Up First from NPR - Trump Campaign Hack, Abortion Ballot Initiatives, Sudan Peace Talks

Episode Date: August 14, 2024

The Trump campaign said it had been hacked and Iranians were behind it. Eight states have ballot measures around reproductive rights to be put to voters in November, and US-brokered peace talks on Sudan begin in Geneva today to try to alleviate the world's largest displacement crisis.Want more comprehensive analysis of the most important news of the day, plus a little fun? Subscribe to the Up First newsletter.Today's episode of Up First was edited by Brett Neely, Catherine Laidlaw, Rebecca Rosman, Janaya Williams, and HJ Mai. It was produced by Ziad Buchh, Nia Dumas and Lilly Quiroz. We get engineering support from Hannah Gluvna. And our technical director is Zac Coleman.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

I got to solo host yesterday. It was kind of, it was okay. Did you miss me? I always miss you, Layla. Even when I have a co-host of some other kind, you know? Aww. How widespread are efforts to hack the presidential campaigns? There's a whole bunch of other stuff that we're just not seeing, we're not privy to. We do know the FBI is investigating the hack of

documents from the Trump campaign. I'm Steve Inskeep with Leila Fadl, and this is Up First from NPR News. Reproductive rights are on the ballot in eight states so far. Voters will decide in November what protections for abortion to keep or remove. So this is very much, you know, a prime example of direct democracy. What do past elections say about how this might play out? And U.S.-sponsored peace talks on Sudan begin today. The people of Sudan are facing one crisis after another with no end in sight. Stay with us. We'll give you the news you need to start your day.

These days, it can feel like the news is fighting for your attention wherever you turn, but staying informed shouldn't be a battle. Everything you need to navigate the stories that matter to you is at your fingertips. The NPR app cuts through the noise, bringing you local, national, and global coverage. No paywalls, no profits, no nonsense. Download the NPR app in your app store today, or you can go to npr.org slash app. Former President Trump is in serious legal trouble. And at the same time, he wants his old job back. It's a really big story. But with different trials in multiple states, plea deals, testimony, gag orders, it's also really hard to follow. So we created Trump's Trials, a new NPR podcast where we break

down the big news from each case and talk about what it means for democracy in weekly episodes. I'm Scott Detrow. Check out Trump's Trials from NPR. From your car radio to your smart speaker, NPR meets you where you are in a lot of different ways. Now we're in your pocket. Download the NPR app today. Days after the story broke, only a few things are clear about an apparent hack of former President Trump's campaign. Politico first reported on Saturday that it's been receiving Trump campaign documents from an anonymous source. Other news organizations have since said they've received material too. It is less certain who's behind this hack, although an internet security team from Microsoft

has said Iranian hackers targeted an unnamed presidential candidate. NPR's Shannon Bond joins us to unpack what we know about the allegation. Good morning, Shannon. Hi, Layla. So what is the Trump campaign saying about this hack? Well, it says these documents, which include a dossier on vice presidential candidate J.D. Vance, are real and were the result of a breach. And the campaign

pointed to this report that Microsoft put out last week, the detailed efforts by Iran to target an unnamed presidential campaign. But the Trump campaign hasn't provided any evidence that these leaked documents are actually connected to that hacking attempt. And Microsoft isn't giving any more detail either. Now, generally, companies like Microsoft will not comment on these kind of cases unless the victim, in this case, the Trump campaign, gives permission. But, of course, this is a serious claim. And so on Monday, the FBI said it's investigating it. And what do we know about this hacking attempt that Microsoft described? Well, it says it came from a group run by Iran's Revolutionary Guard.

They compromised the email of a former advisor to this unnamed presidential campaign. They then used that to target a current campaign official. But the Microsoft report did not say whether this had been successful. The Washington Post has since reported that the former advisor in question here is Roger Stone, the longtime Trump confidant. And the Post also reported that the FBI has actually been investigating efforts by Iran to hack both the Republican and Democratic presidential campaigns since June. I should add here the NPR has not independently verified the Post's reporting. And what does the Harris campaign say about this?

