Democratic candidates are no longer afraid of embracing the war on coal and oil.

At least six Democrats running for governor this year have embraced a goal of moving the U.S. completely to clean energy in coming decades, as have potential presidential contenders like Bernie Sanders, Cory Booker and Elizabeth Warren.

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It’s a sweeping shift in energy policy, going well beyond the Obama administration’s regulations of fossil fuels — and yet another sign of the growing power of liberal ideas in the Democratic Party even as President Donald Trump tries to push the nation to the right.

The candidates’ plans leave many details unfilled, and they disagree on questions such as whether clean energy should include nuclear power and natural gas. The strategy could also prove risky for Democrats competing in energy-producing states such as Ohio, Pennsylvania and North Dakota.

But climate change activists say it’s encouraging to see so many candidates championing a bold approach to solving one of the world’s biggest problems.

“When lots of candidates in widely different political environments are all running on a platform of 100 percent renewable energy, it means that voters are telling them they want leaders who will help solve the climate crisis,” former Vice President Al Gore told POLITICO. “So these candidates have concluded correctly that acting on the climate crisis is a no-brainer.”

Climate change allows Democrats to draw a sharp contrast with Trump, who has repeatedly dismissed warnings from scientists about the threat of already-rising seas and extreme weather. And where climate policies based on cap-and-trade programs or carbon taxes may trigger voters’ fears of higher energy prices, Democrats can emphasize the jobs they say would come from building millions of new wind turbines, solar panels and electric vehicles.

“Clean energy and clean jobs are good for the planet, and they’re just good business,” Illinois Democratic gubernatorial nominee J.B. Pritzker tweeted last year.

Environmentalists say part of the appeal is the goal’s aspirational nature, and that it allows Democrats to tout existing success stories from the growth of renewable energy businesses, even in conservative parts of the country. The goal also meshes with pledges by dozens of major U.S. companies to switch to 100 percent renewable energy.

“I think the 100 percent metric is a good target setting and then you can figure out how you get there — each part of the country would probably have to get there a little different way,” said Ana Unruh Cohen, managing director of government affairs at NRDC Action Fund. “That type of vision is one that can have pretty broad support from sea to shining sea and all the places in the middle.”

Supporters of fossil fuels counter that the 100 percent goal is impractical and a recipe for higher energy costs. They argue that Democrats running on the idea won’t be around when the downsides appear.

“They’re just being responsive to the donors and to the environmental groups that are increasingly a powerful force in the Demcratic Party,” said Tom Pyle, president of the libertarian-leaning American Energy Alliance. “We haven’t seen any of the pain of these policies yet.”

The plans that Democratic candidates have put forward contain important differences, including how quickly they would move and what they would define as a clean source of energy. In some proposals, existing nuclear power plants and future natural gas plants that capture and bury their carbon emissions count toward clean energy goals. In others, Democrats say only truly renewable sources like wind, solar and geothermal should count.

Many of the plans also call for the rapid electrification of the transportation sector, which the Environmental Protection Agency says accounted for the greatest portion of the nation’s greenhouse gas emissions in 2016.

According to the Energy Information Administration, renewables in 2017 accounted for 11 percent of U.S. energy consumption and about 17 percent of electricity generation.

Democratic New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy made transitioning to clean energy a key tenet of his successful 2017 race. Then in May, Murphy signed legislation requiring 50 percent of energy sold in the state to come from renewable energy sources by 2030. In addition, he issued an executive order calling for the state to develop a roadmap for achieving 100 percent clean energy by 2050.

In Colorado, Democrat Jared Polis is championing a pitch to transition the state to 100 percent renewable energy by 2040. That is an aggressive goal for a state that today gets around 20 percent of its energy from renewables, and the plan has helped Polis maintain strong support among the state’s environmentalists, despite grumbling among some activists over his opposition to a ballot measure that would severely limit fracking.

And Pritzker says he “will be committed to putting Illinois on track to acquiring 25% or more of our energy from clean renewable sources by 2025 and 100% of our energy from renewable sources by 2050.” Today renewables provide 7 percent of net electricity generated in the state, according to EIA.

The League of Conservation Voters Action Fund says Gov. Kate Brown in Oregon and gubernatorial candidates Tony Evers in Wisconsin, Gretchen Whitmer in Michigan and Ned Lamont in Connecticut have also endorsed the policy in response to a questionnaire from the group.

California this year passed the country’s most sweeping energy law, putting the state on a course to get 60 percent of its electricity mix from renewables by 2030 and 100 percent from broader zero-carbon sources by 2050. Kevin de León, the Democratic former state Senate President pro tem who is challenging Sen. Dianne Feinstein from the left, introduced and championed the new law and told a newspaper in September that “I stand strongly on 100 percent clean energy. I think it’s going to be a boom for our economy.” Billionaire environmentalist Tom Steyer attended the bill signing.

