Author: CNN

New York
CNN
 — 

Workers and their employers are paying a lot more for job-based health insurance this year.

The annual cost of family health insurance coverage at work soared to an average of nearly $24,000 this year, according to KFF’s Employer Health Benefits Survey, released Wednesday. That’s up 7% from last year.

Employees are shelling out an average of $6,575 for their share of the premium, up almost $500, or close to 8%, from last year, the annual survey found. Their companies are footing the rest of the bill.

“We have a huge premium increase this year. There’s just no other way to cut it,” said Matthew Rae, who co-authored the survey. “There are lots of affordability challenges for employer coverage.”

For single coverage, the average annual premium rose to $8,435, also up 7% from last year. Workers are picking up just over $1,400 of the tab, about $75 more than last year.

Though large, the jump in premiums is roughly in line with the rise in wages and inflation since 2022, as well as over the past five years, according to KFF. This is different from in the early 2000s, when premiums were soaring by double digits, but inflation and wage growth were relatively muted.

The tight job market has prompted companies to avoid watering down their health insurance coverage since it can be a recruiting and retention tool.

Deductibles remained essentially flat this year, which may reflect employers’ concerns about how much workers have to shell out when they need medical care, KFF said. The average annual deductible is roughly $1,735 among workers who have a deductible for single coverage.

“Employers want to keep offering good benefits to keep good people,” said Rae.

Still, workers should prepare for premiums to take a bigger bite out of their paychecks in coming years. Nearly a quarter of companies said they will increase employees’ premium contributions in the next two years, KFF found.

Workers at smaller firms typically pay much more for coverage than their peers at companies with at least 200 workers.

KDC Mailing & Bindery had to contend with an overall premium increase of about 13% for this year, said Steve Van Loon, director of operations at the Tempe, Arizona, firm, which has 42 workers.

The company, which only started offering health benefits in 2019 to be more competitive, raised workers’ premiums by 3% but had to hike its prices by as much as 5% to help it afford the increased cost. KDC covered the rest.

Next year, the company likely won’t be able to be as generous to its staff, Van Loon said.

“Our profit margins do not allow us to absorb these costs,” he said. “We would be out of business.”

Large employers with workers in more than one state may face challenges in offering abortion coverage after the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision that ended the federal constitutional right to an abortion. Multiple states have adopted laws that prohibit or restrict abortion access.

One in 10 large firms with at least 200 employees said their largest plan does not cover legal abortions, KFF found. Another 18% said they only cover abortion under limited circumstances, such as rape, incest or health or life endangerment.

Nearly a third of large firms said they cover abortion in most or all circumstances, while 40% said they were unsure of their coverage policy, possibly because it was in flux or they were unaware of the details.

After the Supreme Court ruling, several companies said they would offer financial assistance to employees who had to travel to others states for abortions. Some 7% of large employers -— and 19% of companies with at least 5,000 workers — provide or plan to provide such reimbursement.

KFF did not ask these questions on abortion in prior surveys.

CNN
 — 

Hundreds of grieving residents gathered on a basketball court in Plainfield, Illinois, Tuesday to mark Wadea Al-Fayoume’s love for the sport during a vigil to honor the 6-year-old Palestinian-American boy who authorities say was stabbed to death because he was Muslim.

The young boy’s photos were on display on the court, flanking teary-eyed speakers who remembered his smile and his innocence.

The boy’s father, Oday Al-Fayoume, spoke to the crowd briefly in Arabic, explaining that he had learned a lot of the English language he knows from his son. “With Wadea gone, I don’t think there’s room for me to speak English anymore,” the grieving father said a day after his child was buried.

But there was one detail he wanted everyone to know. He pointed to a now widely shared photo of his son celebrating his birthday days before he was killed, and asked, “Do you know what Wadea is doing in this picture?”

“He was waiting for me to complete the half of heart he was making,” the father said, raising his hand and curling his fingers to complete the shape of a heart.

Wadea was stabbed 26 times at his home by his family’s landlord on Saturday, the Will County Sheriff’s Office said. His mother, 32-year-old Hanaan Shahin, also suffered more than a dozen stab wounds but survived, authorities said.

The mother and son were “targeted by the suspect due to them being Muslim and the ongoing Middle Eastern conflict involving Hamas and the Israelis,” the sheriff’s office said.

The 71-year-old suspect has been charged with murder and hate crimes, among other charges. The attack is also being investigated by the Department of Justice as a hate crime.

Wadea was born in the United States and his parents are from a village in the West Bank, according to the Council on American-Islamic Relations’ Chicago office.