Well, it says the FBI notified it back in July that it had been targeted by a foreign actor, but that the campaign is not aware of any breaches. So you might wonder sort of where does this leave us? And I think what we do know is it appears Iran is indeed targeting presidential campaigns. It's done that in past election cycles. So not so surprising to see them do it again. What we don't know is, first of all, whether any of this year has succeeded. And specifically, we don't know whether these leaked Trump campaign documents are tied to Iran. I spoke with Chris Krebs. He ran the federal cybersecurity agency CISA during the 2020 election, and he's now at the security firm Sentinel-1. He says this whole situation is kind of like an iceberg.

You see the part that's out of the water. That's what we see right now in the media reporting, what Microsoft's put out. But below the waterline, there's a whole bunch of other stuff that we're just not seeing, we're not privy to. Shannon, in what ways does this incident echo the 2016 election when Russia hacked and leaked emails from Hillary Clinton's campaign? Yeah, I mean, there are definitely parallels here, but I think there's also some important differences. You know, the news outlets that got leaked these campaign documents from the Trump campaign, they've been much more cautious in how they're reporting on them than how we saw those Clinton emails being handled eight years ago. And overall, it's, you know, it's unclear

at this point what impact this kind of hacking will have this year, but it's an increasingly common threat, not just from Iran, but from Russia, even adversaries like China. And that's why we take and examine these claims really closely. I'd also say, Leila, it's worth remembering that back in 2016, the Trump campaign welcomed and even encouraged Russia to hack the Clinton campaign. But now that they have themselves become the targets of hacking, we hear them changing their tune. NPR's Shannon Bond. Thanks, Shannon. Thanks, Leila. Two more states have put abortion rights on the ballot this fall.

Missouri and Arizona voters will express their views. One is a conservative red state, the other a swing state. In all eight states so far, we'll have ballot measures on reproductive rights. NPR's Alyssa Nadworny is here to fill us in. Hi, Alyssa. Good morning. Good morning. So tell us about the latest additions in Arizona and Missouri. Well, both states said organizers had collected enough signatures to ask voters whether they want to add protections for abortion into the state constitution. So if the proposed amendments pass, both would legalize abortion up to what is generally recognized as the point of viability. That's around 24 weeks into a pregnancy. In Missouri, nearly every abortion has been illegal since June 2022,

with the exception of medical emergencies. And in Arizona, just remind me what the current legal landscape is there. Current Arizona law bans abortion after 15 weeks and includes exceptions in cases of medical emergencies. Now, it's interesting. The Secretary of State there on Monday verified more than half a million signatures. So that's far more than was needed. Here's Dawn Penich, spokesperson for Arizona for Abortion Access, the group behind the initiative.

So this is very much, you know, a prime example of direct democracy. This is an issue that Arizona voters all over the state from every political party want the chance to vote on directly. And here's Jill Norgard, spokesperson for the group Arizona Right to Life, which opposes abortions. Once again, people are misleading Arizonans by publicizing that their initiative is on the ballot. And Layla, Norgard's group is actually suing to keep the question off the ballot. It's one of two cases in front of the Arizona Supreme Court right now. Okay, so on the ballot in Arizona for now, pending those cases, are we waiting for decisions about ballot questions in other states? Yes, we're waiting on three states, Nebraska, Montana, and Arkansas.

There's been some drama in Arkansas. Last month, the Secretary of State there threw out signatures because they were collected by paid gatherers, which put the number below the necessary threshold. It's now at the state Supreme Court to see if the group behind the initiative is allowed more time to get additional signatures. And in Montana and Nebraska, the signatures are in, and now we're waiting for the secretaries of state to decide whether they're valid. And that could come in both places as early as next week. And Alyssa, where else will voters be deciding about abortion in November? So before this week, abortion had already been on the ballot in six other states, Colorado, Florida, Maryland, Nevada, New York, and South Dakota. Let me tell you about two of them.

