Maui fires death toll rises, Biden asks Congress for more Ukraine aid: 5 Things podcast

On today's episode of the 5 Things podcast: Maui fires death toll rises

Maui fires will likely soon become the deadliest disaster since Hawaii became a state. Here's how to help. Plus, President Joe Biden asks Congress for more Ukraine aid, USA TODAY National Political Correspondent Phillip M. Bailey looks at whether age matters in politics, the Supreme Court has blocked Purdue Pharma's multi-billion dollar opioid settlement, and USA TODAY Supreme Court Correspondent John Fritze explains the fight between parents and schools over LGBTQ+ books.

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Hit play on the player above to hear the podcast and follow along with the transcript below. This transcript was automatically generated, and then edited for clarity in its current form. There may be some differences between the audio and the text.

Taylor Wilson:

Good morning. I'm Taylor Wilson and this is 5 Things you need to know Friday, the 11th of August 2023. Today, the death count rises in Hawaii's devastating wildfires. Plus, Biden is requesting more aid for Ukraine, and how old is too old for politicians?

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The death toll from catastrophic fires in Maui has risen to 53 as of yesterday afternoon. Hawaii Governor Josh Green said it may surpass 60 and become the deadliest disaster since Hawaii became a state in 1959. A number of coastal communities have been largely destroyed, including the historic town of Lahaina. Around a thousand people remain missing according to Maui County's police chief, and the governor also said at a press conference yesterday that more than 1,700 buildings have been destroyed. That damage is in the billions of dollars.

The worst of the blazes in Lahaina on the western part of the island was 80% contained as of yesterday. Locals are just beginning to grapple with the horror that flames have left behind. 66-year-old native Hawaiian Francine Hollinger said that losing Lahaina was like losing a family member. In just a few hours, fire tore through the town center, which traces its roots back to the 1700s and was on the National Register of Historic Places.

Meanwhile, evacuation efforts have been complicated by power blackouts and a loss of 911 service. Travelers to the island have been trying to flee, people like Rick Crew.

Rick Crew:

We were up on one of the higher levels. On one of the windows on our suite we could watch and see the fire as it was growing. At night it was just so bright from the flames and everything. When we came on the charter bus to come here, they took us right through Lahaina and we were able to see up close and firsthand the devastation and how everything we saw the day before was so lush and beautiful. It is just completely gone now. Everything is burned.

Taylor Wilson:

President Joe Biden has declared a major disaster in Hawaii. He urges those who want to find out if they're eligible for federal help to visit disasterassistance.gov. We also have a link in today's show notes for how you can help victims of the fire tragedies in Hawaii.

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President Joe Biden is requesting more than $13 billion in emergency funding for military equipment and support for Ukraine, along with another 12 billion for disaster relief efforts. The requests come as part of a package that also includes money for border security and will likely set up a clash with conservatives in Congress. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and other Republicans have already said they will not approve aid to Ukraine for the next fiscal year, except for what was negotiated during the debt ceiling crisis in June, the crisis that kept the country from defaulting. Those Republicans have said that any new government spending must be accompanied by matching budget cuts. Higher levels of Ukraine military assistance have been an increasingly difficult topic for the Biden administration. Many Americans views on military assistance have soured in recent months as a Ukrainian counter offensive has stalled. Biden is hoping to tie his request for supplemental funding to a potential short-term agreement to keep the government running. He's pledged to send aid to Ukraine for as long as it takes to win the war. In the Senate, military assistance continues to have strong bipartisan support. It's in the GOP-run House where Biden may run into stiffer opposition.

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How old is too old for politicians? A number of aging high profile figures in the political sphere have some Americans wanting change. America's political leaders tend to be older than those from around the world. President Joe Biden is the ninth-oldest leader in the world and the US Senate is the seventh-oldest legislative body globally. How big of an issue is this for voters? I spoke with USA TODAY National Political Correspondent Phillip M. Bailey for more. Thanks for making the time, Philip.

Phillip M. Bailey:

Hey, man. How are you?