“What you see is an All-American boy,” Will County Mental Health Board member Juhie Faheem said. “He didn’t wear a sign or necklace stating he was Muslim. He wore a smile on his face, stating he was a child — a child filled with love and not any hate.”

Several children attended the vigil Tuesday, including a small boy who held up a sign that read, “I am not a threat,” with a colored-in drawing of a Palestinian flag.

Cynthia Glass, the mother of Wadea’s best friend, spoke through tears about how her son Dexter was mostly non-verbal and “Wadea” was one of his first words.

“This is about two boys who will never get to play together again. They will never ever get to sit next to each other in class again. They will never get to ride the bus together again,” the mother said.

“We need to learn from these two sweet, sweet little kids,” said Glass, receiving a hug from Wadea’s father.

The vigil included a moment of silence and prayer, led by Imam Hassan Aly.

“Wadea is a name that means peaceful, yet he didn’t get to experience peace in this world,” Aly said. “But we strongly believe that he now rests in eternal peace alongside the innocent children of Gaza and other innocent children and civilians who have recently lost their lives to violence.”

The highest-ranking Muslim official in the Biden administration, Dilawar Syed of the US Small Business Administration, was also in attendance Tuesday and spoke on behalf of the president.

“President Biden has been very, very clear. There is no place for hate in America,” Syed told the crowd. “The President has and will continue to do everything in his power to fight Islamophobia and anti Semitism in our nation.”

Syed was interrupted by yelling before organizers asked for calm, and a representative of the local Al-Aqsa Community Center said the focus should be on the victim. “Before Wadea was Palestinian, American or a Muslim, he was a human, and that brings us together,” he said.

The family’s landlord, Joseph M. Czuba, is charged with first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, two counts of a hate crime and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, the Will County Sheriff’s Office said.

A man who described himself as being like a grandfather to the boy said the suspect in Wadea’s killing had previously been a friend of the family and they were shocked when they heard of the attack.

“This gentleman actually was one of the best friends of the family. He used to love the kid. He used to bring him toys. He used to play and spend a lot of the time with that kid. He treated him as a grandkid but unfortunately the wrong message when it comes to certain people, it becomes a killing machine,” the man said during Tuesday’s vigil.

The boy’s family lived in the house for two years without “previous notable issues” with Czuba, the Council on American-Islamic Relations said.

Then, on October 11, Czuba told his wife he wanted Wadea and his mother to move out of the home, the wife told investigators after the incident, according to a Monday court filing.

The wife also told investigators that Czuba “believed that they were in danger and that (Shahin) was going to call over her Palestinian friends or family to harm them,” according to the filing.

Shahin told authorities, according to the filing, that on October 11, Czuba also confronted her “about what was going on in the Middle East.”

The mother also told authorities that on Saturday, moments before the stabbings unfolded, Czuba told her he was angry at her for what was going on in Jerusalem.

“Shahin stated she responded to him ‘let’s pray for peace.’ Shahin stated Czuba gave her no chance to do anything. Shahin stated that Czuba then attacked her with a knife,” according to the filing.

Shahin told police she was able to get away by locking herself in the nearby bathroom but was not able to get her son. While in there, she called police, according to the filing. “While on the phone with 911 Hanan stated, her son was being stabbed,” the document said.

Responding deputies found Czuba sitting on the ground, near the home’s driveway.

The mother and son were found in a bedroom. “Both victims had multiple stab wounds to their chest, torso, and upper extremities,” the Will County Sheriff’s Office said.

Both were rushed to a hospital, where the boy was pronounced dead, the document said.

A judge has ordered that Czuba be held without bond. His preliminary hearing is scheduled for October 30.

Like other children his age, Wadea enjoyed playing with his toys, coloring and playing any game with a ball, said Rehab, of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

He was described as a warm, kind child who focused on enjoying life with his friends and playing outside, and who loved his parents and family deeply.

“He loved his parents, he loved his family and his friends, he loved life and he was looking forward to a long, healthy, prosperous life,” Rehab said.

In his final moments, Wadea offered words of comfort to his mother, the man who called himself something of a grandfather said Monday.

“His last words to his mom: ‘Mom, I’m fine,” the man told reporters. “You know what, he is fine. He is in a better place.”

The boy’s mother could not attend his funeral services Monday as she remained in the hospital, Rehab said.

The mother is “dealing with her injuries, dealing with her emotional trauma and dealing with the biggest hole that can never be filled, the biggest gap of all, the loss of her child,” he added.

Beijing
CNN
 — 

Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping discussed the conflict in the Middle East during a meeting on the sidelines of the Belt and Road Forum in Beijing Wednesday, according to the Russian leader – who said “common threats” brought the two countries closer.

