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Debate questions, firing at Cannon and Russian air raids

 
Today's politics story

Trump casts doubt on ABC debate with Harris

What happened
Donald Trump is publicly wavering on whether he will participate in his first and only confirmed debate with Vice President Kamala Harris on Sept. 10. Trump suggested late Sunday that he might back out, accusing debate host ABC of broadcasting a "so-called Panel of Trump Haters." He said Monday he was still "thinking about" participating.

Who said what
Trump told reporters he wants to debate Harris but on "another network" with less "hostility." The Harris camp wanted to "change the rules" agreed upon earlier, leaving each candidate's microphone on instead of muting it between answers, he said, adding that it "doesn't matter to me, I'd rather have it probably on." Trump's stated preference for live mics "appeared to undercut his campaign's efforts to keep the same rules in place" as during his one debate against President Joe Biden, CNN said.

Microphones have been "unmuted for both candidates for most of televised presidential debate history," until Trump's October 2020 debate against Biden, The Associated Press said. That muted debate was "widely celebrated for being more substantive than the earlier matchup." But Democrats believe Harris "can get Trump to lose his cool and say something impolitic on mic," Politico said. Harris campaign spokesperson Michael Tyler said Trump's endorsement of hot mics "resolved" the issue, "unless Donald Trump allows his handlers to overrule him."

What next?
While Harris has agreed in principle to a second debate after Sept. 10, it's "not clear when or where that would happen," USA Today said. Vice-presidential candidates J.D. Vance and Tim Walz are scheduled to participate in their own debate on Oct. 1.

 
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Today's LEGAL story

Jack Smith asks appeals court to revive Trump case

What happened
Special counsel Jack Smith asked the U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday to overturn U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon's dismissal of the federal classified documents and obstruction case against Donald Trump. Smith told the court that Cannon, a 2020 Trump appointee, had made grievous and dangerous legal errors when ruling in July that Attorney General Merrick Garland had no legal authority to appoint special prosecutors.

Who said what
Cannon "deviated from binding Supreme Court precedent, misconstrued the statutes that authorized the special counsel's appointment and took inadequate account" of historical precedents, Smith wrote. Attorneys general have "repeatedly appointed special and independent counsels" since the 1850s, from "the prosecution of Jefferson Davis" to "Watergate, and beyond."

Cannon's surprise decision "halted what was considered by many lawyers to be the strongest criminal case" against Trump, The Washington Post said. The case has "moved so slowly under Cannon's oversight that some legal observers questioned whether the judge was in over her head," The Wall Street Journal said. The same appeals court already reversed her once in this case.

What next?
Trump's lawyers have 30 days to file their response to Smith's appeal. Even if Smith prevails, The Associated Press said, "there's no chance of a trial before the November presidential election." 

 
 
Today's INTERNATIONAL Story

Russia pounds Ukraine with 'massive' air attack

What happened
Russia hit Ukraine with missiles and drones early Tuesday after striking more than half of the country's regions early Monday. The barrage killed at least four civilians on Tuesday and seven on Monday, and attacks on energy and water infrastructure caused outages in Kyiv and elsewhere. Ukrainians sought shelter overnight in basements and subway stations.

Who said what
Ukraine's Air Force said Russia fired 236 cruise and supersonic missiles and attack drones on Monday and Ukraine shot down or disabled 201 of them. Air Force commander Mykola Oleshchuk called it Russia's "most massive aerial attack" in 30 months of war. The previous one-day record was 158 missiles and drones in December, the BBC said.

The attack's "main target" was energy infrastructure, but Moscow also wanted to "strike at Ukraine's reserves of another key resource: morale," the BBC said. Ukrainians have been "electrified" by Kyiv's recent incursion deep into Russian territory, and the Kremlin wanted to show it can "still inflict misery on the Ukrainian population" at will.

What next?
Ukraine's defense minister and a close adviser to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will present the Biden administration this week with a list of targets Kyiv wants to strike inside Russia with long-range U.S. weapons, Politico said. To sidestep Western restrictions, The Associated Press said, Ukrainian officials said they have developed a homegrown missile-drone hybrid, the Palianytsia, that can strike deep within Russia, without U.S. approval.

