The Headlines - Republicans Face Backlash, and the Dangers of Fake A.I. Therapists

Episode Date: February 24, 2025

Plus, is the daytime soap opera back?  On Today’s Episode:Republicans Face Angry Voters at Town Halls, Hinting at Broader Backlash, by Robert JimisonSome Trump Officials Push Back Against Musk’s Ultimatum to Workers, by Chris Cameron and Maggie HabermanDOGE’s Only Public Ledger Is Riddled With Mistakes, by Aatish Bhatia, Emily Badger, David A. Fahrenthold, Josh Katz, Margot Sanger-Katz and Ethan Singer5 Takeaways From Germany’s Election, by Christopher F. Schuetze and Jim TankersleyPope Francis Suffering From Kidney Failure in Addition to Pneumonia, by Elisabetta PovoledoHuman Therapists Prepare for Battle Against A.I. Pretenders, by Ellen BarryA New Soap Opera Looks to Rekindle the Past While Breaking New Ground, by Jonathan AbramsTune 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 Monday, February 24th. Here's what we're covering. Republican lawmakers across the country have faced frustrated and angry voters over the last week as they held town halls back in their home districts. The president says you want to eliminate the Department of Education. We're not hearing a good story coming across the TV or out of the papers. Already our president is ignoring court's orders.

It was Congress's first recess since President Trump took office, and constituents were waiting for them with questions about executive orders, government layoffs, and the work of Elon Musk. I understand what your DOGE is trying to do. It's a good idea, but I think you need a better spokesman than the one you got up. In Trinity, Texas, this weekend, Representative Pete Sessions was pushed for answers

about how Trump and Musk are trying to slash spending. — My question to you is if the two people that are making—seems to be making most of the decisions right now decide to cut Social Security, Medicaid, and Medicare, will you be courageous enough to stand up to them? — Yeah. So these are—these are good questions. — Sessions appeared unfazed by the questions and by the people shouting over him at points. He said he could not promise that anyone would be insulated from budget cuts. Many of the most vocal complaints at the town halls came from people who identified themselves as Democrats.

But a number of questions also came from Republican voters, suggesting there could be a broader backlash building for the Republican Party as Trump's policies take effect nationwide in Washington even some Trump appointed officials have been publicly pushing back on Elon Musk's latest demands on Saturday an email went out to government employees with the subject line, What did you do this week? Elon Musk warned that anyone who didn't respond to it with a summary of their work would lose their job. The email reached workers across multiple agencies, from the FBI to the FDA. It even went to sitting federal judges who

are not part of the executive branch. The demand triggered a standoff. Several agency officials, including FBI Director Cash Patel and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, urged workers not to reply. Some reiterated that they were in charge of their staff, not Musk. The pushback reflects a growing unease behind the scenes of the Trump administration about Musk's power. President Trump, however, said Saturday he wants Musk to be more aggressive. Musk's latest controversial order comes as his team, the Department of Government Efficiency,

is claiming that it's cut $55 billion of federal spending so far. It's posted a so-called wall of receipts on its website. The Times has found that it's marred by accounting errors, outdated data, and other mistakes. Some contracts they said they canceled were double or triple counted. One line item initially claimed a contract was worth $8 billion when it was $8 million.

The full analysis of Doge's budget claims is at NYTimes.com. The highest share of German voters in decades flocked to the polls on Sunday for an election with massive consequences, not just for their country, but for all of Europe. The vote gave Germany a likely new chancellor, Friedrich Merz, and it came amid deep dissatisfaction with the direction of the country's economy, with immigration in Germany, and with huge questions surrounding Germany's relationship with the United States. Jim Tankersley is the Times bureau chief in Berlin. One of the big questions heading into this vote was how well the far-right Alternative for Germany or AFD party would do. This is a party that's

categorized as extremist by German intelligence that has members who have been fined for using banned Nazi slogans, even members who have been accused of trying to overthrow the government. And while they doubled their vote share from four years ago, and have proven themselves to be a real force to be reckoned with in German politics, they will not be included in the new government. The party that won was the Christian Democrats, a center-right party led by Friedrich Merz, a businessman who has never run a government ministry or even a small city, but who promised to crack down on immigration into Germany and to

roll back regulations and cut taxes in order to restart Germany's economic engine. The country hasn't grown in the last five years. Its economy actually got smaller last year and projections for this year are not much better. Mertz also appears headed into what increasingly looks like a confrontation with the United States over foreign policy. Mertz's victory came right on the third anniversary of the start of the war in Ukraine and he has promised to lead a robust defense for the Ukrainians in Europe and Germany, supplying them with more weapons and basically taking on President Trump as he attempts to negotiate a peace with Russia that cuts out Ukraine and the Europeans.

Officials at the Vatican say that Pope Francis is in the early stages of kidney failure. They say he's alert, but that his condition continues to be critical 10 days after he went into a hospital in Rome for respiratory issues. Catholic leaders have been urging people to pray for the 88-year-old pope. 10 days after he went into a hospital in Rome for respiratory issues. Catholic leaders have been urging people to pray for the 88-year-old pope. Yesterday, Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York City said that he's, quote, in very, very fragile health and probably close to death. Mental health professionals are sounding the alarm about unregulated AI chatbots claiming to be therapists.

Professionally programmed therapy chatbots do exist. They're set up with scripts and guardrails, and there's been a hope that they can help make up for a shortage of mental health providers. But this month, the head of the American Psychological Association said that vulnerable people have been turning to sites filled with user-generated bots that anyone can talk to. Some are labeled psychologist or therapist,

and they can even claim to have a degree from Stanford or specialize in specific techniques. Unlike therapy chat bots trained by human doctors, the fake therapy bots simply echo users' beliefs back to them and, in some cases, reinforce harmful thoughts. After interacting with one, a teenage boy in Texas started being violent towards his parents, and a 14-year-old in Florida died by suicide. Psychologists are warning that these bots need human supervision and federal oversight,

especially as the technology advances and they become more realistic. And finally... I can't believe I'm going to be living in share my crust. A new daytime soap opera premieres today on CBS, something that hasn't happened this century. Good luck, honey. You're going to need it. Soap operas used to be a centerpiece of afternoon TV.

People had to get home for their stories. But the shows have mostly disappeared. Reality TV has taken over. People get all their backstabbing, catfighting drama from real people instead, though it does have fewer evil twins. But now, the new soap, Beyond the Gates, is trying to bring back the form. It's also the first American soap completely centered on a Black family. The show is a partnership with the NAACP. It follows the wealthy but drama-prone Dupreeze in suburban Maryland.

Actress Tamara Tooney, who starred on Soaps in the 80s and 90s, plays the matriarch of the new show. She talked to the Times ahead of the launch. I didn't think that a new soap opera would ever be brought back into the lexicon and for it to be a show focusing on a Black family was something that I never imagined would happen. Those are the headlines. Today on The Daily, the controversial methods the Trump administration is using to deport undocumented migrants.

That's next in the New York Times audio app, or you can listen wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Tracy Mumford. We'll be back tomorrow.