The international gathering, which saw leaders and representatives from countries mostly in the Global South congregate in the Chinese capital, took place under the shadow of war between Israel and militant group Hamas that threatens to escalate into broader regional conflict.

“We discussed in detail the situation in the Middle East,” Putin said in a press conference. “I informed Chairman (Xi) about the situation that is developing on the Ukrainian track, also quite in detail.”

“All these external factors are common threats, and they strengthen Russian-Chinese interaction,” Putin added.

A readout published by Chinese state media said Xi had conducted an “in-depth exchange of views” on the situation of Israel and the Palestinians with his Russian counterpart, but did not provide any further details of what was discussed. Beijing has yet to name or condemn Hamas in its statements.

Neither Putin nor Xi mentioned the conflict in addresses earlier Wednesday at the start of the gathering, where the Chinese leader welcomed two dozen world leaders and more than a hundred delegations to an event marking the 10th anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative – an ambitious yet controversial undertaking to boost connectivity and trade across the world with Chinese infrastructure projects.

But the conflict, which began after Hamas launched a terror attack on Israel earlier this month, has served as a stark showing of the deepening divisions between world powers.

China and Russia have both called for ceasefire in the spiraling conflict and have declined to explicitly condemn Hamas – cutting a stark contrast to the outpouring of support for Israel from the US and leaders across Europe.

Later on Wednesday, US President Joe Biden landed in Tel Aviv in a show of staunch support for Israel, which has vowed to eliminate Hamas following the Islamic militant group’s brutal attack on the country earlier this month.

Speaking at the Belt and Road Forum, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was the sole leader to mention the conflict during an opening ceremony, where he called for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire.

“I’m fully aware of the deep grievances of the Palestinian people after 56 years of occupation, yet as serious as these grievances are they cannot justify the acts of terror against civilians committed by Hamas on October 7 (which) I immediately condemned,” he said.

“But those events cannot justify the collective punishment of The Palestinian people.”

The day’s events also underscored the deepening political trust between Xi and Putin, who was the gathering’s clear guest of honor, seated next to the Chinese leader and speaking directly after him at the opening ceremony ahead of three hours of bilateral talks between the two..

In his speech at the opening ceremony, Putin hailed Xi’s flagship foreign policy Belt and Road Initiative as “aiming to form a fairer, multi-polar world,” while touting his country’s deep alignment with China.

Russia and China share an “aspiration for equal and mutually beneficial cooperation,” which includes “respecting civilization diversity and the right of every state for their own development model” – he added, in an apparent push back against calls for authoritarian leaders to promote human rights and political freedoms at home.

The visit to Beijing is an exceptionally rare overseas trip for Putin, who is shunned by the West and wanted by the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes in Ukraine, where his army continues to wage destructive attacks.

Putin’s comments at the forum followed an address from Xi, who lauded his Belt and Road Initiative during the ceremony in an ornate room in Beijing’s Great Hall of the People, presenting it as an alternative development model for the world and saying it “established a new framework for international cooperation.”

Xi also used the gathering to project China’s expanding ambitions to reshape – and lead – the global world order.

“China is endeavoring to build itself into a stronger country and rejuvenate the Chinese nation on all fronts by pursuing Chinese modernization. The modernization we’re pursuing is not for China alone, but for all developing countries through joint efforts,” he said.

In a thinly veiled swipe at the United States, the Chinese leader said China opposed unilateral sanctions, economic coercion, decoupling and supply chain disruption.

“Ideological confrontation, geopolitical rivalry and bloc politics are not a choice for us,” he said.

“Viewing others’ development as a threat or taking economic interdependence as a risk will not make one’s own life better or speed up one’s development.”

Other world leaders in attendance, including Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and Indonesia’s Joko Widodo, also gave addresses, with many echoing Xi’s call for increased global development and a more multilateral, cooperative world.

Xi, the most powerful and assertive Chinese leader in decades, has been ramping up efforts to project China as an alternative leader to the US – with a vision for how global security and development should be ensured.

Hosting leaders in Beijing – China’s first major international event since the end of the Covid-19 pandemic – is a key part of his push to pitch that vision to nations it has forged close ties with over the past decade as Xi aimed to vastly expand his nation’s global influence.

But it also comes as China faces stark challenges at home, with a slowing economy, high unemployment and a series of recent unexplained shake-ups in the upper echelons of the ruling Communist Party.

Beijing aims to gloss over these challenges at the gathering to project its power and laud its contributions to global development as a prime example of its superior leadership.

That signature foreign policy has marshaled hundreds of billions in Chinese finance to build ports, power stations, bridges, rails and roads around the world – significantly expanding China’s international interests and influence along the way.

