[INTRO MUSIC BEGINS]
Gideon Resnick, Narrating: Good morning. It's Friday, February 16th.
I'm Gideon Resnick, in for Shumita Basu. This is Apple News Today.
Coming up on today's show,
A.I. brings back the voices of children killed by gun violence,
threats against federal judges are on the rise,
and an amazing moment in women's basketball.
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But first, let’s take a look at a few other stories in the news.
We’re following reports from Russian state media
that opposition leader Alexei Navalny died in jail.
He led a years-long campaign against corruption in Russia
and survived a poisoning attempt in 2020.
He was imprisoned in 2021, and more recently moved
to a remote penal colony near the Arctic Circle.
As "NBC News" notes, this would mean all of President Vladimir Putin’s
most high-profile critics are either dead, in jail, or exiled.
Navalny’s political team has not independently confirmed his death.
And, in other Russia-related news, there are questions and concerns
about global security following reports based on U.S. intelligence
that Russia hopes to put a nuclear weapon in space to target satellites.
There are a lot of unknowns here,
but White House spokesman John Kirby confirmed yesterday
there is a weapon being developed by Russia to target satellites,
and the U.S. has been aware for "many months,"
but he declined to answer questions about its nuclear capabilities.
[START ARCHIVAL CLIP]
White House Spokesman John Kirby: Though Russia's pursuit of this particular capability
is troubling, there is no immediate threat to anyone's safety.
We are not talking about a weapon that can be used to attack human beings
or cause physical destruction here on Earth.
That said, we've been closely monitoring this Russian activity
and we will continue to take it very seriously.
[END ARCHIVAL CLIP]
Resnick, Narrating: In Kansas City, there are some updates
after Wednesday’s shooting at the Super Bowl celebration rally.
Police have said the shooting appears to have been the result
of a personal dispute.
Two teens are in custody, but no charges have been filed yet.
Over 20 victims in all have been identified,
ranging in age from 8 to 47 years old, and one person died.
She's a radio DJ and mom of two from Missouri
who was at the parade with her daughter.
Her family told "CNN" she was a loud and proud Chiefs fan
and "the light at every party."
In political news,
a former confidential informant for the FBI has been charged
with lying about President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter.
According to the Department of Justice, this informant, Alexander Smirnov,
lied to the FBI for years
about the Bidens' business relationship with a Ukrainian energy company.
House Republicans have heavily relied on those false accusations
to mount an impeachment inquiry for Biden.
Smirnov has been charged with creating false records
and could spend up to 25 years in federal prison if he's convicted.
And in a Georgia courtroom yesterday, things got contentious
in a hearing related to Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis,
who has charged former President Trump
in an election interference case in the state.
She took the stand to testify under oath about her ethics.
Willis answered personal questions
about a romantic relationship with a member of her prosecution team,
which Trump and his co-defendants argue should disqualify Willis from the case.
Her testimony quickly got heated in court yesterday.
[START ARCHIVAL CLIP]
District Attorney Fani Willis: I object to you getting records.
You've been intrusive into people's personal lives.
You're confused. You think I'm on trial.
These people are on trial for trying to steal an election in 2020.
I'm not on trial, no matter how hard you try to put me on trial.
[END ARCHIVAL CLIP]
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Resnick, Narrating: That hearing continues today, with more testimony expected from Willis.
New reporting from "Reuters" found that U.S. federal judges
are dealing with a surge in threats stemming from politically driven violence.
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Data from the U.S. Marshals Service shows serious threats,
or ones that lead to an investigation by the agency,
more than doubled in the few years following the 2020 presidential election.
[START ARCHIVAL CLIP]
Peter Eisler: You're seeing these politically charged cases
generate anger and hostility and threats on all sides of the political spectrum.
[END ARCHIVAL CLIP]
Resnick, Narrating: That's "Reuters" reporter Peter Eisler.
[START ARCHIVAL CLIP]
Eisler: But there's been a particularly notable number of threats
associated with these cases against former President Trump.
