The Evening: Harris narrows Trump’s lead in Times poll

Also, wildfires roar through western Canada.

View in browser|nytimes.com July 25, 2024 By Matthew Cullen Good evening. Here's the latest at the end of Thursday. A new Harris-Trump poll Wildfires in western Canada Plus, a class-conscious Netflix satire Vice President Kamala Harris in Houston today. Erin Schaff/The New York Times Harris narrowed Trump's lead in the polls Just a few days after becoming the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris is virtually tied with her Republican rival, Donald Trump, according to a new New York Times/Siena College poll. The survey, which was conducted after President Biden announced that he was stepping aside, also showed that 70 percent of Democratic voters said they wanted the party to speedily consolidate behind her rather than engage in a more competitive and drawn-out process. Just 14 percent said they would prefer another candidate. Overall, Trump leads Harris 48 percent to 47 percent among likely voters nationwide. That's roughly the same position Biden was in before his disastrous debate performance in June, but it's a major improvement for Democrats from the past month. Biden trailed Trump by six percentage points in our last poll. To be clear, the survey is simply a snapshot of the race at this tumultuous moment: Trump's favorable ratings surged to the highest point in a Times poll after a man tried to assassinate him, and Harris is riding the momentum of a newly energized base. That all could change before November. Still, my colleague Nate Cohn pinpointed several interesting findings from the poll. For one, 87 percent of voters agreed that Biden did the right thing by stepping aside — which is surprising given that virtually nothing in American politics can unite almost nine in 10 voters. In related news, Harris traveled to Texas today for a speech that waded into the fiery education debate. Also, the Democratic Party's fund-raising machine cranked into high gear to support her. Barack Obama, who remains an influential Democrat, is expected to endorse Harris soon. Visitors evacuated Jasper National Park in Canada. Le Minh Khue/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images Wildfires are roaring through Western Canada As much as half of Jasper, Alberta, a Canadian town that lies inside one of the country's most visited national parks, has been destroyed by a pair of wildfires that roared in from two sides. The mayor called the disaster "almost beyond comprehension." We have video from the scene. About 20,000 tourists and the 5,000 residents of Jasper were evacuated, mostly west to British Columbia. The director of fire management for Canada's national parks said that the "aggressive and fast-moving fire" was still burning in the park with flames reaching more than 300 feet. The wildfire smoke has stretched across the country and reached the East Coast. In Northern California, the Park fire ballooned overnight and has now burned 71,400 acres. Police arrested a man who is believed to have started it by pushing a burning car into a gully. Andrew Park U.S. economic growth accelerated more than expected Gross domestic product rose at a 2.8 percent annual rate in the second quarter, the government announced today, suggesting that cooling inflation, a strong labor market and wages rising faster than prices allowed consumers to keep spending despite high interest rates. The data is still preliminary, but economists said it offered hope for a rare "soft landing," in which inflation eases without triggering a recession. That would give the next president an opportunity to take a victory lap, even if that person did little to enable the recovery. A homeless encampment in Los Angeles on Thursday. Jae C. Hong/Associated Press Newsom ordered the removal of homeless encampments Gov. Gavin Newsom of California ordered state officials today to begin dismantling thousands of homeless encampments. It was the nation's most sweeping response to a recent Supreme Court ruling that gave governments greater authority to remove homeless people from their streets. In other news from California, the state Supreme Court delivered Uber and Lyft a win by upholding a ballot measure classifying their drivers as contractors rather than employees. More top news Israel: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with President Biden at the White House and offered polite words at a fraught moment in their relationship. Trump: Prosecutors urged a judge to uphold the conviction in the former president's hush-money trial, saying the Supreme Court's immunity ruling has no bearing. Crime: Homicides have continued to decrease dramatically from a pandemic high. Travel: Southwest Airlines said it would begin assigning seats, scrapping its policy of having passengers pick seats after boarding. Investigation: Russia has obtained nearly $4 billion in restricted chips since the war in Ukraine began. Many of them went through this address in Hong Kong. X: Elon Musk wants users of the social media site to police election posts. It's not working well. Health: A study found that for most patients, having both breasts removed after cancer was detected in one made no difference. Olympics: Matthew Dawson, an Australian field hockey player, chose to amputate the top joint of a ring finger rather than miss Paris. TIME TO UNWIND Zosia Mamet, left, and Saoirse-Monica Jackson in "The Decameron." Giulia Parmigiani/Netflix Netflix takes on 14th-century literature "The White Lotus," meet the Black Death. Our television critic James Poniewozik described the new Netflix show "The Decameron" as a class-conscious satire of rich people in which medieval characters are facing the looming threat of bubonic plague. The series is a very loose adaptation of the 14th-century work of the same name by Giovanni Boccaccio, this time reimagined as a rollicking social comedy of striving and survival. It "makes for a soapily slapstick summer diversion," James writes. The New York Times How fast is an Olympic serve? Millions of viewers will tune into the Olympics over the next few weeks to watch the world's best athletes run, swim, ride, jump, shoot, dance and fight. But over the television screen, it can be hard to gauge just how fast a badminton birdie flies, or how much power goes into a shot-put throw. So my colleagues build a quiz to test your knowledge of Olympic speeds. Try it out. For more on the Games: Sign up for our Olympics newsletter. "Indian Church" by Mary Sully. Karsten Moran for The New York Times Dinner table topics Hidden in a cardboard box: Nearly lost, Mary Sully's Native American modern art is now being exhibited at the Met. Our critic calls it "symphonically bicultural." The moon can't hide: A new NASA camera uses very long exposures to peer into lunar craters that look like seas of blackness. Apprenticeship: Some younger people have become obsessed with learning old-fashioned hand crafts like leather-making and lacework. Pop the cork: Divers found what appears to be 19th-century Champagne in a shipwreck. It might still be drinkable. WHAT TO DO TONIGHT Linda Xiao for The New York Times Cook: You don't need a lot of meat for this Korean barbecue to feel like a feast. Watch: The Frontline documentary "Two American Families" is a masterwork, our critic writes. Read: "The Throne" is one of the best new historical fiction books. Communicate: "I statements" make couples cringe. But they can help reduce conflict. Game: Get ready for the competitions in Paris with these Olympic video games. Protect: It's chigger season. Here's what to know about the pests. Hunt: What Manhattan apartment would you buy with an $800,000 budget? Play: Here are today's Spelling Bee, Wordle and Mini Crossword. Find all of our games here. ONE LAST THING Joshua Bright for The New York Times 'Ready, steady, slow!' If you're interested in speedy races that push the boundaries of human ability, the Paris Games will have you covered this month. But if you prefer something a bit — OK, a lot — slower, World Snail Racing Championships in Britain might be for you. The snails race on a circular 13.5-inch course, and the speediest competitors travel at about 0.006 miles per hour. This year's winner was Jeff, a big bruiser of a snail who took an early lead in the final and never relinquished it. His time: four minutes and five seconds. Have a dynamic evening. Thanks for reading. I'll be back tomorrow. — Matthew Kirsten Luce was our photo editor. We welcome your feedback. Write to us at evening@nytimes.com. Writer: Matthew Cullen Editorial Director: Adam Pasick Editors: Carole Landry, Whet Moser, Justin Porter, Jonathan Wolfe Need help? Review our newsletter help page or contact us for assistance. 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