Military plans shared in Signal chat and 23andMe bankruptcy concerns: Morning Rundown

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth denies “texting war plans” to a group text that included The Atlantic’s editor-in-chief. A second woman is strangled during a family visit at a California prison. And 23andMe’s bankruptcy triggers personal privacy fears.

Here’s what to know today.

Trump administration reviewing how military plans were sent to a magazine editor

The White House said it is reviewing how The Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeff Goldberg was accidentally added to a group text in which people who appeared to be members of President Donald Trump’s administration discussed plans to launch airstrikes against Houthi militants in Yemen. In response to Goldberg’s article about the incident, the National Security Council said in a statement the thread “appears to be authentic.”

Goldberg reported he had been added to a group chat called “Houthi PC small group” on March 13 via encrypted messaging service Signal. Goldberg wrote in his article that he was initially skeptical of the chat, which “included precise information about weapons packages, targets and timing.” He added that he exited the Signal group after he personally concluded it was “almost certainly real.” 

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The series of messages appeared to come from Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, national security adviser Mike Waltz and other prominent officials in the Trump administration. 

Asked by a reporter how the information was shared with a journalist and whether the material was classified, Hegseth called Goldberg a “so-called journalist” and said, “Nobody was texting war plans, and that’s all I have to say about that.”

Responding to Hegseth’s remarks during an MSNBC interview, Goldberg said, “He can say that it wasn’t a war plan, but it was a minute-by-minute accounting of what was about to happen organized by CENTCOM,” referring to Central Command, which directs U.S. military operations for the Middle East and other regions. 

Democratic lawmakers were quick to criticize and mock the news. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on X, “You have got to be kidding me.” Republican lawmakers, however, offered mixed reactions. 

Read the full story here.

More politics news:

• A federal appeals court judge pressed lawyers for the Trump administration about its use of the Alien Enemies Act to deport Venezuelans to a notorious El Salvador prison, saying the “Nazis got better treatment” when the law was last used during WWII.
• A bill that seeks to bar district court judges from issuing nationwide injunctions could give House Speaker Mike Johnson an off-ramp amid mounting pressure to impeach judges who are blocking the Trump administration’s agenda.
• A new report shows the number of job applications from workers at federal agencies targeted by DOGE has spiked.
• Trump selected acting CDC director Susan Monarez as his new nominee to lead the agency.
• Elon Musk received praise for his cost-cutting measures during a meeting between Trump, his Cabinet secretaries and Musk — a departure from a previous Cabinet meeting when tensions boiled over.
• A portrait of Trump in the Colorado state Capitol was taken down after he criticized the painting as “distorted” and demanded its removal.

Second woman strangled during family visit at California prison

A woman who was strangled during an overnight visit with her husband at a California prison is the second person to die in a year at the facility during a family visit, officials said. Stephanie Diane Dowells, a 62-year-old hairdresser from Inglewood, was killed in November at the Mule Creek State Prison in Ione, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. 

The other victim was Tania Thomas, 47, who was also strangled during a family visit in July, Amador County District Attorney Todd Riebe said yesterday. The man she was visiting has been charged with murder in connection with her killing. 

Dowells’ killing remains under investigation, with charges pending prison and autopsy reports, Riebe said. Her husband, David Brinson, is serving four consecutive life terms for the murders of four men during a robbery in the 1990s. Now, Dowells’ son Armand Torres is questioning why Brinson was allowed to have family visits. He spoke to reporter Janelle Griffith about his mother’s relationship and how he trusted hem enough to allow his 3-year-old son to accompany her on prison visits.

23andMe bankruptcy filing sparks privacy fears

The DNA data of millions of 23andMe users is up for sale after the genetic testing company declared bankruptcy on Sunday. A spokesperson for 23andMe said there will be no change to how the company stores customers’ data, but privacy experts and advocates are still concerned.

“Folks have absolutely no say in where their data is going to go,” said Tazin Kahn, the CEO of a privacy rights and cybersecurity nonprofit. Plus, genetic data that is lawfully acquired and held by a tech company is subject to almost no federal regulation to begin with, attorney Andrew Crawford said. Another legal expert said the sale of 23andMe should be a wake-up call for Americans about their personal information.

So what can users do in the meantime? California Attorney General Rob Bonta issued a statement with instructions on how to delete genetic data, how to get their test samples deleted and how to keep their data from being used in third-party research studies. 

Read All About It

• Hamdan Ballal, a Palestinian filmmaker who co-directed the Oscar-winning documentary “No Other Land,” was beaten by settlers and arrested by Israeli forces, his co-director said.
• The Trump administration accused detained Columbia University graduate student Mahmoud Khalil of withholding information about his membership to pro-Palestinian groups in his green card applications, according to a new court filing.
• Want to reach age 70 without chronic disease? A 30-year study found that a diet that is primarily plant-based with minimal ultra-processed food can raise the chances of achieving that.
• A partnership between meal delivery service DoorDash and “buy now, pay later” service Klarna has drawn a flurry of criticism. 
• USC women’s basketball star JuJu Watkins suffered a season-ending injury during USC’s game against Mississippi State, dealing an enormous blow to the team’s championship hopes.

Staff Pick: Dems prioritize the plights of boys and men

During the presidential campaign, Democrats focused messaging on issues important to women, while rarely talking about ways that boys and men were falling behind, from grades and college attainment to work and housing. That’s changing this year, as three Democratic governors announced new initiatives aimed at addressing disparities afflicting boys and men. The effort has earned cautious applause from researchers studying the problems. And Democratic strategists hope it will help them win back young male voters. “The truth is, young men are speaking,” one polling expert said. “If Democrats don’t listen — and act — they’ll keep losing ground. But this moment offers hope.” — Tyler Kingkade, national reporter

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