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- [00:05]
Shamita Basu
Good morning. It's Thursday, December 12th. I'm Shamita Basu. This is Apple News today. On today's show, the effort to find an American journalist believed to be imprisoned in Syria for more than a decade. A bill to expand bereavement leave to include pregnancy loss. And FIFA makes a controversial pick to host the 2034 World Cup. But first, to a bitter family feud over the future of an American media empire. Earlier this week, a court in Nevada denied a request from Rupert Murdoch, the magnate who controls Fox News and several other conservative outlets, to change his family trust and consolidate power of the company under his son Lachlan. David Falkenflick is NPR's media correspondent and he's written a book on Murdoch.
- [00:59]
David Falkenflick
So here he is at the age of 93, stepping into an obscure probate court in Reno, Nevada, away from the national spotlight. And Claire to say, you know, that irrevocable trust, I pretty much want to revoke it and I want to rewrite it and Laughlin's going to be my guy.
- [01:18]
Shamita Basu
He explained to us this isn't really about money, as most inheritance fights tend to be. It's about which kid Murdoch trusts to maintain the right wing slant of his media empire after he dies. For years, he has effectively made his four oldest children vie for his affection, respect, and perhaps most importantly, the opportunity to take over his businesses. The way the trust is laid out now, power will be split evenly between them after Murdoch dies. It was an agreement that came out of a divorce settlement with Murdoch's second wife, and it's ironclad. But over the years, his eldest son, Lachlan gained favor with the father. Falkenfleck told us he may in fact be even more conservative than Murdoch. And and together they tried to argue in court that the three other siblings, James, Elizabeth and Prudence, would soften the Fox News ideology.
- [02:09]
David Falkenflick
Rupert and Lachlan were arguing that in order to serve the financial interests best of the rest of the family, they needed to consolidate control in one person. Some sort of divided brain trust doesn't work. And furthermore, that Fox News and Fox more generally and the other holdings needed to retain their conservative outlook. And particularly in the case of Fox, it's for far right outlook, its adamantly pro Trump stance in order to retain the connection with the audiences that yielded such huge profits for Rupert and for his family.
- [02:44]
Shamita Basu
That argument did not fly in court.
- [02:46]
David Falkenflick
The probate commissioner looks all this and says this is purely about control. This is about them wanting to rewrite the rules late in the game. It was as brutal a repudiation and a rejection of the legal and in effect moral case that Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch were making and also saying they didn't take it seriously, indicating in some of the material provided that the Murdochs were taking inspiration from the HBO hit series succession.
- [03:19]
Shamita Basu
What could happen next for Fox News and News Corp. At large is still a big question mark.
- [03:24]
David Falkenflick
Now James Murdoch may be able to get his two sisters to rally behind him, a different structure and push Lachlan out and they could well moderate Fox as a result. Equally logical could be that they could say, look, we don't want to be part of this. This is not how we look at the world. This is not where we take pride. Let's sell it at the top. Let's get rid of this thing. So I think that there's going to be a bloody brawl or a buyout of some sort. Either Fox gets sold or the different siblings are bought out of their voting shares to allow Lachlan to continue.
- [03:59]
Shamita Basu
Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch have said they intend to appeal the court's decision. Let's turn out to Syria as the Assad regime's prisons empty there's growing hope here in the United States that Austin Tice is an American journalist and Marine veteran will turn up. He's been missing for over a decade, since 2012 when he was in Syria on assignment covering the start of the civil war. Nancy Youssef, a national security reporter for the Wall Street Journal, told us his story.
- [04:36]
Nancy Youssef
He was finishing up an assignment and leaving Syria when he disappeared.
- [04:40]
Shamita Basu
According to his family, Tice was detained at a checkpoint near Damascus. He was last seen a few weeks later in a YouTube video where he was blindfolded and surrounded by armed men wearing masks.
- [04:52]
Nancy Youssef
Other than a video that was less than a minute long in September of that year, we haven't seen any information about him.
- [05:01]
Shamita Basu
Assad's regime publicly denied holding him, but over the years, President Biden and government officials have repeatedly said they have evidence Tice was imprisoned by Assad and they believe with certainty he's alive. The State Department said this week they have no new verifiable information about Tice's status or location, but they are working to find him. His mom, Deborah was in D.C. last week at the National Press Club advocating for his release.
- [05:29]
Deborah Tice
We have from a significant source that has already been vetted all over our government. Ostentyce is alive. Austin type is treated well and there is no doubt about that.
- [05:42]
Shamita Basu
The administration hasn't shared many details about how it plans to locate Tice and get him out of Syria. They say they're communicating with the rebels who toppled Assad. As part of their search, the State department is offered $10 million for information on his whereabouts and to relocate anyone who finds him and helps to bring him home. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told ABC they're also working with countries near Syria.
- [06:06]
Jake Sullivan
We are talking through the Turks and others to people on the ground in Syria to say, help us with this. Help us get Austin Tice home.
- [06:15]
Shamita Basu
This is a case that has frustrated U.S. intelligence officials for years, according to the New York Times. And more recently, there was a feeling among some that it had gone cold. But Youssef's sources told her the fall of Assad has unlocked new possibilities.
