South Florida Local News

Q: Ira, after Bam Adebayo, who do you think will be the Heat’s next Olympian? I thought it might have been Tyler Herro, after he got to work in Olympic camp, but now I’m not so sure. – Sandy.

A: My money would be on Jaime Jaquez Jr., who worked earlier this month with the USA Basketball Select Team against the Olympic roster in Las Vegas. Plus, with the Olympic coaching hierarchy, it would make sense that Erik Spoelstra, now an Olympic assistant to Steve Kerr, could be up next as Olympic coach. As it is, Jaime, who is of Mexican heritage, bypassed an opportunity to play for Mexico in this Olympic cycle, indicating an interest and belief of a potential Team USA invitation down the road. While there is somewhat of a Dream Team element to this 2024 Team USA Olympic roster, the resumes likely would have to be as lofty going forward among candidates, especially when it comes to the next cycle for the World Cup.

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• Miami Heat | Submit your “Ask Ira” question here!

Q: Ira, watching Bam Adebayo play alongside Anthony Davis and Joel Embiid, how do the Heat do that? – Sam.

A: By acquiring a Hall of Fame big man? That’s why this Team USA Olympic roster is viewed as somewhat of a dream team, which is likely what it will remain for Bam Adebayo, a dream. But with Erik Spoelstra an Olympic assistant, it could at least open Heat eyes to pairing Bam with another big man. Monday’s exhibition, because of Anthony Davis’ foul trouble, finally gave Bam the chance to play alongside Joel Embiid. The minutes were as intriguing as one might expect.

Q: Pelle Larsson has some Goran Dragic to his game. – Tom.

A: So, in other words, be patient, considering Goran Dragic was traded twice early in his career before he hit his NBA stride. Pelle Larsson certainly has shown potential, but at least at the moment, Josh Richardson and Alec Burks appear to be ahead of him in the Heat hierarchy. And that’s OK, too. The Heat have the benefit of allowing their second-round pick out of Sweden to develop. But Pelle’s last two games of summer league could not have been more heartening. He already seems to have, as you put it, a Dragic-like “it” factor.

Here are the top stories for Tuesday, July 23, 2023. Get the weather forecast for today here.

SUBSCRIBE NOW: Get our free Morning Update email. Sign up here.

Florida Democrats say more than 92% of state’s convention delegates support Harris for president

‘Southernmost Southernmost House’ up for sale in Key West, boasting stunning views

‘A baby just got shot’: Toddler killed in drive-by shooting at birthday party in Fort Lauderdale

Restaurant news: IT Italian and Carrot Express open in Hollywood, Kebab Shop expands to Coral Springs

As Moskowitz demands Secret Service chief’s ouster, he cites Stoneman Douglas aftermath

Meet the South Florida athletes set to compete for the US at 2024 Olympics

Heavy rain temporarily shuts down two Broward emergency rooms

Former CEO of Pompano Beach business pleads guilty in $200 million Ponzi scheme

Travel Troubleshooter: A booking error leads to a nonrefundable hotel room, or does it?

Miss Manners: I feel guilty after declining to switch airplane seats with an older lady

Today is Tuesday, July 23, the 205th day of 2024. There are 161 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On July 23, 1967, the first of five days of deadly rioting erupted in Detroit as an early morning police raid on an unlicensed bar resulted in a confrontation with local residents, escalating into violence that spread into other parts of the city and resulting in 43 deaths.

Also on this date:

In 1903, the Ford Motor Company sold its first car, a Model A, for $850.

In 1958, Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II named the first four women to peerage in the House of Lords.

In 1982, actor Vic Morrow and two child actors, 7-year-old Myca Dinh Le and 6-year-old Renee Shin-Yi Chen, were killed when a helicopter crashed on top of them during filming of a Vietnam War scene for “Twilight Zone: The Movie.” (Director John Landis and four associates were later acquitted of manslaughter charges.)

In 1983, an Air Canada Boeing 767 ran out of fuel while flying from Montreal to Edmonton; the pilots were able to glide the jetliner to a safe emergency landing in Gimli, Manitoba. (The near-disaster occurred because the fuel had been erroneously measured in pounds instead of kilograms at a time when Canada was converting to the metric system.)

In 1990, President George H.W. Bush announced his choice of Judge David Souter of New Hampshire to succeed the retiring Justice William J. Brennan on the U.S. Supreme Court.

In 1996, at the Atlanta Olympics, Kerri Strug made a heroic final vault despite torn ligaments in her left ankle as the U.S. women gymnasts clinched their first-ever Olympic team gold medal.

In 1997, the search for Andrew Cunanan, the suspected killer of designer Gianni Versace and others, ended as police found his body on a houseboat in Miami Beach, an apparent suicide.

In 1999, the space shuttle Columbia blasted off with the world’s most powerful X-ray telescope and Eileen Collins became the first woman to command a U.S. space flight.

In 2003, Massachusetts’ attorney general issued a report saying clergy members and others in the Boston Archdiocese had probably sexually abused more than 1,000 people over a period of six decades.

In 2006, Tiger Woods became the first player since Tom Watson in 1982-83 to win consecutive British Open titles.

In 2011, singer Amy Winehouse, 27, was found dead in her London home from accidental alcohol poisoning.

In 2012, Penn State’s football program was all but leveled by penalties for its handling of the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal as the NCAA imposed an unprecedented $60 million fine, a four-year ban from postseason play and a cut in the number of football scholarships it could award.

In 2019, Boris Johnson won the contest to lead Britain’s governing Conservative Party, putting him in line to become the country’s prime minister the following day.

In 2021, Cleveland’s Major League Baseball team, known as the Indians since 1915, announced that it would get a new name, the Guardians, at the end of the 2021 season; the change came amid a push for institutions and teams to drop logos and names that were considered racist.

Today’s Birthdays:

• Retired Supreme Court Justice Anthony M. Kennedy is 88.
• Actor Ronny Cox is 86.
• Rock singer David Essex is 77.
• Actor Woody Harrelson is 63.
• Rock musician Martin Gore (Depeche Mode) is 63.
• Actor & director Eriq Lasalle is 62.
• Rock musician Slash is 59.
• Basketball Hall of Famer Gary Payton is 56.
• Model-actor Stephanie Seymour is 56.
• Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., is 55.
• Actor Charisma Carpenter is 54.
• Country singer Alison Krauss is 53.
• R&B singer Dalvin DeGrate (Jodeci) is 53.
• Actor-comedian Marlon Wayans is 52.
• Actor Kathryn Hahn is 51.
• Former White House intern Monica Lewinsky is 51.
• Actor Stephanie March is 50.
• R&B singer Michelle Williams is 45.
• Actor Paul Wesley is 42.
• Actor Daniel Radcliffe is 35.

General Daily Insight for July 23, 2024

Accepting change can be challenging. When the ego-driven Sun is at odds with ever-evolving Pluto at 1:38 am EDT, we may dig in our heels and refuse to let go of a behavior, place, or person that we’ve outgrown. The intuitive Moon faces challenges from erratic Uranus and trickster Mercury, creating a storm of information that muddies our ability to focus and change. When the Moon moves into sensitive Pisces, a sense of peace might be easier to find. Let’s not hold on too tightly.

Aries

March 21 – April 19

You might be allowing yourself to get stuck in the past. Whether something or someone continually brings up memories from your past or you’re constantly spiraling into the desire to go back and redo something that’s already been done, this isn’t a healthy way to live life. When you find yourself swimming in regret, don’t let yourself get caught in the whirlpool of wishing you’d done things differently. Instead, live in the now by taking direct action to improve your future.

Taurus

April 20 – May 20

Two directions might be calling your name. Balancing life’s joys with work’s necessities is a cornerstone of existence, one that can cause a lot of stress as you either work to maintain equilibrium or choose one and let the other fall. Alternatively, you may have two people in your life giving you conflicting advice. Their differing areas of expertise and shared knowledge of your life could make it even harder to know which direction you’re meant to take. Remember, the final say is yours.

Gemini

May 21 – June 20

Implementing a fresh mindset won’t be simple. You may have wanted to open your mind in the past, allowing yourself to take in new information and grow. Unfortunately, being led astray by a source you trusted could have caused you to close off and refuse to deviate from what you’re already doing. Your inner life will never stop growing! If you confine it to a too-small space, you might end up feeling trapped in your old ways. Don’t let your soul become rigid.

Cancer

June 21 – July 22

Your sense of security may be tested without warning. You might find that you don’t have as much money in the bank as you thought you did, or someone that you believed you could rely on could have turned out to be flakier than you expected. It’s not easy to be let down, especially when you feel blindsided, but it’s important to remember who you are and the struggles that you’ve survived up to this point. You’re tougher than you think.

Leo

July 23 – August 22

You might be clinging to a connection that is no longer serving you. Even if you and another person were close in the past, you may have taken different paths in life. Attempts to connect with them could hurt more than help. They might unintentionally be revealing how they feel about you or their priorities in life. It could be time to step back and allow them the space that they need to grow — and, at the same time, give that to yourself.

