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Mark Garrison, Narrating: Good morning. It's Wednesday, January 10th.
I'm Mark Garrison, in for Shumita Basu. This is "Apple News Today."
On today's show, air travel deals with multiple high-profile emergencies,
House Republicans go after Biden's Homeland Security Secretary
over immigration, and a new study reveals what's hiding inside bottled water.
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Let's start with aviation, where 2024 is getting off to a rough start.
Last week, five people on a Coast Guard plane were killed
when it collided with a Japan Airlines plane on the runway in Tokyo,
starting a massive fire.
All the passengers and crew of the Japan Airlines plane survived.
And then there was the Alaska Airlines flight,
where a large panel fell off the side of a Boeing 737 Max 9
shortly after take-off.
It left a gaping hole that forced an emergency landing.
Other planes have been grounded for inspection.
These incidents have some travelers feeling pretty uneasy
about what is, historically, one of the safest modes of travel.
"Wall Street Journal" aviation reporter Ben Katz is hearing about this a lot.
Ben Katz: I will say I've had a few people tell me that they've kept their seatbelts on
for their entire flights over the last couple of days when they have been flying,
which maybe they wouldn't have normally done before.
Garrison, Narrating: Investigators are looking into these incidents, but Katz says
it'll be a while, likely many months, before we have firmer answers
about what happened.
Katz: It's an incredibly meticulous process of investigating any kind of accident.
But the early indications are showing that at some stage in this process that…
led to both incidents, that some kind of human error was involved.
Garrison, Narrating: Katz points out that the aviation industry is still in the process
of getting back to normal
after largely shutting down during the worst of the pandemic.
Katz: What we saw during the pandemic was airlines parking thousands of jets.
We saw airports come to near standstills. Millions of people had to be retrenched.
And that was across the board from pilots to cabin crew,
but also to maintenance staff and factory workers for Boeing and Airbus.
Coming out of the pandemic o ver the last two years or so,
we've seen that almost in the exact reverse.
Garrison, Narrating: Manufacturers like Boeing and Airbus have spent the last couple of years
ramping up production after making major cuts.
And Katz spoke to flight safety experts who say the industry has faced challenges
in rebuilding its workforce.
Now, that might not leave passengers feeling super confident
about boarding their next flight. But Katz says it's important to remember,
accident rates are below pre-pandemic levels.
Katz: Aviation is held to an incredibly high standard
when it comes to safety. And the industry is obsessed.
And I think that's why, when we see incidents or accidents like these,
that the industry kind of wakes up and it jolts alive
and flyers kind of take notice, you know, because it is a scary thing.
And in aviation, the damage from mistakes and in accidents are severe.
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Garrison, Narrating: Now, let's take a quick look at some other stories in the news.
At least four people are dead as severe weather rips across the U.S.
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There were multiple tornadoes reported in the Southeast,
dangerous flooding is threatening east coast cities,
and strong winds are tearing down power lines,
leading to hundreds of thousands of outages in multiple states.
At the White House, there's a major review underway
of how cabinet members delegate authority when sick or traveling.
This comes after President Biden and other top officials
were kept in the dark for days
about the hospitalization of Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.
Yesterday, the Pentagon disclosed that he was undergoing treatment
for prostate cancer.
In Ecuador, the country is under a state of emergency
as violence is escalating.
The government is in conflict with powerful criminal gangs.
Violence flared this week after one of the country's
most notorious criminals disappeared from prison.
There were also riots and mass escapes at other prisons.
And yesterday, the conflict played out on television,
as masked gunmen stormed a live broadcast.
The video shows them threatening the crew.
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Police later arrested the attackers.
The station says two employees were injured, including a camera operator
who was shot in the leg.
And in the Middle East today, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken
met with the head of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmud Abbas.
The U.S. has talked about the possibility of his group governing Gaza in the future.
Yesterday, Blinken met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Afterwards, Blinken said Israel should do more to protect civilians in Gaza
as it fights Hamas and reconsider some of its policies.
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Antony Blinken: Israel must stop taking steps that undercut Palestinians' ability
to govern themselves effectively: extremist settler violence
carried out with impunity, settlement expansion, demolitions,
evictions, all make it harder, not easier, for Israel to achieve
lasting peace and security.
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Garrison, Narrating: Netanyahu has shown no interest in reviving negotiations
toward a Palestinian state.
Blinken also said that the U.S. is continuing to support Israel.
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Today in Washington, House Republicans are holding a hearing about potentially
impeaching Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
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No cabinet secretary has been impeached in nearly 150 years.
Republicans argue that the administration's immigration policies
have made the southern border vulnerable.
We talked to "Washington Post" Homeland Security reporter Nick Miroff,
who covers immigration enforcement and Homeland Security.
Nick Miroff: This case that they're building, you know, while it does have some elements of…
alleged wrongdoing, has largely been political.
Garrison, Narrating: Several Republicans have doubts about the impeachment case,
and the party holds a slim majority in the House.
And even if it did vote to impeach, there's little chance
the Senate will vote to convict.
Miroff says targeting Mayorkas seems to be more about creating a rallying point
for Republicans with hardline views on immigration policy.
Miroff: I think it's a way for them to channel their anger about…
border and immigration issues.
It's a way for them to unite around a specific campaign.
But if we look at the real prospects for them actually removing him
from office, they seem pretty low.
Garrison, Narrating: Beyond the politics, there are challenges related to immigration.
Miroff reported on new government data showing that the U.S. removed
more than 4 million people crossing the border since 2021,
but it also released more than 2.3 million migrants into the U.S.
As Miroff explained it, that shows the extent to which border security
has been overwhelmed.
Mass releases are typically a last resort when agents don't have capacity
to process migrants.
Miroff says it's also important to keep an eye on immigration talks
happening in the Senate.
Unlike the House impeachment effort, they could have real policy impact.
Mayorkas has played a role in pushing the Senate discussions ahead.
Miroff: What's interesting right now is there are sort of these two parallel processes
going on right now. There's this bipartisan group of senators
that are trying to negotiate immigration and border policy changes
in conjunction with this, you know, supplemental funding for the war
in Ukraine and for Israel.
And the Republican Senate has been pretty focused on that.
Garrison, Narrating: Mayorkas has defended his record and called on Congress
to provide more funding for border security.
And the Homeland Security Department says House Republicans are wasting
valuable time by pursuing impeachment.
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Finally, new research shows that there are a lot more tiny bits of plastic
floating in bottled drinking water than scientists thought.
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The new study used lasers to scan for nanoplastics.
They're hard to detect because they're smaller than
one-seventieth of a human hair.
The technology found hundreds of thousands of particles in the average liter
of bottled water, using samples of several popular brands.
The data gives us new insight into a widespread problem.
Lately, scientists have found trace amounts of plastics
practically everywhere, in our food and water, in the ocean,
in soil, even in the air we breathe.
The "LA Times" explains how it's not yet clear how dangerous
these plastics may be for humans,
but research on animals shows that microplastics can interfere
with development, reproductive health, hormones, and immunity.
We have more on the prevalence of plastics in our everyday lives
and how easily these particles get into our bodies
if you're listening in the Apple News app.
Coming up next is an episode of Apple News "In Conversation" from the archives.
Shumita spoke to author Matt Simon about our microplastics problem.
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Matt Simon: We know for certain that microplastics are being found in placentas
and that mothers are passing these particles to their children
in utero. Children are tainted with microplastics before they're born.
And we are in desperate need of more studies
as to what the consequences could be.
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Garrison, Narrating: Simon also talks about ways to mitigate our exposure to plastic
and protect our health.
That's playing for you next, and I'll be back with the news tomorrow.
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