Even if Democrats win one or both chambers of Congress this year, they are unlikely to get much traction on any ambitious energy or climate change bills while Trump is in the White House. But that hasn’t stopped from lawmakers from floating legislation calling for 100 percent clean energy.

Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) — a potential 2020 presidential candidate — has unveiled legislation setting the goal of transitioning the country to 100 percent “clean and renewable” energy by 2050 without explicitly defining those terms. Sanders (I-Vt.) and Booker (D-N.J.) co-sponsored it. California Sen. Kamala Harris, another likely 2020 contender, has not signed onto a bill, but she praised her state for “continuing to lead the way in the fight against climate change” when its 100 percent clean energy law passed earlier this year.

Merkley, Sanders and Warren (D-Mass.), another likely 2020 candidate, signed onto a 2016 resolution from Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) calling for the transition to “100 percent clean, renewable energy.”

House progressives, led by Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii), are backing an even more aggressive bill, which calls for 100 percent non-fossil fuel energy by 2035 and has the support of nearly four-dozen House Democrats. A report from the groups Food & Water Watch and Climate Hawks Vote said 38 non-incumbent congressional candidates would back the House bill.

However, the idea does not enjoy universal support among climate activists, including noted climate scientist James Hansen, who supports charging a fee on carbon emissions and distributing the proceeds to the public. In a column earlier this year, he warned that “tricking the public to accept the fantasy of 100 percent renewables means that, in reality, fossil fuels reign and climate change grows.”

Academics have fiercely debated the feasibility of powering the U.S. power grid by renewable power alone. Stanford professor Mark Jacobson was lead author of a 2015 study concluding that wind, solar and hydropower could fuel the U.S. grid by 2050 “with little downside.” That led to a peer-reviewed critique from 21 academics questioning those conclusions and saying the original paper contained “modeling errors, and made implausible and inadequately supported assumptions,” while also noting that numerous studies have found 80 percent decarbonization could be accomplished “at reasonable cost.” (Jacobson sued over that rebuke and demanded its retraction before ultimately abandoning the lawsuit this February).

But momentum has grown as increasingly large cities, including Seattle, San Diego, Atlanta, Salt Lake City, Portland, Ore., and dozens of others committed to transitioning to 100 percent renewable energy. They were joined by more than 100 corporate giants, including Facebook, HP, Johnson & Johnson, Kellogg’s, Lyft and Mars, who’ve made similar voluntary commitments to power their operations by entirely renewable sources.

Many experts say the rapid deployment of renewable energy resources is achievable, though it won’t happen overnight.

“A goal focused on achieving low or zero-carbon energy targets, rather than just a certain amount of renewables, allows for the broadest possible set of tools of technologies to be brought to bear on the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions,” said Jason Bordoff, former senior director for energy and climate change in President Barack Obama’s National Security Council and now the founding director of Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy.

Some observers think the candidates are seizing upon a transition to renewables already underway, but that completing it will be harder in the coming years. But they acknowledge it’s a politically popular idea.

“Right now, gas has come into the generation mix to balance renewables. Getting to 100 percent renewables means pushing gas out of the mix. That’s a much bigger challenge,” said Kevin Book, managing director of ClearView Energy Partners. “Over the next 35 years any degree of infrastructure change is possible, but over any period of time no dramatic infrastructure change is easy.”

CNN president Jeff Zucker ripped President Donald Trump and press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders on Wednesday after a suspected explosive device was found at the network’s New York office, saying White House officials failed to understand “the seriousness of their continued attacks on the media.”

“The President, and especially the White House Press Secretary, should understand their words matter,” Zucker said in a statement. “Thus far, they have shown no comprehension of that.”

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Several other frequent targets of the president’s political attacks were sent devices similar to the one found at CNN in recent days, according to law enforcement, including former President Barack Obama, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, billionaire liberal donor and activist George Soros and Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.).

Since he took office, Trump has missed no opportunity to bash CNN and its reporting, including once tweeting an edited video of himself appearing to body-slam and punch a CNN logo. Last week, at a rally in Montana, Trump praised Republican Rep. Greg Gianforte for body-slamming a reporter, for which the congressman pleaded guilty last year to misdemeanor assault. CNN correspondent Jim Acosta said a Trump supporter made a throat-slitting gesture toward him at the same event, and journalists have reported feeling increasingly unsafe at Trump rallies.

“I don’t like ’em either,” Trump said of reporters Monday night in Houston as his fans yelled “CNN sucks,” a recurring chant at the president’s rallies.

