--:-- Shumita Basu: Good morning. It's Tuesday, September 24th. I'm Shamitza Basu. This is Apple News Today.
--:-- Shamitza Basu: On today's show, the U.S. military is on the move as Israel and Lebanon exchange more fire. An energy billionaire goes after Greenpeace in a major lawsuit. And looking for answers as to why so many Americans have peanut allergies. But first, to North Carolina, one of seven states expected to decide the presidential election.
--:-- Shamitza Basu: So far in the polls, Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump are virtually tied. But Republicans are now contending with a major scandal. CNN found details linking North Carolina's lieutenant governor, Mark Robinson, to offensive comments on a porn website dating back over a decade.
--:-- Shamitza Basu: We mentioned this really quick on yesterday's show. Robinson is now running for governor in the state. In the posts reviewed by CNN, he calls himself a, quote, Black Nazi. He makes other disturbing racist comments and in some cases contradicts his publicly stated positions on abortion and policies that impact transgender people.
--:-- Shamitza Basu: He is denied posting the comments. But his campaign is reckoning with the fallout. Danielle Battaglia is the Washington correspondent for two local papers, the News and Observer and the Charlotte Observer.
--:-- Danielle Battaglia: I believe all he has left is a communications team, and I think that's only a couple people left, so there's not a lot of people left to go.
--:-- Shamitza Basu: Robinson says he plans to stay in the race. And even if he did drop out, ballots have already gone out to some voters with his name on them.
--:-- Danielle Battaglia: We asked Bataglia how voters are reacting to the scandal, and she says he has a long history of incendiary comments about the civil rights movement, school shootings, and the Holocaust.
--:-- Danielle Battaglia: I think where it's going to hurt him is with those undecided voters who still haven't made up their mind on whether they should vote for his opponent, Attorney General Josh Stein, who's also running for governor.
--:-- Shamitza Basu: Even before CNN's reporting, Robinson was widely expected to lose to Stein. He's often pulled double digits behind the Democratic candidate.
--:-- Danielle Battaglia: So Bataglia says right now, Republicans are more concerned about any possible ripple effect.
--:-- Danielle Battaglia: I think there is a concern it could impact the presidential election. I think what they more concerned about is the down ballot races and how that going to affect the Republicans running.
--:-- Danielle Battaglia: What they are concerned about is those people who tied themselves to Mark Robinson who are down ballot and what they do going forward in the next couple weeks.
--:-- Shamitza Basu: Both the Trump and Harris campaigns believe North Carolina is crucial to their path to the White House.
--:-- Danielle Battaglia: The Harris campaign has been eager to remind voters of the link between the former president and Robinson.
--:-- Shamitza Basu: Trump endorsed Robinson in March, and he's repeatedly compared him to Martin Luther King Jr.
--:-- Danielle Battaglia: The former president did not appear with Robinson when he campaigned in North Carolina over the weekend.
--:-- Danielle Battaglia: And Trump hasn't addressed the controversy yet, but he's expected back in the state tomorrow.
--:-- Shamitza Basu: And Battaglia thinks the pressure will be unavoidable.
--:-- Danielle Battaglia: I feel like he can only be silent for so long. However, it might make sense in a news cycle to let this die down until the next thing pops off and then you can start distancing yourself.
--:-- Shamitza Basu: Let's turn to the Middle East, where Israel and Hezbollah have launched new strikes overnight.
--:-- Shamitza Basu: This follows heavy airstrikes by Israel on Lebanon yesterday.
--:-- Shamitza Basu: Health authorities say yesterday was the deadliest day of conflict in Lebanon since Israel and Hezbollah went to war in 2006.
--:-- Shamitza Basu: With more than 500 people killed, including around three dozen children, it may be the single deadliest day in the country since the civil war that raged from 1975 to 1990.
--:-- Shamitza Basu: And health authorities say over 1,600 people were injured.
--:-- Shamitza Basu: The health minister said strikes hit hospitals, medical centers, and ambulances.
--:-- Shamitza Basu: And the government ordered schools, universities, and nurseries closed across much of the country.
--:-- Shamitza Basu: The Israeli military says it hit hundreds of Hezbollah targets.
--:-- Shamitza Basu: It sent audio and text messages to people yesterday warning them to move away from buildings Israel claimed were housing Hezbollah weapons.
--:-- Shamitza Basu: The military blamed some of the casualties yesterday on weapons in those buildings exploding during strikes, so-called secondary explosions.
--:-- Shamitza Basu: Hezbollah didn't immediately address Israel's claims about hiding weapons in civilian homes.
--:-- Shamitza Basu: Thousands of people fled in panic after receiving the warnings from Israel, packing the roadways headed north.
--:-- Shamitza Basu: Reporters with Britain's Channel 4 spoke to one family from their van as they were stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic.
--:-- Channel 4 Reporter: There was bombing. We got into the car and we just drove, he says. We don't know what happened behind us. We're heading to Beirut.
--:-- Shamitza Basu: The BBC spoke to another family Ahmed says everyone fled his village because of airstrikes and destruction.
--:-- Ahmed: There's no one left, he says. We took our belongings and went.
--:-- Shamitza Basu: In response to the escalating tensions, the Pentagon announced yesterday that a small number of additional forces will be sent to the Middle East as a precaution.
--:-- Shamitza Basu: There are roughly 40,000 U.S. troops in the region already.
