--:-- Shamita Basu: Good morning. It's Friday, August 2nd. I'm Shamita Basu. This is Apple News Today.
--:-- Shamita Basu: On today's show, political polling shows young men and women are moving in opposite directions. Simone Biles has done it again. And the celebrities paying rent for one American Olympian. But first, the incredible story of the largest and most complex prisoner swap since the Cold War that finally brought three American citizens who've been detained in Russia home.
--:-- Wall Street Journal Reporter: [presumably Evan Gershkovich or a guest discussing the story] Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, former Marine Paul Whelan, and Russian-American journalist Alsu Komosheva are among the 24 detainees who were freed yesterday in a deal that involved seven planes in at least six countries.
--:-- Shamita Basu: President Biden spoke moments after their release. The deal that made this possible was a feat of diplomacy and friendship. Friendship. Multiple countries helped get this done. They joined the difficult, complex negotiations at my request. And I personally thank them all again. I've thanked them personally, and I've thanked them again.
--:-- [Audio clip of President Biden's speech]
--:-- Shamita Basu: The Wall Street Journal has the backstory on the secret negotiations to free their reporter, Evan Gershkovich, who had been wrongly convicted of spying and held in a Russian prison for 16 months. For more than a year, reporters with the journal conducted interviews with dozens of national security officials, diplomats, spies, and family members of prisoners. They've flown around the world and, because of the sensitive nature of their conversations, sometimes could only communicate with intelligence officers through handwritten notes.
--:-- Ella Millman: It was very painful at first to see his face splashed everywhere. And now I'm used to it. For the 491 days of Evan's captivity, I juggled being a grieving mother, his biggest advocate and one of the case's best investigators.
--:-- Shamita Basu: She called up the families of other Americans held in Russia to learn what had and hadn't worked in their cases. She met multiple times with American diplomats at all levels, including meetings with President Biden. She defied the advice of American officials when she and Evan's dad flew to Moscow to attend her son's trial last June.
--:-- [Audio clip of Ella Millman's video for The Wall Street Journal]
--:-- Ella Millman: I was just beside myself, so happy. We were deeply in our conversation. We were smiling and laughing. And the garden brought me back to reality that I in a courtroom My son is in this aquarium in this cage And I had to realize where I was because I lost myself in that conversation. I was so happy to see him.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Ella ended up appealing to the German chancellor for help, which eventually set a plan into motion. Which brings me to the second person, Vadim Krasikov, a professional Russian hitman serving time in a German prison.
--:-- Emma Tucker: The editor-in-chief of The Wall Street Journal. The days and weeks that followed were difficult because it became clear that we were not exactly back to the drawing board, but kind of almost.
--:-- Shamita Basu: A few weeks later, Biden signaled to his counterparts in Germany that the time was right to keep pushing forward. For the past two months, U.S. intelligence officials met with Russian counterparts while German negotiators held their own meetings. A deal seemed close, but fragile.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Then, yesterday morning at 10.30 a.m., Biden called Evan's mom to the White House. Evan's release was underway.
--:-- [Audio clip of the Wall Street Journal newsroom]
--:-- Shamita Basu: And in a testament to Evan's commitment to journalism, the journal says one of the last requests Evan made before he left Russia was to ask if Putin, the man who stole more than a year from his life, would be willing in the future to sit down for an interview.
--:-- Amy Walter: Editor-in-chief of The Cook Political Report. Not so long ago, it used to be the case that young voters of all genders tended to reliably vote Democrat. But, as the Wall Street Journal writes, the forces of American culture and politics are pushing men and women under the age of 30 into opposing camps, with young women favoring presumptive Democratic nominee Kamala Harris and young men favoring Donald Trump and his brand of conservatism.
--:-- Amy Walter: It started with Hulk Hogan, then we transitioned to Kid Rock, and the message really was, we are the manly, macho party. And that strategy seemed to be working when Biden was the candidate.
--:-- Amy Walter: In fact, before Biden dropped out of the race, some polls suggested Trump was winning support from a majority of men under the age of 30, potentially giving Republicans the young male vote for the first time in two decades.
--:-- Amy Walter: A Pew Research survey conducted in April found that a third of men who supported Trump felt that the gains women have made had come at their expense.
--:-- Amy Walter: Meanwhile, I say for Democrats, the polls were telling a different and pretty concerning story. You know, what had been the most striking to me in polling up until the moment that Biden dropped out was how weak he was with women voters, especially for a president who was leaning in so hard on abortion rights.
