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Yasmeen Khan, Narrating: Good morning. It's Thursday, February 1st. I'm Yasmeen Khan, in for Shamita Basu.
This is "Apple News Today."
Coming up: Things got tense between lawmakers and social media CEOs;
Former football players struggle to get compensation from the NFL for dementia;
And why some student-loan debts are disappearing.
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But first, let's take a quick look at some other stories in the news.
In the Middle East, U.S. negotiators are trying to rally support
for a ceasefire proposal in Gaza.
It would begin with a six-week ceasefire.
Hostages in Gaza and prisoners in Israel would be released in phases,
and more humanitarian supplies would be allowed into Gaza for civilians.
Aid workers say it can't come soon enough.
More than 11,000 children have died, and human rights workers estimate
that more than 24,000 children have had parents killed in the war.
On Capitol Hill, the House voted to pass legislation to expand the child tax credit
and restore some corporate tax breaks.
It was the rare example
of a massive bipartisan vote on fiscal policy.
[START CBS NEWS ARCHIVAL CLIP]
[INDISTINCT CHATTER]
Unidentified Speaker 1: The yeas are 357, the nays are 70,
two-thirds being in the affirmative, the rules are suspended,
the bill is passed, and without objection, the motion to reconsider
is laid on the table.
[GAVEL BANGS]
[END CBS NEWS ARCHIVAL CLIP]
Khan, Narrating: But whether the bill can pass the Senate in time for the end of the tax filing
season in April isn't clear.
Several Senate Republicans are expressing concerns about the size of the tax cuts.
Congress has not reached a bipartisan deal on more money for Ukraine.
But today, the European Union is announcing an aid package
worth more than $54 billion.
That came after Hungary's prime minister agreed to the deal.
He initially blocked it.
And a high-stakes contract dispute is taking Taylor Swift off TikTok.
Her songs are being removed, along with other Universal Music Group artists.
The world's largest music company also has Olivia Rodrigo, Drake,
Kendrick Lamar, Billie Eilish, and many more.
Universal says TikTok isn't paying enough, so it's pulling the music.
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TikTok says Universal's being greedy
and points out that it's made agreements with other major music companies.
The CEOs of Meta, TikTok, Snap, Discord, and X, formerly known as Twitter,
testified on Capitol Hill yesterday.
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The hearing was about safety risks social media platforms pose to children,
and it got pretty heated at times,
with senators demanding the CEOs take more responsibility for the roles
platforms play in facilitating online child abuse.
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Josh Hawley: Would you like now to apologize to the victims who have been harmed
by your product? Show them the pictures.
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Khan, Narrating: That's Republican Senator Josh Hawley talking to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
Some of those victims were sitting behind him,
holding pictures of family members who died.
And Zuckerberg did stand up, turn around,
and tell them he was sorry for what they'd been through.
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Mark Zuckerberg: And this is why we invest so much and are going to continue doing
industry-leading efforts to make sure that no one has to go through
the types of things that your families have had to suffer.
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Khan, Narrating: But Zuckerberg did not agree to support the proposed "Kids Online Safety Act."
The CEOs of TikTok and Discord did not agree to support it either.
The bill would require online services
to take new precautions to prevent harm to minors.
Those against it, including civil liberties groups,
say the bill, the way it's written, could conflict with free speech protections.
Tech companies also cite
free speech concerns in lawsuits aimed at new state laws.
Several new policies aimed at protecting young people online
have been temporarily blocked by judges.
Lawmakers are fighting back,
arguing that regulating how companies interact with minors
can be done without threatening free expression.
Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar talks about how frustrating the debate has been.
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Amy Klobuchar: I'm so tired of this. It's been 28 years, what, since the Internet?
We haven't passed any of these bills
'cause everyone's double talk, double talk.
It's time to actually pass them.
And the reason they haven't passed is because of the power of your company.
So, let's be really, really clear about that.
So, what you say matters.
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Khan, Narrating: Back in 2015, the NFL settled a major lawsuit
over long-term brain damage former players blamed on football.
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The settlement created a medical fund for players who developed dementia
or other brain diseases linked to concussions.
The NFL promised that some retired players could be eligible
for millions in payments.
And it agreed to fund a national network of doctors to evaluate players.
