Former US Vice-President Kamala Harris has delivered her sharpest criticism yet of her former boss, calling Joe Biden’s decision to seek a second term “recklessness” in an excerpt from her forthcoming memoir.
“‘It’s Joe and Jill’s decision.’ We all said that, like a mantra, as if we’d all been hypnotized,” Harris writes in her book. “Was it grace, or was it recklessness? In retrospect, I think it was recklessness.”
In an extract for her book 107 Days, published by The Atlantic on Wednesday, Harris also describes moments where she felt sidelined or denied credit for her work by Biden’s team.
The BBC has contacted Biden’s office for comment.
Harris wrote that as vice-president she was in the “worst position” to tell Biden not to run for president again.
“I knew it would come off to him as incredibly self-serving if I advised him not to run,” she wrote. “He would see it as naked ambition, perhaps as poisonous disloyalty, even if my only message was: Don’t let the other guy win.”
Biden withdrew from the 2024 race following a dismal debate performance against then Republican candidate Donald Trump.
The debate performance fuelled questions about Biden’s age and mental fitness to lead the country. Harris eventually lost the election to Trump.
Harris wrote that 81-year-old Biden’s choice to run for re-election “should have been more than a personal decision”.
“The stakes were simply too high. This wasn’t a choice that should have been left to an individual’s ego, an individual’s ambition,” she wrote.
She denied that there was a “big conspiracy” to hide Biden’s frailty and described the former president as “a smart guy with long experience and deep conviction, able to discharge the duties of president”.
“But at 81, Joe got tired. That’s when his age showed in physical and verbal stumbles,” she wrote.
Harris also alleges the White House failed to adequately respond to her critics.
The former vice-president recalled securing billions of dollars in investment commitments from private companies for Latin American countries to help tackle the root cause of migration.
Despite this, Harris wrote, Republicans “mischaracterized my role as ‘border czar'” – a description that dogged her during her presidential campaign as the number of illegal border crossings spiked.
“No one in the White House [communications] team helped me to effectively push back and explain what I had really been tasked to do, nor to highlight any of the progress I had achieved,” she wrote.
Harris also described a trip she made to Texas in July 2024, in the wake of a devastating hurricane, and listening to a televised address by Biden while in a hotel room in Houston.
“It was a good speech, drawing on the history of the presidency to locate his own place within it,” she wrote. “But as my staff later pointed out, it was almost nine minutes into the 11-minute address before he mentioned me.”
Biden and Harris both ran for the Democratic nomination in 2020, and Biden chose his former rival as his running mate. Their ticket defeated Donald Trump and Mike Pence in November of that year.
Despite suggestions from critics that he was too old to serve a second four-year term, Biden launched a re-election bid in 2023.
Harris plans to go on a book tour of 15 cities, including in the United Kingdom and Canada, for 107 Days. The book is expected to go on sale on 23 September.
A shooting at Evergreen High School this afternoon hospitalized four students — three with gunshot wounds, including the suspected shooter.
The students with gunshot wounds were treated at CommonSpirit St. Anthony Hospital in Lakewood. After treatment, two of the three — one being the suspect — are still in critical condition.
The third victim has non-life-threatening injuries.
The sheriff’s office confirmed in an evening update that the suspected shooter sustained a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Officials said a fourth juvenile took themselves to the hospital with injuries sustained while escaping the high school and fleeing to a nearby elementary school.
“This is the scariest thing you could ever think could happen,” said Jacki Kelley, public information officer with Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, at a press conference Wednesday afternoon. “Honestly, I don’t know if our suspect is old enough to even drive.”
Kevin J. Beaty/DenveriteCrime scene investigators inspect a lot near Evergreen High School, after a shooting there on Sept. 10, 2025.
Kelley said it was not clear who the shooter was or how many shooters may have been involved. Over 100 police officers from around the Denver area rushed to the school to try to help, Kelley said.
Officials said the shooter used a handgun and that police have not found a letter explaining the attack. Kelley said it appeared the shooting happened on school grounds, but outside the school.
The school is about 28 miles southwest of Denver. It enrolls about 900 students, according to the state Department of Education.
Tony Gorman/CPR NewsA long line of families and community members waiting outside the reunification point following a school shooting in Evergreen, Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025.
Cameron Jones is a 9th grader at Evergreen High School. He said he was eating lunch outside when he heard three gunshots. A security guard then told him to run.