On Wednesday, Trump retweeted a statement from Vice President Mike Pence that included CNN in condemning the suspicious packages, though the president did not mention the network in afternoon comments at the White House.

“Acts or threats of political violence of any kind have no place in the U.S.,” Trump said.

Sanders initially released a statement Wednesday condemning “the attempted violent attacks recently made against President Obama, President Clinton, Secretary Clinton, and other public figures.” After it was widely noted that the statement did not include CNN, she tweeted, “Our condemnation of these dispicable acts certainly includes threats made to CNN as well as current or former public servants. These cowardly acts are unacceptable and won’t be tolerated.”

Just two hours after the suspected explosive device was found at CNN, the Trump 2020 campaign sent out a fundraising email bashing the network and the rest of the media. “It’s time for us to give the media another wake-up call,” the email read. Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale later apologized, saying it was a “pre-programmed, automated message.”

Press advocates have long said Trump’s rhetoric toward the media endangers journalists, who he has labeled “the enemy of the people.”

The package delivered to CNN was addressed to John Brennan, the former CIA director under Obama and a frequent critic of Trump. Brennan is a contributor at NBC News and MSNBC, not CNN.

CNN employees evacuated their New York offices shortly after 10 a.m. Anchors Poppy Harlow and Jim Sciutto were covering the suspicious packages sent to the Obamas and Clintons when an alarm went off, and staffers could be seen behind them heading for the exits.

“There’s a fire alarm here,“ Harlow told guest Tom Fuentes, a senior law enforcement analyst, and CNN’s Washington studio took over the broadcast. Fifteen minutes later, Harlow and Sciutto appeared live outside the Time Warner Center on shaky video and speaking into cell phones amid a heavy police presence.

For hours, CNN’s coverage shifted from the Washington studio to anchors and correspondents on the street in midtown Manhattan. While broadcasting on the street Wednesday afternoon, Chris Cuomo interviewed Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz), who said the president “shouldn’t refer to the press as the ‘enemy of the people’” and that “we all need to watch the rhetoric that we use.”

CNN journalists noted on air that the president hadn’t mentioned the network on Wednesday. “It’s as if it can’t roll off the tongue unless you’re complaining about it,” CNN analyst Gloria Borger said.

A president repeatedly accused of fostering a climate of political vitriol cast himself on Wednesday as a unifier amid reports of suspicious packages sent to several prominent Democrats.

Little was immediately known about the origin of the packages, some of which reportedly included explosive devices, to such figures as former president Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and the New York offices of CNN. But the episode nonetheless revived long-simmering fears that Trump’s incendiary rhetoric encourages violence. Trump has personally demonized several of the package recipients, including Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), former CIA director John Brennan and the cable news network.

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He has also encouraged anti-Clinton chants of “lock her up” at his rallies; applauded supporters who assaulted protesters at his 2016 campaign events; recently praised a Republican member of Congress who body slammed a reporter; and characterized Democrats as leading an “angry, ruthless, unhinged mob.”

But in his remarks at the White House as the suspicious-package story blanketed the cable television airwaves, Trump expressed outrage about the incidents, stressing that the “safety of the American people is my highest and absolute priority.”

“I just want to tell you that in these times, we have to unify, we have to come together and send one very clear, strong, unmistakable message that acts or threats of political violence of any kind have no place in the United States of America.,” he said, speaking at a previously scheduled event on opioids.

He continued, “We’re extremely angry, upset and unhappy about what we witnessed this morning and we will get to the bottom of it.”

First Lady Melania Trump, speaking at the beginning of the event, echoed that sentiment. “We cannot tolerate those cowardly attacks and I strongly condemn all that choose violence,” she said.

In recent weeks, Trump has campaigned in part on a theme of law and order, vowing to protect Americans from a caravan of migrants that is slowly making its way toward the U.S.-Mexico border, asserting without evidence that the group includes “Middle Easterners” and gang members. But it’s unclear whether any of his supporters might feel threatened by a series of packages sent to several liberal icons widely reviled on the right.

Although the motive behind the packages remains unclear as the FBI investigates, some Democrats suggested that Trump bore responsibility for a toxic political climate that could be inciting people to violence.

“He can’t condone these chants of ‘lock her up,‘ etc. That’s unpresidential,” Sen Jack Reed (D-R.I.) told CNN before Trump spoke at the White House on Wednesday, adding, “He has to step up as a president and call us all to a higher level of debate.”

“It’s a troubling time, isn’t it?” added Clinton in remarks to the press, although she did not specifically mention Trump. “It’s a time of deep divisions, and we have to do everything we can to bring our country together.”

