Loading summary
Transcript8 lines
- [00:01]
AT&T Business Advertiser
Wake up to the power of AT&T business. Get fast, reliable and secure coverage today. Connecting changes everything.
- [00:13]
Hannah Jewell
I think he's a bad guy. Yeah, he's a bad guy. Former National Security Advisor John Bolton was indicted. That's where we're starting the seven. From the Washington Post, I'm Hannah Jewell. It's Friday, October 17th. Let's get you caught up with today's seven stories. John Bolton is the third longtime target of President Donald Trump to be federally charged in a month. He is a former national security adviser to Trump who has become one of the president's fiercest critics. Yesterday, a federal grand jury in Maryland indicted him on charges of mishandling classified and sensitive material. The indictment charged Bolton with 18 counts of transmitting or retaining national defense information. If he's convicted, the charges each carry a maximum 10 year prison sentence. The indictment alleges Bolton shared more than a thousand pages of diary like updates detailing his sensitive work in 2018 and 2019 with two relatives who were helping him with a book he published in 2020. You already heard what Trump thinks about him at the top of the show. At a White House event yesterday afternoon, he said his former national security officer was a bad guy. In a statement, Bolton maintained that as a career public servant, he would never compromise America's foreign policy or national security. President Trump will meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House today. That's number two. Russia launched a full scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and it currently holds about a fifth of Ukraine's territory. Neither side has made significant territorial gains over the past year. Zelensky wants to change that. Today he will try and persuade Trump to supply Ukraine with U. S made long range missiles for deeper strikes into Russia. Trump has said he is considering providing Kyiv with these Tomahawk missiles as a way of putting pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin. In the coming weeks, Trump and Putin plan to meet in Hungary to discuss how to end the war in Ukraine. Number three, ICE is ramping up its surveillance capabilities. ICE has been on an intensive nationwide campaign to find and deport undocumented immigrants. Now it's beefing up its operations with advanced technology. The Post reported this morning that the agency has signed contracts in recent weeks for technologies that can identify people by their irises or facial features. It will also allow agents to monitor people's cell phone activity, social media posts and physical movements. Documents show that some of the technology may also be used to target what the Trump administration sees as anti ICE extremist groups. Late Last month, Trump declared Antifa, a domestic terrorist organization. Democratic lawmakers, civil rights watchdogs and former officials have expressed their concerns about the move. They say ICE now has a green light not only to monitor immigrant communities, but but also to carry out broad surveillance of Americans exercising their First Amendment rights. Number four Lawmakers aren't getting much closer to ending the government shutdown. The federal government has not been fully funded since the start of the month. The closure is driven by partisan fury and a fight over who controls the government, and that could make it harder to resolve in the House of Representatives. Speaker Mike Johnson has been adamant that he will not bring lawmakers back into session until the Senate passes the House's proposal to fund the government. Yesterday, Johnson criticized Senate Democrats for refusing an offer to hold a vote on extending Affordable Care act subsidies after the shutdown ends. The future of those subsidies are at the heart of this stalemate.
- [04:43]
Mike Johnson
People see what's going on here. We should not have Border Patrol agents not paid right now because Chuck Schumer wants to pay political games to cover his tail. I don't know how much more simply to say that. And every single one of you know that's exactly what's going on. I don't like being mad, Mike. I want to. I want to be happy. I want to be the happy warrior. But I am so upset about this.
- [05:02]
Hannah Jewell
Meanwhile, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, speaking on MSNBC this week, explained the Democrats position.
- [05:09]
Mike Johnson
We view this as a partisan Republican spending bill that continues the trajectory of gutting the health care of the American people at a time when we need to fix our broken health care system.
- [05:21]
Hannah Jewell
Many Democrats view this fight as standing up to an authoritarian president. For Trump's team, it's about establishing the president's right to full control of the executive branch and trying to gain more power over federal spending. Foreign number five is a Post exclusive US Special Operations helicopters flew close to Venezuela in recent days. A Post visual analysis shows that the US Military's elite Special Operations aviation unit appears to have flown less than 90 miles from the coast of Venezuela. According to a US official, the planes were engaged in training exercises that could serve as preparation for an expanded conflict against alleged drug traffickers or even potential missions inside Venezuela. Meanwhile, the top military officer who oversees operations in Central and South America is stepping down abruptly. Both moves have fueled speculation that Trump may be preparing to try and forcibly remove Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro from power. The Trump administration announced two new initiatives that could broaden access to IVF and fertility drugs. That's number six New guidance will encourage employers to offer fertility benefits to employees in the same way they offer dental or vision benefits. However, the government will not mandate that they do so, nor will they provide subsidies to help pay for the policies. Trump also announced yesterday a new arrangement to substantially reduce the price of Gonal F. That's a fertility medication used in IVF cycles. Thousands of people use IVF to have babies each year, and Trump had promised to mandate coverage for the process. Broadening access to IVF was one of his pledges during the 2024 presidential campaign. And at number seven a New Orleans couple found the gravestone of a Roman soldier in their backyard While clearing underbrush from the backyard of their home in March, Daniela Santoro and her husband found what they thought was a massive rock. In fact, they had just scratched the surface of a mystery that spanned continents and centuries. They had uncovered the gravestone of Roman soldier Sextus Congenius Varus. He died 1900 years ago. It turns out his gravestone had been missing from Italy, where a museum had lost the artifact after it was bombed in World War II. You can see this piece of history for yourself in our newsletter today and this weekend. Maybe you should take a minute to check your garden for any ancient artifacts. That's the show for this week. The associate producer of the Seven is Taylor White. The staff writers are Jamie Ross, Izzanakbao and me. Special thanks this week to Rennie Svernofsky, Lucas Trevor and Christina Quinn. John Taylor is our editor. Copyediting by Melissa Ngo and Thomas Haliba. Mixing and sound design is by Jim Briggs and Justin Gerrish. Our theme music is by Edith Mudge. Renita Jablonski is our director of audio. I'm Hannah Jewell. Thanks for listening and have a great weekend. I'll be off the mic again for a few days, but the rest of the team will meet you back here. On.
- [09:26]
AT&T Business Advertiser
An F1 car can drive up to 230 miles an hour, which means that when it's decision time, it's not just seconds that count, it's milliseconds. Oracle Red Bull Racing relies on ATT business to keep their team connected in near real time, even when the pit is thousands of miles away. Our video crew went behind the scenes at Oracle, Red Bull Racing's factory to learn how it all works. Search at and t business@washingtonpost.com to learn more.
- [09:59]
Washington Post Subscriber Advertiser
Think about why you listen to podcasts. It's like having a friend who makes you think or can help you wind down right? Well, the Washington Post has a lot of people you can turn to at any hour. You can read the most important and interesting stories. We can help you cook something delicious, give you advice on a tricky friendship. Rave about a movie or book that you shouldn't miss. When you become a Washington Post subscriber, you have a companion for whatever part of your day needs it most. Get it all for just $4 every four weeks. That's for an entire year. After that, it's just $12 every four weeks. Cancel anytime. Go to washingtonpost.com subscribe that's washingtonpost.com subscribe.