--:-- Gideon Resnick: Good morning. It's Friday, June 28th. I'm Gideon Resnick in for Shamit Abassu. This is Apple News Today. Let's start with last night's debate between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: The first presidential debate was as much a test of each candidate's performance, specifically their mental fitness and acuity, as it was their individual policies. The last time the two met on this stage, they were four years younger. And this year, their age was very much on display. Biden is 81 years old and Trump is 78. If either are elected, that would once again make them the oldest presidents in history.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: For Biden, he was up against the task of convincing American voters he still has the stamina for the job. And he struggled. At times during the debate, Biden's voice was hoarse. He often fumbled the end of his sentences and early on seemed to lose his train of thought.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: When it came to the issues, Biden defended his administration's record on abortion and attacked Trump's role in appointing Supreme Court justices who overturned Roe v. Wade. What's he going to do, in fact, if the MAGA Republicans, he gets elected, and the MAGA Republicans control the Congress, and they pass a universal ban on abortion, period, across the board, at six weeks or seven or eight or ten weeks, something very, very conservative. Is he going to sign that bill? I'll veto it.
--:-- [Audio clip of Biden speaking]
--:-- Gideon Resnick: He'll sign it. But even on this issue of abortion, on which Biden is very prepped and prepared, he still had a hard time making coherent points. The idea that states are able to do this is a little like saying we're going to turn civil rights back to the states, let each state have a different rule.
--:-- [Audio clip of Biden speaking]
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Look, there's so many young women who have been, including a young woman who just was murdered and he went to the funeral. The idea that she was murdered by an immigrant.
--:-- [Audio clip of Trump speaking]
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Trump didn't hesitate in answers the way Biden sometimes did, though he delivered many lies and misleading statements about his opponent. This man is a criminal. This man, you're lucky. You're lucky. I did nothing wrong. We'd have a system that was rigged and disgusting. I did nothing wrong.
--:-- [Audio clip of Trump speaking]
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Trump was convicted last month of 34 criminal charges and faces criminal charges in three other cases. Trump also, at turns, offered rambling and convoluted responses. At times, in the debate hosted by CNN, Trump touted his record on the economy, an issue that voters consistently have said is important in polling.
--:-- [Audio clip of Trump speaking]
--:-- Gideon Resnick: The tax cuts spurred the greatest economy that we've ever seen just prior to COVID. And even after COVID, it was so strong that we're able to get through COVID much better than just about any other country.
--:-- [Audio clip of Trump speaking]
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Trump also seized on opportunities to criticize Biden's debate performance. The total initiative relative to what we're going to do with more border patrol and more Assad wants. President Trump? I really don't know what he said at the end of that sentence. I don't think he knows what he said either.
--:-- [Audio clip of Biden speaking]
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Late into the 90 debate the candidates were asked to address their old age. Head Biden acknowledged being older but maintained he was far more competent than his opponent. Trump pointed to his golf scores as a sign of his physical fitness, leading to one of the strangest moments of the night.
--:-- [Audio clip of Trump speaking]
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Look, I'd be happy to have a driving contest with him. The reason I got my handicap was when I was vice president, down to a six. And by the way, I told you before, I'm happy to play golf if you carry your own bag. Think you can do it? That's the biggest lie. He's a six handicap of all. I was an eight handicap. Yeah. Eight? Never.
--:-- [Audio clip of Biden speaking]
--:-- Gideon Resnick: But I have, you know how many? I've seen your swing. I know your swing. Let's not act like children. President Trump, we're going to do it. Let's not act like children.
--:-- [Audio clip of Trump speaking]
--:-- Gideon Resnick: The two continued to make personal jabs. Biden called Trump a sucker, a loser. Trump said America has never been weaker. They each called the other the worst president in American history.
--:-- [Audio clip of CNN's John King speaking]
--:-- Gideon Resnick: In the aftermath, some Democrats criticized Biden's performance, some even questioning whether he should step aside to let another candidate run in his place. CNN's John King summed up some of the early reaction.
--:-- [Audio clip of Kate Bedingfield speaking]
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Kate Bedingfield, a former Biden White House communications director, also weighed in on CNN. Look, it was a really disappointing debate performance from Joe Biden. I don't think there's any other way to slice it. His biggest issue that he had to prove to the American people was that he had the energy, the stamina, and he didn't do that.
--:-- [Audio clip of Vice President Kamala Harris speaking]
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Following the debate, Vice President Kamala Harris defended Biden's performance in an interview with ABC's Lindsay Davis. What do you say to those voters who watched tonight and weren't sure that he is mentally fit? Listen, he did not get off to a strong start in that debate, but he had a strong finish. And, you know, there was a slow start, but a strong finish. And the bottom line is this. Let us not decide the outcome of who's going to be president of the United States based on a 90-minute debate.
--:-- [Audio clip of Biden speaking]
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Let's measure that decision against the last three and a half years. And Biden told reporters afterwards that he thought he'd done well and that he was battling a cold. When asked about concerns from Democrats and calls for him to drop out, he said he wouldn't and that it is hard to debate a liar.
--:-- [Audio clip of NPR's David Folkenflik speaking]
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Meanwhile, some observers were quick to point out that typically debates don't decide elections. The New Yorker's Evan Osnos told us on yesterday's show that historically debates only move the needle for about 5% of the population. NPR's David Folkenflik pointed to President Reagan's poor performance in 1984 before he went on to trounce Walter Mondale.
--:-- [Audio clip of Gideon Resnick speaking]
--:-- Gideon Resnick: And it's early. Voters still have four months before they cast ballots. Still, the polls here show an extremely close race. So a swing of voters in any direction, even if it's just a small number, could have major consequences.