While some liberal critics have outright accused Trump of inciting political violence himself, conservatives have also pointed a finger at Democrats for urging Trump critics policies to confront administration officials in public spaces like restaurants.

Trump, for his part, has appeared to pick up on a conservative media focus on the activity of Antifa, a far left group. In a closed door meeting with evangelical leaders in August, he warned that Democrats “will overturn everything that we’ve done and they’ll do it quickly and violently” if they win back the House.

“They will end everything immediately,” Trump said, according to a recording of the event obtained by The New York Times. “When you look at Antifa and you look at some of these groups, these are violent people.”

White House aides moved quickly earlier Wednesday to decry what press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders called “terrorizing acts.”

“These terrorizing acts are despicable, and anyone responsible will be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law,” she said in a statement. (Sanders did not immediately respond to a request for comment about criticism about Trump’s past divisive rhetoric.)

Trump was briefed on the suspicious packages on Wednesday. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, FBI Director Christopher Wray, United States Secret Service Director Randolph Alles were among the officials who participated in the briefing.

In the wake of the reports of suspicious packages, Republicans and Democrats alike hit the pause button on an acrimonious campaign season, coming together — at least for a moment — to call for civility.

House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.), who was shot last year during a congressional baseball practice, condemned the incidents.

“Violence and terror have no place in our politics or anywhere else in our society,” he wrote on Twitter. “I have experienced first-hand the effects of political violence, and am committed to using my voice to speak out against it wherever I can.”

Even some reliably anti-Trump Democrats were initially hesitant to directly criticize the president.

“What we saw here today was an effort to terrorize,” New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio told reporters. “This clearly is an act of terror attempting to undermine our free press and leaders of this country through acts of violence.”

Asked about Trump, De Blasio declined to directly chastise the president, instead broadly arguing that politicians of all stripes should make sure their rhetoric doesn’t incite or encourage violent behavior.

Even the president’s often-combative son, Eric, tweeted a message of sympathy for the Democrats who were targeted.

“As someone who has been on the receiving end of threading packages, I can tell you how disgusting these acts are! America is better than this,” he wrote. “These acts should be condemned by all and I hope they throw any individual caught in jail, for a very long time.”

Republicans are launching 11th-hour rescue missions into a set of longtime GOP House districts that have tightened weeks before the election, highlighting the limits of the recent boost in voter enthusiasm touted by the GOP — and the dangerous cash deficit haunting some Republican candidates.

Two weeks out from Election Day, a constellation of groups — including the National Republican Congressional Committee’s independent expenditure unit; Congressional Leadership Fund, the House leadership-aligned super PAC; and America First Action, the principal super PAC backing President Donald Trump — are pouring millions of dollars into TV ads to help GOP members in Florida, Georgia, Michigan, New York, North Carolina and Virginia. It’s a last-minute effort that Republican operatives say will shore up lawmakers in seats that once leaned Republican but have become increasingly competitive.

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It’s also a troubling sign for the GOP’s prospects of keeping the House. Most of Republicans’ new defensive fortifications are coming in districts where the GOP has won easily in the past and has been expected to do so again in 2018, and Democrats have not considered them top targets or must-wins on their path to flip 23 seats and retake the House majority. While Republicans in some districts have benefited from Trump’s rising approval rating and a boost of energy following Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation, the new ad spending shows that Democrats are still making inroads into a range of Republican-held seats, including some where the GOP candidates are getting massively outspent.

“When the committees or CLF go in late, it means the race is within the margin of error — up a couple points or down a couple points for Republicans — so that means it’s winnable, so they’re not going to walk away, despite what the candidate cash shows,” said a Republican consultant working on House races, who was granted anonymity to discuss internal party decisions. “But it’s happening because these incumbents don’t have the cash, which is worrisome.”

The NRCC jumped into a trio of suburban seats this week where Democrats raised more money than Republican incumbents last quarter. The GOP House committee dumped $1.4 million into the northern Atlanta suburbs to support GOP Rep. Karen Handel, who’s facing Democrat Lucy McBath, a gun control activist. The NRCC also threw down $600,000 apiece to help Rep. Ted Budd (R-N.C.) on Wednesday and the same amount for Rep. Brian Mast (R-Fla.).

CLF is simultaneously swooping in to another three districts, blitzing TV air waves with ads benefiting Reps. John Katko (R-N.Y) and Fred Upton (R-Mich.) and open-seat contender Denver Riggleman, the Republican running to replace retiring Rep. Tom Garrett (R-Va.).

America First Action is also going up in Ohio’s 12th District, the Republican-leaning seat narrowly won by GOP Rep. Troy Balderson in a closely watched August special election.