Taylor Wilson:

Good, thanks. Welcome back. Mitch McConnell stopped speaking during a press conference last month. Philip, can you refresh us on what exactly happened here?

Phillip M. Bailey:

Senator Mitch McConnell - who's 81 years old, first elected in 1984 - he's doing his usual thing in Washington where he's leading the Republican senate caucuses press conference that they have. In the middle of a sentence where he's talking, he stops. I'm talking about just cold freezes, we counted for about 28 seconds until he had to be escorted by colleagues away. It was a very, Taylor, startling moment. It was one - given the fact that he had previous issues with a concussion and a broken rib from a fall earlier in the year - once again, raised questions about his health. Then we learned in the course of that through his office that he had fallen two other times that had not previously been reported.

Taylor Wilson:

What other politicians have had age come up as a major issue?

Phillip M. Bailey:

The reason why this debate is so present in our minds this year is because Joe Biden is the oldest president ever elected. He is running for reelection. He is also in his 80s, so he is someone who is often dogged and questioned by opponents about his capacity, his ability. He obviously suffered from stuttering throughout his childhood and life and overcame that disability. Same thing with McConnell who was a polio survivor. A lot of these silent generation elected officials are now getting into their 80s and their 90s. Because it's at the top, the President of the United States is basically these very same issues. I think it's trickling down. Even for supporters, there is a conversation that's happening about how old is too old? It's a conversation that is very personal to a lot of voters, whether they're younger voters or older voters.

I think because we're seeing President Biden face these questions and he's the president - the most scrutinized, arguably the most covered human being in the world - we're seeing these issues come up more and more. It's also been very present with Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, who's 90 years old, the oldest member of Congress. She was out for three months due to the shingles. She's come back since to her important seat on the Senate Judiciary Committee that was holding up some of President Biden's judicial nominations because she wasn't there. We're seeing her go through some very serious and troubling incidents where she sometimes doesn't remember what votes she's taking. There was a report late last year about her not knowing who Vice President Kamala Harris even was, at least asking why was she up there for a tie-break vote in the Senate. Reports now about Senator Feinstein turning over power of attorney to her daughter.

This is all coming because in next year's election, Feinstein has said that she's not going to run for reelection. There are some progressive lawmakers who are saying she needs to go ahead and resign and we need to replace her now. Others are saying, no, she's being mistreated because of her age, mistreated because she's a woman. She can still serve. I think she's the far example, Taylor, that most people look to and say, that's a bit too much. That's the one that everyone across the board, at least who we talked to at USA TODAY, admitted is very, very troubling. Biden, McConnell, it turns out people have a different viewpoint, largely often depending on their own political perspective, and that's what we learned from a lot of voters we spoke to for this story.

Taylor Wilson:

Speaking with some of those voters, do they seem more concerned, more actively concerned about politicians' age now compared to years past?

Phillip M. Bailey:

Americans will say to me, age isn't the only factor here. It's age plus mental capacity. There are some people who are in their 70s, 80s, and 90s who are smart as a whip. We don't want to simply push those people out of public life simply because of their age. Some people have suggested there needs to be an age limit or a mental competency test.

When we get down to McConnell, though, what I found interesting was both here in Kentucky where he's been elected since 1984, the year I was born, that people have a different perspective on him. Those who look at McConnell as this indispensable leader who helps Kentucky punch above its political weight, they look at McConnell and say, "Look, I've seen him out and about. He still seems like he has all the mental capacity he had before. Yes, that situation with the 28 seconds of pausing was disturbing, but I have faith in him still." Other Kentucky voters, though, who I speak to - who are Republicans who come from maybe the more Liberty wing of the party, I shall say, who didn't like McConnell to begin with - say, "Look, this is the time for the old man to leave."

What's interesting is that those voters, Taylor, who are younger voters who are in their 20s and 30s, say these older politicians are saddling our generation with these generational crises, whether it's the debt, whether it's climate change. They are not keeping up with the concerns that we have. A lot of these younger voters across the spectrum look at these issues and say we're going to have to deal with this. We see the stories about the solvency of social security and these other things that our parents and grandparents maybe just took for granted.

