Up First: Titan submersible search; abortion poll; anxiety screenings

Good morning. You're reading the Up First newsletter. Subscribe here to get it delivered to your inbox, and listen to the Up First podcast for all the news you need to start your day.

Today's top stories

A surveillance plane detected underwater noises early this morning as crews raced against the clock to search for Titan, the missing submersible carrying five passengers.

• WBUR's Walter Wuthmann tells Up First this morning that OceanGate's former director of marine operations raised concerns about the vessel's safety in 2018. He adds that U.S. and Canadian plans are searching a patch of water the size of Connecticut, and officials estimated yesterday the submersible had about 40 hours of air left.
•  Catch up on everything you need to know about who was on board, why Titan may have sunk and more.
• CBS Sunday Morning correspondent David Pogue went in the Titan in November. He describes what it's like to travel in the vessel.
•  This isn't the first time a missing submersible has captivated the public. In 1973, two occupants spent three days trapped in a lost sub off the coast of Ireland, and were rescued with 12 minutes of oxygen to spare.

Nearly a year after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, a majority of Americans say they oppose the decision, according to a new NPR poll.

• While three-quarters of Democrats opposed the Supreme Court's ruling, two-thirds of Republicans supported it, according to NPR's Domenico Montanaro. He reports there is also a partisan divide in opinions about affirmative action and gender identity, and the numbers "tell you why people continue to have little confidence in this conservative-majority court: It's out of step with the majority of the population."

• The divide on abortion rights is also playing out economically. While many states are restricting abortion, other states and local municipalities are spending millions to fund it.

Your next annual checkup should include screening for anxiety and depression, regardless of whether you have symptoms, according to the U.S. Preventative Services Task Force.

• Primary care physicians can often overlook anxiety because it can masquerade as other issues like chest pain or trouble sleeping, according to NPR's Michaeleen Doucleff. She adds that people who get treatment after being screened via a questionnaire have a better outcome than those who weren't screened.

A federal judge has struck down Arkansas' 2021 ban on gender-affirming care for transgender youth. The state's ban was the first of its kind in the U.S. In his ruling, U.S. District Judge James Moody Jr. said the state's experts were motivated by ideology, not science, and depriving trans minors of treatments like hormone therapy would cause them irreparable harm.

Deep dive

The Republican presidential primary is shaping up to be both crowded and expensive. Early projections predict candidates will spend close to or more than $1 billion — a first for Republicans.

• The price to become president has skyrocketed: Candidates spent roughly four times as much money on the 2020 presidential race as they did two decades ago.
• The candidates this year have deep pockets, and the maximum amount of money people can donate to the campaign has increased.
• The money goes to the most expensive part of campaigning: ads.

Today's listen

Earlier this month, we reported on the science behind why lullabies work and asked listeners to share their best ones. Nearly 200 of you responded. These were some of our favorite lullabies, crooned by listeners from around the world.

3 things to know before you go

1. Walt Disney World is welcoming two rare cotton-top tamarin monkeys. Their births were the first for the species at the resort since 2001.
2. Abraham Verghese is a physician and author of multiple books. He credits his unsung hero, one of his terminally ill patients, for reminding him to follow his dreams of writing a novel.
3. When loved ones die, they often leave behind unfinished crafts. A group of volunteers from Loose Ends is dedicated to finishing those hats, quilts and rugs for families experiencing loss.

This newsletter was edited by Carol Ritchie.

Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.