Uvalde and Buffalo survivors, families to testify; Marvel's new Muslim hero: 5 Things podcast
On today's episode of the 5 Things podcast: Uvalde and Buffalo survivors, families to testify
Calls for new gun violence legislation are intensifying. Plus, Biden's Summit of the Americas kicks off with notable absentees, Washington Watchdog Fellow Rachel Looker talks about social medias's growing role in adoptions, health reporter Adrianna Rodriguez gives us a COVID-19 check-in and there's now a Muslim hero in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Podcasts: True crime, in-depth interviews and more USA TODAY podcasts right here.
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 Wednesday, the 8th of June, 2022. Today, survivors and families testify after Ulvade in Buffalo. Plus the growing role of social media in adoptions and more.
Here are some of the top headlines.
Top Russian official Sergey Lavrov is holding talks with Turkish officials today on a plan that could allow Ukraine to export its grain through the Black Sea amid an escalating food crisis. Ukraine is one of the world's largest exporters of wheat and parts of the developing world are taking the hit.
The race for Los Angeles mayor will head to a November runoff election after no candidate grabbed at least 50% of the vote in yesterday's primary. U.S. Congresswoman Karen Bass and billionaire developer, Rick Caruso will move on.
And the Denver Broncos are set to be sold to Walmart heir, Rob Walton. The $4.65 billion price tag would be a record for an American sports franchise.
♦
Nine witnesses will testify in front of the House Oversight and Reform Committee this morning about the mass shootings in Uvalde, Texas, and Buffalo, New York in recent weeks. Ten people were killed in the racist massacre at a supermarket in a predominantly black neighborhood in Buffalo, and 21 people, including 19 children, were killed at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde. Yesterday actor Matthew McConaughy who's originally from Uvalde spoke at the White House calling for gun control legislation.
Matthew McConaughy:
You know what every one of these parents wanted? What they asked us for? What every parent separately expressed in their own way to Camilla and me? That they want their children's dreams to live on. That they want their children's dreams to continue to accomplish something after they are gone. They want to make their loss of life matter.
Look, we heard from so many people. Families of the deceased, mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, Texas Rangers, hunters, Border Patrol, and responsible gun owners who won't give up their Second Amendment right to bear arms. And you know what they all said? "We want secure and safe schools and we want gun laws that won't make it so easy for the bad guys to get these damn guns." So we know what's on the table. Can both sides see beyond the political problem at hand and admit that we have a life preservation problem on our hands? We've got a chance right now to reach for and to grasp a higher ground above our political affiliations. A chance to make the choice that does more than protect your party. A chance to make a choice that protects our country now, and for the next generation. We start by making the loss of these lives matter.
Taylor Wilson:
Also, yesterday, the son of 86-year-old Ruth Whitfield, who was killed in the Buffalo shooting, challenged Congress to act against white supremacy and gun violence. Garnell Whitfield Jr. said his mom's life mattered.
Garnell Whitfield Jr.:
You're elected to protect us, to protect our way of life. I ask every one of you to imagine the faces of your mothers as you look at mine and ask yourself, "Is there nothing that we can do?" Is there nothing that you personally are willing to do to stop the cancer of white supremacy and the domestic terrorism it inspires? Because if there is nothing, then respectfully senators, you should yield your positions of authority and influence to others that are willing to lead on this issue. My mother's life mattered. My mother's life mattered and your actions here today will tell us how much it matters to you.
Taylor Wilson:
Witnesses today will include victims' parents, a pediatrician, gun safety advocates, the president of a teacher's union and the Buffalo police commissioner. A package of gun control legislation which would raise the minimum age to buy certain firearms and ban high capacity magazines is expected to pass the full house this week, but it likely will not have the 10 Republican votes needed to survive a filibuster in the Senate.
♦
President Joe Biden's Summit of the Americas kicks off today in Los Angeles, but it's already off to a rocky start after Mexico's President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said he would not attend the high profile meeting of leaders from North, Central and South America. His objection comes from the White House's decision to exclude Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela because of their autocratic governments. Newly elected Honduran President Xiomara Castro said she would boycott the summit for the same reason. The U.S. is hosting the summit for the first time since its Miami launch in 1994, and Biden will be the first U.S. president to attend since 2015.
♦
TikTok, Instagram and Facebook are becoming more common channels for hopeful families to find expectant mothers for newborn adoptions. USA TODAY'S Rachel Looker has more on how social media is influencing the way some people adopt.
Rachel Looker:
So Instagram adoption isn't necessarily a technical term but it refers to adoptions that are conducted when a prospective adoptive family uses Instagram or really any other social media platforms like Facebook or even TikTok when seeking an expectant mom, mainly for newborn adoptions. Using these social media platforms is a relatively new tool for those seeking to adopt. And in many cases these platforms are taking on a matchmaker type role that is traditionally one of adoption agencies.
