At least seven times today in the show's opening minutes, CNN This Morning ran the clip from last night's DNC of Tim Walz's son Gus getting emotional and pointing to his father as he spoke: "That's my dad!"  The panel collectively teared up, with Mark McKinnon saying "Do you have any tissues?" McKinnon also swooned over Walz's speech, declaring, "I'm telling you, in all my experience, I have never seen anything as authentic as that speech." Biden's former comms director Kate Bedingfield chimed in, saying "if you aren't moved by that, I don't know. You got a heart of stone." Bedingfield also referred to Gus's emotion for his father as "winning." Whether she meant that in political terms, or in the sense of winning as a family matter, wasn't clear. The emotion for his father displayed by Gus Walz, who as Hunt mentioned has dealt with disabilities and autism, was clearly moving. But that CNN was trying to extract from it the maximum political benefit for Harris-Walz was equally obvious.  Note: Hunt began by noting that Walz introduced himself in part by discussing "his family's experience with infertility." But in doing so, Hunt failed to point out that Walz had falsely suggested that he and his wife employed IVF, something that some Republicans would like to restrict.  As the AP has reported [emphasis added]: "Earlier this month, Walz criticized Ohio Sen. JD Vance, the Republican candidate for vice president, by saying, 'If it was up to him, I wouldn’t have a family because of IVF.' In fact, the Walz family did not use IVF." Here's the transcript. CNN This Morning 8/22/24 6:03 am EDT KASIE HUNT: Walz introduced to himself last night to Americans on his biggest stage yet, with personal stories, including his family's experience with infertility. TIM WALZ: It took Gwen and I years, but we had access to fertility treatments. And when our daughter was born, we named her Hope. Hope, Gus, and Gwen, you are my entire world. And I love you. HUNT: I have to say, I mean, what an emotional moment right there. That was Walz, his son Gus crying, shouting, "That's my dad!" His sister Hope was there, also crying. And those signs in the crowd, they read, Coach Walz.   . . .  I have to say, that moment with Tim Walz's son. Can we put Gus back up? I mean, it, it, I feel like it really stole the show last night, and it said so many things about, about Tim Walz, about his family in this moment. This, for those who don't know, he struggles with disabilities, has been, struggled with nonverbal autism. It just, really, really moving moment.  MARK MCKINNON: I've teared up every time I've seen the clip. I tear up thinking about the clip. I mean it's, I mean, talking right now about it I'm tearing up. KATE BENINGFIELD: I tear up watching it. It's fair. MCKINNON: It's so powerful, and it's so relatable. I mean, how many people in America have challenges of some nature? You know, almost all of them do. And it's just so relatable, and it's so authentic.  BENINGFIELD: Yes. I mean, like, if you aren't moved by that, I don't know. You got a heart of stone. I mean, politics aside, like that's, that's it, man, like family in that way, is just unbelievable.  But it is also, it is about authenticity, and I think we saw that from Walz all night last night. I mean, I think we saw that in the speech he delivered. We saw it in the setup, the students talking about him. And authenticity is, is one of the most important pieces of successful political indication. And I just think, I just say quickly though, the frustration with Washington, the disaffection, the disillusionment, some of it is because people feel like the system doesn't work for them. And some of it is because they feel like so many people in Washington are phony. And I think that what Walz can, was able, what we saw him do last night and what he's going to, I think, continue to on this campaign is just connect with people in a real way. MCKINNON: When I got the job as doing the media for Bush in 2000, I was first excited and then petrified because it was such a responsibility. So I went back and studied media for presidential campaigns, going back to the advent of television. And different things happened over time. The evolutions of things that work and didn't. And it just got to a point where people were so cynical of anything political, because they know there's a First Amendment, you can say what ever you want, it doesn't have to be true. Politicians are paying for it. So the coin of the realm, really, to break through that, is authenticity, right? And I'm telling you, in all my experience, I have never seen anything as authentic as that speech last night. HUNT: Wow! That is a resounding endorsement.  BAKARI SELLERS: That's also why he got chosen. I mean, I think, to go back to, one of the --  MCKINNON: Yes! And what an affirmation of that choice. I mean, she had to kind of go out on a limb on that, right?  SELLERS: Man, you're excited about that. Waltz got him excited. But no, I think that Kamala Harris's first choice was to choose her Vice President of the United States, h first consequential choice. And I think the people are seeing, I told everybody frankly, Governor Walz was my fourth choice. I liked Mark Kelly and Josh Shapiro and Pete Buttigieg, all before I liked Tim Walz. It was an abundance of riches.  But I think you see why he was chosen. It's that authenticity. "That's my dad" is probably going to be, like, the number one line that sticks out from all the speeches, and it wasn't a speech. Like, Gus is an American hero right now. HUNT: I mean, don't you just hope that your kid looks at you -- BENINGFIELD: Yes. Yeah. I mean -- HUNTT: -- some day? BENINGFIELD: I think that every parent, every child. I mean, yes, that is the goal, man. That is winning. Like, that is, that is I mean -- MCKINNON: Do you have any tissues?  HUNT: I know! BENINGFIELD: Everything else aside, that is winning. MCKINNON: And he has never used a teleprompter before. That's crazy! HUNT: I'm starting to not believe that. SELLERS: He said the two things I don't do well, when he was going through this process, he said, I've never use a teleprompter before, somebody is going to have to teach me, and I don't debate well. And so this winds up that -- MCKINNON: Oh: lower that bar!

