The Headlines - Walz Makes His Debut, and Hamas Elevates Leader Who Planned Oct. 7

Episode Date: August 7, 2024

Plus, Olympic medal redemption.   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:Walz, Throwing Punches at Republicans, Makes His Big Entrance With Harris, by Reid J. Epstein, Erica L. Green and Katie GlueckCori Bush, ‘Squad’ Member and Vocal Critic of Israel, Loses Her Primary, by Annie KarniHamas Elevates Gaza Leader Who Planned Oct. 7 Attacks to Top Post, by Adam Rasgon, Aaron Boxerman, Euan Ward and Michael LevensonAs War Gets Bleaker, More Ukrainians Appear Open to a Peace Deal, by Kim BarkerCan You Heal Olympic Heartbreak With Belated Medals?, by John Yoon

From The New York Times, it's The Headlines. I'm Traci Mumford. Today's Wednesday, August 7th. Here's what we're covering. And now, welcome the next Vice President of the United States, Tim Walz. Kamala Harris took the stage at a rally last night in Philadelphia to introduce her running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walls, a name that a day ago didn't mean a lot to people outside of his state. Thank you, Madam Vice President, for the trust you put in me, but maybe more so, thank you for bringing back the joy. Harris and Walls himself touted his background as a high school teacher, a football coach, and a member of the Army National Guard.

But it was his willingness to go on the offensive against the Republican ticket that energized the crowd. Make no mistake, violent crime was up under Donald Trump. That's not even counting the crimes he committed. It was a raucous audience. It was very loud throughout the evening, all the way through Harrison Walls. Times political reporter Reid Epstein was at the rally. Walls had sort of his big Midwestern dad energy on the stage.

He really leaned into the attack lines against Trump and his running mate, J.D. Vance. You know it, you feel it. These guys are creepy and yes, just weird as hell. That's what you see. That's what you see. And he really had the crowd eating out of the palm of his hand for most of the night. So you know what's out there. So say it with me. We aren't going back. We aren't going back. We are not going back.

It was really quite something to watch. Walls' introduction, both to a big stadium crowd and the adoration of the national Democratic audience, it was clear that he was moved both by the applause and the energy in the room. You know, we will see going forward whether Walls can continue to deliver the sort of energy that Democrats have had in this race since Kamala Harris took over for President Biden. His task is really going to be to translate the Democratic agenda to voters in the key Midwestern battleground states, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania, where his appeal is expected to be highest.

As of last night, Harris and Walz are officially the Democratic nominees for president and vice president. The DNC announced it had certified delegates' votes ahead of the party's convention. And for a deeper look at Walz's life and career, and how he became Harris' pick for VP, listen to today's episode of The Daily. Meanwhile, in Missouri, Democratic Representative Cori Bush lost her primary campaign, making her the second member of the so-called squad of progressive Democrats in Congress to be unseated after publicly criticizing Israel's war in Gaza. Bush, who's been calling for a ceasefire and voted against military aid to Israel, lost to Wesley Bell, a county prosecutor whose campaign was funded almost entirely by pro-Israel groups. Bush's defeat comes just weeks after her fellow

squad member, Jamal Bowman, who also criticized Israel, lost his primary. The same pro-Israel groups who went after Bush poured $15 million into the campaign to defeat Bowman. One week after an explosion in Iran killed the top political leader of Hamas, the militant group has chosen a replacement, Yahya Sinwar. He's long been a central figure in Hamas, and he was one of the architects of the October 7th attacks. This new role for him suggests that Hamas will take an even more confrontational stance against Israel. Sinwar is currently believed to be hiding in tunnels underneath Gaza, from which he's played a key role in deciding whether or not Hamas moves towards a ceasefire.

Ukraine announced this week that it's received its first batch of F-16 fighter jets, something the country has been asking its Western allies for since the first days of the war, more than two years ago. The arrival of the planes is a morale boost, but it comes as Russian forces have been making steady advances. They now occupy around 18% of Ukraine's territory, according to one estimate. And increasingly, public opinion about the war has been shifting. One recent poll shows that 44% of Ukrainian civilians now want to start negotiating with Russia. Another poll showed that nearly a third of Ukrainians would agree to give up some territory to end the war.

It feels like there's been this dramatic shift in people's moods. They're talking about something now that they never would have talked about a couple of years ago, which is the whole idea of negotiations and coming to some sort of deal or compromise to get a more lasting peace. Kim Barker has been reporting from Ukraine for The Times. She says while most Ukrainians still oppose ceding any land to Russia, the conversation is changing. People I've talked to, they're talking about dealing with the hardships of war. Russia has devastated the infrastructure here, so people are having to do without power, without water. It's also hard dealing with

missile strikes and the constant threat of missile strikes, warnings all night long to go to the shelter. It's this constant sense that something could happen. Another thing that really weighs on people is the idea that they feel like the West made certain promises to them about aid and about military support that haven't necessarily been honored. It took U.S. Congress six months to pass this military aid package that finally came through in April. You know, you have Germany that's just announced that it plans to cut half of the aid to Ukraine. And I think they sort of feel like, well, if the West isn't going to support us, if we don't actually have the backing, then maybe we have to make the best of what's in front of us right now. The Ukrainian government has largely rejected calls to compromise with Russia. A top advisor to President Vladimir Zelensky said that negotiating with Vladimir Putin would be making a, quote, deal with the devil.

But Ukrainian officials have also suggested that Russia should come to future peace talks. And they've been signaling an openness to having one of Russia's key allies, China, take a bigger role in discussions about how to end the war. And finally, at the Olympics, there is no bigger moment for athletes than taking their spot on the podium to get their medals. But this year, for some athletes, it's happening several years after they competed. Today, the U.S. figure skating team from the 2022 Beijing Games will get gold medals after Russia's team was stripped of its top score in a doping scandal. And later this week, 10 other Olympians who thought they lost, including weightlifters, runners, and jumpers, will get reallocated medals. The reallocation can sometimes be bittersweet.

South Korean lifter Jung Sung-yoon thought he got fourth at the 2012 Games in London. And after the loss, he went home, quit competing, and got a desk job. Now, 12 years later, he'll get bronze, after a Russian who finished ahead of him was disqualified for doping. The reallocation ceremony will be held on Friday in front of the Eiffel Tower. Those are the headlines. I'm Tracey Mumford. We'll be back tomorrow.