--:-- 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 Wednesday, September 25th. I'm Shamita Basu. This is Apple News Today.
--:-- Shamita Basu: On today's show, some states are considering last-minute changes to their election process, President Biden's last big speech on the global stage, and how the White Sox are having an impressively, maybe even historically bad season. But first, to the federal criminal case against Sean Diddy Combs, which I want to warn involves some graphic details of alleged abuse.
--:-- Shamita Basu: The hip-hop mogul was arrested in New York last week, where he's being held without bail. He's charged with racketeering and sex trafficking offenses. The indictment came after a flood of accusations that started in November of last year, with a bombshell lawsuit filed by his former girlfriend, Cassie Ventura.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Chianne Roundtree, a senior reporter for Rolling Stone, told us Cassie's story on Apple News in Conversation earlier this summer. She said the abuse began soon after Cassie signed with Combs' label, Bad Boy Records, in the mid-2000s.
--:-- Shamita Basu: It was a very slow progression, and then it just escalated. And she says that he just became really involved in her personal life from medical records being sent to him directly. Her apartment was in his name. It was just everything was under his control.
--:-- Shamita Basu: And she alleges that physical abuse started then and then eventually it escalated again to sexual abuse and sexual trafficking, she claims. Cassie's lawsuit described orchestrated encounters at hotels called freak-offs where she was forced to have sex while Combs watched and often filmed.
--:-- Shamita Basu: The suit was settled within two days. We reconnected with Roundtree this week. She's spoken to hundreds of witnesses involved in these cases And she told us Cassie's case is now serving as a roadmap of sorts for federal prosecutors in their case against Combs.
--:-- Shamita Basu: It's pretty clear that she is victim one throughout this case. Under racketeering, prosecutors says that there was arson and bribery and kidnapping. And that seems to correspond, at least on the arson portion, to when Cassie says that Diddy exploded the musician Kid Cudi's car.
--:-- Shamita Basu: And so we're seeing kind of these details from her lawsuit now coming into play in a criminal way. She told us other big figures in the music industry have been eerily quiet since Combs' arrest. And there's been lots of speculation about just how many people knew or were affected by the abuse.
--:-- Shamita Basu: It does feel like there is a reckoning happening, especially because Me Too, as we know, kind of has bypassed really the music industry. It's been mostly film and television. And it does feel like this really serious moment of a tipping scale of can there be a moment for talking about Me Too in the music industry? Can we put together safer protections?
--:-- Shamita Basu: It feels like something is brewing and it's been long overdue in what survivors and people have been fighting for since Me Too in 2018. Since Cassie lawsuit 10 other people have filed civil suits against Combs who has denied all accusations
--:-- Shamita Basu: Many of the accusers mentioned being inspired by Cassie who invoked the Adult Survivors Act That law and other similar survivor laws lifted the statute of limitations for filing sexual abuse lawsuits. The latest suit against Combs was filed yesterday by Talia Graves.
--:-- Shamita Basu: She says Combs and his former bodyguard drugged and raped her in the early 2000s. The internal pain after being sexually assaulted has been incredibly deep and hard to put into words. It goes beyond just physical harm caused by and during the assault.
--:-- Shamita Basu: It's a pain that reaches into your very core. Roundtree told us she'll be watching the federal case play out, and it already seems clear that the scope of collusion and victims is sprawling.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Prosecutors laid out a case of racketeering conspiracy where assistants and security members are all kind of roped up into doing these things for him. And so I just hope that people don't miss a larger point here is that, yes, the Freakoffs are an example of this abuse in control, But it also extends further to everyday people that were working for him.
--:-- Shamita Basu: And it's a huge example of abusive power. It is now just about six weeks until Election Day. And already Americans in a number of states are voting or at least receiving mail-in ballots.
--:-- Shamita Basu: And yet several states are pursuing changes that would impact how Americans vote, how their votes will be counted, and the way that elections will be certified. Joining me to talk through some of these developments is my colleague Gideon Resnick.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Hey, Shamita.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Hey, Gideon. So let's start with Georgia, of course, a crucial battleground state that has a new rule in place about hand counting ballots. The state's election board passed a measure in recent days to implement this, which has raised some bipartisan concerns.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: So I think first off, it's important to remind listeners who and what this board is. So three of the members, the majority of the board, are pro-Trump Republicans. They've questioned the 2020 election in the past, and they've already passed controversial measures like a rule that could lead to a delayed certification of election results.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: It basically said that county boards could demand inquiries if they have questions about an election result, which opens a lot of cans of worms. When this new hand counting measure passed, the board members in favor of it argued that, you know, it would increase transparency in the election process.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: But critics in the state have just said that it's a burden on election offices, on poll workers, and it's going to likely slow down the process of reporting results in the state, not to mention cost more time and more money.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: One local elections chief in Georgia even told The Washington Post that an overworked poll worker's error could lead bad actors to try and undermine public confidence in the election. And of course, the other concern here is that there's very recent history of former President Trump trying to do just that, trying to undermine trust in the election in Georgia in 2020.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: And he recently praised the three Republican members of Georgia's election board at a rally over the summer, raising even more concerns that he could try to meddle in the process again.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Now we are seeing some of the same Republicans who were involved in the electoral process in the last election speaking up about this hand counting change in Georgia like the secretary of state there Brad Raffensperger
