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Shumita Basu, Narrating: Good morning! It’s Monday October 2nd. I’m Shumita Basu. This is “Apple News Today.” On today’s show… Donald Trump back on trial, how upcoming Supreme Court rulings could change the Internet, and why it took nearly 30 years to charge a suspect in the murder of Tupac Shakur.
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But first, the U.S. government is still up and running. That’s not what a lot of people expected on this Monday morning, given how things went in Congress last week. Jimmy Carter even moved up some of his 99th birthday celebration over the weekend since a shutdown would’ve closed his presidential library.
But late Saturday night, after losing several key votes, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy played one final card. He put a measure on the floor that would extend government funding through mid-November. This took people on all sides by surprise. Democrats initially stalled for time to figure out what they wanted to do.
There was even a strange twist. A false fire alarm. Democratic Congressman Jamaal Bowman said he mistakenly triggered it while trying to open a door. He’s now under investigation. Eventually all but one Democrat voted for the bill. Nearly half of Republicans voted against it, but that wasn’t enough to derail it.
The deal wasn’t exactly like the one the Senate had advanced to keep the government going. But it was close enough. Senators passed the House measure, and President Biden signed it minutes before a midnight deadline.
That was a lot of drama for a weekend in Congress, but there's plenty more still to come. Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz says he’ll move to vote McCarthy out of his role as House Speaker. We talked about this on Friday. He and other hardliners had threatened to do this if McCarthy kept the government open with Democratic help, which is what ultimately happened. On “CBS,” McCarthy was dismissive of Gaetz and threats to his leadership.
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Kevin McCarthy: So be it, bring it on. Let's get over with it and let's start governing. If he's upset because he tried to push us in a shutdown and I made sure government didn't shut down, then let's have that fight.
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That won’t be the only fight because the legislation that did pass only pays the bills for a few weeks. And it doesn’t include new aid for Ukraine or border security, some of the most controversial topics discussed. To prevent another shutdown threat, a deeply divided Congress will have to come to some kind of agreement on massive spending bills that will take care of things for a full year.
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Now, let’s take a quick look at some other stories in the news.
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Laphonza Butler will be the next U.S. senator from California. She’s the president of Emily's List, which backs Democratic women candidates who support abortion rights. Governor Gavin Newsom appointed Butler to temporarily fill the seat of Dianne Feinstein who died on Friday at the age of 90. This fulfills a promise he made to appoint a Black woman to the seat.
Former president Trump says he will be in court today, as a civil fraud trial begins in New York. The state’s attorney general accuses him of massively inflating the value of his assets. The judge in the case has already ruled against Trump, saying he is liable for fraud.
And this year’s Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine goes to two scientists whose discoveries paved the way for the mRNA COVID-19 vaccines. The Nobel Assembly cites Katalin Kariko and Drew Weissman for research that quote, “fundamentally changed our understanding” and “had a major impact on society during the recent pandemic.”
In the world of sports, Simone Biles is getting her name on another page of gymnastics history. She performed the Yurchenko double pike vault at the world championship qualifiers in Belgium over the weekend. The move will now be named for her. That honor goes to the first person to successfully land a move in a major international competition.
And one last sports story for you. The Kansas City Chiefs beat the New York Jets on Sunday night. But most people would agree that’s a side story to what was happening in the stands. Once again, Taylor Swift was in attendance to cheer on the Chiefs’ Travis Kelce. This is now the second game she’s been at, and when news broke that she’d be there, ticket prices shot up. Sales of Kelce’s jersey are up nearly 400%. Now, just for perspective, Swift herself has played in more NFL stadiums lately than football players do in a regular season. She drew in sold-out crowds at 20 NFL stadiums for her “Eras Tour” earlier this year.
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The Supreme Court’s new term begins today and it's filled with hot button issues. Already on the docket… A case that could determine whether people with domestic violence restraining orders can get guns.
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There’s another case that could gut the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and other federal agencies. And the high court might take up the issue of access to the abortion pill, mifepristone.
But let’s take a moment to look at a theme that’s emerging in a few of the cases coming up… social media and free speech. The court will consider two cases related to laws in Texas and Florida that could limit what content social media companies can regulate. Both states have Republican governors. They say the companies are censoring conservative voices. In particular, conservatives point to some of these platforms deciding to ban Donald Trump after the January 6th attack on the Capitol. John Fritze covers the Supreme Court for "USA Today".
John Fritze: The arguments that Texas and Florida make is that their citizens were censored. There's actual people in here who say that, look, their views were diminished, were demoted on these website, and that these folks should have a First Amendment right to make those claims, and that State's residents should have a right to listen to them.
Social media companies say the laws would limit their ability to take down false and dangerous content. And they reject claims of political bias.
Fritze: The social media trade groups say that's hogwash, and that there hasn't been a throttling of conservative views. And that what they're doing is taking down misinformation and other harmful content, and that they have the right to do it.
The court is also set to hear two cases dealing with whether public officials are allowed block people online. In one case, a San Diego school board blocked parents who posted messages accusing members of financial mismanagement and racism. Another involves a city manager in Michigan who blocked constituents who complained about the response to COVID-19.
Fritze: The issue here is whether when a public official using their private Facebook or Twitter or X page, when they block voters, is that a state action?
Legal analysts say these cases may make this the Supreme Court term with the most significant impact on the Internet since the 90s.
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One of America’s greatest unsolved mysteries is now back in the headlines. On Friday, the cold case of who killed Tupac Shakur heated back up when a grand jury indicted Duane Keith Davis in the murder.
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This comes nearly 30 years after Tupac was shot after a boxing match on the Las Vegas Strip.
Police say Davis is the only suspect in the case who’s still alive. He and Tupac were affiliated with rival gangs. Authorities say Davis got a gun to carry out a revenge killing of Tupac. And he was in the car when he handed that gun over to a passenger who shot and killed Tupac. He died six days later. Notorious record executive Suge Knight was riding with Tupac. He survived.
Greg Kading is a former LAPD detective who worked on the case over the years. He told “CNN” that the case is still alive because Davis kept talking about his role in the shooting, even putting out a book in 2019.
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Greg Kading: He began to go out and publicly boast about his involvement in the murder and that led to law enforcement in Las Vegas taking another look at his claims and, ultimately, he's just talked himself right into jail.,
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Police say Davis’s own words, along with other evidence collected in recent years, gave them enough to charge him and finally put this case to rest.
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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, stick around. We've got a narrated article coming up next. "The Atlantic" tells the story of General Mark Milley. He was America’s top uniformed officer during the end of the Trump administration, meaning he had to deal with a president accused of undermining the Constitution that troops are sworn to protect.
That’s cued up to play for you next and I’ll be back with the news tomorrow.
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