The Takedown

The lasting image I took from tonight’s debate is Kamala Harris looking at Donald Trump when criticizing him and his inability to look at her back.

She stared him down.

The debate was a classic case of a prosecutor taking on a felon, and as predicted, she would “slice and dice him into pieces like an onion on a cutting board.” (The Knife)

Harris landed punch after punch. Here are a few.

• “We had to clean up Donald Trump’s mess.”

• “He sold us out” (on China).

• “He was fired by 83 million people. Clearly he is having trouble processing that.”

• (Dictators) can manipulate you with flattery and favors.”

• “He (Putin) would eat you for lunch.”

• “Stop with the continuous lying.”

• “You’re not running against Joe Biden. You’re running against me.”

It wasn’t a flawless performance by Harris. She muffed a couple lines and referred to Trump as the “former Vice-President” at one point.

She kept mentioning to her “plans” but left them mostly unspecified.

But overall, Harris won the debate hands down and, more importantly, she won the psychological chess game. While Trump kept struggling to fight back, his answers frequently devolved into rants about immigrants eating Americans’ pets and the like.

Finally, with Trump cornered, Harris moved in for the kill.

Checkmate!

HEADLINES: 

• Taylor Swift endorses Harris (NBC)

• Harris and Trump offer worlds-apart contrasts on top issues (AP)

• Elon Musk’s misleading election claims reach millions and alarm election officials (WP)

• Ukraine launches largest drone attack yet on Moscow, killing 1, Russia says (WP)

• 'If we can't speak, why live?' - BBC meets women after new Taliban law (BBC)

• An Israeli strike on a Gaza humanitarian zone tent camp kills at least 40 people, Palestinians say (AP)

• US says Russia received missiles from Iran, piles on sanctions (Reuters)

• The Afghan hospital struggling to save its starving babies (BBC)

• Germany tightens controls at its borders in an attempt to crackdown on immigration. (Reuters)

• Blinken slams Israel after IDF says its forces likely shot slain American activist (CNN)

• Nippon Steel flies to Washington for last-gasp push to save US Steel deal (Financial Times)

• US takes on Google's ad tech empire in antitrust trial (AFP)

• Harris’s rise in the polls has stalled, while Trump holds steady (WP)

• How Tennessee Keeps Nearly Half a Million People From Voting (NYT)

• The 20 US cities where the middle class is shrinking fastest (The Hill)

• More than 49 million in US covered by ACA over the past decade (Reuters)

• Ancient Egyptian fort that guarded kingdom against mysterious ‘sea peoples’ uncovered (Independent)

• Apple's slow AI rollout threatens iPhone upgrade cycle (Axios)

• Robots change people's daily lives in China (China Daily)

• A.I. Can Now Create Lifelike Videos. Can You Tell What’s Real? (NYT)

• Cows Go Extinct (The Onion)