In Beijing on Wednesday countries expressed their aspirations for more collaboration under the program – including those with few major powers to look to other than China.

Yar Mohammad Ramazan, a transport and aviation ministry representative from the Taliban delegation led by its commerce minister, told CNN that Afghanistan aims to “play a big and important role in these Belt and Road” projects connecting Central Asia, South Asia and the Persian Gulf.

More than 150 countries have cooperated on the program, which Beijing says has mobilized “up to a trillion dollars in investments,” spurring growth in developing nations.

But it faces increasing headwinds as China’s economic growth engine slows amid a shifting financial climate worldwide and questions about its high costs for countries – from debt to environmental impact.

China’s infrastructure building spree has now made it the world’s largest debt collector, analysts say.

In his address Wednesday, Xi brushed aside criticisms and reiterated his commitment to the initiative.

“What has been achieved in the past 10 years demonstrates that Belt and Road cooperation is on the right side of history. It represents the advancing of our times and it’s the right path forward,” he said.

Xi also proposed an eight-part action plan on the Belt and Road initiative, including the full removal of restrictions on foreign investment in Chinese manufacturing and an initiative on global artificial intelligence governance.

CNN
 — 

The Carolina Reaper has met its match.

Chili Pepper X has captured the spicy record as the world’s hottest, Guinness World Records announced on Monday.

The new pepper rates an average of 2.69 million Scoville Heat Units (SHU), according to tests performed by Winthrop University in South Carolina, beating the previous record holder, Carolina Reaper, which averages 1.64 million SHU, according to Guinness World Records.

The SHU scale to measure chili pepper heat was developed by American chemist Wilbur Scoville in 1912.

By comparison, the average jalapeño pepper scores between 3,000 to 8,000 SHU, according to Guinness.

Pepper X is grown by Ed Currie, founder of Puckerbutt Pepper Company in South Carolina. He also created the Carolina Reaper, which took the record in 2013.

“Ed cultivated Pepper X on his farm for over 10 years, cross breeding it with some of his hottest peppers to increase its capsaicin content,” Guinness said on its website.

Currie first presented Pepper X to the world on an episode of the popular YouTube series, “Hot Ones.”

“Those who don’t fear the Reaper are fools. It is painfully hot,” reads a description of the dethroned pepper on the Puckerbutt Pepper Company’s website.

No word yet on how they describe a pepper that ranks 1 million more units on the Scoville scale than the Reaper.

Kyiv, Ukraine
CNN
 — 

A swarm of Ukrainian jet skis races across the ocean under pitch black skies, visible only from the infra-red camera of a drone watching from above. They slow down as they approach the shore to avoid detection and hurry onto dry land.

“Crimea will be Ukrainian,” one of the men says in video footage seen by CNN after landing, holding a Ukrainian flag.

That soldier was call-sign “Muzykant,” meaning “the musician” in English. He was a violinist who became a soldier with Ukraine’s special forces. Muzykant is the squad leader of the Bratstvo battalion which, along with Ukraine’s defense intelligence and other units, carried out the infiltration into Crimea earlier this month.

“I was so high on adrenaline,” Muzykant told CNN, explaining that the whole operation felt like a blur. “I only really understood I had been to Crimea after we returned to our base. I realized we had completed a colossal task.”

That amphibious operation, early in October, was an infiltration by Ukraine’s special forces into Russia’s biggest stronghold in occupied Ukraine, part of a recent trend that has seen Kyiv increase its attacks on the peninsula. The exact date and time of the attack have not been disclosed.

Muzykant was one of 10 Bratstvo battalion soldiers involved in the night assault on Crimea, in cooperation with other Ukrainian units – the total number of operatives is still unknown. They sailed through rough seas on larger speedboats, before switching to lower profile jet skis when they were in range of the peninsula. They then raced towards the shore, destroyed Russian military equipment placed by the sea and headed back, all in a matter of hours.

The objective was not just to sabotage some of the military equipment Moscow keeps close to the shore, but also to convey a message to Ukrainian citizens in the territory.

“We did it so that people in Ukraine and in occupied Crimea don’t lose spirit and keep faith in Crimea returning to Ukraine,” Muzykant said. Russian forces illegally annexed Crimea in 2014. The peninsula holds a deep symbolic importance to Russian President Vladimir Putin and it’s a strategically vital logistics hub for the Kremlin’s war effort.

Muzykant said the dangerous operation took months of planning to prepare the Ukrainian soldiers for the many risks they would face.

