--:-- Shamita Basu: Good morning. It's Friday, March 14th. I'm Shamita Basu. This is Apple News Today.
--:-- Shamita Basu: On today's show, politicians on the left are testing out different resistance messages against Trump. Senator Chuck Schumer gets on board with Republicans' funding bill. And a giant of the fashion industry steps away.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Let's start with a pulse check on Democratic Party leadership and opposition to President Trump, seven weeks into the new administration.
--:-- Shamita Basu: In the flurry of early actions by Trump, Democratic voices were largely sidelined by a barrage of daily headlines. But in the past few weeks and days, we've seen a number of Democrats, and at least one independent, step forward and position themselves as messengers for voters who are feeling disillusioned with Trump.
--:-- Shamita Basu: For more on what the opposition looks like and how it's taking shape, I called up Dave Weigel, national political reporter at Semaphore.
--:-- Shamita Basu: And I asked him if it feels like the Democratic response to Trump is only starting to gel in the past few days.
--:-- Dave Weigel: It does. Yes, Democrats came together a bit more over the last week, but their fate was not entirely in their hands. They've had a message really since they lost the election. I'd say right before they were a little more muddled on the role of Elon Musk and the idea that Trump is going to hand the country over to billionaires and cut things you love to give tax cuts to the rich.
--:-- Dave Weigel: They actually have been saying that for months and months and months. But did it click until recently? I don't really think it did.
--:-- Dave Weigel: And we've seen polling this week from CNN that shows while Trump's more popular on immigration policy than ever, this is the lowest approval he's had on the economy. And that's good for Democrats.
--:-- Shamita Basu: So it sounds like you're saying message is consistent. Circumstances have changed, which has made the message more effective.
--:-- Dave Weigel: Yes, but it's by people who sometimes disagree with each other. I don't think, for example, James Carville and Bernie Sanders think they agree with each other that much.
--:-- Shamita Basu: But the Carville case, which he made in The New York Times, is that Democrats should play dead, should not try to work with Trump or take credit for anything over the next couple of years.
--:-- Dave Weigel: Yeah. The Sanders view articulated his rallies is that there is a looting going on by the billionaire class, by the oligarchy. Democrats should oppose that and then people should come out and vote against it in 2026.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Well, so let's actually stay with Bernie Sanders for a moment and talk a little bit about him.
--:-- Shamita Basu: I mean, he's been holding these major rallies, pulling significant crowds. Most of his appearances have been in swing districts represented by Republicans.
--:-- Dave Weigel: What is his message to voters and how is it resonating?
--:-- Dave Weigel: It's the speech he's been giving for decades, which is that the billionaires and the oligarchs are manipulating everybody to get their taxes cut, to get government contracts, to benefit at the expense of everybody else.
--:-- Dave Weigel: So we are here to say loudly and clearly that in our great nation, we will not accept oligarchy.
--:-- Dave Weigel: What Democrats expect, Sanders certainly, is these doge cuts are inefficient. They're going to lead to some pain that affects people.
--:-- Dave Weigel: And they need, as Democrats or as independents who work with Democrats, to say, if you're angry at the call time for Social Security, that's Trump.
--:-- Dave Weigel: If you're angry about not getting health care that Trump. If you're angry about prices that Trump. They pinning everything to him on economics which they all pretty happy doing
--:-- Shamita Basu: It just they sound unhappy because they're not winning right now. They think it might take them a long time to win.
--:-- Dave Weigel: Yeah, yeah. Well, I mean, tell me, though, is Sanders' message resonating with people?
--:-- Dave Weigel: Obviously, he's drawing huge crowds, but what does it all mean? What's the effect that he's having?
--:-- Dave Weigel: It definitely has inspired Democrats. There was a little bit of embarrassment, I would say from Democratic politicians because they lost the election.
--:-- Dave Weigel: Their base was very demotivated. But the the Sanders message is let's ignore all that. This is about economics.
--:-- Dave Weigel: And if you get to a situation where people associate Doge with things being broken and not working, boom, that's the election.
--:-- Dave Weigel: Then you can say, hey, we're the Democratic Party. We're the party that want to fix this stuff.
--:-- Dave Weigel: It's hard right now because there is a lot of work to do to rehabilitate what they stand for.
--:-- Dave Weigel: And they believe, I'd say led by Sanders fairly, that starts with saying this idea that the billionaires are going to come in and cut waste and you're all going to benefit is crazy.
--:-- Dave Weigel: Come back to us and we'll give you something better when you get tired of that.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Let's turn now and talk about Gavin Newsom and what he's been up to.
--:-- Shamita Basu: I mean, he just launched a new podcast. So far, he's had on some pretty hard right-leaning guests, people like Steve Bannon, former Trump advisor.