But since then, Balderson — who is defending a mix of suburban and rural counties — fell steeply behind in fundraising against Democrat Danny O’Connor. O’Connor entered October with over $1 million in his campaign account, while Balderson had $388,000.

O’Connor’s campaign released an internal polling memo on Wednesday claiming the race is tied at 47 percent.

Republicans appear to have put away a handful of districts that look, on paper, as though they should have been easy Democratic pickups this election, including Hispanic-majority seats in California and Texas.

But that’s just a fraction of the larger battleground map. Democrats are vying for more than 75 GOP-held seats, giving the party multiple opportunities to breach the Republican firewall and flip the 23 districts needed to take the House.

Add the Democratic cash advantage to the equation and the picture looks grim for the right.

The White House was enlisted recently to help cash-poor candidates in open seats, planning a Trump-hosted fundraiser on Thursday for three Republicans vying to replace a retiring GOP incumbents: Jay Webber of New Jersey’s 11th District, Ross Spano of Florida’s 15th District and Carol Miller of West Virginia’s 3rd District.

House Democrats portrayed Republicans’ new financial infusion as a sign their party was expanding the map, cutting into GOP territory that many leaders viewed as safe and many political analysts long considered “likely” or “lean” Republican seats.

“Our ability to win the early air-war forced Republicans to already abandon some vulnerable incumbents and expand the map into new districts where they didn’t want to spend,” Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee spokesman Tyler Law said in a statement. “Despite increasingly desperate Republican rhetoric, our strategy is working and we have built multiple paths to the majority.”

CLF executive director Corry Bliss pushed back on that assertion and expressed confidence that all the incumbents in question would win. He downplayed the GOP’s new ad buys as “maintenance” — spending to counter liberal outside groups flooding the zone with their own money.

“As we have been saying for two years, this is a very difficult environment and if a Republican incumbent gets outspent two-to-one or three-to-one, you’re asking for trouble,” Bliss said in a statement.

Another Republican source familiar with the buys also acknowledged that “a lot of this is about the significant amount of Democratic resources going into lower-tier, fringe races, where a massive spending advantage could shrink a margin,” adding that “this is about filling spending voids.”

Indeed, it was a recent DCCC ad buy against Mast that triggered the NRCC to wade into the coastal district Trump carried by 9 points, two GOP sources said. House Democrats invested in the seat in mid-October after Global Strategy Group, a Democratic polling firm, said candidate Lauren Baer was “within striking distance” of Mast.

Back in May, Baer trailed Mast 18 points, according to a polling memo from Global Strategy Group; by late September, Baer, an ex-State Department official, was only 3 points behind the Republican incumbent.

In New York, Katko also faces an onslaught of Democratic spending in a district that Clinton won by 3 points in 2016. House Majority PAC, a super PAC aligned with Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), and the super PAC arm of EMILY’s List have more than $1 million worth of TV ads reserved to run against Katko.

GOP leaders have long seen Katko as a battle-tested member who has won tough races and could withstand the Democrat-favored political climate. He led Democrat Dana Balter by 15 points in a Siena College poll in late August, though CLF’s internal polling has him up by about half that margin: 8 points. Another Republican source admitted the direction of the race was not trending in Katko’s favor.

In Georgia, the NRCC’s million-dollar buy comes as Handel lead shrinks and outside groups wade in. Democrat Lucy McBath has benefited from more than $2 million in outside spending from Everytown for Gun Safety Action, her former employer.

A recent poll by Bold Blue Campaigns/JMC Analytics showed Handel leading McBath but the Democrat within the margin of error, 49 percent to 45 percent.

SO FAR TODAY: The Secret Service has announced that it intercepted bombs sent to the OBAMAS and the CLINTONS. CNN in New York was evacuated after an explosive device was sent to its office, addressed to former Obama-era CIA Director JOHN BRENNAN (who is actually an NBC/MSNBC contributor). This comes the day after a bomb was found at GEORGE SOROS’ suburban New York home.

— HILLARY CLINTON, speaking in Florida today: “We are fine thanks to the men and women of the Secret Service who intercepted the package addressed to us long before it made its way to our home. … We have to do everything we can to bring our country together. We also have to elect candidates who will try to do the same. Who will set goals that will lift up every single Floridian and American.”

NYPD COMMISSIONER JAMES O’NEILL said they found what they believe to be a pipe bomb and an envelope containing white powder at CNN.

— NEW YORK CITY MAYOR BILL DE BLASIO called this “an act of terror.”

— NEW YORK GOV. ANDREW CUOMO said at a news conference that “a device” was sent to his office in Manhattan, and he wouldn’t at all be surprised if more devices are sent.

