--:-- Tracy Mumford: From the New York Times, it's the headlines. I'm Tracy Mumford. Today's Monday, November 18th.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Here's what we're covering. President Biden has crossed what used to be a red line in the U.S.'s support of Ukraine. He's authorized Ukraine to fire American-supplied long-range missiles inside Russia. It marks a major policy shift for the president.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Even as the U.S. has poured billions of dollars of military aid into Ukraine, Biden repeatedly hesitated when it came to helping Ukraine go on the offensive. He's been worried about provoking Russian President Vladimir Putin into a wider war.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: But with North Korean troops now fighting in Western Russia to take back land that Ukraine seized, Biden changed course. The main reason for the change was a decision that was taken by Russia to introduce North Korean soldiers into the fight.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: This was such an escalation in the war against Ukraine that the administration felt that it needed to respond. Adam Entis covers national security for The Times. He says the policy change has divided Biden's advisers.
--:-- Adam Entis: Some still fear retaliation from Putin. Some think the threat is overblown. Overall, he says that officials don't expect that greenlighting the long-range weapons will fundamentally alter the course of the war, but it will send a message.
--:-- Adam Entis: This sort of strategic message is really to the North Koreans, and that message is your troops are vulnerable. There is a price, a significant price, that you're going to pay for your decision to involve your forces in this conflict.
--:-- Adam Entis: And the takeaway that they want the North Koreans to take from this is don't send any more of them. Biden's policy shift comes as the administration is in a race against time to bolster Ukraine before Donald Trump takes office.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Trump has vowed to limit further support to Ukraine and said the war needs to end quickly. He said very little about how he would do that, but Vice President-elect J.D. Vance has outlined a plan that would allow Russia to keep the Ukrainian territory that its forces have seized.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: A few days ago Donald Trump's transition team got some news that surprised them. They learned that Pete Hegseth, the Fox News personality who Trump picked to be his secretary of defense, had entered into a financial settlement with a woman who claimed he sexually assaulted her in 2017.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: According to a memo sent to the Trump team by a person claiming to be a friend of the woman, the woman said that Hegseth raped her, and that she went to the hospital where they collected evidence for a rape kit.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Local police in Monterey, California, said an official complaint was made a few days later, but that charges were never filed. Hegseth's lawyers say he vigorously denies the allegation, and that he only paid the settlement because he was worried about being blackmailed.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Because the settlement was confidential, it didn't come up as part of the vetting process when Hegseth was being considered to lead the Pentagon. The Times has learned that since the news came out, Trump told his advisers he would still stand by his pick.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Trump himself was found liable for sexual abuse in a civil case, and has been supportive of other men who face similar accusations. The new scrutiny of Hegseth comes as Trump has continued to name key players for his next administration at breakneck speed.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: He's largely been making his decisions from the tea room at Mar-a-Lago. Aides flip through slideshows of potential picks on huge screens and play clips of their TV appearances, a crucial factor for anyone Trump is considering.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: This weekend, Trump announced that Chris Wright, the head of a fracking company, is his pick for Secretary of Energy. Wright has no government experience, but caught Trump's eye in part because of his appearances on Fox News.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: And last night, Trump announced that Brendan Carr will head up the Federal Communications Commission. Carr is currently a member of the FCC's board, and he's expected to use his new leadership role to wield the commission as a political tool for Trump, going after big tech companies he's claimed are biased against conservatives and potentially punishing TV networks who air coverage that's critical of the president-elect.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: In Columbus Ohio this weekend a small group of people marched through the city carrying Nazi flags and shouting about white power through a bullhorn. There were only about a dozen marchers and no arrests were made.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: But the Anti League says it fits a recent pattern of white supremacist incidents across the country. There have been hundreds in the last 18 months, including one earlier this month in Michigan, where Nazi demonstrators stood outside of a community theater performance of The Diary of Anne Frank.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: The incidents tend to be small and unannounced to avoid drawing counter-protests. And the vice president of the ADL said the hate groups organize for maximum shock value, especially on social media, where the visuals spread quickly.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: He told The Times, quote, at the end of the day, they want to create fear and anxiety in communities and get a photo op.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: The Justice Department has opened a civil rights investigation into the killing of Sonia Massey, the Black woman who was shot and killed in her home in Illinois this summer by a sheriff's deputy after she called 911.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: The DOJ says it has, quote, serious concerns about how the sheriff's office interacts with Black people and people with mental health or substance abuse issues. Massey had a history of mental health issues, and the day before the shooting, her mother called police to say she was having a breakdown, and she begged police not to hurt her daughter.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Then, Massey herself called police to say she thought there was someone prowling outside her house. Deputy Sean Grayson, who is white, responded to the call. Body camera footage showed him shooting Massey after an exchange in her kitchen, where he asked her to put down a pot of hot water.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Grayson was fired from the force and charged with murder. He's pleaded not guilty. The Justice Department has asked the Sheriff's Office to show how it trains and responds to people experiencing behavioral health crises and to provide data about the race of people that its officers have used force against.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Starting at 9 p.m. tonight, Most fighters won't survive. Anyone in the U.S. turning on the TV, the radio, or checking social media, I don't fight for power. it's probably going to hear one thing. I fight to free road for men like them The Gladiator 2 trailer is going to be running simultaneously on 4 TV networks radio stations and digital platforms as Paramount Pictures goes all out on trying to promote the new film.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: The strategy is what's known as a roadblock. That's the marketing term for buying up so much airtime that for a brief moment, one single product or film is everywhere you look. The Gladiator 2 roadblock could be one of the biggest ever, and the stunt is a sign of how far big studios feel they now have to go to capture people's attention since viewing habits are so fractured.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: The studios are in fierce competition with streaming services, video games, and TikTok. Box office sales are down about 11% from last year, and still down 25% since before the pandemic.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: And finally, in football, kicking a field goal from halfway down the field used to be a last-ditch act of desperation, because it was likely to fall short and fail. This field goal from 54 is perfect. But now, 50-yard field goals are becoming more common.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: There were at least three just this weekend, and the success rate on these far-away kicks has doubled since the 1980s. Boswell drives it, and he connects! One former NFL kicker tells the Times that kickers have just gotten better.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Young players now specialize in kicking and train year-round, where they used to only practice during football season and maybe took time off to play other sports too. Their success is changing how football is played.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: More teams are going for the 50-plus yard field goal earlier in the game, not just in the final two minutes when a team really needs to score. It's gotten to the point that there's even chatter in the NFL about whether they should make things harder by moving the goalposts closer together.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Those are the headlines. Today on The Daily, a deeper look at Donald Trump's pick for Attorney General Matt Gaetz and what it reveals about Trump's promise for retribution. That's next in The New York Times audio app, or you can listen wherever you get your podcasts.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: I'm Tracy Mumford. We'll be back tomorrow.
