--:-- Shamita Basu: Good morning. It's Friday, February 26th. I'm Shamita Basu. And I'm Duarte Giraldino. This is Apple News Today. Each morning, hear about some of the most fascinating stories in the news and how the world's best journalists are covering them.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: If you want to understand just how much the Republican Party has changed over the past decade, take a close look at CPAC. Every year, the conservative political action conference features the biggest stars in the GOP. These are people who might lead the party in the future.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Now, a decade ago, one of those people was Mitt Romney. I'm here to ask you today to stand with me shoulder and shoulder as we go forward to fight for America. Now, as we step forward together, now I think is a time to reaffirm what it means to be conservative and why this must be our greatest hour as conservatives.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: This weekend, what it means to be conservative at this conference is basically all about how close to Donald Trump you are. He may have lost the election, but CPAC is making it loud and clear. Trump is the party's future. This year, Trump won't only be on stage, but a lot of the programming also revolves around him.
--:-- Shamita Basu: NPR reports conference speakers will be doubling down on Trump's false claims about election fraud. One panel is called Other Culprits, Why Judges and Media Refuse to Look at the Evidence. Another panel is called The Left Pulled the Strings, Covered It Up, and Even Admits It.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: You know, Politico's analysis points to Trump's enduring power in the GOP. The reporter here writes, Trump remains the overwhelming center of gravity in the party. Now, this story also describes the party less as a monolith, and more as competing lanes along a supersized Trump highway.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Yeah, Politico came up with some pretty memorable framing here. They divide the GOP into three camps, Trump Ultra, Trump Light, and Trump Zero.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: You're talking beers, soda? Where are we going with this? I think it's a soda reference, but just stay with me here. It actually works.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Politico says no matter what, the 2024 candidates are going to be assessed based on how heavy they go on their allegiance to Trump. And that is if Trump decides to sit out the race.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: Now in the Trump ultra camp that you mentioned you have your Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley. These are the folks who have never strayed from Trump's side not even an inch.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Then there's the Trump light group, which, as Politico points out, is not really that light. These are people who've maybe put a little bit of distance between themselves and the former president, which could go a long way in hurting them, seeing as Trump cares a lot about loyalty.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: Tom Cotton and Mike Pence are examples of people who were in lockstep with Trump until it came time to certify the election results.
--:-- Shamita Basu: And then there are the Trump zeros. Think Mitt Romney, Ben Sasse. To give you a sense of how boxed out of the party they are right now, let's go back to that superhighway metaphor.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: A GOP strategist told Politico that Trump zero is not so much a lane, But, and I'm quoting here, a gravelly shoulder on the side of the mountain that's about to crumble into the ocean.
--:-- Shamita Basu: In the last 24 hours, we've seen America launch airstrikes in the Middle East and also make an important diplomatic move in the region. And these developments matter because they involve the U.S. approach to Iran and Saudi Arabia.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: These two countries are each other's enemies. Both have complicated and consequential relationships with the U.S.
--:-- Shamita Basu: First, the attack on Iran-backed militias operating in Syria. This is the first known military strike ordered by President Biden. The Pentagon says this airstrike was in response to attacks on American forces in the region.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: And that's not a departure from Trump policy. The question is what the impact will be on U.S.-Iran nuclear talks.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Trump pulled America out of the international nuclear deal with Iran. Biden has offered a return to the deal, but so far has gotten a chilly response from Tehran.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: The latest attack could make things tougher here.
--:-- Shamita Basu: The other development did not involve weapons, just a telephone. Yesterday, President Biden spoke with Saudi Arabia's King Salman.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: Now, this may sound like a simple diplomatic formality, but it's not. The fact that Biden called the king and not Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman marks a shift from Trump, who was very friendly with MBS, even as controversy is mounted.
