--:-- Mark Garrison: Good morning. It's Thursday, February 29th. I'm Mark Garrison in for Shemitah Basu. This is Apple News Today.
--:-- Mark Garrison: Coming up, lawmakers attempt to protect IVF after Alabama's court ruling. Why elite colleges are bringing the SAT back into the admissions process. And the $10 to $20 million question behind a pro golfer's long-awaited return. But first, let's take a quick look at some major stories in the news, starting with several big developments in former President Donald Trump's legal cases.
--:-- Mark Garrison: The Supreme Court says it'll hear a case on Trump's claim that he's immune from prosecution for attempting to overturn his 2020 election loss. A lower court ruled against him on this. The move delays the federal criminal case against Trump. Supreme Court arguments are scheduled for April. The court has not yet ruled on another key case, which deals with whether Trump can be taken off the ballot because of his role in the January 6th attack on the Capitol.
--:-- Mark Garrison: Yesterday, Illinois became the third state to block him, but the judge put her decision on hold. And in the New York civil fraud case, Trump lost a bid to pause the close to $450 million judgment against him while he appeals. Trump's team wanted to pay a much smaller bond. The judge rejected that, but did say that Trump could apply for a loan to get the money while he appeals.
--:-- Mark Garrison: In Washington, congressional leaders say they have a deal on short-term funding that'll prevent a federal government shutdown. This comes just ahead of the Friday deadline and still leaves a lot of work to do in the weeks ahead.
--:-- Mark Garrison: Staying in D.C., Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is stepping down from his leadership post in November. He said he'll keep his Senate seat and finish his term after the transition.
--:-- Mitch McConnell: This will be my last term as Republican leader of the Senate. I'm not going anywhere anytime soon. However, I'll complete my job my colleagues are giving me until we select a new leader in November and they take the helm next January.
--:-- Mark Garrison: There's been speculation for a while that the 82-year-old would leave the leadership given his recent health issues and disagreements with Trump.
--:-- Mark Garrison: In the Middle East, the death toll in Gaza is now more than 30,000 people, health officials there say. And there are growing concerns about malnutrition and dehydration.
--:-- Samantha Power: As conditions continue to deteriorate in Gaza for the Gazan people, two crossings is not enough. We are talking to Israeli officials about the need to open up far more crossings far more passages into Gaza so that vitally needed humanitarian assistance can be dramatically surged. This is a matter of life and death.
--:-- Mark Garrison: In Europe, France took a key step toward becoming the first country in the world to guarantee access to abortion in its constitution. Yesterday's Senate vote cleared the way for the constitutional change to be finalized on Monday.
--:-- Mark Garrison: In the U.S., a major issue around reproductive health right now is the Alabama Supreme Court ruling that frozen embryos are children. Several IVF providers in the state have halted services as a result.
--:-- Mark Garrison: That leaves people there trying to have children through IVF facing painful uncertainty, and those in other states worried about the ripple effects. In the wake of the ruling, Republican lawmakers at the state and national level are trying to show that they support IVF.
--:-- Tammy Duckworth: Since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, voters in several states have pushed back on restrictive reproductive health care policies supported by Republicans. There are signs many in the party worry this could be a dangerous issue for them.
--:-- Tammy Duckworth: Trump said the Alabama state legislature should preserve access to IVF, and Republicans there have introduced legislation to help get IVF back on track. Over in the Florida legislature, Republicans put a bill on hold that abortion rights campaigners said could have led to similar problems as Alabama.
--:-- Tammy Duckworth: And many Republicans in Congress are saying they support IVF protection. But many of the same Republicans have co-sponsored the Life at Conception Act. It's a bill that uses a similar argument to the ruling from the Alabama Supreme Court.
--:-- Tammy Duckworth: Some Republicans are struggling to figure out what to say. When an NBC reporter asked Alabama U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville about the ruling, he gave a contradictory answer, saying he supported the ruling but also supported IVF.
--:-- Tommy Tuberville: We need to have more kids. We need to have an opportunity to do that. And I thought this was the right thing to do. IVF is used to have more children. And right now, IVF services are paused at some of the clinics in Alabama. Aren't you concerned that this could impact people who are trying to have kids?
--:-- Tommy Tuberville: Well, that's for another conversation. I think the big thing is right now you protect, you go back to the situation and try to work it out to where it's best for everybody.
--:-- Mark Garrison: Critics pounced on that response, saying Tuberville didn't seem to understand the massive impact of a ruling on families wanting children in his own state.