Taylor Wilson:

USA TODAY National Political Correspondent Phillip M. Bailey. Thanks for your insight here.

Phillip M. Bailey:

No problem, man. Thank you.

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Taylor Wilson:

The Supreme Court yesterday temporarily blocked a settlement reached with Oxycotin maker, Purdue Pharma. That settlement required members of the Sackler family, who once controlled the company, to pay $6 billion, but also shielded them from future lawsuits over the nation's opioid crisis. The court's decision came in a response to a request from the Biden administration to put the settlement on hold after it was reached last year between Purdue and state and local governments. A U.S. government trustee, part of the Justice Department, argued that lower courts should not have shielded the Sacklers from liability. The administration told the Supreme Court that the family withdrew some $11 billion from Purdue before the company filed for bankruptcy. Purdue has been one of the highest profile companies in the opioid industry, and more than half a million American deaths have been linked to the opioid crisis over the past two decades.

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Religious parents are clashing with public school officials over whether elementary school students should be allowed to opt out of reading books with LGBTQ+ characters. As USA TODAY Supreme Court Correspondent John Fritze told me, it's the latest culture war battle being waged inside the classroom. Hey there, John.

John Fritze:

Hey.

Taylor Wilson:

Parents are clashing with schools over LGBTQ+ books. What's at issue in this Maryland lawsuit?

John Fritze:

This wealthy liberal suburb of Washington DC, Montgomery County, a very large county in Maryland, has used these books with LGBTQ+ characters for some time. What changed last year is that they no longer allowed parents to opt out. We're talking about elementary school kids here. One book called Pride Puppy, which is about a group of children who chase their dog through a pride parade. Another book is called A Prince at Night, which is a romance between two male characters. These are books that are dealing with LGBTQ+ themes and then have LGBTQ+ characters in them. What the parents in this case argue is like, "Look, we want to take our kids out of it." The fact that you're not letting us do it, they argue is a violation of their First Amendment rights, particularly dealing with the right to exercise religion.

Taylor Wilson:

John, how does this suit fit into the bigger picture with a wave of court battles nationwide over religious freedom and LGBTQ+ rights?

John Fritze:

There's a bunch of big picture here. One big picture is that there's this push on the right, in particular about parents having more control over what's happening in the classroom. That's something that we really saw pop up during the pandemic and has definitely taken on life since then. That's part of it. There's also this issue of LGBTQ+ rights vs. religious rights. And increasingly in federal courts, when these two things come into conflict, religion wins. We've seen that time after time at the Supreme Court and in the number of lower federal courts. This is the latest example of that. The lawyers are the same lawyers that have brought a number of these other suits really pushing this idea that for, in their view, religion has been treated as a second-class right, despite it being enshrined in the First Amendment. Looked at through that lens, it's hard not to take the case seriously because religion has been winning so much in federal court for so long.

Taylor Wilson:

John, when can we expect a ruling in this Maryland case and what's next for some of these fights around the country?

John Fritze:

In this particular case, there were arguments this week and the judge who is a Biden nominee said that she would rule by August 28th, which is when kids in this particular school district go back to school. It does not give either side much time to appeal. I suspect that it will be appealed. The judge in this case is just dealing with the preliminary issue, which is whether to stay or block this policy by the school until the litigation continues. Look, this fight is like years long, but I think we could see some action on what's going to happen in the meantime here very quickly, probably by the end of the summer.

Taylor Wilson:

All right, John Fritze covers the Supreme Court for USA TODAY. Thanks as always, John.

John Fritze:

Hey, thank you.

Taylor Wilson:

Thanks for listening to 5 Things. We're produced by Shannon Rae Green and our executive producer is Laura Beatty. Special thanks to Cherie Saunders and Mark Sovel. If you have any comments, you can reach us at [email protected]. I'm Taylor Wilson back tomorrow with another episode of 5 Things.