Virgo

August 23 – September 22

You might be getting ready to spruce things up. There may be certain areas of your life that you need to get in order, whether your spiritual life is decidedly chaotic or your material life is stuffed to the brim with clutter. You need space to build peace! Do your best to free yourself, even if it’s just for today, from a barrage of outside negativity or a whirlwind of inner distractions. Focus on what you can do to get organized here and now.

Libra

September 23 – October 22

Your present may clash with your past. It might seem like a good idea to combine your current social circle with the people that you used to spend time with, but this can get awkward very quickly. You could find that they don’t have much in common aside from their connections to you — although you may even realize that you identify more with one group than the other. Trust your inner compass to lead you through any ensuing drama with kindness.

Scorpio

October 23 – November 21

You might find that your head and your heart are guiding you toward different places. Your head may demand that you choose the sensible option, while your heart insists that you deserve to indulge in the opposite choice. It’s hard to know what to do when you feel so conflicted, but it’s important to take such decisions seriously. If making a pro/con list doesn’t help, try flipping a coin. Before you look at the results, ask yourself what you hope they are. That’s your answer.

Sagittarius

November 22 – December 21

You’re letting go of predetermined ideas about who you are or “should” be. You may have spent a long time believing something that you no longer identify with, or you might feel as though the universe is pulling you away from a career or hobby you’d always loved. Such a dramatic inner shift can seem sudden, but looking at your recent thoughts around it may say otherwise. Either way, it’s a sign to do some personal reflection about who you want to be going forward.

Capricorn

December 22 – January 19

Trust can be hard to develop with someone specific. You may have a history with this person that makes it difficult to rely on them, or you might be afraid to trust anyone that you don’t know much about, making all acquaintances into wild cards. Maybe you were emotionally hurt by friends or family in the past, leading you to avoid talking about deep subjects or sharing your emotions, but old wounds shouldn’t stop future healing. Mutual vulnerability can be a powerful bonding experience.

Aquarius

January 20 – February 18

Avoiding someone may currently feel safer than opening up. There may be someone in your life that you’re giving the cold shoulder to, despite their best attempts to make amends or win you over again. You might have decided that they haven’t done enough to convince you of their sincerity, or you could have closed yourself off to reconnecting with them. This is your decision to make. That said, silence will create more distance between you, so be sure it’s what you want.

Pisces

February 19 – March 20

Familiarity with struggling doesn’t make it any easier to overcome. You might be feeling attached to something that is actually causing you to fall behind, even as it seems impossible to release. You’re not someone who gives up easily, and you may see handling this subject as a challenge — perhaps you’re insistent on making a friendship work when the other person is making no effort or can’t let go of an old coping mechanism. Be honest with yourself about what could improve your life.

The mere fact that competitive NBA basketball was being played on July 22 made Monday night at the Las Vegas NBA Summer League unusual enough.

The fact that the game then went to an overtime decided by the first team to score seven points in the extra period made it all the more unusual.

But, in the end, ultimately satisfying for the Miami Heat, who managed to steal into the desert night with the championship of the event with a 120-118 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies, a win decided when Heat second-round pick Pelle Larsson scored on a driving shot in the lane to end the untimed extra period.

For the Heat, the victory, which included rings and a postgame trophy ceremony, capped a 6-0 run in Las Vegas and an overall 8-1 summer, when factoring in a 2-1 record in the preceding California Classic summer league in San Francisco.

It took an across-the-board effort Monday night for the Heat to secure the championship, with first-round pick Kel’el Ware closing with 21 points and 10 rebounds, supported by 24 points from Josh Christopher, 21 from Alondes Williams, 19 from Cole Swider and 16 from Larsson. It was a Cole 3-pointer that helped the Heat force overtime.

Christopher, who like Williams and Swider remains without a contract commitment from a team for next season, was named Most Valuable Player of the championship game.

“We’ve been grinding from the start, and now we win,” said Christopher, who closed 6 of 10 on 3-pointers. “Just trust and playing hard. We wanted to win, and we won.”

It proved to be a considerable challenge, with the Grizzlies getting 32 points from Jake LaRavia, 29 from Scotty Pippen Jr. and 28 from GG Jackson.

“They made it tough for us,” Heat summer coach Dan Bisacio said.

The @MiamiHEAT raising that #NBA2KSummerLeague hardware!

MIAMI — Francisco Lindor homered twice, Jeff McNeil also went deep and the New York Mets beat the Miami Marlins 6-4 on Monday night.

McNeil had three RBIs as the Mets split the four-game series against the National League’s worst team. New York (51-48) is 5-5 versus Miami (35-65) this season.

“It’s not easy to hit them here, even pull side,” Lindor said. “It’s baseball. I guess the ball was flying for me. It was a good day.”

Mets starter David Peterson (5-0) permitted two runs and six hits in five innings. The left-hander walked four and struck out four.

“I felt I did some good things and some things that we’ll get better at,” said Peterson, who had not pitched since July 11. “You get back in your routine as quick as you can and get the second half rolling.”

José Buttó relieved Peterson and allowed one run over two innings. Phil Maton worked a perfect eighth, aided by a diving catch from center fielder Harrison Bader.

Down 6-3, the Marlins rallied against closer Edwin Díaz in the ninth, when Nick Gordon hit a one-out single and Jazz Chisholm Jr. walked. Bryan De La Cruz followed with a dribbler that Díaz fielded, but he looked at second — where nobody was covering — before throwing soft and late to first, loading the bases.

Josh Bell grounded out, scoring Gordon and advancing Chisholm and De La Cruz as McNeil made a tough play at second base. Díaz retired Jake Burger on a popup for his 12th save in 17 tries.

“They created some traffic but he kept making pitches,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said of Díaz. “I liked how he continued to mix the fastball, the slider. He got the job done.”

Marlins manager Skip Schumaker was ejected by plate umpire Rob Drake for arguing balls and strikes after the eighth inning.

“Rob’s a good umpire. He’s been around a long time,” Schumaker said. “It’s nothing personal. I just felt like he had to know what I felt.”

McNeil’s two-run shot in the second put the Mets ahead 2-0. He drove the first pitch from Marlins starter Yonny Chirinos (0-2) into the second deck of the right-field seats for his eighth homer and third of the series.

“I know the power’s there. Just kind of searching for some hits and abandoned that a little bit,” McNeil said. “There’s still a time and place for poke the ball the other way and put the ball in play. Different approaches for different times.”

The Marlins narrowed the gap on Vidal Bruján’s RBI double in the second before McNeil’s sacrifice fly and Lindor’s solo homer in the fourth made it 4-1.

New York padded its lead when Chirinos plunked Jose Iglesias with the bases loaded in the fifth.

Solo shots from Bell in the fifth and De La Cruz in the seventh got Miami within 5-3.

Lindor ended a string of 12 1/3 scoreless innings by Marlins relievers in the series when he connected off JT Chargois with another solo homer in the ninth.

Chirinos gave up five runs and nine hits with four walks in five innings.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Mets: 3B Mark Vientos got the night off after getting hit on the helmet by an errant throw in Sunday’s game. Mendoza said Vientos cleared protocols and participated in baseball activities, but he felt it was appropriate to rest him Monday.

UP NEXT

Mets: LHP Jose Quintana (4-6, 4.13 ERA) starts the opener of a two-game Subway Series at Yankee Stadium on Tuesday night. RHP Luis Gil (10-5, 3.17) pitches for the Yankees.

Marlins: Had not announced a starter for the opener of a three-game home series against Baltimore on Tuesday. RHP Albert Suárez (5-3, 2.82 ERA) goes for the Orioles.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal officials are investigating an incident in which a Southwest Airlines jet flew as low as 150 feet over water while it was still about 5 miles from its intended landing spot at the airport in Tampa.

The pilots skipped over the Tampa airport and landed instead at Fort Lauderdale, 200 miles away.

The July 14 flight followed a similar incident last month in Oklahoma City in which a Southwest jet flew at an unusually low altitude while still miles from the airport.

The Federal Aviation Administration said Monday that it is investigating the incident.

Southwest flight 425, which took off from Columbus, Ohio, reached its low point as it flew over Old Tampa Bay near the Courtney Campbell Causeway, according to Flightradar24. Three previous Southwest flights to Tampa passed the same point at about 1,225 feet in altitude, the flight-tracking service said.

“Southwest Flight 425 safely diverted to Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport on July 14 after the crew discontinued their planned approach into Tampa International Airport,” the airline said in a statement.

Dallas-based Southwest said it is in contact with the FAA “to understand and address any irregularities. Nothing is more important to Southwest than the safety of our customers and employees.”

The FAA is still investigating a June 18 flight in which a Southwest jet triggered a low-altitude alert at about 525 feet above ground and 9 miles from the Oklahoma City airport. An air traffic controller reached out to that crew after getting an automated warning in the control tower. The plane circled the airport — a “go-around” — before making an uneventful landing.

In April, a Southwest flight went into a dive off the coast of Hawaii and came within 400 feet of the ocean before the plane began to climb. The National Transportation Safety Board is also investigating a Southwest jet that did an unusual “Dutch roll” and was discovered to have damage to its tail after a flight from Phoenix to Oakland, California. Investigators say the plane had been parked outside during a severe storm.

