Georgia Today: Chesebro pleads guilty; Social media misinformation; France honors Andrew Young

Peter Biello: Welcome to the Georgia Today podcast from GPB News. Today is Friday, Oct. 20. I'm Peter Biello. On today's episode, another defendant charged in the Georgia 2020 election interference case pleads guilty. The state expert has advice for parents fighting social media misinformation about the Israel-Hamas conflict. And France honors diplomat and civil rights icon Andrew Young. These stories and more are coming up on this edition of Georgia Today.

Story 1:

Peter Biello: Attorney Kenneth Chesebro has pleaded guilty ahead of his trial in the 2020 election interference racketeering case. GPB's Stephen Fowler has more.

Stephen Fowler: There will be no trial for now in the sweeping racketeering case against Donald Trump and 18 other people. That's because Kenneth Chesbro, the lawyer who crafted a plan to send fake Republican presidential electors to Congress, took a deal just a few hours after jury selection got underway in a Fulton County courtroom. He faced several counts, but pleaded guilty to one felony charge of conspiracy to commit filing false documents. That comes with five years probation, $5,000 in restitution to the state, 100 hours of community service, and a promise to testify in future trials, among other things. It's the third plea deal in the RICO case so far, joining bail bondsman Scott Hall and attorney Sidney Powell, both involved with the scheme that illegally copied election data in Coffee County. For GPB News, I'm Stephen Fowler.

Caption

An electric truck built by electric vehicle maker Rivian is shown. The California-based company announced it's building a $5 billion plant in East Georgia.

Credit: Stephen Fowler / GPB News

Story 2:

Peter Biello: One of the largest employers in Macon's Bibb County, Geico, is reducing its national workforce by about 2000 of its workers. That's about 6%. A letter from Geico to its employees yesterday said the move will better position the company for long-term profitability. But it's unclear how the layoffs will affect workers in middle Georgia. Disgruntled local employees took to social media to lament the news. As recently as 2021, Geico said that it employed about 7,000 people in the Macon area.

Story 3:

Peter Biello: Georgia's jobless rate ticked up for the second month in a row in September, although jobs continued to rise in the state. Unemployment rose to 3.4% in September, up from 3.3% in August. That's also up slightly from 3.1% in September 2022, although the current jobless rate remains quite low in historical terms.

Story 4:

Peter Biello: Electric automaker Rivian says it will begin construction on its factory east of Atlanta early next year. The California-based company announced a $5 billion manufacturing complex in Walton and Morgan counties in December 2021. At the time, officials expected construction to begin the following summer. But Rivian ran into delays, including legal challenges to its state and local tax breaks, and announced a slowdown in its capital investment. At an opening of an Atlanta retail location yesterday, company officials confirmed an early 2024 construction start date. The manufacturing site near Social Circle promises nearly 8,000 jobs.

Story 5:

Peter Biello: The state of Georgia will start paying for gender affirming health care for public employees covered by a state health insurance plan. Two state employees snd a public school media clerk sued last year over the state's refusal to pay, accusing the health plan of sex discrimination. Yesterday, those plaintiffs moved to dismiss their case, announcing a settlement with the state.

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Social media

Story 6:

Peter Biello: The war in Israel has brought a surge of violent content and misinformation to social media platforms. GPB's Devon Zwald reports on a Georgia expert with advice for parents of children and teens.

Devon Zwald: Since the war between Israel/Hamas broke out earlier this month, platforms have been flooded with conflicting information and dubious facts. David Schweidel is a professor of marketing at Emory University. He says parents and educators need to teach their children how to be more media literate.

David Schweidel: The only way that that we can be sure of a piece of information — the credibility of it — is to say, "OK, can I track this back to the original source?" You know, not that one of my friends shared it, but "OK, can I track this back all the way to the original source?" And do you trust those original sources?

Devon Zwald: Schweidel says with the sheer amount of content uploaded every day, platforms are unable to effectively moderate what's posted. Meta, which includes Facebook and Instagram, has responded to the flood of information on Israel and Hamas, saying they're reallocating resources towards content moderation — a response Schweidel says is badly needed. For GPB News, I'm Devon Zwald.

Story 7:

Peter Biello: Gov. Brian Kemp's Pathways to Coverage Program plan to extend Medicaid coverage to an estimated 100,000 Georgians in its first year. But four months in, only 1,300 people have signed up. GPB's Ellen Eldridge reports.

Ellen Eldridge: The governor implemented his own Pathways to Coverage program that expands Medicaid to some, but also includes a work requirement. Lia Chan is a policy expert with the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute. She says the low enrollment numbers do not match the state's $20 million investment. But fully expanding Medicaid would provide a $1.2 billion bonus to Georgia that would cover the state cost for the first two years.

Lia Chan: Medicaid expansion is a better deal for Georgia's bottom line. We know that Pathways to Coverage costs five times more per person than full Medicaid expansion.

Ellen Eldridge: Chan says more data and transparency are needed to better understand program gaps and how the state can most effectively use taxpayer dollars. For GPB News, I'm Ellen Eldridge.

Story 8:

Peter Biello: France wants the world to know that it has not forgotten Atlanta icon Andrew Young. The French ambassador to the United States promoted Young to the rank of officer in the country's Legion of Honor at a ceremony in Atlanta yesterday. The recognition comes nearly 40 years after French President Francois Mitterrand first inducted Young into the order during a visit to Atlanta in 1984, when Young was the city's mayor. The 91-year-old Young also is a former ambassador to the United Nations and a onetime confidant of Martin Luther King Jr. French Ambassador Laurent Bili yesterday praised Young's work to end racial discrimination, his advocacy for human rights and his efforts to settle a war in what is now Zimbabwe, ending white minority rule there. The Legion of Honor is the highest award presented by the French government. It is given to a citizen of France or other countries who have served France or upheld its ideals.

Peter Biello: And that's it for this edition of Georgia Today. Thank you so much for tuning in. If you like what you hear and you appreciate what you're getting from GPB, we ask that you make a contribution to support GPB in an amount that's right for you. Become a sustainer with a monthly gift, maybe ten or 15 bucks a month, or choose a one-time amount that's right for you. Either way, you'll be supporting podcasts like Georgia Today and programs like Morning Edition and All Things Considered and Georgia In Play. We're constantly thinking of ways to make sure that you can better understand the world around you and giving to GPB during this "no pledge drive pledge drive" is a great time to do that. So give now whatever works for your budget at GPB.org. Just click on "Donate" and thanks again very much. We really do appreciate it. If you haven't subscribed to this podcast yet, make sure you do that. We're going to be back in your podcast feed on Monday afternoon, and if you've got feedback for us, as always, we'd love to hear from you. Send us an email. The address is GeorgiaToday@GPB.org. I'm Peter Biello. Thanks again for listening. We'll see you on Monday.

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Read the latest updates on the Georgia indictments here.