Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Good morning. It's Wednesday, December 17th. I'm Gideon Resnick, in for Shamita Basu. This is Apple News Today. Coming up on today's show, frustrations mount over the Brown University investigation, what authorities are probing after the Bondi beach shooting, and President Trump calls for a blockade near Venezuela.
But first, House Speaker Mike Johnson announced yesterday that he would not call a vote to extend enhanced subsidies under the Affordable Care Act. That means that in all likelihood, millions of Americans who get their coverage under the ACA are going to see premiums go up next year.
Now, he explained that many members in his conference, particularly some who might face difficult elections in next year's midterms, had wanted to extend the funding.
Many of them did want to vote on this Obamacare COVID era subsidy the Democrats created. We looked for a way to try to allow for that pressure release valve, and it just was not to be. We worked on it all the way through the weekend, in fact. And in the end, there was not an agreement wasn't made.
One of those lawmakers, Republican Mike Lawler of New York, said that it was, quote, idiotic that Johnson wouldn't pursue the extension. Instead, House Republicans today will focus their attention on their own bill that seeks to expand insurance coverage options for small businesses and the self-employed, among other things.
And this comes after two plans to address health care costs failed in the Senate last week. Politico reports that the internal Republican blame game and disagreements about where and how to proceed are indicative of longer-term challenges the party has had. Congressional reporter Jordan Carney explained their dilemma.
Republicans have sort of continuously struggled to come up with a unifying plan on health care. They've been debating privately for months among themselves what their message should be right now.
Carney also told us the disagreements extend to both chambers.
There's not like a unified plan that gets both House and Senate Republicans. You've got some centrists or moderate Republicans who want to do an extension of the subsidies with income caps or other new restrictions. You've got more conservative Republicans who want to let them lapse.
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Chapter 2: Why are Republicans struggling to unify on health care?
Thousands attended vigils at Bondi Beach in Australia Tuesday night to commemorate the victims of this past weekend's shooting at a Hanukkah festival. And some funerals for victims took place today in Sydney. As officials investigate the shooting, Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced some of the initial findings.
It would appear that there is evidence that this was inspired by a terrorist organization, by ISIS. Now, some of the evidence which is being procured, including the presence of Islamic State flags in the vehicle that has been seized.
The gunmen are believed to be a father and son. The father was killed at the scene and the son is in custody at a hospital. Albanese also cautioned that at least so far in the investigation, there was no evidence of collusion with leaders representing ISIS.
Chapter 3: What are the implications of not extending ACA subsidies?
In 2019, U.S.-led forces declared that they had defeated the ISIS caliphate, at one point a landmass the size of Great Britain, in Syria and Iraq. But the attack in Sydney marks the latest time in recent years where black flags or other symbols of ISIS allegiance have been uncovered. Over the weekend, a gunman killed two U.S. Army soldiers and a civilian interpreter in Syria.
That individual is believed by U.S. officials to be affiliated with ISIS. And nearly a year ago, a man drove his car into a crowd in New Orleans, killing 14 and injuring many more. He had claimed allegiance to ISIS and reportedly had a flag on his car. Colin Freeman is a foreign affairs correspondent for the UK's Telegraph. He told us how the nature of ISIS has changed.
Well, at their peak, it's thought that they had anything up to about 100,000 fighters in their old caliphate in Iraq and Syria, as well as franchises, operations that acted under their name. These days, it's thought they have maybe no more than a couple of thousand fighters in Iraq and Syria, most of whom keep a fairly low profile as well. They don't parade openly in the way that they used to.
So they're an absolute fraction of their original force.
In Syria itself, the attack this past weekend was believed to be the first with fatalities since the fall of Syria's President Bashar al-Assad a year ago. Freeman said that since the toppling of his government, militants may be trying to exploit some instability.
Back in Australia, in addition to the investigation into the suspects, the country is pursuing even stricter gun control measures, including instituting a nationwide firearms registry and limiting the number of guns that one person can own.
Authorities in Rhode Island continue to search for a suspect in the mass shooting that left two students dead and nine others injured on the campus of Brown University. Yesterday, police released a new photo of a person of interest and a new video timeline showing the movements of that person before the shooting took place.
At a press conference Tuesday, the Providence Police Chief Colonel Oscar Perez spoke about what they think that person was doing in the time before the shooting.
Perez also said he hoped someone might recognize the person based on their body movement and posture.
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Chapter 4: How are internal disagreements affecting Republican health care plans?
Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell called the incident heartbreaking, not only for the family, but the entire city of Los Angeles. Reiner, the director of some of Hollywood's biggest films in the 80s and 90s, including When Harry Met Sally, A Few Good Men, and The Princess Bride, was 78. Singer Reiner was a notable photographer and producer who worked on several of her husband's films.
She was 68. In Washington, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says the video of the boat strike that allegedly killed survivors of an attack on a purported drug vessel in the Caribbean will not be released to the public. Bipartisan members of Congress called for the release of the video, but Hegseth, citing DOD policy, said that only certain congressional committees would see it for now.
Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio briefed lawmakers yesterday on the U.S. 's ongoing efforts in Latin America, where military forces have built up over the past few months. Members of Congress have expressed concern over the legality of the strikes in the region and the reasoning for carrying them out.
Meanwhile, President Trump on Tuesday evening posted on Truth Social that he ordered a total and complete blockade of all sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving Venezuela. And finally, if you've been in any coffee shop or grocery store recently, you might have caught on that Christmas is coming soon. Perhaps you heard something like this.
That, of course, is All I Want for Christmas is You by Mariah Carey.
The Wall Street Journal reports that music lovers are embracing Yuletide tunes like that one earlier than ever, and they're playing more of them. By December 1st, 30 Christmas songs were in Spotify's top 50 U.S. tracks. That's compared to just 14 at the same point in time in 2019. The only songs not able to edge out the Christmas ones are mega hits like The Fate of Ophelia by Taylor Swift.
The journal notes that holiday songs being everywhere right now represents a rare monocultural musical moment. Even though listeners are spread across streaming services and formats, maybe all of us are, in fact, mainlining the same songs. That famous one we just played by Mariah Carey? Well, it was named the longest-running number one song in Billboard history this week.
So good luck getting it out of your head. You can find all these stories and more in the Apple News app. And if you're already listening in the news app right now, we've got a narrated article coming up next. Bloomberg Businessweek reports on the cookie company crumble and how despite the popular brand's endlessly Instagrammable image, cracks in the chain's business are starting to show.
If you're listening in the podcast app, you can follow Apple News Plus Narrated to find that story. And I'll be back with the news tomorrow.
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