
How CNN got news from the Hunter Biden trial out of the courthouse
CNN
One student’s first-hand account of running notes from reporters at the Hunter Biden trial to the world in real time.
CNN relied on a system of runners to get notes from reporters watching the Hunter Biden trial to the world in real time. Here’s one runner’s description: As a journalism student at the University of Delaware preparing for my final year of college before the real world, I jumped at the chance when one of my journalism professors sent me a text asking if I wanted to work for CNN. There’s a very strict policy on electronics in the J. Caleb Boggs Federal Building that prohibits the usage of laptops and phones inside. This policy may have been a hassle, but I’m ultimately grateful for it, as it’s the reason I had a job during the trial. My title of runner was extremely literal (as I learned the hard way when I wore boots to the first day of the trial), meaning I was taking notes from reporters in the courtroom and delivering them to a team of producers on the ground. This is how CNN and many other media outlets maintained live updates during the trial; it was thanks to runners like me. Of course, the job wasn’t easy, and I think the blisters speak for themselves, but they serve as a reminder of one of the coolest experiences of my life so far. Day after day, I was tasked with carrying notes bearing the latest national news up and down three flights of stairs, which was a tedious task when the trial was slow and an utterly invigorating one when it wasn’t.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth risked compromising sensitive military information that could have endangered US troops through his use of Signal to discuss attack plans, a Pentagon watchdog said in an unclassified report released Thursday. It also details how Hegseth declined to cooperate with the probe.

Two top House lawmakers emerged divided along party lines after a private briefing with the military official who oversaw September’s attack on an alleged drug vessel that included a so-called double-tap strike that killed surviving crew members, with a top Democrat calling video of the incident that was shared as part of the briefing “one of the most troubling things” he has seen as a lawmaker.

Authorities in Colombia are dealing with increasingly sophisticated criminals, who use advanced tech to produce and conceal the drugs they hope to export around the world. But police and the military are fighting back, using AI to flag suspicious passengers, cargo and mail - alongside more conventional air and sea patrols. CNN’s Isa Soares gets an inside look at Bogotá’s war on drugs.

As lawmakers demand answers over reports that the US military carried out a follow-up strike that killed survivors during an attacked on an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean, a career Navy SEAL who has spent most of his 30 years of military experience in special operations will be responsible for providing them.









