September 30, 2020

By David Leonhardt

Good morning. Trump and Biden hold a debate like no other before it. We have explanation and analysis.

President Trump and Joe Biden squared off in Cleveland last night.Doug Mills/The New York Times

A debate mess

It was unlike any presidential debate before it.

From the opening moments, President Trump repeatedly interrupted Joe Biden and told lies — about Trump’s own tax payments, Biden’s health care plan, the environment and voting by mail. As a result, last night’s debate was almost impossible to watch and did little to shed light on the biggest issues facing the country or the substantive differences between the candidates.

One of Trump’s own debate advisers, former Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey, called his performance “too hot.” At one point during the debate, the moderator, Chris Wallace of Fox News, said: “Mr. President, your campaign agreed both sides get two-minute answers. Uninterrupted. Your side agreed. Observe what your campaign agreed to.”

Afterward, Jonathan Martin of The Times wrote: “The president’s bulldozer-style tactics represented an extraordinary risk for an incumbent who’s trailing Mr. Biden in large part because voters, including some who supported him in 2016, are so fatigued by his near-daily attacks and outbursts.”

Anne Applebaum of The Atlantic wrote: “The point of Trump’s performance in that debate was to undermine confidence in the election and in democracy itself.”

Biden was not always sharp. He rarely is during debates. Last night, he sometimes stumbled over words and struggled to make his points. When Trump gave him openings, Biden didn’t always take advantage.

At other moments, though, Biden conveyed his ideas clearly. “Biden made the debate about the country and the American people, not about Trump,” the historian Heather Cox Richardson wrote in her newsletter. “While Trump listed his own grievances, Biden spoke to the camera, asking Americans what they needed, what they think.” He behaved as many previous presidential candidates, of both parties, have during debates.

Trump did not. With his performance, he seemed to reject the basic idea of allowing American voters to hear from both candidates.

TWO MORE BIG STORIES

Nathaniel Garcia outside his home near Window Rock, Ariz. The coronavirus has killed more than 500 people in Navajo Nation.Sharon Chischilly for The New York Times

1. A Native American health crisis

The Indian Health Service, which provides health care to more than two million members of America’s tribal communities, has long struggled with underfunding and mismanagement. The coronavirus has magnified the problems. Hospitals struggled to find protective gear, and they quickly ran out of beds and ventilators. Deaths surged.

In other virus developments:

The Times asked three teams of epidemiologists to calculate how much of the U.S. population is still susceptible to the virus. They estimated that 85 to 90 percent is not yet immune.
The virus is surging in Quebec, leading the province to reintroduce tough shutdown measures, including closing restaurants and forbidding household visits.
A new report confirms that cats and dogs can be infected by the coronavirus, though there is still no evidence that pets transmit it to humans.

2. Disney lays off thousands

The company said it would eliminate 28,000 theme park jobs in the United States, about 25 percent of its domestic resort work force, in a sign of the pandemic’s ongoing economic damage.

Disney’s California theme park has remained closed because of state restrictions. And while its Florida location reopened in mid-July, attendance has been weak.

Here’s what else is happening

Seattle is the second major U.S. city, after New York, to approve a minimum wage for Uber and Lyft drivers, requiring the companies to pay drivers roughly on par with the city’s $16 hourly minimum wage.
Robert Mueller rejected a former colleague’s claim that his investigation should have done more to scrutinize Trump’s Russia ties, calling the criticisms “disappointing” and “based on incomplete information.”
Britain and Canada imposed sanctions on President Aleksandr Lukashenko of Belarus and other senior officials, accusing them of human rights violations against protesters after a fraudulent August election.
Researchers at M.I.T. are developing a small version of a nuclear fusion reactor, which generates energy in a way that mimics the sun. The technology does not burn fossil fuel or emit greenhouse gases.
Scott Reed, the top political adviser at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and a longtime Republican strategist, parted ways with the group. The business group said it fired Reed “for cause.” Reed said he quit because of the Chamber’s drift to the political left.
Helen Reddy, whose 1972 hit song “I Am Woman” became a feminist anthem, died yesterday, at age 78.
Lives Lived: Lillian Brown was a makeup artist to nine presidents, but she did more than powder noses. She advised on diction, apparel and camera angles, helping them put their best selves forward. Brown died at 106.

