Apple News Today
Their travel generates billions for the U.S. They’re rethinking their plans.
Thu, 24 Apr 2025
Travel to the United States is a multibillion-dollar industry. The Washington Post examines how and why it is decreasing. Pope Francis kept up a routine of near daily calls to a church in Gaza throughout the Israel-Hamas war. The Wall Street Journal has more. And CNN details what to expect at his funeral. The Athletic’s Mike Vorkunov joins to discuss an investigation into a sprawling sports-gambling scheme. Plus, peace talks between Russia and Ukraine are at a standstill, big-box CEOs raise concerns about tariffs, and the ultrarich have been getting richer. Today’s episode was hosted by Shumita Basu.
Chapter 1: Why are fewer international tourists visiting the United States?
Good morning. It's Thursday, April 24th. I'm Shemita Basu. This is Apple News Today. On today's show, how Pope Francis spent his last days, a major sports betting scandal, and how the wealthiest people in the country got even richer last year. But first, more and more international tourists appear to be turning their backs on the idea of a vacation in the United States.
The number of tourists arriving in March fell by nearly 12 percent compared to March of last year, according to the National Travel and Tourism Office. We're seeing fewer tourists from Canada, Mexico, Central America and Europe. This was not expected. In fact, just last month, officials were predicting an increase in international travel this year.
Chapter 2: How have U.S. policies affected international travel?
The Washington Post spoke to travel experts who pointed to a few reasons for the slump. President Trump's tariff policy has inflamed international tensions. And under his immigration policy, a number of foreign-born tourists have been detained, some even locked up for weeks. A German tourist spent more than six weeks in detention. An actor from Canada spent around two weeks in detention.
She recounted the experience for NPR.
Chapter 3: What personal experiences have tourists had with U.S. immigration detention?
Use as a blanket. You wrap it around yourself like a dead body because it's so cold in the cells and you just lay there. I laid on the cement floor for two days and no one told me what was going on.
A number of countries tightened their travel advisories as a result, warning travelers to, quote, expect scrutiny and comply with U.S. rules or face detention. But for some tourists, the risks of traveling here just don't feel worth it.
Chapter 4: How do travel experts explain the decline in U.S. tourism?
In a recent survey by the travel news site Skift, nearly half of the people who responded across five different countries said they're less inclined to visit the U.S. right now, and 60 percent cited fear and anger for why they've canceled travel plans. Skift's editor-in-chief, Sarah Coppett, told CNN a lot of the hesitation seems to center on Trump.
We do get the impression that the beef here is really with the Trump administration, not the American people necessarily. But yeah, these high profile incidents that have really gotten a huge amount of worldwide press don't do the United States any favors for its inbound travel market.
As the CEO of one hotel giant put it to Bloomberg, there's a lot of, quote, bad buzz around the U.S. right now. International travelers spent over $250 billion in the U.S. last year, and their vacation choices can make or break entire industries. Goldman Sachs estimates that in a worst-case scenario, reduced inbound travel and boycotts on U.S.
goods could lead to almost $90 billion in lost revenue. And a handful of states will feel it the most, like Florida, California, New York, and Nevada. Nevada Senator Catherine Cortez Masto, a Democrat, recently expressed her frustration about this in a hearing on Trump's tariff policy with Trade Representative Jameson Greer.
Chapter 5: What economic impact does reduced tourism have on the U.S. economy?
So why don't you come talk to me in my office and let's talk about and put a plan together because these blanket tariffs are having an impact on tourism in my state and across the country. Instead of just defending it, why don't you just come sit down with some of us and try to address the concerns that we are seeing and feeling in our states that this administration has not taken into account.
I'm happy to come speak with you.
Forecasters had initially hoped that inbound travel to the U.S. would return to pre-pandemic levels by 2026. But at this point, they say that seems unlikely. People around the world are mourning the loss of Pope Francis. Tens of thousands of mourners have gathered in Vatican City in recent days to pay their respects.
Chapter 6: How did Pope Francis spend his final days before passing?
And there was such a strong turnout that the Vatican kept the doors open through the night last night at St. Peter's Basilica. His final days were consistent with how he has spent his years in the papacy, in service, pastoring, giving blessings, and calling for peace. Francis had only recently gotten out of the hospital, where he spent 38 days battling a severe case of pneumonia.
