--:-- Shamita Basu: Good morning. It's Monday, April 21st. I'm Shamita Basu. This is Apple News Today.
--:-- [Discussion continues with Shamita Basu setting the stage for the show]
--:-- Shamita Basu: On today's show, how Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth sent war plans in a second signal chat. The Supreme Court issues a rare overnight ruling on deportations. And the world's oldest marathon, the Boston Marathon, is today. But first, Pope Francis has died. His death was announced early this morning by the Vatican. He was 88 years old.
--:-- Joshua McElwee: Francis, born Jorge Mario Bergoglio in Argentina, had been discharged from a hospital just last month, where he was diagnosed with double pneumonia. He died after the holiest weekend in the year for Catholics. Just a day earlier, Pope Francis oversaw Easter mass services and blessed thousands of worshipers in St. Peter's Square.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Francis had many firsts to his name, including being the first pope from the Americas, the first Jesuit pontiff, and the first non-European to lead the Catholic Church in close to 1,000 years. He was elected in 2013 and was seen as a fresh voice attempting to modernize the papacy.
--:-- Joshua McElwee: He said the Vatican needed to evolve from its strict orthodoxy on abortion, birth control, and homosexuality and embrace being more merciful. I had a style that was very gregarious, very outgoing, and was really known for wanting to open up the church to the modern world.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Many people might remember that his first act as the pope was to ask the people in Rome on his election in 2013 to pray for him and to bless him. He's also the pope known for opening up the church to being more welcoming to LGBTQ members, famously asking who am I to judge when asked about a priest who was gay.
--:-- Joshua McElwee: Francis was often referred to as the people's pope, but his openness to modifying the church's teachings made him a controversial figure to many. Pope Francis faced some pushback from cardinals who thought perhaps he was going too fast or perhaps had a more progressive view of the church.
--:-- Shamita Basu: A few years ago, he allowed for priests to, on a case-by-case basis, offer blessings to people in same-sex unions. Obviously, the Catholic Church has a teaching that marriage is between a man and a woman, so that was controversial for some people.
--:-- Joshua McElwee: Francis tried to emphasize that it was about blessing the individual person and not necessarily the same-sex union. Two of the issues Francis was most outspoken about were climate change and the plight of immigrants. He acknowledged that climate change was real. He said the science was real. And he expressed concern about a world that was, in his words, becoming one of filth and ruin.
--:-- Shamita Basu: He asked for the world's leaders to do more to stop climate change. He even took on President Trump. One of the last acts of his papacy, he wrote a letter to the U.S. bishops, kind of rebuking some of President Trump's rhetoric and saying that migrants are not necessarily criminals. They are people who are seeking a better life, and the church has an obligation to help them and to not get drawn into political debates, but to be helpful to people who are in need.
--:-- Joshua McElwee: In that letter, the pope specifically called out Vice President J.D. Vance, who is a Catholic, for defending Trump's deportation plans on theological grounds. Yesterday, on Easter Sunday, the two met, with Pope Francis presenting the vice president with three big chocolate Easter eggs for Vance's three kids, as well as a Vatican tie and rosaries.
--:-- Shamita Basu: The Pope was also outspoken about the war in Gaza and has called for an investigation to determine if Israel's attacks constitute genocide. And he has said he remains in near contact with a parish in the Gaza Strip.
--:-- Joshua McElwee: These positions and his general approach to the papacy earned him many admirers. For a large part of the Catholic population, I think people found Francis to be open. He also was someone who had a reputation for being humble.
--:-- Shamita Basu: He had decided not to live in the apartment that the Pope normally lives in at the Vatican, which is part of a Renaissance palace. It's called the Apostolic Palace. He had instead decided to live in a Hotel at the Vatican, keeping just a couple of rooms, living a very simple life.
--:-- Joshua McElwee: And for many people in their lives, he might be seen as a figure who, you know, they see every day or see every few days and might be thought of as a grandfather or an uncle. And watching him pass away has been a difficult process.
--:-- Shamita Basu: The College of Cardinals will soon convene a papal conclave to elect Francis's successor. Let's turn now to new reporting, which found that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth shared sensitive military information using the Signal app in a second chat.
--:-- Kevin Liptak: It appears that the information that Hegseth shared in this second Signal group is very similar to information that he shared in that first Signal group that we learned about about a month ago. That includes flight schedules for fighter jets attacking Houthi rebels.
--:-- Shamita Basu: These were the same attack plans shared over Signal with other high-level cabinet leaders and, mistakenly, journalist Jeffrey Goldberg last month. This chat, however, did not include any other cabinet officials.
