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Harris chooses, Britain erupts and RFK Jr. confesses

 
Today's politics story

Harris meets with VP finalists as decision looms

What happened
Vice President Kamala Harris met Sunday with three of the finalists to be her running mate against Republicans Donald Trump and Sen. J.D. Vance (Ohio). Harris hosted Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz at her official residence in Washington, D.C. She met with Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg on Friday and is holding virtual interviews with other potential vice-presidential candidates, Reuters said. Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear and Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker are also contenders.

Who said what
All six finalists have undergone an expedited vetting, but Harris allies said the in-person interviews were "particularly important to the process as the vice president is prioritizing personal chemistry" as well as "looking for a governing partner," The Washington Post said.

The race to nudge Harris on her running mate has become the "competitive, divisive primary that many Democrats long wanted to avoid," The New York Times said, with donors and interest groups pushing for their preferred candidate. Moderates favor Shapiro and Kelly and progressives back Walz, with Beshear an "apparent compromise candidate." All the finalists are "white men with a record of winning over rural, white or independent voters," Reuters said.

What next?
Harris will announce her pick at or before a rally in Philadelphia on Tuesday night. She and her running mate are then scheduled to visit six other key swing states in five days: Wisconsin, Michigan, North Carolina, Georgia, Arizona and Nevada.

 
 
Today's international story

UK's Starmer slams 'far-right thuggery' at riots

What happened
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Sunday condemned a spate of "far-right thuggery" that broke out across the U.K. over the past week, including a mob attack on a Holiday Inn Express in Rotherham where asylum seekers were being housed. The anti-immigrant violence, much of it targeting Muslims, started after false rumors spread on social media that the suspect in a fatal knife attack at a children's dance class in Southport last Monday was an immigrant. 

Who said what
People who "participated in this violence will face the full force of the law," and authorities will "do whatever it takes to bring these thugs to justice," Starmer said. "This is not protest. It is organized, violent thuggery." Conservative opposition leader Rishi Sunak agreed that the perpetrators of the "shocking scenes" across Britain "must face the full weight of the law."

What next?
Hundreds of people have been arrested and many more arrests were "likely as police scour CCTV, social media and body-worn camera footage," The Associated Press said. But "the courts will face a challenge in processing all the charges at a time when the criminal justice system is overstretched."

 
 
Today's CULTURE Story

RFK Jr. says he dumped dead bear in Central Park

What happened
Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said Sunday that he put the body of a bear cub in New York City's Central Park in 2014, staging the dead cub under an old bicycle because he "thought it would be amusing for whoever found it or something."

Who said what
Kennedy told comedian Roseanne Barr in a video on social media that after a car ahead of him in the Hudson Valley hit the cub, "I pulled over and I picked up the bear and put him in the back of my van because I was gonna skin the bear" and "put the meat in my refrigerator." But after a falconry expedition and subsequent dinner at Brooklyn's Peter Luger Steakhouse, he had to go to the airport and "didn't want to leave the bear in my car because that would have been bad."

The discovery of the dead cub sparked a "mystery that captivated the city for a few days," The Associated Press said. Kennedy he was initially "worried because my prints were all over that bike."

What next?
Kennedy said he was confessing to the stunt now because The New Yorker was going to reveal it in a "bad story." This is the "latest strange story to emerge about Kennedy, who has seen his standing in the polls falter" in recent weeks, Politico said.

 
 

It's not all bad

In Lewes, England, dogs are part of rewilding efforts, with the pups carrying bags of wildflower seeds that drop as they run around a nature reserve. Seed spreading is "key to maintaining a biodiverse and native ecosystem," Good News Network said. Hundreds of years ago, wolves were part of the process, as seeds got stuck in their coats in one area and fell off and germinated in another. Replicating this with dogs brings the community together while enriching the environment, organizers said.

 
 
Under the radar

TikTok has faced accusations of cyberbullying, damaging children's brains and pushing Chinese propaganda, but it now faces a new claim: It has a "Nazi problem." Neo-Nazis and white supremacists are sharing Hitler-related propaganda and recruiting new members on TikTok, and the platform's algorithm is "promoting" the content, said Wired. 

The Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD) uncovered a network of 200 accounts that produce videos promoting Nazism or use Nazi symbols in their profiles. Researchers from the global think tank said in a report that accounts were gathering "tens of millions of views" on the platform with messages about Holocaust denial, the glorification of Hitler, and "Nazism as a solution to contemporary issues." There were also posts expressing support for white supremacist mass shooters, including footage of their crimes. 

According to the report, TikTok is "failing to take down violative videos and accounts" even when the content is reported by users. In fact, accounts and videos promoting Nazism are "algorithmically amplified," said the researchers, with TikTok quickly recommending such content to users engaging with similar far-right hate speech. 

The ISD's findings show that a "small number of violent extremists" can "wreak havoc on large platforms due to adversarial asymmetry," said Adam Hadley, the founder and executive director of Tech Against Terrorism. That dynamic "underscores the need for cross-platform threat intelligence supported by improved AI-powered content moderation." A TikTok spokesperson said, "Hateful behavior, organizations and their ideologies have no place on TikTok, and we remove more than 98% of this content before it is reported to us."

 
 
On this day

August 5, 1930

Astronaut Neil Armstrong was born in Wapakoneta, Ohio. Armstrong became the first person to walk on the moon, landing on the lunar surface alongside Buzz Aldrin during the Apollo 11 mission in 1969. Armstrong never flew in space again but worked for NASA in various capacities. He died in 2012 at age 82.

 
 
TODAY'S newspaperS

The selection of Vice President Kamala Harris to head the Democratic presidential ticket "resets map for election," giving Democrats a "rebound in poll numbers" and a renewed competitiveness in swing states, The Washington Post says on Monday's front page. The Philadelphia Daily News profiles one of Harris' finalists for running mate, "early riser" Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro. For Donald Trump's running mate, Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio), "gaining power means breaking the left," The New York Times says. Some of Vance's friends from his time in the Marines are "vexed" by his "shift from GOP moderate to Trump ally," the Post says.

► See the newspaper front pages

 
 
Tall tale

Sponsored by Big Parma

Forget Nike, Adidas or Under Armour — Italian Olympic gymnast Giorgia Villa is sponsored by Parmigiano Reggiano cheese. On social media, the silver medalist posts images of herself hugging wheels of cheese, pretending to bite into wedges and casually snacking on hunks of parmesan while sitting on a balance beam. Villa landed the endorsement deal in 2021, with Italian marketing agency Impresa e Sport declaring that both Villa and Parmigiano Reggiano have the same "authenticity, quality and energetic value."

 
 

Morning Report was written and edited by Theara Coleman, Nadia Croes, Catherine Garcia, Scott Hocker, Anya Jaremko-Greenwold, Justin Klawans, Chas Newkey-Burden, Devika Rao, Rafi Schwartz and Peter Weber, with illustrations by Stephen Kelly and Julia Wytrazek.

Image credits, from top: Mark Felix / AFP via Getty Images; Christopher Furlong / Getty Images; Marcus Santos / NY Daily News via Getty Images; Sean Gallup / Getty Images