CBS MIAMI reports this on Twitter (@CBSMiami): “#BREAKING: Sunrise Police Department confirms an office building has been evacuated due to suspicious package in the mail. It’s the same building where the office of U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz is located.”

CNN’S ABBY PHILLIP (@abbydphillip): “BREAKING via @PamelaBrownCNN and @joshscampbell: there was a suspicious package sent to Eric Holder with Debbie Wasserman Schultz’ return address. The package had the WRONG address and was sent back to DWS’ office.”

ABC’S TARA PALMERI (@tarapalmeri): “per @MLevineReports/@AaronKatersky: Sources confirm to ABC News that the public official whose name appeared in the return address of at least one of the packages is Debbie Wasserman Schultz.”

— THE NEW NORMAL? In the last year alone: REP. STEVE SCALISE (R-LA.) was shot and nearly killed. A man was arrested for allegedly threatening to kill two senators. There was a deadly shooting at a Maryland newspaper.

WHITE HOUSE STATEMENT … SARAH HUCKABEE SANDERS: “We condemn the attempted violent attacks recently made against President Obama, President Clinton, Secretary Clinton, and other public figures. These terrorizing acts are despicable, and anyone responsible will be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law. The United States Secret Service and other law enforcement agencies are investigating and will take all appropriate actions to protect anyone threatened by these cowards.”

— @PressSec: “This is an ongoing situation that President Trump and his admin are monitoring closely. Our condemnation of these dispicable [sic] acts certainly includes threats made to CNN as well as current or former public servants. These cowardly acts are unacceptable and won’t be tolerated.”

VP MIKE PENCE’S STATEMENT: “We condemn the attempted attacks against former President Obama, the Clintons, CNN, and others. These cowardly actions are despicable and have no place in this Country. Grateful for the swift response of Secret Service, the FBI & local law enforcement. Those responsible will be brought to justice.” … @realDonaldTrump: “I agree wholeheartedly!”

POLITICO’S STORY, which will be updated throughout the day — “Potential explosives sent to Clintons, Obamas, CNN,” by Rebecca Morin

TOP-ED — ALEXANDER SOROS in the NYT: “The Hate That Is Consuming Us”: “[W]ith Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, things got worse. … A genie was let out of the bottle, which may take generations to put back in, and it wasn’t confined to the United States. …

“While the responsibility lies with the individual or individuals who sent these lethal devices to my family home and Mr. Obama’s and Ms. Clinton’s offices, I cannot see it divorced from the new normal of political demonization that plagues us today.” NYT

Good Wednesday afternoon. DAN DIAMOND SCOOP: “Trump tries to blame Democrats as his own administration chips away at Obamacare”: “Trump is planning a speech at his health department’s Washington headquarters Thursday that could touch on drug pricing, the opioid crisis and patient protections, two individuals tell POLITICO. It would be an unusual venue for a president more comfortable with holding rallies outside Washington than addressing federal workers.” POLITICO

FOR YOUR RADAR — BRYAN BENDER: “Nuclear fear: Last U.S.-Russia arms pacts could ‘simply die’”: “A pullout from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty would represent only the second time the U.S. has unilaterally abandoned a Cold War arms control pact. It would leave only one other major treaty in force that limits how many atomic weapons the U.S. and Russia can have at the ready … Now the odds of New START disappearing too are rising …

“[Trump’s] comments only fueled consternation over the fate of New START, which arms control specialists see as the biggest impediment to the type of atomic arms race that defined much of the Cold War.” POLITICO

WHAT’S ON THE PRESIDENT’S MIND — @realDonaldTrump at 7:52 a.m.: “For those who want and advocate for illegal immigration, just take a good look at what has happened to Europe over the last 5 years. A total mess! They only wish they had that decision to make over again.”

… at 7:56 a.m.: “We are a great Sovereign Nation. We have Strong Borders and will never accept people coming into our Country illegally!”

… at 8:45 a.m.: “Republicans will totally protect people with Pre-Existing Conditions, Democrats will not! Vote Republican.”

— FACT CHECK … NBC: “Evidence says otherwise.”