His doctors said they weren't sure he was going to survive. And when he was released in late March, they urged him to remain isolated in his residence for at least two months. But Joshua McElwee, the Vatican correspondent for Reuters, told the Reuters Econ World podcast that Francis was eager to return to his normal activities.
The Pope is someone who enjoyed working and took his job as leader of the world's Catholics very seriously.
So he chose to resume some of his duties. He greeted Catholics who gathered in St. Peter's Square on Palm Sunday. On Holy Thursday, he went to a nearby prison to meet people there and told them he was praying for them and their families. Days later, he prayed in front of the main altar at St. Peter's Basilica. And on Easter Sunday, he briefly met Vice President J.D.
Vance, and he greeted the crowds of people who gathered in St. Peter's Square to celebrate the holiday. And through one of his archbishops, he delivered his final Easter blessing, where he repeated his call for a ceasefire in Gaza. That sermon was his final address to the public.
You saw a pope who looked okay, but certainly limited and perhaps straining to make a public commitment.
Pope Francis had been outspoken in his opposition to Israel's war in Gaza and repeatedly denounced the humanitarian crisis for Palestinians in the region. In fact, The Wall Street Journal reports he maintained a near daily routine over the past 18 months of war. making regular calls to the only Catholic church in Gaza.
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Chapter 7: What actions did Pope Francis take during the Israel-Hamas war?
That's the Holy Family Church, where roughly 450 Palestinian Christians have sought refuge. Each time he called, one of the first questions he would ask was, what did you eat today? A parishioner at the church told the Wall Street Journal that his calls always made them feel less alone.
And Father Gabriel Romanelli told CBC News that the Pope's calls were a source of hope, particularly early in the war.
The beginning of the war, the bombing was very, very hard. The people feel the abandonment. But the call of the Pope gave a hard sign of hope
In his final phone call to the church on Saturday, Francis told the parish he was praying for them, and he told them he needed their prayers. His funeral is on Saturday, and more than 170 heads of state or government are expected to attend, including President Trump, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, and the president of Francis' native country, Argentina.
He will be the first pope in over a century to be buried outside of the Vatican. He asked to be buried at the papal basilica of St. Mary Major, just a few miles away, writing in the instructions for his burial that he had always entrusted himself to the Virgin Mary. He requested a simple tomb, with a one-word inscription, Franciscus.
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Chapter 8: How did Pope Francis’ calls impact Palestinian Christians in Gaza?
And in roughly two weeks, the process for choosing a new pope, known as Conclave, will begin. Papal analysts expect that Francis' influence will be heavily felt in that process, in large part because four out of every five votes in conclave will be cast by cardinals he elevated. Tonight is the NFL Draft, the league's marquee event of the offseason.
And if you're into it, you can, in some places, bet on who might be the number one pick and other things. The draft is a unique event to gamble on. Some bookmakers even call it a nightmare. That's because unlike winners being decided on the field, there's a chance that someone knows the outcome of the draft before it happens.
And that brings us to our next story from The Athletic about a major scandal in the world of sports betting and what it says about this increasingly popular and lucrative industry. The Athletic looks at this sprawling federal investigation into a high-profile incident of match fixing in the NBA.
Mike Vorkanoff, a national basketball business reporter for The Athletic, told us it all started when sports betting monitors noticed some unusual betting activity around Jonte Porter, a little-known center who at the time was playing for the Toronto Raptors. He worked with several co-conspirators to make sure they would bet on certain outcomes.
Now, he couldn't fix entire games, but he could control his own stats.
So what he did in his January 27, 2024 game is that he claimed he had an eye injury, which allowed him to leave the game early and not come back. And so that the people who are betting on him, if they bet, hey, he'd have fewer than this many points, fewer than this many rebounds, fewer than this many assists, they all won their winnings, right?
And then when he played in the March 20, 2024 game, he told them he would leave the game with an illness.
And we're not talking about small sums of money on the line here. According to government filings, one wager was more than $100,000, which would have resulted in a payout of more than $1 million. The FBI was notified, Porter was banned from the NBA, and he and three other people have pleaded guilty to wire fraud conspiracy.
Getting an NBA player to admit that he was manipulating his own performance to help other people bet on his prop bets a decade ago would have been a tremendous scandal for the NBA, right? Like that eats at the very integrity of sports.
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