--:-- Tracy Mumford: From the New York Times, it's the headlines. Today is Wednesday, October 16th.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Early voting has now officially begun in most states, and the votes are pouring in. At least 5 million people have already cast their ballots, whether in person or by mail. That's roughly 3% of registered voters in an election that could come down to the thinnest of margins.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: In Georgia, the polls opened yesterday, and the battleground state saw a record number of voters before the day was even half over. With just three weeks to go until Election Day, both candidates are now narrowing in on specific groups they hope will move the needle.
--:-- [Audio clip of Donald Trump speaking]
--:-- Donald Trump: If you add up all the promises you've made, and your plans would add $7.5 trillion to the debt, that's more than twice the total for Vice President Harris.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Trump was pressed about the cost of his economic plans, which budget watchers think could explode the country's already ballooning debt.
--:-- Donald Trump: Why should they trust you with that? Because we're about growth. She's got no growth whatsoever. And we're all about growth. We're going to bring companies back to our country.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Meanwhile, Kamala Harris gave an interview yesterday with the radio host Charlemagne Tha God in Detroit, a key city in another battleground state.
--:-- [Audio clip of Kamala Harris speaking]
--:-- Kamala Harris: Listen, I feel very strongly I need to earn every vote, which is why I'm here having this candid conversation with you and your listeners.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Harris spent the hour often focusing her answers on the concerns of Black Americans.
--:-- Kamala Harris: What is true is that I am running to be a president for everybody, but I'm clear-eyed about the history and the disparities that exist for specific communities, and I'm not going to shy away from that.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Both candidates will continue their targeted appeals today, and they'll both be on Fox. Trump, with a town hall focused on women's issues, and Harris, sitting for an interview that likely to reach a more conservative audience than her other appearances as her campaign tries to peel off Republican voters.
--:-- Michael Crowley: The Biden administration is warning Israel that it will cut off military aid to the country if Israel doesn't do more to get humanitarian supplies into Gaza.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: According to the State Department, supplies recently dropped to the lowest level they've been at since the war began.
--:-- Michael Crowley: Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken issued the warning in a private letter on Sunday to two Israeli officials.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: In it, they said Israel has 30 days to increase the flow of goods. Otherwise, the letter said, Israel would be in violation of a U.S. law that prevents the government from giving military aid to any country that's blocking humanitarian supplies the U.S. has provided.
--:-- Michael Crowley: This isn't the first time that the Biden administration has warned Israel that it risks potentially triggering a cutoff of American military aid if humanitarian supplies into Gaza don't increase.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Michael Crowley covers the State Department for The Times. There was a similar warning back in April, and Biden officials felt that that warning actually did have a positive effect, that the Israelis paid attention and began to allow substantially more aid into Gaza.
--:-- Michael Crowley: But the key from the U.S. perspective was that that aid had to be sustained. It couldn't be a one-time thing.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: So it's not clear yet how Israel might respond to this warning.
--:-- Michael Crowley: I talked to one longtime Middle East expert, Aaron David Miller, a former Middle East peace negotiator, and he was very skeptical that anything would significantly change.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Miller's prediction was that Israel will basically do as little as it can in terms of allowing more aid into Gaza to prevent some kind of dramatic response from the Biden administration, like restrictions on weapons transfers or even a complete cutoff of military aid, and that the Biden administration really doesn't want to take steps like that, and so that it will probably accept what small amount Israel is willing to do continuing what has basically been a pattern for the past year
--:-- Alyssa Rubin: As Israel faces new pressure in Gaza, it's continuing to carry out attacks in Lebanon, targeting what it says are Hezbollah sites.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Times correspondent Alyssa Rubin says the signs of war in Lebanon are now everywhere.
--:-- Alyssa Rubin: We get up some mornings and the sky has that kind of haziness that if you've spent time in war zones, comes after there has been a lot of bombing.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: What is really striking to me here is the constant presence of drones.
--:-- Alyssa Rubin: The evening I came, I wanted to go around the corner and buy some extra water. And there was this buzzing. And I had never heard it quite so close.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: And I've come to realize, oh, that's a drone right, almost it sounds like, over me.
--:-- Alyssa Rubin: And now I'm getting used to it, but you're very aware, is that drone watching you? Is that drone potentially going to fire in your vicinity?
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Alyssa says the violence has caused havoc across the country.
--:-- Alyssa Rubin: Nearly a million people have fled their homes, sometimes waiting until the last minute, reluctant to leave.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: One was a family I met up in Tripoli, and they really delayed because the father had just finished building their house himself.
--:-- Alyssa Rubin: He was a carpenter. And he didn't want to leave this place he built and was just waiting to paint.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: But they had two university-aged children, and they had an autistic son of nine who was terrified by the bombing.
--:-- Alyssa Rubin: And eventually, they did leave.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: And all the father kept saying is, we just want a normal life.
--:-- Alyssa Rubin: And that is a phrase you hear over and over.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: In North Carolina, nearly 100 people are still missing, more than two weeks after flooding from Hurricane Helene washed away homes and roads in the western part of the state.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: The death toll from the storm is over 90 there.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: At a press conference Governor Roy Cooper said crews are still working to clear roads and to restore power and water to places like Asheville.
--:-- Governor Roy Cooper: Our response to this disaster is strong.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: However, there's still a persistent and dangerous flow of misinformation about recovery efforts in western North Carolina.
--:-- Governor Roy Cooper: The governor also called out the wild rumors that have led to threats against federal emergency management workers.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: FEMA temporarily stopped sending some of its workers door-to-door to offer help because of the threats.
--:-- Governor Roy Cooper: If you're participating in spreading this stuff, stop it.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Whatever your aim is, the people you are really hurting are those in western North Carolina who need help.
--:-- Governor Roy Cooper: And finally, the things that go on a wedding registry are always changing with the times.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: People used to ask for a full set of china or like a jello mold.
--:-- Governor Roy Cooper: Now maybe they ask for a Roomba.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: But one request is becoming more popular than ever.
--:-- Governor Roy Cooper: Couples are asking their guests to help pay for a house.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: According to The Knot, an online wedding resource, the number of couples asking for donations for a down payment has jumped by more than half since 2018.
--:-- Governor Roy Cooper: That can raise eyebrows among some who feel like asking for cash is improper etiquette.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: But attitudes are changing, and couples are facing a crushing housing market, where homeownership has become increasingly inaccessible.
--:-- Governor Roy Cooper: According to Zola, another wedding website, housing is not the only big-ticket item brides and grooms are putting on the registry now.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Honeymoon funds have become common, and they also found couples asking for donations towards paying off student loans or for fertility treatments.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Those are the headlines.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Today on The Daily, a look at the race in Montana that could end up deciding who will control the Senate.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: That's next in the New York Times audio app, or you can listen wherever you get your podcasts.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: I'm Tracy Mumford. We'll be back tomorrow.