By CLAIRE SAVAGE

As Congressional members on both sides of the aisle grilled U.S. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle Monday on how a gunman was able to fire shots at former President Donald Trump in an assassination attempt, several Republican lawmakers seized on gender and the agency’s diversity, equity and inclusion efforts as among the reasons for the security failure.

“Ma’am, you are a DEI horror story,” Rep. Tim Burchett of Tennessee told Cheatle during the hours-long hearing in front of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee.

Wisconsin Rep. Glenn Grothman asked the director if she was “not hiring men because of your desire to hit certain targets.”

And Texas Rep. Michael Cloud questioned Cheatle’s strategic plan for the Secret Service, in which she has championed diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility, including her support for the 30×30 Initiative, which seeks to increase the representation of women recruits to 30% by 2030.

“Does every Secret Service agent meet the same qualifications, or do you have different standards for different people?” Cloud asked.

“Yes, sir. Everyone who moves through the application process has to meet the same standards to become a special agent,” Cheatle answered.

Conservative backlash against DEI has been on the rise since last June, when the Supreme Court ruled to end affirmative action in college admissions. Several companies have come under attack because of their DEI policies, among them John Deere, Tractor Supply, Target and Bud Light.

The latest DEI attack materialized in full view Monday against the Secret Service and Cheatle, but the issue had been brewing ever since the July 13 assassination attempt at a Trump rally in Pennsylvania, where several female agents were among those protecting the former president and several conservatives questioned their fitness to serve.

“There should not be any women in the Secret Service. These are supposed to be the very best, and none of the very best at this job are women,” conservative political commentator Matt Walsh posted on X the morning after the assassination attempt. “If there’s a woman doing a job like this, it 100 percent means that a more qualified male was passed over.”

Meghan McCain, daughter of the late senator and U.S. presidential candidate John McCain, reposted Walsh’s statement, adding: “The notion that men and women are the same is just absurd. You need to be taller than the candidate to protect them with your body. Why do they have these short women (one who can’t holster a gun apparently) guarding Trump? This is embarrassing and dangerous.”

Photos of the immediate aftermath of the shooting show a female agent shielding Trump with her body.

David Glasgow, executive director of the Meltzer Center for Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging at New York University School of Law, said the fresh DEI criticism is no surprise.

“It’s now a pretty consistent pattern whenever anything goes wrong that it gets blamed on DEI,” he said. “After the Baltimore Bridge collapse, there were people blaming DEI,” and the same happened after Boeing was dealing with aircraft safety issues.

Massachusetts Democrat Ayanna Pressley said it is “disgraceful” that Republicans are “trotting out sexist tropes” blaming women for the security failures at Trump’s rally. She said she believed her Republican counterparts were exploiting the shooting to “continue to attack progress towards racial justice and gender equity in America.” She also reserved criticism for Cheatle for not adequately addressing questions during Monday’s hearing.

“Every day, Director Cheatle, that you fail to give us answers, they are given more oxygen to make their baseless claims that women and people of color are responsible for tragic events. And that is dangerous too,” Pressley said.

For her part, Cheatle said “the incident on the 13th has nothing to do with DEI. The incident on the 13th has to do with a gap in either planning or communication.”

Under Cheatle, the Secret Service has continued its pledge to the 30×30 Initiative, which aims to improve the representation and experiences of women in law enforcement. Currently, women make up only 12% of sworn officers and 3% of police leadership in the U.S., according to organization’s website. Cheatle herself is only the second woman to head up the Secret Service.

Dozens more police departments and law enforcement agencies have also taken up the 30×30 Initiative, including in red states like Iowa, North Dakota, Arkansas, Kansas, and Florida. And so far, none of those departments has pulled back on the efforts.

Catrina Bonus, president of Women in Federal Law Enforcement, called the attacks on DEI “disheartening.”

“Today’s rhetoric questioning our presence in law enforcement is not just outdated; it is rooted in ignorance,” she said in a statement. “It dishonors the trailblazers who faced unimaginable challenges to make this profession more inclusive and equitable — as well as to the next generation, to show them that law enforcement is filled with open doors and opportunities and through hard work and determination, they can achieve anything they put their minds to.”

Maureen McGough, co-founder of the 30×30 Initiative, pushed back hard on the gender critique.

“We think about the women who are putting their lives on the line every day to do this job in law enforcement, who were called into service, who make incredible sacrifices. And to have people who have never set foot in the arena just indict them just because of their gender, it’s sad, you know, it’s heartbreaking,” she said.

“But it also is an opportunity for us to double down on our efforts,” McGough added.

___

Associated Press Staff Writers Claudia Lauer in Philadelphia and Michael Kunzelman in Washington contributed to this report. ___

The Associated Press’ women in the workforce and state government coverage receives financial support from Pivotal Ventures. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

MIAMI — Inter Miami star Lionel Messi won’t play in the MLS All-Star Game while nursing an ankle injury.

The 37-year-old Messi left the July 14 Copa America final win over Colombia with a right ankle injury. His teammate, Luis Suárez, also won’t play in the game Wednesday in Columbus, Ohio, with what the team described as “knee discomfort.”

Both were listed among the unavailable players by the league on Monday.

Messi, an eight-time Ballon d’Or winner from Argentina, has missed Miami’s wins over Toronto FC and the Chicago Fire. The team said both players’ status for Saturday’s Leagues Cup opening match at home against Mexican club Puebla “will be assessed based on their daily recovery process.”

The MLS All-Star Game pits top players from league clubs against players from Mexico’s Liga MX.

Miami teammates Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba will play Wednesday night.

Real Salt Lake forward Cristian Arango will also miss the All-Star Game while serving a four-game suspension from Major League Soccer for violating the league’s anti-harassment policy. Arango leads MLS with 17 goals and 11 assists.

Sudden torrential rain and heavy flooding Monday caused the temporary closure of two West Broward hospital emergency departments.

As of early Monday evening, ambulances were being diverted from HCA Woodmont in Tamarac and Florida Medical Center on West Oakland Boulevard in Fort Lauderdale, according to Tamarac Fire Rescue.

“Along University Drive in some areas there is a foot-and-a-half of standing water,” said Van Schoen, spokesman for Tamarac Fire Rescue.

Schoen said HCA Woodmont had roof leaks in some of its patient rooms as a result of the downpour. “Out of caution for patients and staff, they started to move patients out of those rooms. They are now on diversion and not taking patients in their ER. They are up and running and operating,” he said. “They are just taking as much caution as they can to make sure they don’t have incidents.”

Anyone who calls 911 and needs transport to a hospital will be taken to Broward Health Coral Springs Medical Center, Schoen said.

Jennifer Guerrieri, an HCA spokeswoman, said the emergency department at HCA Woodmont was reopen and accepting patients as of 5:30 p.m. “The leak has been mitigated,” she said.

The National Weather Service issued an alert Monday afternoon that a weak tropical wave was passing near the South Florida region.

“While it likely will be rainy and overcast, this will at least give us a brief reprieve from the excessive heat,” the National Weather Service said.

Flood advisories in Broward County were canceled by shortly after 3 p.m., and a flash flood warning expired at 3:15 p.m.

No officials at Florida Medical Center could be reached on Monday afternoon.

Today is Monday, July 22, the 204th day of 2024. There are 162 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On July 22, 1933, Aviator Wiley Post landed at Floyd Bennett Field in New York City, completing the first solo flight around the world in 7 days, 18 hours and 49 minutes.

Also on this date:

In 1862, President Abraham Lincoln presented to his Cabinet a preliminary draft of the Emancipation Proclamation.

In 1934, bank robber John Dillinger was shot to death by federal agents outside Chicago’s Biograph Theater, where he had just seen the Clark Gable movie “Manhattan Melodrama.”

In 1937, the U.S. Senate rejected President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s proposal to add more justices to the Supreme Court.

In 1942, the Nazis began transporting Jews from the Warsaw Ghetto to the Treblinka concentration camp.

In 1943, American forces led by Gen. George S. Patton captured Palermo, Sicily, during World War II.

In 1975, the House of Representatives joined the Senate in voting to restore the American citizenship of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee.

In 1991, police in Milwaukee arrested Jeffrey Dahmer, who later confessed to murdering 17 men and boys.

In 1992, Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar escaped from his luxury prison near Medellin (meh-deh-YEEN’). (He was slain by security forces in December 1993.)

In 1999, the Woodstock ’99 four-day music festival began; the event would ultimately be marred by destruction and violence by concertgoers amid lax security and stifling heat.

In 2011, Anders Breivik (AHN’-durs BRAY’-vihk), a self-described “militant nationalist,” massacred 69 people at a Norwegian island youth retreat after detonating a bomb in nearby Oslo that killed eight others in the nation’s worst violence since World War II.

In 2015, a federal grand jury indictment charged Dylann Roof, the young man accused of killing nine Black church members in Charleston, South Carolina, with 33 counts including hate crimes that made him eligible for the death penalty. (Roof would become the first person sentenced to death for a federal hate crime; he is on death row at a federal prison in Indiana.)

In 2022, Steve Bannon, a longtime ally of former President Donald Trump, was convicted of contempt charges for defying a congressional subpoena from the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. (Bannon is currently serving his four-month sentence in federal prison.)

