The Trump administration wants a baby boom, but many of its policies are making it harder for American families to expand. Vox's Rachel Cohen explains. The trial of Sean Combs, the music mogul known as Diddy, starts today. He faces federal charges including sex trafficking and racketeering. Charles Bethea, a staff writer with the New Yorker, spent several months profiling one of the lead attorneys defending him. Warren Buffet is stepping down as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway as he warns of economic hardship ahead under President Trump’s tariff agenda. The Wall Street Journal has the details of his announcement and argues there will never be another investor like him. Plus, Israel’s security cabinet approves a new ground operation that includes occupying the Gaza Strip, the president told NBC "I don’t know" when asked if he’s required to uphold the Constitution, and the Met Gala celebrates Black dandyism. Today’s episode was hosted by Shumita Basu.
Chapter 1: What is the reason Americans aren't having more babies?
Good morning. It's Monday, May 5th. I'm Shamita Basu. This is Apple News Today. On today's show, at 94 years old, Warren Buffett is stepping down. The Trump administration's plan to convince more Americans to have babies and a little history behind tonight's Met Gala theme. But first, the trial of Sean Combs, the music mogul known as Diddy, starts today.
Chapter 2: What are the charges against Sean Combs?
He faces federal charges including sex trafficking and racketeering. Prosecutors say he ran a criminal enterprise that included kidnapping, drugging, and threatening women into sexual activity. Combs denies all the accusations against him, and last week he turned down one last chance at a plea bargain. If convicted, he could spend the rest of his life in prison.
Recently, the New Yorker profiled one of the lawyers on his defense team, a man named Brian Steele. He first got on Combs' radar after defending the rapper Young Thug in a racketeering case. Last fall, Steele helped Young Thug secure a plea deal for probation and community service, far better than the alternative, which could have been decades in prison.
Chapter 3: Who is Brian Steele and what is his role in Combs' defense?
He told me that he likes to take on the most challenging cases possible.
Charles Bethea spent around four months reporting on Steele's career and courtroom style for The New Yorker.
He also doesn't seem interested in the money and the sort of toys that come with the millions of dollars he's paid to do this work. His work ethic is legendary. I mean, I talked to dozens of attorneys, including rivals, who ultimately admitted that he works harder than anyone they've ever encountered in the practice of law.
And Bethea told us Steele seems to have almost the opposite values of Combs, or at least the public's perception of Combs, who branded himself as a bad boy. Steele, meanwhile.
He's something of a Boy Scout. He won't curse, even when reading from court transcripts. He's remarkably kind and generous in the course of his daily life. I witnessed him stopping to pick up trash while jogging, offering food to homeless people outside the grocery store.
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Chapter 4: What makes Brian Steele a unique lawyer?
I kept trying to find skeletons in his closet during my reporting, but I didn't find anything more scandalous than a parking ticket.
Bethea says that reputation might help Combs in the courtroom.
Steele's polite, principled, even formal approach to defense may help a jury see Combs in a better light than a more sort of classic, slick, pugnacious defense attorney would. He might also cross-examine some of Combs' accusers with his kind of gentle and sympathetic touch, which I witnessed during another recent trial of his
The list of witnesses has not yet been made public. But according to CNN, former sexual partners, a business associate, and a male sex worker are among those expected to appear. So is Combs' ex-girlfriend, the singer Cassie Ventura. A video of Combs brutally attacking her in a hotel back in 2016 was made public by CNN last year.
The New Yorker also mentions other lawyers on Combs' legal team, including Mark Agnifilo. In the past, he's represented Keith Ranieri, the founder of the NXIVM sex cult, and Martin Shkreli, the so-called pharma bro. He is also, along with his wife, Karen Friedman Agnifilo, currently representing Luigi Mangione, who's charged in the murder of the UnitedHealthcare CEO.
Jury selection starts today, and opening arguments are next week. Now to billionaire investor Warren Buffett, who is stepping down from his role as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway after 60 years with the company. In a surprise announcement at the company's annual meeting over the weekend, Buffett said he's recommending that his vice chairman, Greg Abel, take the mantle next, starting in 2026.
The time has arrived where...
Greg should become the chief executive officer of the company at year end.
On Sunday, the board of directors approved Abel as his successor and voted to keep Buffett on as chairman of the board next year. Buffett told the crowd over the weekend, although he won't be the final word on business matters, he remains loyal to the company.
