The Trump administration’s drive to dismantle inclusion policies is undercutting federal funding for scientific-research grants. The 19th looks into some of the fallout. CNN reports on how special elections for two House seats in Florida this week have Republican leaders worried about their razor-thin majority. A preliminary report from South Korea’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission acknowledges that the government failed to protect the rights of adoptees. The Washington Post has the details. PBS spoke to adoptees about falsified records and swapped identities. Plus, Trump expressed anger at Putin, rescue efforts in Myanmar continued, and all four No. 1 seeds made it to the men’s NCAA basketball Final Four. Today’s episode was hosted by Shumita Basu.
Full Episode
Good morning. It's Monday, March 31st. I'm Shamita Basu. This is Apple News Today. On today's show, what happens to health research when studies that use the word women are cut? South Korea's dark history of adoptions. And in men's college basketball, it's an all number one seed final four. But first, there are a couple of important special elections this week that we're following.
Tomorrow we'll break down a crucial contest in Wisconsin for a state Supreme Court vacancy that's attracted the attention of Elon Musk. Today we're going to look at two House seats up for grabs in Florida that are making Republicans nervous about their slim majority.
One of those races in Florida's 6th congressional district is to replace Mike Waltz, President Trump's national security advisor, who's been in the headlines over the Signal Group chat, where he and several other top officials discussed military strike plans in Yemen. Running to replace Waltz is Republican State Senator Randy Fine.
Last week, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis was asked about the contest.
I will tell you this. Regardless of the outcome in that, it's going to be a way under performance from what I won that district by in 22 and what President won it by in November. That is not a reflection of President Trump. It's a reflection of the specific candidate running in that race.
Fein's opponent, Democrat Josh Wheal, has out-fundraised Fein by 10 to 1. And according to CNN, those figures sent shockwaves from Florida all the way to Washington. CNN also reports senior GOP leadership intervened, calling Fein and saying he needs to step up his efforts in the race. One poll showed Fein's lead within the margin of error.
Another pollster also found Fein's lead a lot tighter than expected. Meanwhile, in Florida's other congressional race, Democrat Gay Valamont also outraised Trump's endorsed candidate, Jimmy Petronas, about 7-1. That race is to replace former Congressman Matt Gaetz. Republicans have a 218-213 edge over Democrats in the House, so every seat and every vote matters.
NBC national political correspondent Steve Kornacki broke down the race on the network and said it's a big ask for Democrats to flip these seats, given just how Republican these districts are. But these are the exact types of elections where they have a shot.
in the last couple of years, in special elections for the House and in lower turnout elections, not like presidential elections where everybody votes, that's where the Democrats have had an advantage. That's where they've overperformed. They've done well. Why?
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