Growing Threats Against Public Officials, and Trump’s Diesel Deal With Putin

From the New York Times, it's the headlines. I'm Tracy Mumford. Today's Monday, October 12th, here's what we're covering. They're trying to intimidate me because they don't like the way that I thank politically. He repeatedly called into my office threatening to kill me and my whole staff. I mean, it really was a feeling of being hunted. Recently, the Times has been looking into how across the country, threats against elected officials have become the new norm in American politics. Right. I mean, your family's been involved in politics for a while, right? And I wonder if any of your relatives ever had anything close to this kind of experience? No. Nothing close. My colleague Nick Korseniti has been speaking with dozens of politicians and officials across the political spectrum about their experiences. It seems like the temperature and the tenor is a lot more intense now than it was a number of years ago. So the rise in threats is also clear from materials the Times obtained through records requests, including court documents, police reports, emails, social media posts, even voicemail messages. I hope you die. I hope your family died. The targets have included everyone from local election officials to governors like Minnesota's Tim Walls. My daughter just sent me one yesterday where somebody said, you know, wait, what I've gotten store for you. And then a picture in front of the house. So it's persistent. It's constant. As a result, lawmakers are pouring tons of money into protection for themselves and their families, often paying out of pocket for private security. Dozens of officials have fortified their homes, installed cameras and hired guards. And the cost is growing. This year candidates for federal office have spent more than four times as much on security than they did about a decade ago. One judge in Florida even described at the Times how she went out and bought a handgun after an animated video of her being murdered circulated online. Overall, it's gotten to the point that some officials have decided to leave public office altogether in the face of constant intimidation. Some members of Congress have quit outright telling the Times they feel safer now that they're out of office. And both parties have struggled to recruit new candidates, especially women in this environment. Over the last few days, the Trump administration has pushed forward on several initiatives aimed at the high costs Americans are facing. Nearly 1 million hardworking Americans in 30 states will soon be getting refunds of $500 each. On Friday, the White House followed through on a promise to send out $500 rebate checks to some Obamacare recipients. The administration also issued $90 direct deposits into the bank accounts of 20 million seniors to offset their Medicare premiums. And President Trump announced that he's reached an agreement with Russian President Vladimir Putin to immediately import Russian diesel to the U.S. market at a time when drivers are feeling the pain from fuel shortages caused by the war with Iran. The deal undercuts U.S. sanctions on Russia. All of this is coming just weeks before the midterms, where polls show that Republicans could lose control of Congress, in part because of deep frustration over how Trump has handled the economy. Trump has previously promised financial handouts ahead of elections in an attempt to sway voters, including his promise of $5,000 checks this time if Republicans win. In Saudi Arabia, the Iran-backed Houthi militia launched a deadly strike on the airport in Riyadh over the weekend, killing at least 12 people and injuring 300 more. Exactly what happened hasn't been confirmed, but a Gulf official and a U.S. official told the Times the Houthis struck a terminal with a cruise missile, a dramatic escalation of the fighting between the militia and the kingdom. The two sides exchanged more attacks yesterday, with strikes rocking the Riyadh airport again and the main airport in the capital of Yemen, which the Houthis control. The Houthis and Saudi Arabia have a long history of conflict, but it has now flared back into a full-blown war, as tensions from the U.S.-Israel Iran conflict have spilled into the nearby Gulf countries. So I'm in Riyadh, and this weekend people are reeling and shocked by the multiple attacks that have struck the city's international airport, it's like nothing that's ever happened here before. Vivian Nearam covers the Middle East for the Times. She says the last time the Houthis and Saudi Arabia were at war, it lasted for years. But the devastation was largely one-sided. Inside Yemen, hundreds of thousands of people died from hunger, disease, and Saudi-led bombing campaigns. While Saudi Arabia largely fended off Houthi attacks. This time around, it's very different, and I think that really shows how much stronger the Houthis have become, how much more sophisticated they've become, how much more sophisticated better their weaponry is in the past few years, because this time they have really managed to cause significant harm to kill and to wound and to wreak major material damage on incredibly critical infrastructure in the city, and that's something that just wasn't possible the last time the Houthis and Saudi Arabia were engaged in active conflict. Over the weekend in India, authorities stepped in with a major show of force to try and shut down the mass youth-led protests that have been roiling the country. A government plan to purge 130 million people from the voter rolls first sparked the protests, and a big demonstration was planned for Saturday in New Delhi, with people traveling there from all over. In response, authorities canceled trains headed to the capital, closed the subway, barricaded huge parts of the city, and shut down the internet for many users. They also targeted the organizers behind the protest, arresting three leaders of the popular youth-led Koch-roach-janta party, right when their plane touched down in the city. The party's name riffs on the fact that earlier this year, India's chief justice called Young Unemployed Indians Roaches, despite the crackdown rallies win ahead in some parts of Delhi anyway, and police rounded up thousands of protesters, whisking them away in buses and vans. By yesterday, there were still some sporadic demonstrations, and the three party leaders had been released. Immediately after, the party posted on social media quote, "Coch-roaches never die." Overall, experts say the demonstrations show the force of the Gen Z-led protest movement in India. They managed to oust a government minister earlier this year over complaints about the country's dysfunctional college entrance exam system. That was a rare win for protesters in a country that has increasingly cracked down on dissent. Now, in Bolden, the young protesters say they want to save democracy and voting rights in India. One 26-year-old who joined a demonstration in Mumbai told the Times it was about quote, "finally not being scared." And finally, if you are looking to book a flight for the holidays, eww, airfare has been going up and up this year. According to the Consumer Price Index, it was recently 24% more than a year ago, and holiday fares in particular are reaching new highs. Per one booking app, Thanksgiving flights are up 31%. A big part of it is the high cost of jet fuel, which is spiked since the start of the war with Iran. But some of it may also be a response to the dearly departed bottom of the barrel low-cost option of spirit airlines. Apparently, we didn't appreciate them enough before they went bankrupt and closed down in May. And now, the lack of competition could be hitting. It's hard to quantify the exact loss of spirit to the whole system. But according to one travel agency, some of the destinations seeing the biggest increases are places that were big destinations for spirit, like Detroit, Orlando, Las Vegas, New York, and Cancun. In terms of what you can do about it, the Times' frugal traveler column, of course, recommends booking way ahead of time, those of us looking at Thanksgiving are already late, and shooting for less busy travel days. Apparently, Tuesdays and Saturdays can be cheaper to fly. Those are the headlines. Today, on the daily, in interview with the Directors of Naza, a documentary that investigates the killing of Palestinians by Israeli forces in Gaza. The film has earned big accolades abroad, but has led to fierce backlash inside Israel. You can listen to that in the New York Times app or wherever you get your podcasts. And if you are not a time subscriber yet, you can get a full month of free access to all of the journalism we publish when you download the Times app now. I'm Tracy Mumford, we'll be back tomorrow.