And former President Trump has shown a willingness,
both during his presidency and since,
to criticize judges who rule against his interests
in unusually personal terms. He will suggest that they're biased.
He will sometimes suggest that they are corrupt.
And we've seen prosecutors and judges in those cases
reporting large numbers of threats in many instances.
[END ARCHIVAL CLIP]
Resnick, Narrating: The U.S. Marshals Service is responsible for the protection
of close to 3,000 federal judges and other court personnel.
On Wednesday, the Director, Ron Davis, testified before members of Congress.
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U.S. Marshals Director Ronald Davis: A federal judge got a phone call from someone who said, quote,
"I'm going to kill you if you don't kill yourself," unquote.
In another case, someone threatened to, quote,
"go to a federal courthouse and do a mass shooting," unquote.
And it was mentioned at the opening,
we cannot forget in 2022, there was an attempted assassination
of a United States Supreme Court justice at his residence
that was deterred by Deputy Marshals standing their post.
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Resnick, Narrating: He told lawmakers that more than 70% of federal judges
have opted into a program providing electronic security systems
that detect home intrusions.
Some worry the increase in threats
might change the way some judges see their work.
Here's Eisler again.
[START ARCHIVAL CLIP]
Eisler: The judges that we've spoken to have all told us
that they are not swayed by these threats, that they don't affect their rulings.
But you do hear some concern about the willingness of judges
to take on these highly charged cases.
You know, if a judge knows that a case about abortion
or a case related to allegations against former President Trump
are gonna generate this sort of cascade of intimidating and hostile communication,
will they start to not want to take on those cases?
[END ARCHIVAL CLIP]
Resnick, Narrating: Recently, Attorney General Merrick Garland expressed worries
about threats against public officials more broadly,
from federal judges to candidates and even election workers.
[GENTLE MUSIC FADES IN]
He said they threaten the fabric of our democracy.
A quick heads-up that this next story
about using A.I. to recreate the voices of people who have died
may be a little bit difficult to hear
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because those people are children who were killed by gun violence.
[START A.I. VOICE ARCHIVAL CLIP]
AI Voice of Uzi Garcia: Hi, this is Uzi Garcia.
I love video games, telling jokes, and making my friends laugh,
and jumping on the trampoline with my family.
I'm a fourth grader at Robb Elementary School
in Uvalde, Texas, or, at least, I was.
[END A.I. VOICE ARCHIVAL CLIP]
Resnick, Narrating: The A.I. voice of Uzi goes on to describe the shooting at his school,
where he, 18 other kids, and two teachers were killed.
And the A.I. voice pleads with lawmakers to change the country's gun laws,
as does the A.I. voice of Ethan Song.
He died at 15, when he was accidentally shot
with an unsecured gun at his friend's house.
[START MONTAGE OF ARCHIVAL CLIPS]
[A.I. VOICE ARCHIVAL CLIP]
AI Voice of Ethan Song: Usually, I was the one helping people and animals. I loved animals.
I fostered like 95 dogs and puppies, but I can't help anyone anymore.
[ARCHIVAL CLIP]
Joanna Stern: I heard these recordings from these kids about a week ago,
and I heard them on my phone
and immediately was mouth-dropped, just "Wow."
[END MONTAGE OF ARCHIVAL CLIPS]
Resnick, Narrating: Joanna Stern is a senior columnist on personal technology
at "The Wall Street Journal" who wrote about these A.I. recordings.
They are part of a campaign being led by the parents of shooting victims
to lobby for gun control measures.
[START ARCHIVAL CLIP]
Stern: The whole thing just sat with me. And I just said, "I got to do this story."
I got to go meet the parents who decided to do this
and find out what their motivation was and find out how they did this.
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Resnick, Narrating: So she met with Manny and Patricia Oliver, the parents of Joaquin Oliver.
He was 17 when he was killed
at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.