--:-- Tammy Duckworth: He and other senators had a chance to take action protecting IVF yesterday. Democrats brought a bill to the floor to preserve access to IVF, but a Republican senator blocked it, saying it went too far on issues unrelated to IVF.
--:-- Tammy Duckworth: The bill was introduced by me, and I had children through IVF. Earlier, I talked about what at stake. It a little personal to me when a majority male court suggests that people like me who are not able to have kids without the help of modern medicine should be in jail cells and not taking care of their babies in nurseries.
--:-- Tammy Duckworth: I know I'm not alone when I struggle to understand how politicians who support this kind of policy can possibly call themselves pro-life.
--:-- Mark Garrison: And there could be more complications at the state level. Previously, more than a dozen states had been considering so-called fetal personhood bills, which aim to define life as beginning at fertilization.
--:-- Susan Sferluga: Reproductive rights advocates have been talking about the potential consequences of these kinds of laws for a long time. And now the Alabama ruling that's blocking IVF for so many families is bringing that point home in a way that's starting to change the debate.
--:-- Susan Sferluga: This month, Yale became the latest elite college to announce that it's bringing standardized test scores back into the admissions process after making them optional during the pandemic. Dartmouth and MIT have brought them back, too.
--:-- Susan Sferluga: The applicants' SAT scores or ACT scores were better predictors of students' performance at Yale than any other indicator that they had. So they were very effective at predicting whether a student could be successful at the college.
--:-- Susan Sferluga: And Yale argues that including test scores can actually help diversify its student body. It's enrolled more than 1,000 students who did not submit scores. But data shows that students who withheld scores were less likely to be admitted, especially those from lower-income families in high schools with fewer college prep classes.
--:-- Susan Sferluga: Sverluga explains that moves to bring back test scores have drawn criticism. There have been concerns about students' access to preparation for the test. Wealthier students are able to afford tutors, in some cases, or SAT prep classes, those kinds of intensive practice classes.
--:-- Susan Sferluga: Over the years, concerns have grown that standardized tests amplify inequities in society. Research shows that students from low-income backgrounds have lower test scores and are less likely to test. There are people who are concerned still that the tests are unfair, that it can further disadvantage students.
--:-- Susan Sferluga: As another major school requires test scores, Svarluga says that'll likely influence other universities. But it's likely the majority of colleges will remain test optional.
--:-- Susan Sferluga: A testing watchdog group says more than 80% of four-year schools don't plan on requiring SAT or ACT scores for fall 2025 admissions.
--:-- Mark Garrison: If you picture a student who maybe first in their family to ever attend college and they trying to figure out the whole application process, you know there a lot of steps. And they would argue that realizing what test you need to take and you know signing up for it on time and paying for it that's just another barrier that can keep students who are really bright but don't have all the resources that other students might have that might just keep them from applying entirely.
--:-- Mark Garrison: Let's say you could get $10, maybe $20 million to stop doing something you're great at forever. What would you do? It's not a hypothetical question for professional golfer Anthony Kim.
--:-- Anthony Kim: I've been playing great. I've been swinging great. And fortunately, I'm making some putts. So if I can keep that up, I'll have fun tomorrow as well.
--:-- Mark Garrison: Then came the injuries and his exit from pro golf in 2012. There are still questions about why he left and stayed away for so long. But that insurance payout was a big part.
--:-- Mark Garrison: There's been lots of speculation over the years about whether he'd ever return. And if he did, whether he could still play at the highest levels. Tomorrow, the world will find out.
--:-- Mark Garrison: Full details of his return agreement aren't clear, but Golf Magazine reported that Live Golf, funded by Saudi Money, talked with Kim about a special deal for his return. It would cover the insurance money he'd lost by playing again and also give him the chance at winning even more prize and sponsorship money.
--:-- Mark Garrison: Pro golfers and fans have been speculating about this moment for years. Now Kim has the chance to show them whether he's still got it.
--:-- Mark Garrison: You can find all these stories and more in the Apple News app. And if you're already listening in the news app right now, we've got a narrated article from GQ coming up next. It's also about Saudi money and sports, in this case, soccer. It looks at the potential impact of getting so much cash from a kingdom that's funded by fossil fuels with a very problematic human rights record.
--:-- Mark Garrison: If you're listening in the podcast app, follow Apple News Plus Narrated to find that story. And I'll be back with the news tomorrow. Thank you.
