California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, called on Oakland officials Friday to amend an "extreme" policy that generally only allows police to chase suspected criminals in cases of "violent forcible crimes."

The governor sent a letter to Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao, the Oakland City Council and the Oakland Police Commission urging them to reconsider the Oakland Police Department (OPD) policy that limits officers' ability to pursue suspects.

"Although some California jurisdictions allow vehicle pursuits for only certain crimes (e.g., felonies), Oakland is an outlier by imposing exceptional restrictions on OPD's ability to police criminal activity, generally permitting pursuits only for 'violent forcible crimes,' as defined in OPD's policy, and crimes involving firearms," Newsom wrote. 

The letter said that, unlike most other jurisdictions in the state, local police in Oakland are prohibited from pursuing people suspected of committing various felonies and any misdemeanor, including those that are violent, as well as other offenses that endanger public safety, such as reckless driving, sideshow activity and driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

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"I am mindful of the sensitivities around vehicle pursuits, which can be dangerous to police, suspects, and innocent bystanders," the governor wrote. "California's Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training recognizes and addresses this in its standard-setting guidance. But there is also extreme danger to the public in allowing criminals to act with impunity, and the reckless driving associated with sideshows and other criminal acts is a significant threat to public safety — as witnessed regularly by the public in viral videos and news coverage."

This comes after Newsom's recent move to increase California Highway Patrol (CHP) in Oakland to conduct surge operations targeting organized crime, sideshows, carjackings and other criminal activity.

Newsom said the move quickly produced several arrests of suspects accused of committing these crimes. Two days after the governor's announcement, the CHP used ground and airborne assets to conduct a surge operation targeting sideshows. Several vehicle pursuits through that operation led to five felony arrests, eight DUIs, the recovery of eight stolen vehicles and the seizure of two guns.

"In the course of the CHP’s operations, however, they have observed, based on their professional law enforcement experience and expertise, certain dynamics that are contributing to Oakland's public safety challenges," Newsom wrote in the letter. "In particular, the CHP has brought to my attention that they observed criminals often fleeing with impunity because it’s common knowledge that the Oakland Police Department’s ('OPD') pursuit policy allows vehicle pursuits in only very limited circumstances."

Newsom said CHP observed suspects attempting to avoid arrest by using the same routes, meaning that the suspects knew where OPD would stop chasing them. But, the governor said, the suspects were unable to avoid the six pursuits initiated by CHP, which had a number of resources available to them, including air support.

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"Any policy on vehicle pursuits must be clear-eyed in balancing the risks and benefits involved," Newsom's letter read. "Because of Oakland's public safety challenges and the degree to which OPD's pursuit policy is an outlier among California law enforcement agencies, I support the recent action by the City Council to direct a review of this policy.

"I urge you to reconsider whether OPD should be permitted to pursue suspects in more circumstances to improve public safety in your city and to establish a process to evaluate whether OPD is making full use of its authority, including that granted under the existing pursuit policy, to protect public safety and enforce the law," he continued.

Newsom concluded his letter by saying he is committed to improving public safety in Oakland and across California. He said there have been some recent improvements in public safety, but that officials "owe it to our communities to continue to search for solutions."

Former President Trump announced to a crowd Friday night he "just took off the last bandage" from his ear after an attempted assassination nearly two weeks ago.

The Believer's Summit, hosted by Turning Point Action in West Palm Beach, focused on reaching voters of faith. Dr. Ben Carson, former HUD Secretary, preceded the former president.

"And we want to thank each and every one of the believers in this room for your prayers and your incredible support. I really did appreciate it," Trump said.

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"Something was working. That we know. Something was working. So, I thank you very much. And I stand before you tonight, thanks to the power of prayer and the grace of Almighty God," he added.

"As I think you can see, I've recovered well. And, in fact, I just took off the last bandage off of my ear."

The crowd roared with applause as the former president gestured to his injured ear.

"I just got it off," he clarified. "I took it off for this group. I don't know why I did that for this group, but that's it. I think that's it."

Trump's speech included attacks against his presumptive Democratic opponent, Kamala Harris, calling the vice president "a bum."

