--:-- Yasmin Khan: Good morning. It's Wednesday, June 12th. I'm Yasmin Khan in for Shamita Basu. This is Apple News Today.
--:-- Yasmin Khan: On today's show, voters in one state slap an age limit on members of Congress. What comes next after the Hunter Biden guilty verdict? And a milestone for survivors of the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary. We'll start with Gaza.
--:-- Yasmin Khan: The U.S. is evaluating Hamas' response to the ceasefire proposal, backed by President Biden and the U.N. Security Council. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that some of Hamas' proposed changes are workable, and some are not.
--:-- Yasmin Khan: Earlier on his trip to the region, he said a deal between Israel and Hamas could save lives. We have the prospect of an immediate ceasefire, building toward an enduring one, and tremendous relief for people in Gaza.
--:-- Yasmin Khan: Blinken also announced more than $400 million in new humanitarian aid for Gaza and encouraged other countries to increase donations.
--:-- Yasmin Khan: In Malawi, investigators are looking into the plane crash that killed Vice President Saulos Chalima and nine other passengers. The country's president said that air traffic control had advised the plane against landing because of poor visibility.
--:-- Yasmin Khan: They lost contact soon after that. In the U.S., new FBI stats show what the Justice Department calls a historic drop in violent crime.
--:-- Yasmin Khan: Data from the first quarter of this year shows a notable decline in the murder rate, more than 26%. Property crimes are also down. It's not yet clear what's driving the downward shift.
--:-- Yasmin Khan: Despite the hard numbers, opinion polling shows that many Americans believe that crime is worse than it actually is.
--:-- Yasmin Khan: And several states held primaries yesterday. North Dakota voters overwhelmingly passed an unusual measure setting an age limit for members of Congress.
--:-- Yasmin Khan: Ahead of the vote, PBS talked to campaign leader Jared Hendricks about the case for a cap.
--:-- Jared Hendricks: We do think that there is a lot of wisdom that comes with age. But of course, there's a limit to where we all face a decline of some kind at some point.
--:-- Yasmin Khan: And so we wanted to try to find the right balance. We thought 80 was the balance.
--:-- Yasmin Khan: Yesterday primary results also set up some key matchups that could determine control of Congress next year. You can read about these and get more election coverage in the Apple News app.
--:-- Yasmin Khan: Now to the president's son Hunter Biden yesterday, a federal jury in Delaware found him guilty of three felony counts related to lying about his drug use while applying to buy a gun.
--:-- Matt Viser: It's hard to overstate the significance of this. That's Matt Viser, White House correspondent for the Washington Post.
--:-- Matt Viser: He covered the trial and says politically, this moment is unprecedented. Presidential family members have had legal issues over the years, but no president's child has ever been convicted of a crime during his term.
--:-- Matt Viser: Plus, President Biden is in the middle of a re-election campaign. And Weiser points out the trial very publicly resurfaced a lot of painful history for the Biden family.
--:-- Matt Viser: Hunter was in his worst parts of his battles with addiction, where he was in a romantic affair with his brother's widow. His marriage was breaking up. He was distant from his children.
--:-- Matt Viser: The verdict came quicker than many anticipated. First Lady Jill Biden was in court every day, but apparently wasn't able to get back inside in time to hear the decision read aloud.
--:-- Matt Viser: President Biden did not go to court throughout the trial, but changed his schedule to go to Delaware yesterday after the verdict.
--:-- Matt Viser: In a statement, he wrote, I am a president, but also a dad. He said, Jill and I love our son and will always be there for Hunter.
--:-- Matt Viser: I think they're trying to rally behind Hunter, who, you know, has talked about his struggles with addiction. And there is some worry that there could be some relapse due to the stress that this has put on him, even though he's kind of restabilized his life.
--:-- Matt Viser: President Biden has tried to distance himself from the case by emphasizing the importance of an independent federal judiciary.
--:-- Matt Viser: His attorney general, Merrick Garland, appointed a special counsel to prosecute Hunter Biden, which Garland also did for Donald Trump in the pending federal case on Trump handling of classified documents.
