--:-- Gideon Resnick: Good morning. It's Friday, August 8th. I'm Gideon Resnick in for Shamita Basu. This is Apple News Today.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: On today's show, construction is halted at a controversial detention site, the divisions over harm reduction policies for drug use, and why Americans have soured on orange juice. But first, to the Middle East, where Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that he intends for Israel to seize control of the entire Gaza Strip. He made his announcement in a Fox News interview.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Will Israel take control of all of Gaza? We intend to, in order to assure our security, remove Hamas there, enable the population to be free of Gaza and to pass it to civilian governance.
--:-- Alexander Cornwell: Netanyahu has said publicly that he does not want to govern Gaza. He wants to hand it over to some kind of civil administration that would involve other Arab states. How exactly that would work is not clear. His main condition is that Hamas has no involvement.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Full occupation, would require an enhanced military presence and mass evacuations. But Palestinians have few places left to go, and any increased military presence could have major humanitarian consequences.
--:-- Alexander Cornwell: Over 60,000 Palestinians have died since the war began, according to the local health ministry. And the World Health Organization has recently said that almost 12,000 children under five in Gaza are suffering from acute malnutrition.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: So Reuters was speaking to some Palestinians on Thursday ahead of the security cabinet meeting, and some of them living in Gaza City said they're not moving. They have moved before multiple times, and they've had enough.
--:-- Alexander Cornwell: And there's this sort of sense of feeling of, well, if I'm going to die, I'm going to die in my home, as bleak as that sounds. And the question is, where does the population go?
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Netanyahu is under massive domestic pressure to secure the release of the remaining hostages. There are about 50 or so still being held by Hamas, around 20 of which are believed to still be alive.
--:-- Alexander Cornwell: On Wednesday, there were large-scale protests in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem calling for an immediate end to the war. The families of some of the hostages also protested, believing that further escalation would put their loved ones at greater risk.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: The military at times has avoided operating in certain areas of Gaza that believed hostages were being held, and captives that have been released, hostages that have been released, have said that they were told by the people holding them, their captors that they would kill them if Israeli forces approached.
--:-- Alexander Cornwell: The IDF's military chief is opposed to the move, partly on these grounds. And Israeli media has reported him as saying it would, quote, drag Israel into a black hole.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: But Netanyahu has dismissed that advice. The messaging that we getting is that the prime minister believes that the military effort has so far failed to secure the release of all the hostages.
--:-- Alexander Cornwell: But to circle back most of them have been freed through diplomatic negotiations and not by military force or not by military operations.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Cornwell told us that this occupation would have to be achieved over a period of months, not least because the Israeli military is so stretched.
--:-- Alexander Cornwell: It's also possible, he said, that this could be a ploy to force a negotiated ceasefire deal in Netanyahu's favor. But right now, those talks are at an impasse.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Hamas has said repeatedly it would end the war, it would release all the hostages and would have no further role in administering Gaza and hand it over to some kind of technocratic, independent administration. But that would require Israel to withdraw.
--:-- Alexander Cornwell: Israel counters and says Hamas is not genuine and we must defeat it and make sure that it can never come back.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: The Gaza Strip is recognized by the UN and the International Court of Justice as part of the Palestinian territories. And any seizure of territory on this scale would likely breach international law.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: It was a busy week of legal developments at the Florida detention facility known as Alligator Alcatraz.
--:-- Jasmine Garst: I am getting reports of people who are detained who have gone a day without eating, who have been sleeping on the floor for weeks. Insect-infested cells and communicable disease and reports of no air conditioner.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Governor DeSantis has denied the reports of conditions inside the facility. The Department of Homeland Security has accused detainees of complaining.
--:-- Jasmine Garst: But the administration has made it clear. They want this facility to be a blueprint that's replicated across other states.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: In fact, just this week, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced that DHS is partnering with Indiana to build a new facility to expand detention capacity there.
--:-- Jasmine Garst: And she said that other sites are being considered in Arizona, Nebraska, and Louisiana.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Gars told us that if the Florida model is followed, it could be worrisome.
--:-- Jasmine Garst: I think if there's one thing that I have learned from weeks being in Florida is the expansion of this detention machinery and detention industry with very little accountability about who is going in and how they are being treated when they're in.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Across the country, the number of detentions is rising far faster than the rate of deportations. The detention system is overcapacity by at least 13,500 people.
--:-- Jasmine Garst: And Gars says that the number of detainees with no criminal records is also rising. There close to 60 people in detention right now and around 72 don have a criminal record.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: And she says she hearing a lot of concern about federal immigration enforcement tactics and not only from migrant families.
