There is unlikely bipartisan support in Congress around an effort to make childbirth free in America. Vox’s Rachel Cohen discusses the plan and how it would work. The trial of Sean “Diddy” Combs is in its fourth week. CNN’s Elizabeth Wagmeister, who’s been reporting from the courtroom, tells us the latest. There’s been an international series of brazen, violent crimes against crypto executives and their families. The Wall Street Journal’s Sam Schechner explains what’s been happening. Plus, what we know about the man charged with the Colorado attack, a reparations package for the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre was announced, and confusion at FEMA after the acting head said he had no idea the U.S. has a hurricane season. Today’s episode was hosted by Shumita Basu.
Chapter 1: What is the burden of childbirth costs in the U.S.?
But first, to an unlikely alliance in Congress that aims to lift a huge burden off of families in the United States by radically reducing the cost of having a child. If you have kids, then you know it's incredibly expensive, starting from day one. A hospital birth can cost tens of thousands of dollars.
And while people with insurance get some of that covered, the final price tag can still cost thousands. Not to mention, child care in the U.S. is more expensive than any other developed country.
A bill introduced by the Senate last month wouldn't solve for that last issue, but a group of bipartisan lawmakers want to make all costs related to childbirth, from prenatal care and ultrasounds to delivery and postpartum care, completely free. No copays or deductibles involved, which would put private coverage on par with Medicaid, which already covers those costs.
It's a really unusual mix of people thus far supporting this bill.
Chapter 2: Who are the bipartisan lawmakers supporting childbirth cost reduction?
Rachel Cohen covers policy for Vox.
Chapter 3: How would the proposed bill change childbirth costs?
But I think it really speaks to the fact that across the political spectrum, across the ideological spectrum, people recognize that the cost of giving birth in America is so just ridiculously high. And it's not like this across the world.
The bill is being sponsored by Republican Senators Cindy Hyde-Smith from Mississippi and Josh Hawley from Missouri, as well as Democratic Senators Tim Kaine from Virginia and Kirsten Gillibrand from New York. Their bill delivers wins for both parties. It can be championed as a pro-family policy that potentially reduces abortions, and it's a way to expand health care access.
And Cohen reports that a companion version of the policy is expected to be introduced to the House in the next few weeks. The bill proposes having insurance companies and people insured by private plans cover the cost of childbirth through small increases in premiums for everyone. According to analysis by the libertarian think tank Niskanen, premiums could go up by approximately $30 a year.
Obviously, one upside from the politician's perspective is this means that there's no budgetary cost to Congress.
And that's a big plus, considering the debates Republican lawmakers are having right now around how to cut federal spending in President Trump's spending and tax package. Something else Cohen says appears to be promising for this legislation moving forward.
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Chapter 4: What challenges exist with private health insurance and childbirth?
It's been endorsed by organizations on opposing ends of the reproductive health conversation, like the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the American Medical Association, plus anti-abortion groups like Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America and Students for Life.
One big catch, however, is that most people's private health insurance is tied to their employment, and that's never guaranteed.
Lots of people lose their jobs, and they lose their health insurance along with it. A lot of people lose their jobs when they're pregnant. Even if it's illegal, there's a lot of discrimination against people who are pregnant.
So I think everyone sees this as definitely better than the status quo, but there are tons of problems just associated with having all of these health benefits of all kinds tied to our jobs.
The White House has not weighed in on the proposal yet, but it has entertained a number of ideas in recent months aimed at raising birth rates, including baby bonuses. And Vice President Vance was a supporter of the ideas underpinning this bill back when he was a senator. His office was preparing bipartisan legislation on this issue last year before he was tapped to join Trump's campaign.
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Chapter 5: How does the White House view the childbirth cost proposal?
Cohen reports that the upcoming reconciliation process will test whether Republicans ultimately choose to prioritize family policy or fiscal restraint. There are some fiscal conservatives who consider any insurance mandates as market interference. Now let's check in on the federal criminal trial of music mogul Sean Diddy Combs, which is in its fourth week and approaching the halfway point.
And please be warned, this segment includes descriptions of violence, including sexual violence. Remember, government prosecutors have accused Combs of using his music empire to carry out a sex trafficking and racketeering operation, which he denies. His defense team, meanwhile, is arguing that Combs is just a bad-tempered swinger who has committed acts of violence, not a criminal mastermind.
