The Headlines - Bishop Asks Trump to ‘Have Mercy,’ and Hegseth Faces New Accusations

Episode Date: January 22, 2025

Plus, snow on Florida’s beaches.   On Today’s Episode:Twenty-two States Sue to Stop Trump’s Birthright Citizenship Order, by Mattathias Schwartz and Mike BakerBishop Asks Trump to ‘Have Mercy’ on Immigrants and Gay Children, by Zolan Kanno-Youngs, Tim Balk and Erica L. GreenHegseth Ex-Sister-in-Law Tells Senators He Was ‘Abusive’ to Second Wife, by Karoun Demirjian and Sharon LaFraniereOne Family in Gaza Returned Home. But Home Was Gone, by Vivian Yee and Bilal ShbairRare Snowfall Snarls Cities as Deadly Cold Stalks the South, by J. David Goodman Tune in every weekday morning. To get our full audio journalism and storytelling experience, download the New York Times Audio app — available to Times news subscribers on iOS — and sign up for our weekly newsletter.Tell us what you think at: [e-mail]. 

From the New York Times, it's the headlines. I'm Tracy Mumford. Today is Wednesday, January 22nd. Here's what we're covering. Presidents in this country have broad powers, but they are not kings. They do not have the power to unilaterally disregard our laws. That's true for Donald Trump. That's true for every president that came before him and every president who will come

after him. Two days into his presidency, Donald Trump is facing pushback over his avalanche of executive orders. This is an extreme and unprecedented act. And this executive order is an assault on the rule of law. Twenty-two state attorneys general, including Matthew Platkin in New Jersey, sued Trump on Tuesday over his executive order undermining birthright citizenship for the children of undocumented immigrants.

They called it a clear violation of the 14th Amendment. We know that the executive order would wreak havoc and chaos. Hundreds of thousands of children who are born in this country to non-citizen parents each year will suddenly have an uncertain legal status. That's at least 420 children born every single day. If the order is not blocked by the courts, it will kick in next month. Trump is also facing a lawsuit over his executive order that will make it easier to fire federal workers.

Right now, those workers are supposed to be hired based on merit and can't be arbitrarily dismissed. But Trump's order could open the door for career civil servants to be replaced by political appointees. And a union representing 50,000 government employees has sued, saying that could radically reshape federal agencies and

disrupt everything from law enforcement to environmental protection efforts. Also on Tuesday, Trump faced a rare direct act of resistance when Bishop Marianne Edgar Buddy turned to him as he was sitting in the front row during the inaugural prayer service at the National Cathedral. I ask you to have mercy, Mr. President, on those in our communities whose children fear that their parents will be taken away and that you help those who are fleeing war zones and persecution in their own lands to find compassion and welcome here. She called on Trump to consider the impact of his crackdown on immigration.

And she said fear was spreading among LGBTQ Americans as Trump rolled back protections for transgender people. Trump looked away. But he told the Times, quote, "'I wasn't necessarily calling the president out. I was trying to say the country has been entrusted to you.'" Late last night, Trump berated the bishop on social media, calling her a radical left hardline Trump hater and demanding an apology for the sermon.

Meanwhile, the Trump administration is pushing forward with its plans to dismantle diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives inside the federal government. They've set a deadline of 5 p.m. today for federal agencies to place all their DEI staff on paid leave and come up with plans to shut down their offices. They've also said outgoing staff will be questioned when they leave about whether there are any remaining DEI efforts in place. The executive order that outlines the rollback says that DEI initiatives undermine hard work and individual achievement in favor of a pernicious identity-based system. It marks a 180 degree turn from how the

Biden administration saw DEI work as an effort to support underserved communities and address racial inequalities. communities and address racial inequalities. And with that, I will welcome you to the Department of State. Colleagues the 72nd Secretary of State Marco Rubio. President Trump's first cabinet member, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, has officially been sworn in. For the former senator from Florida, the confirmation process was smooth. The Senate voted 99 to 0 to approve him. But there's been a new complication

for one of Trump's other highest-level picks, Pete Hegseth for Secretary of Defense. Yesterday, his former sister-in-law submitted a sworn statement to the Senate, saying she saw Hegseth drinking excessively on numerous occasions, including while in his military uniform. She also claimed Hegseth was abusive towards his second wife, leading her to hide in a closet on one occasion out of fear and text for help. According to the affidavit, she did not witness the abuse firsthand, and Hegseth's ex-wife said in her own affidavit there was no physical abuse. But the new allegations are strikingly similar to others that have surfaced about the former Fox News host and Army veteran, including a financial settlement he paid to a woman

who accused him of rape. Hegseth has vigorously denied the allegations against him, and Republicans are still pushing his nomination forward. Senator Mark Wayne Mullen of Oklahoma told reporters yesterday that he thinks the allegations are part of a smear campaign. Pete is going to be the Secretary of Defense, period. The Danes can do whatever they want to. Senator, they want to.

He's denied allegations. A full Senate vote on Hexeth could come within days. In Gaza, since the moment the ceasefire took effect this weekend, people have been trying to make their way back to their homes to assess the damage. Many of the nearly two million people there were displaced at least once, and much of the territory has been destroyed. The Times spoke with one family from the city of Rafa. Before they were forced to leave, the Dahlez family lived in this two-story house next

to a farm where they kept sheep, rabbits, chickens. They had olive groves and date palms. This was a house that the father of the family had built back in 1971. And like a lot of Gazan families, it was several generations living in the same house. My colleagues Vivienne Yee and Bilal Shabair have been reporting on the family's return home after eight months of living in tents. As soon as the fighting stopped,

they decided to try to see it for themselves and go back. So they jumped in a car and set out for their old neighborhood and they're driving around looking for their house and they just don't see anything and they realize they had just driven past it without even recognizing it because it was so destroyed. And the grandfather who built the house starting in the 70s was just so shocked that that he kind of lost his breath and had to be taken back to their tent to recover and rest. Like a lot of Gazans, they would love to rebuild given the resources, but they're also just not sure will the ceasefire last? Is the war actually going to end in any kind of stable way?

So if that happens, they're planning to clear some land and kind of camp out there until they can rebuild, but they're not even sure that will happen. And finally. And finally, a record-breaking winter storm sweeping across the southern U.S., piling up snow where that just does not happen. The first ever blizzard warning was issued for parts of Texas and Louisiana. Thousands of flights have been canceled, airports closed, and whole stretches of highway, including Interstate 10, have been shut down as officials warn people to stay off the roads.

At least 10 people have died in crashes or in the cold. Still, the weather's brought a lot of people outside to see the ultra rare sight. There's snow on the white sand beaches in Florida, whipping past palm trees. In New Orleans, people are using the levees as ski slopes. And kids who have never had any reason in their whole life to own a sled have been out there sliding down hills on cookie sheets.

The last time a lot of the region got this much snow was the Gulf Storm of 1895. The mayor of Pensacola, Florida, which has gotten at least five inches, admitted he's learning on the fly. The city doesn't own any snowplows. It had to hire some to drive down from Atlanta. He said some people have been trying to downplay the weather, saying, oh, it's just a few inches. He said, quote, well, how would someone in Michigan or Minnesota react to a category

two hurricane? Those are the headlines today on The Daily, more on Trump's crackdown at the border. That's next in the New York Times audio app where you can listen wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Tracy Mumford. We'll be back tomorrow.