He said he never thought a shooting like Wednesday’s would happen in Evergreen.
“Absolutely not,” Jones said. “I thought this was like a one-in-a-million thing, and it still feels surreal that it happened.”
Jen Weber, a mother of a freshman student at the school, said she was washing her car when her son sent her a text message that a shooting was happening.
Kevin J. Beaty/DenveriteJen Weber watches with relief as her son, an Evergreen High School freshman, leaves the school after a shooting there on Sept. 10, 2025. She hiked through the woods to get closer.
“I think if I’m being honest with myself, I always knew it was ‘When, not if?’” Weber said. “But having been born and raised in Evergreen, I didn’t ever really think it would happen here in Evergreen.”
Weber was still waiting on Wednesday afternoon to be reunited with her son.
Authorities have not released more details on the shooting. Videos on social media show emergency service vehicles racing towards the school.
Kevin J. Beaty/DenveriteFirst responders are staged near Evergreen High School after a shooting was reported there. Sept. 10, 2025.
“I am closely monitoring the situation at Evergreen High School, and am getting live updates. State Troopers are supporting local law enforcement in responding to this situation. Students should be able to attend school safely and without fear across our state and nation. We are all praying for the victims and the entire community,” said Colorado Gov. Jared Polis.
Federal law enforcement is also responding to the scene to assist.
Allison Sherry/CPR NewsJefferson County Sheriff Reggie Marinelli addresses the media this afternoon following a shooting at Evergreen High School. Behind her is Evergreen Fire Chief Mike Weege.
Parents are being asked to go to Bergen Meadow Elementary School at 1928 Hiwan Drive to reunify with their students.
Outside the school on Wednesday afternoon, a long line of parents waited to be reunited with their students.
Kevin J. Beaty/DenveriteSchool buses line up, heading towards Evergreen High School after a shooting was reported there. Sept. 10, 2025.
The Jefferson County Education Association, a teachers’ union in the district, said in a statement that every time a school shooting happens, it retraumatizes the community that lived through the Columbine shooting in 1999.
“Colorado has lived through this pain too many times. We cannot become numb. We cannot accept this as normal. We demand that our leaders at every level — local, state, and national — take real, meaningful action to end the epidemic of gun violence in our schools,” the association’s leaders said in a statement.
All Jefferson County school athletics and activities for Wednesday were canceled.
CPR reporters Haylee May, Alejandro A. Alonso Galva, Yesenia Robles, Molly Cruse, Kevin Beaty, Ben Markus, Allison Sherry and Tony Gorman, as well as The Associated Press, contributed to this report.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated with more information about the victims and the alleged shooter.
Audio recording is automated for accessibility. Humans wrote and edited the story. See our AI policy, and give us feedback.
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Melissa McCoul, the professor fired by Texas A&M University on Tuesday for allegedly not changing her course content to match its description, is disputing her cause for termination and exploring legal options, according to a statement her attorney sent to The Texas Tribune on Wednesday.
McCoul’s attorney Amanda Reichek said the listed reason for termination was that she failed to change her course content to align with the catalog and course descriptions despite numerous instructions to do so. However, Reichek countered that McCoul’s course content was consistent with the descriptions, and she wasn’t instructed to change her course content. She had also been teaching the course for multiple years at that point with no difficulty.
McCoul has appealed the firing and is exploring legal action, Reichek said.
Texas A&M President Mark A. Welsh III terminated McCoul after a video went viral that showed a confrontation between her and a student in one of her summer classes, an upper-level children’s literature course. The video, which does not show anyone’s face, captures audio of a student objecting to a professor teaching that there are more than two genders. The student said this conflicts with President Donald Trump’s executive order and her religious beliefs, and McCoul responded by saying she had a right to teach the lesson while the student had a right to leave.
Texas A&M and Welsh have come under increasing fire from Republican lawmakers over the video. As a result, Welsh fired McCoul, revoked administrative duties from the head of the department that oversaw the course and reportedly demoted Mark Zoran, the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, Texas A&M’s second-largest college with more than 15,000 students.
The backlash from Republican lawmakers critical of the video has put Texas A&M on the defensive, a push fueled by Texas Rep. Brian Harrison, R-Midlothian, publishing new, unreleased audio recordings of a meeting Welsh had with the student who confronted McCoul. In the audio, Welsh defended the professor and the topics taught in the class.
