Friday News Roundup - Domestic

A series of mailed pipe bombs have riveted the nation.

Suspicious packages were mailed or delivered by couriers to top Democratic figures, from Los Angeles to New York to Washington.

The bombs were wrapped in bubble wrap and manila envelopes.

Their intended recipients, according to the mailings, included: Hillary and Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, Joe Biden, former Attorney General Eric Holder, Democratic donor George Soros, Democratic California Congresswoman Maxine Waters, former CIA Director John Brennan and actor Robert de Niro.

All of them have been outspoken critics of President Trump, who has called for civility while also placing blame on the media for political divisiveness.

We’ll bring you the latest on the investigation into these mailings. How will law enforcement agencies try to catch the person or group that did this?

Also this week, The New York Times reported that Chinese intellegence services have been eavesdropping on President Trump’s calls to old friends.

Mr. Trump's aides have repeatedly warned him that his cellphone calls are not secure, and they have told him that Russian spies are routinely eavesdropping on the calls, as well. But aides say the voluble president, who has been pressured into using his secure White House landline more often these days, has still refused to give up his iPhones. White House officials say they can only hope he refrains from discussing classified information when he is on them.

The article further notes that administration officials “said they had further confidence he was not spilling secrets because he rarely digs into the details of the intelligence he is shown and is not well versed in the operational specifics of military or covert activities.”

President Trump responded to the story on Twitter.

The so-called experts on Trump over at the New York Times wrote a long and boring article on my cellphone usage that is so incorrect I do not have time here to correct it. I only use Government Phones, and have only one seldom used government cell phone. Story is soooo wrong!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 25, 2018

Would more secure communication make a difference to national security?

The first woman on the Supreme Court, Sandra Day O’Connor, announced that she will retire from public life due to a dementia diagnosis. The Washington Post wrote that O’Connor “was seen as a moderate conservative, with a pragmatic approach that often made her the pivotal member.”

In a statement, she wrote: “How fortunate I feel to be an American and to have been presented with the remarkable opportunities available to the citizens of our country. As a young cowgirl from the Arizona desert, I never could have imagined that one day I would become the first woman justice on the U.S. Supreme Court.”

And we’re a little less than two weeks out from the midterm elections. We’re updating you on close races to watch and what issues are driving voters to the polls.

Catch up on our interview with Florida gubernatorial presidential candidate Andrew Gillum.

It’s a special roundup of the news from Atlanta, shawty!

GUESTS

Kathy Lohr, Journalist; former NPR correspondent

Adam Ragusea, Journalist in residence, Mercer University Center for Collaborative Journalism

Greg Bluestein, Political reporter, Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Eugene Scott, Political reporter, The Washington Post; @Eugene_Scott

For more, visit https://the1a.org.

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