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DOGE digging, Toronto plane flip and papal maladies

 
Today's NATIONAL story

Musk's DOGE seeks access to IRS, Social Security files

What happened
Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency is seeking access to Social Security Administration and Internal Revenue Service databases with highly personal information about most Americans, including tax returns, bank records and Social Security numbers, The Washington Post and other newspapers reported over the weekend. Acting SSA Commissioner Michelle King stepped down on Sunday, becoming the latest agency head to resign rather than give DOGE engineers access to closely held data.

The Trump administration also fired several thousand government workers over the weekend, including "scores of employees who work to bolster the nation's nuclear defense, only to realize its error and start reversing the firings," the Post said.

Who said what
The Trump administration said Musk's engineers need access to the tightly guarded databases to "eliminate waste, fraud and abuse." But "White House officials, when asked, wouldn't specify why DOGE needed access to the sensitive taxpayer information to execute on its mission," The Wall Street Journal said.

It was unclear yesterday if DOGE operatives had successfully gained access yet, but the Social Security database "has our bank information, our earnings records, the names and ages of our children, and much more," said Nancy Altman, president of the advocacy group Social Security Works. "There is no way to overstate how serious a breach this is." Someone with "an evil intent" could "erase your earnings record, making it impossible to collect the Social Security and Medicare benefits you have earned," she added.

The "potential unlawful release of taxpayer records" could also be used to "maliciously target Americans, violate their privacy and create other ramifications," The Associated Press said. In his first term, the Post said, President Donald Trump "openly mused about sending IRS agents after political opponents, leaving agency officials on edge about the IRS's independence."

What next?
Trump bypassed several higher-ranking officials to replace King with Leland Dudek, who oversaw the SSA's anti-fraud office. Dudek had praised Musk's team in a LinkedIn post, "saying he had been assisting its efforts," the Times said. He has now "deleted his account."

 
 
Today's AVIATION story

Delta flight lands upside-down in Toronto

What happened
A Delta Air Lines regional jet from Minneapolis flipped upside-down while landing at Toronto's Pearson International Airport yesterday afternoon, its tail and one wing shorn off. At least 18 of the 80 people aboard were injured, three of them seriously though none with life-threatening injuries, Delta said.

Who said what
It is unclear what caused the Bombardier CRJ-900 to flip over, though "conditions at the time were harsh," The Washington Post said, with wind gusts of up to 40 miles per hour drifting snow. But the "runway was dry and there was no cross-wind conditions" when rescue crews reached the burning plane a few minutes after the crash, said Toronto Pearson Fire Chief Todd Aitken.

The plane's final descent appeared normal, but "the second that the wheels hit the ground, then everything happened," passenger Pete Koukov told The New York Times. "I unbuckled pretty fast and kind of lowered myself to the floor, which was the ceiling," and "people were panicking." The incident was the latest in a "string of plane crashes in recent weeks" that have "stirred fear among fliers and the aviation community," The Wall Street Journal said. 

What next?
The Transportation Safety Board of Canada is leading the investigation of the crash, with assistance from the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board.

 
 
Today's RELGION Story

Pope Francis hospitalized with 'complex' illness

What happened
Pope Francis, hospitalized Friday with bronchitis, has a "polymicrobial respiratory tract infection," the Vatican said Monday, and his "complex clinical picture" will "require an appropriate hospital stay" in Rome's A. Gemelli Polyclinic.

Who said what
The diagnosis essentially "means there's a mix of bacteria, viruses, fungi or parasites growing" in the his lungs, The Associated Press aid, and "for someone with the pope's medical history — he lost part of his right lung decades ago and has previously had pneumonia — it's worrying that he's been hospitalized." The Vatican said yesterday that Francis was "in good spirits," in stable condition with no fever and had resumed "some work activities." 

The 88-year-old pope's "medical challenges have become more numerous with age," including the removal of part of his colon, seasonal respiratory infections and knee problems and sciatica that have "caused a severe limp" and "often required him to use a wheelchair, walker or cane," The New York Times said.

