD, I’m Carolina Lumetta.

Trump at border » On the same day Vice President Kamala Harris publicly accepted her party’s presidential nod, her Republican rival, Donald Trump visited the U.S.-Mexico border looking to draw a sharp contrast with Harris.

TRUMP:  We had a Border Czar, who was the Border Czar, she loved the title but she didn't want to do the work cause she's lazy and probably more importantly than being lazy, she, uh, wants to have an open border.

Border czar was an unofficial title applied to Harris after President Biden tasked her with overseeing efforts to curb the border crisis with an emphasis on the root causes of migration.

Trump spoke in front of a stretch of border wall and a pile of steel beams along the border in Arizona.

As the former president campaigned on the border, police arrested an Arizona man for making death threats against Trump on social media. Authorities said the man was already wanted on several outstanding warrants.

Human smuggling deaths indictment » A Guatemalan man is now facing trial on numerous felonies over the death of more than 50 migrants left inside of a sweltering tractor-trailer in San Antonio, Texas.

Federal prosecutor Jaime Esparza told reporters …

ESPARZA:  Not only do we seek justice for the deceased and those who are injured, but we, but we aim to send a message to others involved in smuggling of humans.

Rigoberto Román Miranda Orozco is charged with six counts of migrant smuggling resulting in death or serious injury.

Arrests related to the 2022 deaths in Texas have climbed to more than a dozen and now stretch to Central America.

Canadian rail » Freight trains are at a standstill in Canada after contract talks fell through between the Teamsters union and the two largest rail companies.

President and CEO of the Canadian Federation of Independent Businesses Dan Kelly.

KELLY: We need the government to step in. There is a couple of options for them. Imposing binding arbitration or perhaps some form of a return to work order.

Canadian National Railway and Canadian Pacific Kansas City locked out more than 9,000 workers today amid the dispute after monthslong negotiations stalled out.

The union is demanding higher wages, improved rest periods, and more predictable schedules for their employees.

I’m Kent Covington.

Straight ahead: Culture Friday with John Stonestreet. Plus, a review of The Forge.

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