--:-- Matt Viser: Donald Trump has sort of made the case of selective prosecution in his own case. Here Democrats can point to President Biden Justice Department not only being independent but independent enough to prosecute the president's own son.
--:-- Matt Viser: And he has said he won't pardon his son. And so you, the American voters, should have faith in the justice system.
--:-- Matt Viser: Hunter Biden's defense team, meanwhile, has called his case selective prosecution. The gun charges he faced are rarely brought to trial as a standalone crime.
--:-- Matt Viser: His lawyer promises to pursue all legal challenges. Hunter Biden had the gun for 11 days. It was never fired. There was no larger crime committed because of it.
--:-- Matt Viser: So they've really argued that were there not a lot of pressure from Republicans to prosecute him, this case wouldn't have gone forward.
--:-- Matt Viser: He's expected to be sentenced around early October. And in September, he faces separate federal charges and a tax case.
--:-- Yasmin Khan: Which means the justice system, how it works and who it prosecutes, will continue to be a feature in the final stretch of the 2024 presidential campaign.
--:-- Yasmin Khan: Today is graduation day for the seniors of Newtown High School in Connecticut. The class includes students who survived the 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School.
--:-- Yasmin Khan: They were in first grade then and hid in cubbies and closets or ran to survive. Twenty of their classmates died, along with six educators.
--:-- Yasmin Khan: Henry Tarafei spoke with ABC News about how this milestone is marked by joy and celebration, like other high school graduations, but also by grief and the memories of friends they lost.
--:-- Henry Tarafei: You know, I just try and remember them every day. I have my friend's name tattooed on my shoulder, so he stays with me every day.
--:-- Henry Tarafei: His classmate, Grace Fisher, told the Associated Press how the violence dominated her childhood.
--:-- Grace Fisher: The shooting was kind of like our most core memory growing up. And I think that took away a lot of the joy that we could have experienced when we were six years old.
--:-- Grace Fisher: And I can't really remember many times before the shooting. So in that sense, it really did take over those really innocent times.
--:-- Grace Fisher: And it really forced us to grow up so fast when we didn't need to.
--:-- Ella Seaver: I have been in and out of therapy almost my whole life, especially after the shooting. And it's really just helped me cope and helped me learn about myself.
--:-- Ella Seaver: So I want to try and pay that forward and help people who have gone through gun violence or even people who haven't, who are just struggling in their daily life.
--:-- Yasmin Khan: Others plan to advocate for preventing gun violence through careers in law or politics.
--:-- Yasmin Khan: ABC asked Seaver what she wants to see from lawmakers.
--:-- Ella Seaver: Regulations on AR-style assault weapons. One of the hardest things is getting people to see eye to eye on it, which unfortunately is costing more and more lives every day.
--:-- Yasmin Khan: According to the organization Everytown for Gun Safety, there have been 107 incidents of gunfire at schools this year alone, with 29 people killed.
--:-- Yasmin Khan: The students who spoke with ABC said they're tired of the political talk.
--:-- Henry Tarafei: We don't want, I'm sorry. And, you know, this is so terrible. It happened to you like it's past that.
--:-- Henry Tarafei: You know, it's happened too many times. Your prayers honestly don't mean anything. It doesn't help me. I've had to deal with this for 10 years.
--:-- Henry Tarafei: It'll never get easier no matter how many times I talk about it. And honestly, it's just time for it to change.
--:-- Yasmin Khan: Now they're crossing the stage and getting their diplomas, becoming adults who might be able to help bring about that change.
--:-- Yasmin Khan: And they'll take those steps, carrying the memories of 20 classmates who should have been on stage with them.
--:-- Yasmin Khan: You can find all these stories and more in the Apple News app.
--:-- Yasmin Khan: And if you're already listening in the News app right now, we've got a narrated article coming up next from The New Yorker.
--:-- Yasmin Khan: The story's an unusual one about what happened after Kanye West bought an architectural treasure. The Malibu Beach House, designed by a famous architect, is now a ruin.
--:-- Yasmin Khan: If you're listening in the Podcasts app, follow Apple News Plus Narrated to find that story.
--:-- Yasmin Khan: And I'll be back with the news tomorrow.