--:-- Shamita Basu: He's had on Charlie Kirk. He himself, Newsom, drew some backlash for some of his comments about transgender athletes on his podcast.
--:-- Dave Weigel: What is Newsom's strategy right now? He's really only had conservative guests on this podcast.
--:-- Dave Weigel: And my understanding just from covering Newsom and talking to him during the campaign last time is he, yes, he's the governor of California.
--:-- Dave Weigel: He is the most famous liberal, I'd say, avatar of liberalism in America.
--:-- Dave Weigel: And he also signed off on a lot of progressive ideas over his career in San Francisco as mayor and as governor.
--:-- Dave Weigel: And he watched those become less popular. So he mentioned to Charlie Kirk that he has four kids and one of his sons is into Charlie Kirk.
--:-- Dave Weigel: Last night, trying to put my son to bed. He's like, no, dad, I just what time what time is Charlie going to be here? What time?
--:-- Dave Weigel: And I'm like, dude, you're in school tomorrow. He's 13. He's like, no, no, this morning wakes up at six up.
--:-- Dave Weigel: Then he's like, I'm coming. I'm like, he literally would not leave the house.
--:-- Dave Weigel: That really has sat within Newsom. He's talked about this before.
--:-- Dave Weigel: How come I can't even convince my family that what I'm doing is correct? And how come culturally my ideas are not winning the next generation?
--:-- Dave Weigel: And so the long-term goal, you could argue, oh, this is about how he's positioning himself for president.
--:-- Dave Weigel: But that's part of it is he really is trying to figure out, I think sincerely, why it is the conservatives don't take people like him seriously or liberals seriously or I'd say pluralists, just people who think immigration is good and diversity is good and LGBT rights are good.
--:-- Dave Weigel: How can we reach them? And one thing he's clearly doing with these interviews is saying, hey, I'm in your space now and this is what I really think.
--:-- Dave Weigel: I'm willing to concede some mistakes I made, but here's why I believe what I believe. Let's talk it out.
--:-- Shamita Basu: So he is experimenting.
--:-- Dave Weigel: Interesting.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Maybe we should talk about what might be seen as the sort of Democratic Party establishment choice to elevate in this moment.
--:-- Shamita Basu: We saw Senator Alyssa Slotkin was tapped to give the party's official response after Trump's joint speech to Congress.
--:-- Dave Weigel: How does she fit into all of this or just maybe where more broadly is the party establishment in this moment?
--:-- Dave Weigel: Well they do agree with Sanders that the people have left the Democratic coalition over the sense that they are not working for them
--:-- Dave Weigel: And they are not quite sure what to do about the tension.
--:-- Dave Weigel: The chair about Slocken was anger that she said, you know, that she praised basically Ronald Reagan.
--:-- Dave Weigel: President Trump loves to say peace through strength. That's actually a line he stole from Ronald Reagan.
--:-- Dave Weigel: But let me tell you, After the spectacle that just took place in the Oval Office last week, Reagan must be rolling in his grave.
--:-- Dave Weigel: We all want an end to the war in Ukraine. But Reagan understood that true strength required America to combine our military and economic might with moral clarity.
--:-- Dave Weigel: And you saw people on the left saying, if you're saying Reagan was good in any way, you don't understand what's going on.
--:-- Dave Weigel: But she is trying to just turn the clock back. as badly as Democrats were doing under Ronald Reagan, they still were doing much better with working class voters.
--:-- Dave Weigel: They still were the party of labor unions, the party of trade protectionism, the party of good wages for hard work.
--:-- Dave Weigel: And they lost that. And so how do you how do you restore that without selling out all the other people in your coalition?
--:-- Dave Weigel: That's what she's trying to do. But it is in a different tone.
--:-- Dave Weigel: And just the way Democrats have been talking in the last, I'd say year, you could see Democrats moving away from not just identity politics, but the idea that it was good if America's identity was changing.
--:-- Dave Weigel: It was a little bit less white working class. And Slotkin's speech was one of a couple of examples, I think, of suddenly not doing that.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Are there any other Democrats you're watching right now who seem to also be emerging as people who can rally the opposition with a particularly strong message?
--:-- Shamita Basu: I'm thinking of people like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Tim Walls has been speaking out. Pete Buttigieg.
--:-- Dave Weigel: Who has had something effective to share right now?
--:-- Dave Weigel: Well, everyone, you mentioned the Democratic governors who we all expect to be running soon, like J.B. Pritzker, Wes Moore, Gretchen Whitmer.
--:-- Dave Weigel: They've made a couple of big stands against what Trump is doing. But I think it's interesting what they're not emphasizing quite as much.
