--:-- Shamita Basu: Good morning. It's Tuesday, August 20th. I'm Shamita Basu. This is Apple News Today.
--:-- Shamita Basu: On today's show, Trump hits the campaign trail behind bulletproof glass, hostages recovered in Gaza, and what a U.S. visa backlog means for World Cup soccer fans. But first, Kamala Harris made a surprise early appearance on night one of the Democratic National Convention.
--:-- Shamita Basu: And I want to kick us off by celebrating our incredible President Joe Biden, who will be speaking later tonight. Tonight, Joe, thank you for your historic leadership, for your lifetime of service to our nation, and for all you will continue to do. We are forever grateful to you.
--:-- Shamita Basu: President Biden was the headline speaker. In his remarks, he passed the torch to Harris and acknowledged that his time in politics is coming to a close.
--:-- Joe Biden: I've really been too young to be in the Senate because I wasn't 30 yet. And too old to stay as president. But I hope you know how grateful I am to all of you.
--:-- Joe Biden: I can honestly say, and I mean this in the bottom, give you my word as a Biden, I can honestly say I'm more optimistic about the future than I was when I was elected as a 29-year-old United States senator. I mean it.
--:-- Shamita Basu: My colleague Gideon Resnick is at the DNC this week. He sat down yesterday with Gabe DiBenedetti, national correspondent for New York Magazine, and the author of The Long Alliance, a book about the relationship between Joe Biden and Barack Obama.
--:-- Gabe DiBenedetti: This convention marks the dramatic shift we've seen in the past few weeks. It's a generational change, and that is really the idea. And a political, a big political change that comes with that, because for so much of the electorate, you know, Democrats and Republicans, there was a real displeasure about the idea that, you know, they were choosing between two ancient men and now they're not.
--:-- Gabe DiBenedetti: It's telling that Biden spoke on the first night of the convention, a placement that isn't considered at all marquee. In 2000, for example, President Bill Clinton was given the first night slot during a time when nominee Al Gore was trying to distance himself from Clinton's sex scandal and impeachment.
--:-- Gabe DiBenedetti: While Biden is certainly not in the same position, DiBenedetti says the schedule is a clear sign that this convention is about looking forward, not backward. This is Kamala Harris's show. And part of that is because he doesn't want to be part of it.
--:-- Gabe DiBenedetti: But more to the point, it's because he understands the political imperative of the moment, which is that Democrats move on from him. And that's a very difficult thing for him. You know, someone who has been talking about the presidency since 1974 to deal with, you know, for 50 something years, he talked about the presidency.
--:-- Gabe DiBenedetti: And now that he had it, he had to step aside. That's very painful. But, DeBenedetti says, Biden is clear-headed about how much this moment and the next few months will shape his legacy.
--:-- Gabe DiBenedetti: Last night Biden touted various legislative accomplishments giving credit to Harris for helping get many of them done. And after as a young senator beginning to fight beginning to fight for 50 years to give Medicare the power to negotiate lower prescription drug prices, we finally beat Big Pharma.
--:-- Gabe DiBenedetti: And guess who cast the tie-breaking vote? Vice President, soon-to-be President Kamala Harris. DeBenedetti says, aside from casting himself as a consequential president, Biden will want to be remembered for stepping aside and making way for Harris to run.
--:-- Gabe DiBenedetti: The truth of the matter is, and he knows this, that his legacy will ultimately be defined by what happens in this election. As for his role now, Biden is in a unique position. He's technically a lame duck president, but there's still a lot he hopes to accomplish, namely getting a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas over the line and making sure Democrats win the White House in 2024.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Let's turn now to the Republican ticket. Donald Trump is on the campaign trail this week, trying to counter-message as the DNC takes over primetime coverage.
--:-- Shamita Basu: His schedule is packed with daily events in battleground states. Trump allies are trying to get him to stick to talking points, avoid rambling in his speeches, and cut out the erratic social media posts.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Some are trying a strategy that's gotten results before, speaking to the former president through TV hits. South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham went on NBC.
--:-- Lindsey Graham: If you have a policy debate for president, he wins. Donald Trump, the provocateur, the showman, may not win this election.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Trump's 2016 campaign manager Kellyanne Conway had a similar message on Fox.
--:-- Kellyanne Conway: The winning formula for President Trump is very plain to see. It's fewer insults, more insights, and that policy contrast.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Politico notes that at an event yesterday, Trump largely stuck to the script on the teleprompter.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Meanwhile, the Washington Post looks at how Trump's campaign schedule has changed since the assassination attempt a month ago.
--:-- Shamita Basu: In the immediate wake of the shooting, Trump's campaign stopped scheduling outdoor rallies following the advice of Secret Service. Recently, the agency approved a plan to use bulletproof glass to shield the former president at outdoor events.
--:-- Shamita Basu: That's normally a level of security only given to sitting presidents and VPs. The Post explains there's long been friction between the Trump team and the Secret Service.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Trump aides told the Post that they've often pleaded for more security at events but been denied, and that they've had to cancel or reschedule events when aides felt the venues weren't secure enough.
--:-- Carol Lennig: They'd asked for additional assets and been turned down over and over again for counter-sniper teams that sort of eye the horizon for somebody that is a risk or a shooter.
--:-- Carol Lennig: The magnetometer teams that ensure no one has a gun anywhere close. And she says the Secret Service is frustrated too.
