On the ground in El Salvador with the men deported there by the U.S.
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What are the key stories covered in this episode?
Good morning. It's Wednesday, March 26th. I'm Shamita Basu. This is Apple News Today. On today's show, the fight over non-citizens' right to free speech, what one photojournalist saw when deported Venezuelans landed in El Salvador, and President Trump signs an executive order to overhaul voting.
What happened in the Signal chat involving U.S. officials?
But first, National Security Advisor Mike Waltz says he takes full responsibility for a group chat on the messaging service Signal that included several cabinet members, the vice president and a journalist, Jeffrey Goldberg, editor-in-chief of The Atlantic. The text thread included details about upcoming U.S. military strikes in Yemen. In an appearance on Fox, Waltz said he built the group, called it embarrassing and pledged to get to the bottom of it. Officials who were on that chat deny any classified information was exchanged. Goldberg, in his initial report and again on Tuesday, said the chat did include classified material. Meanwhile, on Capitol Hill, two other people in the chat, Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence, and John Ratcliffe, the CIA director, were questioned about the incident by Democratic lawmakers in a previously scheduled Senate Intelligence Committee hearing yesterday. Both Gabbard and Ratcliffe mostly deflected questions about the group chat during that hearing.
When Ratcliffe was asked if he agreed the incident was a big mistake, he responded no. In one exchange, Independent Senator Angus King from Maine asked Gabbard about the specifics of the operation and why they weren't classified.
You've testified that nothing in that chain was classified. Wouldn't that be classified? What if that had been made public that morning before the attack took place? Senator, I can attest to the fact that there were no classified or intelligence equities that were included in that chat group at any time. So the attack sequencing and timing and weapons and targets you don't consider should have been classified? I defer to the Secretary of Defense and the National Security Council on that question.
Ratcliffe said during the hearing it's Hegseth's responsibility as the authority on materials classification to determine what was appropriate to share. Republicans on the committee mostly didn't ask about the episode during the hearing, but two said that they would do so in a classified setting later. One Republican, Representative Don Bacon from Nebraska, told CNN that he was very concerned about what he had read.
This is a gross error, and it's intentional. They intentionally put highly classified information on an unclassified device. I would have lost my security clearance in the Air Force for this.
Trump on Tuesday downplayed the incident and expressed confidence in his national security team, calling it a minor glitch. Meanwhile, Goldberg hasn't ruled out sharing more information from the Signal chat. Although speaking to the Bulwark podcast, he said, just because they're irresponsible with the material doesn't mean that I'm going to be irresponsible with this material.
Now let's continue following efforts by the Trump administration to deport students who have participated in pro-Palestinian demonstrations on college campuses. At least three foreign-born students living in the U.S. legally have already been arrested.
What is the controversy surrounding the deportation of students?
And Politico reports that at least two more students, both legal residents, are on the run from immigration officials as they pursue legal action to prevent their deportations. Yunso Chung has a green card, and Mamadou Tal is in the U.S. on a student visa. The Justice Department says the State Department canceled Tal's visa for his involvement in pro-Palestinian demonstrations six months ago, which they say created a, quote, hostile environment for Jewish students. And the Trump administration argues Chung, who was arrested in connection with a protest at Barnard College, is a threat to the administration's foreign policy agenda. Both Chung and Tal say their First Amendment free speech rights are being violated. A judge Tuesday evening ruled Chung can't be detained as she fights her deportation. Tal spoke to The Intercept on Sunday, saying that just a few days before federal agents showed up looking for him, he and two U.S.
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