[MUSIC FADES IN]
Yasmeen Khan, Narrating: Good morning! It's Monday, March 4th. I'm Yasmeen Khan in for Shumita Basu.
This is "Apple News Today." Coming up, the push for a ceasefire in Gaza,
one of the world's largest cities faces a water crisis, and Caitlin Clark
and LeBron James make basketball history.
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The Biden administration is making a new push for a temporary stop
to fighting in Gaza in some of its strongest terms yet.
Vice President Kamala Harris called on Hamas to agree to
a six-week ceasefire deal, and for Israel to allow more civilian aid in.
[START X ARCHIVAL CLIP]
Vice President Kamala Harris: Given the immense scale of suffering in Gaza,
there must be an immediate ceasefire.
[CROWD CHEERING]
[END X ARCHIVAL CLIP]
Khan, Narrating: Harris spoke just days after more than 100 Palestinians were killed
while attempting to get food from aid trucks in Gaza.
The U.N. says at least 10 children have officially died of starvation,
according to hospital records, with that number expected to grow.
[START X ARCHIVAL CLIP]
Harris: People in Gaza are starving. The conditions are inhumane.
And our common humanity compels us to act.
[END X ARCHIVAL CLIP]
Khan, Narrating: Harris spoke from Selma, Alabama. She was there to mark the 59th anniversary
of Bloody Sunday. She called on the Israeli government
to significantly increase the flow of aid into Gaza. She also condemned Hamas,
and called for the release of all hostages.
Harris spoke after the U.S. dropped aid into Gaza from the air, the fifth country
to deliver aid this way. The mission delivered tens of thousands
of meals, which aid workers say is not nearly enough for the hundreds
of thousands of people needing help.
Journalists from "The Washington Post" were onboard planes that took off
from Jordan to report on how it worked. Israel vetted everyone on the planes
and assigned windows when flights could get through safely.
Out of the planes came tightly wrapped crates of food, medicine,
diapers, and feminine hygiene products, parachuting down along the coast.
Aid that landed in the sea was recovered by Gazans in small boats. Aid agencies say
airdrops are costly and inefficient, compared to the much larger deliveries
that convoys of trucks can make. Many humanitarian workers want countries
to put more pressure on Israel to allow more aid in by land,
rather than order more flights. Janti Soeripto,
head of Save the Children U.S., called the aerial aid "theater"
on "Sky News."
[START SKY NEWS ARCHIVAL CLIP]
Janti Soeripto: Essentially what we need is opening of crossings, more trucks
of supplies coming in, we need a ceasefire, we need safe
and unfettered access to the communities. And that needs to be done
with coordinated groups, with U.N. agencies, NGOs,
like Save the Children. We don't need very expensive,
ineffective pallets dropping from the sky.
[END SKY NEWS ARCHIVAL CLIP]
Khan, Narrating: Vice President Harris got specific about changes Israel can make. She called
for opening more border crossings, ensuring that humanitarian workers
and sites aren't targeted, and making sure basic services
in Gaza are up and running.
[SERIOUS MUSIC]
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Now, let's take a quick look at some other stories in the news.
In the Republican presidential race, Nikki Haley got her first victory, winning
the primary in Washington, D.C. yesterday. Former president Donald Trump
also picked up wins over the weekend in Missouri, Idaho, and Michigan. Tonight,
North Dakota holds a caucus. And tomorrow
is Super Tuesday, where voters in more than a dozen states will head
to the polls. And a major Supreme Court verdict may come
just ahead of those votes. The Court says it'll post a ruling today.
That's very unusual to happen on a day when the court is not in session.
The timing has legal observers expecting justices will rule
on Trump's ballot eligibility, ahead of all the primary contests
tomorrow. Recently the court heard arguments on a Colorado ruling
that ordered Trump off the ballot, finding that he engaged in an insurrection
around the January 6th attack on the Capitol. In California,
blizzard conditions in the Sierra Nevada region have piled up
several feet of snow, knocked out power, and shut down roads and parks.
Forecasters are telling people in the area to stay inside, because of the high risk
of avalanches. Renee Adelman told a local "ABC" station
that the storm had her house shaking.