--:-- Shamita Basu: MBS has been heavily criticized for how he consolidated power and cracked down on dissent. The U looked into whether Saudi officials including the crown prince played a role in the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: Trump refused to release a report on the killing, but the Biden administration decided to make it public. The crown prince has denied involvement in that killing, but says as Saudi Arabia's de facto leader, he takes responsibility.
--:-- Shamita Basu: The Biden administration is also reviewing arms sales. Saudi Arabia faces global criticism for its war in Yemen.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: Remember that former President Trump vetoed a bipartisan bill to end U.S. military assistance.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Reversing course on the two most powerful countries in the Middle East is no small thing. There are high stakes for American security and for American business.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: The moves we've seen this week set the stage for the next four years.
--:-- Shamita Basu: You give us the vaccine, we'll give you our nurses. That's the deal the Philippines is trying to strike. They're basically using their nurses as a bargaining chip to get doses of the COVID-19 vaccine from European countries.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: According to Vice, the Philippines hasn't officially inoculated anyone. And Germany and the UK don't have enough nurses.
--:-- Shamita Basu: But what these European countries do have is access to a lot of doses of the vaccine. So the Philippines is asking them for hundreds of thousands of shots in exchange for its health care workers who are typically highly sought after around the world.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: Vice reports nurses are not all happy with this arrangement. One advocacy group accused the Philippine government of treating nurses as export products.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Many nurses have been frustrated throughout the pandemic, saying they've been underpaid and mistreated. And there are consequences.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: Ultimately, this agreement would reduce the number of health care workers in the Asian country. And at one point during the pandemic, conditions were so bad in the Philippines that the government temporarily banned its health care workers from taking jobs abroad.
--:-- Shamita Basu: But now the country is desperate for vaccines and essentially saying, nurses can go so long as we get some vaccines in return.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: The Golden Globes are Sunday night and this year there a lot of drama on and off the screen involving race power and ethics.
--:-- Shamita Basu: The award show is under fire for who it left out. Acclaimed films and shows with Black cast were not nominated. Works like The Five Bloods, Judas and the Black Messiah, and Ma Rainey's Black Bottom didn't make the list for the top film prize.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: And it turns out, within the group that controls these awards, there's not a single Black member.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Now, granted, the Golden Globes are not as prestigious as the Oscars, but they still carry real influence with viewers and in Hollywood.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: The L.A. Times takes a close look at the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. That's the group that gives out this award.
--:-- Shamita Basu: It's not just that there are no Black members, but according to the L.A. Times, There's also this perception in Hollywood that the Golden Globes voters can effectively be bought off.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: If studios throw them lavish parties and let them schmooze with the stars, award nominations will likely follow.
--:-- Shamita Basu: There's one example of this in the L.A. Times reporting, the Netflix show Emily in Paris.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: Now, the studio behind that show flew dozens of Globes officials to France to visit the set and stay in a luxury hotel.
--:-- Shamita Basu: And one of them told the LA Times they treated us like kings and queens.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: And lo and behold, the show scored two Golden Globe nominations.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Now, a lot of critics were shocked by that, especially because Michaela Cole's acclaimed series, I May Destroy You, got no nominations.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: I was so impressed by that series. I saw it and I'd never seen a cast that was so diverse on the screen, but also internally diverse.
--:-- Shamita Basu: There were things that they did that made them jump out as real people I could relate to.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: Oh, me too. I just loved it. I'm going to be thinking about that show for years.
--:-- Shamita Basu: You know, one of the writers of Emily in Paris wrote an op-ed in The Guardian saying that she is enraged that Cole's show got snubbed.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: And there's a lot more to this, and the LA Times has a whole series of stories taking you behind the scenes of the Golden Globe's controversy.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Now, there are some pretty juicy details there.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: You can get links to the full stories on our show notes page. Just tap that little notification we sent you midway through the show.
--:-- Shamita Basu: And as always, you can find all these stories and more in the Apple News app.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: And while you're there, check out some of our audio stories. Enjoy the weekend. We'll talk to you on Monday.