IMMIGRATION FILES — “DHS, HHS officials blindsided by ‘zero tolerance’ border policy,” by Ted Hesson and Lorraine Woellert: “Officials from the Homeland Security and HHS departments — the two agencies tasked with processing and maintaining custody of separated parents and children — told investigators they took no steps to plan for a spike in family separations because they learned of the new policy only when Attorney General Jeff Sessions rolled it out in April. …

“The GAO report also found that border officials had ramped up family separations even before Sessions instituted the zero-tolerance policy.” POLITICO

STORY OF THE DAY … WAPO’S NICK MIROFF in Hidalgo County, Texas: “The border is tougher to cross than ever. But there’s still one way into America”: “The era of mass migration by Mexican laborers streaming into California and the deserts of Arizona is over. … The migrants coming today are increasingly Central Americans seeking asylum or some form of humanitarian protection … They know the quickest path to a better life in the United States is now an administrative one — not through mountains or canyons but through the front gates of the country’s immigration bureaucracy. …

“The extraordinary surge of asylum seekers is testing the limits of whom, exactly, the United States is willing to protect, challenging the stone-carved ideal of America as the place that welcomes the tired and poor, ‘yearning to breathe free.’ It has also presented Trump with one of the most vexing policy challenges of his presidency, and virtually every measure taken so far has made the problem worse.” WaPo

THE MIDTERMS …

— NYT’S PATRICIA MAZZEI in Marathon, Fla.: “In a Florida Swing District, an ‘Inconvenient’ Republican Holds On,” by NYT’s Patricia Mazzei in Marathon, Fla.: “A loss by [GOP Rep. Carlos] Curbelo could be a strong sign of a long-anticipated blue wave rolling across the biggest presidential swing state, and one more hurdle for Republicans hoping to keep control of the House. If he wins, it will most likely be seen not as a credit to the Republicans, but as a sign of the unique appeal of Mr. Curbelo himself. He is a Latino perhaps best known as an evangelist for climate science who, if he succeeds, might have identified a way for Republicans in Democratic-leaning districts to survive in the Trump era.

“Throughout his re-election campaign, Mr. Curbelo, a two-term incumbent who was also a top Democratic target in 2016, has remained unperturbed. ‘Welcome to my world,’ he tells other Republicans who find themselves in tight races this year. ‘It’s better this way. You stay in shape, politically.’” NYT

— NYT’S ASTEAD HERNDON in Alpharetta, Ga.: “‘Democrat. Fighter. Mother.’ Lucy McBath Is Redefining Social Justice in Politics”: “More than anyone else running for Congress, [Lucy] McBath, the Democratic nominee in a Republican-leaning race, is redefining social justice in politics this year, in large part through her deep personal connection to the Black Lives Matter movement. …

“Many Democratic candidates across the country, after years of tiptoeing around issues of race out of fear of alienating white voters, are slowly adopting the language of anti-racist activists. It is an attempt to connect more closely with black voters, in particular, whose turnout will be key in several of November’s most hotly contested midterm elections. Republicans have poured money into advertisements that lambaste Democrats on that move, casting their evolution as a sign of a corroding culture that’s too politically correct.” NYT

— NYT’S CECILIA KANG: “Snapchat Helps Register Over 400,000 Voters”: “Much of the activity, the company said, was in key battleground states like Texas, Florida and Georgia. Snapchat, which is popular among teenagers and young adults, pushed people 18 and over to register by adding a button about doing so on each user’s profile page. The company also sent video messages to all of those users urging them to register. The users were directed to a nonpartisan voter registration website, TurboVote.org.” NYT

— ANNIE KARNI, “Kellyanne Conway, Sarah Sanders and Ivanka Trump are a hit on the campaign trail”

THE LATEST ON KHASHOGGI … MARY LEE, “Saudi prince: Khashoggi slaying is a ‘heinous crime that cannot be justified’”: “‘The crime was really painful to all Saudis and I believe it is painful to every human in the world,’ [Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman] said Wednesday, sitting on a panel at the Future Investment Initiative summit at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Riyadh. ‘It is a heinous crime that cannot be justified.’”

“The crown prince said that his government would cooperate with Turkish officials and warned that some around the globe are trying to use Khashoggi’s murder to ‘drive a wedge’ between Saudi Arabia and Turkey. He said he wanted to ‘send a message’ to those working [to] pit the two against [one] another: that they would ‘not be able to do that as long as there is a King called Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and a crown prince called Mohammed bin Salman in Saudi Arabia and a president in Turkey called Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.’” POLITICO

— AP’S JON GAMBRELL (@jongambrellAP): “NewsAlert: ANKARA, #Turkey (@AP) — Turkish officials: Erdogan discussed probe into journalist’s killing with Saudi crown prince in telephone call.”

— “Transcript of President Trump’s Interview With The Wall Street Journal”: “WSJ: Do you believe [Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman]? Do you believe the denials?

