Cecilia Lei

Good morning.

I'm Cecilia Lay filling in for Shamita Basu.

On today's show, the latest Epstein documents causing scandals beyond America's borders and the British prime minister is now fighting for his political life.

The Wall Street Journal tells us about the harmful chemicals in some people's water wells.

And at the Super Bowl, the Seahawks shut down the Patriots and Bad Bunny delivers a historic show.

It's Monday, February 9th, and this is Apple News Today.

The latest Jeffrey Epstein files are exposing just how deep the convicted sex offenders network was among the rich and powerful.

So far, they've had limited impact on the political careers in the U.S., but in other countries, the revelations have been explosive.

It's put a spotlight on senior political figures in Europe and could even bring down the British Prime Minister, Keir Starmer.

Veterans of Starmer's party there, speaking to the BBC.

This all centers on Peter Mandelson, Starmer's controversial pick for U.S.

ambassador.

The documents revealed that Mandelson maintained a close friendship with Epstein long after the financier's conviction.

And they show that while he was in government, Mandelson appeared to pass on market-sensitive and confidential information to Epstein.

He's now being investigated by the police.

For his part, Mandelson denies acting for financial gain and has apologized for keeping in touch with Epstein.

Mandelson was fired as ambassador last September, but there's still big questions over the decision to appoint him.

And yesterday, Starmer's chief of staff resigned over the scandal.

But that's unlikely to be the end of the matter.

Starmer's polling is now among the worst of any modern British leader, and this has only weakened him further.