“While we were landing the sea was stormy, the waves were up to 2 meters (6.6 feet) high,” he explained. “Plus the Russian warships were patrolling the sea, the Raptors. There were four of them, each with a crew of 20 Russian soldiers armed with heavy machine guns and a 30-millimeter gun.”

But the Bratstvo battalion was able to navigate those dangers. They reached the peninsula and executed their mission.

“We trained a lot for this mission. Everybody knew their role, what they were supposed to do on the shore,” Muzykant explained. “On the way back after the task the Russian warships were chasing us, but we managed to escape.”

None of the Bratstvo battalion soldiers was injured or captured, but Ukrainian defense intelligence acknowledged losses, although did not provide further details. It also said casualties on Moscow’s side were much more significant.

Moscow said it had captured one of the Ukrainian soldiers that landed in Crimea, releasing videos of his interrogation on national television, but it refused to elaborate on any losses on the Russian side.

Capture, injury or death are all risks Muzykant is prepared to take for missions he believes are necessary.

“It’s not just moral support to our people in Crimea, but also help to our forces in the trenches,” he said. “We divert the enemy’s attention towards us, and the enemy is forced to relocate their personnel and vehicles to (the) Crimean seaside.”

October’s assault was one of many that Ukrainian forces have carried out on the peninsula in recent months.

In September, strikes hit the headquarters of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet in the Crimean city of Sevastopol. The missiles used were seemingly the long-range UK-donated Storm Shadow.

Ukraine has also struck the Kerch bridge linking Crimea to mainland Russia multiple times.

Kyiv’s forces damaged a Russian ship and a submarine when it struck one of the dry docks used by the Black Sea Fleet on September 13, and Ukraine has carried out multiple attacks on the Saki air base, from where Russia launches some of its attack aircraft.

Russia has promised retaliation on several occasions, calling the attacks “acts of terrorism,” but Ukraine has continued to carry out strikes on the peninsula. In addition to drones and missiles, it’s long been speculated that Kyiv’s special forces were operating in Crimea, but their profile was raised with the amphibious October raid.

One of the Bratstvo unit’s founders and a key planner behind the surgical strike, Dmytro Korchynskyi, said attacking the peninsula was key for Ukraine’s counteroffensive effort.

“Crimea is a military base they (Russia) still consider to be well defended. So for us it’s vital,” Korchynskyi explained. “And also it’s vital from the military-political point of view. We can’t let anybody forget Crimea is Ukrainian and we will always operate there.”

“We are fighting a trench war on the front lines and success there is not always obvious – special operations of this kind in the rear or on the sea, inspire and give (our soldiers) energy to keep fighting,” he added.

And while striking Russian assets with drones and missiles is important, he believes having Ukrainian soldiers on the ground distracts Moscow and forces Russia to relocate assets.

“Every soldier that is guarding the beach is one that is not present at the Zaporizhzhia front,” he said.

Those operations behind enemy lines, deep into Russian controlled territory, are reliant on support from the local population, Korchynskyi said.

Ukrainians living under Russian occupation have long been organizing themselves into resistance groups, locally referred to as Partisans. They have been active across occupied Ukraine, most notably in Kherson and Melitopol, but also Crimea.

One of the groups operating in the peninsula goes by the name Atesh, which means fire in the Tartar language. The group agreed to talk to CNN via an encrypted messaging service, declining to speak on camera to protect members’ identities.

Atesh also refused to comment on whether they were involved in the September strike on the headquarters of the Black Sea fleet in Sevastopol, but said they keep constant tabs on the Russian military and communicate any movements to the Ukrainians.

CNN was able to corroborate the group’s involvement with Ukraine’s intelligence services.

Their work, the group said, is important yet extremely dangerous and members are actively sought by Russian authorities, including the Federal Security Service (FSB).

“They use various means of wiretapping the area (apartments, cafes or any other premises) and also (make) attempts to introduce FSB agents into our movement,” Atesh said. “Attempts by the Russians to infiltrate our ranks are constant, but our team skilfully finds them. In addition, we have very strict filtering of potential agents and most agents operate autonomously to prevent information leakage.”

“Agents of our movement understand all the risks and strictly follow safety measures,” they added.

The Partisans say they are only able to effectively fulfill their missions because they enjoy “the broad support of local residents,” and claim these coordinated attacks from the air and the sea are boosting their ranks.

“Our movement and other resistance movements are only getting bigger and stronger,” they said “The occupiers know this very well. The pro-Ukrainian residents of Crimea are ready for the liberation of the peninsula.”

Korchynskyi said that liberation is the ultimate goal of these raids, and Ukrainian forces have been slowly perfecting them, especially amphibious tactics.

