--:-- Duarte Giraldino: Good morning. It's Tuesday, January 4th. I'm Duarte Giraldino. And I'm Shemitah Basu. This is Apple News Today.
--:-- Shemitah Basu: Each morning, hear about some of the most fascinating stories in the news and how the world's best journalists are covering them.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes is guilty of fraud and conspiracy. Federal jurors convicted the former blood testing company CEO on four of 11 charges that she faced. She was acquitted on four counts related to defrauding patients. The jury was deadlocked on three counts related to investors.
--:-- Shemitah Basu: It was the end of a trial that captured the attention of Silicon Valley, Washington, and Wall Street. One of the highest profile white collar cases in years.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: Her voice, her charisma. She created this image for herself and became a star on the startup scene. But when she sat in court yesterday and heard her verdict, she was silent.
--:-- Shemitah Basu: Wall Street Journal tech reporter Heather Somerville described it for us. She appeared unrattled even after the jury had gone. She embraced her parents, her partner, and her friends who were in court. She ignored questions from the press and had nothing to say as she and her family left the courthouse swarmed by cameras.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: This is such a big fall for Holmes. Theranos was once valued at more than $9 billion, and she owned half the company. She persuaded investors to pour in hundreds of millions of dollars. Big names like Rupert Murdoch.
--:-- Shemitah Basu: Holmes' pitch helped her recruit a board of heavy hitters, like former secretaries of state Henry Kissinger and George Shultz. People were drawn to her backstory. She dreamed up the idea for the business as a 19-year-old Stanford student.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: But the conversation started to shift after The Wall Street Journal published a series of articles questioning the company's blood testing technology. Theranos pushed back hard against the journal. Holmes defended the company on CNBC in 2015.
--:-- Shemitah Basu: This is what happens when you work to change things. And first they think you're crazy, then they fight you. and then all of a sudden you change the world And I have to say I personally was shocked to see that the journal would publish something like this
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: But investigators regulators prosecutors they kept digging Eventually, Holmes was charged and the company fell apart. Her lawyers took a risk by putting her on the stand. And she made one final pitch for her innocence.
--:-- Shemitah Basu: But jurors, they didn't buy it. The Theranos story isn't over. Holmes' former deputy and boyfriend, Sonny Balwani, is set to go on trial next month. He is pleaded not guilty to fraud and conspiracy charges.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: Holmes could face up to 20 years in prison for each count. But former prosecutors say a stiff sentence like that? It's rare in white-collar fraud cases. She's all but certain to appeal, a process that could take years.
--:-- Shemitah Basu: Most of us experienced the January 6th insurrection through images on TV or social media. But for the Capitol Police, who fought the attackers, the experience was real, it was violent, and it was disturbing.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: Sergeant Aquilino Gonel testified in Congress. My fellow officers and I would punch, kick, shove, spread with chemical irritants, and even blinded with eye-damaging lasers. by a violent mob who apparently saw us, law enforcement officers, dedicated to ironically protecting them as U.S. citizens as an impediment to their attempted insurrection.
--:-- Shemitah Basu: The trauma of that day changed the Capitol Police. And that matters a lot because, in many ways, the insurrection taught us that these men and women are democracy's first line of defense. They protect a critical part of our government so it can do the work that our taxes pay for.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: The Washington Post took a close look at how the police force is trying to rebuild and get ready for what may come next. Two Capitol Police officers died after the attack, and many more were injured. Mass retirements and resignations followed, and morale sunk.
--:-- Shemitah Basu: There are 130 fewer officers now than there were in 2020. And it a vicious cycle Fewer officers means harder work for everyone who still there And that makes it hard to hire and retain cops Yeah the number of cops is down but the danger keeps rising
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: The police chief says last year, threats against members of Congress or the Capitol were more than double 2017 numbers.
--:-- Shemitah Basu: Washington Post criminal justice reporter Tom Jackman explains how since the attack, the Capitol Police Force invested in upgrading intelligence gathering. They are doing a better job of sharing information with the FBI, the Secret Service, the other folks who might pick up this kind of intelligence about attacks on the Capitol or threats to members of Congress.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: And so they have greatly improved their forward-looking intelligence gathering in terms of being ready for another assault on the Capitol.
--:-- Shemitah Basu: End of life planning can be awkward and it can be morbid, but it's important to do so you don't leave your loved ones with problems to figure out once you're gone. That means getting a will in place, your finances in order.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: But there's another area that needs sorting now that so much of our lives are playing out in the digital space.
--:-- Shemitah Basu: Yeah, it's a weird thing to say, but I've been deeply interested in what happens to our digital stuff after we die. That's Wall Street Journal tech columnist Joanna Stern. She spent a whole lot of time thinking about what happens to photos, messages and emails when you pass away.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: In the past, when someone would die, we would go through their stuff in their homes. And now a lot of the most important stuff we own and we interact with is on our computers, on our phones, all around us in these digital devices.
--:-- Shemitah Basu: Google and Facebook have long had these settings that allow people to designate a trusted person to access their accounts if they die. Now Apple has a setting called legacy contact.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: Stern explains that means you're choosing one person who would get access to parts of your iCloud account after you die. Who's going to be that person that you want to have access to your entire digital history, right? If you keep everything with Apple that really what you asking yourself here
--:-- Shemitah Basu: And I asked many estate planning and estate attorneys over the last number of years about this And they always say you should pick someone who you trust with your data
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: For Stern, that person is her spouse. Her journal article has more on how to plan for this and the steps to take to name a legacy contact. You can see the full article on the Apple News app. Just tap that notification we send you midway through the show.
--:-- Shemitah Basu: Millions of Americans are waking up to snow this morning. Now, if you're an adult, that probably means the stress of shoveling or sliding around on slushy streets. But remember what it was like to be a kid seeing snow? You could play in it. You could make a snowball. And of course, the most natural instinct, you could eat it. Right? Didn't you eat snow as a kid?
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: Not so much. I was a city kid and I grew up in the shadow of skyscrapers, buses, taxis, highways, and to be frank, funky looking snow. So not me nor my kids will be gobbling up snow.
--:-- Shemitah Basu: Okay, fair. It sounds gross in a city, but I grew up in the suburbs. So we used to go outside and put some fresh snow in a bowl and drizzle some sour cherry jam on it. It's like a snow cone. I get it.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: Depending on where you are, eating snow is a thing. You know, it's like a page from my wine folks. It's like a terroir.
--:-- Shemitah Basu: Now NPR, they got in touch with a bunch of scientists to answer the question, is it safe to eat snow? Yeah, and the short answer is probably, but it does depend on a few factors. One is where you are in the country. Two, how recently the snow has fallen. And three, the other weather conditions.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: So early snowfall is filled with more pollution. The later snow, that's the stuff that's cleaner. Also, snow in your backyard is likely a little dirtier than snow on a mountaintop. If it's windy, that could also impact the snow. A little dirt and soil might blow up in there.
--:-- Shemitah Basu: But calm down. Almost all the scientists said they're okay with eating the snow. Just use your judgment.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: You can find all these 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. We'll talk with you again tomorrow.