Every day, a team of Times journalists works with reporters and editors around the world to create this newsletter — and help you make sense of the world. Please consider supporting our work by subscribing to The Times.

IDEA OF THE DAY: SAVING RESTAURANTS

Nearly one in six restaurants in the U.S. have closed since the pandemic began, according to a recent survey. And the coming winter will bring many more closures, as cold weather makes outdoor dining difficult. What can restaurants do to survive?

Cafe Du Soleil in Manhattan hopes its plastic bubbles will warm up diners as temperatures get colder.Kevin Hagen for The New York Times

Stay warm: Sales of propane heaters and patio fire pits are soaring, as restaurants take steps to keep open their outdoor areas. Streamlining permit processes for outdoor dining areas could also be beneficial.

Clean the air: Restaurants are risky because people spend an extended period of time in one room, typically without wearing a mask. To reduce the risk of virus transmission through the air, some restaurants are upgrading their air-filtration systems or installing movable partitions between tables to trap virus particles. In New York, Grub Street reports that some restaurants are already having trouble procuring the proper filters, because they are selling out.

Diversify: Some restaurants have tried to find other ways to make money. Among the ideas: selling family-size takeout meals; converting part of a restaurant into a gourmet grocer; and creating a “ghost kitchen,” a restaurant within the restaurant that serves a new menu of takeout food, The Washington Post reports.

Ask for money: Of course, these upgrades cost money — at the same time that restaurant revenue is down. That’s why many restaurant owners are hoping for government help. A $4 million grant program in Charlotte, N.C., will help local restaurants, bars, food trucks and caterers, The Charlotte Observer reports. And in Congress, House Democrats have proposed a $2.2 trillion relief bill that includes $120 billion for restaurants.

PLAY, WATCH, EAT, OPERA

Sarah Anne Ward for The New York Times

Make something simple

Here’s a relatively easy recipe for pork chops by the cookbook author Toni Tipton-Martin. The pork is dressed in a glossy sauce made of capers, parsley, lemon and butter, taking it from a simple to elegant weeknight meal.

For more inspiration, check out our list of the best 14 cookbooks for fall.

A fascinating N.B.A. matchup

The N.B.A. finals, between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Miami Heat, begin tonight at 9 Eastern. The Lakers — with the great LeBron James, appearing in his ninth finals in 10 years — are the favorites. The Heat, with a young roster, are trying to become the second-lowest-seeded team ever to win a title.

Among the subplots: James is facing one of his former teams, having won two titles in Miami; the Heat’s president and architect, Pat Riley, is also facing his former team, having coached the Lakers in the 1980s. The cities of Miami and Los Angeles have never faced each other in the finals of a major professional sport.

The bass-baritone Davóne Tines stars in “Fire Shut Up in My Bones,” a new opera inspired by Charles Blow’s memoir.Eric Woolsey

Changes at the Met Opera

The Metropolitan Opera canceled its 2020-21 season because of the pandemic, but with that long break comes a reboot of sorts, making amends for a lack of more representative programming at the institution. It will open its 2021-22 season with Terence Blanchard’s “Fire Shut Up in My Bones” — the first work by a Black composer ever presented by the Met. Five productions will also be conducted by women, the highest number in a season.

“These moves are all heartening and important,” the classical music critic Anthony Tommasini writes. “Yet what took so long?”

Diversions

Take a virtual tour along the Ket River in Siberia, home to a range of solitary settlements.
Some of the late-night hosts weighed in after the Trump-Biden debate.

Games

Here’s today’s Mini Crossword, and a clue: 23andMe sample (three letters).

You can find all of our puzzles here.

Thanks for spending part of your morning with The Times. See you tomorrow. — David

P.S. The word “nerdquarium” recently appeared for the first time in The Times, as noted by the Twitter bot @NYT_first_said.

You can see today’s print front page here.

Today’s episode of “The Daily” is about last night’s presidential debate. On the latest “Popcast,” how the pandemic changed the way musicians interact with their fans.

Ian Prasad Philbrick and Sanam Yar contributed to The Morning. You can reach the team at themorning@nytimes.com.

News From Barbaria

Wednesday, September 30, 2020

New York Times Reviews Last Night's First Presidential Debate /// "A Native American Health Crisis"