Muzykant knows there’s still some time and plenty of hard work before Ukrainian forces are able to launch a bigger offensive on Crimea but more – and more daring – raids are on the horizon.

“We weaken them by destroying their military equipment and personnel but they become more attentive,” he explained. “They become better. So every next task is harder.”

Ultimately, he says he’s driven by the belief Ukrainians in Crimea are waiting for them.

“They are waiting for our sign to start the fight against the Russian aggression,” he explained.

The very early stages of that fight may already be unfolding.

CNN
 — 

Donald Trump was interviewed under oath in New York on Tuesday for a lawsuit related to his time as president and the termination of a Russia investigation-era FBI official.

The deposition was conducted by attorneys for the FBI official, Peter Strzok, and former FBI lawyer Lisa Page late in the day on Tuesday, sources familiar with Trump’s schedule say.

The deposition comes as Trump’s obligations in court continue to mount – on Tuesday he also attended the civil fraud trial related to his business inflating its assets. Monday, he was ordered not to disparage possible witnesses, court officers or prosecutors while facing federal criminal charges related to January 6. On Friday, jury selection is set to begin in the first trial of his co-defendants in the 2020 election subversion case in Georgia.

Whether the deposition would be allowed has been an issue fought in court for years, with the Biden Justice Department seeking to shield Trump from giving the testimony, citing legal protections surrounding presidents and their actions while in office.

But the federal courts in Washington, DC, ultimately sided with Strzok and Page.

The case, and Strzok and Page’s pursuit of Trump’s testimony, has tested the limits of confidentiality around the presidency.

Strzok is accusing the Justice Department of wrongfully terminating him because of Trump’s publicly stated anger toward him and the Russia investigation. He and Page are also suing over the release of their text messages to the press.

Trump was allowed to be questioned on Tuesday at the deposition for no more than two hours. A judge previously put specific parameters around the questions he could be asked. Strzok’s and Page’s attorneys were able to ask Trump about his public statements and other communications he made about the pair in 2017 and 2018.

CORRECTION: This story has been updated to reflect that it was during the Biden administration when the Justice Department sought to block Trump’s deposition.

CNN
 — 

A trove of emails and documents uncovered by state investigators looking into a voting systems breach in Georgia is being turned over to the Fulton County prosecutors who brought the sweeping racketeering case against former President Donald Trump and his allies.

More than 15,000 emails and documents connected to Misty Hampton, the former election supervisor for Coffee County, were discovered this month by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation – after attorneys for the rural county’s board of elections claimed the information had been lost.

Hampton has been charged alongside Trump and 17 other co-defendants with trying to subvert the 2020 election results in Georgia. She has been accused of facilitating the unlawful breach of Coffee County’s voting systems.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation had been looking into the Coffee County incident since the summer of 2022. Earlier this month, the agency completed its investigation and gave the case file to Fulton County prosecutors to be included as part of discovery to be turned over to defendants in the Trump election interference case.

While it’s unclear what’s in the trove of emails and documents, the Coffee County breach features prominently in the Fulton County indictment. Prosecutors say Trump allies illegally breached the voting systems in hopes of finding proof that the election was fraudulent. Prosecutors also have evidence tying Trump campaign lawyers to the breach.

Sidney Powell, the former Trump campaign attorney charged with crimes stemming from the Coffee County voting systems breach, has centered her defense around the claim that access to the data was authorized by Hampton. Powell and pro-Trump lawyer Kenneth Chesebro are the first two defendants to go to trial, with jury selection set to begin Friday.

In text messages previously obtained by CNN, Hampton allegedly gave Trump attorneys a “written invitation” to access Georgia voting systems.

RELATED: Georgia prosecutors have messages showing Trump’s team is behind voting system breach

Hampton’s attorney Jonathan Miller said he believes that the newly discovered emails and content will exonerate her.

“There is nothing in the 15,000 emails that would do anything to make my client culpable of a crime, and I look forward to reviewing it all,” Miller told CNN. “She was acting under authority of Georgia statutes in doing what she did, and the evidence is going to show that. She did not commit any crimes.”

Hampton and Powell each face seven charges in Fulton County, including conspiracy to commit election fraud and computer trespassing, in addition to racketeering. A trial date for Hampton has not been set, and Miller said his client has not received a plea offer she is “willing to facilitate.”

All but one defendant, bail bondsman Scott Hall, who has agreed to testify for the prosecution, have pleaded not guilty.

The security of Georgia’s elections had been the subject of litigation even before the 2020 presidential contest. The Coalition for Good Governance, a nonprofit organization, sued the Georgia secretary of state over the issue in 2017. Hampton’s alleged involvement in the Coffee County breach came to light as part of that ongoing civil lawsuit.