--:-- Amy Walter: But now with Harris as the presumptive nominee, that could be changing. You know, having a younger woman talk about abortion is going to go over better with voters than an older white guy. Right. I mean, the messenger matters as much as the message.
--:-- Amy Walter: The Trump campaign is watching and recalibrating. In the past few days, we've seen Trump imply Harris is a weak leader, at times using sexist and racist language.
--:-- Amy Walter: For example, Trump recently said foreign enemies would regard Harris as a, quote, play toy if she were elected. He's also suggested she has a low IQ and has called her, quote, dumb as a rock. And he's falsely claimed that she's been dishonest about her racial identity.
--:-- Amy Walter: But so far, Harris hasn't taken the bait. I think one of the lessons that Democrats took away from 2016 was that Hillary Clinton made the campaign so much about her, right? Remember, that was one of the taglines, I'm with her.
--:-- Amy Walter: You know, this idea of a first, record-breaking, shattering glass ceilings. It's not that people didn't care about those things. It's that voters are pretty specific. They're like, that's nice, but what are you going to do for me?
--:-- Amy Walter: Walter says the Harris campaign and the super PAC supporting her are leaning into that message, making it a campaign focused on the issues, not identity politics.
--:-- Amy Walter: You don't need to remind people that this would be historic to have a woman, especially a woman of color, elected president. Instead, they have to really tell people why their lives would be better if she were president than if Trump were president.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Before we let you go, a quick roundup of events from the Paris Olympics, and where things stand for three of America's best athletes.
--:-- Shamita Basu: That's the explosive reaction to Simone Biles' first tumbling pass, which helped secure her second gold of these games and ninth Olympic medal overall. Along with a gold medal around her neck, Biles also sported a necklace of an actual goat, appropriately enough.
--:-- Shamita Basu: She is now the first American gymnast to win gold in the all-around final more than once. Meanwhile, Suni Lee took bronze, and they along with Jade Carey will compete this weekend for Team USA in some of the individual event finals.
--:-- Shamita Basu: In swimming, Katie Ledecky placed second in the U.S. women's 4x200 meter freestyle relay Thursday night, giving her her 13th Olympic medal, making her the most decorated American woman in Olympic history.
--:-- Shamita Basu: And one thing to look out for today, Sha'Carri Richardson, the fastest woman in the world, will make her Olympic debut. If she qualifies in the 100-meter prelims today, she'll compete Saturday for gold.
--:-- Shamita Basu: She told NBC she's going to focus on putting her full self into it. When everyone walks away from the past Olympics, including Sha'Carri Richardson, I will be said and the world will be saying that Sha'Carri Richardson put her best self and her fearless self in front of the world.
--:-- Shamita Basu: And finally, in a moment that shows what the Olympics is all about, two celebrities are stepping up to help an Olympian in need. American discus thrower Veronica Frehley posted on social media earlier this week that despite being an elite athlete on the world stage, she isn't able to afford rent.
--:-- Alexis Ohanian: Reddit founder Alexis Ohanian and rapper Flavor Flav saw that post and decided to help.
--:-- Flavor Flav: Everybody wants to feel like they got their back covered, like somebody has their back. You know what I'm saying? And when they feel that, it makes them feel more powerful. It makes them feel more better. You know what I'm saying? It gives them a lot more energy to go out and get that fourth gold medal.
--:-- Flavor Flav: Because these girls got three gold medals right now. I want to see them get a fourth one. And I want to help them out. If they can get their fourth gold, I vowed to give each of them a clock.
--:-- Shamita Basu: You can find all these stories and more in the Apple News app. And check out our weekly interview show, In Conversation. This week, we talk with food writer Mark Bittman about what's wrong with America's food system and ways to make it better.
--:-- Mark Bittman: We think, oh, you go to a farm, a tomato's $10, da-da-da-da-da, whatever. Some of that is true. But the more of those kinds of farms that exist, the less true that's going to be, the less precious that food is going to feel and seem.
--:-- Mark Bittman: I don't want to hear about the $10 tomato problem until the tomato farmer gets the same kind of subsidies that the soybean and corn farmer gets.
--:-- Shamita Basu: If you're listening in the Apple News app right now, that episode is queued up to play for you next. And if you're listening in podcasts, search for Apple News in conversation to find that episode.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Enjoy the weekend, and I'll be back with the news on Monday.
