[MUSIC FADES IN]
Good morning! It's Thursday, September 15th. I'm Shumita Basu. This is "Apple News Today." Each morning, hear about some of the most fascinating stories in the news and how the world's best journalists are covering them.
[MUSIC FADES OUT]
Democrats have been doing something very unusual in this election. They've spent big money in Republican primaries. The latest example was in New Hampshire, where Don Bolduc won the Senate nomination this week. He's backed Trump's lies that the 2020 election was stolen, and he beat the moderate Republican he was up against, Chuck Morse. Now, Bolduc got help from Democrats. They didn't donate to his campaign directly, but they bought waves of ads attacking his moderate opponent.
It was a lot of money. It was a little over 3 million that Democrats put behind this candidate and he won narrowly. Annie Linskey is covering this controversial Democratic strategy for "The Washington Post." In some Republican primaries where far-right candidates are on the ballot, Democrats have taken steps to help them win. They're betting that these Republicans will be easier to beat in the general election.
Now, political operatives sometimes intervene in the other party's primaries, but Linskey says the scale of what Democrats have been doing this cycle is off-the-charts different.
Democrats are pouring, you know, by "The Post's" calculation, $53 million into essentially amplifying the views of some of the fringiest candidates. Some of these politicians getting Democratic help are explicitly questioning the way elections run.
Some of the Republican candidates are, you know, people whose views are, are well outside what has traditionally been the norm in American politics and, you know, are openly denying that the 2020 election was properly decided and have said they would, in some cases, do things quite differently if they were in power.
This strategy has split the Democratic Party. Supporters of it say Democrats need to do whatever it takes to win in November, and if that means effectively helping extreme candidates win Republican primaries because they'll be easier to beat, so be it.
But some prominent Democrats say this is tricky territory. Helping election deniers and conspiracy theorists win races means that their messages get amplified. Former House Democratic leader Richard Gephardt calls it "playing with fire." He says if you help a candidate who questions elections, that's dangerous for democracy and dangerous for the country.
[TENSE PIANO MUSIC]
There are explosive new developments in a welfare scandal in Mississippi, one that involves high-level politicians and Hall-of-Fame NFL quarterback Brett Favre. Now, the latest news includes some revealing text messages, but first, a quick catch-up if you haven't been following this story.
[MUSIC FADES OUT]
State auditors found a nonprofit responsible for distributing federal welfare money to the poor misspent at least $77 million. It's the biggest public fraud case in Mississippi history. Money that was supposed to go to people in need was instead spent on lobbyists, football tickets, religious concerts and $1.1 million in speaking fees, for Favre, for appearances he allegedly never made. He's now repaid that money, but is being sued for interest on it. And to be clear, Favre has not been charged with a crime.
But now, an investigative report by "Mississippi Today" reveals another layer in this elaborate scheme. It reviewed text messages between Favre, the former Mississippi governor Phil Bryant, and Nancy New. She ran the nonprofit at the center of the story and she's pleaded guilty to charges of misusing public money. Those texts show the three of them discussing how to allegedly divert at least $5 million in welfare funds to build a volleyball stadium at the University of Southern Mississippi. That's where Favre played college football, and his daughter played volleyball there.
Now, Bryant was the governor at the time and the texts reveal that he helped Favre write a funding proposal. One text shows plans included naming the stadium after Bryant. The former governor has long denied close involvement in steering welfare funds to the volleyball stadium. Favre's attorney says the athlete didn't know the money came from the welfare fund.
In one text, Favre asks Nancy New "If you were to pay me, is there anyway the media can find out where it came from and how much?" She responded "No." As for the larger scandal, a state civil case to recover some of the welfare money is pending. The FBI is still investigating.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
[MUSIC FADES OUT]
There's an update on a story that you'll know well if you listened to the podcast "Serial." It told the story of the murder of a teenager named Hae Min Lee. Her ex-boyfriend Adnan Syed was convicted of the killing in 2000 and sentenced to life in prison. Now, the "Wall Street Journal" breaks the story that prosecutors in Baltimore want a judge to vacate the conviction and give him a new trial.
They say a year-long investigation found new evidence with information on two alternative suspects. That includes a document in the state's file saying that one of these other suspects said he would kill Lee. But the defense never got that information. Prosecutors now say it might've helped Syed in his trial.
Syed has long said he didn't kill Lee. His story captured millions of peoples' attention when "Serial" broke through as the first big true crime podcast. He spoke to the host, Sarah Koenig, from prison.
[START SERIAL ARCHIVAL CLIP]
I just sometimes wish, like, they could look into my brain and see how I really felt about her. And no matter what else someone would say, they would see, man, this guy had no-- had no ill will towards her. Whatever the motivation is to kill someone, I had absolutely-- it didn't exist in me.
[END SERIAL ARCHIVAL CLIP]
Syed may soon be able to tell his side of the story outside of prison. Prosecutors recommended he be released while the investigation continues.
[SYNTH MUSIC]
Here's a really interesting giving-away-your-wealth move. The billionaire founder of the outdoor clothing brand Patagonia says he's handing over his company to the Earth. He says, instead of extracting value from nature, he wants to use Patagonia's wealth to protect it.
[MUSIC FADES OUT]
The BBC explains that Yvon Chouinard is technically giving Patagonia to a charitable trust. Any profits that aren't reinvested into the business will go to fighting climate change. The company's estimated to make $1.5 billion in revenue this year. Chouinard says the handover will generate around $100 million a year to fund green initiatives.
Patagonia already donated 1% of annual profits, but the founder wanted to do more. He said he thought about selling the whole company or taking it public and donating the money, but Chouinard said doing it this way allows him and his family to have a say in how the company and the charitable fund move forward. A few years ago, he spoke at the Commonwealth Club of California about business and social responsibility…
[START COMMONWEALTH CLUB OF CALIFORNIA ARCHIVAL CLIP]
We're a relatively small company but we have an incredible amount of social power around the world and it's only dawned on me recently that we have this and therefore we probably have the responsibility to use that power and not just hire other people to do the right thing and stuff.
[MUSIC FADES IN]
[END COMMONWEALTH CLUB OF CALIFORNIA ARCHIVAL CLIP]
You can find all these stories and more in the Apple News app. There's coverage of a tentative labor deal that may prevent a rail strike. And when you're in the app, keep listening to hear narrated articles from our News+ partners. I'll talk with you again tomorrow.
[MUSIC FADES OUT]