“Few people believed the bizarre claims made by the Coffee County Board of Elections and their attorneys that Misty Hampton’s emails were suddenly lost shortly after she was terminated in February 2021,” the coalition said in a statement.

The board of elections did not respond to CNN’s request for comment.

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Hong Kong
CNN
 — 

China’s economy has regained momentum in the third quarter, with gross domestic product (GDP) expanding by 4.9% from a year ago, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on Wednesday.

That was above the estimate of 4.4% growth from a Reuters poll of analysts, and puts Beijing’s annual growth target within reach. In the first nine months of 2023, the economy expanded by 5.2% from a year earlier.

“The growth target of [around] 5% is set to be achieved,” Zhiwei Zhang, president and chief economist for Pinpoint Asset Management in Hong Kong, said in a research note.

On a quarterly basis, the economy grew by 1.3% in the July-to-September period. That was faster than the 0.8% quarter-on-quarter growth recorded in the three months through June.

Consumer spending has emerged as one of the brightest spots in the July-to-September period, according to NBS data.

Still, the all-important real estate sector remains a drag. Property investment dropped 9.1% in the first nine months of 2023, compared to the same period last year, according to NBS.

The property market, which has accounted for as much as 30% of the economy, fell into crisis more than two years ago after a government-led clampdown on developers’ borrowing. The downturn is likely to drag on, posing a major threat to China’s growth prospects over the next three to five years.

The world’s second largest economy had a solid start to the year after emerging from three years of Covid restrictions. But the recovery fizzled out in the April to June months amid weak consumer spending, a persistent slump in real estate and muted global demand for its manufactured goods.

Beijing has ramped up its efforts to revive growth, including slashing interest rates, removing restrictions on home purchases and car buying, accelerating infrastructure projects and relaxing capital control to entice foreign investment.

“There are enough positive signs in the recent data to suggest that the economy has turned a corner,” analysts from Capital Economics said in a research report on Wednesday.

“This partly reflects the recent step-up in policy support, which looks set to continue over the coming months,” they added.

Other data released by NBS on Wednesday pointed to further signs of stabilization.

Consumer spending is on solid ground. Retail sales jumped 5.5% in September, the fastest pace of growth in four months.

Spending on festivities-related goods and services accelerated last month ahead of the extended Golden Week holiday, which spanned eight days to Oct. 6.

Sales of tobacco and alcohol surged 23% in September from a year prior, the highest increase among all spending segments. It was followed by catering services and sports and entertainment products, which recorded growth of 12.8% and 10.7% respectively.

Industrial output rose 4.5% in September from a year ago, matching growth in August.

Investment in fixed assets such as roads and airports grew 3.1% in the first nine months of the year. In the private sector, investment retreated by 0.6%, but state-sector investment surged 7.2%. In particular, infrastructure investment accelerated.

Unemployment surprisingly dropped.

The urban unemployment rate, which measures joblessness in cities and towns, fell to 5% in September from 5.2% in August. It marks the lowest level since November 2021.

But no information was provided on youth unemployment, which hit an all-time high of 21.3% in June before the release of the data was suspended.

“High youth joblessness notwithstanding, the resilience of the labour market probably helped to put a floor beneath consumer spending,” Capital Economics analysts said.

Unsurprisingly, the property sector is still contracting.

New housing starts measured by floor area declined 23.4% year-on-year in September, following a 24.4% drop in the first eight months.

Fresh housing construction is now at its lowest level since 2005, suggesting that “developers remain cautious,” Capital Economics analysts said.

An official survey of housing prices will be released by the NBS on Thursday.

“The economic recovery is still in its infancy,” said Harry Murphy Cruise, an economist at Moody’s Analytics.

“And with the property market’s deterioration showing no signs of slowing, a black cloud lingers overhead. “

On the back of Wednesday’s data, Cruise expects the Chinese economy to expand by 5% in 2023, slightly higher from the firm’s previous estimate of 4.9%.

Earlier this month, the World Bank maintained its forecast that China’s GDP will grow 5.1% in 2023. But it cut its 2024 forecast from 4.8% to 4.4%, citing persistent difficulties such as elevated debt, property weakness and an aging population.

CNN
 — 

A man who is accused of bringing guns to the Wisconsin Capitol grounds twice in one day earlier this month has been charged with a misdemeanor count of carrying a firearm in a public building, records show.

Joshua Pleasnick, 43, was arrested the afternoon of October 4 after he entered the state Capitol building openly carrying a handgun and requesting to speak with Gov. Tony Evers, according to a charging document filed Monday. After posting bail, he returned that night with an AK-47-style rifle and was detained, the Wisconsin Department of Administration said at the time.