--:-- Jasmine Garst: From what I can see from the polls and from interviewing people who voted for this in many cases, it's not part of their political landscape for masked agents and unmarked cars to pick people up.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: If you're listening in the News app, stick around after today's show. Jasmine Garst was Shamita's guest this week on Apple News In Conversation, where they discussed where Trump's immigration crackdown is heading next.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Let's turn to the way in which the Trump administration is looking to change how states and local areas combat the overdose epidemic by pulling support for a public health approach referred to as harm reduction.
--:-- David Ovalle: This is basically somewhere where someone can go and use their own illicit drugs under the supervision of someone that has Narcan there, that knows how to revive them if they overdose.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Critics argue these facilities fuel crime and public drug use. And a Democratic council member in Philadelphia told The Post she was against a proposed local overdose prevention center.
--:-- David Ovalle: The administration says they keep people trapped in cycles of addiction and that federal money would be better spent on educational and community programs aimed at preventing drug use.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: And there's some thought that some of the more progressive harm reduction groups have really gone too far with the messaging of drug use being acceptable and there shouldn't be any stigma attached to it.
--:-- David Ovalle: But the early research into overdose prevention centers has shown promising results. According to the National Institutes of Health, these facilities are associated with less public drug use. Crime does not seem to rise, and they help to reduce demand on local health care and emergency services.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: It's also seen as a way to get people in the door, get drug users connected to care, wound care, health care, and rehab if they want to do that.
--:-- David Ovalle: Even before Trump's order, by law, federal dollars were not allowed to be used to directly fund these facilities. And they couldn't be used to purchase supplies like syringes.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: But the order also mentions reviews into drug reduction sites to look for evidence of distributing drug paraphernalia. That phrase has not yet been properly defined. But it could mean that grants for a much broader number of facilities could be pulled if they provide certain services that fall under this category.
--:-- David Ovalle: Groups involved in harm reduction services worry that Trump's order is a sign of bigger moves to come at the federal level.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: It promises to end funding for programs that quote fail to achieve adequate outcomes but does not define how it will measure the performance of these programs.
--:-- David Ovalle: And harm reduction groups worry the order could inspire states to slash their funding as well.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: There's the fear from a lot of groups that anything with harm reduction in the title, anything with harm reduction as sort of a brand of services might get defunded strictly because harm reduction is now sort of a bad word in the same way diversity, equity, and inclusion has become for this administration.
--:-- David Ovalle: The administration does support federal funds going to some harm reduction initiatives, like test strips for fentanyl and providing naloxone.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: But within the Federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration, officials have been asked to review online documents and webpages that mention harm reduction to consider editing or removing them, and multiple pages have been taken down.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: And that agency sent guidance to states last week, saying in part that harm reduction is being used to, quote, advocate for policies that are incompatible with federal laws.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Before we let you go, a few other stories we're following.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Colleges and universities that receive federal funding will be required to give admissions data on race after President Trump signed a memorandum yesterday.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: The administration says they want the data to see if schools are preferencing race in the admissions process.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: That follows a 2023 Supreme Court decision that largely banned affirmative action.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Any college or university that participates in the federal student loan program is already required to give the government certain data pertaining to financial aid, enrollment, and graduation rates.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: This move would push universities to report details about who applies as well.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Turning to sports, some history will take place tomorrow in the world of Major League Baseball.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Jen Powell will make her Major League debut as an umpire, making her the first woman to be an umpire in a regular season game in the league's history.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: She's been a minor league umpire since 2016 and once played softball at Hofstra University.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: The move comes 28 years after the NBA broke the gender barrier with game officials by having Violet Palmer ref a game.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Powell will work a doubleheader this weekend in her introduction to Major League Baseball.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: And finally, advertisers once called it sunshine in a glass, and it was synonymous with warning off colds and boosting your vitamin C.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: But America is souring on orange juice.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: The Washington Post reports that this once ubiquitous staple of American fridges has been declining in popularity in recent decades.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: They attribute it in part to a growing realization that it has a lot of sugar, And it's also becoming harder to produce.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Climate change-induced weather events and even bacterial disease have impacted orange groves across the world, affecting the supply.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: One specific disease has been a blight on groves in Florida, where the state's production has fallen by 92% over the last two decades.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: In summarizing the change of fortune the citrus has seen, the Post writes that it is symbolic of today's challenges, inflation, disease, and climate change.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: You can find all these stories and more in the Apple News app.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: And if you are already listening in the News app right now, stick around for Shamita's full interview with Jasmine Garst.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: That episode of Apple News in Conversation is coming up for you next.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: And if you're listening in the podcast app, you can find it by following Apple News in Conversation.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Enjoy the weekend, and we'll be back with the news on Monday.