What next?
The Vatican gave no estimate for how long the "workaholic" pope would stay hospitalized, the AP said, but his general audience on Wednesday was canceled and the official Vatican calendar has "no more papal appointments or activities" listed until March 5, Ash Wednesday.

 
 

It's not all bad

Dozens of artists in Colorado, Kentucky, Michigan and Minnesota are participating in Rural-Urban Solidarity, an initiative aimed at bringing together demographically disparate communities. A recent project in Minnesota connected students at Hennepin School in Minneapolis with kids at Northside Elementary in the small town of St. James. The children were paired up and learned each other's stories, then created a 3D collage based on their lives. These works of art were combined into a mural that moved between the campuses.

 
 
Under the radar

Dairy milk has come a long way since the "got milk?" TV ad campaign more than 30 years ago. U.S. dairy milk sales increased 1.9% overall in 2024 to $17.1 billion, according to research firm Circana.

Notably, whole milk consumption rose 3.2% while nut-and plant-based milk consumption fell 5.9%. Dairy milk increases were partly driven by a 17.6% rise in raw milk sales, though the CDC, FDA and "other health organizations advise against drinking raw milk," especially with bird flu spreading, said the Center for Science in the Public Interest. The 3.2% jump in whole milk consumption is "only the second increase since the 1970s," when dairy milk began its decline, said The New York Times.

Some of the uptick is a result of a cultural shift. Americans' "ideas of healthy eating were shaped by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's 1992 food pyramid, which remained unchanged until 2005," said the Times. Milk's high fat and cholesterol content put it out of favor during that period, but now the nation's "priorities have shifted toward hydration, protein and healthy fats." 

Plant-based milks are also more expensive than dairy milk and have ingredients that place "many of them in the category of ultraprocessed foods, which health-conscious and science-skeptical Americans are learning to avoid," said the Times. Milk's slight rise "likely means that consumers are continuing to catch on to the misleading arguments of plant-based beverage purveyors," the National Milk Producers Federation trade group said in a press release. Consumers "who are seeking truly healthy, sustainable products are rediscovering dairy."

 
 
On this day

February 18, 2014

Ukraine's 2014 Maidan Revolution began as protesters marched through Kyiv and clashed with police. The riots culminated in the ousting of Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych. However, they also set in motion the events that would lead to Russia's occupation of Crimea that year and eventually a full-scale invasion that continues to this day.

 
 
TODAY'S newspaperS

"Federal workers detail chaotic, error-filled firings," The Washington Post says on Tuesday's front page. "Fired federal workers cry foul," many saying dismissal "letters lied about performance," USA Today says. "FAA air traffic control firings begin at busy travel period," The Atlanta Journal-Constitution says, and as a "Delta regional jet flips upside-down" as it "crash-lands in Toronto." Donald Trump "casts wide net in pursuit of retribution," The New York Times says, while "four New York officials quitting over alliance of Adams and Trump." The New York Daily News shows the four departing deputies of NYC's mayor, under the caption: "We quit, Eric."

► See the newspaper front pages

 
 
Tall tale

Jonah in a kayak

A young kayaker who thought he had been hit by a freak wave was actually swallowed and spat out by a humpback whale. Adrián Simancas, 24, was kayaking in icy waters close to the Strait of Magellan when he was gobbled up by the creature in a dramatic turn of events caught on video by his father. Having survived unscathed, Simancas later said he was convinced the whale was not trying to eat him, but was "just curious."

 
 

Morning Report was written and edited by Theara Coleman, Nadia Croes, Catherine Garcia, Scott Hocker, Anya Jaremko-Greenwold, Justin Klawans, Devika Rao, Rafi Schwartz and Peter Weber, with illustrations by Stephen Kelly and Julia Wytrazek.

Image credits, from top: Bryan Dozier / Middle East Images / AFP via Getty Images; Geoff Robins / AFP via Getty Images; Franco Origlia / Getty Images; Illustration by Julia Wytrazek / Getty Images