LOS ANGELES — Kamala Harris isn't planning to go gentle into that good night. This week the former vice president made clear to potential 2028 rivals that she's working to keep another White House campaign viable.
Why it matters: Despite worries from party leaders and donors that she can't win, Harris remains at or near the top of most 2028 Democratic primary polls. She also has strong support among Black voters — the most critical voting bloc in most recent Democratic presidential primaries.
Gavin Newsom's Democratic rivals are plotting how to take down the early 2028 frontrunner, with a heavy emphasis on how unpopular his left-leaning views are outside deep-blue California.
Driving the news: Our conversations with more than 20 Democratic operatives, including several working for 2028 hopefuls, reveal that they see the California governor as the guy to beat — and a guy with a lot of personal baggage that's exploitable for a presidential primary.
Churches across the U.S. and abroad are quietly experimenting with AI-generated Christmas content, from Nativity visuals and kids' lessons to full Christmas Eve sermons.
Why it matters: Christmas services draw some of the year's largest crowds, and churches' growing reliance on AI raises questions about authenticity, reverence, and whether algorithms can handle the faith's deepest themes.
Indiana Hoosiers quarterback Fernando Mendoza has won the Heisman Trophy, adding to his historic season.
Why it matters: Mendoza is only the third Latino player to win the coveted honor given to college football's best player, but is the first Cuban American to take it.
Indiana Hoosiers quarterback Fernando Mendoza and Vanderbilt Commodores quarterback Diego Pavia — the top candidates to receive the Heisman Trophy — are set to make history Saturday.
Why it matters: Either would beonly the third Latino player ever to win the coveted honor given to college football's best player, but Mendoza would be the first Cuban American to take it.
A newly unsealed warrant shows the U.S. Coast Guard seized the M/T Skipper, a crude oil tanker intercepted off Venezuela, just before the warrant was set to expire on Wednesday.
Why it matters: The move comes as the Trump administration layers on new U.S. sanctions against Venezuelan oil shipping networks and Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro's inner circle, aiming to raise the risks for companies moving the country's crude.
Joy Reid, whose MSNBC show "The ReidOut" was canceled earlier this year, says leaving corporate media has been "liberating," allowing her to express her voice fully.
Why it matters: Reid is part of a growing wave of Black journalists — from Roland Martin and Jemele Hill to Don Lemon and Tiffany Cross —each creating independent media platforms when pushed out of mainstream media in high-profile clashes over voice, culture or politics.
Indiana lawmakers' rejection of a plan to create two more Republican congressional seats Thursday delivered a blow to the White House's scramble to redistrict ahead of midterm elections, but the state isn't the only egg in President Trump's basket.
The big picture: Six states have already implemented new congressional maps, and more could follow.
