--:-- Shamita Basu: Good morning. It's Thursday, January 19th. I'm Shamita Basu. This is Apple News Today. On today's show, inside the latest deadly COVID outbreak in China, how a new suicide hotline is helping more people, and a Nobel Peace Prize winning journalist wins a fight against a repressive government. But first, the United States is expected to hit its debt limit today. That's the limit on how much it can borrow. It's become a pretty common game of political chicken. In the past, Congress eventually decides to raise the debt ceiling before we default. This time, though, feels different, with no deal in sight and no clear pathway out of this stalemate.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Hey, Shamita. So first off, I should mention that we have bought some time here. The Treasury Department says it can pull some accounting moves that should prevent a default until around June. More on that in just a bit. But first, Gideon, tell us more about what makes this year's standoff different than past years.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Yeah, I mean, I think you're really right to point out that we have been in a situation like this before. But I'd say one of the big differences this time is that House Speaker McCarthy made a lot of concessions to hardline Republicans in order to win his speakership in the first place. Right. We all remember that it took him 15 rounds of votes to get enough support to actually get to that point. One of those concessions that McCarthy made, we're told, was he agreed that House Republicans would not lift the debt ceiling unless Congress slashes at least $130 billion in federal spending or takes some other action to actually target debt. And he is holding firm to that position so far.
--:-- Shamita Basu: The White House, meanwhile, has said the situation is too precarious to negotiate with McCarthy and those hardline Republicans. So instead, at the moment, Politico reports that the White House is sending advisors to meet with moderate Republicans to see if they can get them to join Democrats to raise the debt ceiling. But today is the kind of first deadline for a resolution here, and there really is no clear endgame at the moment. So what are some of the in the meantime proposals?
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Yeah, according to The Washington Post, one idea that was floated was passing a payment prioritization plan before the end of the first quarter. So basically, it would call on the administration to make only the most critical federal payments if the Treasury reached the limit on how much it could borrow, which would mean some bills would not get paid on time. It's likely Social Security, Medicare and military spending would get prioritized. But things like food stamps and Medicaid could take some real hits there.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: And remember that proposal from Republicans would have to pass a Democratic Senate and that really does not seem likely. The other idea that some lawmakers are reportedly considering is using a procedural tool to basically force a bill out of committee and to a floor vote, in essence, going around the speaker to get a vote on raising the debt limit. But the process is anything but quick or easy. So, you know, that's another one that seems a little bit unlikely to happen.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: And the other really much more out of the box idea that is sort of fun for people like us to think about, but pretty unlikely to happen, is just minting more money, literally minting a coin that is worth something like a trillion dollars. A fun exercise, but I think safe to say probably not.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Right. So we have heard this phrase for the past week now, extraordinary measures. That's what Secretary Yellen has said the Treasury will employ to avoid defaulting. So what are those extraordinary measures?
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Yeah, the Treasury can find ways to move money around to essentially try to lower the amount of spending that counts against the debt limit. This could include things like suspending retirement plans for postal workers or investment savings plans for other government employees. It can also shift money from various federal agencies to make sure they can pay their bills. This basically buys Congress some extra time and pushes back a possible default. And we know what could happen if we default, right? Interest rates could go up. We could see even higher inflation. The U.S. credit rating could be downgraded, which would be a huge hit on U.S. investments.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: I mean, we're talking about serious economic consequences. Yeah, I mean, the Treasury Department has been clear, you know, if there is not a deal that emerges soon, it really hurts their cash balance and that could cause market volatility. And that's even without defaulting, right? Right, exactly. In advance of a potential default. A similar situation played out in 2011, and it really took months for the economy to fully recover.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Gideon Resnick, thanks so much.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Yeah, thank you so much.
--:-- Shamita Basu: We are starting to get a clearer understanding of the latest COVID outbreak in China. It's been over a month since the government lifted its strict zero COVID policy, and officials recently revised the official death toll. Initially, they reported 37 deaths since restrictions were lifted in December. Now the government says it's closer to 60,000 deaths. Even that figure, experts believe, might be a fraction of the total.
--:-- Lily Kuo: Before China revised its numbers, there was evidence they were undercounting. The Post analyzed satellite images of funeral homes and it saw some early signs that there were more deaths than China was admitting at the time. We did see an increase in people and cars outside the funeral homes compared to last year at this time. And according to our interviews with residents and workers it was true that these places were overwhelmed with people coming in with the bodies of their relatives who had died.
--:-- Lily Kuo: Global health officials have long been skeptical of China's data. Before the recent revision, China only reported around 5,000 total deaths throughout the whole pandemic. Several models say it's probably more like a million. I think the political context for the reversal of zero COVID in China is pretty important because this policy is so closely tied with the Chinese leadership and their messaging to the Chinese people that, you know, the Chinese government puts, you know, the lives and the health of its people first.
--:-- Lily Kuo: Look how much better the Chinese system is than the West. And so I think that what's happening now really challenges that narrative. Over the past decade, there's been an alarming uptick in the number and rate of suicides in this country, especially among young people. Which is why the rollout of 988, the new emergency mental health hotline, is so important to watch. It's been live since last summer, and so far, the numbers are encouraging.
--:-- Host: The helpline, which can be reached by call, text, or chat, has been contacted more than 2 million times in six months, which is significantly higher than the old suicide hotline, the 10-digit number. Part of the change was to make it a number that's short and easy to remember. Wait times are also down dramatically, which can make a life-saving difference for people in crisis.
--:-- Host: NPR spoke with Dr. John Palmieri, who's overseeing the 988 launch. He's seeing a rise in the number of people who are reaching out using the text and chat options. And he says young people seem to prefer it over calling. Those younger people in crisis tend to be in more acute stages of distress And so making sure that they connected to the lifeline more quickly is critically important as well.
--:-- Host: The hotline also has Spanish counselors and those who are specially trained to help specific communities including LGBTQ youth and indigenous people. But there are still inconsistent response rates, with some states underperforming. And that's because even though the system is federal, it routes callers to local crisis centers. And for workers at these centers, burnout is real.
--:-- Host: One crisis center CEO told NPR that it can be hard to retain staff. It doesn't pay a million dollars. The work can be hard. There's secondary and tertiary trauma related to listening to calls, you know, or even doing chats. For now, the program is federally funded. But the long-term plan is for states to take it over, like they do with 911 emergency call services. So far, fewer than 20 states have passed legislation to permanently fund 988.
--:-- Lily Kuo: Nobel Peace Prize-winning journalist Maria Ressa is celebrating winning a tax evasion case in the Philippines. The charges were widely seen as trumped up, just meant to pressure a journalist who revealed government corruption. Outside the court, Ressa said this win goes far beyond her and her news outlet, Rappler. It is for every Filipino who has ever been unjustly accused.
--:-- Maria Ressa: The Philippine government has repeatedly tried to shut down Rappler. This victory isn't the end of Ressa's legal troubles. She's involved in three active court cases. She talked to the BBC about this week's verdict. We went to trial for more than four years to get to this point, but we are here. And, you know, it went down to these three things. Facts, truth and justice. That is who won today.
--:-- Shamita Basu: I spoke to Ressa recently on In Conversation about the lessons the rest of the world can learn from what's been happening in the Philippines and what citizens can do to stand up for democracy over authoritarianism. I've thought a lot about our conversation since we spoke, and I can't think of a better time to revisit it in light of this legal victory. If you're listening on the Apple News app right now, my conversation with Maria Ressa is queued up to play for you next. So sit back, enjoy listening to that, and I'll be back with the news tomorrow.