But, as the pressure to fire McCoul ramped up, Welsh switched gears. Late Monday, he removed both Zoran and the then-head of the English department, Emily Johansen, from their positions, saying they approved plans to teach material that was inconsistent with the published course description. The university has not confirmed whether they were fired or re-assigned. However, a university employee who works in upper administration told The Tribune that both Zoran and Johansen have been demoted.
It’s unclear who is leading the College of Arts and Sciences. On Wednesday, the English department announced that its associate department head would move up to acting head while they search for a replacement.
In a statement, the Texas A&M University System Board of Regents said they would audit every course to ensure compliance with the law. A separate statement from Chancellor Glenn Hegar praised Welsh for sacking McCoul. She was not tenured and had been an educator for more than 10 years.
Texas A&M has not identified any students involved in producing the video or audio.
Hours before Welsh announced McCoul’s firing, Gov. Greg Abbott called the dean and department head’s removal “good” in a post on X before also calling for the professor to be fired. Harrison, however, responded to Abbott’s post saying that the removals were not good enough and that Welsh “must also be fired.”
Several Republican lawmakers have since called for Welsh’s removal, and Harmeet K. Dhillon, assistant attorney general for Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, wrote on X that the incident was “deeply concerning” and said the agency would “look into” it. The Justice Department declined to comment further. Texas A&M University did not respond to questions or provide additional information about the incident.
Harrison, a Texas A&M alum and former Trump administration official, has clashed with Welsh for months over diversity, equity and inclusion policies. In May, he accused Texas A&M of “egregious discrimination” by offering DEI-related courses and “targeted student recruitment.” Welsh has denied violating the law or discriminating.
It’s unclear how Harrison, the state representative, acquired the video and audio recordings. He also posted multiple screenshots of presentation and classroom material on X that is not available to people not enrolled in the course.
Welsh became Texas A&M’s president in 2023, the same year Texas lawmakers passed a ban on DEI offices and programs at public universities. He took over after the resignation of former President M. Katherine Banks, and since then, Republican leaders have moved aggressively to assert more control over higher education.
Disclosure: Texas A&M University has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune’s journalism. Find a complete list of them here.
Three featured TribFest speakers confirmed! You don’t want to miss Deb Haaland, former U.S. Secretary of the Interior and 2026 Democratic candidate for New Mexico governor; state Sen. Joan Huffman, R-Houston and 2026 Republican candidate for Texas Attorney General; and Jake Tapper, anchor of CNN’s “The Lead” and “State of the Union” at the 15th annual Texas Tribune Festival, Nov. 13–15 in downtown Austin. Get your tickets today!
Boeing Defense and the machinists union have reached a tentative deal to end a five-week-long strike in the St. Louis area, union officials announced on Wednesday.
A vote on Boeing’s five-year contract offer is scheduled for Friday, according to the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers.
IAM District 837’s roughly 3,200 members, who assemble Boeing fighter jets, went on strike on August 4 after voting 67% to reject the company’s last contract proposal.
“We’ve found a path forward on a five-year contract offer that grows wages by 45% on average,” Boeing Defense Vice President Dan Gillian said in a statement. “It remains the best deal we’ve ever offered to IAM 837, and we encourage our team to vote yes so we can get back to work building amazing products for our customers.”
The deal includes a 24% general wage increase over five years and a $4,000 ratification bonus, among other terms.
The previous offer was for four years and included a 20% wage increase and a $5,000 bonus. The deal would have raised compensation by 40% on average, according to the company.
“They didn’t really offer more, they just extended it another year,” said IAM member Brandon Thiel, who works on the F-15 program.
Thiel said he did not know how he will vote, but “I have a strong inclination that it will not pass.”
His raises during his seven years at Boeing have been almost entirely offset by rising living costs, he said.
“We just want to be comfortable, to not stress out on a daily basis,” he said.
A seven-week strike by IAM District 751 members in Washington and Oregon ended with a contract that included a 38% wage increase and a $12,000 signing bonus.
Contract negotiations with a federal mediator ended Tuesday afternoon without any progress. Boeing and the IAM resumed discussion later that day, which continued into Wednesday and led to the latest proposal, he said.
If the contract is approved, workers would start returning Monday evening, and production would be back to normal in about a week, Gillian told reporters on Wednesday.
Non-union employees have kept production going during the strike, though output has slowed on some programs, he said last week.
Boeing’s offer assures workers another year of raises, even for employees already at the top of the pay scale, Gillian said. “So, I feel good about the offer.”
