Your Thursday Evening Briefing

September 10, 2020

Your Thursday Evening Briefing

By Remy Tumin and Karen Cetinkaya

Good evening. Here’s the latest.

Anna Moneymaker for The New York Times

1. Prospects for a new round of stimulus aid before November have dimmed.

Senate Republicans failed to advance their substantially scaled-back “skinny” stimulus plan when Democrats denied them the 60 votes needed to move it forward. The plan slashed hundreds of billions of dollars from the $1 trillion proposal that Republicans unveiled in July. Democrats have refused to accept any proposal less than $2.2 trillion. Above, Mitch McConnell, the Senate majority leader, on Capitol Hill today.

The standstill comes as the Labor Department said that 857,000 more workers filed new state unemployment claims last week, a slight increase from the previous week.

The $600-a-week federal unemployment supplement that expired in July has been credited with bolstering the economy. But the congressional debate over whether the benefit made hiring harder held up agreement on a new aid package.

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Carlos Barria/Reuters

2. The wildfires tearing through California, Oregon and Washington State have left the authorities facing harrowing decisions on where to send fire and rescue teams.

They’re pleading for federal help and the public’s cooperation in stark terms. The fires have killed at least seven people, with fears that more have died in destroyed towns. Above, Phoenix, Ore.

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Climate change will only make matters worse. The lag between action on warming and the likely effect inevitably means more trouble ahead. “Things could be bad, or really bad, by 2050,” one climate scientist said.

Kyle Johnson for The New York Times

3. Russian intelligence is hacking campaign officials from both parties, Microsoft warned, while China is focusing on penetrating the Biden campaign.

The assessment, far more detailed than any yet made public by U.S. intelligence agencies, describes the new assaults as more stealthy and aggressive than those four years ago, aimed now at campaign staff members, consultants and think tanks associated with both Democrats and Republicans. Above, the Microsoft Cyber Crimes Unit in Redmond, Wash.

The warning comes a day after a government whistle-blower claimed that Trump administration officials suppressed intelligence concerning Russia’s continuing interference because it “made the president look bad.”

The campaign trail: President Trump will head to Michigan tonight, and a new poll shows Joe Biden keeping his national lead — and voters worried about election integrity.

Erin Schaff/The New York Times

4. On Wednesday, President Trump said he downplayed the coronavirus to avoid scaring people. A day later, he took a strikingly different tone.

“If I don’t win, America’s Suburbs will be OVERRUN with Low Income Projects, Anarchists, Agitators, Looters and, of course, ‘Friendly Protesters,’” Mr. Trump wrote Thursday, in another sign of the way he and his campaign have tried to stoke the fears of voters.

The tweet came a day after the damaging report that Mr. Trump told the journalist Bob Woodward he was aware of the coronavirus’s life-threatening nature earlier this year. In case you missed it, here’s our review of Mr. Woodward’s book.

We also looked at Mr. Trump’s relationship with Black Americans, whom he claims to be a champion of. But those who have tried to work with him tell a different story.

Sean Rayford/Getty Images

5. A new study warns that the virus is “a life-threatening disease in people of all ages.”

The research letter from Harvard found that among 3,222 young adults hospitalized with Covid-19, 88 died — about 2.7 percent. One in five required intensive care, and one in 10 needed a ventilator to assist with breathing. Nearly 60 percent of those hospitalized were men, and a similar percentage were Black or Hispanic. Above, students at the University of South Carolina.

Seven months into the pandemic, the virus has been detected in almost every country. More than 904,000 people worldwide have died from the virus, according to a Times database, and the virus has sickened at least 27.9 million people.

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Brad Trent

6. Jane Fraser will become the next chief executive of Citigroup, the bank said, shattering Wall Street’s longest-enduring glass ceiling.

A 16-year veteran of the firm, Ms. Fraser was teed up as the bank’s next C.E.O. last year when she was promoted to her current role as the bank’s president and head of its global consumer banking business. She will have no female counterparts among the 10 largest U.S. banks.

The Times is also looking at how white the U.S. power structure is. A large majority of those who pass our laws, control the movies and sports we see, and determine who goes to jail and who goes to war are white. A review of more than 900 officials and executives in prominent positions found that only about 20 percent identify as a person of color. This visual breaks it down by industry.

Charlie Riedel/Associated Press

7. The N.F.L. pledged to start the season as scheduled on Sept. 10. And with a new set of protocols in place, it is.

Before a reduced number of fans tonight at Arrowhead Stadium, above, the defending champion Kansas City Chiefs will host the Houston Texans. Only five teams are permitting fans in Week 1, all at scaled-back capacities. Here’s what will look different this season, and our predictions for the first week.

We’re also watching the women’s semifinals tonight at the U.S. Open. Naomi Osaka plays Jennifer Brady at 7 p.m., followed by Serena Williams against Victoria Azarenka.

Brian Bowen Smith/E!

8. The end of an era.

The Kardashian-Jenner family announced this week that after 20 seasons, their reality TV show, “Keeping Up With the Kardashians,” would come to an end in 2021.

When the first episode aired in 2007, the family was known for its patriarch, a lawyer who represented O.J. Simpson, for the Olympian who married in, and for a leaked sex tape. Today, they’re some of the most influential people in the world. Our Styles desk looked at how the show changed not only TV, but also American culture. Above, members of the family in 2014.

“Saturday Night Live,” on the other hand, isn’t going anywhere. The sketch comedy show returns Oct. 3 with its first live episode since the pandemic started.

Angelo Silvio Vasta for The New York Times

9. What do ice dancers do when there’s no ice or rink? They turn to the pavement.

When the pandemic started, skaters in the Ice Theater of New York started using inline skates, or putting wheel attachments on broken-in boots, “making the most of another medium while you wait for the ice to freeze,” as the company’s founder and artistic director cheerfully put it.

We visited with some of the dancers in Brooklyn Bridge Park, on whose concrete they seemed to soar like a flock of birds.

Drag queens and kings in San Francisco faced a similar conundrum when clubs closed. So they got in their cars and took the show to go, delivering food and a performance to patrons’ front doors.

Melissa Golden for The New York Times

10. And finally, taking a very good boy or girl on the road.

The surge in “corona puppies,” fueled by the quest to find joy or purpose while stuck at home, is real. But when humans want vacations, their pets are not staying at home with house sitters. Instead, pups like Malo, above, are going along for the ride.

The travel industry is adapting to the wave of four-legged guests. Amtrak will expand its pet program this fall, some carry-on pets are living large on empty flights and many hotels have expanded pet policies. In July, Dromoland Castle in Ireland began welcoming dogs for the first time in its 58-year history.

Have a companionable evening.

Your Evening Briefing is posted at 6 p.m. Eastern.

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