Democratic Party Faces Debt and Disarray, and Wildfires Force Mass Evacuations in Europe

**SPEAKER_1** (0:00)
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**Tracy Mumford** (0:32)
From the New York Times, it's The Headlines. I'm Tracy Mumford. Today's Tuesday, July 28th. Here's what we're covering.
In France and Spain, firefighters are racing to contain the largest wildfires ever recorded in those countries. The blazes are ripping through parched forests, and are now on the outskirts of Madrid and Bordeaux, blanketing the cities with smoke. In France, more than 200,000 people have been displaced from the hardest hit region there, making it one of the largest peacetime evacuations in the country's history. The fires in France are also threatening a hub of aerospace and defense industries near Bordeaux, with factories housing dangerous materials. Employees have already been evacuated from one site where rocket fuel is packed into boosters for missiles.
So far, most people have been able to escape the fires. France hasn't reported any deaths. Spanish authorities say two people were killed there.

**Jason Horowitz** (1:36)
So we're hearing as we talk to evacuees these harrowing stories of people trying to protect their homes with hoses, jumping up onto the roof of their buildings when firefighters aren't there because there's only so many firefighters and they have to dedicate their resources to where the fire is going often.

**Tracy Mumford** (1:54)
Jason Horowitz is the Times Bureau Chief in Madrid, where the fires have come as close as 30 miles from the city.

**Jason Horowitz** (2:01)
The thing that a lot of people are really worried about is that the window on fighting these fires, or the immediate window anyway, on fighting these fires might be closing because temperatures are going to spike again within the next day.
That means that the land will dry, that the fire will move faster, and this is the great thing about the air, because these are wildly unpredictable fires. The winds are bringing them places that no one expects. You have individual fires that are almost joining forces and becoming these mega-fires that are eating vast terrain.
So with the raising temperatures, people are increasingly worried.

**SPEAKER_4** (2:44)
I think it's a good thing to have the opportunity to sit with our good friend President Trump to hear what he has in mind.

**Tracy Mumford** (2:51)
At the White House today, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to have a high-stakes meeting with President Trump. His visit to the US is timed so he can also attend the funeral of the late Senator Lindsey Graham, who was a staunch supporter of Israel. Netanyahu said that when he meets with Trump, his top priority will be the war with Iran, which hit the six-month mark today.
Trump and Netanyahu went into the war together back in February, but they have failed to deliver the goals they set out, ending Iran's nuclear program and overthrowing the country's regime. And now the two leaders are being pulled in different directions. Trump is staring down midterm elections where his party could take a hit for what polling shows is a deeply unpopular conflict. And Trump said as recently as yesterday that he wants to negotiate with Iran. But according to a former Israeli military intelligence commander, Israeli leaders would rather see a return to all-out war because any peace deal would only strengthen the Iranian regime that Israel wants to topple. He told the Times, quote, Israel doesn't want to hear about an agreement. Analysts say that during Netanyahu's visit with Trump today, the Israeli leader is likely to make the case for why the US should continue the conflict.
Meanwhile, in Iran, leaders there are also confronting the question of whether to continue fighting. There are hardliners who don't want to make any concessions, clashing with pragmatists who think it's in Iran's best interest to strike an agreement. My colleague Farnaz Fassihi says that's left many Iranians feeling trapped in the middle as the war takes a toll on their country.

**Farnaz Fassihi** (4:32)
Iranians are under tremendous amounts of pressure and uncertainty. And we hear this all the time that the majority of Iranians feel like they are caught in the crossfires of the United States, Israel and the regime and they're being squeezed and nobody's really thinking about their well-being and what they really want.

**Tracy Mumford** (4:54)
Farnaz has more on how people in Iran are feeling right now on today's episode of The Daily. In the US there are less than 100 days until the midterms.