--:-- Shamita Basu: Good morning. It's Friday, January 6th. I'm Shamita Basu. This is Apple News Today.
--:-- Shamita Basu: On today's show, honoring the officers who defended the Capitol on January 6th, drama between two American soccer families sends the U.S. men's team into chaos, and how to know if you're spiritually and emotionally ready to retire. But first, Republican leader Kevin McCarthy's bid for House Speaker failed for the 11th time yesterday, even after he made several concessions to dissenters from his party, including ones that would weaken the power of the speakership.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Most of the 20 Republican detractors voted for Florida's Byron Donalds. A few of them rallied behind Oklahoma's Kevin Hearn. And at one point, Florida Republican Matt Gaetz, who's one of McCarthy's most vocal opponents, threw another name into the mix. Gaetz. Donald John Trump. Trump.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Fun fact, you do not have to be a member of the House to be nominated or to become Speaker. This is now officially the most drawn-out and acrimonious process to elect a House Speaker since 1859.
--:-- Shamita Basu: So how is all of this going to end? Vox lays out some of the possible scenarios. McCarthy wants this to happen so he might try playing any cards he has to strike a deal, like agreeing to put holdouts in powerful positions on subcommittees.
--:-- Shamita Basu: If he is totally unable to convince them, and this historic stalemate continues, one possibility is that McCarthy bows out. The next runner-up could be Steve Scalise of Louisiana, the number two Republican in the House, though it's not clear if he would get enough votes.
--:-- Shamita Basu: In the meantime, having no Speaker of the House means there's a big holdup. Representatives who just got elected can't be sworn in. The work of drafting and passing bills can't happen. Committee assignments are not filled.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Plus, dozens of bills passed by the Washington, D.C. City Council are sitting in limbo, too, because the rules require their bills to go to Congress for review before they can become law.
--:-- Shamita Basu: With so many eyes on the messy process unfolding on the House floor, we've been able to watch lots of private moments play out between lawmakers.
--:-- Shamita Basu: As Jon Stewart recently tweeted, this week has been the best season of C-SPAN ever. Booing, cheering, whispering, plotting.
--:-- Shamita Basu: At times, it's felt more like watching reality TV than a public affairs show. These are the usual boring wide pan shots that C is known for.
--:-- Shamita Basu: The Washington Post explains because of the unique circumstances of this week C-SPAN got permission from Congress to roam around the chamber.
--:-- Shamita Basu: And it's given us what feel like fresh glimpses into the process, even though we can't hear what anyone's saying off mic.
--:-- Shamita Basu: We've watched huddles of Republican members having spirited conversations, while newly elected Republican Representative George Santos stands awkwardly on the fringes.
--:-- Shamita Basu: We've seen odd pairings, like New York Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez talking with Arizona Republican Paul Gosar.
--:-- Shamita Basu: And we've watched lots of bored children of Congress members falling asleep.
--:-- Shamita Basu: C-SPAN's director of editorial operations says these visuals seem to really be connecting with viewers, And they would like permission to do this more often.
--:-- Shamita Basu: But as soon as a speaker is confirmed, the plan is to go back to the status quo.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Today, President Joe Biden is giving the Presidential Citizens Medal, that's the second highest civilian honor in the country, to officers who defended the Capitol two years ago on January 6, 2021.
--:-- Shamita Basu: ABC News is reporting these details. The recipients include Capitol Police Officer Eugene Goodman, retired Metropolitan Police Officer Michael Fanone, and a posthumous award will be given to Brian Sicknick, the Capitol Police officer who officials say died of natural causes the day after the attack.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Medals will also be given to some state and local officials who stood up to pressure to overturn the 2020 election results, as well as Ruby Freeman and Shea Moss, the mother-daughter election workers who were targeted by right-wing conspiracists.
--:-- Shamita Basu: There is major drama brewing in U.S. men's soccer just a few weeks after the American team had a promising run in the World Cup.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Earlier this week, U.S. coach Greg Berhalter released a statement saying that someone had contacted U.S. soccer during the World Cup with compromising information on him.
--:-- Shamita Basu: It had to do with a domestic violence incident in the 90s involving Berhalter and his now wife.
--:-- Shamita Basu: In his statement about it this week, Berhalter called it a shameful moment that he regrets, and that it seemed like someone was trying to use that information to get him fired.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Well, now we know who that someone was. It was the parents of American soccer star Gio Reyna.
--:-- Shamita Basu: The Reynas and the Berhalters are effectively your American soccer dynasties right?
--:-- Shamita Basu: Shakr Saman sports editor for Apple News explains just how tight these two families once were.
--:-- Shaker Saman: Claudio Reyna, Gio's dad, was a former U.S. men's national team captain. He is considered one of the best players in the history of the U.S. men's national team.
--:-- Shaker Saman: And his mom, Danielle Egan Reyna, played for the U.S. women's team in the 90s.
--:-- Shaker Saman: The Reynas and Berhalters, they're good friends. They were teammates at the 2002 and 2006 World Cup.
--:-- Shaker Saman: Claudio was even the best man at Greg's wedding.
