Axios

Hours after President Biden stepped down, political organizer Evan Seymour got to work.

The big picture: Seymour quickly invited a group of 10 Black women working in the entertainment industry into a WhatsApp group chat that sprouted into a 500-member collective, united to prevent former President Trump's return to the White House and support Vice President Kamala Harris's election.

Vice President Kamala Harris sat for a one-on-one interview with a local station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on Friday, sharing how she offers a "new generation of leadership."

The big picture: It's the first formal, solo interview Harris has done since becoming the Democratic presidential nominee, per Action News 6 ABC.

American women are having fewer babies, and that's become a political issue for many conservative advocates and lawmakers — Elon Musk called the falling birth rate "the biggest danger civilization faces."

Why it matters: Barring an increase in immigration, the record low birth rate threatens future economic growth — but there's little evidence that politics or public policy could meaningfully reverse the trend.

Donald Trump's campaign, lacking the on-the-ground muscle to match Kamala Harris' team, has been rolling out a strategy to target swing-state voters who've shown interest in Trump but often don't vote.

Why it matters: Trump campaign training materials obtained by Axios offer an inside look into the strategy the ex-president's team is betting on to turn out voters in Pennsylvania and at least six other key states.

A half dozen House Republicans have so far signed onto a bipartisan letter vowing to respect the certified winner of the 2024 presidential election, according to a copy obtained by Axios.

Why it matters: Their party's nominee, former President Trump, has refused to say if he will accept the results and continued to deny his loss to President Biden in the 2020 election.

Former President Trump on Friday promised, if elected, to carry out mass deportations of undocumented immigrants, starting in Springfield, Ohio, and Aurora, Colorado.

Why it matters: Trump's announcement comes as he continues to push baseless conspiracy theories about immigrants, including during Tuesday night's presidential debate with Vice President Harris.

Former President Trump's rhetoric about Haitian immigrants in an Ohio town "has to stop," President Biden said on Friday, as Republican-driven pet-eating conspiracy theories have led to security threats for residents of the community.

The big picture: Springfield's mayor asked for support with immigration transitional resources as multiple buildings, including schools and City Hall, have been evacuated because of threats identified by law enforcement.

Former President Trump would withhold fire rescue aid from California if Gov. Gavin Newsom doesn't back his policies, the GOP presidential nominee said during a news conference on Friday.

Why it matters: Intense wildfires in Southern California prompted the evacuations of tens of thousands of people and are expected to worsen in coming years.

Most Americans support term limits, mandatory retirement and a formal ethics code for Supreme Court justices, according to a new survey from the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania.

Why it matters: The poll suggests that proposals from Democrats to curb the court's power are much more popular among voters than they are in Congress.

Former President Trump on Friday said he "is not going to sell" his shares in the parent company of Truth Social.

Why it matters: Trump is just days away from the expiration of a "lockup" provision on the shares, which was put in place when it went public back in March.

Pope Francis criticized both former President Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris as being "against life" given their respective stances on migration and abortion.

Why it matters: American catholics will need to decide who is the "lesser evil" when casting their votes in the November election, the AP reported the pope as saying.

A pair of Democratic senators are looking into just how vulnerable the federal government's IT networks are to an outage similar to this summer's CrowdStrike outage, according to a letter first shared with Axios.

Why it matters: Little attention has been paid nationally to the impact that the July 19 outage had on the federal government.

Supporters of Vice President Harris and former President Trump are widely divided when it comes to how much confidence they express in the electoral system.

Why it matters: Recent polling underscores the results of the country's growing polarization as well as Trump's years-long election denialism regarding the results of the 2020 election.

The most far-reaching crime bill ever passed by Congress has left a complicated history three decades later, with President Biden being called to acknowledge and repair for damage some feel it caused.

The big picture: The 1994 Crime Bill, signed 30 years ago on Friday, is credited with helping reduce crime during a massive surge in the U.S. But it also resulted in more mass incarcerations of young Black and Latino men.

Russian President Vladimir Putin warned on Thursday that the U.S. and its allies would be at war Russia if they allow Ukraine to launch long-range Western weapons into Russia.

Why it matters: Putin's warning comes ahead of a bilateral meeting between President Biden and U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Friday, during which the pair are expected to discuss the issue.

Thousands of Boeing workers walked off the job Friday after members of the aircraft maker's biggest union overwhelmingly rejected a contract offer late Thursday and voted to strike.

Why it matters: The work stoppage comes as the embattled aerospace titan is trying to ramp up production and improve its image after its reputation took a hit following a series of quality and safety issues.

The Justice Department is preparing criminal charges in connection with an Iranian hack that targeted former President Trump's 2024 campaign in a bid to shape the outcome of the November election, multiple outlets report.

Why it matters: They are the result of an FBI investigation into an intrusion that investigators across multiple agencies quickly linked to an Iranian effort to influence American politics.

America's fickle young voters represent one of the largest groups of undecideds and persuadables left in this presidential election.

Why it matters: In this coin-toss race, any single motivated bloc could have the power to decide the outcome.

Some Republicans are sounding alarms over far-right activist Laura Loomer's increasing presence in former President Trump's inner circle, concerned it's a sign he's moving deeper into a world of conspiracies and racism.

Why it matters: Trump's top advisers usually have been able to fend off or limit fringe characters' access to him during much of this campaign, but now it appears that he's insistent on letting in more of them in.

Vice President Kamala Harris raised $47 million in the 24 hours following her debate against former President Trump, her campaign announced on Thursday.

Why it matters: It's Harris' biggest 24-hour fundraising haul since she raised $81 million after she replaced President Biden as Democrats' presidential candidate in July, per the New York Times, which first reported the news.

Democrats are flooding the Maryland Senate race with fresh cash, suggesting one of the country's bluest states is now a concern for Majority Leader Chuck Schumer's slim majority.

• Backers of Democratic nominee Angela Alsobrooks have nearly tripled TV broadcast and digital ad buys this month compared to August.

Why it matters: September will be a battle to define Alsobrooks. She is leading former Gov. Larry Hogan (R) by solid single digits in most public surveys, but roughly a third of voters don't know who she is.

Sen. Joe Manchin (I-W.Va.) has given Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer a potentially easier path to helping President Biden beat former President Trump's record on judicial nominees.

Why it matters: Manchin backtracked Thursday on a March promise to vote "no" on any purely partisan nominees.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) and his team are making clear they won't budge on anything less than a government funding bill devoid of what he has described in meeting after meeting this week as "poison pills."

Why it matters: That leaves House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) with little choice but to put Democrats' preferred bill on the floor or risk a government shutdown.

Montanans are expected to be the most expensive Senate votes in history this year — and they will likely decide whether Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) remains majority leader.

Why it matters: Democrats are pacing ahead in ad spending in the race, but recent polling has Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) trailing Republican challenger Tim Sheehy.

Former President Trump said during a campaign rally Thursday that he will cut taxes on overtime pay if he is re-elected.

The big picture: The move is the latest in a series of sweeping tax cuts Trump has proposed to target working people in the months before the 2024 election.