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Arab Americans challenge Biden’s Gaza response in primary · Apple News Today

• 0:00
  [MUSIC FADES IN]
• 0:04
  Mark Garrison, Narrating: Good morning! It’s Tuesday, February 27th.
• 0:07
  I’m Mark Garrison in for Shumita Basu. This is Apple News Today.
• 0:12
  On today’s show, Michigan Arab Americans upset over Gaza
• 0:15
  could threaten Biden’s re-election,
• 0:18
  Florida health policy under fire during a measles outbreak,
• 0:22
  and how our names might influence our careers.
• 0:32
  [MUSIC FADES OUT]
• 0:34
  But first, let’s take a quick look at some other stories in the news.
• 0:37
  President Biden says there could be a Gaza ceasefire deal in place
• 0:41
  as soon as Monday.
• 0:42
  "Reuters" reports that a draft proposal includes new aid
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  for civilians, and an exchange of hostages held by Hamas
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  for Palestinian prisoners in Israel.
• 0:51
  Biden told “Late Night” host Seth Meyers about what Israel
• 0:54
  is potentially willing to do.
• 0:55
  [START NBC ARCHIVAL CLIP]
• 0:56
  President Joe Biden: Ramadan's coming up, and there's been an agreement
• 0:58
  by the Israelis that they would not engage in activities during Ramadan
• 1:03
  as well, in order to give us time to get all the hostages out.
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  [END NBC ARCHIVAL CLIP]
• 1:07
  Garrison, Narrating: Biden may have sounded optimistic about a deal coming together soon,
• 1:11
  but Hamas officials said there are still big gaps between Israel and Hamas.
• 1:16
  Today, Biden is hosting Congressional leaders at the White House
• 1:18
  for talks on aid to Israel, Ukraine, and avoiding
• 1:21
  a partial government shutdown.
• 1:24
  In Europe, Sweden is set to join NATO as early as this week. For many years,
• 1:27
  the country avoided membership. But Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
• 1:31
  led to the major policy change. Allies say Sweden’s well-equipped military
• 1:35
  will be a good addition to NATO.
• 1:37
  And in New York, exciting news for some medical students.
• 1:41
  [START ABC7NY ARCHIVAL CLIP]
• 1:42
  Dr. Ruth Gottesman: I'm happy to share with you that starting in August this year,
• 1:47
  the Albert Einstein College of Medicine will be tuition free.
• 1:52
  [CHEERING]
• 1:54
  [END ABC7NY ARCHIVAL CLIP]
• 1:55
  Garrison, Narrating: Dr. Ruth Gottesman, a former professor there,
• 1:57
  announcing her one billion dollar donation to the institution.
• 2:01
  [UPBEAT MUSIC]
• 2:01
  It’s one of the largest donations to a school in American history.
• 2:15
  It’s Primary Day in Michigan. And in this critical swing state
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  with a large Arab American population, some voters say President Biden
• 2:23
  isn’t doing enough for Palestinian civilians in Gaza.
• 2:26
  [MUSIC FADES]
• 2:26
  They plan to express their frustration today.
• 2:28
  [START WASHINGTON POST ARCHIVAL CLIP]
• 2:29
  Yasmeen Abutaleb: When I was in Dearborn at the end of January,
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  I was really struck by how much the Israel-Gaza war has just consumed
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  the community. It is all people think about.
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  It's all people talk about.
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  [END WASHINGTON POST ARCHIVAL CLIP]
• 2:43
  Garrison, Narrating: Yasmeen Abutaleb covers the White House for "The Washington Post."
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  She spoke with Arab Americans who plan to flex their power
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  as a voting bloc.
• 2:50
  Activists, backed by local politicians, are encouraging Democrats to choose
• 2:54
  the option “uncommitted" on their ballot, instead of Biden.
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  The goal is to have at least 10,000 of these votes, sending a message:
• 3:01
  tilting too far toward Israel could cost Biden the White House.
• 3:05
  [START WASHINGTON POST ARCHIVAL CLIP]
• 3:05
  Abutaleb: They want Biden to call for a full ceasefire in Gaza,
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  they want him to stop vetoing these resolutions at the U.N.
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  and beyond that, you know, they say he can't just call for a ceasefire
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  and then come and campaign the next day.
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  There are a lot of Democrats who are saying there's a lot
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  of trust rebuilding that needs to happen in this community
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  over the next few months.
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  [END WASHINGTON POST ARCHIVAL CLIP]
• 3:25
  Garrison, Narrating: There are over 300,000 in Michigan with heritage from the Middle East
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  or North Africa.
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  The majority voted for Biden in the last election.
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  Some are waiting to see if he can earn their vote by the general election.
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  But others told "The Post," they’re done supporting the president.
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  Polls pitting Biden against Trump show a tight potential race in Michigan.
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  If Biden loses a significant amount of support
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  among Arab American voters, Abultaleb says, that could complicate
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  his campaign.
• 3:52
  [START WASHINGTON POST ARCHIVAL CLIP]
• 3:53
  Abutaleb: If he can't win that state, I think there is a deep, deep fear that that means
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  he is not going to win the election. And I think the voters there
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  are well aware of it.
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  [END WASHINGTON POST ARCHIVAL CLIP]
• 4:03
  Garrison, Narrating: In 2016, Donald Trump beat Hillary Clinton in Michigan
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  by 10,000 votes.
