NFL coach out after revelations of offensive emails

Host: Good morning. It's Tuesday, October 12th. I'm Duarte Giraldino. Shemitah Basu is off. 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.

Host: An NFL coach just resigned following revelations of racist, anti-gay and misogynistic emails. John Gruden is now the former coach of the Las Vegas Raiders. The Wall Street Journal reported Friday that Gruden used a racial trope in a 2011 email. The target was DeMaurice Smith. He is black and the head of the Players Union. Yesterday, the New York Times reported on other offensive language. Those email messages included anti-gay and anti-transgender comments. These articles also document other troubling behavior. Gruden and others reportedly shared photos of topless women, including at least one cheerleader from D.C.'s football team. The emails were presented to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. The league referred to its initial statement condemning the language in the emails. In his own statement, Gruden said he was sorry and never meant to hurt anyone. Gruden was four years into the biggest coaching contract in NFL history. His deal was worth $100 million over a decade. The team he leaves includes Carl Nassib. The Raiders defensive lineman is the first active NFL player to come out as gay.

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Host: An Afghan interpreter who helped rescue Joe Biden in Afghanistan in 2008 finally made it out of the country. Amon Khalili safety was in doubt ever since U troops abruptly left this summer The fear now in Afghanistan is that anybody that was associated with the U government in any way is now going to be subject to suspicion and detention and arrest and beating and potential execution That's Diane Nissenbaum from The Wall Street Journal. Because he was an Afghan military interpreter, especially once he was identified around the world as the guy that was on the mission to rescue Joe Biden, who's now the president, he became a very high-profile case and a very high-profile case for the White House because of that. The Journal has the exclusive on this story.

Diane Nissenbaum: Back in 2008, then-Senator Biden was on a trip to Afghanistan. Senators John Kerry and Chuck Hagel were with him. They were flying with the general in command back to Bagram Air Base when they hit this whiteout conditions in the snowstorm. Had to land in this valley kind of in the middle of nowhere and call to Bagram nearby for help. And Amman was the interpreter on that mission. When I first reported Khalili's story over the summer, the White House said it was committed to helping him get to safety. But when it came to actually getting Khalili, his wife, and his five children out of Afghanistan, It wasn't the U.S. government that ultimately got the job done. After his story made international headlines, the Army veterans who were helping him and sort of spearheading the effort, they were inundated with offers of help. And it was basically these Arizona National Guard veterans that worked with him on this particular rescue mission that sort of ended up spearheading this. They found partners on the ground. Getting Khalili and his family out was dangerous and complicated. They drove 250 miles north to the country where thousands of people were waiting to get on charter planes, but the Taliban let out people without passports which was the majority of Amman's family unfortunately They heard that there was this guy running a ground operation in southern Afghanistan and getting people across the border that way and they basically rolled the dice on it And the gamble paid off. Khalili and his family made it across the border to Pakistan and then to Qatar. Khalili told the Journal he's now in a, quote, kind of heaven. Hell was in Afghanistan. And as for me, I'm still thinking about other American allies who have not made it out yet. There are tens of thousands of people like Amman who don't have the profile and don't have the White House, you know, championing them at every turn. You know, you can see what it takes to get one person out. It's a Herculean task to do even that. But there are thousands and thousands of people that are still trying to do the same thing, and they're hoping they won't be forgotten.

Host: The number of black police officers in America is shrinking. Departments all over the country are having a recruitment problem. It's gotten so bad that the percentage of black officers is dropping in some cities by double digits. The Atlantic has this story. After the Rodney King beating in the 1990s, there was this effort to hire more black police officers. And in a lot of cities, it worked. American police forces became much more diverse. But now those cops are at retirement age, and as they leave, there are just not enough young black officers taking their place. True, some of this traces back to the uprisings we saw following George Floyd's murder. Tensions were high between police and black communities, but reporting shows this problem, it runs deeper. According to The Atlantic, departments had trouble attracting and retaining black candidates even before last year. numbers show police departments getting fewer black applicants and those that do apply face hurdles Chicago found its police department attrition rate for black candidates is disproportionately high and for black women, it's through the roof. Law enforcement experts say if departments are serious about getting more black cops, they need to address racism within the ranks. Calling for more black applicants is not enough. They have to be set up to succeed.

Host: A massive Jeopardy winning streak is over. Matt Imodio's 38-game run on the show ended with yesterday's episode. Host Mayim Bialik celebrated Imodio's success at the end of the show. That is one for the books. It has been an honor and a pleasure to watch you here. Congratulations. Variety explains how this Jeopardy champion lost to actor Jonathan Fisher. It all came down to this final Jeopardy clue. Nazi Germany annexed this nation and divided it into regions of the Alps and the Danube. The Allies later divided it into four sectors. Amorio's response was Poland. But the correct one is, what is Austria? Don't feel too bad for this guy. He's got the most consecutive wins in the show's history behind Ken Jennings. and he's holding more than, wait for it, $1.5 million so far, which could grow when he returns for the Tournament of Champions. Plus, he's getting a computer science doctorate at Yale. Yeah, he's going to be good.

Host: You can find all their stories and more in the Apple News app. And while you're in the app, keep listening to hear narrated articles from our News Plus partners. I'll talk with you again tomorrow.

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