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Yasmeen Khan: Good morning! It's Wednesday, March 13th. I'm Yasmeen Khan in for Shumita Basu.
Khan, Narrating: This is "Apple News Today." Coming up, the House votes on a bill today that
could spell the end of TikTok as we know it,
what might happen after the prime minister of Haiti resigns,
and what Kate Middleton's photo scandal says about the Royal family,
and about ourselves.
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But first, a quick look at a few other stories in the news. Starting with U.S.
politics, where voters have made their choice, the 2024 presidential
election will be a rematch between President Joe Biden and former president
Donald Trump. They effectively secured the nominations for their parties
after results came in from yesterday's primaries in Georgia, Mississippi,
and Washington state. The candidates will be formally nominated when the parties
hold conventions in the summer.
In the House of Representatives, the Judiciary Committee heard testimony
yesterday from former Special Counsel Robert Hur, who led the investigation
into President Biden's handling of classified documents.
As "The Washington Post" notes, the grilling by lawmakers was fiery
at times, but Hur's testimony ultimately revealed little new information.
And the questions he faced fell largely along political lines.
Republicans pressed Hur about why he didn't pursue criminal charges
against Biden, even though President Trump faces charges for mishandling classified
documents. Hur has said in the past that there are key differences.
For example, Trump did not cooperate with efforts to recover classified
documents from his Florida home. Democrats, meanwhile, pressed Hur about
the assessments the lawyer made of Biden's health and mental state
in the report. Hur described the president as quote a "sympathetic,
well-meaning elderly man with a poor memory."
The White House has strongly rejected those claims, but Hur told the committee
that he felt justified to include them.
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Robert Hur: My assessment in the report about the relevance of the President's
memory was necessary and accurate and fair. Most importantly, what I wrote
is what I believe the evidence shows and what I expect jurors would perceive
and believe. I did not sanitize my explanation, nor did I disparage
the President unfairly. I explained to the Attorney General my decision
and the reasons for it. That's what I was required to do.
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Khan, Narrating: And "The New York Times" has new reporting on Boeing, Alaska Airlines,
and the 737 jet that had a panel blow out en route to Portland earlier this year.
One day before that incident engineers and technicians for Alaska told
"The Times," they were so concerned about the safety of the plane
that they recommended pulling it out of service for maintenance immediately.
The airline says the concerns raised did not meet their internal standards
for pulling a plane out of service, so the flight departed as scheduled.
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But "The Times'" report has raised questions about why Alaska Airlines
did not choose to act with an abundance of caution, and send an empty jet
to Portland where it has a maintenance facility.
Today, the House will vote on a bill that could spell the end of TikTok
as we know it. The bill, which is expected to pass, is not an outright ban on
the popular social media app, instead, it would require TikTok's parent company,
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Byte Dance, based in China, to sell the app within 180 days or have it taken
down from the Apple and Google app stores. The bill has bipartisan support,
and advocates have long warned that because TikTok is owned
by a Chinese company American user data could be at risk. Here's one
of the bill’s sponsors, Republican Mike Gallagher on "PBS NewsHour."
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Mike Gallagher: The fundamental danger is that TikTok is owned by ByteDance and ByteDance
is beholden to the Chinese Communist Party. So from this flow, two concerns,
one being the security of American's data on the platform, but the other,
and I think broader concern is the potential for this platform to be used
for the propaganda purposes of the Chinese Communist Party.
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Khan, Narrating: The bill has the backing of President Biden and national security
officials who also warn of Chinese interference. TikTok has repeatedly denied
the accusations and said the company is not owned, controlled or influenced
by the Chinese government. And back in 2020, when President Trump
tried to do away with the app, he was blocked. The courts said,
the government hadn't sufficiently demonstrated that the app presented
a national security threat. Though the bill is expected to easily pass
the House, it faces an uphill battle in the Senate where it's opposed by a mix
of progressive Democrats and hardline Republicans, who argue
that the bill limits the right to free speech. Senator Rand Paul
has long been a critic, and his opposition could hold up the bill.
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Rand Paul: I think we should beware of those who peddle fear. I think we should be
aware of those who use fear to coax Americans to relinquish
our liberties, to regulate and limit our first amendment rights.
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Khan, Narrating: We should note, Rand Paul has received millions in campaign donations
from one of TikTok's largest U.S. investors, according
to "Bloomberg." Paul has denied the money has anything to do with his position.
Meanwhile, "The Washington Post" notes how phones were ringing off the hook
on Capitol Hill on Tuesday with users of the beloved app trying to save it.
Some 170 million Americans use TikTok. And the perception that it's being banned
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could quickly become an election issue.
Turning now to an ongoing story we've been covering out of Haiti.
Earlier this week, Prime Minister Ariel Henry announced his plans to resign amid
a stunning crisis in the country. In recent days, there have been reports
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of armed groups attacking the airport, freeing prisoners, and leaving dead bodies
to decompose in the street.