"Three weeks ago, she was a bum, a failed vice president and a failed administration with millions of people crossing. And she was the border czar. Now they're trying to say she never was," the former president said.

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"If radical liberal Kamala Harris gets in and, by the way, there are numerous ways of saying her name, they were explaining to me. … I said, don't worry about it.

"Doesn't matter what I say. I couldn't care less if I mispronounce it or not. I couldn't care less."

Dr. Ronny Jackson, the former White House doctor, released a letter earlier Friday offering an update on Trump's health after the assassination attempt July 13 in Butler, Pennsylvania.

"I want to reassure the American people and the rest of the world that President Trump is doing extremely well," Jackson said.

"He is rapidly recovering from the gunshot wound to his right ear. I will continue to be available to assist President Trump and his personal physician in any way they see fit and will provide updates as necessary and with the permission of President Trump."

"What struck former President Trump in the ear was a bullet, whether whole or fragmented into smaller pieces, fired from the deceased subject’s rifle," the FBI confirmed Friday to Fox News Digital.

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Trump and running mate JD Vance, the Ohio senator, are scheduled to appear for a campaign rally in St. Cloud, Minnesota, Saturday.

Vice President Kamala Harris no longer supports a fracking ban, in a change in her stance during the last presidential election, her campaign said on Friday, according to a report. 

Before she dropped her bid for president in 2019 and joined President Biden’s ticket, she said in a CNN town hall "there’s no question I’m in favor of banning fracking."

"And starting with what we can do on day one around public lands, right?" she continued. "And then there has to be legislation, but, yes, that’s something I’ve taken on in California. I have a history of working on this issue and to your point we have to just acknowledge that the residual impact of fracking is enormous in terms of the health and safety of communities."

Harris also cosponsored the Green New Deal as a senator in 2019, a proposal to stem climate change that includes a ban on fracking. 

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"Climate change is real, and it poses an existential threat to us as human beings, and it is within our power to do something about it," Harris said on the campaign trail that year before exiting the race, according to The New York Times. "I am supporting the Green New Deal."

However, Biden’s campaign and his administration have not backed banning fracking despite Biden once saying during a primary debate "We would make sure it’s eliminated." His campaign later clarified that he "supports eliminating subsidies for coal and gas and deploying carbon capture."   

Since Biden announced he is dropping out of the race and endorsed Harris last Sunday, she has moderated some of her positions from her 2019 run, in which she embraced more progressive policies. 

Trump was quick to paint her as a "radical liberal" since she became the presumptive Democratic nominee.

Harris is the "most incompetent and far-left vice president in American history," the former president told a rally crowd in Charlotte on Wednesday. 

Trump charged that Harris "has been the ultra-liberal driving force behind every single Biden catastrophe. She is a radical left lunatic who will destroy our country if she ever gets the chance to get into office." 

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He added, "She wants no fracking. You’re going to be paying a lot of money. You’re going to be paying so much. You’re going to say ‘bring back Trump.’"

Telling The Hill that Harris no longer wants to ban fracking, her campaign pushed back on Trump’s rhetoric. 

"Trump’s false claims about fracking bans are an obvious attempt to distract from his own plans to enrich oil and gas executives at the expense of the middle class," the campaign told The Hill. "The Biden-Harris Administration passed the largest ever climate change legislation and under their leadership, America now has the highest ever domestic energy production," the spokesperson said in an email. "This Administration created 300,000 energy jobs, while Trump lost nearly a million and his Project 2025 would undo the enormous progress we’ve made the past four years."

In a statement to Fox News Digital, National Republican Congressional Committee spokesman Mike Marinella, said, "Kamala Harris is the most far-left progressive presidential nominee in history, and extreme Democrats in the Rust Belt now own every single policy she supports."

He added, "A fracking ban would be disastrous for workers and families, and extreme Democrats’ mission to force Biden to step aside and replace him with San Francisco radical Kamala Harris shows exactly how out of touch they are with their voters." 

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Fox News Digital has reached out to Harris’ campaign for comment. 

Fox News' Paul Steinhauser and Andrew Mark Miller contributed to this report. 

