The Daily

Days after moderate House Democrats announced they would support an impeachment inquiry against President Trump, a recess began and they returned home to their swing districts. Now they would face their constituents. Congresswoman Elissa Slotkin of Michigan went to three town halls last week. We went with her. Guest: Representative Elissa Slotkin, Democrat of Michigan. For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily.

Background coverage:

• Democrats face a tricky balancing act in battleground districts: protecting political gains from 2018 while selling voters on an inquiry into the president.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.

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President Trump vowed to withdraw United States troops from the Syrian border with Turkey. But such a move could harm one of America’s most loyal partners in the Middle East, the Kurds, who have been crucial to fighting the Islamic State. Guest: Eric Schmitt, who covers terrorism and national security for The New York Times. For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily.

Background coverage:

• President Trump’s announcement raised fears that he was giving Turkey the go-ahead to move against Kurdish forces in northern Syria.
• The American pullback could create a void in the region that could benefit Iran, Russia and the Islamic State.
• American troops have “operated between two allies: Turkey and the Kurds,” our colleagues write in a news analysis. “The problem for Washington has been that the two hate each other.”

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.

Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

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The House Democrats leading the impeachment inquiry of President Trump called their first witness: Kurt Volker, a top American diplomat involved in the negotiations with Ukraine. We look at what Mr. Volker’s testimony — and the text messages he turned over to Congress — revealed about the inquiry’s direction. Guest: Julian E. Barnes, who covers national security for The New York Times. For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily.

Background coverage:

• A text exchange appears to show a dispute among American diplomats over whether President Trump was seeking a quid pro quo from Ukraine.
• A second whistle-blower, said to have firsthand knowledge about the president’s dealings with Ukraine, has come forward.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.

Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

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Today on “The Daily,” we present Episode 5, Part 1 of “1619,” a New York Times audio series hosted by Nikole Hannah-Jones. You can find more information about it at nytimes.com/1619podcast.

More than a century and a half after the promise of 40 acres and a mule, the story of black land ownership in America remains one of loss and dispossession. June and Angie Provost, who trace their family line to the enslaved workers on Louisiana’s sugar-cane plantations, know this story well. Guests: The Provosts, who spoke with Adizah Eghan and Annie Brown, producers for “1619.”

Background reading:

• The story of the Provosts contains “echoes of the policies and practices that have been used since Reconstruction to maintain the racial caste system that sugar slavery helped create,” Khalil Gibran Muhammad writes in his essay on the history of sugar in the United States.
• The “1619” audio series is part of The 1619 Project, a major initiative from The Times observing the 400th anniversary of the beginning of American slavery. Read more from the project here.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.

Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

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The investigation of Harvey Weinstein that helped give rise to the #MeToo movement had seemed, for a moment, to unite the country in redefining the rules around sex and power. But as a backlash emerged, the Supreme Court confirmation of Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh became a kind of national trial of the movement.

On the one-year anniversary of Judge Kavanaugh’s confirmation, we look at new reporting on the story of the woman at the center of it — Dr. Christine Blasey Ford — and the journey that led to her searing testimony in Washington. Guests: Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey, investigative reporters for The New York Times and the authors of “She Said: Breaking the Sexual Harassment Story That Helped Ignite a Movement.”

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily.

Background coverage:

• Last month, several Democratic presidential candidates called for the impeachment of Justice Kavanaugh after The Times published new information about allegations of sexual misconduct against him.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.

Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

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In 2018, President Trump hired Rudolph W. Giuliani, his longtime friend and the former New York City mayor, to In 2018, President Trump hired Rudolph W. Giuliani, his longtime friend and the former mayor of New York City, to defend him against the special counsel’s Russia investigation. So how is it that Mr. Giuliani helped get the president entangled in another investigation, this time involving Ukraine?

Our colleague investigated the remarkable behind-the-scenes campaign, encouraged by Mr. Trump and executed by Mr. Giuliani, to gather and disseminate political dirt from a foreign country. Guest: Kenneth P. Vogel, a Washington correspondent for The New York Times. For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily.

Background reading:

• The story of a shadow foreign policy in Ukraine unfolded against the backdrop of three elections — this year’s vote in Ukraine and the 2016 and 2020 presidential races in the United States.
• Secretary of State Mike Pompeo confirmed he listened in on the phone call at the center of the impeachment inquiry.
• Follow our live updates from the investigation in Washington.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.

Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

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As China celebrated 70 years of Communist Party rule, scenes of pageantry, pride and unity in Beijing contrasted with the firebombs, rubber bullets and mass protests in Hong Kong. We look at what this day of contradictions tells us about the simmering unrest in the territory. Guests: Javier C. Hernández, a China correspondent for The New York Times reporting from Hong Kong, spoke with Natalie Kitroeff, a business reporter for The Times. For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily.

Background reading:

• The violent confrontations in Hong Kong have presented a challenge to the image of unshakable control that President Xi Jinping of China has sought to project.
• As an American journalist in Beijing, our colleague was accustomed to a watchful Chinese government. But never before had the police insisted on occupying his home.
• A timeline of the summer of protests in Hong Kong: how they started, why they grew and how the government has responded.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.

Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

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Three past American presidents have confronted the possibility that members of their own party would support their impeachment. Only one, Richard M. Nixon, left office because of it, when Republicans eventually abandoned him. But what can we expect this time, in the impeachment inquiry of President Trump?

Guests: Peter Baker, the chief White House correspondent for The New York Times and an author of “Impeachment: An American History,” in conversation with Natalie Kitroeff, a business reporter for The Times. For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily.

Background reading:

• The impeachment inquiry was prompted by a July call between President Trump and the Ukrainian leader. Details of a second call have now emerged, in which Mr. Trump pressed the Australian prime minister to help investigate the Mueller inquiry’s origins.
• In a news analysis, Peter Baker explains how preventing foreign influence is one of the oldest issues in America’s democratic experiment.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.

Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

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It took just days for a whistle-blower complaint to prompt an impeachment inquiry of President Trump. But it took weeks for the concerns detailed in the complaint to come to light — and they nearly never did. Guest: Julian E. Barnes, who covers national security for The New York Times. For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily.

Background reading:

• The Trump administration’s handling of the accusations is certain to be scrutinized by lawmakers.
• President Trump was repeatedly warned by his own staff that the Ukraine conspiracy theory was “completely debunked.”

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.

Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

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Nine-year-old Ella was terrified of tornadoes and getting sick. So she did something that was even scarier than her fears: confront them. Guests: Ella Maners and her mother, Katie Maners, and Julia Longoria, a producer for “The Daily.” For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily.

Background reading:

• Ella spent a week at Fear Facers Summer Camp, a day camp in Florida that helps children learn to deal with obsessive-compulsive and anxiety disorders.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.

Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

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