Jacqueline Charles: People are trapped. I mean, you're basically a prisoner
in your home, a prisoner in your environment. Imagine that you are
in a city, a capital where all of the main arteries,
the main roads are controlled, the access in and out,
they're controlled by gangs
Khan, Narrating: That's Jacqueline Charles, Haiti and Caribbean correspondent
for "The Miami Herald."
Charles: In some areas, people have been killed, either by these groups,
bodies are not getting picked up because even the funeral homes
are afraid to, to go out. There's also been a lack of fuel.
So people have to preserve whatever little that they have.
Khan, Narrating: To back up a bit, this all started a few years ago when the previous
president was assassinated. There was a power grab and Henry came out on top,
backed by the United States. But his power was seen as illegitimate by many,
including the gangs which have long controlled some
of the poorest neighborhoods. So, they rose up and, in recent months,
there's been chaos, and a surge in kidnappings and murders. And the police
haven't been equipped to manage it. After resisting calls to resign,
Henry finally agreed this week to step down. At an emergency meeting,
leaders in Haiti agreed to form a new transition government led
by a seven-member presidential council which will be responsible for selecting
an interim prime minister. Charles says, the question now is how armed gangs
might respond.
Charles: Everybody's waiting to see what the reaction of these armed groups
and or other individuals are going to be as a result of this proposal.
I mean, cause one of the things it's clear and what Caribbean leaders made clear
is that there is no seat at the table for any of the gangs or for any
of the armed groups who were demanding the resignation of the prime minister
and who were carrying out these violent coordinated attacks
that include two mass prison breaks.
Khan, Narrating: And in startling turn from what we shared with you yesterday Kenya announced
that it will not send security forces to Haiti until the new government
is in place. The country was planning to send about a-thousand police officers
to help tackle violence. In the meantime, Charles says the people
of Haiti are terrified.
Charles: You have this unease because you're in your house, you're sleeping at night
and you don't know. Are you going to be next?
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Charles, Narrating: Is your neighborhood also going to be targeted?
Khan, Narrating: Finally, at this point, whether you want to or not, you've probably heard
about the doctored photo debacle involving Kate Middleton,
the Princess of Wales. Kensington Palace posted the image on Sunday, Mother's Day
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in the UK, a smiling photo of her and her three children.
Kathryn VanArendonk: Except almost immediately people started to say, "I think that photo
is doctored," and then the AP issued
a kill notification because they also agreed that the photo
had been manipulated.
Khan, Narrating: This is Kathryn VanArendonk, a critic for "Vulture."
And part of the reason this was such a big deal, apart from AP's decision is that
Middleton has been out of the public eye for months. Here's a recap.
The Palace announced a planned abdominal surgery in January, and said Middleton
would not resume public duties until after Easter. But as Queen Elizabeth would say,
being visible is a royal necessity. Royal watchers, along with the internet,
meaning all of us. wouldn't accept the Princess of Wales being absent
for so long. And, by February, rumors were circulating that the Royal family was,
perhaps, hiding something.
VanArendonk: And so what was sort of a, like, burbling fascination with what is happening with
Kate Middleton just accelerated into this insane meme storm
of speculation about what is actually going on with her
Khan, Narrating: And when the Palace released the Mother's Day photo, and the public
started to notice discrepancies in the image, the internet went crazy.
VanArendonk: people love to become detectives about like, I see this photo, is it doctored?
Where is it doctored? Is that sleeve match this other sleeve? Is that shirt
the same shirt that they were wearing in November? Are those the same shoes?
Does that photo look like this other photo? Does that mean that this,
what's the timeline? And so it becomes this self-perpetuating feedback loop
of, of conspiracies that just grow and grow and grow.
Khan, Narrating: The rumor mill got so hot, that Middleton later apologized,
saying yes, she edited the photo, but it was a hobby, not something meant
to deceive. Still, several photo agencies took down the image saying that the level
of digital editing did not meet their standards for publication.
Now, there is no evidence that the Royals are hiding something. VanArendonk says
presumably, Middleton was doing what a lot of parents do, trying to get a photo
where all the kids are looking and smiling. But there's been heightened
scrutiny on the Royal Family because several members have recently had to
take a break from duties for one reason or another.
And the family is not blameless either. VanArendonk says the Palace PR machine
has let this moment get out of control which says a lot
about a PR machine that is known for churning out images and coordinating
events that depict a perfect Royal family. Which means, at some level,
the truth is always being repressed.
VanArendonk: The version that they play of themselves in public, we all understand is
this performance, and yet they are performing themselves, and there is always
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going to be some slippage between the public and the private.
And the question is not like, whether it's false, but where are
the places where it's probably real.
Khan, Narrating: You can find all these stories and more in the Apple News app. And if you're
already listening in the News app right now, a Narrated Article is coming up
next from "The Atlantic," featuring "NPR" host Steve Inskeep. If you listen to
"Morning Edition" or "Up First "regularly, then you definitely know his voice.
He shares his quest to learn the truth about his secret adoption, and looks into
how it became such a common practice in the United States. If you're listening
in the Podcasts app, follow Apple News+ Narrated to find that story.
And I'll be back with the news tomorrow.
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