[START ARCHIVAL CLIP]
Stern: So when I sat with them,
one of the first questions I asked them was,
"People are going to say this is creepy."
And Manny's response was so powerful, and that's what really stuck with me.
He said, "You know, what's also creepy
is someone going into a school with an AR-15."
And he basically said, "If we have to use creepy tools to fight this,
welcome the creepy."
[END ARCHIVAL CLIP]
Resnick, Narrating: Stern says in the future, more people may have to make decisions
about whether they're okay with their likeness being recreated by A.I.
after they die.
And the use of A.I. in this way raises big ethical questions,
like "How can you know how someone would want to be represented?"
But the parents of gun violence victims told Stern they feel confident
their children would want these messages calling for policy change to be heard.
Their campaign doesn't try to fool anyone.
The parents are clear that they are using A.I. to generate their kids' voices.
But a lot of A.I.-generated content is intended to mislead and deceive.
There were those fake robocalls in New Hampshire
ahead of last month's primary election created with President Biden's voice.
Deepfakes of Robin Williams and George Carlin recently surfaced
without the consent of their families.
In fact, the FCC just banned the use
of these kinds of voices in scam robocalls.
Stern asked the parents if they were concerned
about their children's voices being misused and abused.
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[START ARCHIVAL CLIP]
Stern: Literally, the quote was, "We want to take that risk."
"We think we can make a difference with this project."
[END ARCHIVAL CLIP]
Resnick, Narrating: We're going to close with a couple stories that highlight
how exciting a moment we are in for women's basketball,
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starting at the collegiate level.
[START ARCHIVAL CLIP]
Unidentified Speaker: Here comes Clark. How will she go for history?
There it is!
The all-time leading scorer in women's college basketball.
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Resnick, Narrating: That was the sound of Iowa Hawkeye phenom Caitlin Clark sinking a three-point shot
to become the all-time leading scorer in NCAA women's basketball.
She ended up scoring a career high yesterday against Michigan,
with 49 points overall.
And while she puts up historic numbers,
there is technically one woman who still has Clark beat.
Lynette Woodard played for Kansas in the 1970s and early 80s.
And she technically has more career points than Clark.
But the NCAA doesn't recognize her in the record books.
That's because at the time she played,
women's college sports were not part of the NCAA.
But Clark is on pace to break Woodard's record
and the all-time record for NCAA basketball
by the end of the season.
And in women's professional basketball,
New York Liberties star guard Sabrina Ionescu is going head-to-head
against Golden State Warriors great Steph Curry
in a three-point contest tomorrow.
It's part of the NBA's All-Star Weekend.
Ionescu told "ESPN" they hope to highlight
the connection between the NBA and the WNBA
and to make an impact on everyone watching.
[START ESPN ARCHIVAL CLIP]
Sabrina Ionescu: There's going to be a young kid who maybe hasn't watched many WNBA games
but is going to watch and tune into this. And they're going to have that dream
of one day going up and shooting against their idol,
and knowing what that's going to mean
and how that's going to change the landscape of sports…
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[END ESPN ARCHIVAL CLIP]
Resnick, 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,
check out our weekend interview show, In Conversation.
Guest host David Green is filling in for Shumita
while she's on maternity leave.
And this week, he speaks with former elite gymnast Maggie Nichols.
She was the first athlete on the national team
to report sexual abuse by former U.S.A. Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar.
Nichols talked about her experience not being selected
for the U.S. Olympic team after coming forward.
Maggie Nichols: When they announced all the names and my name wasn't, you know,
said out loud for an alternate spot or anything,
I honestly… I don't even know.
I felt so many different emotions. I felt sad.
I mean, my dream of going to the Olympics was over at that point.
Resnick, Narrating: If you're listening in the Apple News app right now, that episode is coming up next.
And if you're listening in the Podcasts app,
just search for Apple News In Conversation to find and follow that show.
Enjoy the weekend, and we'll be back with the news on Monday.
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