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Explaining the new charges Trump faces in Georgia · Apple News Today

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  Mark Garrison, Narrating: Good morning! It's Tuesday, August 15th. I'm Mark Garrison in for Shumita Basu. This is
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  Apple News Today.
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  On today's show: some young Americans win a major climate case, Florida tries to save its coral reefs from warming waters, and World Cup officials doing something unprecedented: explaining themselves.
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  But first, another indictment of former president Donald Trump, this time in Georgia. It involves his attempt to reverse his loss to Joe Biden in the state. The fourth set of criminal charges includes 41 counts, against a total of 19 defendants. That includes big names from Trump's inner circle, like Rudy Giuliani. Fulton County DA, Fani Willis, explained the case against them.
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  Fani Willis: The defendants engaged in a criminal, racketeering enterprise to overturn Georgia's presidential election result.
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  Reuters explains the use of racketeering charges here, which are typically used to target organized crime. They can carry a penalty of up to 20 years in prison. The federal Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations law, or RICO, says an alleged criminal enterprise has to be running over a long period of time. But Georgia's RICO law is more expansive, meaning prosecutors can go after short-lived criminal enterprises. RICO was established to target the mafia. But over the years it's been used in Wall Street cases, and the same Fulton County DA used it to prosecute Atlanta educators for allegedly scheming to cheat on standardized testing. A key difference in racketeering charges is prosecutors don't have to prove that defendants directly engaged in criminal activity. So, the DA could get a conviction if she proves that Trump knowingly was part of an organization that engaged in illegal activity, even if he didn't personally break the law. As with other indictments, Trump called the charges in Georgia "politically motivated." Giuliani called them "unjustified."
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  RICO cases can be more complicated because prosecutors have to prove the existence of a criminal enterprise. They often try to get co-defendants to testify against each other. Willis says, she plans to try all 19 defendants in this case together.
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  This is a month where the deadly wildfires in Hawaii, and other disasters, are shining a spotlight on the dangerous impact of climate change. And now a landmark legal decision is giving climate activists hope that they can change things in the courts. A judge in Montana has ruled in favor of a group of young plaintiffs. The court said that a Montana law that doesn't allow considering climate impact, when approving energy and mining projects, is unconstitutional. The state constitution says that citizens have a right to "a clean and healthful environment." The case was "Held versus Montana," we've talked about it on the show before. Lead plaintiff Rikki Held, age 22, spoke to "CNN" after the ruling.
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  Rikki Held: It's been a long time coming. We've waited three years just being part of this case and we've known about human-caused climate change at least half a century. So just getting a ruling that listens to our stories and
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  our voices and to the best available science, is just really important.
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  The state has promised an appeal. The Montana legislature would need to change the law to line up with the court's ruling. But the statehouse is dominated by Republicans who support fossil fuels. So, there's still a fight ahead for climate activists.
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  "The Daily Montanan" looks at the potential national impact of this week's ruling. It was the first case of its kind to go to trial in the U.S. The win could help similar cases around the country. The Montana plaintiffs were as young as five, but they have grownup attorneys. And those lawyers have other efforts in multiple states, including one in Hawaii. It's on track to go to trial next summer.
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  Let's move from the climate disasters on land, to the water off Florida, where warmer temperatures are putting the largest living barrier reef in the continental U.S. at risk. "Washington Post" environmental reporter Dino Grandoni told us about it.
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  Dino Grandoni: Right now, in Florida, there is an ecological disaster unfolding that scientists are calling "off-the-charts" and "disastrous" and "the worst bleaching event that Florida has ever seen."
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  Coral reefs aren't just pretty things for divers to look at. They play a vital role in keeping the entire underwater ecosystem going. Healthy reefs protect beaches from storms and erosion. Experts were bracing for possible coral bleaching this summer. That's what happens to reefs when the water is too warm for too long. But water temperatures burned through predictions, sometimes topping 100 degrees.
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  Grandoni: And when that happens, coral will spit out this beneficial algae that they have inside of them, which turns them into this deathly white color. That's what we call coral bleaching. Now, despite that ghostly appearance, bleached coral, necessarily, isn't dead. But, over time, with that stress, it could die, which is the fear right now.
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  And current conditions are forecast to last for at least another two months. Grandoni told us, the health of coral reefs across the world is a problem that affects everyone, from seafood lovers to scientists who create medicines with elements from underwater.
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  Grandoni: Coral reefs are home to, or support, about a quarter of all marine life. These are really, really important ecosystems and we're at risk of losing them, not just in Florida, but globally. If climate change continues as projected, there might not be any habitable areas in the ocean for coral reefs by the end of the century.
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  In the meantime, scientists in Florida are scrambling to collect and store fragments of healthy corals on land to preserve their genetic material. And they are transplanting corals to deeper and cooler waters, where they can hopefully wait out this intense heat wave.
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  Early this morning in the World Cup, Spain knocked out Sweden in a pretty exciting match. That means Spain will face the winner of tomorrow's England-Australia game. Speaking of England, this moment in their last match was pretty big, not just because of what happened, but also for how it was announced.
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  Soccor Referee: After the off-field review, the yellow card for No. 7 White is canceled. Instead, red card for violent conduct.
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  [CROWD CHEERS]
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  [END WORLD CUP ARCHIVAL CLIP]
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  That's the official explaining the call, out loud. If you're not a soccer fan, you might not know what a big deal that is. NFL officials are mic'd up and have to explain themselves all the time. But that's never happened at the World Cup, before this tournament. "The Wall Street Journal" looks at how top-level soccer is trying to be more transparent and clear, by having officials announce big calls.
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  There have been some bumps in the rollout, including language barriers. Officials at this World Cup come from 29 different countries. Many don't speak English as their first language. And some officials weren't crazy about the idea of being on the spot like this. If you're not Beyonce, having to talk to a stadium full of tens of thousands of
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  people can be pretty scary.
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  But so far, fans, announcers, and soccer officials seem to appreciate the extra info. The International Football Association Board says, after the 12-month trial of these announcements, it'll consider rolling them out more broadly.
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  We've got full coverage of the World Cup on the Apple News app, including another episode of our soccer podcast, After the Whistle, coming out today. And if you're already listening in the News app right now, stick around. We've got a narrated article coming up next from "Bloomberg Businessweek." It's about a $24 million crypto scam, pulled off by teens. That's cued up to play next, and we'll be back with the news tomorrow.
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