The Morning: 21 questions for Harris

Plus, the Telegram founder, an attack in Ukraine and an Oasis comeback tour.

View in browser|nytimes.com August 27, 2024 By David Leonhardt Good morning. We're covering unanswered questions about a Harris administration — as well as the Telegram founder, an attack in Ukraine and an Oasis comeback tour. Vice President Kamala Harris. Eric Lee/The New York Times What would she do? Kamala Harris has largely avoided answering questions since her campaign began: She hasn't participated in a town hall or given an extended media interview. She and her aides say she will do one soon. In the meantime, I've worked with my Times colleagues to put together a list of 21 questions that could help the country understand how she would govern. Here they are, separated into four categories. Economic policy Construction in Alabama. Micah Green for The New York Times 1. Madam Vice President, your agenda revolves around helping the middle class — such as offering a credit of up to $25,000 for first-time home buyers and increasing the child tax credit. You haven't said much about some big related issues, though, including paid leave and universal preschool. Will you try to revive President Biden's plans? 2. You support raising taxes on households that make more than $400,000. But these tax increases may not be large enough both to pay for your agenda and to reduce the federal debt, as you've promised. How would you reduce the debt? 3. Biden has been more populist than other recent Democratic presidents. He's skeptical of free trade and has subsidized manufacturing. Are you as populist as he is? Or are there any policy areas in which you would return to a more market-friendly, neoliberal approach? 4. Biden has cracked down on monopoly power, and a central player in this fight is Lina Khan of the Federal Trade Commission, who has focused on Big Tech. Some of your campaign donors in Silicon Valley want you to fire her. Would you? 5. The Biden administration made an important change on climate policy, emphasizing subsidies for clean energy rather than taxes on dirty energy. This approach is more politically popular. Is it delivering fast enough climate progress? 6. You support the PRO Act, which would make it easier for workers to join unions. Recent Democratic presidents have supported similar bills — but failed to pass them. How would you give wary labor leaders confidence that the PRO Act will be a priority? 7. You've blamed corporate price gouging for high grocery prices. Many economists disagree, arguing that the industry has too much competition for widespread gouging to be a problem. Can you explain how your anti-gouging policy would lower prices? 8. The U.S. government has done little to regulate social media, and social media has contributed to some big problems, like polarization and loneliness. Now we have a new technological force: A.I. How would you regulate it? Social issues A woman receiving abortion care in Arizona. Caitlin O'Hara for The New York Times 9. Would you support eliminating the filibuster to pass a bill that restores nationwide abortion rights? 10. You have changed your position on immigration. You once called for decriminalizing illegal border crossings. Now you are an immigration hawk who promises to secure the border better than Donald Trump would. Can you explain your evolution? 11. Four years ago, you said, "It is actually wrong and backward to think that more police officers will create more safety." Do you still believe that? Foreign policy Ukrainian servicemen in the eastern Donetsk region. Daniel Berehulak/The New York Times 12. Many Ukraine supporters think the Biden administration has been too cautious with its aid. Would you be more aggressive with the kind of weapons you sent? 13. Military analysts are skeptical that Ukraine can ever regain all of its prewar territory. How does this war end? 14. It can be hard to see a path to peace for Israelis and Palestinians. How would you both alleviate Palestinian suffering and protect Israel from the enemies that seek its destruction? 15. The Biden administration initially distanced itself from Saudi Arabia but has since signaled that the U.S. needs the Saudis — much as the Trump administration believed — both to help moderate the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and to counter Iran's aggression. What would your Saudi policy be? 16. Iran has made progress toward being able to build a nuclear weapon. If intelligence agencies told you that Iran was building a weapon, would you order a military attack? Or can the world live with a nuclear-armed Iran? 17. Taiwan is a thriving democracy that China evidently wants to conquer. Biden has said that the U.S. would fight to defend Taiwan if China attacked. Still, some experts doubt the U.S. would. If China did invade, what would you do? 18. Trump frequently criticizes U.S. allies for not pulling their weight. Do you think Western Europe, Japan and Canada spend enough on their militaries? If not, how would you pressure them? Politics and more 19. Donald Trump can sound unhinged, telling frequent lies and rejecting basic democratic traditions. Yet millions of Americans — including more voters of color than in the past — support him. Why do you think so many people are frustrated enough that they find Trump appealing? 20. Your campaign spends less time describing Trump as an existential threat than Biden or Hillary Clinton did and more time ridiculing Trump. What do you think are the most effective ways to persuade swing voters that he shouldn't be president? 