[START ABC ARCHIVAL CLIP]
Renee Adelman: There were gale force winds, the windows were creaking,
it was the worst that I've seen in a few years.
[END ABC ARCHIVAL CLIP]
Khan, Narrating: There's more snow expected in the area today and tomorrow.
[PENSIVE MUSIC]
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Mexico City and its 22-million people face a severe water crisis.
It's gotten so bad that some experts warn the entire city could run out of water
in a matter of months. Reservoirs are at historically low levels,
and authorities have imposed rationing. But in some homes, faucets have already
run dry. "CNN" spoke to Lorena Cruz, who was filling buckets of water
from an underground tank. She lifted a hatch in the street
to access it, even though she knew she was breaking the law.
[START CNN ARCHIVAL CLIP]
[LORENA CRUZ SPEAKING SPANISH]
[WATER SPLASHING]
Reporter: She says, "It is a miracle this city tank has water, and without it
the whole neighborhood would suffer because they've got no running water
for over a month."
[END CNN ARCHIVAL CLIP]
Khan, Narrating: There are multiple reasons why Mexico City is in this position today,
including leaking pipes and climate change. But "CNN" also gives
some interesting historical context to the problem. What's now Mexico City
was originally built by the Aztecs. They worked around the area's lakes
and constructed canals and bridges. But when the Spanish arrived in the 1500s,
they tore down much of what the Indigenous people built.
The Spanish drained the lakebed, filled the canals and ripped out
the forests. Those were natural defenses against flooding and drought.
But most are now gone, covered with concrete and asphalt. Those decisions
laid the groundwork for Mexico City's water problems now.
The public-radio program "The World" spoke with Reese Tisdale, who's been following
the crisis. He leads a water-consulting firm
called Bluefield Research. Tisdale outlined additional reasons
why the city is in its current crisis.
[START THE WORLD ARCHIVAL CLIP]
Reese Tisdale: They've had series of droughts for several years.
Reservoirs don't catch up. They have aging infrastructure.
So when they have leakage rates of 30, 40, 50 percent in different neighborhoods
or across parts of the city, then people don't have access to water.
It's because of the inefficiency of the system. They've been overdrawing
the groundwater supplies and aquifers at a rapidly increasing rate. And so then
that turns to trucking and other, what I would say,
unsustainable temporary measures.
[END THE WORLD ARCHIVAL CLIP]
Khan, Narrating: Mexico's national government says work is underway to address the problem,
like repairing old pipes. Some local politicians
have been downplaying the crisis, and dismissing concerns that the city
will run out of water entirely. But residents are definitely feeling
the squeeze, with 90 percent of Mexico City in severe drought,
and the rainy season still months away.
[PERCUSSION MUSIC]
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We have told you before about lowa college-basketball phenom
Caitlin Clark. Well, Clark is in the record books again.
Yesterday, against Ohio State, she was one free throw away from becoming
the all-time leading scorer in men's and women's Division I basketball.
[START YOUTUBE ARCHIVAL CLIP]
Announcer 1: This for college basketball history.
[BASKETBALL THUNKS]
[CROWD CHEERING]
She does it with a foul shot.
[END YOUTUBE ARCHIVAL CLIP]
Khan, Narrating: That basket took her past the previous record-holder Pete Maravich.
LeBron James was among the basketball greats congratulating Clark
on her latest scoring record. James also made a mark on the record books
over the weekend, becoming the first NBA player ever
to score 40,000 regular-season points.
[START NBC SPORTS ARCHIVAL CLIP]
Announcer 2: James against Porter, drives, spins, gets inside. It's good.
It's 40,000 for LeBron James. The NBA's all-time leading scorer
with another milestone, as the legend of LeBron continues to grow.
[END NBC SPORTS ARCHIVAL CLIP]
Khan, Narrating: James's career total is now 40,017 points to be exact.
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You can find more sports coverage, and all the stories we talked about
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 "Runner's World." It's about a frankly crazy
ultra running competition that only 17 people have ever completed.
It involves some controversial characters, little to no sleep,
international license plates, and a battle of the elements
and pure will. If you're listening
in the Podcasts app, follow Apple News+ Narrated to find
that story. And we'll be back with the news tomorrow.
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