So far, the jury has heard testimony from a number of Combs' former employees, several stars in the music industry, several sex workers, and most notably Combs' ex-girlfriend, the singer Cassie Ventura, who gave nearly 20 hours of testimony alleging violence and blackmail.
Last year, video footage of Combs physically attacking Ventura at a hotel in 2016 was made public by CNN, and she has been a key witness in this case. Here's Elizabeth Wagmeister, who was part of the CNN team that released that tape and has been reporting from the courtroom.
Make no mistake, she is the star witness of this case. This trial would not be happening without her.
Ventura testified to the jury that Combs forced her to orchestrate and participate in group sex events called freak-offs that involved male sex workers, heavy drug use, and were often recorded on video. She said they were painful and degrading.
And she told the jury, quote, the freak-offs became a job that she felt she couldn't say no to because she was afraid Combs would release the videos to the public. Wagmeister told us the jury has now heard from other corroborating witnesses, and the prosecution's strategy is becoming more clear.
They are testifying to threats. They are testifying to other people at the organization witnessing much of this behavior. So it's not just Cassie.
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Chapter 6: What is happening in the Sean Diddy Combs trial?
In the last few days, we've also heard from one of Combs' former assistants, known only under the pseudonym of Mia, who has accused him of violence and rape. And in her cross-examination, we saw how the defense is managing those allegations.
The common thread is they are asking why these people continue to stay in touch with Sean Combs. So we're hearing a lot of, if he was so terrible and if he did all these horrible things and he terrorized you and he sexually assaulted you and he was physically violent with you, why would you continue to be in touch with him years later with loving, happy, kind messages?
As a response, the prosecution says this does not disprove the allegations. The courtroom heard from trauma expert Dr. Don Hughes, who outlined how people can maintain attachments to people or present an alternative public-facing reality despite suffering abuse from them. Remember, the challenge of this case is that it goes beyond simply proving assault or rape.
It needs to prove racketeering and an organized conspiracy. And while it's too early to know if the jury members are convinced, Wagmeister has witnessed the prosecution's case build slowly as more and more witnesses take to the stand.
Chapter 7: Who is the key witness in the Sean Diddy Combs trial?
As this case is developing, everything is building on Cassie. And you're hearing from former employees who say, I witnessed this and so did every bodyguard who worked for Sean Combs and so did his chief of staff and nobody did anything. This picture, this world of Sean Combs that was built on control, that was built on threats, and that was being witnessed by many members of his organization.
So the racketeering claim is really coming into clearer picture as this case develops.
Let's turn now to a series of crimes that sound like they've been ripped from the pages of a Martin Scorsese script. But they are very real and they're targeting crypto executives, crypto holders and their families. Cryptocurrencies have soared in value in recent months. Bitcoin alone was up 54% in the last year, and that's increasingly turned crypto investors into targets for criminals.
Now, you might expect a more sophisticated digital form of targeting, but many of these attacks are alarmingly physical. Abductions, violent confrontations, all to extract a crypto ransom or wallet info. In a recent incident in New York City, two men were indicted after allegedly holding a man captive in a townhouse and torturing him for over two weeks, all to steal his Bitcoin password.
Now, I should say, many of these attacks have targeted high-profile investors, not your everyday trader. And in some cases, the perpetrators have aimed to pull off multi-million dollar ransom schemes. Sam Schechner, a reporter for The Wall Street Journal, told us one reason why these attacks are seemingly happening more often.
Oftentimes, they keep their keys offline. They keep physical wallets, the sort of crypto equivalent of putting your money under your mattress, but with a little bit more security behind it. And so that basically means that if you want to steal that person's crypto, you have to do it in person.
That habit of carrying a physical key for a digital wallet is something that many in the crypto world consider to be one of the best safeguards against a different type of threat, hacking. These in-person incidents are basically the opposite end of the spectrum. In fact, they've earned the nickname wrench attacks because of how blunt and unsophisticated they are.
Cybersecurity investigators told Schechner that recent hacks of cryptocurrency companies where names, emails and addresses were obtained might have made it easier for criminals to locate crypto investors to extort them.
I think for a long time, people... thought well the danger here is you know maybe some identity fraud at the highest end which is is pretty scary or or possibly just you know i'm gonna get a lot of spam or something like that if the personal information of big holders of crypto leaks then that can obviously we're learning now can have really dramatic real world consequences
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