Also, a looming government shutdown. Here’s the latest at the end of Wednesday.
Seven Republican presidential hopefuls will gather at 9 p.m. Eastern to face off in the party’s second debate of the year. While the performances of the candidates are still expected to be deeply consequential, tonight’s event feels like a race for second place. That’s because Donald Trump, who is skipping the debate, is polling about as well as any candidate in the modern history of contested primaries.
“The race is starting to have some of the characteristics of a noncompetitive contest,” our chief political analyst Nate Cohn said, adding that Trump’s lead is “just as large as the one Joe Biden has over Robert F. Kennedy Jr.”
Instead of attending the debate, Trump is planning to deliver his pitch to blue-collar workers in a speech tonight at an auto parts factory outside Detroit. His appearance comes just one day after President Biden joined striking autoworkers on a picket line, offering the kind of split-screen campaigning that is more reminiscent of a general election.
However, Nate said, we’re not in a two-candidate race just yet. He pointed in particular to Trump’s legal woes, and the specter of a criminal trial in the middle of the Republican primary season.
A judge in New York last night offered a preview of the varied legal threats that Trump faces in the months ahead, ruling that Trump committed fraud. The former president’s lawyers are still sorting through the implications of the decision, but the case could undermine Trump’s relentlessly promoted narrative of himself as a master of the business world.
How much do you know about the G.O.P. race? Quiz yourself and find out.
Wall Street isn’t worried about a government shutdown
Members of Congress have just three more days to pass a spending bill before the federal government’s funding expires and it is forced to halt many of its operations. As each hour passes without a deal, it becomes increasingly likely that a shutdown will occur.
A brief shutdown, economists on Wall Street and inside the Biden administration have concluded, would be unlikely to slow the economy significantly or push it into recession. But a prolonged shutdown could eventually ease growth, dampen the mood of consumers and potentially even hurt Biden’s re-election prospects.
Fueling the congressional strife is a small but determined group of right-wing rebels.
An American soldier was released from North Korea
After 70 days of imprisonment in North Korea, Pvt. Travis King was released into U.S. custody today. His release came after North Korean officials decided to expel him, saying that they had found him guilty of “illegally intruding” into their territory.
Officials said the U.S. had learned from Sweden several weeks ago that the North Koreans had decided to expel King, kicking off a period of indirect but intense negotiations between the U.S. and North Korea. Unlike on previous occasions, the North Koreans did not receive anything in return for King’s release, U.S. officials said.
El Paso has reached a ‘breaking point,’ its mayor said
Along the U.S. border with Mexico, a new wave of migrant arrivals, mostly from Venezuela, but also from other South American countries, Africa and elsewhere, is taxing the available services in cities and small towns from Texas to California. The strain has become particularly untenable in the West Texas city of El Paso, where thousands of migrants are arriving from Mexico each day. The shelters there are filled, and so too are the hotel rooms. The city is seeking millions of dollars in aid from the Biden administration.
More top news
Court: Senator Robert Menendez of New Jersey and his wife, Nadine Menendez, pleaded not guilty to bribery charges.
Congress: Top House Republicans are eyeing potential impeachment charges of bribery and abuse of power against President Biden.
Middle East: Parallel diplomatic visits this week highlighted the fast-warming ties between Israel and Saudi Arabia.
Energy: Many analysts think that oil prices will soon rise above $100 a barrel for the first time in more than a year.
Disinformation: An E.U. law aimed at forcing social media giants to adopt new policies to curb harmful content is expected to face blowback from Elon Musk, who owns X.
Health: With the U.S. government no longer distributing Covid vaccines, nursing homes have been slow to get them, even as infections rise.
Diplomacy: The Biden administration said that it would allow Israeli citizens to enter the U.S. without a visa.
Homeless camps: Dozens of leaders from both political parties have asked the Supreme Court to overturn lower court decisions that restrict enforcement against public camping.
Hollywood strike: Television and movie writers began returning to work today.
TIME TO UNWIND
Wes Anderson finally found a way to adapt Roald Dahl
For 15 years, the director Wes Anderson has been trying to bring Roald Dahl’s “The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar” to the big screen, without success. He could never quite find a way to faithfully translate the story of a wealthy, cheating gambler.
The breakthrough finally came when he decided to lift the author’s prose and put it in the mouths of the characters. In “Henry Sugar,” a 40-minute short that was released on Netflix today, the actors (including Benedict Cumberbatch and Dev Patel) talk directly to the camera, describing their actions as they happen. We spoke to Anderson about his process making the film.
The new ChatGPT can ‘see’ and ‘talk’
OpenAI boasted this week that its popular chatbot, ChatGPT, would soon be able to “see, hear and speak.” If you snap a photo of your refrigerator, for example, it will offer recipe ideas. If you ask it a question, it will offer responses delivered in a synthetic A.I. voice.
Our tech columnist Kevin Roose found the latter of those options the most intriguing. So much so that he ended up talking with the bot for several hours.
Dinner table topics
Stephen Sondheim: Two years after the composer’s death, his final musical — which his team suggested was incomplete — is being presented for the first time in New York.
Plagiarist or master? An award-winning Malian author disappeared from public life after being accused of plagiarism. Now, his ambiguous novel is being evaluated in a new light.
Montauk grudge match: A bunch of artists celebrated the end of summer on Long Island’s East End with a drunk vs. stoned soccer match.
Sample sale: How far would you travel for a discounted leather purse?
WHAT TO DO TONIGHT
Cook: Want to eat less meat? Try something sour, like these chickpeas and plantains with a vinegar-rich escabeche.
Read: “The List,” by Yomi Adegoke, is a novel inspired by the crowdsourced lists that anonymously accused men in the U.S. media industry of sexual misconduct.
Listen: These nine songs will make you say “yeah!”
Reminisce: Our writer says a tube of toothpaste can be the perfect vacation keepsake.
Reflect: Want to believe in yourself? “Mattering” is key.
Fluff: A silk pillowcase is one of the best hair care tools.
Play: Here are today’s Spelling Bee, Wordle and Mini Crossword. Find all our games here.
ONE LAST THING
Las Vegas is reinventing itself again
A new attraction has been drawing the attention of those who have visited Las Vegas in recent months. The Sphere, a 360-foot-tall, high-tech amphitheater clad in 1.2 million LED screens, beams fireworks displays, rotating globes and other images on its surface, bringing traffic to a standstill.
But it’s not the only major newcomer on the Vegas Strip: There’s also a new football stadium and a Formula 1 racing track. The new splashy mega-venues are part of another reinvention of the city, which is trying to move past its reliance on casinos.
Have an electrifying evening.
Thanks for reading. I’ll be back tomorrow. — Matthew
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Source: Elections - nytimes.com
