| We’re covering the Navy secretary’s resignation, a big win for democracy backers in Hong Kong, and why your dog loves you. | | | They were both rich, and they both had legal problems in the U.S. Another thing they had in common: They were both approached by Rudy Giuliani to help dig for dirt on former Vice President Joe Biden. | | | Our report on the campaign by Mr. Giuliani, President Trump’s personal lawyer, to cultivate the oligarchs — Dmitry Firtash and Ihor Kolomoisky — helps explain what led to Mr. Trump’s July phone call with Ukraine’s president, a conversation that has taken Mr. Trump to the brink of impeachment. | | | Details: Mr. Firtash, an energy tycoon who is facing extradition to the U.S. on bribery and racketeering charges, said that one of Mr. Giuliani’s associates had offered to intervene on his behalf with the Justice Department. | | | Response: Mr. Giuliani told The Times that there was nothing improper about his dealings with the oligarchs. “Where do you think you get information about crime?” he said. | | | Related: After the president’s July call, Mick Mulvaney, the acting White House chief of staff, asked budget officials whether there was a legal justification for withholding $391 million in military aid to Ukraine. | | | Another angle: Devin Nunes, the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, said reports that he had helped efforts to smear Mr. Biden were “demonstrably false.” | | | Michael Bloomberg brings a huge personal fortune to an increasingly fluid race. Demetrius Freeman for The New York Times | | | The business executive and former New York City mayor said on Sunday that he would run for president — a move that is certain to roil an already cluttered Democratic primary field. | | | Oh, and he used to be a Republican. | | | By the numbers: Mr. Bloomberg has reserved almost $35 million in airtime for television commercials, a figure that dwarfs other campaigns’ advertising budgets. | | | Mr. Spencer had threatened to resign or be fired if the president reversed the demotion of Chief Petty Officer Edward Gallagher, a SEAL commando who was court-martialed on charges including shooting civilians and stabbing a wounded Islamic State captive. | | | Background: A military jury acquitted Chief Gallagher in July of all charges but one — posing for inappropriate photographs with a dead captive — and sentenced him to four months’ imprisonment. | | | Details: Mr. Esper said that Mr. Spencer had differed in his private and public statements. Others said the Navy secretary had angered Mr. Trump by publicly disagreeing with him. | | | Quote of note: “I cannot in good conscience obey an order that I believe violates the sacred oath I took,” Mr. Spencer said in his resignation letter. | | | Pro-democracy supporters celebrating outside a polling station in Hong Kong on Monday. Lam Yik Fei for The New York Times | | | Amid record turnout, three million voters cast ballots, with pro-democracy candidates capturing 389 of 452 elected seats, up from 124 previously and far more than they have ever won. | | | It was a pointed rebuke of Beijing and suggested that the public continues to back the democracy movement, even as the protests grow increasingly violent. | | | Why this matters: The landslide puts China’s leaders under even greater pressure to respond to the protests and to the broader public’s calls for more accountable government. | | | Rose Marie Cromwell for The New York Times | | | “King tides” take place when the alignment of the moon, sun and Earth creates a stronger gravitational pull on warm oceans. | | | Rising sea levels caused by climate change make the flooding worse, and Hurricane Dorian and other storms this summer exacerbated the problem in southern Florida. One result? Severe tidal flooding in the Florida Keys. | | | “You feel like a trapped rat,” one resident said, standing outside her home with water up to the driveway. | | | PAID POST: A MESSAGE FROM EMMA | | Here's one free month to see how email marketing can work for you. | | At Emma, we're email people, not math people. But $44 ROI for each $1 spent is something we can get on board with. You too? That's the magic of an email marketing platform that gives you all the tools you need to really connect with your subscribers at the right time, resulting in increased clicks, higher engagement, and more sales. | | | Get a free month | | | | Race relations in St. Louis: Tensions in the city’s police department are bubbling to the surface as it braces for the trial of two white officers accused of beating a black colleague. | | | The Weekly: The latest episode of The Times’s TV show is about “deepfakes,” videos doctored with artificial intelligence. Read behind-the-scenes notes about the episode, which is available on FX and Hulu. | | | "Eddy," a crease sculpture by Erik and Martin Demaine. Ryan Jenq for The New York Times | | | Metropolitan Diary: In this week’s column, a windy walk to a coffee date, trouble on the R train and more reader tales of New York City. | | | What we’re reading: This review in The American Interest of a new biography of David Ben-Gurion, Israel’s founding prime minister. Steven Erlanger, The Times’s chief diplomatic correspondent in Europe, writes: “The book, by the fine Israeli historian Tom Segev, gets a thoughtful, personal consideration by the journalist Ben Judah.” | | | Michael Graydon and Nikole Herriott for The New York Times | | | One of the premiere events in men’s tennis was overhauled this year. It hasn’t been seamless. | | | Founded in 1900, the Davis Cup has evolved since then, but urgency for more fundamental change had been building. The moment came after the International Tennis Federation sold the rights to Kosmos, a Spanish investment firm whose president is Gerard Piqué, a Spanish soccer star. | | | The changes condensed the elite World Group into two rounds rather than four, with an intense finals week involving 18 teams playing best-of-three-set matches in a single location. This year, that’s Madrid — where Spain made its way to the final against Canada. | | | Fan ire is not new to the Davis Cup. In 1935, when some of the tournament's matches were played at Wimbledon, rain delays prompted spectators to fling their seat cushions onto the court. Associated Press | | | Tennis.com listed the complaints: “Empty seats, late finishing times, fans waiting in cold weather, a confusing format, sparse TV coverage, a controversy over a forfeited doubles match, withdrawals by several Top 10 players, Piqué’s ongoing feud with Roger Federer: This is what has made headlines from Madrid.” | | | That is, until Spain won last night. | | | The organizers have been listening. Last week, after a U.S. doubles team’s match against Italy ended after 4 a.m., they moved back start times and shrank the break between matches. | | | That’s it for this briefing. Chris is back tomorrow. | | Thank you
Mark Josephson and Eleanor Stanford provided the break from the news. Andrea Kannapell, the Briefings editor, wrote today’s Back Story. You can reach the team at briefing@nytimes.com. | | P.S.
• We’re listening to “The Daily.” Today’s episode is on Chief Petty Officer Edward Gallagher.
• Here’s today’s Mini Crossword, and a clue: Broadway award (4 letters). You can find all our puzzles here.
• A 2013 Times investigation of a homicide detective in the New York Police Department led to the release of 14 wrongly convicted men, one of whom received a $7 million settlement last week. | | | Were you sent this briefing by a friend? Sign up here to get the Morning Briefing. | | |