But a new "Washington Post" investigation found the NFL denied many players' claims,
including those who have strong medical evidence of brain damage.
Will Hobson is on the story.
Will Hobson: One main component is that the settlement's definition for dementia
actually is unique and more difficult to qualify for
than the regular definition for dementia that doctors use in hospitals and clinics
across the country.
So, you have a significant number of players who are
developing dementia symptoms of CT,
going through this process,
failing to qualify for medical care or money,
and then dying and having CTE confirmed at autopsy.
Khan, Narrating: CTE is a devastating brain condition linked to repeated blows to the head,
and it's been found at alarming rates among NFL players.
Last year, specialists at Boston University
found CTE in 91% of former players they studied.
And Hobson found,
more than a dozen players who failed to qualify for the NFL settlement fund,
or for medical care through the league, were diagnosed with CTE after they died.
CTE can only be fully confirmed by examining the brain after death.
But doctors can see signs of it in living patients:
memory loss, confusion, aggression, and mood swings.
Hobson told us about Irv Cross, a defensive back for the Eagles and Rams,
who later became the first full-time Black sports analyst on national TV.
Hobson: By 2018, his dementia that he was dealing with
was fairly obvious to anyone who spent considerable time with him.
He'd been diagnosed with dementia the year before,
and doctors actually suspected, and put in his medical records,
"We think he has CTE."
So, he goes through the NFL settlement process,
and while his symptoms meet
the regular definition of dementia in American medicine,
he doesn't have the necessary test scores in the NFL settlement.
Khan, Narrating: Cross was denied settlement benefits.
When he died three years later, an autopsy confirmed he had severe CTE.
In total, court records show the NFL settlement panel,
in charge of reviewing medical claims,
has denied more than half of the dementia claims that it's received.
The NFL often blames fraud for denials,
but none of the rejected claims "The Post" reviewed
contained allegations of fraud.
"The Post" did find dozens of cases
where doctors working with the NFL settlement fund
overruled dementia diagnoses made by qualified physicians
who directly evaluated the players.
Hobson: NFL players have a great degree of affection for each other
and for some of the teams. But they hold the league itself in…
a lot of them hold the league itself, in low regard, they tell us,
and it's because of situations like this
where they feel that the league made a public promise,
but behind the scenes
is avoiding following through on what it pledged it would do.
Khan, Narrating: The NFL says the settlement has been effective,
paying out nearly $1.2 billion
to more than 1,600 former players and their families.
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You can read more from this in-depth investigation
from "The Washington Post" on the Apple News app.
Last year, the Supreme Court ruled that President Biden doesn't have the authority
to broadly cancel student debt.
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So, the administration has been trying other things.
The latest starts this month.
Certain borrowers could see their student debt disappear
through a new program.
The benefit applies to relatively small federal loans,
initial debts of $21,000 or less,
as long as people have been making payments on them.
"NPR" reporter Corey Turner told me
to qualify, it is essential to make sure you're enrolled
in the federal program called SAVE.
Corey Turner: Now, they don't have to have been enrolled.
They just have to go ahead and enroll now
because that then… basically, it's like they're in class,
they're raising their hand. That tells the department,
"Okay, we think we qualify, here we go."
Khan, Narrating: Turner says this plan will make a huge difference
for people still under the weight of smaller loans.
Turner: These are folks who are more likely to have gone to community college,
or if they did go to a four-year program, you know, maybe they didn't finish,
which means it's actually harder for them
to actually keep up with the payments on that debt
'cause they never got a wage premium for it.
Khan, Narrating: And many people owe more than their original loan amount
because of interest.
Turner says
the new plan is seen as a big deal because it speeds up loan forgiveness.
For the most part, people have been required to make payments on debt
for 20 years to qualify for forgiveness.
The government's new plan
cuts that in half for some people with the smallest loans.
But Turner says the program does have its critics
because it is quite expensive.
Turner: Lots of people actually oppose the SAVE plan, mostly Republicans,
because it will cost hundreds of billions of dollars
over the next 10 years because it is so forgiving.
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Khan, Narrating: You can read more about the plan's details
and all the stories we talked about today 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 from "New York" magazine.
It's about a high-profile college admissions advisor
promising to turn students into Ivy League material.
But it ain't cheap. Parents must pay $120,000 a year.
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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