Kamala Harris cements her place in Biden's inner circle during a consequential week

Vice President Kamala Harris was huddled with other White House officials in President Joe Biden's private dining room last week when the room let out a "collective exhale." A Minnesota jury had found Derek Chauvin guilty of murdering George Floyd.

As the large flat-screen television mounted on the north wall flashed three "guilty" counts, the room was overcome with a "sweeping sense of relief," an aide said. Harris joined Biden and the first lady moments later in the Oval Office, where Floyd's family was patched in by speakerphone.
"She wants to say something," Biden told the group, gathered in a hallway at the courthouse in Minneapolis, before ceding the line to his vice president.
"I'm just so thankful to the entire family. Your courage, your commitment, your strength has been a strength. This is a day for justice in America," Harris told the group. "In George's name and memory, we are going to make sure his legacy is intact and that history will look back at this moment and know that it is an inflection moment."