Top of the Ticker: June 24 marks the start of Debate Week, as President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump prepare for their June 27 face-off on CNN. And Biden’s veep, Kamala Harris kicks off the countdown bright and early on Monday with an appearance on MSNBC’s Morning Joe. Co-host Mika Brzezinski scored an exclusive interview with the Vice President that will cover a wide range of topics, including the two-year anniversary of the Supreme Court decision that overturned Roe v. Wade. Expect Harris to preview her ticket mate’s debate strategy as well.
The day before Harris’s Morning Joe interview, Doug Emhoff—America’s first second gentleman—speaks with Rita Braver on CBS News Sunday Morning about the challenges they’ve faced over the course of their first term. “Nobody wants to see anyone they love criticized or attacked,” Emhoff remarks in an early excerpt from the interview. “But that said, she’s vice president of the United States… so all this comes with the territory. She’s the toughest person out there.”
Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff says that when it comes to criticism of his wife, Vice President Kamala Harris, she “is the toughest person out there.” He talks to Rita Braver this Sunday. pic.twitter.com/gJ2c9QDanb
Advertisement— CBS Sunday Morning 🌞 (@CBSSunday) June 21, 2024
Start the Fireworks: CNN is anticipating some much-needed ratings fireworks from its June 27 presidential debate. But the network is also looking forward to some actual fireworks on the Fourth of July. The 2024 edition of CNN’s annual Fourth in America musical experience will beam in live fireworks displays from around the country in between performances from the likes of Ashanti, Bebe Rexha, T-Pain, Keith Urban, Chris Young and Ben Platt.
Meanwhile, PBS has unveiled its plans for its own annual Independence Day concert, A Capitol Fourth. Alfonso Ribeiro will emcee the 2024 program from the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., introducing musical favorites like Fantasia Barrino, Smokey Robinson, Sheila E. and Darren Criss. It all concludes with the majestic sight of fireworks going boom against the backdrop of the towering Washington Monument.
Future Shock: Speaking of public broadcasting, Black Public Media celebrates Pride Month with an all-new short film that takes Black Queer culture into the distant future. Directed by Rashaad Newsome, Hands Performance is an Afrofuturism-infused headtrip that combines dance and American Sign Language into a five minute trip to the final frontier and back. Watch BPM’s short film below.
Awards Watch: The L.A. Press Club hosts the 66th Annual SoCal Journalism Awards on Sunday, honoring the best in broadcast, digital and print journalism from the Southern California area. Spectrum News 1, KTLA-TV, Telemundo 52 and KABC-TV are among the local TV outlets with finalists in the various broadcast categories. Meanwhile, ESPN personality Stephen A. Smith is receiving a lifetime achievement award and Wall Street Journal journalist Evan Gershkovich—who is still being detained in Russia—will receive the Daniel Pearl Award for Courage and Integrity in Journalism.