--:-- Shumita Basu: Good morning. It's Tuesday, April 15th. I'm Shamitza Basu. This is Apple News Today.
--:-- [Discussion continues with no clear speaker]
--:-- Shumita Basu: On today's show, Republicans look for budget cuts to meet Trump's legislative agenda, why maternal mortality rates are rising in the U.S., and the WNBA gets its latest star in last night's draft. But first, President Trump and Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele say they will not return a Maryland man who was wrongfully deported to a notorious mega prison in El Salvador.
--:-- [Audio clip of President Nayib Bukele speaking]
--:-- President Nayib Bukele: How can I return him to the United States? Like, I smuggle him into the United States? Or what do I do? Of course, I'm not going to do it. The question is preposterous.
--:-- Shumita Basu: Bukele met with Trump in the Oval Office on Monday and addressed the situation directly with reporters. The White House has called his deportation an administrative error, but at least one Trump advisor, Stephen Miller, contradicted that, saying, quote, this was the right person sent to the right place.
--:-- [Audio clip of Stephen Miller speaking]
--:-- Stephen Miller: This was the right person sent to the right place.
--:-- Shumita Basu: In court filings, the Trump administration has claimed there's nothing they can do to bring Abrego Garcia home because he's no longer in U.S. custody. And more recently, it has said the language of the Supreme Court's order only means U.S. officials have to allow him back into the country if El Salvador chooses to release him.
--:-- [Audio clip of Attorney General Pam Bondi speaking]
--:-- Attorney General Pam Bondi: That's up to El Salvador if they want to return him. That's not up to us. The Supreme Court ruled, President, that if, as El Salvador wants to return him, this is international matters, foreign affairs, if they wanted to return him, we would facilitate it, meaning provide a plane.
--:-- Shumita Basu: Meanwhile, Abrego Garcia's wife, Jennifer, says their family hasn't heard from him in a month. The last time I spoke to him was March 15th, when they were about to abort a plane. And since then, I haven't heard from him. He told me to take care of the kids and to be strong.
--:-- [Audio clip of Lawrence Tribe speaking]
--:-- Lawrence Tribe: They've taken the position that even if it's clearly illegal and the government admits it, they say, too bad, too late, oops, the person is gone and we cannot get him back. And all nine justices reject the idea that suddenly the greatest nation on earth is powerless and its courts are powerless just because someone is outside the country. That's not the law.
--:-- Shumita Basu: As Abrego Garcia's case continues to play out, Trump says he is considering expanding his partnership with El Salvador by also sending incarcerated U.S. citizens to El Salvador prisons. He told reporters at the Oval Office yesterday he quote loved the idea which has alarmed civil rights advocates.
--:-- [Audio clip of President Trump speaking]
--:-- President Trump: I loved the idea.
--:-- Shumita Basu: Let's turn to Congress, where at the end of last week, House Republicans passed a budget plan that sets the groundwork for President Trump's legislative agenda. On that agenda are tax cuts and additional new tax breaks, which will cost a lot of money. And analysis shows there really aren't many places to find that money other than by making big cuts to Medicaid.
--:-- [Audio clip of Joseph Walker speaking]
--:-- Joseph Walker: One potential cut that Republicans are considering are what are known as provider taxes. These are taxes that states impose on hospitals, nursing homes, any place that's providing health care.
--:-- Shumita Basu: Medicaid is jointly funded by the states and by the federal government. The federal government's contribution depends on a state's per capita income and how much money it's putting into Medicaid itself. So when states levy these taxes on hospitals, that counts toward the state's budget for Medicaid.
--:-- [Audio clip of Joseph Walker speaking]
--:-- Joseph Walker: And so what states can do is they get this big matching contribution from the federal government and then basically funnel back most or all of the money and make it so that basically many of the hospitals get back much more money in extra payments than they paid out in taxes.
--:-- Shumita Basu: This system has made provider taxes popular among governors and state legislators on both sides of the aisle. And it's why advocates have warned that eliminating or changing them would negatively impact eligible patients.
--:-- [Audio clip of Joseph Walker speaking]
--:-- Joseph Walker: But if Congress were to eliminate just those taxes, the Congressional Budget Office estimates that it could save more than $600 billion over the next decade.
--:-- Shumita Basu: What would happen is states might be forced to cut benefits in some ways or certainly reduce payments to hospitals and other health care providers that benefit from these state provider taxes and matching contributions from the federal government.
--:-- [Audio clip of Anel Oza speaking]
--:-- Anel Oza: Pregnancy-related deaths are on the rise, despite the fact that more than 80% of these types of fatalities are preventable according to the CDC. And a particularly dangerous period that long been overlooked is finally getting counted. Almost one of these deaths are taking place anywhere from six weeks to a year after childbirth.
--:-- Shumita Basu: According to a recently published study looking at CDC data from 2018 to 2022, it found a 27% increase in pregnancy-related death rates in the U.S. Anel Oza with Stat News spoke to us about the study.
--:-- [Audio clip of Anel Oza speaking]
--:-- Anel Oza: In 2018, there was about 25.3 deaths per 100,000 births. And by 2022, that was closer to 32.6, which is concerning all on its own. But I think it also stands in stark contrast to the political moments that we're in, where a lot of the work that would sort of work to undo this increase is being gutted and not funded anymore.
--:-- Shumita Basu: Before we let you go, a few other stories we're following. Convicted rapist and disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein is back on trial starting today. Jury selection begins in New York in a redo of the high-profile Me Too era case where Weinstein was initially convicted of sexual criminal assault in the first degree and rape in the third degree.
--:-- [Audio clip of a reporter speaking]
--:-- Reporter: The Guardian reports that this retrial will most likely be an abridged version of the original case but there will be one crucial difference. It includes a new charge based on an allegation from a woman who was not part of the first prosecution.
--:-- Shumita Basu: Now to reporting from the Washington Post on Tufts University doctoral student Rumaysa Ozturk. You might remember she was grabbed off the streets by her home near Boston last month and detained by masked immigration officials.
--:-- [Audio clip of a reporter speaking]
--:-- Reporter: The Trump administration revoked her student visa and targeted her for deportation over an op-ed that she co-wrote last year for the student newspaper, which criticized Tufts' response to Israel's war in Gaza.
--:-- Shumita Basu: The Department of Homeland Security has said that op-ed is proof that she engaged in activities, quote, in support of Hamas. But the Post learned of an internal government memo that refutes that narrative.
--:-- [Audio clip of a reporter speaking]
--:-- Reporter: It turns out DHS recommended the State Department to investigate Ozturk before she was detained. And days before she was arrested, the State Department determined the Trump administration had not produced any evidence showing Ozturk engaged in anti-Semitic activities or made public statements supporting Hamas.
--:-- Shumita Basu: Fresh off of her 2025 NCAA National Championship, former UConn Huskies guard Paige Beckers was selected first in last night's WNBA draft by the Dallas Wings.
--:-- [Audio clip of a reporter speaking]
--:-- Reporter: Beckers averaged just under 20 points per game in her last year at UConn before capturing that elusive national championship. The WNBA isn't the only place Beckers is taking her talents, though. She also signed a deal to play in the unrivaled three-on-three league that launched earlier this year, where she'll earn significantly more money than at the WNBA.
--:-- Shumita Basu: And just one quick reminder before we let you go. Today is tax day, so don't forget to file your 2024 taxes if you haven't already. But if you live in a state or a county where FEMA declared a disaster over the last year, you automatically get a little extra time.
--:-- Shumita 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.