Pleasnick is facing the misdemeanor charge in connection with his first arrest, the charging document states. He is expected to appear in court on Thursday, jail records show.

CNN has sought comment from the Wisconsin Department of Administration and the Dane County District Attorney’s Office.

When he first entered the Capitol building around 2 p.m., Pleasnick was shirtless and had a small dog on a leash as he walked past the check point gate and attempted to go to the governor’s office and speak with Evers, the document says. A State Capitol Police officer stopped Pleasnick and asked him to step behind the gate and fill out a form to meet the governor, the document says.

Pleasnick was openly carrying a holstered handgun, the complaint says. “At no time did he attempt to brandish the firearm,” it notes.

When officers informed Pleasnick he was not allowed to open carry inside the Capitol, Pleasnick replied “he would not comply with that rule,” the complaint says. Pleasnick was then arrested.

In an interview with police, Pleasnick said he was not aware that open carry is banned in the Capitol, according to the complaint.

“I didn’t know I wasn’t supposed to take a firearm into the Capitol, for that I am guilty,” Pleasnick told the officer, according to the document.

Pleasnick told the officer he wanted to speak to the governor about his concern that men who have been abused by women are not taken seriously by police or the justice system – something he had personally experienced, the document says. Pleasnick said he carried the gun for self-protection because he feared his ex-girlfriend may try to harm him, it says.

The complaint does not detail the second incident during which Pleasnick was taken into custody.

After he posted bail, Pleasnick returned to Capitol grounds around 9 p.m. – after the building had closed to the public – armed with a loaded AK-47-style rifle and repeating his request to see the governor, the state administration department said. Police also found a collapsible police-style baton in his backpack, which is illegal to carry concealed without a permit, the department said.

Officers then took Pleasnick into “protective custody” for a psychiatric evaluation after he made a “concerning statement,” the administration department said.

CNN has sought further comment from Pleasnick, who said he has not yet obtained an attorney.

Speaking to reporters earlier this month, Evers said he was OK, adding that while he doesn’t comment on his security detail, incidents like this always prompt reevaluations of security policies.

“The Capitol police took control of the situation and so it’s over, but it’s always something that … you don’t want to see happen, but that’s why we have good people in the police departments and the Capitol Police and the state patrol, they’re doing their great work,” the governor said.

CNN
 — 

Rep. Jim Jordan’s speaker bid is in peril as the Ohio Republican confronts steep opposition from members of his own party, raising serious questions over whether he can flip enough holdouts to win the gavel.

Jordan failed to win the speakership in an initial round of voting on Tuesday after 20 Republicans voted against his candidacy, a high number and far more than the handful he could afford to lose given the GOP’s narrow majority.

The House is slated to hold a second speaker vote at 11 a.m. ET Wednesday in what could be a pivotal moment for Jordan’s candidacy that will show whether he is losing or gaining support.

It took former Speaker Kevin McCarthy 15 rounds of voting in January to secure the gavel. But it’s not clear if Jordan has a viable path forward in the race amid the deep divisions within the House GOP conference and the resistance he faces.

Jordan projected optimism Tuesday evening, telling CNN’s Manu Raju he will “keep going.”

“We are going to keep working. We will get to the votes,” he said.

Uncertainty over Jordan’s candidacy threatens to prolong the state of paralysis the House is currently stuck in. Without a speaker, the chamber is effectively frozen, a precarious position that comes amid conflict abroad and a potential government shutdown next month.

The chaos has prompted some Republicans to call for expanding the powers of the interim speaker – Republican Rep. Patrick McHenry of North Carolina – though such a move would put the chamber into uncharted territory.

One of the 20 who voted against Jordan in the first round of voting later said he would support the Ohio Republican on the next ballot, but several Republicans indicated they would not be swayed, leaving Jordan’s fate up in the air.

Jordan is a polarizing figure in the speaker’s fight, a complicating factor in his effort to lock down votes. He is a staunch ally of former President Donald Trump, has a longstanding reputation as a conservative agitator and helped found the hardline House Freedom Caucus. As the chairman of the powerful House Judiciary Committee, he has also been a key figure in House GOP-led investigations.

Opponents to his speaker’s bid so far have included centrist Republicans concerned that the face of the House GOP would be a conservative hardliner as well as lawmakers still furious at the small group of Republicans who forced out McCarthy and then opposed House Majority Leader Steve Scalise’s bid for the gavel.

Scalise initially defeated Jordan inside the GOP conference to become the speaker nominee, but later dropped out of the race amid opposition to his candidacy.