--:-- Shamita Basu: Good morning. It's Friday, December 11th. I'm Shamita Basu. And I'm Duarte Giraldino. This is Apple News Today. Each morning, hear about some of the most fascinating stories in the news and how the world's best journalists are covering them.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: 18 states are following Texas's lead. They're asking the Supreme Court to nullify the presidential election results in Michigan, Georgia, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania. They're claiming mail-in voting rules in these states are unconstitutional.
--:-- Shamita Basu: The attorneys general of the four states named in the lawsuit are urging the Supreme Court to reject the case, saying it adds to, quote, the cacophony of bogus false claims. But President Trump's team is not letting up.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: So far, more than 100 Republican members of the House are supporting the Texas lawsuit. While many legal experts say it's unlikely these lawsuits will actually keep Trump in office, the intensity of the GOP campaign is putting pressure on state legislatures to consider changing their voting laws.
--:-- Shamita Basu: And the changes that some states are proposing would make it harder for people to vote. That's according to Sylvia Albert. She's the director of the elections program at Common Cause.
--:-- Sylvia Albert: Several states with Republican-controlled legislatures are citing misinformation to promote election law changes. States like Georgia, Pennsylvania, and Ohio are all considering bills that would put an end to letting people vote absentee without a specific excuse. Wisconsin is considering a bill that restricts in-person early voting.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: The Hill reports several Republican legislators say they want to tighten rules around when ballots return to make it faster to get election results. The way they see it, this is going to make you, me, and everyone who votes more confident in the outcome.
--:-- Sylvia Albert: So now, in order to restore public trust, some states might change voting rules based on false claims of fraud to fix a problem that was never proven to be a problem in the first place.
--:-- Shamita Basu: On the flip side, some states see the high turnout during the election as a sign that pandemic rules actually encourage people to vote. They're looking to enact measures that make voting easier in the future, things like permanent access to voting by mail.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: The Hill explains several states in the Northeast are even considering making no-excuse absentee voting permanent. If they did so, they'd be following the lead of many Western states.
--:-- Sylvia Albert: [pause] Brandon Bernard was executed overnight at a federal prison. The Supreme Court denied his final appeal. His case drew special attention because he was 18 years old at the time of the crime and because he's one of several people the Trump administration scheduled for execution during its last weeks in power.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: Legal experts tell NBC News what's happening here is unusual. It's more typical for outgoing administrations to defer decisions on executions to future leadership.
--:-- Sylvia Albert: The federal death penalty was on hiatus for 17 years before Trump's team started executing people back in July. And the Trump administration isn't just scheduling executions. The Justice Department also recently changed its rules to theoretically expand its methods for execution beyond lethal injection, possibly including firing squads and poison gas.
--:-- Shamita Basu: President-elect Biden is signaling he'll take a different approach. He says he supports a moratorium on federal executions and prefers life without parole for most serious crimes. He could also reverse some of the Justice Department's new rules when he gets into office on January 20th.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: But that won't make a difference for people the Trump administration plans to execute in the days ahead, including another person tonight.
--:-- Sylvia Albert: [pause] The vaccine countdown continues. Yesterday, an advisory group recommended the FDA provide emergency authorization to Pfizer's coronavirus vaccine.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: But you know, there are other COVID-19 vaccines out there, including in China. It's already approved widespread use of its own vaccine.
--:-- Sylvia Albert: A recent CNBC article details how Beijing is promising its vaccine to many developing nations. Some experts say by doing this, China is trying to expand its global influence, a sort of vaccine diplomacy.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: China has promised priority access to Malaysia, the Philippines, and several African countries. And these are countries that may not have easy access to Western vaccines because other wealthier countries already bought up the supplies.
--:-- Sylvia Albert: Not to mention these vaccines are very expensive and they're challenging to transport. Imogene Page-Jarrod is a research analyst at the Economist Intelligence Unit who told CNBC, this is probably a strategic move on China's part to expand influence in these developing countries.
--:-- Imogene Page-Jarrod: After all, these are places where China is hoping to grow its commercial and political interests. This analyst also says, by offering its vaccine, China may be trying to ease tensions with countries that blame it for causing the pandemic.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: A political scientist at the National University of Singapore says we shouldn't be surprised if China is doing this to expand its power. Many powerful countries exchange aid for political support.
--:-- Sylvia Albert: The real question, he says, should be, what does China want in return? For its part, China says it will not use COVID-19 vaccines as a diplomatic tool and is opposed to politicizing vaccine development.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: But CNBC points out, if the Chinese vaccine does not prove safe and effective, people are not going to want it. And therefore, it won't be much of a bargaining chip in talks with developing nations.
--:-- Sylvia Albert: Chinese companies have been less transparent about their research than their U and European counterparts. Recently the UAE decided to approve the Chinese vaccine relying on data from the drugmaker that shows 86 effectiveness.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: This year, kids are riding to Santa asking for things you might expect. Toys, clothes, video games. But also getting help through the pandemic.
--:-- Sylvia Albert: The post office collects letters addressed to the North Pole through its Operation Santa program. And a review of this year's letters shows lots of kids are writing about how the pandemic is affecting them and their families.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: Yes, CNN is publishing some of these letters. One is written by a kid named Jonah, and it says, Dear Santa, I don't want anything for Christmas, but I would like to ask you if you can do me a favor. Can you please find a cure for COVID-19 and give it to us to save the world? Thank you.
--:-- Sylvia Albert: Jonah's very polite. Nine-year-old Alani writes in her letter to Santa, this year has been rough because of Corona. She's asking for Legos because her mom, quote, can't get anything from me for Christmas because she's not getting paid as much, so can't afford anything.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: Another letter comes from Savannah. She apologizes to Santa for being bad. Honest, that's good. But says it's been a rough year with online schooling and COVID.
--:-- Sylvia Albert: Another letter, five-year-old Andy, tells Santa, quote, I wish COVID was over so we can hug.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: The Postal Service has been running Operation Santa since 1912 and encourages you to go online and find a letter to adopt. You can then send kids the gift they're asking for. This year, the program has been inundated with volunteers, and according to the Postal Service, people are stepping up.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Most of this year's letters have already been adopted, but they'll keep uploading new letters through December 15th. You can find all these stories and more in the Apple News app.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: We'll talk to you again on Monday.