Today’s Birthdays:

• Author Tom Robbins is 92.
• Actor Terence Stamp is 86.
• Singer George Clinton is 83.
• Actor-singer Bobby Sherman is 81.
• Former Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, is 81.
• Movie writer-director Paul Schrader is 78.
• Actor Danny Glover is 78.
• Singer Mireille Mathieu is 78.
• Actor-comedian-director Albert Brooks is 77.
• Rock singer Don Henley is 77.
• Author S.E. Hinton is 76.
• Film composer Alan Menken is 75.
• Jazz musician Al Di Meola (mee-OH’-lah) is 70.
• Actor Willem Dafoe is 69.
• Actor John Leguizamo is 64.
• R&B singer Keith Sweat is 63.
• Folk singer Emily Saliers (Indigo Girls) is 61.
• Actor-comedian David Spade is 60.
• Actor Rhys Ifans (rees EYE’-fanz) is 57.
• Actor/singer Jaime Camil is 51.
• Singer Rufus Wainwright is 51.
• Actor Franka Potente (poh-TEN’-tay) is 50.
• Actor Selena Gomez is 32.
• NFL running back Ezekiel Elliott is 29.
• Britain’s Prince George of Wales is 11.

General Daily Insight for July 22, 2024

All the world’s a stage! The confident Sun shimmies into its home sign, Leo, at 3:44 am EDT, fueling passions, boosting charisma, and encouraging us to put our best foot forward as we showcase what we can do. The intuitive Moon then empathizes with abundant Jupiter, giving us an eye for idealism and an extra dose of positivity. When the Moon faces off with perfectionist Venus later, our emotions could be hidden to keep up appearances. Be open, even if life isn’t picture perfect.

Aries

March 21 – April 19

You might just have the talent you need today. Regardless of your typical level of access to this wealth of mental resources, you’re more likely to be mentally sharp during these transits. This moment is practically made for you to let your voice, your writing, your willingness to travel, or your talent for technology propel you forward. As long as you use your charisma and creativity to the best of your abilities, you can let the rest of the chips fall where they may!

Taurus

April 20 – May 20

Past traditions genuinely have current value for your life. Your knowledge of a long-followed pattern would be an amazing way to pass on knowledge to someone younger or less experienced than you. This way, you can all breathe new life into old stories. This energy could also highlight your ability to make others feel at home when they’re with you. Being open to what comes your way today, even if it’s something or someone you’d usually avoid, can let you embody tradition without feeling stagnant.

Gemini

May 21 – June 20

Your wit can take you far! As you stay on your toes and exercise your sharp mind, the more that you will be able to notice and open doors to your future. They could involve scholarly or professional pursuits that you’ve always wanted to explore. Don’t forget to remain humble, of course — being too cocky could bother people who’d otherwise support your desire to learn new things or your dream to travel places outside of your local community. Exercise your mind with kindness.

Cancer

June 21 – July 22

Others may see you as a loyal, dependable person, and that can come in handy at this specific time. You might find that someone who’s been paying attention to how you’ve conducted yourself lately is providing you with a way to show that you are the trustworthy person you’ve shown yourself to be in the past. This is not a good time to let your guard slip or to start gossiping! Make a point of acting as a fortress for any secrets you hear.

Leo

July 23 – August 22

You’re being yourself, and that’s really all you can be. You might have a difficult introduction to a group of people, where several people are excited to get to know you, while others are apprehensive about welcoming someone new into the fold. Alternatively, you could encounter avenues to work with people who can further your journey toward the dreams you want to manifest for yourself. Either way, you’ll need to take your goals seriously enough to show up as your best self.

Virgo

August 23 – September 22

You might be letting mysteriousness work for you. You may not be the easiest person to understand, as you might be consistently evolving in a way that’s difficult for others to keep up with. However, your passion will allow you to still be magnetic to others without needing to clamor for their attention or offer immediate explanations. Putting yourself out there can be intimidating, but whether you’re telling jokes in front of a few acquaintances or performing on a stage, you can achieve success.

Libra

September 23 – October 22

You’re letting your friendships speak for themselves. It could be that you’ve recently become aware of how many lives you’ve impacted throughout the course of your history and how you’ve affected all of them. Sometimes this can be an emotional experience. You may want to seize the moment and spend it celebrating with the people you care about, but be wary of exceeding your budget. It’s not about how much money you’re spending on people, it’s about the quality time you spend with them.

Scorpio

October 23 – November 21

You might impress an authority figure without even meaning to. Maybe you’re performing a task or an action that you weren’t expecting to astound anyone or even be seen at all, but a mentor or a boss saw you doing this and thought it was outstanding. This is something that you can and should use to your advantage! Take this chance to grow closer and gain mutual respect. It may even turn into a reason to move up in your career.

Sagittarius

November 22 – December 21

Making a wholehearted effort to improve your outlook on life is vital. The world may seem chock-full of bad news, or your personal life could be stacked with stressors — either way, it would be easy to feel caged by negativity. Thankfully, you can avoid falling into that trap. Look for moments of time you can spend with people that you love, whether you’re all dancing out your feelings or watching a funny movie that lifts your spirits. Don’t let the blues keep you down.

Capricorn

December 22 – January 19

Connecting with others is a great foundation for consistent growth. Contemplate any friends you’ve made recently. The closer that you grow with someone specific, the more you may realize that you like yourself better when you’re around them. This person might be a friend, a personal trainer, a teacher, or merely an acquaintance that you’ve really been clicking with lately. Even if insecurity creeps in and threatens to make things awkward, just stay true to yourself and trust that you’re enough.

Aquarius

January 20 – February 18

Being there for someone else can, in turn, bring the support that you need. Someone may reach out to you for help, and you might promise to be there for them before you even think about it. This can be surprising if you weren’t that close, but your willingness to help them should go a long way. Of course, don’t do it just because you want a reward. Still, there is a good chance that this person will repay your kindness in the future.

Pisces

February 19 – March 20

You’re putting your efforts into making things better in your material and spiritual life. It’s not enough to make progress in the outer world — you must do inner work as well. Check in with yourself regularly to see what’s going on with your soul. You can be as organized and as on top of your game as you want in the material world, but if a tornado is wreaking havoc in your inner life, you won’t feel any better. Find equilibrium, inside and out.

First the perspective: The Miami Heat’s semifinal game in the Las Vegas NBA Summer League on Sunday was bumped from ESPN to ESPN2 by . . . flag football, with the Heat replacing cornhole on the ESPN2 schedule.

Then the reality: There was a game to win and now a chance for a trophy to secure, so the Heat played for keeps, their 102-99 victory on the UNLV campus over the summer roster of the Golden State Warriors putting them into Monday’s championship game against the Memphis Grizzlies (8 p.m. Eastern, ESPN).

“I think the most important thing to think about for these guys is they want it bad,” said Heat assistant Dan Bisaccio, who is guiding the team’s summer roster. “We want to win a championship.”

In improving to 5-0 in Las Vegas, the Heat got balanced contributions across the board, including 23 points and the go-ahead three-point play with 40 seconds left by free-agent guard Josh Christopher.

Two weeks ago, in the first game in the first of their two summer leagues, the Heat fell 105-66 to the Golden State on the Warriors’ home court in San Francisco at the California Classic.

Since then, the Heat now have strung together seven consecutive victories with a roster built around 2024 draft picks Kel’el Ware and Pelle Larsson.

“When we got together, back in San Francisco, and we met as a group that first night,” Bisaccio said, “we talked about being here on Monday and being here to win this championship.”

Larsson, the second-round pick out of Arizona, closed with 19 points, six assists and four rebounds, with Ware, the first-round pick out of Indiana, finishing with 18 points and five rebounds.

“This game means a lot for us,” Larsson said. “We’ve been fighting for a long time.”

This time, the Heat found a determined opponent in Kevin Knox II, the No. 9 pick in the 2018 draft by the New York Knicks, who since has also played for the Atlanta Hawks, Detroit Pistons and Portland Trail Blazers. Knox, the guard out of Kentucky, closed with 31 points and 11 rebounds Sunday.

Beyond the contributions of Larsson and Ware, the Heat also got 15 points and seven assists from guard Isaiah Stevens and14 points from guard Alondes Williams. That helped compensate for an off afternoon for Heat 3-point specialist Cole Swider, who closed 0 for 5 from the field.

With undrafted Keshad Johnson, the Arizona forward who has been signed to a two-way contract, not available, the Heat again opened with a lineup of Ware, Larsson, Swider, Christopher and Stevens.

Johnson remained sidelined with the ankle sprain sustained in Wednesday’s victory over the Dallas Mavericks.

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It was the third consecutive game that Stevens started ahead of Zyon Pullin. Stevens, the undrafted guard out of Colorado State, holds only an Exhibit 10 camp tryout contract. Pullin, the undrafted guard out of Florida, holds one of the Heat’s three two-way contracts. Two-way contracts can be subbed out at any time.

Pullin, who played four scoreless minutes, was part of the Heat’s second wave of substitutions, along with Caleb Daniels, after Williams previously entered.

Swider and Williams, who finished last season on Heat two-way contracts, are without contract offers for the Heat for next season, continuing as unrestricted free agents.

