Latest / Apple News Today / Trump’s facing criminal charges. So have many world leaders.

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Trump’s facing criminal charges. So have many world leaders. · Apple News Today

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  Shumita Basu, Narrating: Good morning! It's Wednesday, April 5th. I'm Shumita Basu. This is "Apple News Today." On today's show, people in Tennessee demand action on guns from their lawmakers, new developments for "The Wall Street Journal" reporter held by Russia, and in extremely relatable news, your plants scream when they're stressed.
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  But first, Donald Trump pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in a Manhattan criminal court yesterday. The charges are connected to three hush-money payments made ahead of the 2016 presidential election. Prosecutors say money went to adult-film actor Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal. Trump has denied affairs with them. Prosecutors also cite a payment to a doorman who once worked in Trump Tower. He claimed to know about a child that Trump allegedly fathered out of wedlock.
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  Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg spoke about the case.
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  Alvin Bragg: As this office has done time and time again, we today uphold our solemn responsibility to ensure that everyone stands equal before the law. No amount of money and no amount of power changes that enduring American principle.
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  Trump also spoke after going back to his Florida home.
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  [CROWD CHEERING]
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  President Donald Trump: And I never thought anything like this could happen in America, never thought it could happen.
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  It is unprecedented for a former U.S. president to face criminal charges. But globally, Trump is not the first leader of a democracy to face prosecution.
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  Two former French presidents have been convicted of corruption after leaving office. South Korea has prosecuted several former leaders. Italy's former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was found guilty of tax fraud in 2012. And current Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is facing three corruption cases while in office.
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  Political science professor James Long talked to "NPR" about why this didn't happen in America for so long.
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  James Long: I think the case for looking the other way has always been that at any one moment, looking at what a president's done, pursuing a prosecution could be more traumatic than trying to hold the person to account. Certainly, that was sort of the thinking of Gerald Ford when he pardoned Richard Nixon. So then the question is, well, if you keep looking the other way over a long period of time, do you eventually develop sort of a moral hazard where any president could reasonably think that they could get away with something if they look at what their predecessors may have gotten away with?
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  [END NPR ARCHIVAL CLIP]
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  There's some data on the impact of prosecuting leaders. A LaGrange College political science professor and his students reviewed hundreds of cases over decades, where current or former top leaders were arrested, indicted or imprisoned. They compared that with data from Freedom House, which ranks countries political and civil rights records. And they wrote up their results in "POLITICO." They found that prosecutions of presidents and prime ministers were just as likely to happen in healthy democracies as in less-free countries. And generally, places that prosecuted their leaders didn't go backwards in freedoms. Most stayed the same, and a few even moved up in the Freedom House rankings.
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  We're only scratching the surface of the Trump case. You can read much more on all the angles in the Apple News app.
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  Let's check in on a few updates in local politics across the country. First, in the Wisconsin State Supreme Court election, Judge Janet Protasiewicz has won. That's a big victory for Democrats in the race we talked about on the show yesterday. It tilts control of the state court to the Left for the first time in 15 years. Activists hope that will help their cause in future rulings about abortion, elections, labor, guns and many other issues.
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  In Chicago, Democrat Brandon Johnson will be the city's next mayor. The former educator had the backing of the city's teachers’ union in the runoff. He beat Paul Vallas, seen as more moderate Democrat, who had police union support. Incumbent Mayor Lori Lightfoot had already been knocked out in the previous vote.
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  Finally, let's turn to Tennessee, where people are demanding action from lawmakers after last week's deadly school shooting in Nashville. Tennessee has one of the country's highest rates of gun deaths. In the last few days, protestors, including lots of students, have demonstrated at the state capitol.
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  [CROWD CHATTERING]
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  Protesters: Gun control… now! Gun control… [VOICES FADE OUT]
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  But state lawmakers don't seem to be listening. They've considered legislation that would expand access to guns. Yesterday, they decided to delay decisions on several gun bills to next year.
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  "The Tennessean" is covering how some state Republicans spent legislative time policing Democratic colleagues. There were moves to expel three Democratic lawmakers who led gun-reform chants on the House floor. Republicans filed resolutions accusing them of "disorderly behavior." The three Democrats have defended their actions and promise to keep protesting, even if there's a vote to expel them tomorrow.
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  Russia is still holding "Wall Street Journal" reporter Evan Gershkovich. The U.S. government and the "Journal" have demanded his release, saying the spying charges against him are false. "Journal" editor-in-chief Emma Tucker talked to "CBS" about Gershkovich's actual work.
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  Emma Tucker: Evan is a very talented, experienced reporter. He's accredited to report from Russia, and he was on an assignment doing what he always does. He was gathering information; he was reporting from the ground to provide our readers with eyewitness accounts of what it's like to be in Russia at the moment. It's a complete outrage that he was arrested like this.
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  His colleagues at "The Wall Street Journal" have also been advocating for his release. Several spoke about his professionalism in a new video from the "Journal," including Moscow Bureau Chief Ann Simmons.
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  [START THE WALL STREET JOURNAL ARCHIVAL CLIP]
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  Ann Simmons: Evan always spoke about his love for Russian culture, tradition, literature, and thought that, you know, as a person who is from a Russian background, he could actually be more effective in telling the Russia story.
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  [END THE WALL STREET JOURNAL ARCHIVAL CLIP]
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  Gershkovich met with his lawyers in prison yesterday. They say he's in good health and grateful for the support from around the world.
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  A key next step would be for the U.S. government to declare Gershkovich "wrongfully detained." That could happen soon, and that classification would unlock new government resources to work toward his release. Here's Tucker, his editor, again, talking to "CBS" about the importance of that.
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  Emma Tucker: When that happens, it's an official recognition that the charges against Evan are entirely bogus. And once that official recognition comes, things can then move a bit more rapidly.
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  Another person speaking up for Gershkovich's release is Brittney Griner, the WNBA star who was held in Russia last year. Gershkovich covered her detention in Russia, her arrest, trial and the long negotiations that led to her release just a few months ago. Griner posted on Instagram about Gershkovich saying, "Every American who is taken is ours to fight for, and every American returned is a win for us all."
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  Finally, let's end on a story that's a reminder of all the stuff we miss in the natural world as mere humans. New research shows that plants make noise when they're stressed. It's at a frequency that we can't hear, but researchers recorded it and manipulated it so we can get a sense of it. Let's listen to a tomato plant screaming into the void.
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  [RAPID POPPING SOUNDS]
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  So it turns out, these plants are very quiet when they don't need anything, but if they're stressed, damaged or thirsty, they'll make these popping sounds more frequently. We may not be able to hear or speak to plants. But researcher Yossi Yovel told "CNN" that other creatures are in on this conversation.
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  Yossi Yovel: You can imagine a moth eavesdropping on the plant when it is making a decision such as where to eat or what plant to eat or something like that. That's exactly the direction that we're interested in right now.
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  The new line of research upends longstanding ideas that plants are silent. We just weren't listening closely enough.
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  You can read more about this and other stories in the Apple News app. And if you're already listening in the News app right now, stick around.
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  We've got a narrated article coming up next. On a day when we're talking about Wisconsin election results that could impact abortion rights, we think it's a good time to listen to this "New York Magazine" article by Rebecca Traister. It takes a closer look at how Democrats are trying to put reproductive rights at the center of the national agenda because they think it's a winning issue for 2024.
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  That's cued up to play for you next, and I'll be back with the news tomorrow.
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