Biden is making appeals to donors as concerns persist over his presidential debate performance

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NEW YORK (AP) — President Joe Biden is looking to recapture his mojo and reassure donors at a Saturday fundraiser that he is fully up to the challenge of beating Donald Trump.

The 81-year-old’s troubling performance at the first presidential debate Thursday rattled many Democrats, who see Trump after the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection as an existential threat to U.S. democracy. Biden’s meandering answers and struggles to respond to Trump prompted The New York Times editorial board to declare Friday that he should exit the race and that staying in would be a “reckless gamble.”

Biden and his wife, Jill, attended an afternoon campaign event in East Hampton, New York, the Long Island beach town where the real estate firm Zillow prices the median home at $1.9 million. Based on public records, the event that was closed to the news media was at the home of Avram Glazer, an owner of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers football team.

Scheduled later was an evening fundraiser in Red Bank, New Jersey.

In the aftermath of Thursday night’s debate, Biden flashed more vigor in speeches in North Carolina and New York on Friday, saying he believes with “all my heart and soul” that he can do the job of the presidency.

The Biden campaign said it has raised more than $27 million on Thursday and Friday, including $3 million at a New York City fundraiser focused on the LGBTQ+ community.

Jill Biden told supporters Friday that he said to her after the debate, “You know, Jill, I don’t know what happened. I didn’t feel that great.” The first lady then said she responded to him, “Look, Joe, we are not going to let 90 minutes define the four years that you’ve been president.”

The Democratic president still needs to allay the fears stirred by the debate as it seeped into the public conscience with clips and memes spreading on the internet and public pressure for him to bow out of the race.

Democratic donors across New York, Southern California and Silicon Valley privately expressed deep concerns about the viability of Biden’s campaign in the wake of his debate performance.

In a series of text message chains and private conversations, they discussed the short list of possible replacements, a group that included Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Vice President Kamala Harris.

But on Friday, there was no formal push to pressure Biden to step aside and some suspected there never would be given the logistical challenges associated with replacing the presumptive nominee just four months before Election Day.

Some donors noted they were going to pause their personal giving. They said receipts from Biden’s weekend fundraiser would almost certainly be strong because the tickets were sold and paid for before the debate.

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Olympic Trials: U.S. women have experienced nucleus, but questions remain for gymnastics selection committee

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With the 2024 Summer Olympics less than a month away, injuries have become a critical component in the selection of the U.S. women’s gymnastics team, which will become official late Sunday night at Target Center.

After the first day of trials, superstar Simone Biles was leading the all-around race that will determine the lone automatic qualifier for the five-woman team that will travel next month to Paris. Champions Centre teammate Jordan Chiles was second, and St. Paul’s Sunisa Lee was third heading into Sunday’s final day of competition.

That’s a strong nucleus for an Olympic team. All were 2020 Tokyo teammates, and Lee won gold in the all-around as the U.S. team took silver.

Biles withdrew from three of four individual events after winning bronze on the balance beam to address her mental health but has mowed down competition since. Among her medals, she won the all-around at the 2023 World Championship, and the all-around at the 2023 and 2024 U.S. Championship.

The U.S. will take five gymnasts to Paris, and while the Trials will play maybe the biggest role in determining the other four, the U.S. will pick the team it believes has the best chance to medal after winning a team silver in Tokyo.

Two strong contenders for the team appear to be done after being injured this week in Minneapolis. Skye Blakely was in a cast and on crutches on Friday after tearing an Achilles tendon in training Wednesday. Then on Friday, Kayla DiCello, who finished third in the all-around in this spring’s U.S. championship, tore an Achilles’ after landing the vault awkwardly.

Then there is Shilese Jones, the rising star of U.S. women’s gymnastics

Jones, 21, competed in the all-around at the 2023 World Championship and won bronze on the uneven bars. At the U.S. Championship, she won gold in the bars, bronze on the floor and finished second to Biles in the all-around.

But Jones was injured in warmups Friday night, and withdrew from competition after recording a strong 14.675 on the bars. It’s unclear whether she will try to compete Sunday after a day of rest, but even if she doesn’t, and depending on the severity of the injury, the selection committee could still put her on the team.

Lee, 21, is returning from a long layoff caused by the discovery of a chronic disease affecting her kidneys. Diagnosed in 2023, she only resumed elite competition this year, finishing first in the balance beam in two competitions before winning silver on the beam and placing fourth in the all-around at the U.S. Championships.

Her resume will play a large part in her bid to make a second Olympic team, but performing well on Sunday should give the selection committee confidence that her comeback is still in ascension.

On Friday, she had the night’s best score on the beam, a 14.400, and her 14.400 on the bars was the night’s third-best.

Jade Carey, who won gold in the Tokyo floor exercise after qualifying separately, was fourth in the all-around after Friday’s rotations. She had the second-best vault (14.600) behind Biles’ nearly perfect 15.975 and was fourth in the floor (14.075).

Chiles’ vault of 14.325 vaulted her past Lee and into second place late Friday, and she had a 14.100 on the floor. Each was the third-best score of the night in those events. Her Olympic experience will be taken into consideration, as well, and she won silver in the uneven bars at the U.S. Championships.

But she said experience only goes so far at the Trials.

“It’s still stressful,” Chiles said after Friday’s meet. “I was literally thinking this morning that no matter what I’ve done in my life, this is stressful one I’ve done in my whole, entire career. Because it’s that one where you find out whether you make it or you don’t.”

The team will be announced approximately 30 minutes after Sunday’s competition, which is scheduled for 7-10 p.m.

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Wild trade winger Vinni Lettieri to Bruins in exchange for center Jakub Lauko

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LAS VEGAS — With the Wild back on the clock after waiting more than an hour between picks, they decided they could wait a little longer to make their next selection in the 2024 NHL Draft.

In a move that won’t do much to move the needle, the Wild traded winger Vinni Lettieri and the No. 110 pick to the Boston Bruins in exchange for center Jakub Lauko and the No. 122 pick.

Though the move involved some draft picks, this is more or less a hockey trade for the Wild as Lauko will likely play a role for them this season. He played 60 games for the Bruins last season, posting 10 points (2 goals, 8 assists), and filling a valuable spot in the bottom half of the lineup.

This is another fresh start for Lettieri after a shortlived homecoming in Minnesota. The grandson of Minnesota hockey legend played 46 games for the Wild last season almost exclusively in a depth role.

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Lakeville police investigating suspected homicide in Amazon warehouse parking lot

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Detectives are investigating a suspected homicide after a man was found shot to death in the parking lot of the Amazon Fulfillment Center in Lakeville early Saturday morning.

Police were called shortly after 4 a.m. to the parking lot at 9800 217th Street West on reports of a altercation, according to the Lakeville Police Department.

When officers arrived they found a man in the parking lot who appeared to have been shot. First responders attempted lifesaving efforts but the man was later pronounced dead.

A 24-year-old man was arrested near the man and remains in custody. Investigators say it appears the altercation was limited to the two men and they are trying to determine the two men’s relationship, what led up to the incident and the pair’s connection to the business. A firearm was recovered at the scene.

The Hennepin County medical examiner’s office will release the victim’s name, cause and manner of death.

The shooting follows a 2023 murder at the warehouse parking lot in which a man fatally shot a woman who was nine months pregnant with his child and the mother of his 2-year-old daughter.

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