--:-- Shamita Basu: Hey there, it's Shamita. I've got a quick request for you. If Apple News Today is an essential part of your morning routine, follow the show in Apple Podcasts. And if you have another 30 seconds, leave us a rating and a review too. It helps other people find our show and it helps us know what you like about it. Thanks.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Good morning. It's Tuesday, October 28th. I'm Shemitah Basu. This is Apple News Today. On today's show, the cattle ranchers feeling betrayed by a White House plan to lower the price of beef, why President Trump wants his own Justice Department to pay him hundreds of millions of dollars, and how much would you pay for a luxury pumpkin display? But first, a historic hurricane bears down on Jamaica today as the country's leader has warned thousands of residents to evacuate to safety.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Hurricane Melissa is being called the strongest storm on the planet this year. Up to 40 inches of rainfall is forecasted in Jamaica. The National Hurricane Center is warning that parts of the island nation can expect long-lasting power outages and extensive infrastructure damage that could leave entire communities cut off. The hurricane has been gradually lumbering toward Jamaica for days now.
--:-- Evan Thompson: It's not like it's going to just move off and then gradually the water runs off. It's going to sit there pouring water while it's barely moving. And that is a significant challenge that we have to be aware of. It's going to cause significant, widespread, catastrophic, life-threatening floods, as long as what is predicted does take place.
--:-- Shamita Basu: The government has issued mandatory evacuation notices for areas covering tens of thousands of people, and nearly 900 shelters have been set up. The BBC heard from some residents as they absorbed the reality of what was coming.
--:-- Resident: I have never witnessed a hurricane that has damaged Jamaica. So I'm not sure if I'm scared because I don't know what to expect. Well, the look of how things is going right now and how I see the sky and the weather coming in, I think this one is different. This one is going to impact us hard.
--:-- Shamita Basu: There are fears that not everyone is responding to the government's warnings. Prime Minister Andrew Holness admitted that the country's residents had a tradition of reacting slowly to calls for evacuation, and he criticized online misinformation, falsely suggesting that some of the shelters were charging fees.
--:-- Desmond McKenzie: You can start to make arrangements to move and go and spend time with relatives and friends. It is in your interest that this is done. And I want to urge Jamaicans, do not take this for granted. Do not gamble with Melissa. It's not a safe bet.
--:-- Shamita Basu: International airports are now closed. So for the country, many tourists there been a scramble to catch the last remaining flights. Kimberly Small traveled from Pennsylvania, but her flight was canceled before she could get out.
--:-- Kimberly Small: We were officially on lockdown as of yesterday and were not allowed to come out of our rooms. It kind of mimics the Titanic. Everybody was going to the ball and getting ready, not knowing what was about to hit. So I think it's mixed. Some people are like laughing and galloping and some people are very worried.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Jamaica has experienced hurricanes before, but the country is not used to damage on the scale being predicted here. While the Atlantic's hurricane season is winding down, the Caribbean water stays warmer for longer, giving the hurricanes more energy to form.
--:-- Shamita Basu: This hurricane is not expected to reach the U.S., but as it now makes its way north through Jamaica, neighboring Cuba is already planning its own evacuations. Now to this week's election result in Argentina and how a plan involving Argentine beef might ultimately set President Trump up for a fight with some of his strongest backers.
--:-- Shamita Basu: On Sunday night, Trump ally and Argentina's president, Javier Millet's party, got a big win in midterm elections, a sign that many voters still support his libertarian agenda.
--:-- Javier Millet: Hoy pasamos el punto bisagra. Hoy comienza la construcción de la Argentina grande. (Today we have passed a turning point. Today begins the building of a great Argentina.)
--:-- Shamita Basu: And it's a big win for President Trump, too. who enthusiastically backed his Argentine counterpart. Millet visited the White House earlier this month, where Trump promised to help Argentina's economy, but only if Millet continued to hold power.
--:-- Shamita Basu: He pledged a $20 billion bailout and days later announced a big expansion of low-tariff imports of Argentine beef. Grace Yarrow is a food and agriculture policy reporter for Politico. The latest numbers that we've heard and that the White House is telling allies in the industry and on Capitol Hill is about 80,000 metric tons of beef from Argentina per year.
--:-- Grace Yarrow: Currently, our import quota is 20,000 metric tons of beef, so that's about quadrupling at least how much beef we currently import from Argentina. It's a move that doesn't quite line up with Trump's protectionist agenda, but the administration is under a lot of pressure to lower prices.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Ground beef is up by more than 50 percent since 2020 amid cattle shortages. Here's Trump on Air Force One reacting to Malay's win.
--:-- Donald Trump: What I can see happening is we're going to take some beef because I have to get the price down. I want to get most prices in down. If you look at energy and oil, I have things down, but beef is high. And the cattle ranches are doing good.
--:-- Shamita Basu: His agriculture department also released a 13-point plan to support the domestic industry, including expanding the land available for grazing and support for smaller meat processors. But Yarrow told us many within the industry were furious at the idea of cheaper meat being brought from abroad and argued that it wouldn't meaningfully bring down grocery prices anyway.
--:-- Grace Yarrow: These big beef producer groups are generally Trump allies. They've backed the president. They've backed Republican policies on Capitol Hill this year. I think it interesting too looking at U commodities at large A lot of producers of corn and soy fruits and vegetables are struggling this year because of tariffs labor costs The costs of inputs like fertilizers and seeds are really high this year So a lot of them are facing a lot of losses this harvest season.
