--:-- Shamita Basu: Good morning. It's Tuesday, June 6th. I'm Shamita Basu. This is Apple News Today. On today's show, a big new plot twist in Hollywood's season of labor unrest, Republican states turn against a tool that tracks voter fraud, and why pink flamingos are on the ice in the NHL's Stanley Cup Finals. But first, a look at some big new developments in the war between Russia and Ukraine.
--:-- Shamita Basu: A major dam in Russian-occupied southern Ukraine was destroyed early this morning. That sent a deluge of water into the region, forced mass evacuations, and raised new concerns about the security of a giant nuclear plant. Ukraine says Russia blew up the dam. Russia blames Ukraine. Claire Sebastian from CNN talked about the significance of the dam.
--:-- Claire Sebastian: It supplies water to the Kherson region and to Russian-occupied Crimea in the south, as well as, of course, power from the hydroelectric power plant. It is also south of the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, which relies on water from its reservoir for cooling, even though, of course, the power plant is right now in various stages of shutdown. So a really critical piece of infrastructure.
--:-- Shamita Basu: This comes at the same time as Ukraine is starting to take the fight to Russia. A counteroffensive has been expected for a long time. Yesterday, the deputy defense minister said moves are starting to take place in several directions. Now, a top Ukrainian official says the Russians destroyed the dam to make it harder for Ukraine's forces to advance.
--:-- Claire Sebastian: It's hard to know exactly what's happening on the battlefield. For obvious reasons, Ukraine isn't revealing its plans. And some of the public statements could be attempts to mislead Russian forces. But allies point to signs that Ukraine is stepping up. Yesterday, General Mark Milley, the U.S. chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, spoke to CNN about the war.
--:-- Mark Milley: I think the Ukrainians are very well prepared. As you know very well, the United States and other allied countries in Europe and really around the world have provided training and ammunition and advice, intelligence, etc. to the Ukrainians. We're supporting them. They're in a war. It's an existential threat for the very survival of Ukraine.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Ukraine said earlier this week that it has enough weapons to strike back at Russia but it will need continued support from Western allies for a fight that could take some time.
--:-- Claire Sebastian: Tensions are higher in Hollywood now that the largest union in the business has voted to authorize a strike. Members of SAG-AFTRA, which represents actors, voted 98% in favor of a strike if there isn't a new deal with studios. This comes as writers are already striking, threatening to further slow down the pipeline of new shows and movies.
--:-- Shamita Basu: The actor's new vote doesn't mean that a strike will happen, but it raises the stakes of negotiations over a new contract, which expires at the end of this month. The union's president is actor Fran Drescher. Yes, from the 90s sitcom, The Nanny.
--:-- Fran Drescher: We can leverage it as we go into the TV theatrical streaming negotiations with those who have spent the last decade making immense profits off of your labor while eroding your protection and compensation. Like the writers, actors have some of the usual issues with pay and benefits, plus some high-tech twists. The union wants protection so that studios can't use artificial intelligence to clone their voices and images without permission and payment. And now that people are watching so much content via streaming, they want to be paid better for work that runs on digital platforms.
--:-- Shamita Basu: SAG-AFTRA talks with studios start tomorrow. The Writers Guild of America has now been on strike for a month with no talk scheduled and little sign of progress. One major union has announced a tentative deal with studios, though. If ratified, the agreement with the Directors Guild of America will raise pay, give better residual payments for global streaming, and make clear that AI cannot replace the work done by directors union members.
--:-- Fran Drescher: Both the writers and actors unions say the New Deal directors struck with studios won't stop them from bargaining hard for their own interests.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Republican states claiming to prioritize voter integrity have started to turn against one of the best tools that the government has to track voter fraud. NPR spent months investigating why states are abandoning a national program called the Electronic Registration Information Center, or ERIC.
--:-- Miles Parks: It's the only system in place to track and catch people who vote in two different states in the same election, which is illegal. Up until recently, ERIC had broad bipartisan support. But that's changed since 2020, as more and more so-called election integrity groups emerged, born out of Donald Trump's lies about the 2020 election.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Our investigation found that these sorts of local election integrity groups really effectively put pressure on election officials across the country. They have done trainings on how to be poll watchers. A number of them have done door-to-door canvassing to try to find voter fraud. And then last year, we found a number of call-outs where these groups mobilized their members and said, send emails, make phone calls to your state lawmakers to get them out of Eric.
--:-- Miles Parks: He found one of Trump's allies at the center of these efforts. Cleta Mitchell, a Republican attorney, helped Trump try to overturn the 2020 election. She's been a leading campaigner against ERIC. ERIC is a very insidious organization, and we want more citizens to say to their legislators, do not continue your membership.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Eight states and counting have now left ERIC. Many cite privacy concerns about voter data being shared across state lines and say they have their own programs to stop voter fraud. Park says the effects of this for most voters might feel small perhaps more election mail being sent to the wrong address things like that.
--:-- Miles Parks: But as the presidential campaign heats up election watchers around the country worry that this weakening of Eric will make it easier for bad actors to commit voter fraud.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Finally, we're in the middle of hockey's Stanley Cup Finals. Last night, the Las Vegas Golden Knights beat the Florida Panthers 7-2, that gives them a 2-0 lead in the series. As the final horn blared, the hometown crowd did what they usually do when they're excited, they tossed plastic pink flamingos onto the ice.
--:-- Shamita Basu: The Sporting News looks at how this unusual tradition began. It goes back to 2018, the Golden Knights' first year in the NHL. After the team scored a goal, a fan tossed a plastic flamingo onto the ice. He later said he thought it would motivate the team, and maybe it did. The Golden Knights went on to a huge win.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Athletes and sports fans tend to be superstitious, and soon lots of fans were carrying plastic flamingos and tossing them onto the ice to celebrate wins. Now, why flamingos? The fan who brought the first one said it was a reference to Vegas' Flamingo Road and to the iconic Flamingo Casino on the Strip. And also just because it was kitschy and fun.
--:-- Shamita Basu: It's a Vegas twist on a longtime hockey tradition of tossing something onto the ice to celebrate. Fans of other NHL teams throw catfish and octopuses, not plastic ones, but real dead ones. And fans of the Florida the Panthers, the other team in the finals, they toss plastic rats.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Game three is on their home ice Thursday night. 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, stick around. We've got a narrated article coming up next from The New Yorker. It's a profile of controversial rocker Matty Healy, frontman of the 1975. He's gotten extra attention recently for his relationship with Taylor Swift, but things are now reportedly over between them. That story's queued up for you next, and I'll be back with the news tomorrow.
