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- [00:05]
Gideon Resnick
Good morning. It's Monday, February 3rd. I'm Gideon Resnick in for Shemitah Basu. This is Apple News today. On today's show, the latest on last week's plane crash. Democrats pick a new leader and the NBA trade that shocked the league. But first, the world is bracing for a trade war after President Trump announced that starting tomorrow he will impose a 25% tariff on goods coming from Canada and Mexico, our two biggest trading partners, and a 10% tariff on goods coming from China. The president acknowledged that Americans may feel, quote, some pain, but said that it will be worth the price.
- [00:55]
David Weigel
There could be some temporary short term.
- [00:57]
Gideon Resnick
Disruption and people will understand that almost immediately. Canada, Mexico and China announced that if the US Moves forward with this plan, they intend to retaliate. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau published a detailed list of American goods that his country plans to tariff, specifically items from Republican led states, taxing everything from Tennessee's whiskey to Florida's oranges and Kentucky's peanut butter. And some places say they'll no longer buy American beer and liquor. Prime Minister Trudeau spoke directly to the American people over the weekend, saying that tariffs on his country's goods will hurt American consumers. Tariffs against Canada will put your jobs at risk, potentially shutting down American auto assembly plants and other manufacturing facilities. Experts warn the auto industry could take among the hardest hits. Canada produces more than 3,000 cars a day, 90% of which go to Americans. NBC News spoke with one worker at an automotive shop in New Jersey who said that more expensive car parts inevitably means more expensive servicing of cars as well. Oil changes mainly. That'll be the first noticeable one. An average oil change on most vehicles now anywhere between $50 to $80. It's probably going to end up over 100. And that's the key to understand about tariffs. They are a tax first paid by American companies who import the products, but then passed on to the consumer. Kirsten Hillman, Canada's ambassador to the United States, told ABC News Face the Nation that the tariffs are perplexing for Canadians.
- [02:27]
Kirsten Hillman
This is not something that Canada wants to do. We are actually interested in being and continuing to be your best customer. We buy more from you than any other country on the planet. And we love our American products. So we support 8 million jobs in the United States through the exports that you send to us. But let's keep that going and let's build on that.
- [02:49]
Gideon Resnick
Tariffs on Canada and Mexico go against the terms of the North American Trade Agreement that Trump signed in 2020. Now, Trump says the reason for the tariffs is because Canada and Mexico haven't done enough to curb the flow of fentanyl, or migrants to the U.S. nPR fact checked some of these claims and found that less than 1% of the fentanyl that makes its way into the US comes from Canada. As for Mexico, Trump suggested the Mexican government is complicit in working with cartels to get illegal drugs into the country. Lots of fact checkers have rejected that claim. Here's how ABC News's Matt Rivers put it.
- [03:22]
Matt Rivers
Look, the Trump administration is correct when they say that corruption has allowed drug cartels here to flourish. It is systemic here in Mexico, and it has been for decades. But it's one thing to say organized crime and corruption is a problem. It's another thing to say the Mexican government has officially allied itself with these cartels.
- [03:41]
Gideon Resnick
And According to the U.S. drug Enforcement Administration, the amount of fentanyl making its way into the country from the southern border is way down. That is thanks in part to increased cooperation with Mexico under its new president, Claudia Sheinbaum. On Saturday, she offered even more assistance to tackle the fentanyl problem and insisted the two countries solve the issue with dialogue instead of economic warfare. Here she is speaking in a video message.
- [04:04]
Matt Rivers
Les propongo ques peremo la respuesta del.
