--:-- Tracy Mumford: From the New York Times, it's the headlines. I'm Tracy Mumford. Today's Wednesday, October 2nd.
--:-- [Sound of air raid sirens]
--:-- Tracy Mumford: The Middle East is on high alert this morning, after Iran fired a wave of missiles at Israel, and Israel vowed to retaliate. Iran's attack last night triggered air raid sirens and sent millions of people scrambling for shelter. About 180 missiles were fired toward Israel, and there were loud booms and fiery streaks of light in the skies over Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, as many of the missiles were intercepted. The attack did not cause substantial damage. Only one death was reported. But the strikes marked the latest violent turn in the escalating conflict between Israel, Iran, and Iran's proxy forces.
--:-- Farnaz Fasihi: Iran said the strikes were retaliation for recent Israeli assassinations of Hezbollah and Hamas leaders. In response, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, Iran made a big mistake, and it will pay for the strikes. Now Iran is bracing for a counterattack. They've put all their armed forces on the highest alert. They are issuing statement after statement that if Israel or the United States strikes Iran, Iran will strike even with more force.
--:-- Farnaz Fasihi: And two of my sources who are in the Revolutionary Guard said that hundreds of ballistic missiles were placed in launchers and ready along Iran's border. Farnaz Fasihi covers Iran for The Times. She says fears of a full-blown war between Iran and Israel have been building for the past year. Now it seems closer than ever. This moment feels different. It feels different because Israel's attacks recently have been more brazen and they've blown through red lines. And Iran's attack Tuesday was also a brazen attack because it had the element of surprise.
--:-- Farnaz Fasihi: So we have to see if this is going to lead into a longer period of battle. Even the Iranians acknowledge that Israel has the upper hand in military and intelligence. But what the Iranians do really well and they demonstrated is that even if they lose their short battle they strategize for the longer battle, you know, in terms of trying to create chaos with the proxies or continuing to escalate in other ways.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: At my direction, the United States military actively supported the defense of Israel. Meanwhile, President Biden said that the U.S. had coordinated with Israel to defend against the Iranian attack and that U.S. forces in the eastern Mediterranean helped shoot down some of the incoming missiles. Make no mistake, the United States is fully, fully, fully supportive of Israel.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Biden's unqualified declaration of support for Israel marked a shift in tone for the president after his growing criticism of Israel's war in Gaza and the civilian death toll there. At a separate press conference, the president's national security advisor, Jake Sullivan, said there had been meticulous planning between the U.S. and Israel. When asked whether or not the U.S. would participate in a possible Israeli counterstrike against Iran, Sullivan declined to answer.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Now this is likely the final debate of this election cycle, and voting is already underway in 20 states. Tim Walls and J.D. Vance faced off last night in New York City for the vice presidential debate. The whole thing was less personal and more policy than the matchup between their running mates, Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, last month.
--:-- J.D. Vance: I want to try to convince you tonight, over the next 90 minutes, that if we get better leadership in the White House, if we get Donald Trump back in the White House, the American dream is going to be attainable once again.
--:-- Tim Walls: Vance and Walls fielded questions on the economy, immigration, and abortion. Donald Trump put this all into motion. He brags about how great it was that he put the judges in and overturned Roe v. Wade. For his part, Walls leaned hard into the issue after struggling to find his footing on other topics earlier in the debate.
--:-- J.D. Vance: Vance meanwhile tried to paint Trump as the candidate of stability even claiming Trump quote peacefully gave over power after the 2020 election. And in one of the most notable exchanges of the evening Vance refused to concede that Trump lost that race. He is still saying he didn't lose the election.
--:-- Tim Walls: I would just add to that. Did he lose the 2020 election? Tim, I'm focused on the future. Did Kamala Harris censor Americans from speaking their mind in the wake of the 2020 COVID situation? That is a damning non-answer.
--:-- J.D. Vance: It's a damning non-answer for you to not talk about censorship. Despite that back and forth, the overall tone for the night was civil. Both men leaned into their Midwestern manners, sometimes to an almost comic degree, and spoken exceptionally polite tones in a way that we're not necessarily used to seeing on debate stages in recent years.
--:-- Katie Glick: The reality is that most vice presidential debates do not end up moving the dial in a significant way in presidential contests. But in an extremely close and hard-fought race where we are talking about states that will be won truly on the margins, you know, within a small group of still undecided voters, it'll be important to watch whether some of those voters came away feeling any more comfortable about their options after watching the vice presidential debate.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: In Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum was sworn into office yesterday, becoming the country's first woman president. At her inauguration ceremony, Sheinbaum said women had arrived to lead the destiny of Mexico. Adding, quote, I say we arrived because I do not arrive alone. We all arrived.
--:-- Shane Baum: Thousands packed into Mexico City's main square to celebrate her. One woman from Tijuana told The Times she traveled by bus for more than 50 hours to be there for the moment. Shane Baum is a climate scientist and the former mayor of Mexico City. She's also the first Jewish president of the country. She won the election earlier this year with a large margin but she faces a complex series of challenges including the largest budget deficit in decades security concerns over rising cartel violence and the recent controversial overhaul of the country's courts.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: A real test for her leadership may come once the results of the American election are clear. Harris would likely extend the cooperation between Mexico and the U.S. that Biden has promoted, while Trump has proposed stricter trade policies, and even floated deploying the U.S. military to fight cartels on Mexican soil, which could ratchet up tensions between the two countries.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: And finally, second-hand clothing sales are booming. The apparel resale market's worth almost double what it was less than a decade ago, by one estimate. And last year, it grew at seven times the rate of the wider retail industry. Consumers are turning to used options in part in reaction to concerns about overconsumption or the climate impact of manufacturing.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Some of the used sales are happening online, but a lot is still good old-fashioned vintage or thrift shopping in person. There's something about being able to see and try on used clothing that's still resonating with people, to the point that secondhand storefronts are opening even as other shops struggle and close.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: The retail giants have noticed, and they want in. This year, Banana Republic opened a shop that sells its own branded merchandise from the 80s and 90s. And the outdoor apparel brand REI now has two standalone shops exclusively selling used items. One retail consultant told The Times that despite how easy it is to shop online, the uniqueness of shopping resale, where every item is different, offers a sense of discovery and excitement that you don't get with a click, calling it, quote, finally a reason to go to the store.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Those are the headlines. Today on The Daily, a deeper look at last night's debate and why it felt so different than other matchups in recent elections. I'm Tracy Mumford. We'll be back tomorrow. Thank you.