While listed on the Warriors’ summer roster, among those who did not play Sunday for Golden State were 2023 draft picks Brandin Podziemski and Trayce Jackson-Davis. Similarly, Heat 2023 first-round pick Jaime Jaquez Jr. was listed on Sunday’s Heat roster but left the team last week after his two scheduled appearances.

The Heat led 22-19 at the end of the opening period, but then trailed 47-45 at halftime. The game got testy at that point, with Christopher charged with a technical foul after the intermission buzzer. The Warriors then took a 70-65 lead into the fourth quarter.

The Heat went up 88-82 with 4:56 to play on a Christopher 3-pointer, before a Knox layup put the Warriors up 89-88 with 2:46 remaining. The teams then traded baskets before a Stevens layup put the Heat up 92-91, with a Larsson 3-pointer then putting the Heat up 95-91.

Still, the Heat eventually found themselves down 96-95, before Christopher converted a 10-foot jumper, was fouled, and completed the three-point play for a 98-96 Heat lead with 40 seconds to play.

“For Josh, he has nothing to lose,” Bisaccio said of Christopher being in Las Vegas without a contract. “Sometimes when you have nothing to lose, you can play free out there. And that’s something that he’s really done a great job of.”

But Christopher said he also has something to gain.

“The goal hasn’t changed,” he said. “Even from our first game, when we got destroyed, our goals still stayed the same — championship. Here we are.

“Winning is fun and playing together is fun. So hopefully we can do it one more time.”

MIAMI (AP) — Jazz Chisholm Jr. hit a three-run homer, Jake Burger also went deep and the Miami Marlins beat the New York Mets 4-2 on Sunday.

Vidal Bruján had his second career three-hit game for the National League-worst Marlins, who are 5-4 against the NL East rival Mets this season.

“My motivation to get through these 60-plus games is to let people know this is not a cakewalk to come in here,” Chisholm said. “Miami is not going to be a vacation spot.”

Declan Cronin (2-2) threw 1 1/3 innings of scoreless relief against his hometown team. A.J. Puk and Calvin Faucher blanked the Mets for an inning apiece before Tanner Scott closed with a perfect ninth for his 16th save.

Marlins relievers have not allowed a run against the Mets over the last 10 1/3 innings of the series.

“Our bullpen’s great,” Scott said. “Everyone down there, we’re like our own family I guess you could say. Everyone gets along and everyone has great stuff.”

Miami’s Nick Fortes committed three throwing errors, a first by a catcher in club history.

“It was one of those days,” Marlins manager Skip Schumaker said. “Everyone is going to have those.”

The Mets struck out 14 times and went 1 for 8 with runners in scoring position.

“(Saturday) I thought we had some really good at-bats. We hit some balls hard but didn’t find holes,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “Today we had a hard time putting something together. But overall the at-bats are there. We have good hitters.”

Chisholm’s three-run drive in the fourth inning gave Miami a 3-1 lead. He sent a slider from rookie starter Christian Scott (0-3) into the Mets’ bullpen in right field for his 13th homer.

“That’s the moment I want to be the best,” Chisholm said. “You have the mindset to be the best player every day and those are the moments you have to step up in. Those are my favorite moments.”

New York narrowed the gap on J.D. Martinez’s run-scoring single in the fifth before Burger connected for a 412-foot solo shot off Adrian Houser in the seventh.

Marlins starter Trevor Rogers was lifted after 4 2/3 innings. The left-hander gave up two runs (one earned) and five hits. He walked two and struck out five.

Luis Torrens’ sacrifice fly in the fourth put the Mets ahead 1-0 after Pete Alonso and Mark Vientos hit one-out singles. Fortes tried to pick off Vientos at first base, but the throw struck Vientos on the helmet, allowing Alonso to advance to third.

Vientos stayed on the ground briefly and was tended to by a Mets athletic trainer but remained in the game.

“He’s fine. Scary (moment), but he’s fine,” Mendoza said.

Scott allowed three runs and seven hits over four innings. The right-hander walked two and struck out four. He is winless in nine major league starts.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Mets: RHP Kodai Senga (shoulder) threw 79 pitches over three innings Saturday for Triple-A Syracuse in his fourth minor league rehab outing. He allowed five runs and eight hits. If all goes well over the next few days, Senga is expected to make his season debut for the Mets on Friday at home against Atlanta. … LHP Jose Quintana was back with the club after spending the previous two days at the team hotel in Miami because of a fever.

UP NEXT

Mets LHP David Peterson (4-0, 3.09 ERA) starts the finale of the four-game series Monday against RHP Yonny Chirinos (0-1, 5.76).

___

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

Singer and rapper Sean Kingston and his mother have been indicted in Florida on federal charges related to a scheme in which they committed more than $1 million worth of fraud, prosecutors said.

Kingston, 34, whose real name is Kisean Anderson, and his mother, Janice Turner, 61, both of Southwest Ranches, appeared in federal court Friday after a grand jury in Miami charged each with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and five counts of wire fraud, prosecutors said.

The charges were based on their involvement in a scheme to defraud sellers of high-end vehicles, jewelry and other goods purchased through the use of fraudulent documents, according to the U.S. attorney’s office for the Southern District of Florida.

If convicted, each faces a maximum of 20 years in prison on each count, prosecutors said.

A lawyer for Kingston and Turner did not immediately respond to a request for comment Sunday.

As a teenager, Kingston became known for his debut single, “Beautiful Girls,” which used a sample from Ben E. King’s “Stand By Me.” It spent four weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 2007.

Since then, Kingston has worked with Justin Bieber, Nicki Minaj and Wyclef Jean, but in recent years he has maintained a lower profile.

According to prosecutors, Kingston and Turner “unjustly enriched themselves” by falsely claiming that they had executed bank wire or other monetary transfers as payment for vehicles, jewelry and other high-end items when no such transfers had taken place.

“Through the execution of this scheme, the defendants obtained in excess of $1 million in property,” prosecutors said.

Kingston and Turner were accused of an “organized scheme to defraud” establishments, including a car dealership and a jeweler, of more than $50,000, according to arrest warrants for them. Kingston and Turner were also accused of stealing a Cadillac Escalade from the dealership and $480,000 in jewelry from an individual, according to the warrants.

Kingston is also accused of violating the terms of a two-year probation sentence on felony charges of trafficking stolen property. The probation term is set to expire Oct. 1, 2025.

Turner pleaded guilty in 2006 to charges of bank fraud and filing fraudulent loan applications and was sentenced to 16 months in prison, according to court records. She was released in March 2007.

In May, Kingston was arrested in Fort Irwin, California, and his mother was arrested on the same day after police raided a home listed as Kingston’s residence in Southwest Ranches, Florida, which is west of Fort Lauderdale.

“People love negative energy!” Kingston wrote on Instagram before the arrest. “I am good and so is my mother!..my lawyers are handling everything as we speak.”

On social media after being arrested and posting bail, he thanked his family, friends, legal team and fans for their support.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

By JOSH BOAK, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Sitting in the Oval Office behind the iconic Resolute desk in 2022, an animated President Joe Biden described the challenge of leading a psychologically traumatized nation.

The United States had endured a life-altering pandemic. There was a jarring burst of inflation and now global conflict with Russia invading Ukraine, as well as the persistent threat to democracy he felt Donald Trump posed.

How could Biden possibly heal that collective trauma?

“Be confident,” he said emphatically in an interview with The Associated Press. “Be confident. Because I am confident.”

But in the ensuing two years, the confidence Biden hoped to instill steadily waned. When the 81-year-old Democratic president showed his age in a disastrous debate against Trump in June, he lost the benefit of the doubt and on Sunday withdrew as his party’s nominee.

In the aftermath of the debate, Democrats who had been united in their resolve to prevent another Trump term suddenly fractured, and Republicans, beset by chaos in Congress and the former president’s criminal conviction, improbably coalesced in defiant unity.

Biden never figured out how to inspire the world’s most powerful country to believe in itself, let alone in him.

He lost the confidence of supporters in the 90-minute debate with Trump, even if pride initially prompted him to override the fears of lawmakers, party elders and donors who were nudging him to drop out. Then Trump survived an assassination attempt in Pennsylvania, and, as if on cue, pumped his fist in strength. Biden, while campaigning in Las Vegas, tested positive for the coronavirus on Wednesday and retreated to his Delaware beach house to recover.

The events of the last three weeks led to an exit Biden never wanted, but Democrats felt it was essential to maximize their chance of winning in November.

Biden seems to have badly misread the breadth of his support. While many Democrats had deep admiration for the president personally, they did not have the same affection for him politically.

Douglas Brinkley, a historian at Rice University, said Biden arrived as a reprieve for a nation exhausted by Trump and the pandemic.

“He was a perfect person for that moment,” said Brinkley, noting that Biden proved in era of polarization that bipartisan lawmaking was still possible. Yet voters viewed him as a placeholder, and he could never transcend the text of his speeches to visually “embody the spirit of the nation with a sense of verve, energy and optimism.”

As his reelection campaign entered its final days, Biden was still trying to prove himself and rally voters around fears that Trump would doom American democracy.

There was never a “Joe Biden Democrat” like there was a “Reagan Republican.” He did not have adoring, movement-style followers, as did Barack Obama or John F. Kennedy. He was not a generational candidate like Bill Clinton. The only barrier-breaking dimension to his election was the fact that he was the oldest person ever elected president.

