Happy Monday: New threats for election works as early voting starts; Secret Service details what went wrong the day of Trump’s assassination attempt in PA; West Wing turns 25

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Hey everyone—

We love learning new things from our Mo News community!

At our Mo News in person meetup in Atlanta last week, we met Kristen, a Mo News Premium member, who happens to be a competitive jigsaw puzzler. She told us that the Olympics for puzzling (something we admittedly knew nothing about)—the World Jigsaw Puzzle Championships —were taking place in Spain this weekend.

Here are a few of the headlines:
—The US (162 competitors) had a strong finish this year, despite added competition.
—The American "Busy Birdies" team beat the Czech Republic’s "Puzzlequeens" by 43 seconds to win the team competition.
—There is a new Individual World Champion: Kristin Thuv of Norway.

Time to get started on a 1,000 piece puzzle that’s been collecting dust in our closet!

Mosheh & Jill

PS: please email us here with any stories you think we should be covering!

📌 SECURITY GETS VERY SERIOUS AT POLLING PLACES

The 2020 election ushered in a new wave of harassment against election workers and polling stations, fueled by distrust of the voting process on the right.

Election officers and volunteers — especially those in battleground states — have been facing violence and even death threats over false allegations of voter fraud and rigged machines. Election officials are now implementing strict safety precautions at polling stations as political violence becomes more volatile in the run-up to a bitterly competitive 2024 election.

PANIC BUTTONS, SNIFFER DOGS, & BULLETPROOF GLASS
Local election directors nationwide are ramping up their security measures ahead of Election Day on November 5th to keep workers and polling places safe, while also ensuring ballots are being counted accurately and voting systems won’t be tampered with. This year, you may see sheriff’s deputies deployed alongside election workers, panic buttons that connect poll managers to a 911 dispatcher, masks and gloves to handle incoming mail, and even Narcan on hand, in the event of exposure to a deadly opioid like fentanyl.

The moves come after offices in half a dozen states received fentanyl-laced envelopes last fall. Earlier this month, another round of suspicious packages were reported to the FBI by election offices in 20 states, including AZ, GA and NC. Some of the envelopes had a return address that read “US Traitor Elimination Army.”

Here are some of the precautions being taken across the country:

• Washoe County, NV: Election workers are protected by glass observation booths.

• Maricopa County, AZ: Election workers are receiving de-escalation training, and working behind bullet-proof glass. Security cameras will be monitored. Police drones and rooftop snipers will be at the ready.

• In Georgia: Election workers are practicing how to handle ransomware attacks.

• In Pennsylvania: Election officials are considering panic buttons for poll managers.

NEW REALITY
A survey of U.S. election officials underscores the new lens through which election officials view their jobs.

• Nearly 40% reported experiencing “threats, harassment, or abuse.”

• 54% said they’re concerned about their colleagues.

• 62% feared political leaders would try to interfere with how election officials do their jobs.

RISE OF POLITICAL VIOLENCE
The security upgrades come after election officials were targets of harassment and even death threats in the 2020 election, primarily by people acting on former President Trump's claims that the election was stolen from him through widespread fraud or rigged voting machines.

The US is also seeing worsening political violence. Just last week, Trump was the target of a second assassination attempt, just months after surviving the first shooting. Last year, the feds fatally shot a man who threatened to kill President Biden. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband was severely injured by a man who broke into their home and attacked him with a hammer.

📌 MISCOMMUNICATION & COMPLACENCY: SECRET SERVICE ADMITS FAILURES BEFORE TRUMP SHOOTING

In the most comprehensive assessment to date, the U.S. Secret Service has released an internal review identifying a number of security failures that resulted in the first attempted assassination of former President Trump.

WHAT WENT WRONG
The five-page report lays bare the widespread failures that allowed a man with a gun to get less than 150 yards from Trump at his July 13th rally in Butler, PA and wound him in the ear. Poor planning, communications breakdowns with local law enforcement, and negligence in securing line-of-sight vulnerabilities were among a litany of mistakes that USSS Acting Director Ronald Rowe called “complacency” among the force.

• Why the roof was left unsecured: Rowe described a “lack of follow-through” in how to best secure the building from which Crooks fired, yet “there was no follow-up discussion” about changing it. The team protecting the second floor of the building had no contact with the Secret Service. And, apparently no one followed up about manning the roof.

• As far as accountability goes, Acting Director Rowe says he has not yet fired any agents, but says there will be accountability.

