--:-- Yasemin Khan: Good morning. It's Friday, February 2nd. I'm Yasemin Khan, in for Shamita Basu. This is Apple News Today.
--:-- Yasemin Khan: Coming up, President Biden tries to win back his core voters in South Carolina, an unusual deadline for one NBA veteran, and safety concerns one year after the toxic train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio. But first, let's take a quick look at some stories in the news.
--:-- Yasemin Khan: President Biden is ordering sanctions for Israeli settlers in the West Bank who've been attacking Palestinians. To start, four people are getting financial sanctions and visa bans. The administration may sanction others. Biden says that violence against West Bank Palestinians has reached, quote, intolerable levels. He also said it threatens the security of the entire Middle East.
--:-- Yasemin Khan: Today, Biden will meet with families of three American soldiers killed in Jordan. They're gathering at a military base in Delaware, where the remains of service members killed abroad are brought home. One of those killed was Kennedy Sanders, who was posthumously promoted to sergeant.
--:-- Yasemin Khan: Her father, Sean Sanders, told WJXT that being in the Army Reserve was important to her. She was excited. Boot camp, she enjoyed boot camp. All through the process, she enjoyed it.
--:-- Yasemin Khan: Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin says the U.S. will launch a series of strikes over several days in response to the attack in Jordan. He didn't go into details, but the retaliation is expected to hit Iran-backed militias in Syria and possibly Iraq.
--:-- Yasemin Khan: And good news for the economy. New numbers out this morning show the U.S. economy adding 353,000 jobs last month. That's a good bit higher than forecasters expected. The new data also shows that December's payroll gains were stronger than previously reported.
--:-- Yasemin Khan: Elsewhere, Tesla is recalling 2.2 million vehicles. That's nearly every electric Tesla in the United States. Federal regulators say the problem is the fonts on its warning lights are too small, which can increase the risk of a crash. Tesla had another recall only two months ago to install new safeguards in its autopilot system. The latest fix will happen through a free software update.
--:-- Yasemin Khan: Regulators say they're also looking more closely at a steering issue reported in a smaller number of vehicles. And seven-time Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton is changing teams. He's leaving Mercedes to join Ferrari, and it's a big shock to the world of motorsports.
--:-- Yasemin Khan: The British driver recently finalized a contract extension and he said he wanted to end his career with Mercedes Hamilton will keep driving for Mercedes through the end of the year.
--:-- Yasemin Khan: One year ago tomorrow, a train with hazardous materials on board derailed in East Palestine, Ohio. To prevent a larger explosion, authorities decided to do a controlled release of a toxic chemical on board. You might remember seeing the videos of huge plumes of toxic smoke billowing over the small town.
--:-- Yasemin Khan: Abigail Botar covered the aftermath of the derailment for IdeaStream Public Media in Ohio. We asked her how people in East Palestine are feeling about their safety today.
--:-- Abigail Botar: There are people in town who are a little hesitant about what their health might look like in 10 years or 20 years. And there are people who aren't worried at all. And the people who are worried don't like how the rail company is handling things.
--:-- Abigail Botar: There's just a lot of hesitancy and distrust between Norfolk Southern and some residents where they are just not really happy with anything Norfolk has done because they don't think that they're doing this cleanup for the best interest of the town.
--:-- Abigail Botar: The EPA ordered Norfolk Southern to pay for cleanup and monitoring of East Palestine. Things like removing contaminated soil and water, testing air quality. Norfolk Southern says the major site remediation steps are now complete.
--:-- Abigail Botar: The EPA has been testing the air and water essentially since the derailment started. And they say that it is totally OK and safe to live in town. But people want testing inside of their houses.
--:-- Abigail Botar: There has been some air quality testing in residential homes in East Palestine. But as ProPublica reported last year, some residents and some experts on environmental health and toxicology do not feel the testing was sufficient.
--:-- Abigail Botar: They told ProPublica they were alarmed that Norfolk Southern hired the company responsible for testing air quality in homes, not the government or an independent watchdog. The company, CTEH, has been repeatedly accused of downplaying health risks in the past.
--:-- Abigail Botar: It told ProPublica that it stands by its testing protocol, and the EPA and government health agencies reviewed it. But Botar told us some people in East Palestine still question the results they've gotten and wonder if their homes are safe.