--:-- Dave Weigel: They are letting the attorneys general lead on suing the administration over federal job cuts, firings.
--:-- Dave Weigel: The administration is trying to shut down congressionally created agencies. They're kind of letting them do that.
--:-- Dave Weigel: They're letting the congressional party do that. The governors are focused more on this economic message that I was talking about.
--:-- Dave Weigel: There are some Democrats who say you need to comprehensively challenge the way this administration is using its power to deport people, to arrest people, to silence people.
--:-- Dave Weigel: And there are some Democrats saying that's great. That's not how we win. We're going to focus on economics instead.
--:-- Shamita Basu: The left of the party is getting more invested in these issues. And the other side of the party, if I can not characterize all their thinking, but because Trump won and because Trump won more nonwhite voters and because Trump's polling on immigration is so good.
--:-- Dave Weigel: I think this is an interesting tension in the party, and that is a tension to watch as people start running for higher office.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Let's say AOC jumped into the presidential race and Pete Buttigieg jumped into the presidential race.
--:-- Dave Weigel: Well, one of them has been talking about immigration and whether this is a new red scare, and one of them has been saying we need to focus on jobs.
--:-- Dave Weigel: That is a fight in the party. You can see which one thinks you need a comprehensive, destroy the Trump ideology, even at its strongest.
--:-- Dave Weigel: And one of them saying beat Trump but attack at the weak points Don attack where he strong because we done that before and we lose
--:-- Shamita Basu: Before we let you go, a few other stories we're following.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer says he believes enough Democrats will back a budget resolution passed by House Republicans earlier this week, potentially averting a government shutdown.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Schumer had initially said Democrats would block the bill in a show of resistance against Trump, but changed his mind, saying he thinks the bill is a terrible option, but believes a government shutdown would give President Trump more power, which would be a, quote, far worse option.
--:-- Shamita Basu: A critical procedural vote is scheduled to take place this afternoon.
--:-- Shamita Basu: An American Airlines plane caught fire while on the tarmac at Denver's airport yesterday, prompting passengers to evacuate on the plane's wing.
--:-- Shamita Basu: The flight was diverted shortly after taking off from Colorado Springs on its way to Dallas after experiencing what American Airlines called an engine-related issue.
--:-- Shamita Basu: It landed safely but caught fire while taxiing to the gate.
--:-- Shamita Basu: ABC News reports there were only a few minor injuries the FAA is investigating.
--:-- Shamita Basu: President Trump's efforts to end birthright citizenship has reached the Supreme Court.
--:-- Shamita Basu: On Thursday, the administration filed a series of emergency appeals asking the high court to limit lower court rulings that have blocked his efforts.
--:-- Shamita Basu: If the justices decline to take up the case or reject Trump's efforts, the court could still take up the central question of whether birthright citizenship is guaranteed in the Constitution once lawsuits make their way through the appeals process.
--:-- Shamita Basu: A landmark case in 1898 affirmed birthright citizenship, and CNN notes the modern court hasn't signaled a desire to revisit the issue.
--:-- Shamita Basu: And finally, it's the end of an era for one of fashion's most storied houses.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Donatella Versace is stepping down as creative director of the brand after 28 years.
--:-- Shamita Basu: She took over after her brother Gianni, who founded Versace, was murdered in 1997.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Versace posted on social media, quote, It's been the greatest honor of my life to carry on my brother Gianni's legacy.
--:-- Shamita Basu: It's the first time a Versace will not be in charge of the label's designs in nearly 50 years.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Dario Vitale, a former executive at MiuMiu, will replace her.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Bloomberg reports it's a crucial time for Versace, as it's being eyed for sale to rival brand Prada for $1.6 billion, a deal that could close this month.
--:-- Shamita Basu: You can find all these stories and more in the Apple News app.
--:-- Shamita Basu: And check out our interview show, In Conversation.
--:-- Shamita Basu: This week, we look at the U.S. military's recruitment crisis.
--:-- Shamita Basu: New Yorker staff writer and Pulitzer Prize winner Dexter Filkins tells me why fewer people are joining the armed forces today and what it could mean for military preparedness in the future.
--:-- Shamita Basu: When, for instance, you hear that the Navy is deploying ships that don't have enough sailors on them or, you know, the Army came up 15,000 recruits short of its quota in 2023.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Those things are concerning because what if, terrible prospect, but what if we had to go to war?
--:-- Shamita Basu: What if we were attacked? Could we defend the country?
--:-- Shamita Basu: If you're listening in the Apple News app right now, that episode is queued up to play for you next.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Enjoy the weekend, and we'll be back with the news on Monday.
