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Kamala Harris vetting about a dozen possible VP candidates
Approximately a dozen individuals are being vetted as possible running mates for Vice President Kamala Harris, according to a source familiar with the process.
That number is larger than previously reported, and is an indication that the campaign is casting a wide net at the start of this process and isn’t winnowing the list yet.
Multiple sources tell CBS News that the list of candidates includes several governors: Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, Roy Cooper of North Carolina, Andy Beshear of Kentucky, Tim Walz of Minnesota, J.B. Pritzker of Illinois and Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan.
Members of the Biden administration, including Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg are also being considered, along with Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly, among others.
The Harris campaign is also looking at individuals who do not currently hold elected office.
The outside team conducting the vetting, led by former Attorney General Eric Holder, began holding conversations Tuesday with some of the candidates, CBS News has learned.
Harris’ team plans to carry out and conclude the vetting on a compressed schedule that is expected to be finished by Aug. 7, in order to meet an Ohio deadline requiring nominees to be certified by 90 days before Election Day to obtain ballot access.
“The process is designed to select the presidential nominee and to allow the presidential nominee to choose the vice presidential nominee in advance of the Aug. 7 Ohio certification deadline,” said DNC director of party affairs and delegate selection Veronica Martinez.
Harris is the likely Democratic nominee, having been endorsed by an overwhelming majority of Democratic delegates.
Several of Harris’ potential VP candidates have denied receiving material requests for vetting, or have demurred on the question of whether they’d take the job if it were offered.
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Phil Lesh, bassist and founding member of The Grateful Dead, died Friday, a producer who worked with him confirmed to CBS News. He was 84 years old.
A post on his Instagram account said Lesh “passed peacefully this morning.”
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“He was surrounded by his family and full of love. Phil brought immense joy to everyone around him and leaves behind a legacy of music and love. We request that you respect the Lesh family’s privacy at this time,” the post said.
One of America’s most enduring musical groups, The Grateful Dead was formed as a quintet in California in 1965, according to their official website. Jerry Garcia, Ron “Pigpen” McKernan, Bob Weir Bill Kreutzmann and Phil Lesh made up the original band members. The band signed to Warner Brothers in late 1966, releasing their self-titled debut later that spring.
The band went on to tour for the next half-decade — an era, the band said was their most creatively fertile. Somea members left, some died, and others were added, but the original magic of Phil Lesh and Jerry Garcia stayed intact through some of their most tumultuous years. Garcia died in 1995.
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The Grateful Dead toured extensively garnering legions of fans around the world for their ability to play music and “jam.”
In 2007, the band received the Lifetime Achievement award from the Recording Academy.
The band broke the record for the most Top 40 albums to chart on the Billboard 200 in 2024. Even though the band disbanded in 1995 following the death of singer Jerry Garcia, its archival albums’ popularity pushed the music into the Top 40. Forty-one of the band’s 59 entries in the Top 40 have happened since 2012.
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