A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
Vice President Kamala Harris makes her first official campaign stop as the likely Democratic nominee with a trip to Milwaukee today.
MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
Harris is technically not yet the Democratic nominee, but party leaders have quickly rallied around her. NPR White House correspondent Asma Khalid has been reporting on Harris, and she's with us now to fill us in on the latest. Good morning, Asma.
ASMA KHALID, BYLINE: Good morning.
MARTIN: So this is all happening so fast. And as everybody has noted, there is no modern precedent for all this. What's Harris saying about it?
KHALID: Well, late last night, she issued a statement saying that she is proud to have secured the support to become the party's nominee. We, in fact, got word that she has reached that delegate count. I will say, in just the last 24 - what? - 36 hours, she's been trying to quickly rally Democrats behind her. She visited her campaign headquarters in Delaware yesterday, and I should point out that this had been the Biden-Harris campaign headquarters until the president dropped out of the race this past weekend. Harris told the campaign team there that she is going to work hard to unite both the party and the nation.
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VICE PRESIDENT KAMALA HARRIS: It is my intention to go out and earn this nomination...
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: Woo.
HARRIS: ...And to win.
KHALID: And in her remarks there, she also outlined a broad agenda for what she would do in the White House, including fighting for reproductive rights and lifting up the middle class. And then, Michel, she went on, and she spoke about her background as an attorney general and a prosecutor.
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HARRIS: In those roles, I took on perpetrators of all kinds.
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UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: Go on.
KHALID: And, you know, what she's trying to do here is really set up a contrast between her role as a prosecutor and Trump as a felon. I will say, I imagine it's something we're going to hear more of.
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HARRIS: Predators who abused women. Fraudsters who ripped off consumers. Cheaters who broke the rules for their own gain. So hear me when I say I know Donald Trump's type.
MARTIN: So this is obviously a big moment for Harris. What's going on with President Biden?
KHALID: Well, we've gotten word that President Biden intends to return to the White House later today after isolating with COVID. He called into the room where Harris was speaking with campaign staff, and he said that dropping out was the right thing to do. He also encouraged his former team to embrace Harris.
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PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: The name has changed at the top of the ticket, but the mission hasn't changed at all.
KHALID: And, you know, Michel, I was there in the room covering this visit that Harris made to Delaware. I will say that the mood was really party-like. It was not a funeral. You know, there was some emotion. It appeared that Harris' eyes were glistening as she spoke. The staff, though, seemed incredibly enthusiastic. Beyonce was playing. People were chanting Harris' name. And I noticed there were some already newly minted Harris-for-president signs around the campaign office.
I will say it is also worth pointing out that Harris repeatedly, in her remarks there, but also earlier, paid tribute to the work Biden has done as president. She said that he has accomplished more in one term than many do with two terms.
MARTIN: So Harris obviously has Biden's support. What about other Democrats? It does seem like a number of sort of prominent Democrats are moving in her direction as well.
KHALID: Mmm hmm. That is indeed what it looks like. You know, no serious challenger has stepped forward to challenge her. And, you know, as we mentioned, as of late last night, she now has enough delegates backing her to become the nominee. The campaign said that, between Sunday afternoon and Monday evening, it also raised a record amount of money - more than $100 million.
But look, you know, I was at the RNC last week. There is tremendous enthusiasm behind Trump, and Republicans were incredibly also confident about their odds. I will say that I think that the way Harris is trying to frame this is that this upcoming election is a choice between two different visions for the future of this nation - one focused on the future, one focused on the past. And that's an argument that she, as someone who is nearly two decades younger than Trump, a Black and Asian woman, can try to make in a very directly personal way.
MARTIN: So Asma, as everybody's scrambling to adjust to the race without President Biden, the Democratic National Committee is, too. What's the latest on the process for delegates to actually cast their votes for a new nominee?
KHALID: The DNC expects to hold a virtual roll call with delegates in the next few weeks. The Associated Press says Harris has picked up enough support from delegates to officially become the nominee. Now, that support is not binding. Someone else could theoretically throw their name in, or delegates could change their mind up until that roll-call vote takes place. But I will say securing the nomination is just one part of the process for Harris. There's a lot for her to do in this very short, condensed campaign stretch. She needs to vet and pick a vice president and build up a campaign operation.
MARTIN: That is NPR's Asma Khalid. Asma, thank you.
KHALID: Good to talk to you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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