- [04:07]
Gideon Resnick
Presidente Trumpa nuestra propuesta, she says. Let's wait to see how the Trump administration responds to our proposals. So what will this all mean for you and your wallet? USA TODAY has a good breakdown of costs that you could expect to go up from Canada. It could be everything from aluminum to cotton, cereal and milk products from Mexico. It could impact what you spend on tomatoes, coffee, tea, avocados and tequila. And the Homebuilders association is warning that higher lumber costs will likely lead to higher home prices. A potential trade war has also rattled Wall street, with some investors worried that it could lead to inflation and slow US Growth. There is still time for a last minute deal to avoid the tariffs, but Trump told reporters over the weekend that this is not a negotiation tactic and he's not looking for any kind of concession. He said this is just the start. He intends to put tariffs on chips, pharmaceuticals, oil, gas, steel, aluminum and copper soon. Family members of those who died in the crash between an American Airlines passenger plane and an Army Blackhawk helicopter in Washington, D.C. gathered yesterday at the crash site as bodies were still being recovered. Many are demanding answers as to how the crash occurred. So far, here's what we know. The National Transportation Safety Board says the American Airlines flight was flying at about 325ft, and they believe the military helicopter was flying above the maximum 200ft for its flight path. They were also investigating whether the helicopter crew were wearing their night vision equipment. Over the weekend, both black boxes were recovered and the incident is renewing questions about whether the D.C. area space is too crowded. Meanwhile, in an unrelated incident in Philadelphia on Friday, a medical jet carrying a young patient crashed in a neighborhood about 30 seconds after takeoff. Everyone on that plane died. Another person on the ground was also killed and several more were injured. And yesterday, a crucial communication system that is used to alert pilots, crews and others working in airspace of safety issues experienced an outage that prompted federal authorities to issue delay warnings. That same system went down in January of 2023, leading to the first nationwide ground stoppage in the US since 2001. That incident disrupted more than 11,000 flights, according to Reuters. So it's been a nerve wracking time for the aviation industry and has left many to wonder is it safe to fly right now?
- [06:38]
Zach Wichter
Absolutely, yes.
- [06:39]
Gideon Resnick
Zach Wichter is an aviation reporter for USA Today. He told us the last time a commercial airliner in the US crashed causing the death of passengers was in 2009.
- [06:49]
Zach Wichter
16 years without a fatal commercial airline crash at a US airline. It's a really good track record, wichter.
- [06:57]
Gideon Resnick
Says, because of that very track record. Seeing these isolated incidents makes us question if something is going on.
- [07:03]
Zach Wichter
I just think it's important to keep in mind that it's so rare and that's a good sign. It's still very safe. And so even though we're thinking about it more than we maybe have in, you know, 10 or 15 years, it's important to remember that it's still the safest way to get around.
- [07:19]
Gideon Resnick
Wichter reports there are a number of reasons why flying is so safe and will likely remain that way. Chief among them is that the aviation industry is very good at learning from error and improving. The NTSB leads all investigations in the US and it even participates in investigations for accidents that happen abroad. And they take all safety recommendations very seriously. The D.C. crash was just days into Trump's presidency and amid his efforts to reduce the size and scope of the federal government. The AP reports that one day before the crash, employees at the Federal Aviation Administration were sent an offer to resign with eight months pay. Air traffic controllers were not eligible, according to the Office for Personnel Management. Also, at the time of the crash, the FAA didn't have a permanent head. The previous one, Mike Whitaker, resigned on Trump's first day in office After a dispute with Elon Musk over approvals for SpaceX missions, a new acting FAA administrator has since been appointed. We asked Witter how much he thinks the administration holds any responsibility for what happened.
- [08:19]
Zach Wichter
The system moves slowly, so it's very unlikely that a change in admin has any direct correlation to what happened here. We don't know if this came down to pilot error or some sort of mechanical issue or something with air traffic control, but the fact is that any of those factors would have been in place before President Trump was inaugurated. And even if President Trump had really put a focus on changing things at any of these possible avenues for cause of this disaster, it wouldn't happen overnight. And so it's really unlikely that there is any political angle to this.
- [09:06]
Gideon Resnick
The Democratic Party is still assessing what exactly went wrong for them in the 2024 election and how to proceed from here. Over the weekend, the party selected a new chair of the Democratic National Committee, Ken Martin. He has been the longtime leader of the state party in Minnesota, where Republicans have not won a statewide race since Martin took over 14 years ago. In his victory speech, Martin positioned Democrats as the defenders of working class people and a contrast to the Trump administration. The fight's not in here. The fight is for our values. The fight is for working people. The fight right now is against Donald Trump and the billionaires who bought this country. A recent Quinnipiac poll found that 57% of survey responders had an unfavorable view of the Democratic Party. That's the highest level of dissatisfaction since they started asking that question in 2008. Martin's election and the race leading up to it was not defined by an ideological battle like the one that took place in the 2017 DNC race. That's the last time the party was figuring out what to do when Trump won. Instead, Semaphore senior political reporter David Weigel says this race was more existential.