SECURING THE GREEN
The report comes as the Secret Service is under fresh scrutiny after a second assassination attempt against Trump last weekend at his Palm Beach golf club. The incident reportedly ignited longstanding concerns over security at his private golf courses, where members — and at times, bystanders, the media, or the general public — can wander and get an unobstructed view of the former President.

• 24 hours after the second assassination attempt, USSS Acting Director Ronald Rowe met with Trump at Mar-a-Lago and insisted significant security adjustments would have to be made for him to continue golfing, detailing the difficulties in securing the sprawling golf course.

• Some of Trump’s golf courses are open spaces that, in some areas, are next to public roads

405-0: BIPARTISAN SUPPORT FOR MORE SECURITY
On Friday, five days after the second assassination attempt against former President Trump, the House unanimously passed a bill that boosts Secret Service protection for presidential nominees and their running mates. The vote passed 405-0. The legislation requires the USSS Director to apply the same standards when determining the number of agents who protect the parties’ two candidates as it would the current president and vice president.

📌 WEST WING TURNS 25: CREATOR CONSIDERING REBOOT!

The cast and creator of the legendary hit series West Wing celebrated the show’s 25th anniversary on Friday in true fashion: a White House ceremony.

A RETURN TO OFFICE?!
Reuniting at the Emmys last weekend, the cast joked that the reality of politics today is even crazier than the show’s writers ever imagined. That said, creator Aaron Sorkin says the visit Friday inspired him to consider a reboot of the show, something some fans of the show have been hoping for for a decade!

In the meantime, speaking from the Rose Garden podium, Martin Sheen (aka President Jed Bartlett) urged the crowd to find something worth fighting for.

• “When we find that, we will discover fire for the second time, and then we will be able to help lift up this nation and all its people to that place where the heart is without fear, and their head is held high.”

⏳ SPEED READ

🚨NATION

📌 From camo hats to libertarian rhetoric, the Harris-Walz campaign is staking its claim to symbols of conservative identity (AXIOS)

📌 Mom of suspect in Georgia school shooting indicted on elder abuse charges (NEW YORK POST)

📌 Titan submersible malfunctioned days prior to the fatal dive, former scientific director testifies (CNN)

📌 Georgia election board controversially votes to require all ballots to be hand-counted in November (NBC)

📌 Man spits on ground outside of his home, DNA match later leads to his arrest in 1988 stabbing murder of Boston woman (CBS)

🌎 AROUND THE WORLD

📌 Secret Service’s next challenge: Keeping scores of world leaders safe at this week’s UN General Assembly (AP)

📌 Iran gave Russia missiles but no launchers (REUTERS)

📌 Ireland scraps plans for controversial hate speech laws (FOX NEWS)

📌 A prisoner freed by Russia in the biggest prisoner swap since the Cold War has vowed to return to the country one day (BBC)

📱BUSINESS, SCIENCE & TECH

📌 Deep into the smartphone era, who is still using pagers? (AP)

📌 Ex-Pentagon official discusses government's hunt for UFOs: 'I have to be careful what I say' (PEOPLE)

📌 Amazon ends remote work (TECH CRUNCH)

📌 A NASA probe the length of a basketball court is flying to one of Jupiter’s moons (MASHABLE)

📌 Hotter summers are making high school football a fatal game for some players (AP)

🎬 SPORTS & ENTERTAINMENT

📌 Selena Gomez addresses backlash after saying she can’t carry children: ‘I like to be honest’ (USA TODAY)

📌 Caitlin Clark playoff tickets cost more than entire WNBA finals (SI)

📌 Kathryn Crosby, actor and widow of Bing Crosby, dies at 90 (VARIETY)

📌 Whoopi Goldberg offers Hillary Clinton a gig on ‘The View’ (DEADLINE)

📌 MLB All-Star CJ Abrams sent to minors after all-nighter at casino (ESPN)

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🗓 ON THIS DAY: SEPTEMBER 23

• 1875: Billy the Kid was arrested for the first time after stealing a basket of laundry. He later broke out of jail and roamed the American West, eventually earning a reputation as an outlaw who killed 21 people.

• 1955: A jury in Sumner, Mississippi acquitted two white men, Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam, of killing Black teenager Emmett Till. (The two later admitted to the crime in an interview with Look magazine.)

• 1980: Jamaican musician Bob Marley, known for popularizing reggae, performed his last concert, a sold-out show in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; he died of cancer the following year.

• 2002: Gov. Gray Davis signed a law making California the first state to offer workers paid family leave.