WNBA star Angel Reese told a reporter she isn't educated enough in presidential politics to give a comment on Kamala Harris. With the Democratic National Convention taking place in Chicago, it seemed inevitable that the Chicago Sky player would be asked a political question surrounding the event.It was reporter Brandon Robinson who caught up with the basketball star at a media availability period where he began asking Reese a political question but was interrupted by the athlete who wanted to politely introduce herself.'I'm not that educated right now, but [I] just continue to learn.'"Hi, how are you? Nice to meet you," she interjected. "Vice President Kamala Harris —" Robinson began."Oh wow," Reese said with a smirk."[Kamala Harris] is a woman, and she's doing her thing, running for president," the reporter continued. "Have you had a chance to watch her? What are your thoughts on her running for political office?"Reese then gave a refreshing take about not feeling educated enough to comment on the race."I haven't been able to tap a lot into the political election ... so I'm not that educated right now, but [I] just continue to learn," Reese said."Everybody go out there and vote. I commend that, and I just tell a lot of people to go out there and vote because we need it for this election," she added.Robinson did not include his female-forward question in the transcript of his interview but rather positioned Reese's answer as emphasizing the importance of the election due to the possibility of Harris becoming the first female president.Reese was also asked for her thoughts on her home city of Baltimore; she took the opportunity to praise Mayor Brandon Scott, a Democrat who ran on cutting the Baltimore police budget but actually increased it in his first term."I love being from Baltimore. Brandon has done a great job in being able to inspire me and just being able to watch him do what he’s done for the city. I like being able to go back with my foundation. I give a scholarship every year to St. Francis, so I'm just continuing to do that and I’m trying to do more."The Angel Reese Foundation has a mission statement of "fostering equity for girls and underrepresented groups through innovative and impactful initiatives."Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