--:-- Abigail Botar: Some have not felt safe enough to return home full-time since the accident. Botar told us about Zuzsa Jenis. Her son has asthma and some other medical concerns, so when they went back to town originally, he got these rashes that were really concerning.
--:-- Abigail Botar: She said his allergist couldn't figure out what they were from, and so she hasn't taken him back to town since then. They been staying in a hotel getting reimbursed in part by Norfolk Southern Starting next week that money will stop for her and other families displaced by the toxic derailment.
--:-- Abigail Botar: Janice told Botar she doesn't know where they'll go next, and she wishes going home felt like a safer option.
--:-- Yasemin Khan: Tomorrow is the South Carolina Democratic primary. Incumbent President Biden isn't expected to face much trouble there, but the race is still one to watch because it could tell us a lot about what kind of support he might have in the general election.
--:-- Yasemin Khan: Black voters in South Carolina gave Biden a primary victory in 2020 that revived his campaign. So he's spent a lot of time in recent days reengaging with them.
--:-- Tolu Aloranipa: They want to show Black voters across the country, not only in South Carolina, that President Biden is paying attention to their views and their thoughts.
--:-- Tolu Aloranipa: And so a big theme was the idea that President Biden has made all of these promises to Black voters and that he's kept those promises.
--:-- Tolu Aloranipa: Olora Nipa talked to voters who have mixed opinions on a second term for Biden. They give him credit for the economy in some areas and bringing back jobs.
--:-- Tolu Aloranipa: We have historic low Black unemployment in a number of different places. But at the same time, there are a number of other issues other than the economy that Black voters were waiting for President Biden to deliver on, things like criminal justice reform, voting rights, that because of the political situation we have in Washington, President Biden has not been able to pass those things through Congress.
--:-- Tolu Aloranipa: And so those promises haven't been kept. And a number of Black voters, especially young Black voters, are looking to hold Biden accountable for that and are not enthusiastic about a second term for him.
--:-- Tolu Aloranipa: In 2020, Biden won 92% of Black votes nationwide. But a recent poll from AP shows a sharp drop in his approval rating among Black voters.
--:-- Tolu Aloranipa: And in a close election, any decline in support like that could have an impact. Upwards of 20 percent of Black voters are willing to look outside of the Democratic Party and look for another option.
--:-- Yasemin Khan: And now to a story out of the NBA one with stakes far beyond the court which a lot of parents can relate to One veteran player Tony Snell has been playing in basketball minor league lately and he desperately hoping to get called back up to the NBA so he can get medical coverage for his sons, who are two and three and on the autism spectrum.
--:-- Yasemin Khan: Like a lot of jobs in the U.S., health insurance for NBA players is tied to employment. and how long players are in the league matters. Those who play for 10 years can get long-term coverage for their families.
--:-- Yasemin Khan: Tony Snell has nine NBA seasons under his belt, and if he's not invited to play with a team for the rest of the season by the end of the day today, his family won't have insurance through the players union.
--:-- Tony Snell: He told Yahoo Sports his family really needs it. Autism spectrum disorder is treatable, but it can be expensive. Kids with autism may need more health services and intensive therapies.
--:-- Tony Snell: Recently, Snell learned he is on the autism spectrum, too. He told the Today Show, the diagnosis put his whole life into perspective. I was not surprised because I always felt different. I was just relieved. Like, oh, this is why I am the way I am.
--:-- Tony Snell: And it just made my whole life, everything about my life, make so much sense.
--:-- Yasemin Khan: You can find all these stories and more in the Apple News app. And check out our weekend interview show, In Conversation.
--:-- Yasemin Khan: This week, you'll hear our first guest host filling in for Shumita while she's out on maternity leave, David Green. He's a former co-host of NPR's Morning Edition.
--:-- Yasemin Khan: In this episode, David talks to sports journalist Kevin Blackistone about the core contradiction in college sports. The universities make a fortune, but don't pay a salary to the players.
--:-- Yasemin Khan: I think people are uncomfortable acknowledging the critique of college sports as a plantation economy. And the reason I bring up the plantation economy is because the laborers in college sports who generate the bulk of the revenue are black males who play college football and college basketball.
--:-- Yasemin Khan: Those are the two sports that are behind the billion-dollar industry that college sports have become.
--:-- Yasemin Khan: If you're listening in the Apple News app right now, that episode is queued up to play for you next.
--:-- Yasemin Khan: Enjoy the weekend, and I'll be back with the news on Monday.