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  That’s why organizers in the state have been pushing
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  to get that many Democrats to vote
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  "uncommitted" in today's primary.
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  Abutaleb says, it’s meant to be a warning to Biden that many Arab American voters
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  are not happy, and they’ll matter in a close race.
• 4:20
  [START WASHINGTON POST ARCHIVAL CLIP]
• 4:21
  Abutaleb: And I think what was really striking about this community
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  [INTENSE MUSIC]
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  is they are well aware of their voter power.
• 4:29
  [END WASHINGTON POST ARCHIVAL CLIP]
• 4:37
  Garrison, Narrating: In the U.S. and around the world, public-health experts are worried
• 4:40
  about rising measles cases.
• 4:42
  [MUSIC FADES]
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  It’s highly preventable with vaccination, but highly-infectious when people
• 4:46
  aren’t protected.
• 4:47
  Measles is most common in children. Symptoms include fever, cough,
• 4:51
  and a full-body rash.
• 4:52
  In the U.S., multiple states are reporting infections.
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  There are a few dozen cases this year, a relatively large number
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  compared to recent years in America.
• 5:01
  Florida is at the center of the outbreak, with a large share of those cases.
• 5:05
  And public health experts are criticizing the state Surgeon General.
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  "The Atlantic’s" Daniel Engber told us how far state guidance strayed
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  from typical advice to keep unvaccinated kids
• 5:16
  home during an outbreak.
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  Daniel Engber: The Surgeon General in Florida chose not to do that, but actually to say,
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  given the burden of having your kid home from school for three weeks,
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  he was going to leave it up to parents to decide.
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  Garrison, Narrating: Engber says, this is similar to Dr. Joseph Ladapo’s approach
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  on other issues.
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  He was appointed during the COVID pandemic by Republican Governor Ron DeSantis.
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  Engber says, Dr. Ladapo got a lot of criticism
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  for questioning COVID vaccination recommendations and other common policies.
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  Engber: Making the argument that a lot of these public-health measures,
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  in terms of mandatory quarantine, school closures, mask mandates,
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  that all those things were doing more harm than good.
• 5:56
  Garrison, Narrating: Measles can lead to severe and potentially deadly complications.
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  Engber explained that at the hard-hit Broward County Public Schools,
• 6:02
  the overall vaccination rate is high.
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  And it’s unclear how many families will decide to send
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  unvaccinated kids to school because of Dr. Ladapo’s guidance.
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  Engber: Lots of parents are still going to be making their own decisions
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  based on what they hear more generally about the life-saving value
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  of these vaccines.
• 6:20
  Garrison, Narrating: Still, experts worry that if Dr. Ladapo’s guidance spreads,
• 6:23
  and more unvaccinated kids are in school during a measles outbreak,
• 6:27
  that could be a major problem.
• 6:28
  [GRUNGY MUSIC]
• 6:29
  Doctors say the safest bet for parents is to make sure
• 6:31
  they get their kids vaccinated against measles.
• 6:45
  Finally, a story about people who seem destined to do what they do.
• 6:49
  [MUSIC FADES]
• 6:50
  Let’s start on the track at the 2012 Olympics in London.
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  [START OLYMPICS ARCHIVAL CLIP]
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  [CHEERING]
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  Commentator: Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant, Usain Bolt of Jamaica
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  is the fastest man on the planet.
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  [END OLYMPICS ARCHIVAL CLIP]
• 7:01
  Garrison, Narrating: That’s Bolt racing to one of his many gold medals.
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  Even his name sounds fast, like, what else could a guy named Bolt be
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  but a champion sprinter.
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  The term for that is aptonym.
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  A name that’s especially well-suited to the person’s career.
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  And there’s research showing that there may be more to these names
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  than just coincidence.
• 7:20
  "National Geographic" spoke to a lot of people whose professions
• 7:23
  match up with their surnames.
• 7:24
  There’s Carla Dove, who studies birds at the Smithsonian.
• 7:27
  Greg Pond is an aquatic biologist for the EPA.
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  There’s also an ecologist who’s done research on skunks,
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  Ted Stankowich.
• 7:36
  Researchers looked at Census data and found that people with last names
• 7:39
  like Baker, Carpenter, or Painter, were over-represented in those professions.
• 7:45
  This may be evidence of what psychologists call “implicit egotism.”
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  That’s where people are drawn to things that resemble them.
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  [MUSIC FADES IN]
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  So someone’s name might give them the tiniest nudge toward a career choice.
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  If nothing else, people with aptonyms say it gives them extra recognition.
• 8:02
  Betsy Weatherhead is an atmospheric scientist.
• 8:05
  She says, people naturally remember her because of her name,
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  and she’s grateful for that.
• 8:12
  You can find all these stories and more in the Apple News app.
• 8:15
  And if you’re already listening in the News app right now,
• 8:17
  we've got a Narrated Article coming up next from "WIRED."
• 8:20
  A Russian journalist tells his story of fleeing, and eventually returning to,
• 8:24
  Russia in the wake of the invasion of Ukraine.
• 8:27
  He left because he was worried his political views and LGBTQ+ identity
• 8:32
  would make him a target.
• 8:34
  Now he worries about what Russia is becoming.
• 8:36
  If you’re listening in the Podcasts app, follow Apple News+ Narrated
• 8:40
  to find that story. And I’ll be back with the news tomorrow.
• 8:43
  [MUSIC FADES]