What often happens is a perspective adoptive family will use their social media page to post photos or videos with captions about how they're seeking to adopt, sometimes using specific hashtags to try and target certain expectant moms. These families describe who they are and what their interests are just to give a glimpse into their lives for expectant moms to learn more about them.
Some families link to a full adoption website they created where there's even more information about why they're interested in adopting and all of this is done with the hope that an expectant mother and a hopeful adoptive parent will find each other on social media and agree to move forward with the adoption.
There are many pros and cons of using social media for adoptions. Prospective adoptive families told me the main benefits of using social media for adoption are having more control in their search and reducing the expenses that would go toward an adoption agency. Many families feel that they have a wider reach using social media and can have more of a say in who they connect with.
However, there are also some cons. Adoptions conducted through social media do not have much oversight or regulation which can lead to a variety of outcomes including financial scams, emotional damage, and often a lack of support services that are crucial for birth moms as well as adoptive families.
And without a professional, it's hard to ensure the birth mom, adoptive family and even the child receives support services that are needed once the adoption is complete. This is expanded upon in some other stories my colleagues delved into as part of USA TODAY'S Broken Adoptions project which can be found at brokenadoptions.usatoday.com.
♦
Taylor Wilson:
COVID-19 cases are again rising in lots of states around the country, but Health Reporter Adrianna Rodriguez tells us that experts are saying this summer could be different.
Adrianna Rodriguez:
COVID waves and spikes depends on where you're looking at on the U.S. map. So in the recent weeks we had seen an increase in cases, more Northeastern states followed by a little uptick in hospitalizations. Now we're starting to see that recede a bit in the Northeast, but we're starting to see a rise in cases and an uptick in hospitalizations more towards the West and the South.
What's causing this spike around is a combination of things. One is, waning immunity and the last wave that we had was the omicron wave back in the beginning of the year. And so people who maybe got infected in the beginning of the year are starting to lose that protection because of waning immunity and maybe they get reinfected again around this time or in the summer. Another reason why we're starting to see spikes is also because people are just going through the good old-fashioned pandemic fatigue. They're starting to take off their masks and they're traveling for the summer and they're attending gatherings that may have been postponed. We know already from previous waves and going through more than two years of this pandemic that people that cluster together with little to no social distancing and no mask, increase the risk of transmission. And so that's what we're seeing.
The severity of the disease depends on who you're talking about. So with the average healthy American who is doubly vaccinated and boosted and in some cases doubly boosted, we are seeing mild disease mostly. And we're also seeing mild disease among those who may be less vaccinated or unvaccinated but have already had the disease before. The trend seems to be that the severity of the disease gets more mild with each infection. However, that's not the case all the time, especially among the unvaccinated. So you can't really count on you having a mild disease just because you had it before if you're unvaccinated.
Now in terms of severity, the hospitalizations that we're seeing are mostly among the elderly, the immunocompromised and those with underlying medical conditions which is nothing new. But of course it's very concerning because now that we're seeing increased transmission because of people getting together, we're seeing an increase in cases and an uptick in hospitalizations.
♦
Iman Vellani stars as the first Muslim hero in the Marvel cinematic universe as Ms. Marvel, which premieres today on Disney+.
Kamala Khan:
Maybe they're right. I spend too much time in fantasy land.
Muneeba Khan:
That is not you.
Kamala Khan:
It's not really the brown girls from Jersey City who save the world. That's a fantasy, too.
Taylor Wilson:
Vellani plays Kamala Khan, a New Jersey teenager and devoted Captain Marvel super fan who mysteriously gets superpowers and has to figure out how to use them. Ms. Marvel first appeared in Marvel Comics in 2014 and will also factor into the Captain Marvel sequel in theaters next summer. Like her character, Iman Vellani is also the daughter of Pakistani immigrants who adores comic books and all things Marvel.
This was the Zoom call in the heart of the pandemic in 2020 with executive producer, Kevin Feige when she found out she got the role.
Kevin Feige:
You want me to do it?
Person on call:
Yeah.
Kevin Feige:
Okay. Iman, you did amazing work. You've done amazing work and we would be honored if you would play Kamala Khan for us in the Ms. Marvel show and it was a unanimous decision.
Iman Vellani:
Oh my God. ...I can't comprehend this right now.
Taylor Wilson:
You can read more about Iman and her character at usatoday.com/entertainment.
And you can find 5 Things on whatever your favorite podcast app is, seven mornings a week. Thanks to PJ Elliott for his great work on the show, and I'm back tomorrow with more of 5 Things from USA TODAY.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Mass shooting witnesses to testify, Marvel's Muslim hero: 5 Things podcast
