Friday Briefing: Kamala Harris’s first interview

The Democratic presidential nominee walked a fine line on President Biden's record.

View in browser|nytimes.com August 30, 2024 By Natasha Frost Good morning. We're covering Kamala Harris's interview with CNN and Israel's incursion into the West Bank. Plus: The collapse of Britain's Conservative Party. 🇺🇸 U.S. ELECTION 2024 The presidential election is less than 70 days away. This is what we're watching. Vice President Kamala Harris was interviewed by CNN's Dana Bash on Thursday. CNN Kamala Harris spoke to CNN In her first interview since becoming the Democratic presidential nominee, Kamala Harris embraced the economic record of the Biden administration as "good work," walking a fine line between praising White House investments in domestic manufacturing, clean energy and infrastructure without saying Americans are economically secure. Read our analysis. Asked what she would do on Day 1 of her presidency, Harris did not lay out any specific plans, speaking generally of promoting an "opportunity economy" that strengthens the middle class but not spelling out executive orders or other immediate actions. She was also pressed on her abandonment of more liberal positions, including banning fracking. Harris also suggested she would appoint a Republican to her cabinet, a symbolic move that suggests she would seek to govern in a bipartisan manner. She did not indicate who she might have in mind. Background: 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 to the On Politics newsletter. "She didn't break eye contact," he said. "It was intense. You feel on trial." Here's what else to know: Donald Trump reposted an image on his social media platform that implied that Harris had traded sexual favors to help her political career. Trump sought to move his Manhattan criminal case into federal court, filing the unusual request three months after he was convicted in state court. Senate Democrats played a more assertive role than was previously known in bringing about 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 mosque damaged during an Israeli military operation in the northern West Bank, on Thursday. Zain Jaafar/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images A second day of Israel's raids on the West Bank Israel's military stormed a mosque in the occupied West Bank yesterday and engaged in gun battles that left at least five Palestinians dead, including a young militant commander who Israel says was responsible for attacks against Israeli civilians and whom The Times interviewed in July. The death toll is now at 17. It was the second straight day of an Israeli incursion into the northern West Bank, focused in and around the cities of Tulkarm and Jenin, involving columns of armored vehicles, fleets of drones and hundreds of troops. The raids are Israel's biggest military actions in the West Bank in more than a year. In other news: Israel will temporarily pause military operations across Gaza in a staggered three-day schedule beginning Sunday to allow health workers to give polio vaccinations to about 640,000 children under the age of 10, U.N. officials said. A W.H.O. representative said that it was "critical" that 90 percent of Gaza's children be immunized "to stop the outbreak." For more: Read about the U.S.'s efforts to contain disaster in the Middle East. Benedi Manegabe, 21, discussing his mpox progression with a nurse at a hospital in Kavumu, South Kivu Province, in the Democratic Republic of Congo on Saturday. Arlette Bashizi for The New York Times Congo is struggling to confront mpox Health officials in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the epicenter of the mpox outbreak, said they lack even the most basic tools necessary to contain the virus. The country is struggling to diagnose cases and is still waiting for vaccines, which are trapped in a byzantine drug regulatory process at the W.H.O. The virus has killed nearly 600 people in Africa and left many more with painful lesions that make it difficult to walk, eat or even breathe. On the ground: Read our reporter's dispatch from a remote hospital overwhelmed with patients. Go deeper: How does the virus spread? And who is most at risk? Here's what we know. MORE TOP NEWS Planet Labs Inc., via Reuters War in Ukraine: Kyiv's military said it had struck two oil depots inside Russia, pressing ahead with a campaign of attacks against the energy sector. Separately, a Ukrainian F-16 supplied by NATO countries was destroyed this week, and the pilot was killed, Ukraine's military said. Namibia: The Southern African nation is planning to butcher hundreds of elephants to feed its human citizens, who are in a hunger crisis amid a drought. Honduras: The country said it would end its longtime extradition treaty with the U.S. after the president accused the U.S. of meddling in its affairs. Tech: Apple and the chipmaker Nvidia are in talks to invest in OpenAI. South 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. Diplomacy: The White House national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, met with President Xi Jinping and a top Chinese military official. News From Europe Greece: The authorities said that they had dredged more than 100 tons of dead fish around the port of Volos after a mass die-off that is believed to be linked to climate change. 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. Spain: A court in Thailand sentenced the son of the Spanish actor Rodolfo Sancho to life in prison after finding him guilty of a grisly murder. U.K.: A public inquiry into the case of Lucy Letby, a nurse convicted of killing seven babies, has come under fire from scientific and medical experts. 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 NEWS Soccer: Jack Grealish and Noni Madueke have been included in the England squad for the forthcoming Nations League matches. 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, and Carlos Alcaraz was eliminated in a shocking upset. Follow our coverage. Formula 1: Breaking down the Italian Grand Prix, at Monza's "Temple of Speed" track. MORNING READ Photo illustration by Matt Chase In the eight years since the Brexit referendum, Britain's Conservative Party cycled through no fewer than five prime ministers, in a spectacle of corruption, hubris, folly and misrule. Two months after a historic electoral defeat, the party is still a house divided. Facing years in the political wilderness, and a looming leadership contest, Conservatives have scattered into angry camps as they argue over what caused their collapse and what can be done to pick up the pieces. Lives lived: Betty Jean Hall, a fiery lawyer from eastern Kentucky who successfully fought coal companies for their refusal to hire women, has died at 78. CONVERSATION STARTERS That tracks: Dinosaur footprints found in South America and Africa help us understand a region that broke apart millions of years ago. 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. Telling on himself: A reader's new boyfriend frequently references a history of falling short with women. Should she be concerned? ARTS AND IDEAS Ricardo Nagaoka for The New York Times Asian men are scoring stronger, sexier roles onscreen Western pop culture has historically limited Asian American men to stereotypical, even emasculating roles. But writers, directors and actors like Manny Jacinto, above, have pushed for more nuanced representation, resulting in a wave of Asian 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 linked 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." We hope you've enjoyed this newsletter, which is made possible through subscriber support. Subscribe to The New York Times. RECOMMENDATIONS Christopher Testani for The New York Times Cook: Top this upside-down cake with late-summer peaches. Watch: Here are three great documentaries to stream. Travel: T Magazine picked the most exciting hotels in London right now. Read: "If Only," a translated work by the Norwegian author Vigdis Hjorth, follows a decade-long affair between two married writers. Reflect: Conduct a "life review" to understand where you are, and where you're going. Play the Spelling Bee. And here are today's Mini Crossword and Wordle. You can find all our puzzles here. That's it for today's briefing. See you next time. — Natasha Reach Natasha and the team at briefing@nytimes.com. Need help? Review our newsletter help page or contact us for assistance. You received this email because you signed up for Morning Briefing: Europe Edition from The New York Times. To stop receiving Morning Briefing: Europe Edition, unsubscribe. To opt out of other promotional emails from The Times, including those regarding The Athletic, manage your email settings. To opt out of updates and offers sent from The Athletic, submit a request. Subscribe to The TimesGet The New York Times app Connect with us on: Change Your EmailPrivacy PolicyContact UsCalifornia Notices The New York Times Company. 620 Eighth Avenue New York, NY 10018