Axios

Vice President Kamala Harris is putting her stamp on her presidential campaign, bringing a slew of high-profile Obama veterans into senior advisory roles.

Why it matters: Harris wants to win the White House with a different campaign than the one Biden was running.

The Justice Department sued TikTok and its Chinese-owned parent company on Friday, alleging the social media app violates children's online privacy law.

The big picture: The popular platform engages in "massive-scale invasions of children's privacy" by collecting data from kids, who can create accounts without their parent's consent, the department said in the complaint.

James Baldwin, the prolific novelist, essayist and playwright, would have turned 100 years old on Friday. The Harlem-born writer who wrote from Paris at times challenged the U.S. through his work to confront its legacy of slavery and racism.

Through the lens: Here are some images from Baldwin's career as he attended civil rights demonstrations, rubbed elbows with celebrities and became a voice for generations of Black Americans later.

Vice President Kamala Harris has won a majority of delegates during a virtual Democratic National Committee roll call vote, DNC Chair Jaime Harrison announced Friday.

Why it matters: Harris had already effectively locked up the nomination as her party quickly coalesced around her. But the roll call vote cements her status as the first Black and South Asian American woman to become the presidential nominee of a major party.

A top Senate Democrat is introducing a bill to counter a landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision that gives the court significantly more influence over what federal agencies can do, Axios has learned.

Why it matters: Democrats fear that the SCOTUS decision, which overturned its 40-year-old "Chevron deference" doctrine, will hamstring federal agencies' ability to deal with top policy areas, like climate and labor.

President Biden privately demanded in a "tough" call Thursday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stop escalating tensions in the region and move immediately toward a Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal, two U.S. officials told Axios.

Why it matters: Biden and his top aides are deeply frustrated by the fallout from Israel's assassinations in Beirut and Tehran, which took place less than a week after Netanyahu's first visit to the Oval Office in four years.

After Simone Biles cemented her status as one of the greatest gymnasts of all time at the Paris Olympics, she took an apparent dig at former President Trump on Friday.

Why it matters: It's one of the few overtly political moments at the Paris Games but underscores Biles' sense of triumph after she drew flak from Trump's now-running mate JD Vance for leaving the Tokyo Olympics to focus on her mental health.

No one who really knows is talking. But White House, campaign and party sources tell Axios that all signs point to Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, 51, being picked as running mate for Vice President Kamala Harris.

Why it matters: Virtually all roads to 270 electoral votes run through Pennsylvania — one of the few things the Harris and Trump campaigns agree on.

Moments before former President Trump took the stage at the National Association of Black Journalists annual convention in Chicago on Wednesday, the organization's president was called back to address an issue.

Why it matters: Trump did not want to be fact-checked live and was refusing to go on stage, NABJ president Ken Lemon told Axios.

Evan Gershkovich's long-awaited release from a Russian prison Thursday came from thousands of hours of advocacy through quiet diplomacy and official channels, Wall Street Journal Publisher Almar Latour told Axios in an interview Thursday.

Why it matters: The release of Gershkovich as part of a prisoner exchange between seven countries — including Russia, the U.S. and Germany — represents a historic milestone for press freedoms around the world.

Vice President Kamala Harris' campaign said Friday that it raised $310 million in July, more than double the $138.7 million that former President Trump and his affiliated committees said they raised during the same month.

Why it matters: Democrats had been bracing for a decline in fundraising following President Biden's shaky June debate performance, but Harris' newly-launched campaign generated a massive influx of donations.

Freed Americans Evan Gershkovich, Paul Whelan and Alsu Kurmasheva arrived in the U.S. late Thursday after being released in a historic prisoner exchange with Russia earlier in the day.

The big picture: President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris joined families and others at Joint Base Andrews to welcome Wall Street Journal reporter Gershkovich, ex-U.S. Marine Whelan and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty journalist Kurmasheva, who's a U.S.-Russian citizen.

Trump ally Jeffrey Clark should be suspended from practicing law for two years over efforts to overturn President Biden's 2020 election win, a disciplinary board recommended in a Thursday ruling that the ex-DOJ official's representatives called "unlawful."

Why it matters: Clark is seen as a potential candidate for a senior administration position if former President Trump is elected in November for a second term.

Tennessee state Rep. Gloria Johnson will face off against U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) in November.

Why it matters: Johnson, who gained a national profile last year as part of the so-called "Tennessee Three," easily won the Democratic Senate primary on Thursday. The Associated Press called the race at 7:13pm Central, minutes after polls closed in Nashville.