Your Monday Evening Briefing

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October 7, 2019

Your Monday Evening Briefing

By victoria shannon and hiroko masuike

Good evening. Here's the latest.

Delil Souleiman/Agence France-Presse, via Afp Via Getty Images

1. "It is time for us to get out of these ridiculous Endless Wars."

That was President Trump, defending on Twitter his decision to clear the way for a Turkish military operation that would sweep away Kurdish forces that had long had American support near the border in Syria. Above, a base in the area that U.S. forces withdrew from.

But under a flood of criticism from congressional Republicans, Mr. Trump returned to Twitter to say he would restrain Turkey.

"As I have stated strongly before, and just to reiterate, if Turkey does anything that I, in my great and unmatched wisdom, consider to be off limits, I will totally destroy and obliterate the Economy of Turkey (I've done before!)"

The president's abrupt decision to defer to Turkey's desire to intervene in Syria overrode the objections of the Pentagon and State Department and caught even some of his top supporters off guard. Here's our look at who is affected by the shift.

Don Emmert/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

2. President Trump must turn over his tax returns, a judge ruled in federal court in New York, above.

Judge Victor Marrero called the president's argument that the Constitution shields sitting presidents from criminal investigation "repugnant to the nation's governmental structure and constitutional values," insisting that presidents, their families and businesses were not above the law.

But Mr. Trump's lawyers quickly appealed and won a temporary block. Here are our takeaways in a case that could end up at the Supreme Court.

On the impeachment inquiry, it was a fairly quiet day. The Democrat-controlled House Intelligence Committee demanded documents from the Defense Department and the Office of Management and Budget as they investigate President Trump's efforts to pressure the government in Ukraine to dig up dirt on his political rivals.

Mark Schiefelbein/Associated Press

3. The N.B.A. hit a third rail in China.

The league apologized for a pro-democracy slogan — "Fight for freedom, stand with Hong Kong" — posted to Twitter on Friday by the general manager of the Houston Rockets, but the backlash from Chinese sponsors and broadcasters isn't over.

The Chinese Basketball Association (led by the former Rockets center Yao Ming, picture above last year) suspended its ties with the team.

And the N.B.A.'s apology inflamed American basketball fans, while Democratic and Republican politicians accused the league of prioritizing money over human rights.

Caught between its image at home and business interests abroad, the N.B.A. commissioner, Adam Silver, acknowledged the fallout but said the league supported the manager's right to free expression.

Peter Summers/Getty Images

4. A new British-American divide.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson called for the return of an American diplomat's wife who left the country after being involved in a fatal accident.

The police say she was driving on the wrong side of the road in August near the U.S. base pictured above, about 60 miles from London, when her car struck and killed a British teenager on a motorcycle. She left for the U.S., despite telling the police that she had no plans to do so.

The U.S. Embassy said it was unlikely to lift diplomatic immunity in the case. Mr. Johnson said he would take the case to President Trump if he had to. But he must walk a fine line — Britain is hoping to sign a trade deal with the U.S. after Brexit.

Jonathan Nackstrand/Agence France-Presse, via Afp Via Getty Images

5. It's Nobel Prize week.

Three scientists who figured out the genetic mechanisms that allow cells to respond to changes in oxygen levels received the annual award for medical research today. Their findings have implications for treating cancer, anemia, heart attacks and strokes.

Tomorrow, we'll hear about the winners of the Nobel Prize in Physics, followed by chemistry on Wednesday, literature on Thursday and the Peace Prize on Friday.

The prize in economics — it's actually a memorial award — comes on Monday, Oct. 14.

Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

6. A new challenge for Juul.

Two Midwestern school districts sued the e-cigarette manufacturer, accusing it of endangering students and forcing educators to divert time and money to fight an epidemic of nicotine addiction among teenagers.

The school systems — in St. Charles, Mo., and Olathe, Kan. — appear to be the first in the U.S. to sue Juul, which dominates the e-cigarette market with devices that have become wildly popular with American teenagers.

Separately, there are new estimates of how much money is wasted in the U.S. health care system: $760 billion a year, mostly in unnecessary administrative costs and prices higher than they would be in a more competitive system.

7. One of our most-read stories today is on taxes.

For the first time on record, the 400 wealthiest Americans last year paid a lower total tax rate — federal, state and local taxes — than any other income group, according to newly released data.

Their rate was 23 percent in 2018, down from 47 percent in 1980 and 70 percent in 1950, according to "The Triumph of Injustice," a book by two U.C. Berkeley professors being released next week.

Since the 1950s, taxes that hit the wealthiest the hardest — like the estate tax and corporate tax — have plummeted, while tax avoidance has become more common, writes our Op-Ed columnist David Leonhardt. Most recently, the 2017 tax cut played a role in helping the wealthy.

Jonathan Frank/Reel Time Video Productions

8. The show must go on — unless there's a smartphone involved.

Above, Joshua Henry, the star of a new Off Broadway musical, grabbed a phone out of a man's hand and tossed it under a riser, without missing a beat. The renowned violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter stopped playing Beethoven mid-concerto to ask a woman in the front row to quit shooting a video.

The artists were applauded, but it's complicated: Performing artists rely on fan-fueled social media to bolster ticket sales, and the under-40 set has become habituated to recording sporting events, pop concerts and even dinner.

"It's turned into a battle over who belongs and who gets to set the rules," said one theater expert.

Eugene Garcia/EPA, via Shutterstock

9. The Beatles returned to the pop charts with an "Abbey Road" reissue.

The album hit No. 3 on this week's Billboard 200 chart, marking its first time in the Top 10 since 1970. (The original album, released on Sept. 26, 1969, spent 11 weeks at No. 1.)

Because physical formats of music are more profitable — the four-CD "Super Deluxe Edition" of "Abbey Road" went for $110 — the album may make more money than this week's No. 1 album, "Kirk," by the North Carolina rapper DaBaby.

Hope your evening comes together.

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