The Headlines - Democrats Divided Over V.P. Field, and Israel Braces for Retaliation

Episode Date: August 5, 2024

Plus, your Olympics weekend wrap-up.  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 Faces Party Divisions as She Chooses a Running Mate, by Reid J. Epstein, Theodore Schleifer and Nick CorasanitiMarkets Around the World Are Jolted by Fears of Slowing U.S. Growth, by Daisuke Wakabayashi and River Akira DavisHurricane Debby to Strike Florida’s Big Bend Region, by Isabelle TaftBangladesh’s Prime Minister Seeks to Leave Country Amid Protests, Officials Say, by Mujib Mashal and Saif HasnatNetanyahu Says Israel Was Already in a ‘War Against Iran’s Evil Axis,’ by Isabel KershnerAfter a Photo Finish, Noah Lyles Waits, and Waits, and Then Claims the Title of World’s Fastest Man, by Talya Minsberg, Ben Shpigel, Gabriela Bhaskar and Daniel Berehulak

From The New York Times, it's The Headlines. I'm Traci Mumford. Today's Monday, August 5th. Here's what we're covering. Kamala Harris's very accelerated search for a running mate is now in its final countdown. Three leading contenders for the spot were all in D.C. yesterday. Arizona Senator Mark Kelly, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz. Each met with Harris at her home for what's being described as a chemistry test. Harris' aides say having a good rapport with her team is a priority for her. She's expected to announce her pick tomorrow, but the Times has learned that rifts have emerged inside the Democratic Party over her choices. Progressive groups have criticized Shapiro and Kelly as being too conservative on key issues.

And while Shapiro has emerged as a favorite of the party's pro-Israel donors, some progressive activists have objected to his stance on Israel's military campaign in Gaza. Meanwhile, a group of progressive donors have been making the push for walls, even though Minnesota is unlikely to play a critical role in Harris' path to the White House. The contenders will be told either tonight or tomorrow morning whether or not they'll be on the ticket. And Harris' VP pick is expected to be on stage at a rally with Harris tomorrow night in Philadelphia. This morning, stock markets tumbled across Asia as news about the U.S. economy has rattled

investors. The declines were most dramatic in Japan, where one major index dropped 12 percent, its biggest one-day loss in more than three decades. Globally, investors are panicking over signs that the American economy, the largest in the world, could be cooling. On Friday, the U.S. jobs report showed that hiring slowed significantly in July, and the U.S. unemployment rate hit a three-year high. The stock declines are expected to continue in Europe and the U.S. as markets open there this morning. We are looking at potentially really, really significant flooding that will happen, particularly in north central Florida,

as this storm makes landfall in Florida and then heads northeast. Hurricane Debbie is expected to make landfall on Florida's Gulf Coast this morning, after rapidly gaining strength and becoming a Category 1 storm. It will hit along a stretch of coast that was devastated just a year ago by Hurricane Adalia. Debbie's wind speeds are lower than Adalia, but it's expected to bring much more rain to the region as it moves slowly across Florida and then north into Georgia and South Carolina in the coming days. The National Hurricane Center warned that rainfall totals could be, quote, historic. Some places could see up to 30 inches of rain.

Today in Bangladesh, the country's prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, resigned just as thousands of protesters descended on her home in the capital city of Dhaka. She was spotted at the airport and seemed to be headed out of the country. The country's been engulfed in protests for weeks, and Hasina's government responded with a brutal crackdown. Nearly 100 people were killed yesterday, 200 were killed last month, and over 10,000 have been arrested. The protests began as a peaceful demonstration by students, who are frustrated over how civil service jobs are assigned. But they turned into violent clashes.

This protest movement may have started about a particular issue, the jobs and the civil service, but it's become about much more than that. Mujib Mashal has been covering the protests for The Times. It's become about what's been sort of an entrenched authoritarianism during the 15 years of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. In her time in office, particularly in recent years, she has shrunk any space for free speech. She has cracked down on her opposition in a way where she's bogged them down in court cases

and sort of every time they've tried to hold protests, she's cracked down on them. So it feels that it is as much a more widespread anger over her authoritarian tendencies, but also over her mismanagement of the economy, because the economy is stagnating now, and a lot of people are feeling the pinch of it. Following Hasina's resignation, Bangladesh's army chief said the military will request the formation of it. Following Hasina's resignation, Bangladesh's army chief said the military will request the formation of an interim government. In the Middle East, the wait for major retaliatory strikes is stretching into a new week.

Iran and its proxy forces have been planning an attack on Israel after the recent killings of a top Hezbollah commander and the political leader of Hamas. The threat of an escalating regional war has set off alarm bells. The U.S. urged its citizens to leave Lebanon immediately. France told its citizens to leave Iran as soon as possible. And multiple international airlines have suspended flights to and from Israel. Meanwhile, Israel has continued its attacks in Gaza. In the last few days, dozens of people have been killed as Israel carried out strikes on three schools that were functioning as shelters. The deadliest came yesterday in Gaza

City. According to Palestinian authorities, an Israeli F-16 fighter jet targeted a school, killing 30 people, most of them women and children. One survivor of the attack said he had just sat down for a meal with his family when the school was hit, saying it, quote, felt like we were burning, as if a volcano had erupted over us. The Israeli military said there was a Hamas command center at the school and that it took steps to mitigate civilian casualties. It's unclear if any of the people killed were militants. And finally... Thompson gets a good start.

So does Zimbina. So does Fred Curley. In Paris this weekend, the race for fastest man in the world came down to a photo finish. In the 100-meter dash, the U.S.'s Noah Lyles spent most of the race at the back of the pack

before surging in the final moments and crossing the finish line at nearly the same time as Jamaica's Kashane Thompson. They're watching, they're looking. Who has got this? Their race took less than 10 seconds, but examining the footage to figure out who won took longer. Lyle's had the momentum and he's got it. Unbelievable. Ultimately, Lyles was declared the winner by five thousandths of a second. For fastest woman in the world, all eyes had been on Team USA's Sha'Carri Richardson. In the women's 100 meter, the runners had to compete in driving rain, splashing across the track. And Richardson got edged out.

She ended up in silver, while Julianne Alfred of St. Lucia took gold. Her win marks the island's first-ever Olympic medal. Those are the headlines. Today on The Daily, a former close friend of Republican vice presidential nominee J.D. Vance shares a first-person account of how Vance's politics have evolved. You can listen on the Times audio app or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Traci Mumford. We'll be back tomorrow.