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- [00:05]
Cecilia Le
Good morning. Republicans assemble in Florida for their annual retreat. Politico is there and reveals the internal tug of war behind the scenes.
- [00:14]
Mia McCarthy
It's kind of a back and forth right now between leaders trying to address affordability and what the Trump administration and these hardliner Republicans are pushing for.
- [00:22]
Cecilia Le
After another barrage of bombings in the Middle east, the human cost of the war mounts. And what drove Alabama's governor to dramatically commute an execution at the last minute. It's Wednesday, March 11th. I'm Cecilia Le and this is Apple News. Today, The pressure on Iran, as it has been for days now, is unrelenting. That's the sound of a man in his car as shockwaves from explosions near the Capitol shatter his window. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said yesterday that it would be the most intense day of bombing since the war began. Press Secretary Caroline Levitt also repeated President Trump's suggestion that the administration was ahead of schedule. We have destroyed more than 50 Iranian naval vessels, including a major drone carrier ship. None of the regime's vessels are operating in major regional waterways. And the Iranian navy has been assessed as as combat ineffective. The Trend is clear. U.S. combat capabilities are increasing and growing more lethal and dominant by the day, while the Iranian terrorist regime's ability to respond has rapidly declined. Late Tuesday night, Iran said it was beginning its own new wave of attacks on U.S. israeli military bases nearby. The consequences of this conflict is spilling far beyond military targets and into ordinary people's lives. Reuters reported that doors and windows have blasted out of residential buildings and that residents in Iran's capital described it as a night like hell with bombing in every part of Tehran. The BBC heard from one Iranian woman who had crossed the border into Turkey. When I opened the balcony door, the blast was so powerful, it drove me back. In the early days of the war, the missile strikes were few. Now they come in waves. The bombs and missiles fall in quick succession, one after another. Siavash Ardalan is a reporter from the BBC's Persian service. He told the broadcaster that the bombings would inevitably impact the wider population. For Iranians living in the capital, it seems like every night is a very intense night. Peter Hexith in his press conference talked about flight sorties with jets carrying 2000 pound ordinances which are presumably being dropped on the city of tehran, which is 10 million people. So even if you're dropping it on some military base or where you think there might be some capacity for weapons production, it will impact the people. Iran officials put the death toll there at over 1300, a figure that includes many civilians. At his press conference yesterday, Hegseth claimed the US took more precautions to avoid casualties than any other country and suggested Iran's own actions could be increasing civilian deaths.
- [03:27]
Mia McCarthy
We take things very, very seriously and investigate them thoroughly, which takes time. But ultimately, unlike Iran, who targets civilians indiscriminately, who we've seen in the intel moving rocket launchers into civilian neighborhoods, near schools, near hospitals to try to prevent our ability to strike, that's how they operate.
- [03:46]
Cecilia Le
The strikes are causing more civilians to flee their homes. The UN estimates that the war has displaced nearly 700,000 people in Lebanon. The country has become a primary target for ISRA as they strike the heartlands of Hezbollah, Iran's most powerful proxy based there. There were fresh waves of attacks on its capital, Beirut, last night. Carolina Lindholm, Billing, the UN's refugee lead in Lebanon, told Reuters what she had witnessed. Around 120,000 of those displaced are sheltering in government designated collective sites, but many others are staying with relatives or friends or still searching for accommodation. And we see cars line along the street with people sleeping in them and also on the sidewalks. On the US side, the Pentagon revealed yesterday that 140 service members have been wounded and the number killed remains unchanged at seven. Meanwhile, there was more confusion surrounding the Strait of Hormuz, the all important global shipping route Iran has effectively forced closed. The US Energy secretary posted on social media that the Navy had escorted an oil tanker across the strait for safety, but then promptly deleted it, it sending oil prices on a rollercoaster. The administration confirmed later that the escort did not take place. On Tuesday, sources told CBS News that Iranians may be getting ready to deploy mines into the strait in an effort to sow more chaos into the global economy. The same day, the US struck Iranian mine laying vessels close to the route. Today, House Republicans will wrap up their annual policy retreat. The three day gathering has been held at Trump's golf resort in Doral, Florida. And on Monday, the party tried to get on the same page for its legislative priorities ahead of this year's midterms. It's a critical moment for Republicans. They're facing strong headwinds. Some three dozen Republicans are leaving Congress. Others have recently lost in primaries and existing margins are slim. Political congressional reporter Mia McCarthy is at the retreat and spoke to us from Florida.