So Florida's ballot will ask voters if abortion should be protected in the state constitution up to the point of fetal viability. That's 24 weeks. There's currently a six-week ban there, which went into effect in May. And then South Dakota is a little bit different from the others. The proposed amendment there would allow abortions in the first trimester, or about 12 weeks, add more restrictions in the second, and then prohibit abortions in the third trimester with some exceptions. So some abortion right groups say the proposed amendment is too

weak, while anti-abortion groups say it's extreme. Okay, and before you go, this isn't the first time voters have been asked about abortion at the voting box. What do we know from past elections? So since the Supreme Court's decision in Dobbs, which eliminated federal protections, voters in six states have weighed in on constitutional amendments on abortion. Some amendments asked to add protections, like in Ohio. Others asked voters to restrict abortion, like in Kansas. And in all six of those states, Layla, voters chose access to abortion each time. That's Alyssa Nadwarny, who covers reproductive rights.

Thank you, Alyssa. You bet. Sudan has reached a breaking point. Those are the words of a United Nations official speaking after more than a year of war. The refugee crisis is the worst in the world, which is saying something if you think about the refugee crises in this world. More than 12 million people have been displaced by fighting between a military government and a paramilitary group. U.S.-led talks to end the fighting begin in Geneva today. NPR's Emmanuel Ekenwotu has been covering this and joins us now. Good morning, Emmanuel. Good morning, Leila. So before we get to this latest round of talks,

I think we need a sense of just how bleak the situation is facing people in Sudan right now. Yeah, it sounds like a broken record at this point. To say at pretty much every stage since last April that the country's collapse has basically been a disaster. And it's still getting worse. More than a fifth of the population have been displaced. About half of the country is facing acute hunger and potentially famine. The World Food Programme said last week that their warnings on this just aren't being heard and that the aid response is critically underfunded. Mohamed Rifat is the head of the International Organization for Migration's mission in Sudan, which has been responding to the refugee crisis there. And he said it's like

nothing he's ever seen. The scale of this displacement and crisis is unknown since the World War II. The people of Sudan are facing one crisis after another with no end in sight. War, massive displacement, hunger, disease outbreak, and now floods. Floods in Sudan have made the country's situation even worse. And Rifat said that about 70% of his staff in Sudan have been displaced too, which just shows you how the crisis has affected everyone. I mean, you're describing such a dire situation, an urgent situation, and yet diplomatic talks have failed over and over again. Why? You know, for decades, Sudan has been this battleground of international competition for its resources, for its influence, for control. And that's playing

out now in the way this war is being prolonged. Several actors are fueling this, arming both sides. And a major one of growing focus is the United Arab Emirates. And they deny this, but Sudan and other bodies have said that they are heavily funding the Rapid Support Forces or the RSF. So how much hope is there around the talks that are happening today? Will they go a different way than previous talks that really were doomed? It's already actually in a precarious state. The US have been working to persuade the Sudanese armed forces or the SAF to come. They've so far said that they're not going to attend. The RSF have sent a delegation and they're already saying that the military's absence in Geneva shows that they are the party that are blocking peace. Cameron Hodson is an analyst and a fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, and he framed it this way. There's really no reason why either side has to talk. They're

sustaining this fight from outside support. Unless that outside support dries up, there's nothing to make this new round of talks any more successful than last. So the talks are a start, but nothing fundamentally is going to change without some very tough decisions. That's NPR's Emmanuel Akinwatu in Lagos. Thank you, Emmanuel. Thanks, Leila.

And that's The First for Wednesday, August 14th. I'm Leila Faldin. And I'm Steve Inskeep. Your next listen is Consider This from NPR News, which reports on the customer service doom loop. You know, you try to get help, you're forwarded to a page and then to another page and then back to the first page. Well, the White House says it's trying to make it easier to do things like cancel a subscription. Will that work? Listen to Consider This. And today's episode of Up First was edited by

Brett Neely, Catherine Laidlaw, Rebecca Rossman, Jenea Williams, and H.J. Mai. It was produced by Ziad Butch, Nia Dumas, and Lily Quiros. We get engineering support from Hannah Glovna, and our technical director is Zach Coleman. Join us again tomorrow. Since you asked, I will. Here at NPR, independence means journalism that's never influenced by politics, power, or popularity.

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