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Good morning. It's Tuesday, January 23rd. I'm Gideon Resnick, in for Shumita Basu. This is "Apple News Today." On today's show, it's primary day in New Hampshire, the parents of a teenage school shooter face justice, and how American laws are changing for animals.
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First to New Hampshire, where some of the primary votes came in while you were sleeping.
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A vote for Nikki Haley, another vote for Nikki Haley. So that's…
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That's the counting in Dixville Notch, the tiny town that is famous for its midnight voting. Nikki Haley got all six votes cast. She's going to need a lot more than that to make a strong showing against former President Donald Trump. But New Hampshire is seen as more favorable to Haley than Iowa was. Independent voters can cast ballots in the Republican primary there, and many could come out to support her. She also has the endorsement of the state's Republican governor, Chris Sununu.
He told "CNBC" Haley worked harder in New Hampshire than Trump.
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She's making meaningful connections. She's going to businesses and craft breweries and town halls. And, you know, we're at the hockey game yesterday, meeting hundreds and hundreds of voters. Those things really matter. Trump flies in, does a rally and flies out.
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Now, the Republican contest has the real stakes, but there is technically a race on the other side. The weird thing is, there are 21 candidates in the Democratic primary, and President Biden is not one of them. If he wants to win New Hampshire today, he'll have to win it on write-ins. So if you're wondering why names like Dean Phillips and Marianne Williamson may be showing up on the Democratic results tonight, "USA TODAY" has some of the backstory here.
For years, critics have said New Hampshire is not the best place to start the presidential race, since it is far less racially diverse than other states. Last year, the Democratic Party, with Biden's encouragement, finally did something about it. They changed the primary calendar to put South Carolina at the front. But New Hampshire has a state law that says it must be the nation's first primary. So, the state legislature scheduled it that way.
And once that happened, Biden declined to run in New Hampshire. But a lot of Biden supporters in the state do not think it'll be a very good look if he doesn't win there. Biden's critics could claim that a poor showing is a sign of a weak candidate. So, they've organized a write-in campaign. These are always tricky because voters have to follow very specific instructions or their votes don't count. They can't just fill in a bubble like they can for other candidates.
They have to choose the blank write-in line all the way at the bottom of the ballot and write Biden's name clearly.
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The polls may show Biden dominating in New Hampshire, but that is a little harder to turn into electoral reality when you're not even on the ballot. Today in Michigan, a high-profile trial will begin involving the parent of a convicted mass shooter.
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Jennifer and James Crumbley have pleaded not guilty to four counts of involuntary manslaughter for the 2021 shooting at Oxford High School in suburban Detroit. Their son Ethan, who was 15 at the time, killed four people and injured several others. He used a semi-automatic handgun his parents helped him buy. It was the deadliest school shooting in Michigan history. The teenager was sentenced to life in prison without parole.
His lawyers have appealed and sought to prevent him from testifying in his parents' cases. The trials for the Crumbley parents are getting a lot of attention because they mark the first time that parents of a school shooter have faced homicide charges linked to their child's shooting. The Crumbleys will not be tried together, as they decided to separate their cases. As a legal analyst points out to "NBC," that could lead to trials where each parent points the finger at the other as defense.
Jennifer Crumbley is up first, with jury selection starting today. The day of the shooting, the parents were told that their son was putting violent images and messages in his homework. One key question is whether buying the gun, and potentially ignoring their son's mental health struggles, makes them responsible for what he did. Michael Bullota is a former federal prosecutor who is now a criminal defense attorney. He told the Detroit "ABC" affiliate that the cases could end in mistrials.
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Because there could and there probably will be some jurors saying, "This is so horrible, these parents are terrible, they need to be held accountable." And then there's other jurors that may say, "Hey, I'm a parent, I don't want to be responsible for the actions of my children."
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If they are found guilty, the Crumbley parents could each face up to 15 years in prison.
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Now, let’s take a look at some other big stories that are in the news. The man suspected of shooting and killing eight people in suburban Chicago is dead.
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He died by suicide, hundreds of miles away in Texas, when confronted by law enforcement. Joliet, Illinois, Police Chief William Evans talked about the multiple locations where people were found dead yesterday and Sunday.
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I've been a policeman 29 years. This is probably the worst crime scene I've ever been associated with.
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Abroad, the Israeli military says 24 Israeli soldiers were killed in fighting in Gaza. That's the worst one-day death toll since fighting began there. Israel says more than 1,200 people have died in Hamas attacks on Israel. And Gaza officials say more than 25,000 people have been killed there. In California, a massive strike of Cal State University faculty is over. The union reached a tentative deal with the university system.
That meant a strike that was planned for five days ended after just one. Professors have been asking for higher pay, smaller class sizes, and better parental leave, among other things.
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And the Oscar nominations are now out.
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And now for our final category.
I can't wait!
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Let's read them together. The nominees for Best Motion Picture of the Year are…
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They included "Oppenheimer," which had the most nominations overall with 13. "Barbie," "Killers of the Flower Moon," "American Fiction," and "Maestro" were also among the Best Picture nominees. Lily Gladstone, from "Killers of the Flower Moon," became the first Native American nominated for Best Actress. Also, Martin Scorsese got his 10th Best Director nomination for that film. That puts him ahead of Steven Spielberg as the most nominated living filmmaker in the category.
And for the first time, three of the Best Picture nominees were directed by women.
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You can read full coverage of all the nominees on the Apple News app. The ceremony is Sunday, March 10th. And finally, a look at some big legal changes that are affecting animals. "National Geographic" looks at several new laws aimed at improving their quality of life.
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There's Illinois, where you can no longer take a selfie with bears or monkeys. A new law limits close contact with them. The hope is that it would keep people from captive breeding of these animals to serve as photo props at events. Meanwhile, in New York, wildlife killing contests are becoming illegal. For example, hunters in the Catskills hold annual competitions to see who can kill the most coyotes. That will no longer be allowed.
In a few more states, it's now illegal to sell eggs from hens that are kept in cages. This is part of a trend of moving away from the kind of production where hens are kept in spaces too small to even spread their wings.
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And several other states are barring pet stores from selling dogs and cats. The idea is to get people more focused on adopting strays and avoiding sales that could support high-volume breeding mills that treat animals badly. You can find all these stories and more in the Apple News app. And if you're already listening in the News app right now, don't go anywhere. We've got a Narrated Article coming up next from "New York" magazine on the 2024 election.
It looks at the coalition that rallied to defeat Trump in 2020, and how it appears to have lost momentum in the years since. If you're listening in the Podcasts app, follow Apple News+ Narrated to find that story, and I'll be back with the news tomorrow.
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