The Latest: Harris, Trump shift plans after Hurricane Helene’s destruction

Hurricane Helene is changing the plans of the presidential candidates this week.

Democratic candidate Kamala Harris ends a campaign visit to Las Vegas to return to Washington for briefings. Republican candidate Donald Trump is heading to Georgia to see the impact of the storm.

Hurricane Helene death toll numbers more than 100 people and rising, with the worst damage caused by flooding in inland North Carolina.

Natural disasters are not only humanitarian crises but can also pose a political test for elected officials, especially in the final weeks of a presidential campaign.

Presidents typically avoid racing to disaster areas so they don’t disrupt recovery efforts. The White House said Harris would visit affected areas “as soon as possible without disrupting emergency response operations.”

President Joe Biden was scheduled to speak Monday morning about his administration’s response to Hurricane Helene. He plans to visit areas affected by the storm later this week, with efforts to avoid disrupting response efforts.

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Here’s the latest:

Vice President Kamala Harris says she has been clear about her racial identity and background and is not listening to questions about it from critics, including her presidential opponent, Republican Donald Trump.

Asked about criticism of her identity on an episode of the “All the Smoke” podcast released Monday, Harris responded, “I don’t listen to it.”

“I’m very clear about who I am,” she said. “And if someone else isn’t, they need to go through their own level of therapy.”

Harris said she would like to talk about her identity in more detail, but that would require an hours-long discussion about the role of race in America.

“My mother was very clear. She raised two black girls to be two proud black women,” Harris said. “And it was never a question.”

Vice President Kamala Harris says of the infamous blind date where she met her husband, Doug Emhoff, “I just have a really bossy best friend.”

Set up by particularly convincing friends, Harris said in an episode of the “All the Smoke” podcast released Monday that Emhoff picked her up for the date in a BMW. He immediately revealed, “I’m a very bad driver,” she recalled.

“I think he was trying to create a little bit of anticipation,” Harris said.

She said the pair then went to Emhoff’s favorite restaurant, where the people who worked there were “like, ‘Hey Doug.'” She did not name the restaurant.

At the beginning of a meeting in Las Vegas On Sunday, Harris said: “We will support these communities for as long as it takes to ensure they can recover and rebuild.”

Trump, speaking in Erie, Pa.described the storm on Sunday as “a big monster hurricane” that had “hit much harder than anyone even thought possible.”

He criticized Harris for attending fundraising events in California as the storm hit.

“She should be in the area where she should be,” Trump said.

The White House said Harris would visit affected areas “as soon as possible without disrupting emergency response operations.” She also spoke with Governor Roy Cooper of North Carolina and received a briefing from Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Deanne Criswell during her trip.