Morning headlines: Inside Biden's VP search; Tuesday's primary results; fallout from Beirut blast

Today is Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2020. Let's get caught up.

These non-virus headlines are in the news this morning: Joe Biden picked California Sen. Kamala Harris as his running mate; some key primary and run-off elections in Minnesota and Georgia; and children in Beirut suffer trauma from deadly blast.

Read on for these stories, other top headlines, celebrity birthdays and more.

Top stories

How it happened: Inside Biden's search for a running mate

On Tuesday, presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden tapped California Sen. Kamala Harris to be his running mate, making her the first Black woman to serve on a major party presidential ticket. This account of how he made that decision, the most important of his political career, is based on interviews with 10 people with direct knowledge of the vetting and selection process.

From the start, some Biden advisers saw Harris as a logical choice. She was among the party’s most popular figures, a deft debater and a fundraising juggernaut. She had been thoroughly vetted during her own campaign and Biden’s team expected there would be few surprises if she was the pick.

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Election 2020 Minnesota Primary — Democrat Rep. Ilhan Omar addresses media after lunch at the Mercado Central in Minneapolis Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2020, primary Election Day in Minnesota.
AP

Minnesota's Omar holds off primary challenger; conspiracy theorist wins in Georgia

Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota survived a stiff Democratic primary challenge Tuesday from a well-funded opponent who tried to make an issue of her national celebrity, the latest in a string of victories by a new generation of emboldened progressive lawmakers.

Omar and her allies gained confidence in her reelection chances after primary victories last week by fellow “Squad” member Rashida Tlaib in Michigan and by Cori Bush, a Black Lives Matter activist who ousted a longtime St. Louis-area congressman. They also claimed momentum from the renewed focus on racial and economic justice after George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis.

Meanwhile, Marjorie Taylor Greene, a businesswoman who has expressed support for the far-right conspiracy theory QAnon and been criticized for a series of racist comments, won the Republican nomination for Georgia’s 14th Congressional District.

Greene beat neurosurgeon John Cowan in a primary runoff for the open seat on Tuesday in the deep-red district in northwest Georgia, despite several GOP officials denouncing her campaign after videos surfaced in which she expresses racist, anti-Semitic and anti-Muslim views.

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Children in Beirut suffer from trauma after deadly blast

The massive explosion of nearly 3,000 tons of ammonium nitrate in Beirut's port killed more than 170 people, injured about 6,000 others and caused widespread damage. The U.N. children’s agency UNICEF said three children were among the dead and at least 31 were hurt seriously enough to need hospital treatment.

As many as 100,000 children were displaced from their homes according to Save the Children, with many of them traumatized.

In other news today ...

For many Black women, Sen. Kamala Harris' selection as Joe Biden's running mate represents a full-circle moment after fighting for generations to have their voices heard and political aspirations recognized.
Before Biden named Harris his running mate, women’s groups were readying a campaign of their own: shutting down sexist coverage and disinformation about a vice presidential nominee they say is headed for months of false smears and “brutal” attacks from internet haters.
A federal appeals court in Washington appeared inclined Tuesday to let a judge decide on his own whether to grant the Justice Department's request to dismiss the criminal case against former Trump administration national security adviser Michael Flynn.
People who have been arrested since late May on non-violent misdemeanor charges during protests that have racked Oregon’s largest city for more than 70 days won't be prosecuted.
The boisterous rallies against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have brought out a new breed of first-time protesters — young, middle-class Israelis who have little history of political activity but feel robbed of their futures.
The Big Ten and Pac-12 postponed fall football Tuesday, hoping to salvage a spring season like the Mid-American Conference and Mountain West plan to do. What that looks like is anybody's guess, but officials in those conferences need to figure out everything from how to prepare in the fall to how much to play in the spring and who exactly is going to be suiting up for these teams.

Click on the links below for full versions of these stories and scroll further for trending stories, a look at today in history and celebrity birthdays.

Today's national forecast

Tropical Depression 11 formed yesterday is forecast to strengthen later today which would make it the earliest J named storm on record. CNN Meteorologist Tyler Mauldin has the details.