Friday Briefing: Trump and Harris agreed to debate

August 9, 2024

	By Justin Porter

Good morning. We’re covering Donald Trump’s news conference and Ukraine’s incursion into Russia.

Plus, how Olympic athletes benefit financially.

🇺🇸 U.S. ELECTION 2024

The presidential election is less than 90 days away. This is what we’re watching.

Donald Trump looks up during a news conference from behind a podium.

Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida yesterday. Doug Mills/The New York Times

Trump and Harris agreed to debate in September

Donald Trump suggested that he was eager to face off with Vice President Kamala Harris yesterday during a news conference at Mar-a-Lago, and he proposed three dates for debates. The ABC network confirmed that it would host the two candidates for a debate on Sept. 10.

The conference was the former president’s first public appearance since Harris became the Democratic nominee, and it signified an effort to recapture political momentum. His points were familiar: that Harris was weak on the issues of crime and protecting the U.S. border with Mexico, and he described her as “a radical left person” who was “very, very bad to Israel and very bad to Jewish people.”

Trump also took personal shots, saying that Harris wasn’t “smart enough” to do a news conference and repeatedly mispronouncing her first name.

Here’s what else to know:

Harris does not support an arms embargo on Israel, her national security adviser said.
Supporters of Trump say that Harris’s rise has unsettled the former president, and that he is struggling to focus.
Pro-Palestinian protesters heckled Harris during a rally on Wednesday, resurfacing party divisions over the war in Gaza. She turned the interruption to her advantage.
Taylor Swift’s coveted endorsement went to President Biden in 2020. Swift fans are craving similar support for Harris.

Do you have questions about the election? Send them to us and we’ll find the answers.

Stay up-to-date: Live coverage | Poll tracker | The “Run-Up” podcast | On Politics newsletter

A destroyed house in a neighborhood strewed with debris.

A house damaged by shelling in the Russian region of Kursk. The photo was provided by the acting governor of Kursk. Alexei Smirnov, via Associated Press

Ukraine’s surprise attack on Russia

The local government in the Russian region of Kursk has declared a state of emergency as Ukrainian armored columns advanced as far as nearly 10 kilometers into the territory, capturing several small settlements, military analysts reported.

The surprise incursion, which Ukraine has not acknowledged, began on Tuesday and opened a new front in the 30-month war. Operating surreptitiously, Ukraine gathered a force for the attack that Russia’s top general has estimated at 1,000 soldiers.

The assault is the most concerted push by Ukraine into Russia since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022. The goal of the attack was to shift the fighting — as well as Russian soldiers and weaponry — onto Russian territory and ease the pressure of Moscow’s offensive in eastern Ukraine, a senior Ukrainian official said.

Yarin, Lebanon, this month. Diego Ibarra Sanchez for The New York Times

What 10 months of a simmering border war costs

The steady conflict between Israel and Hezbollah militants in Lebanon has proved devastating.

For almost a year, both sides have been carefully calibrating their tit-for-tat attacks to avoid a larger conflict. But satellite imagery makes clear just how devastating the near-daily exchanges of fire have been. The most widespread destruction has been in Lebanon, where thousands of buildings have been damaged or destroyed. Take a look.

In Gaza: At least 16 people were killed yesterday after Israel conducted airstrikes on two school complexes in the northern Gaza Strip, the Palestinian Civil Defense said.

MORE TOP NEWS

The Ernst Happel Stadium in Vienna after all three Taylor Swift concerts were canceled. Max Slovencik/EPA, via Shutterstock

Austria: One of the two youths accused of planning to attack a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna confessed to a plot to kill as many attendees as possible, security officials said.
Japan: The authorities said there was a higher-than-usual chance that an immense earthquake could occur in the next few days, following a 7.1-magnitude temblor off the coast.
Bangladesh: The Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus was sworn in to lead the interim government.
Diplomacy: A stabbing attack in June on four American college instructors in northeast China has become a source of tension between the countries.
China: Top officials have tried everything to persuade women to have more babies. But a court just ruled that unmarried women still couldn’t freeze their eggs.
Spain: Carles Puigdemont, Catalonia’s separatist leader-in-exile, returned to Barcelona after seven years, defying an arrest warrant.
Tech: For TSMC, a Taiwanese chip-making giant, it has been a challenge to bring Taiwanese corporate culture to America.
Climate: This year is on track to be the warmest on record after the previous high set in 2023, according to the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service.

Olympics

Letsile Tebogo with a raised arm after winning the 200 meter race.

Letsile Tebogo of Botswana celebrating a gold medal finish. Chang W. Lee/The New York Times

Running: Letsile Tebogo of Botswana won the men’s 200 meter. Noah Lyles of the U.S. finished third and, after leaving the track in a wheelchair, revealed that he had Covid.
Hurdles: Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone of the U.S. broke her own world record and won gold in the women’s 400-meter event.
Diving: Xie Siyi of China and his teammate Wang Zongyuan won gold and silver.
Weight lifting: Luo Shifang of China set new Olympic records in the snatch, clean and jerk and total to win gold in the women’s 59-kilogram event.

For more: What to watch | Live updates | Medal count | Photo highlights | Olympics Briefing

MORNING READ

Abil Musa, 15, a Nuba cattle herder, on the outskirts of Kadugli, Sudan. Moises Saman/Magnum for The New York Times

The war in Sudan, which has been raging over a year, has killed many thousands of people and displaced millions more. Despite that, the brutal civil conflict has remained nearly unknown to most of the world.

My colleague Nick Casey traveled to Sudan and spent time with an elusive mountain army that has built its own state within a state — a vision of what the nation could become.

CONVERSATION STARTERS

Losing their shine: Our restaurant critic, Pete Wells, has been dining out for 12 years. He says restaurants have changed, and not for the better.
Sight and sound: Hearing and vision loss in older adults can increase the risk of dementia. But there are some simple ways to reduce the harm.
Going country: Post Malone made his name with all-star collaborations and genre-bending hits. His latest record shows the country music world that he’s for real.

We hope you’ve enjoyed this newsletter, which is made possible through subscriber support. Subscribe to The New York Times .

ARTS AND IDEAS

Simone Biles celebrating after winning gold in Paris last week. Daniel Berehulak/The New York Times

How Olympians get paid

By Sunday, all of the gold, silver and bronze medals will have been awarded, and that’ll be it for the Paris Games. The athletes will head back to training, and the eyes of the world will turn to something else.

But their showing in the Games gave some of those athletes a newfound stardom, and because Olympians aren’t paid like professional athletes in soccer or American football are, they have to supplement their income through commercial partners — or reality television. (Even a deal that promises $40,000 a year can be life-changing.) Here’s how athletes like Simone Biles, who was included on Forbes’s top 20 list of highest-paid female athletes last year, managed it.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Christopher Testani for The New York Times

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Read: Struggling to find new pages to turn? Let us help you find your next book.

Watch: There’s another Milli Vanilli film. Girl, you know it’s not true, but the story might sweep you up anyway.

Play: Spelling Bee, the Mini Crossword, Wordle and Sudoku. Find all of our games here.

Thanks for spending your week with us. See you on Monday. — Justin

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