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What to know about the death of a Boeing whistleblower · Apple News Today

• 0:00
  [MUSIC FADES IN]
• 0:05
  Yasmeen Khan, Narrating: Good morning. It's Friday, March 15th.
• 0:07
  I'm Yasmeen Khan in for Shumita Basu. This is "Apple News Today."
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  Coming up, Chuck Schumer makes a stunning speech on the Senate floor,
• 0:17
  a week of mounting bad news for Boeing, and how to spot disinformation
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  this election cycle.
• 0:25
  [MUSIC FADES OUT]
• 0:27
  But first, a quick look at a few stories in the news.
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  In the election interference case against Donald Trump in Georgia,
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  Judge Scott McAffee has determined that District Attorney Fani Willis
• 0:39
  should not be disqualified from prosecuting the case
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  but with a caveat, Special Counsel Nathan Wade, her former romantic partner,
• 0:47
  must withdraw from the case if she stays on it.
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  Trump and other defendants sought to disqualify Willis
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  accusing her of financially benefiting from her romantic relationship with Wade
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  something Willis denies.
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  In his ruling today, McAffee said the personal relationship between the two
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  prosecutors brought an "appearance of impropriety”
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  to the case. But that there was no actual conflict of interest.
• 1:10
  Meanwhile in New York, another criminal case against Trump,
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  which was scheduled to go to trial in 10 days, may be postponed.
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  This was a surprising development from the Manhattan district attorney's office.
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  It said yesterday it would accept a 30-day delay to review new records.
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  In this case, Trump has been accused of making hush money payments during the
• 1:30
  2016 campaign to silence women who claimed to have a sexual relationship with him.
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  Now to Michigan, and the case against James Crumbley
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  the father of a convicted school shooter there.
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  A jury found Crumbly guilty of involuntary manslaughter for failing to secure a gun
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  at home and address the signs of mental health distress with his son.
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  Crumbly did not testify in his own defense,
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  unlike his wife, who was convicted on the same charges last month.
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  He will be sentenced in April.
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  In Russia, elections will be held this weekend, though we should add
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  quotes around the word "elections," because as many have called out,
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  what's happening in Russia will not really be a democratic election.
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  Vladimir Putin is poised to win his fifth term on Sunday, allowing him to stay
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  in power until at least 2030.
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  Back in 2020, he engineered changes to the constitution to allow him to hold
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  at least two more six-year terms.
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  Since taking power 24 years ago, Putin has steadily chipped away at
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  Russia's democratic institutions, and most of the prominent opposition leaders have
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  been silenced, jailed, or killed.
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  And in Gaza, a ship carrying half a million meals arrived from Cyprus
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  early this morning.
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  This is the first time maritime aid has been sent since the war started.
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  The non-profit World Central Kitchen led the mission.
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  The shipment could mark the first of several rounds of aid delivered by sea.
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  And it comes as the U.S. army works to build a floating dock off the coast
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  of Gaza a to get more aid to Palestinians in desperate need.
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  [OMINOUS MUSIC]
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  [MUSIC FADES OUT]
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  Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat and the highest-ranking
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  Jewish official in U.S. history,
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  stood before his colleagues on the Senate floor yesterday,
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  declared his lifelong love
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  for Israel, and then called for new elections there, saying Prime Minister
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  Benjamin Netanyahu was an obstacle to peace.
• 3:37
  [START CNN ARCHIVAL CLIP]
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  Chuck Schumer: Five months into this conflict, it is clear that Israelis need
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  to take stock of the situation and ask, must we change course?
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  At this critical juncture,
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  I believe a new election is the only way to allow for
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  a healthy and open decision-making process about the future of Israel.
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  [END CNN ARCHIVAL CLIP]
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  Khan, Narrating: The remarks come as the White House has sharpened its public criticism
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  of its longtime ally, and after the vice president recently met with Netanyahu's
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  biggest political rival.