--:-- Shamitza Basu: Now to a lawsuit that could transform the environmental movement.
--:-- Shamitza Basu: A fossil fuel billionaire from Texas is suing Greenpeace USA in a court battle that could bankrupt it.
--:-- Shamitza Basu: Kelsey Warren shows no qualms in his willingness to go after Greenpeace.
--:-- Benoit Moran: I think his intent is very much to crush Greenpeace.
--:-- Shamitza Basu: That's Wall Street Journal energy reporter Benoit Moran. He told us the origins of Warren's dispute with Greenpeace.
--:-- Benoit Moran: It dates back to 2016 and protests over one of his marquee projects, the Dakota Access Pipeline.
--:-- Shamitza Basu: Greenpeace, indigenous tribal groups, and thousands of activists camped out in North Dakota to protest the pipeline project.
--:-- Shamitza Basu: Some of the demonstrations turned violent.
--:-- Shamitza Basu: In one clash, law enforcement used tear gas and sprayed demonstrators with water in below freezing temperatures.
--:-- Shamitza Basu: When former President Trump took office in 2017, he ultimately cleared the way for the project to move forward.
--:-- Shamitza Basu: Kelsey Warren and his wife have donated over $20 million to Trump's campaigns since 2016.
--:-- Shamitza Basu: And today, Warren is suing Greenpeace for hundreds of millions of dollars in damage related to the Dakota Access Project.
--:-- Shamitza Basu: He says Greenpeace funded attacks that damaged property and spread misinformation.
--:-- Shamitza Basu: Greenpeace says its role in the protests was limited and it never took part in any violence.
--:-- Shamitza Basu: Greenpeace is denying all of those claims and saying that it had but a handful of people on the ground, mostly doing de-escalation trainings for the protesters that were overwhelmingly led by indigenous tribes concerned about the impact of the pipeline on their land and on water.
--:-- Shamitza Basu: Warren's company, Energy Transfer, is seeking $300 million in damages.
--:-- Shamitza Basu: Greenpeace has said that would likely wipe out their U.S. operations.
--:-- Shamitza Basu: Greenpeace describes this lawsuit as existential to its U.S. affiliate.
--:-- Shamitza Basu: It is saying that the demise of its U.S. affiliate could impact its ability to fight climate change globally.
--:-- Shamitza Basu: So that a pretty big deal for Greenpeace.
--:-- Shamitza Basu: And the folks there are definitely very concerned and spending a lot of time on this lawsuit.
--:-- Shamitza Basu: The case is set for trial in February in a North Dakota state court.
--:-- Shamitza Basu: Both sides are expecting a jury that's friendly to the energy industry.
--:-- Shamitza Basu: Before we let you go, a few other stories being featured in the Apple News app.
--:-- Shamitza Basu: We're in the middle of a busy and dangerous hurricane season.
--:-- Shamitza Basu: Helene looks to be on a path to slam into Florida as a powerful Category 3 storm this week.
--:-- Shamitza Basu: Record high temperatures in the Gulf mean it can rapidly intensify.
--:-- Shamitza Basu: It comes on the heels of Hurricane John, a Category 3 that hit Mexico last night, packing winds of 120 mph.
--:-- Shamitza Basu: Let's do a little climate pivot here and talk about a new finding that looks at Americans' perceptions of electric vehicles.
--:-- Shamitza Basu: The data says electric vehicles are, in fact, better for the environment than gas-powered vehicles.
--:-- Shamitza Basu: But there's been a 5% point drop in Americans who believe that.
--:-- Shamitza Basu: Most Americans still see EVs as better.
--:-- Shamitza Basu: As the researcher explains to NPR, it looks like the drop is because people with doubts about EVs are getting more skeptical over time.
--:-- Shamitza Basu: And that skepticism might explain why EV sales growth in the U.S. has slowed.
--:-- Shamitza Basu: And finally, there's an interesting essay in the Wall Street Journal about peanut allergies.
--:-- Shamitza Basu: If you're old enough, you might remember a time when they seemed fairly rare.
--:-- Shamitza Basu: But these days, it seems like everyone and their kid has one.
--:-- Shamitza Basu: A surgeon and public health researcher at Johns Hopkins argues peanut allergies rose sharply starting in 2000.
--:-- Shamitza Basu: And recommendations from pediatricians are part of the reason why.
--:-- Shamitza Basu: It was a time when there was a lot of attention on real cases of peanut allergy deaths.
--:-- Shamitza Basu: The American Academy of Pediatrics issued a recommendation saying children up to three years old should avoid peanuts altogether.
--:-- Shamitza Basu: This piece argues this lack of exposure to peanuts in America actually made allergies more common.
--:-- Shamitza Basu: And now that we're dealing with the consequences, the AAP is changing its advice and saying early introduction can be helpful.
--:-- Shamitza Basu: You can read the full argument on the Apple News app, along with all the stories we talked about today.
--:-- Shamitza Basu: And if you're already listening in the News app right now, we've got a narrated article coming up next.
--:-- Shamitza Basu: Bloomberg Businessweek has a surprising look at how AI is posing an existential threat to the online poker market.
--:-- Shamitza Basu: If you're listening in the podcast app, follow Apple News Plus Narrated to find that story.
--:-- Shamitza Basu: And I'll be back with the news tomorrow.
--:-- Shamitza Basu: Today's episode was hosted by Shamitza Basu.