--:-- Carol Lennig: Resources are at the center of this Secret Service agents and officers have been complaining about going to the cupboard as they refer to it and the cupboard is bare Phones that don't work radios that they can rely on officers and agents are using their personal phones and messaging apps to reach each other for office purposes.
--:-- Shamita Basu: All of my sources say that it's been a painful campaign period of doing a lot less with a lot less. Current and former officials say the agency has never been asked to provide so much protection for a former president.
--:-- Shamita Basu: The agency has spent about $4 million on protecting Mar-a-Lago since Trump left office. Agents complain that Trump makes their job harder.
--:-- Shamita Basu: He'll often do things like engage with strangers on the golf course or dine in clubs near customers who haven't been screened.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Spokespeople for both the Secret Service and Trump declined to comment to the Post about these issues.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Lenig told NPR that when Obama was president, he appointed a panel that put out 50 recommendations for the Secret Service to beef up its training and refine its mission.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Ten years later, few of them have been implemented.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Have you ever signed up for a food delivery service or a rideshare app and mindlessly clicked I agree to a terms and conditions page you never actually read? All of us have.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Now, that might not matter most days, but this next story might make you think twice about what you're agreeing to.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Last year, a woman had a severe allergic reaction after eating food at a restaurant in Disney World in Florida. She died at a local hospital.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Her husband has since filed a wrongful death suit against Disney and the restaurant owner.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Disney initially argued that it can't be sued, that the matter had to be handled in arbitration outside court.
--:-- Shamita Basu: It goes back to when the husband signed up for a trial of the Disney Plus streaming service all the way back in 2019.
--:-- Shamita Basu: The terms included an arbitration clause requiring a third party mediator to go between parties to find a resolution instead of going through the court system.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Disney got a lot of public criticism for trying to keep the case out of court.
--:-- Shamita Basu: The company has now backtracked, saying it's waiving its right to arbitration.
--:-- Shamita Basu: But that's just one case. The issue of arbitration clauses buried in long agreements remains for all kinds of companies.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Before Disney reversed course, attorney Amy Feldman told NBC about the problems created when corporations take stances like this.
--:-- Amy Feldman: A reasonable person would not think because I've signed up for a trial subscription to Disney Plus that I don't have the right to sue for an injury that happens on a Disney property.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Think of all of the various multinational corporations that have tons of affiliates.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Do you ever think when you sign up for a website for one product, which you haven't read the terms or conditions, that you lose the right to sue any other product that that company has anything to do with in perpetuity?
--:-- Shamita Basu: CNN spoke with legal experts who say this is a growing trend.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Airbnb, Walmart and others have used terms of service language to get lawsuits out of courts and into private arbitration.
--:-- Shamita Basu: And because arbitration tends to favor companies over individuals this could further tilt power toward corporations.
--:-- Shamita Basu: One law professor points out to the Washington Post arbitration was originally written into law in 1925 and it was created to help maritime companies avoid going to court and instead settle their issues with a binding handshake.
--:-- Shamita Basu: He says today's version of arbitration clauses is a far cry from what Congress intended a century ago.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Before we let you go, here are some other stories being featured in the Apple News app.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Israel has recovered the bodies of six hostages held by Hamas in Gaza. There are still more than 100 people believed to be in captivity.
--:-- Shamita Basu: A group representing their families is renewing its call for the Israeli government to finalize a ceasefire deal that would stop the fighting in Gaza and bring the rest of the captives home.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Secretary of State Antony Blinken has been meeting with key officials in the region.
--:-- Shamita Basu: It is time for it to get done. It's also time to make sure that no one takes any steps that could derail this process.
--:-- Shamita Basu: And so we're working to make sure that there is no escalation, that there are no provocations, that there are no actions that in any way could move us away from getting this deal over the line, or, for that matter, escalating the conflict to other places and to greater intensity.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Blinken says that in a two-and-a-half-hour meeting with Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister accepted terms of a proposal presented by the U.S.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Hamas has accused Washington of favoring Israel. There are still unanswered questions before a deal is truly done, and there have been many false hopes of an agreement before.
--:-- Shamita Basu: In legal news, former New York Republican Congressman George Santos has pleaded guilty to wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.
--:-- Shamita Basu: He'll have to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars. And he faces time in prison with sentencing early next year.
--:-- Shamita Basu: In the past, Santos sometimes made light of his situation and had some truly bizarre interview comments.
--:-- Shamita Basu: But yesterday was different. He fought back tears, expressed regret, and said his ambition clouded his judgment.
--:-- Shamita Basu: And finally, the Men's World Cup, hosted in part by the U.S., is two years away, but some international soccer fans are learning that might not be enough time to get a U.S. visa.
--:-- Shamita Basu: NPR has the story of fans around the world who want to attend matches, but may be blocked by our backlogged visa process.
--:-- Shamita Basu: For example, wait time for an interview in New Delhi is nearly 400 days. In Bogota, it's even longer, stretching past the point of the tournament kickoff.
--:-- Shamita Basu: That's why a bipartisan group of senators is calling on the Biden administration to speed things up for global sports fans.
--:-- Shamita Basu: That also includes visitors hoping to attend the 2028 Summer Olympics in L.A.
--:-- Shamita Basu: You can find all these stories and more in the Apple News app.
--:-- Shamita Basu: And if you're already listening in the News app right now, we've got a narrated article coming up next.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Tonight, former President Barack Obama takes the stage at the DNC.
--:-- Shamita Basu: So it's a good moment to listen to New York Magazine's piece on what the Harris campaign can learn from Obama's record.
--:-- Shamita Basu: 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. Thank you.
