By Alexander Bolton Vice President Harris’s lack of traction with unionized blue-collar workers has emerged as one of her biggest challenges to winning key states such as Michigan and Pennsylvania, as polls show her significantly underperforming Joe Biden’s performance with union workers in 2020.
By Nikki Carvajal, Kate Sullivan, Dana Bash, Phil Mattingly and Jeremy Diamond Vice President Kamala Harris endured a rocky first foreign trip since taking office, with sources telling CNN her two-day swing through Mexico and Guatemala left some administration officials quietly perplexed about what they perceive as her bumpy answers to questions about whether she will go to the US-Mexico border. Several sources say there was a real hope inside the White House that Harris’ first trip abroad would be a success, and worry that what looked like ill-prepared answers to that inevitable question would overshadow it. But officials made
By Jeremy Diamond and Nikki Carvajal Vice President Kamala Harris is facing the first major diplomatic test of her vice presidency as she looks to tackle the root causes of migration toward the US in her full day of meetings in Guatemala. Harris has been eager to burnish her foreign policy credentials after entering office with little experience in that realm. Harris and her team see this first foreign trip as an opportunity to advance that effort after weeks spent laying the groundwork for meetings in the region. Speaking in Guatemala City, Harris said her trip and President Joe Biden’s
Analysis by Stephen Collinson It’s time for Kamala Harris to step out of Joe Biden’s shadow. Since becoming the first female Vice President in January, Harris has done what number twos are supposed to do: avoiding one-upping the commander-in-chief during his crucial first few months in office. But now, Harris is on a high profile and politically risky first foreign trip to Guatemala and Mexico,seeking to ease a tide of immigration at the US border. She is tackling an issue critical to America’s foreign and domestic policy, and one laced with traps for a politician expected to run for the
By Jasmine Wright Kamala Harris will try to deepen the United States’ “strategic partnership and bilateral relationship” with Guatemala and Mexico on her first foreign trip as vice president, according to her senior staff members. Harris will visit the region next week as part of her role leading diplomatic efforts to stem the flow of migration from Central America, and she will focus on economic development, climate and food insecurity, and women and young people, according to her staff. The trip underscores the administration’s heightened focus on Central America and migration from the region, especially as record numbers of unaccompanied
By Priscilla Alvarez and Natasha Bertrand In the weeks since the President asked her to take charge of immigration from Central America, Vice President Kamala Harris and her staff have sought to make one thing clear: She does not manage the southern border. Two White House officials familiar with the dynamic said Harris and her aides have emphasized internally that they want to focus on conditions in Central America that push migrants to the US southern border, as President Joe Biden tasked her to do. A record number of unaccompanied children crossed into the US this spring, and the throngs
By Jasmine Wright Vice President Kamala Harris on Friday will become the first woman to give the commencement speech at the United States Naval Academy when she addresses the 2021 graduating class. During the speech, Harris will touch on some of the biggest threats to the nation and its armed forces, including the pandemic, cybersecurity and climate change. One White House official said the address is her first broad speech focused on the military and the threats the country faces today. “The global pandemic has accelerated our world into a new era. It has forever impacted our world. It has
By Chandelis Duster Vice President Kamala Harris on Sunday applauded members of the Class of 2021 on their perseverance in earning their high school diplomas during the coronavirus pandemic, which upended classrooms and shuttered a number of extracurricular activities such as sports. “You now know, that you have what it takes to get through pretty much anything. So when you come up against an obstacle, when you experience a setback — and you will, we all do — remember the resilience that you showed this past year. The determination. Remember, that you have the strength to get through anything,” Harris
By Paul LeBlanc CNN will air a star-studded prime-time special on Sunday honoring the class of 2021, as millions of students across the nation graduate following a year shaped by the coronavirus pandemic. “Graduation 2021: A CNN Special Event” will air Sunday, May 23 at 7 p.m. ET on CNN, CNN International and CNN en Español. The special will feature a keynote address from Vice President Kamala Harris along with musical performances from Portugal. The Man, Andy Grammer, Lukas Graham and EARCANDY. Students from the Duke Ellington School of Arts in Washington, DC, and the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School
By Jasmine Wright The Biden administration will maintain the National Space Council and Vice President Kamala Harris will chair it, according to senior administration officials, adding another item to the vice president’s portfolio. Harris confirmed her new role on Saturday, writing in a tweet, “As I’ve said before: In America, when we shoot for the moon, we plant our flag on it. I am honored to lead our National Space Council.” Harris “intends to put her own personal stamp on the Council,” a senior administration official said. The official listed her personal priorities as STEM education, cybersecurity, supporting sustainable development
By Eoin McSweeney Kamala Harris will soon be making more history when she becomes the first United States vice president to have a figure on display at the Madame Tussauds wax museum in New York City. The attraction in Times Square released photos Wednesday of the work done so far on busts of Vice President Kamala Harris and US President Joe Biden in honor of their 100th day in office. “We were keen to focus on her smile and the warmth in her eyes,” David Burks, the principal sculptor, told CNN Thursday. “It’s that twinkle in the eye that’s so
