El Salvador President Nayib Bukele said he will not help return Kilmar Abrego Garcia to the U.S. after Garcia was mistakenly deported to El Salvador. NBC News has more. And Rolling Stone reports on private White House considerations about sending U.S. citizens there as well. Joseph Walker from the Wall Street Journal joins to talk about a possible way that Republicans could cut Medicaid funding. Anil Oza, Sharon Begley fellow at Stat News, discusses the rise in U.S. maternal mortality rates. Plus, Harvey Weinstein goes back on trial, an internal government memo refutes the narrative behind the detainment of a Tufts University student, UConn star Paige Bueckers was selected first in the WNBA draft, and why the IRS is extending the tax-filing deadline for certain states. Today’s episode was hosted by Shumita Basu.
Full Episode
Good morning. It's Tuesday, April 15th. I'm Shamita Basu. This is Apple News Today. On today's show, Republicans look for budget cuts to meet Trump's legislative agenda, why maternal mortality rates are rising in the U.S., and the WNBA gets its latest star in last night's draft.
But first, President Trump and Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele say they will not return a Maryland man who was wrongfully deported to a notorious mega prison in El Salvador. Bukele met with Trump in the Oval Office on Monday and addressed the situation directly with reporters.
How can I return him to the United States? Like, I smuggle him into the United States? Of course, I'm not going to do it. The question is preposterous.
This comes despite a unanimous Supreme Court order directing the administration to, quote, facilitate the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia to the United States. He's originally from El Salvador, but he lives in Maryland under legal protected status with his wife and children, who are U.S. citizens. He has no criminal record in the United States or El Salvador.
The White House has called his deportation an administrative error, but at least one Trump advisor, Stephen Miller, contradicted that, saying, quote, this was the right person sent to the right place. In court filings, the Trump administration has claimed there's nothing they can do to bring Abrego Garcia home because he's no longer in U.S. custody.
And more recently, it has said the language of the Supreme Court's order only means U.S. officials have to allow him back into the country if El Salvador chooses to release him. Here's Attorney General Pam Bondi speaking to reporters on Monday.
That's up to El Salvador if they want to return him. That's not up to us. The Supreme Court ruled, President, that if, as El Salvador wants to return him, this is international matters, foreign affairs, if they wanted to return him, we would facilitate it, meaning provide a plane.
Meanwhile, Abrego Garcia's wife, Jennifer, says their family hasn't heard from him in a month.
The last time I spoke to him was March 15th, when they were about to abort a plane. And since then, I haven't heard from him. He told me to take care of the kids and to be strong.
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