- [06:06]
Mia McCarthy
A lot of especially Republicans who are facing some tough elections in November. They want to keep the conversations focused on affordability.
- [06:14]
Cecilia Le
But that focus on cost of living wasn't what Trump was most energized to talk about. Instead he addressed this on Monday night. Every time I go out. Save America, sir, Save America Act. We want the Save America act, sir.
- [06:29]
Mia McCarthy
That's all they talk about.
- [06:30]
Cecilia Le
They don't talk about housing, they don't talk about anything.
- [06:33]
Mia McCarthy
That's what they talk about.
- [06:35]
Cecilia Le
And if you send it up there, you're going to win the midterms at levels that you can't even believe. Trump said he would not sign any legislation that addressed affordability issues until Congress passes the SAVE Act, a voting reform bill that faces long odds in the Senate. The SAVE act would impose new ID provisions and proof of citizenship requirements and would largely prohibit mail in voting. Polls consistently show high levels of support for these types of laws. But voting rights groups have warned that this bill could disenfranchise millions of Americans without the right documents, like married women who have changed their last name but haven't kept a birth certificate. The SAVE act has already passed the House, but it needs seven Democrats to get through the filibuster. So far, the Republican Majority Leader, John Thune, has been clear the numbers aren't there.
- [07:28]
Mia McCarthy
There's a lot on the agenda to figure out. And I think in some regards, Trump's repeated push for the Save America act is throwing a wrench in some of these discussions. Right. This is something. The House has passed two versions of this already and it has stalled so far in the Senate. But again, this is going to be something that gets in the way of some of the discussions that they were hoping to have.
- [07:49]
Cecilia Le
Some of those other discussions include Iran. McCarthy found some level of anxiety among Republicans about the already climbing gas price.
- [07:59]
Mia McCarthy
We're seeing rising energy prices even just outside of the resort that they're all gathered at. You know, gas prices were up 359 a gallon, I believe. So that is kind of showing the dynamics at play right there, where they have rising energy costs that they need to address. Many Republicans are saying this is just a short term thing and are really focused on these long term affordability issues. But it doesn't help that the war in Iran is causing these kind of energy prices.
- [08:25]
Cecilia Le
Oil prices came down from Monday's highs, but the Strait of Hormuz is still largely shut down and neighboring nations have slashed their production. 75 year old Charles Lee Burton was scheduled to be executed tomorrow after sitting on Alabama's death row for three decades. So why did K Ivey, a governor who has presided over 25 executions, have a last minute change of heart? Yesterday?
- [08:58]
Savannah Trines Fernandez
She essentially said she could not proceed in good conscience with the execution and believed that it would be unjust for Sonny to receive the death penalty.
- [09:07]
Cecilia Le
Savannah Trines Fernandez is an investigative reporter for AL.com and has been covering Burton's case. She told us that in 1991, Burton, also known as Sonny, and five other men robbed an autozone in Talladega. And during the incident, a man named Bruce Battle was shot and killed. The Burton was not the person who pulled the trigger, but he was sentenced to death by a jury because of what's known as a felony murder rule.
- [09:35]
Savannah Trines Fernandez
Alabama is one of 25 states where any accomplice to a crime where someone is killed, even non shooters, can face the death penalty. And like with Sonny, he wasn't even in the building when the shot was fired that killed Doug Battle. But because he was there during the robbery, he was sentenced to death.
- [09:50]
Cecilia Le
In fact, the person who actually committed the murder had his sentence reduced to life in prison after winning a federal appeal that Burton was the only man on death row for Battle's killing. Despite not being the shooter, Sonny admits to being there.