“Mr. Trump: I want to believe him. I really want to believe him.” Full transcript of the WSJ interview

— NAHAL TOOSI on ALI SHIHABI: “How a smooth Saudi operative charms Washington and defends ‘the indefensible’”: “Even as evidence mounted last week that a Saudi Arabian hit squad had murdered and dismembered his friend, Jamal Khashoggi, Washington operative Ali Shihabi took to Twitter to do what he does best: defend the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

“The global outrage over Khashoggi’s murder has forced many Washington lobbyists and public relations pros to cut ties with the Saudi government. But not Shihabi, a Saudi national who may be the country’s most effective defender in the U.S. capital. … The Saudi ambassador left Washington earlier this month and reportedly may not return, but it matters less given that many already consider Shihabi, who is close to the Saudi leadership, to be the kingdom’s unofficial envoy.” POLITICO

— REUTERS/GENEVA: “Iran: Riyadh would not have murdered Khashoggi without U.S. protection”

VALLEY TALK — “Apple’s Tim Cook blasts Silicon Valley over privacy issues,” by WaPo’s Tony Romm: “Apple chief executive Tim Cook on Wednesday warned the world’s most powerful regulators that the poor privacy practices of some tech companies, the ills of social media and the erosion of trust in his own industry threaten to undermine ‘technology’s awesome potential’ to address challenges like disease and climate change.” WaPo

THE INVESTIGATIONS … “George Papadopoulos Hopes to Fuel Republicans’ Suspicions About the Russia Probe,” by The Atlantic’s Natasha Bertrand: “On Thursday, [George] Papadopoulos will testify to what he believes was an operation designed by the FBI, in coordination with Britain’s intelligence services, to ‘infiltrate’ and ‘sabotage’ the Trump campaign. (Congress is in recess, so it is not clear which members will show up and which will send their staff.)

“He plans to detail the interactions he had with at least nine people during the election … Those include the foreign professor Joseph Mifsud … Sergei Millian … and Stefan Halper … It remains to be seen whether Papadopoulos walks into the hearing armed with theories about double agents and the deep state. But one thing is clear: Papadopoulos will be leaving sympathetic lawmakers with a road map that he hopes they will follow.” The Atlantic

2020 WATCH — ALEX THOMPSON, “Inside Trump’s post-Facebook 2020 strategy”: “The emerging tech strategy, according to four officials involved in Trump’s reelection campaign, will reduce its reliance on Big Tech platforms — which were the dominant messaging channels in 2016 — to get the president’s message out. The president’s team instead is planning to go around the platforms as much as possible and reach supporters directly, making use of old-school text messaging. …

“People involved with Trump’s reelection campaign see the texting medium — not just sms written messages but mms videos and images, too — as a way to directly and instantly communicate and organize voters without having to rely on media or tech platforms that they suspect of bias. … [T]he Trump campaign, with its advantage of incumbency and a presidential megaphone, is already further along than any other would-be opponents.” POLITICO

— POLITICO MAGAZINE’S BILL SCHER: “The 15 Races That Will Determine How Democrats Approach 2020”

OUT AND ABOUT — SPOTTED at the awarding of the LBJ Foundation’s D.B. Hardeman Prize to “The Fierce Urgency of Now: Lyndon Johnson, Congress, and the Battle for the Great Society” by Julian Zelizer, presented last night by Tom Daschle ($15.86 on Amazon): David Bonior, James R. Jones, Richard Baker, Chet Edwards, Martin Lancaster, Mike Andrews, Tom O’Donnell, John Lawrence, Peggy Lewis and Lyndon Boozer.

TRANSITIONS — Rep. Dennis Ross (R-Fla.) will be a distinguished professor of political science at Southeastern University in central Florida, creating a new American Center for Political Leadership. He is retiring from Congress this fall. … Robert Karem will be a national security adviser to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). He is currently assistant Defense secretary for international security affairs. … Pat Palmer will be managing director at Purple Strategies. He previously was a partner at VSA Partners in Chicago.

ENGAGED — Josh Arnold, adviser to the president of Heritage Action, proposed to Genta Minerali with the Fund for American Studies in Lynchburg, Va., on Sunday. The two met last year through a mutual friend. Instapic

WEEKEND WEDDING — Hannah Hess, communications manager at research firm Rhodium Group and an E&E and Roll Call alum, recently married Peter McCarron, who works in marketing for tech firm HashiCorp. The couple met when they were both cheering among the Screamin’ Eagles at a 2014 D.C. United game. They married in Richmond, Va. Pic

WELCOME TO THE WORLD — Nadia Szold, director of a forthcoming documentary on Larry Flynt’s 1984 run for president, and Steven Prince on Saturday morning welcomed Sydney Jerome Prince. Pic … Another pic

• Anna Palmer @apalmerdc
• Jake Sherman @JakeSherman
• Daniel Lippman @dlippman
• Eli Okun @eliokun
• Garrett Ross @garrett_ross

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