THE SHOW NOTES: Debate Review, Assaulting An Ex-Girlfriend, & How Will Israel Respond?

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BREAKING: Doug Emhoff is accused of abusing an ex-girlfriend.

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Walz vs Vance

Last night’s Vice Presidential debate on CBS wasn’t the knockdown, drag-out, bar room brawl that many of us expected. Instead, JD Vance and Tim Walz participated in a shockingly cordial debate that covered policy differences despite the moderator’s insistence on moving on.

Tim Walz’s “Minnesota Nice Guy” act struggled to connect on a national stage and repeatedly opened the door for a respectful JD Vance to win the exchange. Here’s my take this morning. Here are three highlights:

ONE - Tim Walz failed to explain why he lied about going to China’s Tiananmen Square.

TWO - “I've become friends with school shooters.”

THREE - “Honestly Tim, I think you’ve got a tough job here.”

Here are the notable takes from around the web:

Becky Quick: JD Vance performed flawlessly. It’s hard to see anything wrong that he did in that debate at all.

Ross Douthat: I would rate that the most successful Republican debate performance of this century, eclipsing Romney in the first debate with Obama in 2012.

Frank Luntz: I misjudged JD Vance – he really is a good communicator and a great debater. And Tim Walz has given viewers more details about more policies tonight than his running mate has all year.

Jen Pasaki: I want to see the Gov. Walz we saw organically during veepstakes; and I think [last night] was a bit of a missed opportunity.

WATCH: Tim Scott Defends JD Vance on CNBC

BREAKING: Did Kamala Harris’s Husband Assault An Ex-Girlfriend?

This is from The Dailymail:

Vice President Kamala Harris's husband assaulted his ex-girlfriend, three friends have told Dailymail.com.

The Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff, 59, allegedly struck the woman in the face so hard she spun around, while waiting in a valet line late at night after a May 2012 Cannes Film Festival event in France.

One of her friends told DailyMail.com that the woman called him immediately after the incident, sobbing in her cab, and described the alleged assault.

Israel

Iran launched more than 180 ballistic missiles in multiple waves at Israel yesterday which resulted in no human casualties thanks to the Iron Dome. The attack is the largest recorded onslaught of ballistic missiles and marks a notable escalation in the simmering war between Israel and Iran.

It is expected that Israel will launch a response aimed at maximizing financial damage to Iran in the very near future. It is widely believed that Israel will target Iran’s oil and gas fields but could potentially target its nuclear sites as well. Iranians also believe their energy infrastructure is the most likely target with long lines at gas stations across Tehran yesterday.

The Israeli death toll in its invasion of southern Lebanon has climbed to eight as fighting has escalated just north of the Israeli border. Nearly 25% of Lebanon is under military evacuation orders as Israel appears ready to press further north.

Power Outage

Reuters: Iran's Khamenei warned Nasrallah of Israeli plot to kill him

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned Hezbollah leader Syyed Hassan Nasrallah to flee Lebanon days before he was killed in an Israeli strike and is now deeply worried about Israeli infiltration of senior government ranks in Tehran, three Iranian sources said.

In the immediate aftermath of the attack on Hezbollah's booby-trapped pagers on Sept. 17, Khamenei sent a message with an envoy to beseech the Hezbollah secretary general to leave for Iran, citing intelligence reports that suggested Israel had operatives within Hezbollah and was planning to kill him, one of the sources, a senior Iranian official, told Reuters.

Full story at Reuters.

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• Stopping Iran’s attack would have forced Israel to use sophisticated – and expensive – defences - The Guardian

• Two-thirds of voters say the country is on the wrong track ahead of the 2024 election - NBC

• Let Israel Win - Free Press

• Russia captures strategic stronghold after 2 years of Ukrainian resistance - NBC

• Helene and other storms dumped a whopping 40 trillion gallons of rain on the South - AP

• How Russians Serve the State: In Battle, and in Childbirth - NYT (paywall)

• Vietnamese fishermen injured in clash with Chinese vessels - FT (paywall)

• Saudi Minister Warns of $50 Oil as OPEC+ Members Flout Production Curbs - WSJ (paywall)

Market snapshot: