The Sunday Read: ‘Who Hired the Hitmen to Silence Zitácuaro?’

The AR-15 rifle used in the shooting that left at least 17 people dead at a high school in Parkland, Fla., was purchased legally, according to a federal law enforcement official. How did a semiautomatic weapon originally designed for warfare become easier to buy than a handgun? Guests: C. J. Chivers, a New York Times investigative reporter and Marine Corps veteran; Richard A. Oppel Jr., a Times reporter specializing in coverage of domestic terrorism and the military. For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

16 Feb 201823min

President Trump has called for an overhaul of immigration that replaces a family-based system with a merit-based one. But what counts as merit? We also report on the shooting at a high school in Parkland, Fla., in which at least 17 people died. It was the 18th school shooting in the United States this year. Guests: Caitlin Dickerson, a national immigration reporter for The New York Times; Catherine Porter, Canada bureau chief for The Times. For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

15 Feb 201821min

As a candidate, Donald J. Trump was very critical of the size of the national debt. As president, he has proposed a budget that would add $7 trillion to the federal deficit over the next decade. Republicans are saying nothing. Guest: Jim Tankersley, who covers taxes and the economy for The New York Times. For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

14 Feb 201820min

The House minority leader, Nancy Pelosi, took to the floor for eight hours last week to protest a spending bill that did not include protections for the young immigrants known as Dreamers. Now, she says she wanted the bill to pass. What’s the risk for the Democratic Party? Guest: Sheryl Gay Stolberg, who covers Congress for The New York Times. For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

13 Feb 201817min

At the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics, 169 plainly dressed athletes marched out in drab gray coats and bluejeans, competing not for a country but as “Olympic athletes from Russia.” What did Russia do at the last Winter Games to earn them that punishment? Guest: Rebecca R. Ruiz, an investigative reporter at The New York Times. For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

12 Feb 201825min

Hurricane Maria pummeled Puerto Rico with great fury, but the government there said that just 64 people had been killed by the storm. The hundreds of bodies showing up at morgues across the island told a different story. Guests: Frances Robles, a New York Times correspondent based in Miami; Mili Bonilla, whose father died in Puerto Rico in October. For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

9 Feb 201829min

Hurricane Maria slammed into Puerto Rico as a Category 4 storm on Sept. 20, flooding neighborhoods and villages and cutting power to 3.4 million people. More than four months later, much of the island is still in shock. A recent visit to a suicide prevention center shows the long-term toll on mental health in a place struck by the overwhelming impression that the rest of the world has moved on. Guest: Caitlin Dickerson, a national reporter for The New York Times. For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

8 Feb 201819min

When Republicans handed out large tax cuts to corporations, most economists rejected lawmakers’ claims that the benefits would trickle down to working Americans. So why do many companies seem to be giving their employees more money? Guests: Jim Tankersley, who covers taxes and the economy for The New York Times; Wes Carter, the president of Atlantic Packaging in Wilmington, N.C., who spoke to Sabrina Tavernise, a Times reporter. For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

7 Feb 201821min