While he contemplated being in the Oval Office repeatedly from his perch as a senator from Delaware, voters rejected him again and again.

His first run for the White House, in the 1988 cycle, ended with self-inflicted wounds stemming from plagiarism, and he didn’t make it to the first nominating contest. When he ran in 2008, he dropped out after the Iowa caucuses, where he won less than 1% of the vote. In 2016, Obama counseled him not to run, even though he was Obama’s vice president. A Biden victory in 2020 seemed implausible when he finished fourth in Iowa and fifth in New Hampshire before a dramatic rebound in South Carolina.

He won the nomination and then did something rare in American politics: He defeated an incumbent president, Trump, who had been a catalyst for a seething sense of polarization. He then had to withstand the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol by Trump supporters who falsely claimed that the 2020 election had been stolen.

David Axelrod, a former senior adviser to Obama, said history would treat Biden kinder than voters had, not just because of his legislative achievements but because he defeated Trump.

“His legacy is significant beyond all his many accomplishments,” Axelrod said. “He will always be the man who stepped up and defeated a president who placed himself above our democracy.

“That, alone, is an historic accomplishment.”

But Biden could not overcome his age. And when he showed frailty in his steps and his speech, there was no foundation of supporters that could stand by him. It was a humbling end to a half-century career in politics, yet hardly reflective of the full legacy of his time in the White House.

His record includes legislation that will rebuild the country in ways that will likely be seen over the next dozen years, even if voters did not immediately appreciate it.

“It takes time for it to happen,” Biden told BET News on Tuesday. But in that same interview, he also demonstrated why the calls for him to step aside had grown so much louder: He was unable to recall the name of his defense secretary, Lloyd Austin, referring to him as the “Black man.”

Those recent episodes stand in stark contrast to a list of accomplishments most presidents would envy and use as a sturdy foundation for reelection. The optimism about the country’s future that Biden says drove him might materialize following his departure from the national stage.

Harvard University economist Jason Furman, a top aide during the Obama administration, said Biden “came into office when the economy was in the throes of COVID and helped to oversee the transition out of it to an economy that is now growing faster than any of its peer economies, with less inflation than they have.”

Furman noted that Biden increased spending to make longer-term investments in the economy while keeping Jerome Powell as the Federal Reserve chairman, giving the Fed cover to hike rates and bring down inflation without disrupting the labor market.

In March 2021, Biden launched $1.9 trillion in pandemic aid, creating a series of new programs that temporarily halved child poverty, halted evictions and contributed to the addition of 15.7 million jobs. But inflation began to rise shortly thereafter. Biden’s approval rating as measured by the AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research fell from 61% to 39% as of June.

He followed up with a series of executive actions to unsnarl global supply chains and a $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure package that not only replaced aging infrastructure but improved internet access and prepared communities to withstand climate change.

But the infrastructure bill also revealed the challenge Biden faced in getting the public to recognize his achievement because many of the projects will take decades to complete.

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In 2022, Biden and his fellow Democrats followed up with two measures that reinvigorated the future of U.S. manufacturing.

The CHIPS and Science Act provided $52 billion to build factories and create institutions to make computer chips domestically, ensuring that the U.S. would have access to the most advanced semiconductors needed to power economic growth and maintain national security. There was also the Inflation Reduction Act, which provided incentives to shift away from fossil fuels and enabled Medicare to negotiate drug prices.

Biden also sought to compete more aggressively with China and rebuild alliances such as NATO. He completed the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan that resulted in the death of 13 U.S. service members, an effort that was widely criticized.

He also found himself embroiled in a series of global conflicts that exposed further domestic divisions.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in early 2022 worsened inflation as Trump and other Republicans questioned the value of military aid to the Ukrainians. Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack in Israel sparked a war that showed divisions within the Democratic party over whether the United States should continue to support Israel as tens of thousands of Palestinians died in months of counterattacks.

Biden privately lectured aides to focus not on differences when listening to the public but to search for agreement. He hewed to the ideal of bipartisanship even when Democrats broke with the GOP.

And yet, just days before he dropped out of the race, Biden felt that his work was not done and his legacy incomplete.

“I’ve got to finish this job,” he told reporters after a NATO summit.

But the size of the stakes and the fear of a Biden loss resulted in a bet by Democrats that the tasks he began could best be completed by a younger generation.

“History will be kinder to him that voters were at the end,” Axelrod said.

By CHRIS MEGERIAN, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — She’s already broken barriers, and now Kamala Harris could shatter several more after President Joe Biden abruptly ended his reelection bid and endorsed her.

Biden announced Sunday that he was stepping aside after a disastrous debate performance catalyzed fears that the 81-year-old was too frail for a second term.

Harris is the first woman, Black person or person of South Asian descent to serve as vice president. If she becomes the Democratic nominee and defeats Republican candidate Donald Trump in November, she would be the first woman to serve as president.

Biden said Sunday that choosing Harris as his running mate was “the best decision I’ve made” and endorsed her as his successor.

“Democrats — it’s time to come together and beat Trump,” he wrote on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. “Let’s do this.”

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Harris described Biden’s decision to step aside as a “selfless and patriotic act,” saying he was “putting the American people and our country above everything else.”

“I am honored to have the President’s endorsement and my intention is to earn and win this nomination,” Harris said. “Over the past year, I have traveled across the country, talking with Americans about the clear choice in this momentous election.”

Democratic leaders followed Biden’s lead by swiftly coalescing around Harris on Sunday. However, her nomination is not a foregone conclusion, and there have been suggestions that the party should hold a lightning-fast “mini primary” to consider other candidates before its convention in Chicago next month.

A recent poll from the AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that about 6 in 10 Democrats believe Harris would do a good job in the top slot. About 2 in 10 Democrats don’t believe she would, and another 2 in 10 say they don’t know enough to say.

The poll showed that about 4 in 10 U.S. adults have a favorable opinion of Harris, whose name is pronounced “COMM-a-la,” while about half have an unfavorable opinion.

A former prosecutor and U.S. senator from California, Harris’ own bid for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination imploded before a single primary vote was cast. She later became Biden’s running mate, but she struggled to find her footing after taking office as vice president. Assigned to work on issues involving migration from Central America, she was repeatedly blamed by Republicans for problems with illegal border crossings.

However, Harris found more prominence as the White House’s most outspoken advocate for abortion rights after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022. She has also played a key role in reaching out to young people and voters of color.

In addition, Harris’ steady performance after Biden’s debate debacle solidified her standing among Democrats in recent weeks.

Even before Biden’s endorsement, Harris was widely viewed as the favorite to replace him on the ticket. With her foreign policy experience and national name recognition, she has a head start over potential challengers, including California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro.

Harris will seek to avoid the fate of Hubert Humphrey, who as vice president won the Democratic nomination in 1968 after President Lyndon Johnson declined to run for reelection amid national dissatisfaction over the Vietnam War. Humphrey lost that year to Republican Richard Nixon.

Nixon resigned in 1974 during the Watergate scandal and was replaced by Vice President Gerald Ford. Ford never won a term of his own.

Vice presidents are always in line to step into the top job if the president dies or is incapacitated. However, Harris has faced an unusual level of scrutiny because of Biden’s age. He was the oldest president in history, taking office at 78 and announcing his reelection bid at 80. Harris is 59.

She addressed the question of succession in an interview with The Associated Press during a trip to Jakarta in September 2023.

“Joe Biden is going to be fine, so that is not going to come to fruition,” she stated. “But let us also understand that every vice president — every vice president — understands that when they take the oath they must be very clear about the responsibility they may have to take over the job of being president.”

“I’m no different.”

Harris was born Oct. 20, 1964, in Oakland, California, to parents who met as civil rights activists. Her hometown and nearby Berkeley were at the heart of the racial and social justice movements of the time, and Harris was both a product and a beneficiary.

She spoke often about attending demonstrations in a stroller and growing up around adults “who spent full time marching and shouting about this thing called justice.” In first grade, she was bused to school as part of the second class to integrate Berkeley public education.

Harris’ parents divorced when she was young, and she was raised by her mother alongside her younger sister, Maya. She attended Howard University, a historically Black school in Washington, and joined the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority, which became a source of sisterhood and political support over the years.

After graduating, Harris returned to the San Francisco Bay Area for law school and chose a career as a prosecutor, a move that surprised her activist family.

She said she believed that working for change inside the system was just as important as agitating from outside. By 2003, she was running for her first political office, taking on the longtime San Francisco district attorney.

Few city residents knew her name, and Harris set up an ironing board as a table outside grocery stores to meet people. She won and quickly showed a willingness to chart her own path. Months into her tenure, Harris declined to seek the death penalty for the killer of a young police officer slain in the line of duty, fraying her relationship with city cops.

The episode did not stop her political ascent. In late 2007, while still serving as district attorney, she was knocking on doors in Iowa for then-candidate Barack Obama. After he became president, Obama endorsed her in her 2010 race for California attorney general.