21. Are there any U.S. presidents you particularly admire — besides Biden, Barack Obama and the typical answers of F.D.R., Lincoln and Washington — and why? More on the election Kamala Harris is a change candidate who is proving tough for Donald Trump to attack. Nate Cohn analyzes if her lead will last. Jack Smith, the special counsel, asked a federal appeals court to revive the classified-documents case against Trump. A Trump-appointed judge threw out the case last month. Trump visited Arlington National Cemetery to honor soldiers killed in a bombing during the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. He criticized Biden and Harris for the exit. Harris said she mourned the soldiers' deaths and called Biden's decision to withdraw "courageous and right." Democrats sued Georgia's election board over its rules letting officials conduct "reasonable inquiry" before certifying election results, arguing that the rules invited chaos. Jill Stein, the Green Party presidential candidate, will be on the ballot in Wisconsin, the state's Supreme Court ruled. She could pull votes from Harris. Jason DeParle, who covers poverty, compared the Trump and Harris plans for housing, health care and food assistance. THE LATEST NEWS More on Politics Lawmakers in Butler, Pa. Kristian Thacker for The New York Times Members of the bipartisan House task force investigating the Trump assassination attempt visited the site of the shooting. Lawmakers walked the grounds and climbed onto the roof from which the gunman fired. A federal judge paused a Biden administration program aimed at giving citizenship to undocumented immigrants married to U.S. citizens, siding with 16 Republican-led states. An Arizona police association that endorsed Trump for president endorsed Ruben Gallego, a Democrat running for U.S. Senate, over Kari Lake, a Trump ally, The Hill reports. Telegram Pavel Durov, the Telegram founder. Jim Wilson/The New York Times The arrest of the founder of Telegram, a messaging app with a hands-off approach to content moderation, started a conversation about free speech online. Read more about him. Telegram's openness has made it popular with people living in authoritarian countries, like Russia. But it has also attracted terrorists and scammers. War in Ukraine Russia launched another wave of missiles and drones, a day after a major attack on Ukrainian cities. In recent months, Russia has been using glide bombs, which have allowed its forces to raze whole towns and villages quickly. More International News The captain of the yacht that sank in Italy is under investigation in connection to the seven deaths from the disaster. A typhoon approaching Japan has caused flight cancellations and disrupted high-speed rail travel. Canada will impose a 100 percent tariff on Chinese electric vehicles, matching the one the U.S. set this year. A Chinese surveillance plane flew over Japanese territory near Nagasaki Prefecture. It's the first time that China's military has entered Japanese airspace, Japan's Defense Ministry said. Other Big Stories Two people were found shot dead in a dorm room at Rice University in Houston, in an apparent murder-suicide. A Dutch watchdog fined Uber $324 million, saying it improperly sent sensitive information about drivers to the U.S. Federal officials charged two men with damaging an ancient rock formation at Lake Mead in Nevada. Opinions Be skeptical of what the polls say about the 2024 election. They're an art as much as they are a science, Kristen Soltis Anderson writes. The U.S. has finally held the banana company Chiquita accountable for its dealings with Colombian paramilitaries. Colombia can do the same, Ignacio Gómez G. writes. Here are columns by Paul Krugman on the politics of inflation and Pamela Paul on Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s Trump endorsement. Subscribe Today The Morning highlights a small portion of the journalism that The New York Times offers. To access all of it, become a subscriber with this introductory offer. MORNING READS Team Army athlete Henry Escobedo and running guide Preston Gantt. Jacob Langston for The New York Times Warrior Games: Disabled troops used to have to leave the military. Now some compete for gold. Later marriages: In China, which has more people 65 or older than any other country, more people are looking for a chance at love. Sex education: To avoid temptation, Hong Kong tells teenagers: Play badminton. Ask Vanessa: "Is it better to be over- or underdressed?" Environment: Your water bottle claims to be made of mostly recycled plastic. But it may not be. Travel: To explore Kenya, join a local hiking club. Lives Lived: Tom Brown Jr. was considered the U.S.' foremost authority on wilderness survival, having taught thousands of people how to track deer, fletch arrows, forage for food and thrive in the great outdoors. He died at 74. SPORTS High school football: Caden Tellier, a quarterback in Selma, Ala., died after suffering a head injury during his team's first game of the season. N.F.L.: The Dallas Cowboys agreed to terms on a contract extension with the star receiver CeeDee Lamb, ending a long holdout. M.L.B.: The Boston Red Sox catcher Danny Jansen became the first player in league history to appear in the same game — playing for both teams. See how it happened. U.S. Open: Coco Gauff, Novak Djokovic and Aryna Sabalenka all advanced in straight sets. Gauff is trying to become the first repeat women's Open winner since 2014. ARTS AND IDEAS Liam and Noel Gallagher in 1999. Shutterstock The band Oasis announced a reunion tour after 15 years of fighting between its two leaders, Liam and Noel Gallagher, who are brothers. The band split up in 2009 — "I simply could not go on working with Liam a day longer," Noel said at the time — and over the years the Gallaghers have continued to lob public insults at each other. They seem to have reconciled enough to plan a comeback tour for summer 2025, in Britain and Ireland. More on culture A businessman abandoned his pursuit of Paramount, the production company, all but ensuring that it will be acquired by Skydance. A sequel to "Beetlejuice" — called "Beetlejuice Beetlejuice" — opens at the Venice Film Festival tomorrow. The Times spoke with Tim Burton and the cast. THE MORNING RECOMMENDS … Christopher Testani for The New York Times Add tzatziki to this chickpea salad. Make caregiving more manageable with these books. Travel with a great backpack. Stop washing your jeans so often. GAMES Here is today's Spelling Bee. Yesterday's pangram was holiday. And here are today's Mini Crossword, Wordle, Sudoku, Connections and Strands. Thanks for spending part of your morning with The Times. See you tomorrow. —David Sign up here to get this newsletter in your inbox. Reach our team at themorning@nytimes.com. Editor: David Leonhardt Deputy Editor: Adam B. Kushner News Editor: Tom Wright-Piersanti Associate Editor: Lauren Jackson News Staff: Desiree Ibekwe, Sean Kawasaki-Culligan, Brent Lewis, German Lopez, Ian Prasad Philbrick, Ashley Wu News Assistant: Lyna Bentahar Saturday Writer: Melissa Kirsch Need help? Review our newsletter help page or contact us for assistance. You received this email because you signed up for the Morning newsletter from The New York Times, or as part of your New York Times account. To stop receiving The Morning, 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