A top Democratic super PAC has launched a massive ad buy across several battleground states to boost Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential candidacy leading up to the Democratic Party’s convention in Chicago next month.

Future Forward, the largest Democratic-leaning super PAC, announced this week it will spend $50 million supporting Harris in six states in the next three weeks ahead of the convention in Chicago, The Washington Post reported. 

Additionally, the outlet reported that the second-largest independent supporter of Democrats, American Bridge 21st Century, will start placing ads Friday in the key swing state of Michigan.

On top of that, Women Vote, part of the Emily’s List network, announced Thursday it was spending $2 million to target younger women in four battleground states. 

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"We’re ready to hit the ground running to make sure voters know that Kamala Harris will be a president that fights for them," Future Forward President Chauncey McLean told The Washington Post Thursday. 

"She is focused on improving the lives of all Americans, while Donald Trump is only focused on himself."

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David Axelrod, a former top adviser to former President Obama, called the move a "big development."

"Pro-Harris SuperPAC to launch major buy in the battleground states, with an initial spot to highlight her battles as a DA, attorney general and VP," Axelrod posted on X.

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"Essential air cover, especially as the Trump forces spend to define her negatively."

One of the ads will describe Harris as "the district attorney who protected children from sexual predators" and "the attorney general who stood up to the big banks to protect homeowners and won."

The Washington Post reported that MAGA Inc. is also planning to spend $32 million going after Harris before Labor Day, which will bring its total spending during that period to $72 million. 

Fox News Digital reached out to the Trump campaign for comment but did not immediately receive a response.

A new survey compiled after Biden dropped out of the race reveals Trump and Harris are tied in the crucial swing state of Michigan despite the former president's previous lead by nearly double digits.

National polls have sent mixed signals, with some showing a tie and some showing a slight lead for either candidate. 

The New York Times/Siena College released a new survey this week that found Trump leads Harris by only one percentage point among likely voters, 48% to 47%. Among registered voters, Trump led Harris by two percentage points. 

Fox News Digital's Aubrie Spady contributed to this report

Following the protests at Union Station by anti-Israel agitators defacing federal property in protest of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's address to Congress, a Park Police union is pushing back against criticism that only a few arrests were made.

Thousands of Hamas-sympathizing agitators descended on Washington, D.C., Tuesday, at one point defacing federal monuments with phrases in support of the terrorist group responsible for the Oct. 7 attacks in Israel, saying, "Hamas is coming." 

Twenty-three people were arrested at the protests, but some have suggested that number should have been higher. 

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., posted on X, "How many more times are they going to allow leftist degenerates who support terrorism and hate America to vandalize property and attack police? There should have been hundreds of arrests today in D.C. not just 23."

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But the U.S. Park Police Labor Committee is pushing back.

"Our officers on the ground did everything they could to protect life and property. In fact, despite having only 29 officers available to mitigate damage — 29! — with no additional help from the Department of the Interior, we processed several arrests for charges ranging from assault on a police officer to destruction of government property," Kenneth Spencer, chairman of the United States Park Police Fraternal Order of Police, said in a statement. 

"That's why it's so disheartening to hear some members of Congress and members of the media, many of whom describe themselves as ‘champions’ of law enforcement, suggesting that officers gave protesters a ‘pass’ or that insufficient arrests were made. 

"Nothing could be further from the truth. Anyone who truly cares to understand the problem would see that our officer staffing crisis is at the root of our agency's mission readiness. A small unit of 29 officers arrested 10 individuals while being assaulted by a mob of thousands. We simply did not have the staffing or resources to accomplish a mass arrest operation."

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At least one demonstrator, whose face was covered, was spotted by Fox News carrying what appeared to be the flag of the terrorist group Hamas while others were heard shouting "Allahu Akbar."

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The White House condemned the protests Wednesday evening, calling the chaos "disgraceful." 

"Identifying with evil terrorist organizations like Hamas, burning the American flag or forcibly removing the American flag and replacing it with another is disgraceful," White House spokesperson Andrew Bates said in a comment to Fox News Digital Wednesday evening.