Go for the gold: Your Weekend Briefing

October 11, 2020

By Carole Landry and Judith Levitt

Welcome to the Weekend Briefing. We’re covering President Trump’s public events, further revelations from the president’s tax records and the confirmation battle for Judge Amy Coney Barrett.

Stefani Reynolds for The New York Times

1. President Trump resumed holding big, public events a little more than a week after testing positive for the coronavirus.

On Saturday, Mr. Trump greeted several hundred supporters gathered on the South Lawn of the White House, telling the crowd from a balcony: “I’m feeling great!” Masks were required, but Mr. Trump peeled his off as he began his remarks.

Public health guidelines suggest that Mr. Trump should still be isolating, but with 23 days to go until Election Day and polls showing him falling far behind Joe Biden, Mr. Trump is trying to project strength. He added two more rallies next week, in Iowa and Pennsylvania, on top of his planned appearance in Florida on Monday.

More than two dozen people have tested positive in cases linked to the White House or President Trump. One, Chris Christie, the former governor of New Jersey, said on Saturday that he had been released from the hospital.

Illustration by The New York Times

2. More revelations from President Trump’s tax records.

The latest Times investigation into the president’s tax data and other records found that more than 200 companies, special-interest groups and foreign governments had patronized Mr. Trump’s properties, funneling in millions of dollars, while reaping benefits from him and his administration.

“As president, Mr. Trump built a system of direct presidential influence-peddling unrivaled in modern American politics,” writes an investigative team that has been covering the president’s finances and taxes for almost four years.

Here are the investigation’s key findings and a note from our executive editor, Dean Baquet, that includes links to all of the team’s work.

Anna Moneymaker/The New York Times

3. The Supreme Court confirmation battle starts Monday.

Judge Amy Coney Barrett, President Trump’s nominee to fill Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg’s seat, goes before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Republicans applaud her as a dazzling legal scholar, while Democrats fear the creation of a conservative majority that would threaten the Affordable Care Act, gay marriage and abortion rights. Judge Barrett signed an anti-abortion ad in 2006.

Our former Supreme Court correspondent, Linda Greenhouse, has a list of questions the senators might ask Judge Barrett, including, “Will you recuse yourself from abortion cases on the Supreme Court’s docket? If not, why not?”

The committee is headed by Senator Lindsey Graham. His refusal to take a coronavirus test last week despite having been in proximity to two other Republican senators who tested positive prompted Democrats to speculate that he was worried that a positive result would imperil the confirmation hearings.

Octavio Jones for The New York Times

4. Hurricane Delta’s damage is still emerging in Louisiana.

On Friday, Delta made landfall as a Category 2 hurricane, 20 miles from where Hurricane Laura struck a few weeks ago, intensifying the devastation the state has experienced during a brutal storm season. Above, twice-hit Johnson’s Bayou on Saturday.

Nearly 600,000 in the state were without power on Saturday morning, with thousands more reported in Texas and Mississippi. Many homes were inundated, drainage systems were overwhelmed, and debris was scattered.

Mark Makela for The New York Times

5. Ballot drop boxes are becoming a legal battleground.

In a major blow to President Trump, a federal judge in Pennsylvania on Saturday emphatically rejected the Trump campaign’s attempt to limit the availability of drop boxes, saying that Republicans had failed to make the case that their use could lead to fraud.

Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas, a Republican and a Trump ally, is expected to appeal a separate federal court ruling that halted his plan to limit the number of drop boxes used to collect ballots to one per county.

6. More than one million new coronavirus cases in three days.

The world recorded the highest total ever in such short span, a reflection of resurgences in Europe and the U.S. and uninterrupted outbreaks in India, Brazil and other countries.

The number of new cases is growing faster than ever worldwide, according to a Times database.

The second wave in Europe has dimmed hopes of a rebound from the economic catastrophe delivered by the pandemic. The European Central Bank’s chief economist cautioned that the 19 countries of the eurozone might not recover until 2022.

In Britain, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has yet to shake off questions about the effects of his bout with Covid-19 on his energy and focus. His office has not offered a medical briefing since he was discharged from the hospital six months ago.

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Clive Brunskill/Getty Images

7. An unseeded Polish teenager won the women’s singles title at the French Open.

Iga Swiatek, 19, won her first tour title — and her country’s first Grand Slam singles title — on Saturday with a 6-4, 6-1 defeat of Sofia Kenin, the reigning Australian Open champion and No. 4 seed at Roland Garros.

On the men’s side, Rafael Nadal will go for his 13th French Open title today at 9 a.m. Eastern. He faces Novak Djokovic.

In the N.B.A., the Los Angeles Lakers had been expected to win a championship on Friday, but no, thanks to hot shooting by Miami’s Duncan Robinson (and, of course, Jimmy Butler). The Lakers lead the series, three games to the Heat’s two, ahead of Game 6 at 7:30 p.m. Eastern.

Robert Neubecker

8. Are air miles really a good deal?

The pandemic has devastated the travel industry, but mileage programs are still big business for airlines. United Airlines, for example, says the value of its MileagePlus program is more than the stock market value of the airline itself.

Those programs might not be so lucrative for travelers who use their miles inefficiently. Our Your Money columnist lays out a clear cost-benefit analysis.

Andrew Scrivani for The New York Times

9. A taste of France for autumn.

The weather is cool and crisp, the trees are resplendent — and you’re longing for the deeper, more robust food of fall.

This three-course menu starts with a beet and tomato salad, stars pan-roasted duck breast with mushrooms, and crescendos with a classic lemon tart for dessert.

Also, are galettes the latest pandemic baking trend? Messy, flat, round, forgiving — galettes, our Op-Ed contributor Tamar Adler writes, are the pastry form we need in 2020.

Jenn Ackerman for The New York Times

10. And finally, new look, same great journalism.

Every weekend, Times editors pick top stories we think will fascinate and delight you. Those stories will now be delivered through The Weekender, a roundup of the best Times journalism. Topping this week’s list: the end of Venezuela’s oil boom, a new blockbuster exhibition of Artemisia Gentileschi’s paintings and turkey farmers prepare for a different Thanksgiving.

Our editors also suggest these 11 new books, a British spoof of the Robocop genre, and these new songs, including “Gwendolyn” by the Wilco frontman Jeff Tweedy.

Have you been keeping up with the headlines? Test your knowledge with our news quiz. And here’s the front page of our Sunday paper, the Sunday Review from Opinion and our crossword puzzles.

Have a riveting week.

Your Weekend Briefing is published Sundays at 6 a.m. Eastern.

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