National News at a Glance

Biden Says Trump Is ‘Trashing American Values’

Former Vice President Joe Biden, in some of his harshest criticism of President Donald Trump to date, said Friday that the president was “trashing American values” and undermining institutions to “amass power,” as he appealed to his party to not give up on winning the votes of the white working class. Campaigning in rural Kentucky for a Democrat running in one of the nation’s most watched House races, Biden appeared to be testing themes for a potential 2020 campaign to unseat Trump. Biden has campaigned for more than two dozen Democratic candidates. But the question is whether he can effectively counter the president.

U.S. Border Agency Says Hundreds of Employees Have Been Arrested Over 2 Years

More than 500 employees of America’s primary border security agency were charged with drug trafficking, accepting bribes and other crimes over a two-year period, according to reports released Friday. The reports, released by Customs and Border Protection’s Office of Human Resource Management and its Office of Professional Responsibility, covered 2016 and 2017. The most common arrests were related to misconduct involving drugs or alcohol. Domestic or family misconduct was the second most common reason. "We are talking about a fraction of the organization,” said Matthew Klein, assistant commissioner for the Office of Professional Responsibility. Customs and Border Protection employs more than 60,000 people.

Chicago Officer Is Cleared in Fatal Shooting of 15-Year-Old in Back of the Head

On a November afternoon in 2012, Chicago police Officer Brandon Ternand, 34, fatally shot 15-year-old Dakota Bright in the back of the head. On Thursday, an independent civilian body decided that Ternand would be allowed to remain on the force. In a 5-3 vote, the police board of the city of Chicago cleared Ternand of charges that he had used unnecessary force in Dakota's death. The board said it had found “credible and persuasive” Ternand's testimony that he had feared for his life after the teenager turned around during a foot chase, looked at him and reached for his left side as if for a gun.

Republican Club Vandalized Before Visit by Right-Wing Provocateur

The Metropolitan Republican Club in New York was vandalized, with windows broken and doors defaced with anarchist symbols, before an appearance by a right-wing provocateur, Gavin McInnes. The defacement occurred Thursday night or early Friday, according to Edward Cox, chairman of the New York Republican Party. He said a police report had been filed. A note suggested that the damage to the building on the Upper East Side of Manhattan may have been related to the coming appearance by McInnes, the founder of the Proud Boys, an organization characterized as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

Faulty Work by Gas Company Caused Massachusetts Explosions, Officials Say

A faulty plan to replace aging gas pipes caused sudden explosions and fires in three towns north of Boston last month that killed one person and drove thousands from their homes, the National Transportation Safety Board said Thursday. On Sept. 13, a crew contracted by Columbia Gas was upgrading the natural gas distribution system in south Lawrence, replacing century-old cast-iron pipes that had sensors to monitor pressure. But disconnecting the old system disabled the gauges, and the full flow of high-pressure gas into the system — without an accurate read of how high it was — caused the explosions in Lawrence, Andover and North Andover.

White Woman Apologizes for Calling the Police on a Black Child She Falsely Said Groped Her

A white woman who called police Wednesday after claiming that a young black boy touched her behind in a Brooklyn deli drew a storm of criticism, and late Friday, the woman, Teresa Klein, publicly apologized to the child. Klein, 53, returned to the store Friday afternoon. Prompted by a reporter, Klein went inside the store and watched a playback of the bodega’s security camera footage. It showed the child turning to someone behind him and his backpack brushing Klein’s backside. Speaking into a television reporter’s camera afterward, Klein said, “Young man, I don’t know your name but I’m sorry.”