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  It's no secret that many Democrats aren't aligned
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  with Netanyahu's right-wing government,
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  a position they've held long before this war.
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  But it was still striking to hear a high-ranking official like Schumer condemn
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  Netanyahu in this way and call for new leadership.
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  [START C-SPAN ARCHIVAL CLIP]
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  Schumer: He has put himself in coalition with far-right extremists like Minister Smotrik
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  and Ben Gavir.
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  And as a result, he has been too willing to tolerate the civilian toll
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  in Gaza, which is pushing support for Israel worldwide to historic lows.
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  Israel cannot survive if it becomes a pariah.
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  [END C-SPAN ARCHIVAL CLIP]
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  Khan, Narrating: "Politico" referred to Schumer's speech as a moment where it felt like
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  America's gloves were coming off.
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  As they describe it, for a long time, it was once only acceptable to
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  criticize Israel in private.
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  Now, perhaps, that's no longer feels true.
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  Another example,
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  earlier this week, Independent Senator Bernie Sanders and seven Democratic
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  senators sent President Biden a letter urging him
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  to stop providing offensive weapons to
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  Israel until Israel lifts restrictions on U.S. aid getting into Gaza.
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  The senators argue that continuing to arm Israel is a violation of the
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  Foreign Assistance Act, which prohibits military support going to a country
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  that blocks the delivery of humanitarian aid.
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  Many Republicans, meanwhile, have been quick to double down
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  on their support for Netanyahu.
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  Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell basically said
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  Schumer's statements were out of line.
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  [START C-SPAN ARCHIVAL CLIP]
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  Mitch McConnell: It is grotesque and hypocritical
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  for Americans who hyperventilate about foreign interference in our own
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  democracy to call for the removal of a democratically elected leader of Israel.
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  This is unprecedented.
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  We should not treat fellow democracies this way at all.
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  [END C-SPAN ARCHIVAL CLIP]
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  Khan, Narrating: The White House has made it clear that Schumer does not speak
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  for the Biden administration.
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  But just hours after Schumer's remarks,
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  the State Department announced new sanctions
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  against two outposts in the West Bank and three extremist Israeli settlers
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  who've committed acts of violence against Palestinian civilians.
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  It's Biden's second round of sanctions against settlers.
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  Which are designed to block these settlers from using the U.S.
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  financial system and bar American citizens
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  Here's State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller.
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  [START ARCHIVAL CLIP]
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  Matthew Miller: It is critical that Israel take additional action to stop settler violence
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  and hold accountable those responsible for it, not just for the sake of the victims
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  of this violence, but for Israel's own security and standing in the world.
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  [END ARCHIVAL CLIP]
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  Khan, Narrating: More than 400 Palestinians, including over 100 children, have been killed
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  in violence in the West Bank since the start of the war,
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  according to the United Nations.
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  As one senior administration official told "Politico," the change in tone
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  from the United States
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  is intentional, but America's core positions have not changed.
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  The top priorities remain defeating Hamas and getting the hostages home safely.
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  [PENSIVE MUSIC]
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  [MUSIC FADES OUT]
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  Let's turn now to Boeing.
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  It's been another tumultuous week for the planemaker.
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  Last weekend, a Boeing whistleblower was found dead.
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  A local county coroner say the former employee, John Barnett,
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  appears to have died by suicide.
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  He worked at Boeing for more than 30 years and was in the middle of a legal dispute
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  with his former employer.
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  And his death puts renewed focus on safety concerns at the company,
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  sometimes raised by employees themselves.
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  Ian Duncan is a transportation reporter at "The Washington Post."
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  He told us about the quality issues that Barnett brought to the company
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  while working on the 787 Dreamliner.
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  Ian Duncan: He raised concerns about metal shaving, so stuff that's left over
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  after work is done, being left on the planes.
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  This is a well-known problem in aviation called foreign object debris.
