Axios News Shapers Event: Top congressional, campaign and agency leaders talk the election shakeup & more

WASHINGTON, D.C. – As the lead-up to the presidential election season heats up, top newsmakers spoke with Axios reporters about what's changed since Vice President Harris entered the race, and on other headlines driving the latest news.

• Axios co-founder Mike Allen, national political correspondent Alex Thompson, congressional reporter Stephen Neukam and senior climate reporter Andrew Freedman moderated conversations with Trump senior campaign advisor Jason Miller, Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), FEMA administrator Deanne Criswell and Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) at the event, which was sponsored by Bank of America.

A debate between Vice President Harris and former president Trump will happen, Miller said, although he noted the campaign's noncommittal to ABC, calling for "diversification in the outlets" for who will host the debate.

What they're saying: "A debate will happen, I'm not sure if it will be ABC," Miller said.

• "Not only will there be another debate, but there should be multiple debates," he continued.

Sen. Murphy said the outpouring of support for Vice President Harris following President Biden's decision to exit the race was completely "organic."

• "Just to be clear, none of us knew about the President's decision until he made it. None of us were calling each other to pre-organize our endorsements of Kamala Harris," Murphy said.
• "I got back from a run in the middle of the day, saw that Joe Biden had decided he was going to step down, sat down at my kitchen table and typed out personally my endorsement of Kamala Harris. I think that's what all of my colleagues did. That outpouring of support for her over the course of that afternoon and that evening, it was as organic as you can get," he continued.

What we're watching: How the upcoming Democratic National Convention plays out in Chicago, and what happens with legislation pending in Congress to make extreme heat and wildfire smoke eligible for major disaster declarations under the Stafford Act.

• Rep. Clyburn called for a "lovefest" from Democrats at next month's convention to show unison around Harris as the party's nominee.
• FEMA's Criswell said that "the petition is really well thought out and written," especially given that last week the world witnessed the hottest day on record globally.

Sponsored content:

In a View From the Top sponsored segment, Bank of America president of retail banking Holly O'Neill noted the latest GDP report showing that the U.S. economy grew at a rate of 2.8% in the second quarter, signaling positive trends in consumer spending.

• "That shows some good strength in the economy. The consumer certainly always looks at the economy as challenging, they're watching to see what comes next. But we are really looking at the consumer today as being very resilient, and we see the trends that reflect that resiliency."