- [06:30]
Nancy Youssef
There's a renewed hope that he will emerge out of one of these prisons and end his captivity, which is one of the longest periods we've seen an American held hostage ever.
- [06:50]
Shamita Basu
Now to a story about pregnancy loss and a bill making its way through the New Jersey state legislature that could change the way families grieve. Many companies give time off to employees when there's a death in the family, but not all of them recognize miscarriage as an event that warrants time off. In the same way, the sponsors of this bill, a Democrat and a Republican, want to make bereavement leave available to employees after a miscarriage, a stillbirth, a pregnancy terminated for medical reasons, a failed fertility treatment or an unsuccessful adoption.
- [07:23]
Bobbi Breyer
This bill would really address some of those early mental health issues that could be caused when somebody is forced back into work to pay rent or to pay for groceries.
- [07:33]
Shamita Basu
That's Bobbi Breyer, a mental health reporter for New Jersey Spotlight News.
- [07:38]
Bobbi Breyer
Many people have told me if this bill were to be signed into law, they'd be able to just get more of a chance to address the grief in a healthier way that kind of honors the life of the person that they may have lost.
- [07:51]
Shamita Basu
Stacey Denberg is an advocate of the bill. She has personally experienced this type of loss several times. First, an ectopic pregnancy, which is a highly dangerous situation that creates a non viable pregnancy and can endanger the life of the mother. She lost a fallopian tube. Then, after a pregnancy that felt like a miracle, Stacy learned that her daughter, who was full term at the time, had no heartbeat and would be stillborn. She testified to a Senate committee about what it was like going back to work before she felt ready.
- [08:22]
Deborah Tice
I suffered from severe depression and anxiety shortly after my child's death. There were days where I could barely get out of bed or even care for myself, even under the care of a psychologist and a psychiatrist. My depression and anxiety continued to negatively impact me and my career. I found myself withdrawn from my coworkers, overly sensitive, anxious about minor tasks, and unmotivated to do a job that I once loved.
- [08:51]
Shamita Basu
If New Jersey lawmakers pass the bill and governor Phil Murphy signs it into law, it would allow pregnant people and their partners in these situations to take between 7 and 21 days off of work. And New Jersey would join a handful of other states that have expanded bereavement benefits like this for employees in recent years. Breyer says we'll likely see more states consider similar policies in the future, especially considering infant mortality has climbed nationwide since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022.
- [09:22]
Bobbi Breyer
It's something that will most likely gain momentum as we head into a new year, a new presidential administration, and so I could certainly see this moving forward not only at the state level but at the national level.
- [09:41]
Shamita Basu
Before we let you go, a few other stories being featured in the Apple News app President Elect Trump says he'll choose Carrie Lake, the former TV news anchor who lost her race for senator in Arizona last month, to lead the federally funded international media outlet Voice of America, which provides news and information in nearly 50 languages around the world. Lake was one of the most prominent faces of the so called Stop the Steal movement to overturn the 2020 election results in Trump's favor. In other Trump related news, FBI Director Christopher Wray announced he will step down at the end of the current administration, three years before the end of his 10 year term. Wray addressed FBI employees at a packed town hall meeting yesterday.
- [10:26]
Jake Sullivan
This is the best way to avoid dragging the bureau deeper into the fray while reinforcing the values and principles that are so important in how we do our work. This is not easy for me. I love this place, I love our mission and I love our people.
- [10:47]
Shamita Basu
Wray, a Trump appointee, oversaw the investigation of around 2,000 people believed to have taken part in the January 6 attack on the Capitol and the raid of Donald Trump's home at Mar a Lago. Both incidents angered the president elect, who has harshly criticized the agency and Wray himself. Trump announced earlier he would nominate Cash Patel to replace Ray. A $25 billion merger between two of the country's largest grocery chains is off. A judge blocked the deal on Wednesday. Albertsons and Kroger announced the proposed merger in 2022, saying it would allow them to compete with companies like Amazon and Walmart, according to cnn. The judge said in her decision, the deal could potentially raise prices for consumers. Shortly after the ruling, Albertsons sued Kroger, saying it didn't do enough to help gain regulatory approval. And finally, two big announcements in sports. First, FIFA announced Saudi Arabia will host the 2034 World Cup. Critics have condemned the decision to award such a coveted event to a country that has what many human rights groups have called a deplorable record. And the second big announcement, six time super bowl winning coach Bill Belichick is the next head football coach at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill. Belichick mutually parted ways with the Patriots earlier this year after 24 seasons. His return to coaching, this time on the college level, has raised eyebrows, with ESPN calling it, quote, one of the most stunning and compelling moves in college football history. You can find all these stories and more in the Apple News app. And if you're already listening in the News app right now, we've got a narrated article coming up next. If you find the Murdoch family trust story interesting, or if you just really miss the show's succession, Town country has a good article on how the ultra wealthy cement their legacies through the often messy world of estate planning. If you're listening in the podcast app, follow Apple News Narrated to find that story. And I'll be back with the news tomorrow.