← The Headlines
The Headlines
Pope Francis Dies at 88, and Another Hegseth Signal Chat
00:05:54
Plus, more stories from our newsroom.
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- [00:00]
Charles Schwab
This podcast is supported by Charles Schwab. Decisions made in Washington can affect your portfolio every day, but what policy changes should investors be watching? Washington Wise is an original podcast from Charles Schwab that unpacks the stories making news in Washington right now and how they may affect your finances and portfolio. Listen@schwab.com WashingtonWise.
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Tracy Mumford
From the New York Times, it's the Headlines. I'm Tracy Mumford. Today's Monday, April 21st. Here's what we're covering. The Vatican announced this morning that Pope Francis has died. At 88 years old, the Catholic leader was just in public yesterday. He met with Vice President J.D. vance and made an appearance in St. Peter's Square in Vatican City for Easter Mass, where he blessed the tens of thousands of people who had gathered to see him. Bonapasca his weak and raspy voice was a reminder of the health issues the pope had faced in recent months, including pneumonia and other complications. His death will set off mourning around the world. There are more than 1 billion Catholics. Francis was the first pope from Latin America and tried to reshape the church into a more inclusive institution, championing the poor as well as migrants and refugees. Catholic cardinals will soon gather in Vatican City for a highly ritualized, centuries old and secretive process in which they'll select a new pope. The Times has learned that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth shared detailed information on military strikes in Yemen in another group chat back in March. Hegseth has been under intense scrutiny since it came to light that he posted details for forthcoming military strikes in a chat on the app's signal that inadvertently included the editor of the Atlantic, according to people familiar with the messages. Hegseth also posted some of those same details in a separate Signal group that included his wife, his brother, his personal lawyer and others from his inner circle. Unlike the previously known group, this one was not made up of government officials with reason to track the progress of the strikes. One person familiar with the chat told the Times that Hegseth's aides had warned him just days before the strikes not to discuss sensitive operational details on Signal, since the messaging app is not considered as secure as government channels. If details of an airstrike were to leak before it was carried out, military experts say that could endanger the lives of the pilots involved. In the face of the controversy, the White House has stood by Hagseth. In a statement, a White House spokeswoman called the new revelations a quote, non story. Some Democratic lawmakers, however, say the second group chat is fresh proof that Hegseth should be removed from his position. This morning, four Democratic lawmakers are in El Salvador to call for the release of Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, the man who was wrongly deported by the Trump administration. The congressional representatives from California, Florida, Arizona and Oregon landed yesterday. Their visit comes days after Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen visited the country and met with Abrego Garcia. The lawmakers say they're also there to find out the status of other migrants the federal government deported to El Salvador. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court temporarily blocked the Trump administration from using a wartime law to deport another group of migrants this weekend. Before the decision, the administration had been preparing to send more than 50 Venezuelans out of the country, presumably to El Salvador. It's claimed that the men are gang members affiliated with Trende Aragua and that the Alien Enemies act gives the administration the right to remove them without legal hearings. But around 1am Saturday, the court issued a one paragraph order directing the government to not remove any of the detainees until quote, further order of this court. Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas dissented.
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Unnamed Caller
I literally lose sleep over this. I have nightmares about this.
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Tracy Mumford
And after five years of not penalizing student loan borrowers if they missed a payment, the federal government's leniency has ended.
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Unnamed Caller
My payments are so insanely high, I can't really put money in savings. I'm not contributing to 401k.
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Tracy Mumford
And people's struggle to start paying again has become clear.
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Unnamed Caller
As of today, I can't even log into the account.
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Tracy Mumford
Right now, only 1/3 of the 38 million Americans who borrowed money to pay for school are making the payments they're supposed to be. Those who aren't have seen their credit scores plunge in the last few months. And loan companies say a record number of people are at risk of defaulting. Industry experts point to two primary factors driving the issue. First, borrowers and the companies involved have been through years of major changes and reversals on how and when loans should be paid back, sowing confusion and backlog at all levels. And second, after such a long pause, many people are just unable to fit the payment back into their budget. They've gotten out of the habit and may now have additional credit card debt or a mortgage. The growing number of people behind on their payments has implications for the broader economy. Lower credit scores can keep people from buying or renting homes, can also push them toward riskier options like payday loans. One economist told the Times, quote, it's not a problem. We want to add to the pile for more on how student loans could affect the U.S. economy. Listen to today's episode of the Daily. Those are the headlines. I'm Tracy Mumford. We'll be back tomorrow.