--:-- Kevin Liptak: The big difference here is who was included in each of these two groups. This new group that Hegseth formed that we are learning about this evening included individuals, including his wife, his brother and his personal attorney, people for whom it's not clear why they would need this information about these pending attack plans in Yemen.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Hegseth's brother and lawyer both have jobs at the Pentagon, but it's not clear either have security clearance for this level of military information. Hegseth's wife, a former Fox News producer who's accompanied him on travels overseas, has been criticized for attending sensitive meetings with foreign leaders.
--:-- Kevin Liptak: A Defense Department spokesperson denied that Hegseth shared any classified information, and a White House press person downplayed the significance of the second group chat.
--:-- Shamita Basu: The first Signal group chat we learned about was created by National Security Advisor Mike Waltz. This second group chat, again reportedly created by Hegseth, was formed before his confirmation and continued after his confirmation.
--:-- Kevin Liptak: The New York Times reports it was created at first for routine administration and scheduling. All raising questions sort of about the competence of Pete Hegseth as he commands the Pentagon and the Department of Defense, this massive workforce and massive responsibility at a moment of global tensions.
--:-- Shamita Basu: And it sort of punctuates a period of chaos at the Pentagon that is causing concerns even among some of Hegseth's allies. The chaos he's referring to has to do with a few recent high up firings in Hegseth's office.
--:-- John Elliott: The last month at the Defense Department has been a, quote, full blown meltdown, saying leaks and dysfunction have now become a major distraction for President Trump.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Former top Pentagon spokesperson John Elliott wrote in an op-ed piece for Politico that the last month at the Defense Department has been a, quote, full blown meltdown, saying leaks and dysfunction have now become a major distraction for President Trump.
--:-- Kevin Liptak: And he criticized Hegseth for firing three officials for reportedly leaking sensitive information, a move that left the defense secretary's already dwindling leadership team short-staffed.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Those three officials recently said they don't know what exactly they were being investigated for or if there was a real leak investigation to begin with.
--:-- Sabrina Singh: Nothing about this is normal. You don't see an immediate purge of your senior leadership that you have not only elected to be around you, but appointed yourself as a secretary of defense.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Former Pentagon Deputy Press Secretary Sabrina Singh went on MSNBC saying the firing of those officials is unusual.
--:-- Kevin Liptak: What's ironic here is that the secretary of defense, the person who leads our men and women in uniform and our civilians, also put unauthorized classified information into a commercial texting app, and yet there have been no consequences for him.
--:-- Shamita Basu: He has not been held responsible. So, you know, of course, different circumstances for different people, but nothing about this is normal.
--:-- Joyce Vance: In a way, the Supreme Court is being forced to take on so many last-minute requests. This is why the Supreme Court is being forced to take on so many last-minute requests.
--:-- Shamita Basu: MSNBC legal affairs correspondent Joyce Vance explained, this is why the Supreme Court is being forced to take on so many last-minute requests.
--:-- Joyce Vance: In a way, the Supreme Court's chickens are coming home to roost here. They're having to deal with these midnight petitions because instead of a nationwide ban on these deportations, while they decide the extent of the Alien Enemies Act and whether the government can use it for these deportations they now having to do it in all 94 federal districts.
--:-- Shamita Basu: In the meantime, there may be even more rulings in different places. Ultimately, the Supreme Court will have to decide the Alien Enemies Act issue for once and for all.
--:-- Joyce Vance: But until then, we're going to see a variety of different procedural motions in different circuits, in different district courts. And it's something of a mess while people's lives and futures are at stake.
--:-- Shamita Basu: As all of this was going on, busloads of what were reported to be migrants, mostly or all from Venezuela, were seen headed toward an airport in North Texas before being abruptly turned around.
--:-- Caroline Levitt: That the administration is confident it will prevail.
--:-- Shamita Basu: In response to the Supreme Court ruling, White House Press Secretary Caroline Levitt posted on X, quote, that the administration is confident it will prevail.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Before we let you go, a few other stories we're following. Google is back in court today for the final phase of a major antitrust suit.
--:-- [Discussion continues with Shamita Basu setting up the next story]
--:-- Shamita Basu: The Justice Department has been making the case for years that Google is acting like a monopoly. And if the DOJ ultimately prevails, it could force Google to break up its businesses.
--:-- [Discussion continues with Shamita Basu and her guest discussing the antitrust suit]
--:-- Shamita Basu: Plus, Israel releases its review on the killing of 15 emergency responders in Gaza.
--:-- [Discussion continues with Shamita Basu and her guest discussing the incident]
--:-- Shamita Basu: And it's been 50 years since the first wheelchair competitor completed the Boston Marathon.
--:-- [Discussion continues with Shamita Basu and her guest discussing the Boston Marathon]
--:-- Shamita Basu: 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. The New Yorker investigates why dozens of people in recent years starved to death while detained in county jails across the United States.
--:-- 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.