Once elected to statewide office, she pledged to uphold the death penalty despite her moral opposition to it. She refused to defend Proposition 8, a voter-backed initiative banning same-sex marriage. Harris also played a key role in a $25 billion settlement with the nation’s mortgage lenders following the foreclosure crisis.

As killings of young Black men by police received more attention, Harris implemented some changes, including tracking racial data in police stops, but didn’t pursue more aggressive measures such as requiring independent prosecutors to investigate police shootings.

Harris’ record as a prosecutor would eventually dog her when she launched a presidential bid in 2019, as some progressives and younger voters demanded swifter change. But during her time on the job, she also forged a fortuitous relationship with Beau Biden, Joe Biden’s son who was then Delaware’s attorney general. Beau Biden died of brain cancer in 2015, and his friendship with Harris figured heavily years later as his father chose Harris to be his running mate.

Harris married entertainment lawyer Douglas Emhoff in 2014, and she became stepmother to Emhoff’s two children, Ella and Cole, who referred to her as “Momala.”

Harris had a rare opportunity to advance politically when Sen. Barbara Boxer, who had served more than two decades, announced she would not run again in 2016.

In office, Harris quickly became part of the Democratic resistance to Trump and gained recognition for her pointed questioning of his nominees. In one memorable moment, she pressed now-Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh on whether he knew any laws that gave government the power to regulate a man’s body. He did not, and the line of questioning galvanized women and abortion rights activists.

A little more than two years after becoming a senator, Harris announced her campaign for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination. But her campaign was marred by infighting and she failed to gain traction, ultimately dropping out before the Iowa caucuses.

Eight months later, Biden selected Harris as his running mate. As he introduced her to the nation, Biden reflected on what her nomination meant for “little Black and brown girls who so often feel overlooked and undervalued in their communities.”

“Today, just maybe, they’re seeing themselves for the first time in a new way, as the stuff of presidents and vice presidents,” he said.

South Florida Democrats reacted with praise for President Joe Biden as he announced Sunday he was ending his presidential campaign.

“His presidency really is a master class in character and courage,” said U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Weston. “There’s just never going to be another leader like Joe Biden in my lifetime.”

The view from the region’s Republicans was far different. Within minutes of Biden’s announcement, Republicans said his decision to stand down as a candidate shows he isn’t fit to remain as president and should resign immediately.

Wasserman Schultz — the senior Democrat in the Florida congressional delegation, a former chair of the Democratic National Committee, and decades-long believer in Biden — was emotional during a telephone interview Sunday shortly after Biden announced his decision not to run for reelection.

“I have a mix of sadness and pride in Joe Biden’s patriotism and valor and selflessness. He’s proven time and time again that he is the best that the United States of America has to offer,” she said. “He’s earned and deserves my support and the support of the American people.”

The development hit hard, Wasserman Schultz said, because “Joe Biden was easily one of the most accomplished presidents of our lifetime. He came from a working-class background, and was counted out and rose like a Phoenix time and time again. He earned the presidency through hard work and perseverance, and Joe Biden is pure goodness. I feel like I got kicked in the gut right now.”

Her support for Biden goes back to his first presidential campaign, in 1988, when she was a student at the University of Florida. She endorsed his 2020 presidential candidacy when many doubted he’d win the party’s nomination.

Republican demands

U.S. Rep. Brian Mast, a Republican who represents northern Palm Beach, Martin and St. Lucie counties, and U.S. Rep. Carlos Gimenez, a Miami-Dade County Republican, demanded that Biden immediately resign the presidency.

“If Joe Biden isn’t capable enough to seek re-election, he’s not capable enough to remain serving as our President,” Gimenez wrote on social media. “For the good of the country, @JoeBiden should step down and resign.”

Mast wrote that Biden is “Unfit to stand trial. Unfit to run. Unfit to be president for 1 more second.”

The trial comment is a reference to the report from a special counsel investigating classified documents that if charges were pressed a jury might see Biden as a “sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.”

Mast and Gimenez are both strong supporters of former President Donald Trump.

Wasserman Schultz said people wouldn’t put any credence in their statements. Their demand that Biden immediately resign was “spoken by two people who support the convicted felon and adjudicated rapist to replace him for president. I certainly don’t think the American people will think much of their opinion.”

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U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, the Panhandle Republican, trolled the Democrats on social media by reposting a statement the party issued on the night of the night of the June 27 debate declaring Biden was “the winner of tonight’s debate.”

“Why did the winner just drop out?” Gaetz asked Sunday.

Democratic praise

Democrats were effusive in their praise.

State Sen. Shevrin Jones, chair of the Miami-Dade Democratic Party, said in a statement that Biden “is the greatest president of our lifetime. The nation is forever indebted and grateful for his years of service.” Jones is also a member of the Democratic National Committee and Biden campaign surrogate for 2024.

Florida Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried said Biden has “been one of the greatest presidents in American history.”

U.S. Rep. Jared Moskowitz, a Broward-Palm Beach county Democrat, said, ““He is a patriot! And one of the most successful public servants in American History. His record of service may never be seen again,” Moskowitz wrote in a social media post. He added that Biden “will be remembered as a selfless guardian of democracy.”

U.S. Rep. Lois Frankel, a Democrat whose Palm Beach County district includes Trump’s home at his Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, said in a statement that she was “tremendously thankful for all President Biden has done and continues to do so for our country and the world. His decency and patriotism have been a mark of his extraordinary service.”

State. Rep. Christine Hunschofsky, who represents northwest Broward, said on social media that Biden “has been an exceptional President who never forgot where he came from and always put the American people first in all of his decisions. He has been one of the most compassionate and effective presidents in our history.”

Hunschofsky was elected by her colleagues to become Democratic leader of the Florida House of Representatives after the 2026 elections.

Going forward

The Democrats have been in turmoil since Biden’s disastrous performance at a late-June debate with Trump, with a growing list of elected officials, donors and political pundits calling on Biden to bow out of the race.

U.S. Rep. Frederica Wilson, a South Broward/Miami-Dade County Democrat, said she supports Vice President Kamala Harris, endorsed by Biden to take his place, becoming the Democratic presidential nominee.

Harris has been “an extraordinary vice president,” Wilson said in a social media post.

“She is tested, ready and I’m proud to stand with our next President of the United States,” Wilson wrote. She endorsed Harris for the 2020 presidential nomination; after Harris withdrew, Wilson endorsed Biden.

Moskowitz and Wasserman Schultz said they, too, were endorsing Harris. So did Florida Senate Democratic Leader Lauren Book, of Broward. Hunschofsky said she would be “working hard” to elect Harris as president and Jones said Harris has his “full support.”

U.S. Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, a Broward-Palm Beach county Democrat praised Biden’s patriotism, record “and incredible contribution to our nation over the last 50 years of service.”

Unlike their three South Florida Democratic congressional colleagues, Frankel and Cherfilus-McCormick did not immediately endorse Harris. “The time to discuss process and what’s next, will come,” Cherfilus-McCormick wrote.

Jayden D’Onofrio, chair of Florida Future Leaders, a group that formed this year to register and mobilize younger voters said in a statement that “youth voters will turnout en masse for Kamala Harris to be our first woman president.”

Wasserman Schultz said the Democrats, led by Harris, could recover and win in November.

“We need to coalesce quickly around Vice President Harris as our party’s nominee. This should be a smooth transition because she’s obviously already part of the ticket. We have an opportunity to come together around her to continue leading and moving forward and advancing the president’s legacy, an incredible record,” and, she said, ensure Trump doesn’t again become president.

State Sen. Tina Polsky, a Broward-Palm Beach county Democrat, posted that her phone has been “blowing up with volunteer requests, donation notifications and enthusiasm for our future” led by Harris.

Gimenez expressed skepticism about Harris in another social media post. “Kamala Harris’ approval rating is 38%. Let that sink in,” he wrote.

Gov. Ron DeSantis, who unsuccessfully sought the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, was critical of Harris in a social media post.

“Kamala Harris was complicit in a massive coverup to hide and deny the fact that Joe Biden was not capable of discharging the duties of the office. She also was the the border czar during the worst border crisis in American history,” DeSantis said. “Democrats are just rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.”

Senate candidates

Gimenez and Mast were soon joined by U.S. Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla..

“Let me be clear, if Joe Biden can’t run for re-election, he is not capable of serving as president for the next six months and needs to resign today,” Scott said in a statement.

Scott, who has supported Trump since his 2016 campaign for president asserted that Harris and others have known since Biden took office that “he was not fit to be president and lied to the American people in an effort to hold onto their power…. Over those four years, we have seen immense damage done to our country.”

Scott said the “Democrats’ hypocrisy knows no bounds. The same people who spent years saying President Trump and Republicans are a threat to democracy, just pushed out the sitting president from running for re-election because they don’t think he can win.”

Former U.S. Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, a Democrat seeking her party’s nomination to challenge Scott in November, said in a statement that because of Biden’s and Harris’s leadership “America has never been stronger.”

“President Biden has defined what it means to be a patriot and dedicated public servant,” Mucarsel-Powell said, adding that he is “putting the good of the American people and our democracy first.”

Mucarsel-Powell said Democrats “must follow his example and stand united behind” Harris.

Scott responded said Mucarsel-Powell’s endorsement shows she is “fighting to bring California socialism to Florida.” Mucarsel-Powell responded by declaring that Scott “is a fraud who lies any chance he gets.”

