On today’s show: The Washington Post’s Dan Lamothe explains how the military could change under Trump. CNN’s Omar Jimenez has been visiting Springfield, Ohio, in the months since Trump attacked its Haitian community. They’re weighing their future as he threatens mass deportations. Jessica Roy reports for the San Francisco Chronicle on new research about dangerous levels of flame retardants found in spatulas, spoons, and other common household items made with black plastic. Plus, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant; years after a fatal on-set shooting involving Alec Baldwin, ‘Rust’ premiered; and a beloved ‘Simpsons’ voice actor says goodbye after more than 600 episodes. Today’s episode was hosted by Gideon Resnick.
Chapter 1: What kitchen item should you toss out immediately?
Good morning. It's Thursday, November 21st. I'm Gideon Resnick, in for Shamita Basu. This is Apple News Today. On today's show, the kitchen item you should toss out immediately, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for top Israeli leaders, and the last episode for an iconic voice actor. But first, a look at how the military could change under President-elect Donald Trump.
Trump has selected Pete Hegseth as his nominee for defense secretary. Hegseth is a veteran and most recently a Fox News host, but he doesn't have military leadership experience. In fact, NPR reports that if Hegseth is confirmed, he would be the least experienced defense secretary in American history.
And he would come into the role with some big criticisms of the military, characterizing it as ineffective, quote-unquote woke, and saying that some of the top brass should be fired. Here's Hegseth on the podcast The Sean Ryan Show, just before he was officially tapped to head up defense.
You got to fire the chairman of the Joint Chiefs and you got to fire this. I mean, obviously you're going to bring in a new secretary of defense, but any general that was involved, general, admiral, whatever that was involved in any of the DEI woke shit, it's got to go.
Hegseth has also been critical of women serving in combat roles, saying that it's made our military less lethal and effective. Here he is again on The Sean Ryan Show.
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Chapter 2: How could the military change under Trump?
You don't like women in combat? No. Why not? I love women service members who contribute amazingly because everything about men and women serving together makes the situation more complicated.
According to a Pentagon report from a year ago, women made up roughly 20 percent of the U.S. military's active duty force and selected reserve in 2022. And outgoing Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin recently told NBC News how vital women are to our military.
They make us better. They make us stronger. And again, what I've seen from our women is quite incredible. This is not hyperbole. This is fact. I'm just telling you what I've seen.
Dan Lamothe is a Washington Post reporter who covers the Pentagon. He told us how Hegseth's nomination is resonating with people who work there.
We've got an incoming president who has openly and repeatedly threatened to fire anyone associated with the fall of Afghanistan. We've got a nominee for the defense secretary job in Pete Hegseth, who has said that one of the first things he would do would be to fire the chairman of the Joint Chiefs.
So I think at minimum, there's a great deal of apprehension and concern and alarm that I'm hearing from my sources right now in the Pentagon and just kind of around the Defense Department as an institution in general.
While we've heard a lot of rhetoric from Trump and Hegseth about their goals, we know very little about the details so far. For example, what would it mean to end diversity programs in the military or to fire quote-unquote woke generals?
And depending on where you fall on that issue, you know, you could be doing an awful lot of housecleaning or more something that's very, you know, targeted.
Lamothe also told us there's a lot of concern about Trump's vows to go after the generals involved with the decision to leave Afghanistan and the chaotic withdrawal.
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Chapter 3: Who is Pete Hegseth and what are his views?
Experts agree, including one of the authors of this study who told The Atlantic she no longer saves black takeout containers. And experts say even if you've had kitchen tools like these for years and might think, oh well, I've already been exposed, you should still consider buying alternatives. Roy suggested non-plastic materials like wood or silicone.
But I think more broadly, and a takeaway I hope people get from this story, every time we study plastic of any color, we find things in it that are dangerous. If it's not flame retardants, it seems like it's something else. And so I think looking critically at other plastics in your house, in your kitchen, makes a lot of sense.
And when you upgrade things, if you are going to buy new measuring cups anyways, if you're going to buy a new coffee maker anyways, looking for stuff that doesn't use as much plastic, especially black plastic, makes sense.
Before we let you go, a few other stories being featured in the Apple News app. Early this morning, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant.
The court accuses the two of crimes against humanity and war crimes in the Gaza Strip, alleging that Israel has used starvation as a weapon of war and has intentionally targeted civilian populations. Israel has strongly denied the allegations. The court also issued an arrest warrant for Mohamed Deif, Hamas's military chief. Israel said earlier this year that he had been killed.
Neither Israel nor the United States recognized the court's jurisdiction. In entertainment news, the controversial film Rust premiered yesterday at a film festival. As you might remember, this is the movie where the actor Alec Baldwin fired a prop gun on set that turned out to be loaded, killing cinematographer Helena Hutchins and wounding the director.
The film's armorer was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter and is currently in prison. Baldwin was also charged, but the case against him was eventually dismissed. NPR spoke with the director, Joel Sousa, about why he wanted to complete the project.
It was a really tough decision, and I'll be very honest, I was a wreck through most of the second go-around. It's something I still struggle with, that I should have or shouldn't have, but, you know, I just feel like for me that was the right thing to do.
According to a source who spoke to NPR, the film's original producers will not gain financially from the movie. Instead, profits will go to Hutchins' husband and son. And finally, an iconic voice in comedy is retiring.
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