--:-- Shamita Basu: Hey there, it's Shamita. I've got a quick request for you. If Apple News Today is an essential part of your morning routine, follow the show in Apple Podcasts. And if you have another 30 seconds, leave us a rating and a review too. It helps other people find our show and it helps us know what you like about it. Thanks. Good morning. It's Wednesday, November 20th. I'm Shamita Basu. This is Apple News Today.
--:-- Shamita Basu: On today's show, Texas weighs bringing the Bible into public schools, Trump taps Dr. Oz to manage health care for millions of Americans, and how X lost more than 100,000 users the day after the election. But first, what we know about the allegations of sexual misconduct against former Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz, who's been tapped by President-elect Trump to become the next head of the Justice Department.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Yesterday, we learned that an unidentified hacker got access to documents shared among lawyers whose client said in sworn testimony that Gaetz paid her for sex when she was 17 years old. Also in the documents is testimony by a second woman corroborating that story, saying she witnessed it. Gates has denied having sex with anyone underage or paying for sex. The documents include other information, too, that's under seal with both the DOJ and the House Ethics Committee, whose members are scheduled to meet today to decide whether to release their findings ahead of a Senate confirmation hearing for Gates.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Washington Post reporter Liz Goodwin spoke to us from Capitol Hill. Republicans have been under a lot of pressure from Trump supporters and activists not to release it, given it's expected to be pretty damaging to Matt Gaetz. The committee is evenly split between Republicans and Democrats, so it would take at least one Republican voting to release it for it to get out.
--:-- Liz Goodwin: Whether that report comes out or not, let's recap what is publicly known about these allegations. In 2019, the federal government opened a public corruption investigation into a tax collector named Joel Greenberg. As part of the investigation, authorities learned that he had repeatedly paid young women, at least one who was underage, to come to parties with him and his friends where they used drugs and had sex. And Greenberg cooperated with the Justice Department in order to try to get a reduced sentence, which included, you know, saying who else was at these parties. One of those people, he said, was Matt Gaetz.
--:-- Liz Goodwin: Greenberg alleged Gaetz had sex with a girl who was 17 and that Gaetz knew she was being paid. And that's kind of how he initially got dragged into this. The Justice Department spent two years investigating Gaetz but never brought charges. The House Ethics Committee was also investigating him, looking into not just whether Gaetz had sex with an underage girl, but also other allegations like did Gaetz use illegal drugs? Did he show members of Congress on the House floor nude photos of women? And did he misuse campaign funds for personal purposes?
--:-- Liz Goodwin: Then, last week, on the same day when Trump tapped Gates to take over the DOJ, Gates resigned from the House ending the Ethics Committee investigation If Gates is confirmed as AG he be in charge of the department that investigated him for the possible sex trafficking of an underage girl Trump's been very clear he wants to make unconventional picks that are going to shake up Washington. But this one was still a big surprise just because, you know, me coming from the Hill and just knowing how Republicans feel about Matt Gates, I just immediately couldn't really believe it because it just he's a very hard person to get Republicans to rally around.
--:-- Liz Goodwin: According to The Post, Gates has been making calls to members of the Senate Judiciary Committee to shore up support, and he's saying he'll be able to clear his name during the confirmation hearings. As for how the House Ethics Committee will vote today, many Republicans, including Senator Chuck Grassley, the incoming chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, say they want to see their findings. But Republican Senator John Cornyn said it might not matter either way. Earlier this week, he said the Judiciary Committee could decide to call the women who allege this misconduct to come and testify at Gates' confirmation hearing.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Let's turn now to the war between Russia and Ukraine, which just passed its 1,000th day. This week, the Biden administration announced two major changes in its policy. The first was to allow Ukraine to use U.S.-made long-range missiles, and the second was to agree to supply Ukraine with landmines. For the first time on Tuesday, Ukraine's military used those long-range ballistic missiles to strike inside Russia. Ukrainian officials say they hit an ammunition depot. In response, Russian President Vladimir Putin changed Russia's military doctrine to lower the threshold for the use of nuclear weapons.
--:-- Shamita Basu: At the same time, President Biden's time in office is coming to a close, and the future of U.S. support for Ukraine is uncertain. which is why the Wall Street Journal reports more European officials are looking for an off-ramp to the war. Here's Lawrence Norman, deputy bureau chief for the journal based in Brussels.
--:-- Lawrence Norman: There is clearly going to be a lot less money coming from Congress for Ukraine. Can Europe replace the amount of money and in particular the amount of military equipment that was coming from the U.S.? Probably not entirely, and that is a problem. Another problem, in recent months, Russia has been gaining ground. Time is not on Ukraine's side. They're not winning this war. In recent times, they've been losing this war.
--:-- Lawrence Norman: And Norman says many European officials worry about what a negotiated peace deal might look like under a Trump administration. I think we should be frank here. A lot of European governments were absolutely dreading the prospect of Trump coming back to the White House given the kind of things he was saying about Ukraine and Russia. He's talked repeatedly about his friendship with Putin. He gave the impression that he wasn't greatly concerned about Ukraine's future. He was pretty negative about Zelensky himself.