--:-- Gideon Resnick: What is he saying What are other Republicans saying Yeah that right There a lot of the same names and faces involved here I mean Raffensperger for his part has criticized the rule changes specifically any that this board is considering within 90 days of an election.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: You also have the Office of the State's Republican Attorney General, Chris Carr, saying that this hand-counting proposal is likely unlawful given the jurisdiction that this board has and the work that it's supposed to do.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Even the Republican board chairman of the state election board who voted against this measure said that the board wasn't in place to make laws but to interpret them. And outside of Republican criticism, state election official criticism, lawsuits have also been filed over the previous certification changes with a trial expected to begin as soon as next week.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: So it is possible that this new hand counting measure and some of those other ones that were previously passed might not go into place before November. And not to mention, I know a lawyer for Raffensperger pointed this out to state poll workers have already done their election day trainings.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: So any last minute changes like this could complicate that kind of work, too. Right. So in addition to last minute process changes, we're also seeing states like Nebraska consider last minute changes to how electoral votes are allocated.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: So Trump and Republican allies have been pushing for a long time for Nebraska to change how it allocates its five electoral votes. They want a winner-take-all system, which most states do have. Nebraska has kind of a unique thing going on. It's one of two states in the country that splits its electoral votes by congressional districts.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: The other one is Maine. And so over the past week, we saw this pressure campaign really heat up. Even Senator Lindsey Graham actually went to Nebraska to try and convince Republicans in the state legislature to make this change, to turn it into winner-take-all.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: And it eventually came down to one person, Republican state senator Mike McDonald, who said that he doesn't want to change the rules this close to the election. And then Nebraska's governor also said that he's not going to call a special session to consider it.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: So by all indications, the pressure campaign did not work, and no changes are coming for Nebraska in the immediate future. Yeah, I've seen Trump has been posting on social media about Nebraska and criticizing McDonald for not getting on board with the change.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Why was this so important to the Trump campaign? The story here is that there is a critical single electoral vote that comes from that second congressional district, which is where Omaha is. And it's quite a swingy place. It's even referred to as kind of a blue dot in the state, unlike the rest of Nebraska.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Biden won that district, including Omaha, in 2020. And when we think about the national picture, you know, one electoral vote doesn't seem like it might be all that important, but it really could be.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: So let's say, for example, that in this election, Vice President Kamala Harris were to win Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, you know, of the swing states, and Trump were to win North Carolina, Georgia, Arizona and Nevada. That would mean that Harris would have 269 electoral votes to Trump's 268 nail bitingly close.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: And so that single final electoral vote would either push Harris over the line or lead to a tie, an entirely different mess for a different day. And the single electoral vote that would do it would be this district in Nebraska.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: And so that is why there's been a lot of focus on it. In a really close election, it could make quite a difference. We saw vice presidential candidate Tim Walls hold an Omaha event last month. He is from the state. And we've seen Republicans really eager to make this change last minute, which kind of tells you how important they think it is.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Gideon, thank you so much.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Yeah, of course. Thank you
--:-- Shamita Basu: Before we let you go, a few other stories being featured in the Apple News app. Starting with reporting from ProPublica, two U.S. authorities on humanitarian assistance concluded Israel deliberately blocked deliveries of food and water into Gaza.
--:-- Shamita Basu: You might remember how aid trucks were lined up at border crossings, waiting to get into Gaza this past spring, and how border authorities were denying or restricting items from entering. U.S. authorities concluded Israel interfered with aid efforts, including killing aid workers, bombing ambulances and hospitals, and routinely turning away aid trucks.
--:-- Shamita Basu: U.S. law prohibits arms shipments to countries that prevent the delivery of U.S.-backed humanitarian aid. But ProPublica learned Secretary of State Antony Blinken and President Joe Biden's administration quietly did not accept the assessments and continued providing weapons to Israel.
--:-- Shamita Basu: In response to questions from ProPublica, the State Department said that it pressured Israel to increase the flow of aid to Gaza. Meanwhile, Biden gave his final address to the United Nations yesterday at the General Assembly in New York, where he spoke about the prospect of a ceasefire deal in Gaza.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Now is the time for the parties to finalize its terms, bring the hostages home, and secure security for Israel when Gaza is free of Hamas' grip. Ease the suffering in Gaza and end this war. This was one of Biden's last scheduled high-profile speeches on the global stage.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Let's turn to Missouri. The state executed Marcellus Williams last night, despite widespread opposition in Missouri and beyond. Williams' execution followed an unprecedented legal battle under a recent law that allows prosecutors to challenge potentially wrongful convictions.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Prosecutors in this case said evidence showed Williams was not responsible for a 1998 killing that he was convicted for. His case went up to the governor and the state Supreme Court, which declined to halt his execution.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Four other states killed people under the death penalty this week, which Slate points out makes it the worst execution spree the U.S. has seen in three decades. And Williams' case was not the only one where substantial doubts were raised about the person's innocence.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Finally, to a record in sports that no team wants, at some point this week, the Chicago White Sox are expected to set the Major League record for the most losses in a single season since 1900.
--:-- Shamita Basu: The Wall Street Journal looks at the business moves and mistakes that brought the Sox to this place. That includes trading away some of their best players and mismanaging money. This team has a payroll higher than five teams heading to the playoffs next week.
--:-- Shamita Basu: But New York Magazine takes a sort of who-among-us approach, saying watching a team be so bad all season long is kind of humanizing, humbling, relatable, and inspirational. If you remember, next season can be a clean slate.
--:-- 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.
--:-- Shamita Basu: The New Yorker dined at a two Michelin star restaurant in Copenhagen. It's known for its roughly 40 course tasting menu. It also tries to send a message about issues like climate change, food production and scarcity. If you're listening in the podcast app, follow Apple News Plus Narrated to find that story.
--:-- Shamita Basu: and I'll be back with the news tomorrow.