--:-- Shaker Saman: And their wives, Danielle Reynas and Rosalind Berhalter, were roommates and soccer players at the University of North Carolina.
--:-- Shaker Saman: There were early rumblings. There might be some tension during the World Cup.
--:-- Shaker Saman: Gio Reynas is widely considered one of the most promising young players on the U.S. men's team. But he barely played.
--:-- Shaker Saman: Sources at the time told The Athletic that Reyna wasn't showing much enthusiasm during training.
--:-- Shaker Saman: After the U.S. was knocked out of the tournament, Coach Berhalter publicly acknowledged that there was a problematic player.
--:-- Shaker Saman: Though he didn't name Gio, it seemed to be about him.
--:-- Shaker Saman: Then this week, things came to a head when we learned that the Reynas were the ones who reached out to U.S. soccer about Berhalter's past behavior.
--:-- Shaker Saman: Claudio Reyna has said he was frustrated Gio wasn't getting more playing time, but that he never threatened anyone.
--:-- Shaker Saman: Danielle Reyna has said that she reached out to the U.S. men's soccer sporting director only as a friend.
--:-- Shaker Saman: She was outraged and devastated that Gio had been put in such a terrible position by Berhalter's comments after the World Cup.
--:-- Shaker Saman: And also said that she thought it was unfair to Gio, who had apologized for acting immaturely about his playing time, that Gio was still being dragged through the mud when she believed that Greg had asked for and received forgiveness for doing something that was so much worse at the same age.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Burr Halter addressed the saga yesterday. Speaking with Harvard Business Review, he said he hopes to continue on as the coach of the team and that he feels sad for his wife, Rosalyn, and that it was, quote, her story to tell.
--:-- Shamita Basu: This week, U.S. Soccer announced that assistant coach Anthony Hudson will lead the U.S. men's January camp and that they've opened an investigation into Berhalter.
--:-- Shamita Basu: So far, no decision has been made about who will lead the team for the 2026 World Cup.
--:-- Shamita Basu: How do you know that you're ready to retire? Of course, you need to be financially prepared. But how will you know when you're mentally, emotionally, and spiritually ready?
--:-- Shamita Basu: It's like, okay, if you don't have that many years left, do you want to spend them doing the same thing that you've done to just repeat what you've already been through? Or do you want to try some of those things that you may have had on a list of things you wanted to try out.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Steve Lopez, a longtime LA Times columnist, When he reached his mid 60s, he started to think seriously about retiring.
--:-- Shamita Basu: But he wasn't sure how to go about it when to do it, whether he was ready to go from someone who loves his job to someone who doesn't work anymore.
--:-- Shamita Basu: And so, being the journalist that he is, he decided to give himself an assignment, one year of conversations and interviews to help him decide whether or not to retire.
--:-- Shamita Basu: He ended up getting advice from people like TV and film legends Mel Brooks and Norman Lear.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Both of them were in their 90s, and both are still working.
--:-- Shamita Basu: And Lear had some philosophical advice. He said, think of yourself as sitting in a hammock between yesterday and tomorrow.
--:-- Shamita Basu: If you wake up and something drags you out of bed or out of that, you know, use the metaphor of the hammock, that's all you need to know.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Live in the moment because we don't know what's coming next.
--:-- Shamita Basu: You're healthy. Your mind is still active. You're curious.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Just, you know, indulge all of that and just go with it. Live today and figure out tomorrow, tomorrow.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Lopez talked to a rabbi who said losing the daily structure of a job can be tough.
--:-- Shamita Basu: So you should ask yourself, are you really going to spend all your days golfing or reading or gardening?
--:-- Shamita Basu: If you are in that transition and thinking of retiring, find out whether what you think you want to do is really going to work.
--:-- Shamita Basu: So to another words, sample the dream.
--:-- Shamita Basu: And he spoke with some people who were just excited about retirement and could only see the upsides.
--:-- Shamita Basu: If you can do it, get out now. Leave your job and do these things you want to do while you're young enough to enjoy them.
--:-- Shamita Basu: You don't want to wait to where you're complaining and grousing about, you know, I should have done this five, ten years earlier.
--:-- Shamita Basu: On this weekend's episode of Apple News In Conversation, we talk about the signs that might tell you that you're ready for this life transition.
--:-- Shamita Basu: And what I love about this conversation is it's not the usual advice for retirement. The finances are important, but so is everything else.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Plus, we'll share what some of you, our listeners, told us about the bumpy road of figuring out retired life.
--:-- Shamita Basu: I sat down and said, OK, what is my bucket list? I had no idea the spiritual adjustment to retirement would be so hard.
--:-- Shamita Basu: All of my working career, I dreamed of traveling when I retired. The biggest challenge for me right now is figuring out how I'm going to contribute in this world again.
--:-- Shamita Basu: You can find that episode of In Conversation and all the stories that we talked about today in the Apple News app.
--:-- Shamita Basu: And if you're already listening in the News app right now, stick around. We've queued up the In Conversation retirement episode to play next.
--:-- Shamita Basu: So enjoy that, and I'll be back with the news on Monday.