- [10:14]
David Weigel
They're not saying when the party needs to move to the left, the party needs to move to the right. It's really the party has lost faith with people. How do we fix it and how do we make it effective?
- [10:23]
Gideon Resnick
One part of that answer, according to the Democrats that Weigel spoke with, is messaging.
- [10:27]
David Weigel
We need to go on to more conservative media. We need to go on podcasts. But it's not like we're going to recreate conservative media or we're going to recreate sort of non political podcasts that have moved to the right like Joe Rogan's. It's that what is it about our party, something that's wrong with our party, where they don't want to associate with us. The listeners of those shows think we're lame, think we're irritating.
- [10:50]
Gideon Resnick
The new DNC chair, Ken Martin, says that he'll kick off a review process to fully assess how the party has gotten things so wrong, and he'll make sure the party has the resources it needs to ensure Democrats win in upcoming elections. One of the party's first tests will be in statewide and national races in the 2026 midterms and after that, the 2028 primary. Martin has promised a transparent process in his role overseeing it. Before we let you go, a few other stories we're following. Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency is butting heads against some major US Departments and agencies. First, at the Treasury Department, after Musk's team was given access to a system that disperses $6 trillion in payments every year, that money goes to everything from Social Security and Medicare to salaries for federal personnel and tax refunds. The decision to grant Musk's team access to the system prompted a standoff between him and a 30 year treasury veteran who ultimately retired as a result of the move. Musk claimed that his team was shutting down payments to federal contractors, but the Treasury Department did not clarify his level of access. Then the Trump administration removed two top security officials at the U.S. agency for International Development, also known as USAID, after they initially refused to let Musk's team access their systems. CNN reports that people from Musk's office physically tried to access the USAID headquarters and threatened to call the U.S. marshals. They were eventually let in after reports of the encounter. Musk called USAID a criminal organization and said, quote, time for it to die. The Washington Post describes USAID as the world's largest provider of food assistance. Now to a big story shaking the sports world. The Los Angeles Lakers acquired Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic in what has been described as the most stunning trade in NBA history and the topic of every text message I received yesterday. In return, the Lakers are sending superstar center Anthony Davis to Dallas with a handful of other players. Reports say that LeBron James, who is highly influential not only in the Lakers locker room but also the front office, was not aware of the trade and neither were Davis or Doncic. Questions have swirled as to why the Mavericks would trade Doncic, who was 25, a five time NBA All Star and considered to be just now entering his prime. For a player like Davis, who is 31 with a long history of injuries Dallas GM said that a defensive center would help them win now and in the future. And finally, last night's Grammys doubled as a fundraiser for Los Angeles fire victims. Just one day after the Eaton and Palisades fires were declared 100% contained. Tributes to victims were woven throughout the night. Los Angeles firefighters walked the red carpet and were the night's final presenters. Wow. Thank you.
- [13:41]
David Weigel
Thank you for supporting all of us and recognizing the heroes that are standing behind me and the Sheroes.
- [13:50]
Gideon Resnick
Some of the night's biggest winners included Chapel Roan, who won Best New Artist Dochy, who became only the third woman to ever win Best Rap Album and Kendrick Lamar, who won for Record of the Year and Song of the Year. They then announced Album of the Year, music's biggest award that went to Beyonce for Cowboy Carter. Beyonce has never won in this category until last night. She also became the first black artist to win Best Country Music Album. Beyonce now has 35 Grammys, the most of any artist. You can find all these stories and more in the Apple News app. And if you are already listening to the News app right now, we have a narrated article coming up next. Texas Monthly has the story of how an oil tycoon and powerful cartel allegedly plotted to raise gas prices. If you're listening in the podcast app, you can follow Apple News plus narrative to find that story. And we'll be back with the news tomorrow.