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Chapter 5: What was Warren Buffett's recent announcement?
Berkshire Hathaway's annual meeting is an event that's become so popular in the world of investing that it's been nicknamed Woodstock for capitalists. Every year, it attracts thousands of investors and fans who flock to Omaha and millions more who watch from home. Investors, politicians, and industry leaders quickly reacted to the news.
JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon released a statement saying Buffett, quote, represents everything that is good about American capitalism and America itself, and that he's learned so much from the 94-year-old titan of industry. Republican Representative French Hill, who is the chair of the House Committee on Financial Services, spoke with CNBC.
Warren Buffett's been a hero of mine since I was in college. And the super investor article he wrote back in 1984 was what got me so interested in value investing and also following his work.
He said he's been attending the Berkshire Hathaway annual meetings since the 90s.
And when I got out of government in 1993 and went back to the private sector and investment management, it was Warren Buffett who was, you know, my role model.
In his announcement, Buffett also made his most pointed comments yet about President Trump's trade policy, calling punitive tariffs a mistake.
There's no question trade can be an act of war. And I think it's led to bad things. Just the attitudes it's brought out in the United States. I mean, we should be looking to trade with the rest of the world and we should do what we do best and they should do what they do best.
But Buffett said he's not particularly concerned about recent market volatility brought on by Trump's tariffs, telling shareholders he's lived through far worse.
It's really nothing. There's been three times since we acquired Berkshire that Berkshire has gone down 50% in a fairly short period of time, three different times. Nothing was fundamentally wrong with the company at any time, but this is not a huge move.
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Chapter 6: How does Warren Buffett view Trump's trade policies?
One of the ideas was a national motherhood medal that would be bestowed on women who have six or more kids.
Another idea Trump has praised involves paying every mother $5,000 after giving birth.
Baby bonuses are pretty common around the world. They are not on its own likely to boost birth rates that much at all, but they could be helpful to new parents in sort of a more stressful, turbulent period of their life.
It's not clear which of these ideas, if any, the administration might ultimately pursue. But ProPublica points out Trump's team has already, in many ways, made it harder for families to expand in the U.S. with other policy decisions. Doge made significant staffing cuts at the agency that promotes health and safety standards for child care programs.
It also helps states reduce the cost of child care for families. Cohen cited a few others.
They are gutting funding for Head Start, which serves nearly 800,000 low-income children in preschool. House Republicans want to cut Medicaid, which that would force millions of people off their health insurance, which would make giving birth more expensive.
And the Trump administration recently gutted at Health and Human Services, federal teams that have been studying maternal health and reproductive medicine for years.
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Chapter 7: What is the significance of Buffett's legacy in investing?
So it's not clear how the administration plans to square its ambitions of boosting the birth rate in the United States while making cuts to programs that support that very same goal. Also, Cohen told us it's important to keep in mind the U.S. is not an outlier when it comes to declining birth rates.
This is a global trend, and it's impacting even the countries with policies that are much friendlier to families. So there are experts who are saying there's more to this story than just cost. Before we let you go, a few other stories we're following. Israel's security cabinet has voted to approve a new ground operation that includes occupying the Gaza Strip.
It also proposed a plan to take over aid distribution to address its claim that Hamas is intercepting aid. Israel has already cut off all deliveries of humanitarian aid to Gaza. No food, water or medicine has entered the enclave since March 2nd.
The new war plan, approved early this morning, is a formalization of an idea that's been considered more seriously in recent weeks, ever since Israel broke the ceasefire agreement and resumed attacks.
Al Jazeera reports Hamas rejected Israel's plan to bypass international aid agencies and distribute aid directly to Palestinians, saying aid should not be used as a, quote, tool of political blackmail.
The UN and international humanitarian groups have also condemned the plan, warning that essential supplies and food and water are running seriously low in the Gaza Strip, reaching a dangerous new crisis point.
Over the weekend, President Trump said in an interview with NBC News' Kristen Welker that he's not sure if it is his job to uphold the Constitution, even though that's part of the oath every president takes when being sworn in. And Trump said he does not know whether every person in this country is entitled to due process.
Your secretary of state says everyone who's here, citizens and non-citizens, deserve due process.
Do you agree, Mr. President? I don't know. I'm not a lawyer. I don't know. Well, the Fifth Amendment says this much. I don't know.
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