The Headlines - Democrats Begin the Blame Game, and What Happens to Trump’s Legal Woes

Episode Date: November 7, 2024

Plus, pickleball’s Super Bowl.   Tune in every weekday morning. To get our full audio journalism and storytelling experience, download the New York Times Audio app — available to Times news subscribers on iOS — and sign up for our weekly newsletter.Tell us what you think at: [e-mail].  On Today’s Episode:Harris Says She Concedes the Election, but Not Her Fight, by Nicholas Nehamas and Erica L. GreenDevastated Democrats Play the Blame Game, and Stare at a Dark Future, by Reid J. EpsteinTrump Weighs Personnel Choices and Fields Congratulatory Calls, by Maggie Haberman and Jonathan SwanWith Political Victory, Trump Fights Off Legal Charges, by Devlin Barrett, Alan Feuer and Charlie SavageHere’s What to Watch as the Fed Meets Thursday, by Jeanna SmialekThe ‘Super Bowl of Pickleball’ Looks to Grow the Sport, by Calum Marsh

From the New York Times, it's the headlines. I'm Tracy Mumford. Today's Thursday, November 7th. Here's what we're covering. The outcome of this election is not what we wanted, not what we fought for, not what we voted for, but hear me when I say, hear me when I say, the light of America's promise will always burn bright. In Washington DC yesterday, Kamala Harris came out to address the nation after losing the election to Donald

Trump. She spoke from the same stage at Howard University, where she'd hoped to celebrate a victory. While I conceived this election, I do not concede the fight that fueled this campaign. Many people in the crowd were in tears as Harris called on her supporters to continue what she framed as an ongoing fight for democracy, justice, and the rule of law. And so to everyone who is watching, do not despair.

This is not a time to throw up our hands. This is a time to roll up our sleeves. What Harris was trying to do was to gracefully leave the stage and end her campaign. But what she left behind is a party beginning to point fingers and launch recriminations against different wings and aspects of the party over who is to blame for Trump's sweeping victory. My colleague Reed Epstein covered Harris's campaign, and he spent the last 24 hours talking to Democratic lawmakers and party officials who each have their own theory about why Harris lost.

Among the conversations that I've had were, you know, Bernie Sanders complaining that the Democratic Party has become increasingly a party of identity politics, really talking about how the party needs to recalibrate around an economic focus. Coming to the same type of conclusion is Seth Moulton, a Congressman from Massachusetts, who said that Democrats are out of touch with the American people, needs to do less preaching and more listening.

And one of the things that he said was that, quote, I have two little girls, I don't want them getting run over on a playing field by a male or formerly male athlete, but as a Democrat, I'm supposed to be afraid to say that." Unquote. A really striking indictment and something that had been sort of whispered in democratic circles during this campaign, but not really addressed head on, particularly when Trump ran tens of millions of dollars in anti-trans messaging attacking Kamala Harris. Reed says other Democrats he talked to had other explanations. Some placed the blame on President Biden, saying he stayed in the race too long. Others pointed to voters' frustration

over the war in Gaza. And he says that with no immediate consensus about what went wrong for Democrats, the party is just starting what will be a difficult months-long conversation about how to move forward. Meanwhile, the transition back to a Trump White House has begun. Yesterday, Kamala Harris called Trump directly to concede. His communications director said, quote, both leaders agreed on the importance of unifying the country. He also took a call from President Biden, who proposed a meeting about the transition of power. Trump has a transition leadership team in place, but they've been working largely out of his sight until now, because Trump was superstitious about planning ahead. Trump's broader transition

operation is expected to include a mix of Wall Street executives, traditional conservatives, and right-wing populists, along with other Trump allies like Robert F. Kennedy Jr. In the wake of Donald Trump's win, the Times has learned that special counsel Jack Smith, who brought the two federal cases against Trump, has now begun discussions about how to wind them down. The cases centered on Trump's alleged attempts to obstruct the results of the 2020 election, and the mishandling of classified documents after he left office. There is a longstanding Justice Department policy that prosecutors are not supposed to pursue prosecutions

against a sitting president. That's just simply for the reason that these prosecutions, while they might be meritorious, would obviously interrupt and disrupt a president's ability to run the country. Times reporter Alan Foyer, who's been following the federal cases against Trump, would obviously interrupt and disrupt a president's ability to run the country. Times reporter Alan Foyer, who's been following the federal cases against Trump, says his presidential victory will almost inevitably affect his state-level cases as well.

In Georgia, where he's also charged with trying to overturn the 2020 election, Trump's lawyers will likely push for that case to be dropped on the same logic as the Justice Department's policy. And Allen says a big thing to watch for will be what happens in New York, where Trump was convicted of 34 felony counts for falsifying business records to cover up a sex scandal. His sentencing is scheduled for later this month. So Trump's lawyers are essentially going to argue that Trump should not face an immediate sentence in Manhattan because he's preparing to enter the White House. And if indeed there is jail time that is imposed, well, how is he going to serve it while he's running the country?

And so his lawyers will seek to sort of indefinitely put off the sentence being issued at all. And you know, we'll just have to see how the judge handles that. Today at the Federal Reserve, officials are widely expected to cut interest rates, which could give Americans some relief down the line on their credit cards and other loan costs. It'll be the second cut in just a few months, after the Fed kept rates high for years to try and tame inflation, which has now been slowing. The last time the Fed cut rates, in September, stocks hit a record high.

And any potential new boost from today's cut will come on top of the market surge from yesterday. It's normal for Wall Street to rally after a presidential election when the uncertainty of a race is over. But analysts say that yesterday may have been particularly high as investors look forward to factors like lighter regulation

that may come under the new Trump administration. And finally, in the suburbs of Dallas this week, a fierce competition has been playing out that has absolutely nothing to do with politics. It's the Pickleball World Championships, basically the Super Bowl of pickleball. The sport, which is like a cousin of tennis, is the fastest growing sport in America, and it's trying to prove its pro status. Most people just think of it as a hobby or a very loud nuisance, depending on how close you live to a court and those non-stop paddle smacks. At this week's tournament, it is mostly amateur players, but there are top ranked pros, too.

Some of them are walking proof you can make a living at pickleball. One player, Ben Johns, will be paid $2.5 million for playing at the championships this week. It's less clear if the organizers will make money though, which the president of the professional pickleball association admitted, but he said that was not the point. Quote, this is where we see pickleball going and what it can become. And this is us standing behind it. Those are the headlines. Today on The Daily, a deep dive into who Donald Trump won over to win the election. That's next in the New York Times audio app, or you can listen wherever you get your podcasts.

I'm Tracy Mumford. We'll be back tomorrow.