 
 

It's not all bad

The beaver population in urban London is finally growing, with two babies born for the first time since they were hunted to extinction 400 years ago. Their parents were brought to the Paradise Fields nature reserve last fall as part of the Ealing Beaver Project, which aims to improve biodiversity and educate the public on these rodents. The births are a "testament to the project's success that the beavers are happy enough to breed and raise a family here," volunteer Sean McCormack said to the BBC.

 
 
Under the radar

Pakistan is "throttling the internet" with a China-style firewall to "crush dissent," AFP said, citing activists and business leaders. And the government is "gaslighting" citizens about it, the Karachi newspaper Dawn said in an editorial.

Internet connectivity has been up to 40% slower than normal since July, one IT expert told AFP, disrupting businesses and affecting millions. For weeks, the government has refused to comment. Pakistan's all-powerful military said it was battling "digital terrorism." 

But a digital rights specialist told AFP the real cause is the installation of a national firewall aimed at "increasing surveillance and censoring political dissent," a claim the government denies. Activists say the target of the disruption is the party of jailed opposition leader and former Prime Minister Imran Khan, who is still "wildly popular and boosted by a young tech-savvy voter base," AFP said. 

The country blocked internet access last year when protests erupted over the arrest of Khan. X has been banned since February due to "security threats" after it was used to share allegations of poll rigging against Khan's party during the election. 

Pakistan has also blocked access to Wikipedia and TikTok in recent years to restrict content deemed "inappropriate on religious grounds." After "weeks of hue and cry" from internet users, The Times of India said, the Pakistani government acknowledged the slowdown, saying it was upgrading its "web management system" to combat cybersecurity threats.

 
 
On this day

August 27, 1942

Lyudmila Pavlichenko, a sniper for the Soviet Union's Red Army, became the first citizen of the USSR to visit the White House. One of the deadliest snipers in history, she was received by President Franklin D. Roosevelt and first lady Eleanor Roosevelt. She also embarked on a goodwill tour of the U.S. and Canada as the war in Europe raged.

 
 
TODAY'S newspaperS

"Russian missiles pummel Ukraine," The Boston Globe says on Tuesday's front page. The Russian barrage "hits energy sites across Ukraine," The Washington Post says, and in another war zone, "Mideast foes save face with restraint." The "respite is far from a truce" between Israel and Hezbollah, The New York Times says. Hezbollah's sponsor "Tehran sends mixed signals on retaliation against Israel," The Wall Street Journal says. In Texas, "Latinos cite 'pure intimidation' from" police raids on Democratic candidates and campaign volunteers, the Times says. One prominent Latino group "rips" state Attorney General Ken Paxton, the Houston Chronicle said, calling his "voter fraud raids" a naked attempt to suppress the Democratic Latino vote.

► See the newspaper front pages

 
 
Tall tale

A bloody mess

A man bleeding profusely from his head was arrested last week in Miami after refusing to get off an American Airlines plane bound for Las Vegas. Flight attendants asked Eugenio Ernesto Hernandez-Garnier to clean up the blood and put on new bandages, but he claimed he did not have any fresh ones, Local 10 said. His companion, Yusleydis Blanca Loyola, yelled at the crew that Hernandez-Garnier recently had surgery. Police were called and arrested both passengers, who face charges of trespassing after a warning. 

 
 

Morning Report was written and edited by Theara Coleman, Nadia Croes, Catherine Garcia, Scott Hocker, Anya Jaremko-Greenwold, Justin Klawans, Harriet Marsden, Devika Rao, Rafi Schwartz and Peter Weber, with illustrations by Stephen Kelly and Julia Wytrazek.

Image credits, from top: Andrew Caballero-Reynolds / AFP via Getty Images; Bill O'Leary / The Washington Post via Getty Images; Ukrinform / NurPhoto via Getty Images; Illustration by Julia Wytrazek / Getty Images