Friday Briefing: A defining Harris interview

August 30, 2024

	By Gaya Gupta and Justin Porter

Good morning. We’re covering the Harris campaign’s first major television interview and polio vaccinations in Gaza.

Plus, how Asian men in Hollywood are redefining their roles.

A television screen shows Vice President Kamala Harris being interviewed by CNN in June.

Vice President Kamala Harris being interviewed on CNN in June. Ruth Fremson/The New York Times

🇺🇸 U.S. ELECTION 2024

The presidential election is less than 70 days away. This is what we’re watching.

The Harris campaign’s defining interview with CNN

Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota, sat for the first major television interview of their campaign. It’s a critical opportunity for them to define their campaign, and will be broadcast on CNN at 9 p.m. Eastern time. Here’s how to watch.

Harris has taken few questions from reporters since President Biden ended his campaign. Astead Herndon, a Times political correspondent, explained the challenges of interviewing her and described his conversation with her last year as “arduous.”

“She didn’t break eye contact,” he told the On Politics newsletter. “It was intense. You feel on trial.”

In other campaign news: Donald Trump reposted an image on his social media platform that implied that Harris had traded sexual favors to help her political career. It was the second time over the past two weeks that Trump shared content making sexually oriented attacks against his opponent.

Here’s what else to know:

The U.S. Army criticized the conduct of members of the Trump campaign over a confrontation at Arlington National Cemetery, one of the country’s oldest and largest military graveyards.
Senate Democrats played a more assertive role than was previously known in bringing about President Biden’s withdrawal from the race. Here’s how they did it.

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 woman cares for a baby in a tent in central Gaza.

The first case of polio in Gaza in 25 years was confirmed in a baby, Abdul Rahman Abu al-Jidyan. Ramadan Abed/Reuters

Israel agreed to short pauses for polio vaccinations

Starting this weekend, Israel will pause Gaza military operations in a staggered schedule so health workers can give polio vaccinations to about 640,000 children under the age of 10, U.N. officials said.

Israel made it clear that this was not the first step to a cease-fire, and that the pauses would be only for several hours at a time and in specific areas. A W.H.O. representative said that it was “critical” that 90 percent of Gaza’s children be immunized “to stop the outbreak.”

Background: Gaza’s first case of polio in 25 years was confirmed by the enclave’s health ministry earlier this month. Type 2 polio was eradicated in most parts of the world in the 1990s, but aid officials have said that severely unsanitary conditions have created an environment in which even rare diseases can spread.

West Bank: Israel continued its raid in the occupied territory for a second day as the death toll rose to 17. Among those killed was a young commander of the militant group Palestinian Islamic Jihad, whom The Times interviewed in July.

Jake Sullivan, President Biden’s national security adviser, with President Xi Jinping of China yesterday. Trevor Hunnicutt/Reuters

A rare high-level U.S.-China meeting

The White House national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, met with President Xi Jinping and Gen. Zhang Youxia, a vice chairman of China’s Central Military Commission, which oversees the country’s armed forces.

It was the first meeting in years between a senior American official and a vice chair of the commission, and a sign that the two countries are communicating at senior levels. While it was an opportunity to reassure the world that they were working to lower the risk of conflict, it was clear that they were still fundamentally divided on strategic issues.

MORE TOP NEWS

Black smoke billows from an array of white tanks seen from above.

A satellite image released by Planet Labs of an oil depot in the Rostov region of Russia. Planet Labs Inc., via Reuters

Ukraine: Kyiv’s military said it had struck two oil depots inside Russia, pressing ahead with a campaign of attacks against the energy sector.
Mpox: How does the virus spread, and who is most at risk? Here’s what scientists have learned.
U.K.: A public inquiry into the case of a nurse convicted of killing seven babies has come under fire from scientific and medical experts.
U.S.: An ex-employee of the Royal Caribbean cruise ship company was sentenced to 30 years in prison for recording passengers as young as 2 with hidden cameras, prosecutors said.
Thailand: A court sentenced the son of a Spanish actor to life in prison for murdering a surgeon and dismembering his body.
Korea: A top court ordered the government to set firm carbon-reduction targets for 2031 and beyond. It is the first climate litigation ruling of its kind in Asia.
Italy: Prosecutors have broadened their investigation into the sinking of a luxury yacht and are now looking into two more crew members, their lawyer said.

Germany: The Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance, a party founded by a former Communist politician, is shaking up German politics with a combination of right-wing nationalism and left-wing socialism.

Sports

A woman in a red T-shirt prepares to shoot an arrow with her bow.

Jodie Grinham of Britain. Alex Davidson/Getty Images

Paralympics 2024: The British athlete Jodie Grinham, who is seven months pregnant, is competing in compound archery. “My waters could just break on the podium,” she said.
U.S. Open, day 4: Jannik Sinner, Iga Swiatek and Jasmine Paolini have advanced to the third round. Carlos Alcaraz hopes to do the same. Follow our coverage.
Behind the scenes: Tennis players at the U.S. Open want their rackets fresh for their matches. Meet the people who restring them.

MORNING READ

People on a beach wearing swimsuits sit at a long dining table covered in a tablecloth and eat fruit under a big red umbrella.

Cooks in many families wake up as early as 4 a.m. to get their beach meal ready. Francesco Guerra for The New York Times

Seaside picnics are a beloved afternoon ritual in southern Italy. But a growing number of beach clubs have started banning people from coming in with food. That is frustrating locals, who feel priced out as beaches become more popular, privatized and expensive.

CONVERSATION STARTERS

That tracks: Dinosaur footprints found in South America and Africa help us understand a region that broke apart millions of years ago.
Telling on himself: A reader’s new boyfriend frequently admits to having been a walking red flag in the past. Should she be concerned? Our columnist answers.
Ain’t no river wide enough: Some users are setting their locations on dating apps oceans away from home in hopes of broadening their prospects.

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

ARTS AND IDEAS

A GIF shows the faces of several recent Asian American actors who have claimed bolder leading roles onscreen.

Ricardo Nagaoka for The New York Times

Asian men are claiming stronger, sexier roles onscreen

Western pop culture has limited Asian American men to stereotypical, emasculating roles. But recently, many actors, writers and directors have pushed for more nuanced representation and created hunks and heroes who get the girl (or the guy) and save the day. Read more here.

My colleague Matt Stevens, who wrote the article above, talked to Times Insider about how it came together.

“I spoke to almost two dozen Asian Americans: mostly actors, writers and directors, but also scholars, historians and everyday people,” he said. “I needed to understand how laws and immigration policy — and especially pop culture — had shaped America’s view of Asian men. And I was interested in how the years of unflattering Hollywood portrayals made Asian and Asian American men feel.”

RECOMMENDATIONS

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Nico Schinco for The New York Times

Cook: An easy version of spicy tuna crispy rice, a sushi-restaurant specialty, can be made with pantry essentials.

Read: These four mystery novels are memorable and menacing.

Listen: These songs were sampled by some of hip-hop’s greatest artists. How many did you know?

Travel: The hills of La Rioja in Spain are known for wine, but there’s much more to discover.

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

Have a good weekend. See you on Monday. — Gaya & Justin

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