A South Carolina homeowner opened fire on suspected burglars who broke into his garage in the middle of the night last week to steal motorcycles, police said.Horry County police were called just before 4 a.m. Friday to a home off Green Sea Road in Green Sea for a burglary, WMBF-TV reported.The third suspect hasn’t been identified, the station said.The suspects and a third unnamed suspect broke into the homeowner’s garage in an attempt to steal his motorcycles, the station said, citing a police report.But the homeowner got a notification on his phone about detected movement, and so he got up, caught the suspects in his garage, and opened fire, WMBF said, adding that the suspects took off.A dog team caught Roderick Bell and Dimitrious Murray after they abandoned their vehicle on St. Joseph Drive and ran away, the station said, adding that they both face burglary charges. They're both 27 years old, according to jail information, and they were still incarcerated Thursday morning.Murray was shot in his right shoulder during the incident, WMBF reported.The third suspect hasn’t been identified, the station said.How are observers reacting?As you might imagine, commenters on WMBF's Facebook page entry about the incident are decidedly in the homeowner's corner:"Good," one commenter wrote. "They got what they deserved. The homeowner should get an award.""Justified," another user concurred. "You can't count on the justice system to lock them up for long enough; they just repeat offend so sometimes you just have to take it into your own hands and defend you life and property.""They ought to consider themselves lucky they got to ride with the police instead of the coroner," another commenter opined."Good!" another user declared. "If you're big enough to enter someone's property with ill-intent, you better be ready to face what's in there."Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Although unable to sit through all of the third night of the Democratic National Convention, Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) told Blaze Media co-founder and nationally syndicated radio host Glenn Beck he saw enough to draw conclusions about the Democratic Party's "collective amnesia" and the revisionist campaign under way to sever Kamala Harris from her part in the current administration's various failings. Extra to discussing this revisionism on Thursday's episode of "The Glenn Beck Program," Vance also highlighted a possible role for Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in a future Trump administration as well as his expectation for Harris in the wake of the attempted July 13 assassination attempt. A federal champion for pandemic exiles Glenn Beck pressed Vance on whether there has been any serious discussion about Elon Musk and RFK Jr. working in a future Trump administration. When speaking with President Donald Trump on X Spaces last week, Musk raised the possibility of running a novel committee tasked with eliminating government inefficiencies and waste. Although the two billionaires commiserated about the extent of government waste, the conversation concluded without any concrete commitments. 'I think RFK really could do a lot for us.' However, when Reuters asked whether he would consider Musk for an advisory role or Cabinet-level position, Trump replied, "He's a very smart guy. I certainly would, if he would do it, I certainly would. He's a brilliant guy." Vance told Beck it was prudent "not to put the cart too much before the horse with Elon." "I think he's a genius and I think he could help us a great deal, but we have to win the election first, of course, before we give Elon any positions or any titles." The Ohio senator was alternatively willing to hint at a possible role for Kennedy, whom Trump previously appointed in 2017 to run a commission on vaccine safety and integrity. "I think RFK really could do a lot for us on questions of — you know, we have 8,000 veterans, I believe, maybe more, that we kicked out of the military because they refused to take the vaccine," said Vance. The Pentagon under the Biden-Harris administration mandated COVID-19 vaccinations for all service members in 2021. Roughly 17,000 service members in the U.S. military refused the vaccines. According to the Military Times, at least 8,339 service members were unceremoniously thrown out. Approximately 70% of those ousted for their refusal to take the novel mRNA vaccine reportedly received general discharges. "I'd love for RFK to take a look at that, but I haven't talked to him," continued Vance. "I don't know what he's interested in." — (@) Trump allies such as Stephen Bannon have long advocated for a collaboration of some kind between Trump and Kennedy. Blaze News previously reported that the possibility finally began to firm up last week when RFK Jr.'s running mate, Nicole Shanahan, indicated that the Kennedy campaign was contemplating "join[ing] forces" with Trump. Shanahan explained that "Big Pharma" was Trump's "Achilles' heel" during his first presidential term. After all, it was the Trump administration that kicked off Operation Warp Speed in May 2020, enabling quicker approval and production of vaccines during the pandemic — vaccines that ultimately proved to be neither as safe nor as effective as initially promised. "I don't think he understood that it would cripple his entire reputation and legacy as much as it did," added Shanahan. Following the podcast, Kennedy released a statement, stressing, "I am willing to talk with leaders of any political party to further the goals I have served for 40 years in my career and in this campaign." Trump told CNN's Kristen Holmes at a campaign stop in Michigan Tuesday he "probably would" consider Kennedy for a role in his administration. Others in the Trump camp appear keen on bringing Kennedy aboard in some capacity. Donald Trump Jr. told Beck earlier this week that he loves the idea of giving RFK Jr. "some sort of role in some sort of major, you know, three-letter entity or whatever it may be and letting him blow it up." — (@) Investigating the shooting of Harris' opponent On Thursday, Beck also raised the matter of the investigation into the July 13 assassination attempt that left Trump bloodied and killed retired volunteer fire chief Corey Comperatore. 'Maybe the mistakes were not intentional. You never know, of course, until you do the actual investigation.' Vance said he was dissatisfied with the information produced so far by investigators. "There clearly needs to be some better understanding of what broke about the leadership in the wake of President Trump's assassination attempt," said Vance. "This is, frankly, on Congress, it's on Chuck Schumer's United States Senate, and it's on the Biden administration to get to the bottom of what mistakes were made." "Maybe the mistakes were not intentional. You never know, of course, until you do the actual investigation, but you have to have a real investigation," continued the senator. "I'm looking at this from the perspective of America's citizens: I'd be demanding that Kamala Harris, who's the vice president of the United States, actually gets to the bottom of this and empowers your government to do a real investigation. That just has not happened yet." Vance suggested that it remains unclear whether the security failures on July 13 came down to the incompetence of a few individuals, the breakdown of certain processes or procures, or perhaps "something more systematic." "These are the sorts of things where, you know, we always believe in democratic government that sunshine is the best disinfectant, and so we really do have to have, I think, a more honest account of what went on," added Vance. Trump's running mate pressed the point, telling Beck that whereas he and other minority senators are limited in what they can do, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and the vice president could quickly ascertain the facts about the shooting and security breakdown, if only they "made this a priority." In the meantime, there are signs that critical facts related to the shooting are being withheld from the public. Blaze News recently noted, for instance, that Judicial Watch filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the Biden-Harris FBI for records pertaining to the bureau's coordination with the Secret Service in preparation for Trump's July 13 rally in Pennsylvania. The FBI reportedly rejected the request, citing FOIA exemption 7A, which allows withholding of information that "would deprive a person of a right to a fair trial or an impartial adjudication." Judicial Watch characterized the rejection as a "major-league cover-up on the near-assassination of former President Trump." — (@) Democratic 'amnesia' Although Vance would like Harris to help clarify details about the recent past, he suggested earlier in the interview that historical accuracy may not be her strong suit. The senator told Beck that Harris' campaign is running on a "kind of collective amnesia, where they say that Kamala Harris will do this thing on day one, or Kamala Harris has a vision to accomplish that thing, and then you realize that Kamala Harris has been the vice president for three and a half years." "She has affirmatively made all of these problems worse, not better, during her time in office," continued Vance. "So you can't say Kamala Harris is going to secure the border because she opened it up. You can't say Kamala Harris is going to lower inflation because she cast the deciding vote on programs that increased inflation." Beck marveled at how quickly the narrative was adapted to suit Democrats' interests, noting that the same political operatives who were just over a month ago denigrating critics for saying the economy was bad are now claiming Harris is going to fix the economy. "Glenn, you raise a really important point here, which is that if you're an American citizen and you paid attention to this election, you'd be forgiven for having a headache from the ricocheting message of the Democratic Party," said Vance. "A month ago, it was, 'The Biden economy was great. Don't believe your lying eyes. Just vote for Joe Biden.' And now it's, 'Yes, the economy is terrible, but Kamala Harris, who's been vice president for three and a half years, is going to come in and fix all these things." Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