- [10:05]
Savannah Trines Fernandez
He said he was involved in the robbery. It was just in this case, he said he was not the person that pulled the trigger. He did not tell anyone to pull the trigger, and he was not in the building when the trigger was pulled.
- [10:15]
Cecilia Le
That drew national attention and garnered support from unlikely places. Jurors who convicted Burton called for his life to be spared. And the victim's daughter, Tori Battle, appealed to the governor directly.
- [10:27]
Savannah Trines Fernandez
She wrote an op ed. She also wrote a letter to the governor in which she basically said, can you meet with me and explain why you're killing the man who did not kill my father? She said she does not view Sonny being executed as justice and said that her voice should matter as a victim's family member.
- [10:43]
Cecilia Le
In late February, Trynes Fernandez spoke to Burton from prison about what the daughter's letter meant to him. She forgave me. She forgave me and I appreciate that. I'm so happy. On Tuesday, Governor Ivey explained that her 11th hour decision to grant Burton clemency was an effort to, quote, ensure the continued viability of the death penalty and that a government's most consequential action must be administered fairly and proportionately. After the commutation, Burton will now spend the rest of his life in prison. His case isn't unique. There have been more than 10,000 felony murder rule cases across the U.S. and at least 22 people, people with these convictions have been executed. And finally, a few other stories we're following. Pollsters and party strategists watched More than a dozen Republicans slug it out in Georgia's special election yesterday as they eye the House seat that was once held by Marjorie Taylor Greene. In the end, it was Trump's preferred candidate, Clay Fuller, who advanced to a runoff, beating 16 other Republicans to face Democrat Sean Harris later this year. NBC's Steve Kornacki told the network that Harris had overperformed in many districts. But the story of the night was the distance Fuller put between his GOP challengers.
- [12:13]
Mia McCarthy
I think the power of that Trump endorsement to really unify the Republicans around Clay Fuller again. Fuller had run for this seat a couple years ago. No Trump endorsement. He ran in a Republican primary. He got like 6, 7% of the vote. Turns around, now gets the Trump endorsement. Look at the difference.
- [12:30]
Cecilia Le
Fuller is now the favorite to take the seat in the vote this April. A whistleblower has claimed a former member of Elon Musk's federal Doge department took sensitive information from two Social Security databases and had the intention to share them with a new employer. The Washington Post reported the story first and says that if true, it would represent an unprecedented breach of security at the Social Security Administration, which serves more than 70 million Americans. The former employee said he had databases that included records for 500 million living and dead Americans. The information includes Social Security numbers, dates of birth, citizenship status and names of parents. Sources told the Post the breach may have happened in January and that the person in question had security access to the data. Both Congress and the Government Accountability Office have been notified and a probe is underway. The person in question allegedly told a colleague at the Social Security Administration that he expected to receive a president pardon if he were convicted of a crime for his actions. The Post says it's not clear if he was able to upload the data successfully to the outside company's network. And finally, a modern day treasure hunter who discovered one of the biggest shipwreck bounties in American history and went to prison for hiding its whereabouts has been released. But he's still refusing to give up his secrets. In 1988, Tommy Thompson found the SS Central America, known as the Ship of Gold, off the coast of South Carolina. It had sunk in 1857, along with its crew, some 400 passengers and £30,000 of federally owned treasures discovered in the California Gold Rush. Investors who paid for the expedition accused Thompson of cheating them out of their share of the roughly $50 million haul that he salvaged from the wreck. Thompson was ordered to show up in court to answer questions about 500 of the ship's coins that went missing, and then he went on the run before being captured in 2015. Federal prison records show he was released last week, but still no word on where those 500 gold coins ended up. 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. The New Yorker explains whether modern airplanes will be able to handle stronger turbulence as fiercer storms and erratic winds become more common with climate change. If you're listening in the podcast app, follow Apple News plus Narrated to find that story. And I'll be back with the news tomorrow.