Walz Makes His Debut, and Hamas Elevates Leader Who Planned Oct. 7

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Today's Wednesday, August 7th. Here's what we're covering.

to introduce her running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walls,

a name that a day ago didn't mean a lot to people outside of his state.

maybe more so, thank you for bringing back the joy.

a football coach, and a member of the Army National Guard.

But it was his willingness to go on the offensive against the Republican ticket

that energized the crowd.

That's not even counting the crimes he committed.

all the way through Harris and Walls.

He really leaned into the attack lines against Trump and his running mate, J.D. Vance.

These guys are creepy, and yes, just weird as hell.

So you know what's out there, so say it with me.

We are not going back.

Walls' introduction both to a big stadium crowd

and the adoration of the national Democratic audience.

It was clear that he was moved both by the applause and the energy in the room.

You know, we will see going forward whether Walls can continue

to deliver the sort of energy that Democrats have had in this race

since Kamala Harris took over for President Biden.

His task is really going to be to translate the Democratic agenda to voters

in the key Midwestern battleground states, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania,

where his appeal is expected to be highest.

the Democratic nominees for president and vice president.

The DNC announced it had certified delegates' votes ahead of the party's convention.

And for a deeper look at Walls' life and career

and how he became Harris' pick for VP, listen to today's episode of The Daily.

Meanwhile, in Missouri, Democratic Representative Cori Bush lost her primary campaign,

making her the second member of the so-called squad of progressive Democrats in Congress

to be unseated after publicly criticizing Israel's war in Gaza.

Bush, who's been calling for a ceasefire and voted against military aid to Israel,

lost to Wesley Bell, a county prosecutor whose campaign was funded almost entirely by pro-Israel

groups. Bush's defeat comes just weeks after her fellow squad member, Jamal Bowman,

who also criticized Israel, lost his primary. The same pro-Israel groups who went after Bush

poured $15 million into the campaign to defeat Bowman.

One week after an explosion in Iran killed the top political leader of Hamas,

the militant group has chosen a replacement, Yair Sinwar. He's long been a central figure in Hamas,

and he was one of the architects of the October 7 attacks. This new role for him

suggests that Hamas will take an even more confrontational stance against Israel.

Sinwar is currently believed to be hiding in tunnels underneath Gaza,

from which he's played a key role in deciding whether or not Hamas moves towards a ceasefire.

Ukraine announced this week that it's received its first batch of F-16 fighter jets,

something the country has been asking its Western allies for since the first days of the war,

more than two years ago. The arrival of the planes is a morale boost,

but it comes as Russian forces have been making steady advances. They now occupy around 18 percent

of Ukraine's territory, according to one estimate. And increasingly, public opinion about the war

has been shifting. One recent poll shows that 44 percent of Ukrainian civilians

now want to start negotiating with Russia. Another poll showed that nearly a third of

Ukrainians would agree to give up some territory to end the war. It feels like there's been this

talked about a couple of years ago, which is the whole idea of negotiations and coming to some sort

of deal or compromise to get a more lasting peace. Kim Barker has been reporting from Ukraine for

dealing with the hardships of war. Russia has devastated the infrastructure here.

So people are having to do without power, without water. It's also hard dealing with

missile strikes and the constant threat of missile strikes, warnings all night long to

go to the shelter. It's this constant sense that something could happen. Another thing that really

weighs on people is the idea that they feel like the West made certain promises to them about aid

and about military support that haven't necessarily been honored. It took U.S. Congress six months to

pass this military aid package that finally came through in April. You have Germany that's just

announced that it plans to cut half of the aid to Ukraine. And I think they sort of feel like,

well, if the West isn't going to support us, if we don't actually have the backing,

then maybe we have to make the best of what's in front of us right now.

A top advisor to President Vladimir Zelensky said that negotiating with Vladimir Putin

would be making a, quote, deal with the devil. But Ukrainian officials have also suggested that

Russia should come to future peace talks, and they've been signaling an openness to having

one of Russia's key allies, China, take a bigger role in discussions about how to end the war.

And finally, at the Olympics, there is no bigger moment for athletes than taking their spot on the

podium to get their medals. But this year, for some athletes, it's happening several years after

they competed. Today, the U.S. figure skating team from the 2022 Beijing Games will get gold medals

after Russia's team was stripped of its top score in a doping scandal. And later this week,

10 other Olympians who thought they lost, including weightlifters, runners, and jumpers,

will get reallocated medals. The reallocation can sometimes be bittersweet. South Korean lifter

Jung Sung-hyun thought he got fourth at the 2012 Games in London. And after the loss, he went home,

quit competing, and got a desk job. Now, 12 years later, he'll get bronze, after a Russian who

finished ahead of him was disqualified for doping. The reallocation ceremony will be held on Friday

in front of the Eiffel Tower. Those are the headlines. I'm Tracy Mumford. We'll be back tomorrow.