--:-- Shamita Basu: And it provoked rare criticism from some GOP figures. Senate Majority Leader John Thune said he was concerned by the policy. And Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene went further on Tucker Carlson's YouTube show.
--:-- Marjorie Taylor Greene: I have no idea who is telling our great president, our America first president, that this is a good idea. Because it's honestly, it's a punch in the gut to all of our American cattle ranchers, and they are furious and rightfully so.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Yarrow told us that the beef expected to arrive from Argentina will ultimately be a fraction compared with what U.S. ranches produce. And as Trump himself pointed out, there are still substantial tariffs on other likely importers like Brazil.
--:-- Shamita Basu: And Reuters quotes economists doubting it will make much difference so long as the domestic cattle supplies remain so low. And now private citizens are able to take legal action against federal agencies if they believe they have been harmed. But what happens if that private citizen goes on to become the president and lead the agencies responsible for the taxpayer-funded payout?
--:-- Shamita Basu: Harry Stein, a reporter at The Washington Post who covers the DOJ, told us about President Trump's claims that he was damaged by federal investigations and wants hundreds of millions of dollars in compensation.
--:-- Harry Stein: The idea that Trump has said that he is owed money from the government, specifically the Justice Department, dates back to two complaints, two separate complaints that he made as a private citizen in 2023 and 2024.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Four, there are thousands of these kinds of complaints that are made via the Federal Tort Claims Act each year. Trump reportedly filed the claims for damages related to a 2022 FBI search of Mar-a-Lago as part of an investigation into his alleged mishandling of classified documents, and a separate FBI probe and special counsel investigation that looked into connections between Russia and his 2016 campaign.
--:-- Shamita Basu: The total sum in requested damages is around $230 million, according to The New York Times. It's usually up to the Justice Department to determine if they will pay out a claim against the government. But not only did Trump pick these officials who would be tasked with such a job, some were involved in one of the cases that sparked a claim.
--:-- Shamita Basu: It would have to be signed off by the Deputy Attorney General, Todd Blanche, or the Associate Attorney General, Stan Woodward. And what's interesting about that is, if you recall, Todd Blanche was Trump's top defense attorney on the Mar-a-Lago case, and Woodward was part of that legal team.
--:-- Shamita Basu: He represented Trump's co-defendant in that classified mishandling of document case, Walt Nada. On top of that, Woodward has represented many of Trump's allies in cases. The DOJ did not comment to the Post on the status of any negotiations, but when asked about possible recusals, said that officials would follow ethical guidance.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Last week, Trump himself acknowledged the uniqueness of the situation. It's interesting because I'm the one that makes a decision, right? And you know that decision would have to go across my desk And it awfully strange to make a decision where I paying myself He said that if he did receive any money he would give it to charity
--:-- Shamita Basu: The nature of the claims has some ethics experts pointing out the various entanglements of DOJ officials. And Republican Tom Tillis expressed his unease to reporters.
--:-- Tom Tillis: Well, it seems odd. And I think he's in the difficult position where he's asking for something that he would approve, I think it's terrible optics, particularly right now. We're talking about a quarter of a billion dollars transferring maybe to the president when we're in a shutdown posture. So it's at very best bad timing, but I think it's horrible optics.
--:-- Shamita Basu: If the DOJ does end up paying the president for these claims, there may be no immediate official declaration. The DOJ doesn't explicitly require an announcement of settlements in cases like this.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Before we let you go, a few other stories we're following. The largest union of federal workers in the country called on Congress to pass a stopgap funding measure to bring the current government shutdown to an end.
--:-- Shamita Basu: The American Federation of Government Employees represents more than 800,000 federal and Washington, D.C. workers and said in part, quote, Both political parties have made their point, and still there is no clear end in sight.
--:-- Shamita Basu: According to the Bipartisan Policy Center, about 670,000 workers are furloughed because of the shutdown, and about 730,000 are working without pay. The states of Virginia and Indiana are the latest to join the battle over redistricting ahead of midterm elections next year.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Democratic leaders in Virginia have convened a special session to hash out a plan in the middle of a tight governor's race. No maps have been proposed, but the state Senate majority leader says Democrats could gain two additional seats if they can convince enough lawmakers to amend the state constitution.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Voters will then need to approve the plan. Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin, who is term limited, called the move a power grab. Meanwhile, lawmakers in Indiana have the power to alter maps themselves, but some Republicans there have expressed doubts.
--:-- Shamita Basu: And finally, this Friday is Halloween, and if you've walked around your neighborhood, you might have seen some elaborate yard and porch decorations, perhaps a spooky skeleton or one of those giant pumpkins, the kind that you look at and wonder, how on earth did that get up to this person's porch?
--:-- Shamita Basu: Well, the Washington Post reports there's a business for that. Americans are increasingly paying hundreds of dollars to have their front steps professionally decorated with pumpkins, part of a broader shift away from costumes and candy to decorations.
--:-- Shamita Basu: The bigger and more elaborate the display, the more it costs, with some going for higher than $1,000. As for what happens when it all starts to rot, that is going to run you some extra money for removal.
--:-- Shamita Basu: 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, we've got a Narrated article coming up next. New York Magazine has the story of how some parents are preparing their kids for the potential scenarios, some good and some bad, that may come out of the AI revolution.
--:-- Shamita Basu: The story is October's Apple News Plus Story of the Month. If you're listening in the podcast app, follow Apple News Plus Narrated to find that story. And I'll be back with the news tomorrow.
