July 2016

Donald Trump said that he hoped Russia had hacked Hillary Clinton’s e-mail, essentially encouraging an adversarial foreign power to cyberspy on a secretary of state’s correspondence. “Russia, if you’re listening, I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 e-mails that are missing,” Trump said, staring directly into the cameras during a news conference. “I think you will probably be rewarded mightily by our press.”

Trump’s call was an extraordinary moment at a time when Russia is being accused of meddling in the United States’ presidential election. His comments came amid questions about the hacking of the Democratic National Committee’s computer servers, which American intelligence agencies have told the White House they have “high confidence” was the work of the Russian government. Later in the news conference, when asked if he was really urging a foreign nation to hack into the private e-mail server of Clinton, or at least meddle in the nation’s elections, he dismissed the question. “That’s up to the president,” Trump said, before finally saying “be quiet” to the female questioner. “Let the president talk to them.” The Clinton campaign immediately accused Trump of both encouraging Russian espionage against the United States and meddling in domestic politics.

How do Americans view Hillary Clinton – a fixture in national politics for more than 25 years – as the race between her and Donald Trump for the White House begins in earnest? Here’s a roundup of key Pew Research Center findings on views of Hillary Clinton, her politics and the impact she would have on Washington.

1) More voters say they know a lot about where Clinton stands on important issues than say the same about Trump.
2) Few voters think gender will hurt Clinton this fall.
3) Supporters and opponents see Clinton’s political views differently.
4) Many voters – including many of her supporters – doubt Clinton will change Washington much. Overall, about half (53%) of voters in our June survey say Clinton won’t change the way things work in Washington much. Those who think she will change Washington are divided on whether it will be for the better (20%) or the worse (25%).
5) Democrats feel warmly toward Clinton, while Republican views of her are very cold.

As Verizon plans a fiber expansion in Boston (MA), CEO Lowell McAdam said the company is talking to other cities about potentially building fiber networks. Verizon stopped expanding its FiOS fiber-to-the-home Internet, TV, and phone service several years ago, making it a surprise when in April the company announced plans to replace its copper network in Boston with fiber.

McAdam said, "We are talking to other cities about similar partnerships." Verizon's fiber expansion plans are as much about improving backhaul to its more profitable mobile network as they are about bringing wired Internet to people's homes. "We will create a single fiber-optic network platform capable of supporting wireless and wireline technologies and multiple products," McAdam said. When asked which cities Verizon might build fiber in, McAdam said, "We have a stronger position in the Washington to Boston corridor" and "can move to market more quickly" there. But the geographical footprint isn't a "boundary," McAdam said, pointing to San Francisco (CA), where Verizon doesn't offer fiber-to-the-home service but deployed fiber and small cells to boost its wireless coverage for the Super Bowl.