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  Khan, Narrating: Barnett warned that these shavings could have catastrophic results
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  if they penetrated wiring.
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  He also uncovered problems with emergency oxygen systems, among other things.
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  Boeing denied these claims, but in 2017, the FAA reviewed
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  and upheld some of Barnett's concerns and required Boeing to make changes.
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  That same year, Barnett retired, citing health concerns and concerns
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  that the company might fire him if he didn't leave voluntarily.
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  At the time of his death, he was set to give final depositions in a case against
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  Boeing, where he accused the company of retaliating against him for raising issues
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  about production. Boeing denies this.
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  Duncan says the timing of Barnett's death is bringing to the fore
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  all of the issues Boeing has faced
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  Duncan: It just seems like there is this kind of constant drumbeat
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  of bad news for Boeing.
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  Khan, Narrating: There are ongoing investigations from multiple branches of government
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  into the Alaska Airlines flight from January.
• 9:20
  That's when a panel of a Boeing plane blew out mid-flight,
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  ripping a hole in the cabin and leaving passengers exposed.
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  The FAA gave Boeing 90 days to fix quality control issues.
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  The Justice Department is investigating.
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  And this week, the chief investigator for the National Transportation Safety Board
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  said the agency still does not know who worked on that panel.
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  Boeing has no records.
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  The company claims employees did not document their work,
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  but says it's doing what it can to help with the probe.
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  While the investigations proceed, Duncan says past issues at Boeing will
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  be put under a microscope, including those brought up by whistleblowers like Barnett.
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  Duncan: The company doesn't really have the benefit of the doubt from anybody
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  at the moment and so something goes wrong on a Boeing plane
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  and it is attracting much more attention than it otherwise might.
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  [INTRIGUING MUSIC]
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  [MUSIC FADES OUT]
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  Khan, Narrating: You may be familiar with the political propaganda idea that the bigger lie,
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  the more likely people will believe it.
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  This idea was first articulated by Adolf Hitler in 1925.
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  He actually coined the term "big lie"
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  in his autobiographical manifesto, "Mein Kampf."
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  Barbara McQuade: And he said, everybody tells white lies from time to time.
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  [START IN CONVERSATION CLIP]
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  You might tell somebody that they look good tonight or, you know,
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  they're saying things out of a place of kindness or courtesy.
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  [END IN CONVERSATION CLIP]
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  Khan, Narrating: That's Barbara McQuade, a former U.S. attorney
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  and a legal analyst for "NBC" and "MSNBC."
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  McQuade: But what Hitler wrote is it would never occur to most people to have
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  [START IN CONVERSATION CLIP]
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  the audacity to lie about something of great significance.
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  And so they project onto others that same moral limit that
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  who would do that? Nobody would lie about that.
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  And so for the person who is willing to cross that moral line and lie about things
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  that are very significant, it has the unlikely result of being more
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  believable than a little white lie.
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  [END IN CONVERSATION CLIP]
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  Khan, Narrating: McQuade is also the author of the new book,
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  "Attack from Within: How Disinformation is Sabotaging America."
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  And she's our guest this week on "Apple News In Conversation."
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  Guest host, Brian Stelter, who's filling in for Shumita while she's
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  on maternity leave, talked with McQuade about the "big lie."
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  And McQuade explained, it's just one key tactic that we're seeing
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  used today to spread
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  false information, like the false notion that the 2020 election was stolen.
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  And now, as AI gets more sophisticated and the safeguards on our social media
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  get weaker, disinformation is becoming an increasingly urgent
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  issue, especially with an election coming up.
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  In this episode, McQuade offers some solutions on how to address the problem
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  and advice on how to distinguish between real and false information.
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  [MUSIC FADES IN]
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  You can find "Apple News In Conversation" in the Apple Podcasts app.
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  And if you're listening in the News app right now, that episode is coming up
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  for you next.
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  Have a great weekend, and I'll be back with the news on Monday.
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  [MUSIC FADES OUT]