--:-- Lawrence Norman: So they were very, very fearful that he would come back, force Ukraine to the negotiating table, and cut a deal with Putin at Ukraine's expense. Norman says that dread among European leaders has somewhat eased. They saw Trump recent meeting with Zelensky for example as a positive sign But still negotiating a peace deal will be complicated Putin says he wants Russia to keep all the Ukrainian territory it occupied Zelensky says he wants that territory back. According to recent polling in Ukraine, the majority of people agree with their president. But Putin's position appears to be gaining traction with time. About a third of Ukrainians polled, that's double the number compared to last year, said they are open to giving up territory if it means ending the war.
--:-- Shamita Basu: There's a new twist on an oldest time sticking point in our culture wars that's been bubbling up in recent months. What role should religion play in public schools? The U.S. Constitution says none. But conservative lawmakers across the country are pushing the limits of this foundational idea. Last week in Oklahoma, for example, State Superintendent Ryan Walters mandated that all schools play a video of him announcing a new Office of Religious Liberty and Patriotism. He then invited students to pray for President-elect Trump.
--:-- Shamita Basu: I pray for our leaders to make the right decisions. I pray in particular for President Donald Trump and his team. We should note that students were not required to pray. Meanwhile, in Louisiana, a judge recently struck down a state law that would have required public schools to display the Ten Commandments in every classroom. The judge called it, quote, unconstitutional on its face. And now Texas, which already allows religious chaplains to be school counselors, is on the verge of taking things a step further.
--:-- Shamita Basu: On Tuesday, a majority of the state's Board of Education signaled they would support a new elementary school curriculum that infuses stories from the Bible into language arts and reading lessons. They argue they can be used to teach concepts like the Golden Rule. But as you might expect, these proposed changes are facing heavy scrutiny from some parents, activists and lawmakers who say it risks alienating kids who aren't Christian. Here's Texas State Representative James Tallarico, a Democrat and a former public school teacher.
--:-- James Tallarico: If you're a Muslim student, a Jewish student, a Hindu student in Texas public schools, you already stick out. And now you're going to have your teacher at the front of your classroom preaching Christianity as the one true and only religion.
--:-- Jonathan Covey: Government cannot violate religious liberty by establishing a religion of secularism, by giving preference to those who believe in no religion over those who have religious beliefs.
--:-- Shamita Basu: A full vote on the new curriculum is expected on Friday. And while schools are not required to use it, the state is offering a financial incentive. About $60 per student will go to districts who choose to adopt the new standards.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Before we let you go a few other stories being featured in the Apple News app Starting in Gaza where a U special committee recently released a report that found Israel war is quote consistent with the characteristics of genocide The committee said that includes, quote, intentionally causing death, starvation and serious injury, using starvation as a method of war. Israeli officials denied that accusation and argued inconsistent UN distribution of aid is to blame for the widespread hunger in Gaza.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Pope Francis, meanwhile, who has defended Israel for much of his tenure, has also come out to say Israel should be investigated for genocide. Last November, he said the conflict had, quote, gone beyond war, saying this is terrorism. Next to U.S. politics. Yesterday, Trump nominated Dr. Mehmet Oz to oversee the Centers of Medicare and Medicaid Services, which manages health care for over 150 million Americans.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Stat reports the heart surgeon turned TV doctor has been questioned by Congress for promoting weight loss products on his show, and he's used his platform to spread misinformation, like saying apple juice contains dangerous levels of arsenic, which is not true. Trump also named former wrestling executive Linda McMahon to lead the education department. She served as the head of the Small Business Administration during Trump's first term and co-chairs his transition team.
--:-- Shamita Basu: McMahon and her husband were also recently named in a lawsuit accusing them of being aware of sexual abuse of teenage boys working at wrestling events and failing to protect them. Her lawyer has called the allegations baseless. Meanwhile, in Congress, Representative Nancy Mace, a Republican from South Carolina, is proposing rules that would ban transgender women from using the women's bathrooms on Capitol Hill.
--:-- Shamita Basu: She told reporters this proposal is a direct response to the election of Representative Sarah McBride, who will be the first openly trans member of Congress. I'm absolutely 100 percent going to stand in the way of any man who wants to be in a women's restroom, in our locker rooms, in our changing rooms. I will be there fighting you every step of the way.
--:-- Shamita Basu: In a statement, McBride called Mace's proposal a distraction. And finally, NPR reports that we're seeing a shakeup in the social media ecosystem. According to data they reviewed, the day after the election, X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, lost more than 115,000 users. That's the largest ever mass exit from the platform. At the same time, traffic on BlueSky, a competitor platform, skyrocketed, with daily usage up around 500 percent.
--:-- Shamita Basu: But the app is still extremely tiny compared to other platforms. Blue Sky has just over 20 million accounts. There are hundreds of millions of accounts on X and Threads and billions on Instagram. 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 coming up next. It comes to us from Scientific American and examines hypochondria, a disorder that makes people have anxiety about their health that's often been treated like a punchline. and the more serious ways it's being managed now.
--:-- Shamita Basu: 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.
