Vance and Walz debate highlights and Israel vows retaliation against Iran: Morning Rundown

JD Vance and Tim Walz play nice during the vice presidential debate. Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel will retaliate after Iran’s missile attack. And researchers reveal that Mount Everest is growing even taller. 

Here’s what to know today.

Vance and Walz put on a display of Midwest nice in vice presidential debate

Cordial handshakes book-ended the first and only debate between vice presidential candidates Sen. JD Vance of Ohio and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz. And in between, there were numerous uses of the words “agree” or “agreement” or “I don’t disagree.” On and on it went as Vance, the right-wing Republican, and Walz, a progressive Democrat, put on a textbook performance of Midwest nice. And a TV audience expecting to see two ferocious attack dogs instead saw a couple of affectionate puppies.

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Between the moments of kindness, differences in opinion on immigration, the economy, gun rights and more were on display. Both Vance and Walz attempted to pin America’s woes on the others’ presidential candidates. Vance repeatedly attacked the “Harris administration,” essentially erasing President Joe Biden and elevating Vice President Kamala Harris as the person chiefly responsible for the problems the country faces. Walz repeatedly blamed the problems of today on Trump’s four previous years in office. 

The debate had a few other noteworthy moments:

→ Vance’s microphone was cut while he claimed that immigration policies in the Biden-Harris administration “destroyed” the lives of American citizens in Springfield, Ohio.

→ Walz admitted when pressed that he “misspoke“ in the past when he claimed that he was in Hong Kong during China’s crackdown in Tiananmen Square in 1989.

→ Vance, breaking with Trump, said Republicans need to do a better job of talking to women about abortion, calling it an issue about which the American people “just don’t trust us.”

→ And in what was maybe Walz’s most heated moment of the night, he asked Vance point blank if Trump lost the 2020 election. Vance responded, “Tim, I’m focused on the future.” Walz quickly shot back: “That’s a damning non-answer.” 

With Election Day five weeks away, the face-off was an opportunity for Vance and Walz to make their campaigns’ closing arguments. Barring a change from Trump, who has said he won’t debate Harris a second time, it could be the last widely broadcast moment of the race. 

Read the full story here.

More coverage from the vice presidential debate:

• Watch highlights from the debate in 3 minutes.
• Five key takeaways from the night — the first being that the debate wasn’t really about Vance of Walz. 
• From energy costs to job creation, both candidates stretched the truth or made false statements during the debate. Here’s what the VP nominees got wrong and right.
• Vance claimed that Trump “salvaged Obamacare,” the health insurance program that Trump actually tried to kill.
• “In some ways, the debate felt like a throwback to the VP debates America got used to in the pre-Trump era,” NBC News chief political analyst Chuck Todd writes. And it covered a lot more substance than recent presidential debates. The real question is whether it’ll impact either campaign. Read the full analysis.

Israel says response to Iranian missile attack ‘will be painful’

Iran launched ballistic missiles at Israel yesterday, following Israel’s recent widespread attacks in Lebanon, including the killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and a ground invasion in the country’s south. Approximately 180 missiles were fired toward Israeli territory, the Israel Defense Forces said after the attack. A large number of the missiles were intercepted by Israeli and U.S. defenses. Israeli officials said they were unaware of any casualties. 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel will retaliate for Iran’s attack, saying “Iran made a big mistake” and “it will pay for it.” He also extended his warning to Gaza, Lebanon, Yemen and Syria.

When Israel’s response will come is unknown, but the Israeli ambassador to the U.N. said “it will be painful.” Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian vowed that Israel will receive a “far more crushing response” if it makes a “mistake” and retaliates for Iran’s missile attack.

Read more about the missile attack in Israel and follow our live blog for the latest updates.

More coverage of conflict in the Middle East:

• Israel claims its ground operation is “limited,” but memories of invasions in both 1982 and 2006 have many people in Lebanon, as well as Western officials and analysts, skeptical it will remain that way. 

Grief and anger after deadly flooding at Tennessee plastics plant

More than 150 people have died in Southeastern states as a result of the devastation of Hurricane Helene, and searches continue for dozens of people still missing. In eastern Tennessee, the search for missing people includes those who worked at the Impact Plastics factory in Erwin. Days after Helene ravaged the area, survivors lashed out at the company for failing to warn workers and making them go to work the day of the storm. And relatives of missing workers expressed frustration that officials had not been consulting families to help find and identify the missing and the dead.

Among the dead is Bertha Mendoza, 56, who lost her grip while clinging to a vehicle that was trying to get her to safety. In her final call to her husband hours earlier, Mendoza said she loved him and also asked him to tell her children she loved them, her son said. “Those were her last words,” Guillermo Mendoza said. Bertha Mendoza’s body was found a day later, on Saturday. 

Read the full story here.

More coverage of Hurricane Helene’s aftermath: 

• President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris are scheduled to visit impacted communities. 
• Angel Mitchell was visiting her mother at an eastern Tennessee hospital when water started rushing into the building. She recalled the harrowing five hours that she, her mother and many others spent awaiting rescue.
• In Asheville, there were long lines for groceries, gas and water; to get into shelters; and to charge cellphones. But one around-the-block line in downtown — for free pizza at the Mellow Mushroom — brought many a brief slice of happiness. 
• The National Weather Service and local officials in the path of Hurricane Helene warned of the storm’s danger ahead of time. But some residents were still doubtful, showing the difficulty of getting out warnings amid skepticism of the government and media.
• Before and after images show Hurricane Helene’s impact in Asheville.

Politics in Brief

Middle East conflict: After months spent trying to avert a full-blown war the Biden administration faces its toughest test yet.

Dockworkers strike: The Biden administration will likely be held responsible if a workers’ strike at 14 ports along the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico results in any significant economic disruption, potentially putting a wrench in Kamala Harris’ White House bid.

Want more politics news? Sign up for From the Politics Desk to get exclusive reporting and analysis delivered to your inbox every weekday evening. Subscribe here.

Read All About It

• Five Jewish college students reported being assaulted in the last month, as the Oct. 7 anniversary of the Hamas terror attack on Israel approaches. While many universities have vowed tougher responses against violence and disruptions, few have explained how they will effectively enforce them.
• A wave of new lawsuits is set to be filed against Sean “Diddy” Combs, with more than 120 accusers coming forward.
• An NBC News investigation last month found hundreds of unclaimed bodies were sent to a Texas medical school, where they were, in some cases, cut into pieces and and leased out. A new database lists the more than 1,800 people whose bodies were given to the school.
• John Amos, whose acting career included iconic roles in “Roots” and “Good Times,” has died at the age of 84.

Staff Pick: Mount Everest is growing even taller

Can you imagine anything bigger than Mount Everest? Probably not — and that won’t change anytime soon, since scientists discovered that thanks to the merging of ancient rivers it’s somehow growing even taller. You can read more about what’s causing this growth here, which as the scientist who made this discovery said, serves as a reminder — even something that seems as permanent as Everest is still changing. 

NBC Select: Online Shopping, Simplified 

Amazon’s fall Prime Day, called Prime Big Deal Days, is less than a week away. But you don’t have to wait until Oct. 8 and 9 to start saving because some deals are already live. NBC Select’s editors found the best early deals to shop now. And check out this guide on what’s worth buying and what to skip during the sale. 

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