States Could See More Election Hacking in 2018

Coming up on today’s show:

• In some parts of the United States, midterm primaries are just eight weeks away, and voter turnout is expected to be high. But there are concerns about the vulnerability of the American election system after Russian hacking in 2016. How prepared are we to elect new leaders in November? Lily Hay Newman, security reporter for WIRED, and Marian Schneider, the president of Verified Voting, an election-integrity advocacy group, answer.

• Dave Philipps, military veterans correspondent for The New York Times, discusses his new investigation, which found that administrators at an Oregon-base VA hospital apparently tried to improve its ratings by deliberately limiting both the numbers and the types of patients that it admitted, along with other tactics — against the wishes of doctors. The hospital and the VA have denied the practice.

• Up and down the eastern seaboard, a powerful winter storm known as a bomb cyclone has caused freezing temperatures and record snowfalls from Texas to Maine this week. It’s one of many extreme weather events Americans have felt in the past year – like Hurricanes Harvey and Maria, and wildfires out West. And they always beg the question: is this caused by climate change? Chelsea Harvey, a climate science reporter for E & E News, discusses the field of extreme attribution. 

• President Trump, who claimed that millions voted illegally during the 2016 election, made a seemingly abrupt decision on Wednesday to disband his commission on voter fraud. Zoe Tillman, a legal reporter with BuzzFeed news, is here to explain the White House’s decision to raze the commission. 

• James Risen, a former New York Times reporter, says the erosion of press freedom can be traced back a decade, but most recently in thanks in part to the attitude of the Obama Administration. Risen recounts his battles with the government and his editors at the paper, who he says suppressed a story at the government’s request.

• What are you reading in the new year? Ron Charles, editor of Book World at The Washington Post, joins The Takeaway to share his picks for the very best books to read right now and in the weeks ahead, from those coming out now to others dropping soon. 

This episode is hosted by Todd Zwillich