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Behind the spread of false theories about the Pelosi attack · Apple News Today

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  Shumita Basu, Narrating: Good morning! It's Wednesday, November 2nd. I'm Shumita Basu. This is "Apple News Today." On today's show, how the attorney general race in Texas could flip the state's abortion politics, why Black women who want to conceive are having a hard time finding Black sperm donors, and remembering Uvalde victims on Day of the Dead.
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  But first, the latest details about the attack on Paul Pelosi, the husband of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, reveal that the suspect had plans to kidnap and interrogate the Speaker and target other politicians. The attacker told police as much and pleaded not guilty to several state felony charges.
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  The facts of this incident are clear and chilling, from what police saw and what the suspect told them. And yet, false information and conspiracy theories are widely circulating. And it's not just anonymous posts on Reddit. "CNN" details how prominent conservative voices are pushing disinformation to their followers.
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  Some mocked Pelosi's husband, even as he was hospitalized. Donald Trump Jr. shared a photo of underwear and a hammer captioned with, "Got my Paul Pelosi Halloween costume ready." Republican Congressman Clay Higgins referenced part of a false conspiracy theory in a tweet. He later deleted it.
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  American University professor Cynthia Miller-Idriss points out that Pelosi has long been villainized by conservatives. That makes her a potential target for people who get sucked into conspiracy theories. Miller-Idriss spoke to "CNN" about how lies can spark violent actions.
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  Cynthia Miller-Idriss: One of the things that we're seeing is that conspiracy theories, disinformation, propaganda mobilized both individual actors to violence and large groups of people. I think this is a classic case of somebody who was steeped in a toxic mix of online content, was sharing that toxic mix, following hyperlink after hyperlink down different kinds of rabbit holes.
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  "CNN" looked through the suspect's online posts and found lots of evidence he'd been down these rabbit holes. There were posts with QAnon conspiracies, antisemitic and anti-vax content, and lies about the 2020 election and January 6th Capitol attack.
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  And there are questions as to how much Twitter will police toxic content now that Elon Musk owns it. Musk himself gave a false conspiracy theory about the attack on the Pelosis a much wider audience when he tweeted out a link to a website known for spreading false information. Musk later deleted the tweet, but tens of thousands of his followers had already seen it and shared it.
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  Let's turn now to the midterms, specifically zooming in on the attorney general race in Texas. Incumbent and Trump ally Ken Paxton faces Democrat Rochelle Garza, a former ACLU attorney. The result won't determine control of Congress. It's not even the highest office in the state. But this race has major national implications because it involves one of America's most divisive issues: abortion.
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  Dana Liebelson: We're seeing how people are paying more attention to attorney general races because those are positions where there is more influence on this issue.
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  Dana Liebelson spent a lot of time in Texas looking at this race for "POLITICO." Many analysts expected a Republican blowout. A Democrat hasn't won the AG's office in Texas for almost 30 years. But lately, polls tightened. Garza may have a shot at an upset. And some people think it's in part because of the Supreme Court ruling overturning Roe v. Wade.
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  Garza fought for abortion rights as an attorney. And she's putting abortion access at the center of her campaign. Liebelson reports on how people in Texas have more complicated views about abortion than outsiders might realize. Garza's own background is an example of this.
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  Liebelson: She grew up in a very Catholic household, and her parents were very religious, but she said they were also very pro-choice.
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  Garza points to the red state of Kansas, where voters recently rejected an anti-abortion measure by close to 20 points. She argues it's a sign that Republicans can cross over to back abortion rights. And she'll need crossover votes to win. Liebelson says it's not clear whether voter feelings about abortion will be decisive.
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  Liebelson: There are a number of different issues that are kind of competing for attention. Immigration and border security is capturing a lot more of the voter attention in Texas than even abortion. That doesn't necessarily mean they're gonna turn out and cast their vote based on it, especially in the really hyper-partisan environment that we have in Texas.
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  The state is one of several where people who support progressive policies are blocked by entrenched conservative lawmakers. This election will show whether there are enough of those people out there to vote in new leadership.
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  The U.S. is experiencing a shortage of sperm donors who are Black. According to an analysis by "The Washington Post," the number of Black women seeking sperm donors rose during the pandemic, and yet Black donors account for fewer than two percent of the supply at the four largest sperm banks in the country.
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  Amber Ferguson: Black donors can sell out within minutes. I talk about a couple in my story where the man is paralyzed and he wants to have a child with his wife. And he's a Black man and they want a donor who looks like him.
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  That's Amber Ferguson. She's a reporter with "The Post" who spent almost a year reporting this story.
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  Ferguson: They got an alert that a new Black donor was put on the website. And the wife called 20 minutes after getting the email alert and the cryobank said, "I'm really sorry, but all his vials sold out five minutes ago."
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  Ferguson explained that until recently, the fertility industry was primarily marketed toward white people. Recruiting efforts were aimed at white donors.
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  Ferguson: It wasn't until really the racial reckoning of 2020 that they made an effort to heavily recruit. But even their recruitment efforts are pretty passive. They recruit mostly through social media and online ads, but they're not in the community. They're not at the barbershops, they're not really at the HBCUs.
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  Of the 15 women who spoke to "The Post," only one of them was able to buy sperm and conceive a child with a Black donor. You can get on a waiting list. For a white donor, that wait can be around three months. For a Black donor, it can stretch as long as 18 months.
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  Ferguson: This situation is putting Black women into situational infertility. And when you think about the health disparities that Black women go through, high rates of maternal mortality, more pregnancy complications, more incidences of fibroids, when it comes to a Black woman's reproductive health, they're unprotected. And it feels like no one is advocating for them.
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  Communities across America have been marking Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, in the last few days. But in Uvalde, Texas, this year has a very different tone, following the elementary school shooting that killed 19 children and two teachers.
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  Day of the Dead honors loved ones who have died. It's often a time for children to learn about their ancestors. But in Texas, the tradition had a tragic reversal. Grandparents were mourning grandchildren. The band played to a somber crowd.
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  "NBC" looks at how people across the state and across the country remembered the victims of this shooting. A display in San Antonio got a lot of attention for the way it reimagined Day of the Dead's traditional ofrenda, or altar. The flowers, pictures, skulls and candles were all arranged on school desks, painted with the names of the victims.
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  Several family members of the shooting victims added a new aspect to how they marked Day of the Dead: advocacy. Many spoke out for changes to gun laws, in the hopes that other families won't be making altars for their children.
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  You can find all these stories and more in the Apple News app. I'll be back with the news tomorrow.
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