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

Anthony Man can be reached at aman@sunsentinel.com and can be found @browardpolitics on Bluesky, Threads, Facebook and Mastodon.

With President Biden throwing his support to Vice President Kamala Harris to take over his campaign for the presidency, all eyes are on the Oakland, California, native who worked her way through California politics to become next in line for the nation’s top job.

Unless Democrats instead call for weighing other candidates at the Democratic National Convention next month — a possibility former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi floated earlier this week — Harris, 59, would be the heir apparent.

To her close friends and supporters who walked precincts in San Francisco when she was running for district attorney, raised money to help get her elected to state attorney general and the U.S. Senate, and knocked on doors in swing states to help the Biden-Harris ticket win in 2020, Harris is ready to lead the country.

“There’s no one more seasoned. There’s no one tougher,” said Lateefah Simon, a superdelegate to the Chicago Democratic National Convention who is running for Congress to fill Rep. Barbara Lee’s seat in Oakland. She considers herself Harris’s mentee since her early San Francisco days in the District Attorney’s office. “Everyone who has worked with her, from the young 20-year-olds to the very seasoned politicians, will tell you that she runs a tight ship and really, only the strong survive at that level.”

 

She withstood Trump’s attacks during the 2020 election when he called her “nasty” and “a monster” and put off Mike Pence during the vice presidential debate with the withering line “I’m speaking” — a comment that turned into a t-shirt slogan. She became the first woman and first woman of color to hold the vice presidency.

But Harris’s tepid polling numbers, sometimes lackluster speeches, and delayed ability to distinguish her role as vice president have some Democrats worried she can beat Trump and the growing MAGA movement. Her own primary campaign for president in 2020 was disorganized and short-lived.

“I hear very few people arguing that Harris shouldn’t be the nominee,” said political analyst Dan Schnur. “The much more frequent argument is that she should be one of several candidates to compete for the nomination rather than having it simply given to her.”

In announcing he was ending his campaign, Biden praised Harris, calling his decision to choose her as his 2020 running mate “the best decision I’ve made.”

“Today I want to offer my full support and endorsement for Kamala to be the nominee of our party this year. Democrats — it’s time to come together and beat Trump.”

Trump in his first post on his Truth social media platform about Biden ending his campaign didn’t mention Harris, saying only that “Crooked Joe Biden was not fit to run for President, and is certainly not fit to serve — And never was!”

Harris, whose parents met during protest rallies in Berkeley, California, was raised in an upstairs Berkeley apartment, where neighbor Regina Shelton with posters of Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglas on the wall often babysat Harris and her sister. Harris was sworn in as vice president on Shelton’s family bible.

She’s distinguished herself as a fighter on the abortion issue and an advocate for Biden’s policies for the war in Gaza, campaigning for Biden across the country in recent months. Since Biden’s disastrous June debate performance, she had refused to indulge in speculation she might take his place on the November ballot.

That didn’t stop the speculation.

In a hypothetical national matchup, a CNN poll conducted in early July before the assassination attempt on Trump, still showed Harris trailing Trump, 45% for Harris to 47% for Trump, but by such a small margin that Harris could be within striking distance. She also received stronger support from women and independents than Biden, the poll showed.

But is there anyone with a better chance than Harris to beat Trump, especially with only four months left before the November general election?

Surveys ranking other Democrats whose names have been floated as possible Biden replacements show them all trailing slightly farther behind Trump than Harris, with California Gov. Gavin Newsom at 43% to Trump’s 47% and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer at 42% to Trump’s 48%.

Although Newsom has appeared to posture for the presidency over the past year, debating Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, sitting for a no-holds-barred interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity and calling for a constitutional amendment to enshrine gun safety laws, he has said he would not challenge Harris. They are longtime friends and political allies, and they have often been seen together through the years rubbing elbows at political events and surveying the aftermath of California wildfires.

Newsom, in a Sunday social media post on X, said Biden “will go down in history as one of the most impactful and selfless presidents.”

Any effort to push Newsom to the top of the ticket — or anyone else — could throw the party into disarray, pundits say.

An open or brokered convention would be disastrous, said Sonoma State political science professor David McCuan. But he wouldn’t put it beyond the Democratic Party.

“At a convention, you often display the fissures or fractures within the party,” he said. “Republicans don’t worry about those fractures until after they win. They’re all about winning. Democrats like to go through the process of group therapy in front of the television cameras that display all of their fractures, and that family looks pretty dysfunctional.”

As he puts it, “they’re more worried about grieving their weaknesses in front of the cameras than they are about winning.”

A competitive convention would be “absolute chaos,” said Schnur, a former GOP strategist. “The question is, would the chaos irreparably fracture the party or energize it?”

Each scenario comes with numerous risks.

“Black female voters have been the most loyal Democratic constituency for many, many years,” Schnur said. “There’s an open question as to whether many of those voters would stay home if they felt that Harris had been unfairly passed over.”

At the same time, “if you believe that this election is going to be decided by a small number of working class, blue-collar voters in three Rust Belt states, there are a lot of Democrats who worry that the former district attorney of San Francisco might not be the best candidate to reach those voters.”

Amelia Ashley-Ward, publisher of San Francisco’s oldest black newspaper, the Sun-Reporter, downplayed critics who say Harris can’t beat Trump.

“I don’t know why they keep saying she can’t win because she’s demonstrated time and time before that she can,” Ashley-Ward said.

She remembers chartering a cable car during Harris’s 2003 District Attorney campaign when she beat a two-term incumbent.

“We rolled for four hours across the city while she would jump on and off and introduce herself to people. We had bullhorns. It was magnetic,” Ashley-Ward said. “They went crazy over her.”

What exactly happens at the August convention remains to be seen. But Simon, the super delegate, said she’d be ready to support her party. And if Harris is the nominee,  “I will be with the biggest Kamala Harris sign in the crowd.”

By BILL BARROW, Associated Press

ATLANTA (AP) — With President Joe Biden ending his reelection bid and endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris, Democrats now must navigate a shift that is unprecedented this late in an election year.

Democrats are set to hold their convention in Chicago on Aug. 19-22. What was supposed to be a coronation for Biden now becomes an open contest in which nearly 4,700 delegates will be responsible for picking a new standard-bearer to challenge Republican Donald Trump in the fall.

The path ahead is neither easy nor obvious, even with Biden endorsing Harris. There are unanswered questions about logistics, money and political fallout.

Can Biden redirect his delegates?

Biden won every state primary and caucus earlier this year and only lost the territory of American Samoa. At least 3,896 delegates had been pledged to support him.

Current party rules do not permit Biden to pass them to another candidate. Politically, though, his endorsement is likely to be influential.

What could happen at the convention?

With Biden stepping aside, Democrats technically start with an open convention. But realistically, his endorsement pushes Democrats into murky territory.

The immediate burden is on Harris to solidify support across almost 4,000 delegates from the states, territories and District of Columbia, plus more than 700 so-called superdelegates that include party leaders, certain elected officials and former presidents and vice presidents.

Will anyone challenge Harris?

Even before Biden announced his decision, Democrats floated California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer as potential contenders in addition to Harris. Yet some Democrats argued publicly, and many privately, that it would be a no-brainer to elevate the first woman, first Black woman and first person of south Asian descent to hold national office.

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Given how important Black voters -– and Black women especially -– were to Biden’s nomination and his choice of Harris as running mate, it would be risky, to say the least, for Democrats to pass her over for a white nominee. Democrats already faced historical headwinds before Biden’s withdrawal. Newsom and Whitmer, both of whom are white, and any other Democrat would also have to weigh the short-term and long-term benefits of challenging Harris now versus preserving goodwill for a future presidential primary.

Yet, fair or not, Harris also has not been viewed as an especially beloved or empowered vice president. The best scenario for her and Democrats is to quickly shore up support and project a united front. Democrats could even go forward with their plans for an early virtual vote – a move they’d planned to make sure Biden was selected ahead of Ohio’s general election ballot deadline.

What happens to Biden’s campaign money?

Biden’s campaign recently reported $91 million cash on hand. Allied Democratic campaign committees brought the total at his disposal to more than $240 million. Campaign finance experts agree generally that Harris could control all those funds since the campaign was set up in her name as well as Biden’s. If Democrats do nominate someone other than Harris, party accounts could still benefit the nominee, but the Biden-Harris account would have more restrictions. For example, legal experts say it could become an independent expenditure political action committee but not simply transfer its balance to a different nominee.

How will a vice presidential nomination work?

The vice presidential nomination is always a separate convention vote. In routine years, the convention ratifies the choice of the nominee. If Harris closes ranks quickly, she could name her choice and have the delegates ratify it. In an extended fight, though, the vice presidency could become part of horse-trading — again, a return to conventions of an earlier era.

Can Republicans keep Harris off state ballots?

Any curveball during a U.S. presidential campaign is certain to produce a flurry of state and federal lawsuits in this hyper-partisan era, and some conservatives have threatened just that.

State laws, though, typically do not prescribe how parties choose their nominees for president. And some GOP figures – Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine and Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey – have worked already this year to ensure their party did not deny Democrats’ routine ballot access.