--:-- [Audio clip of Gideon Resnick speaking]
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Now, let's take a quick look at some other stories that are in the news. Today the Supreme Court ruled on a January 6th insurrection case determining that federal prosecutors improperly charged a defendant with obstruction. This decision could have broader implications for other defendants including former President Trump.
--:-- [Audio clip of Gideon Resnick speaking]
--:-- Gideon Resnick: The court also overturned a legal precedent stretching back decades in a move that weakens the power of federal regulators. In a 6-3 ruling, justices struck down the legal doctrine known as Chevron deference. It required judges to defer to agencies when the law was ambiguous. Now courts can interpret the law instead of deferring. It will now be easier to overturn a wide range of regulations.
--:-- [Audio clip of Gideon Resnick speaking]
--:-- Gideon Resnick: In a 6-3 ruling that split along ideological lines, the conservative justices upheld an Oregon law that bans unhoused residents from sleeping outdoors. The majority opinion determined that homelessness is not protected by the Eighth Amendment's prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment. According to federal data, more than 600,000 people are homeless and about half sleep outside.
--:-- [Audio clip of Gideon Resnick speaking]
--:-- Gideon Resnick: The ruling is expected to have sweeping implications for how cities and states address the growing crisis. Monday will be the final day of decisions for the court this term. The most consequential outstanding case is whether Trump is immune from prosecution for his actions while president.
--:-- [Audio clip of Gideon Resnick speaking]
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Meanwhile, Iowa's Supreme Court ruled early this morning that the state's six-week abortion ban can be enforced. Previously, abortion was available for up to 22 weeks, while the legal challenges to the state law went through court.
--:-- [Audio clip of Gideon Resnick speaking]
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Finally, two sports stories that might be of interest. A federal jury ruled that the NFL must pay nearly five billion dollars in damages in a case involving the Sunday Ticket subscription service. Plaintiffs argued that selling all the games together to a single distributor violated antitrust law. The NFL says that it is appealing.
--:-- [Audio clip of Gideon Resnick speaking]
--:-- Gideon Resnick: And in a follow-up to a story we mentioned the other day, Bronnie James was drafted by the Los Angeles Lakers. That's the same team as his father, the basketball legend LeBron James. LeBron could become a free agent and leave the team, but if the two take the court together, they would make NBA history.
--:-- [Audio clip of Gideon Resnick speaking]
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Sticking with sports, the Olympics are right around the corner, and U.S. gymnastics trials are underway. There are five spots on the women's Olympic team, and the eyes of the world are on Simone Biles. If she makes the team, as is highly expected, it will be her third trip to the Olympics.
--:-- [Audio clip of Ari Saperstein speaking]
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Ari Saperstein is the host of the Olympics podcast Blind Landing. We spoke to him about Biles' road to the Games. I don't think there's any reason to think that she's not on the other side of what stopped her from reaching her full potential in Tokyo. And no reason to think we won't see amazing things from her in Paris.
--:-- [Audio clip of Ari Saperstein speaking]
--:-- Gideon Resnick: In addition to Biles, other athletes to watch include reigning Olympic champ Suni Lee and Shailice Jones. As Saperstein told us, the talent this year is stacked. Even if you did a little gymnastics as a kid, when you see Simone Biles doing a triple-double or your chenco-double pike on vault, or you see Suni Lee doing a laid-out reverse Nabieva on bars, I mean, these are just almost superhero-like skills.
--:-- [Audio clip of Gideon Resnick speaking]
--:-- Gideon Resnick: And finally, maybe instead of watching the presidential debate last night, you were catching up on this season of Love Island. That's the cult dating reality show based on the British series with the same name. Or maybe you really despise reality TV. Either way, you probably know that these ultra-popular shows, from Survivor to The Housewives to Love is Blind, are fueled by heavy-handed editing tactics.
--:-- [Audio clip of Emily Nussbaum speaking]
--:-- Gideon Resnick: But what you might not realize is how far the manipulation sometimes goes. Nobody who works in reality television is shocked by producers lying to or manipulating or causing cast members to cry because that's literally what your job is. I'm not saying that every producer is a monster, but that's literally the definition of what they do.
--:-- [Audio clip of Emily Nussbaum speaking]
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Emily has just come out with a book all about the history of reality TV. She says this genre and the tactics it employs actually dates all the way back to the 1940s and a man named Alan Funt. The creator of a radio show called Candid Microphone. The main thing about it was on Candid Microphone, he took a microphone and taped people, but what he quickly discovered was that's not enough. Like, you actually have to intervene. And so he became the first, you know, for better or worse, the first reality producer.
--:-- [Audio clip of Emily Nussbaum speaking]
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Shows in the early 2000s like The Bachelor set a new standard for manipulation and deceptive editing. And for years, cast members have alleged workplace harassment and abuse on many of these shows. But it's only recently, for the first time in the history of the genre, that some reality TV stars have started collectively calling for the conditions to improve.
--:-- [Audio clip of Emily Nussbaum speaking]
--:-- Gideon Resnick: The attempt to create an organization that cast members can get mental health help and legal help, and the attempt to create some sort of exchange of information among cast members so they can actually start advocating for their rights. And hopefully, you know, it's a way of saying, could there be a more ethical type of reality television where there are some kind of rules involved for how much people can be mistreated or misrepresented?
--:-- [Audio clip of Gideon Resnick speaking]
--:-- Gideon Resnick: To hear more about the history of reality TV and how some cast members are now pushing for the genre to become more ethical, listen to this week's episode of Apple News in Conversation. If you're listening in the Apple News app right now, that episode is queued up to play for you next.
--:-- [Audio clip of Gideon Resnick speaking]
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Enjoy the weekend, and I'll be back with the news on Monday.