With a staggering 25 superheroes and villains already slated to star in Marvel Rivals, you’d think developer NetEase would be stepping on the brakes. After all, that’s 25 unique characters we need to learn at release to both play as and effectively counter, which can be a hurdle for newcomers. Though we knew additional characters would be coming post-launch, NetEase has already teased that the initial roster will expand even more in the coming months. Continue reading Marvel Rivals’ hero roster “not done yet,” teasing even larger launch MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Marvel Rivals release date, Marvel Rivals characters, Marvel Rivals System Requirements

Originally known as Blackout Protocol, the twin-stick roguelike Section 13 has undergone a complete transformation ahead of its full release in early 2025. What was once a tactical co-op game is now single-player and story-driven, though its roguelike elements remain at its core. The best news? It already has a demo on Steam for you to test. Continue reading Co-op shooter Blackout Protocol completely remade as a new roguelike

Some of Asus's new AMD 800-series motherboards feature a brilliant new graphics card retention system that makes it easier than ever before to remove a graphics card. The new Asus Q-Release Slim feature uses an automatic release system such that there's no need to press a button to unhook your graphics card. The new Asus feature will be coming to its AMD-based best motherboard contenders in the near future and will make it a breeze to swap out your gaming GPU. While such a swap for actual graphics card upgrades might be relatively rare for most gamers, the need to remove a card for other system upgrades or maintenance - such as cleaning your PC - is a relatively frequent occurrence. This new system could save time and reduce the risk of a damaged graphics card, motherboard, or grazed knuckles. Continue reading Asus’ new motherboards could change the graphics card slot forever MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Asus ROG Swift PG27UQ review, Asus ROG Raikiri review, Best gaming motherboard

Dragon Age: The Veilguard will feature selective ray tracing, a feature that we've not seen openly listed on in-game settings before. It could be huge for gamers with lower-end GPUs looking to still enjoy some ray tracing enhancements without bogging down performance throughout the game. The Dragon Age: The Veilguard system requirements are already friendly to older gaming PCs, but this new ray tracing feature will bring improved lighting to low-end ray tracing-capable cards, such as Nvidia RTX and AMD RX cards, without becoming too resource-hungry. Continue reading Dragon Age The Veilguard’s new ray tracing setting is a game changer MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Best RPGs, Dragon Age 4 characters, Dragon Age 4 release date

Ever since it launched into Early Access back in February 2022, Diplomacy is Not an Option has been a sleeper hit, earning itself a well-deserved ‘very positive’ review score on Steam. With numerous updates under its belt, developer Door 407 has confirmed that Diplomacy is Not an Option will finally leave Early Access and launch into 1.0 very, very soon. Continue reading Steam RTS game is like a chaotic Age of Empires, finally hits 1.0 soon MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Best city-building games, Best strategy games, Best indie games

Strategy games often take themselves quite seriously - maybe there’s intense intergalactic warfare, or a vast kingdom in need of expansion. But sometimes, a strategy game comes along that’s just a bit… random. Well, here’s one such game. Tactical Breach Wizards has just launched, and it’s been a long time in the making. Continue reading Witty strategy game Tactical Breach Wizards launches after 6-year wait MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Best indie games, Best turn-based strategy games, Best story games