On in the present day’s episode of the 5 Issues podcast: Idalia makes historical past alongside Florida’s Huge Bend
Hurricane Idalia makes historical past alongside Florida’s Huge Bend. Plus, Sen. Mitch McConnell freezes once more, USA TODAY Congress and Campaigns Reporter Ken Tran appears at questions of whether or not former President Donald Trump needs to be allowed on the 2024 poll, the HHS requires classifying weed as much less harmful, and USA TODAY Investigative Reporter Chris Quintana explains how a professor skirted background checks after harassing college students with a ‘clown fetish.’
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Taylor Wilson:
Good morning. I am Taylor Wilson and that is 5 Issues it’s essential know Thursday, the thirty first of August 2023. As we speak, the aftermath of Idalia. Plus, Sen. Mitch McConnell freezes at a press convention once more, and a few Republicans are wrangling with the query of whether or not Trump needs to be allowed on the 2024 presidential poll.
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Idalia has been downgraded to a tropical storm after making landfall yesterday alongside Florida’s Huge Bend as a Class 3 hurricane. It then moved rapidly over southeastern Georgia and the Carolinas final evening. As of early this morning, the storm’s middle was positioned round 20 miles southwest of Myrtle Seaside, South Carolina.
No hurricane associated deaths have been formally confirmed in Florida, however two folks have been killed in separate climate associated crashes simply hours earlier than Idalia made landfall. Almost 300,000 houses and companies have been with out energy in Florida as of yesterday afternoon, in accordance with the utility tracker PowerOutage.us. And one other 175,000 have been powerless in Georgia. The storm hit land close to Keaton Seaside, Florida, with most sustained winds of 125 miles an hour. It was the strongest hurricane to make landfall within the Huge Bend space of Florida’s Gulf Coast since 1896, in accordance with Colorado State College hurricane researcher, Phil Klotzbach.
The Huge Bend area is generally rural and the worst of the storm seems to have averted Tampa Bay and different extra populated areas of Florida’s Gulf Coast. Authorities stated the worst injury seemed to be in Taylor County, southeast of Tallahassee, already probably the most economically challenged areas of the state. Two companies reportedly caught fireplace, some had roofs torn off, and the county’s emergency operations middle needed to evacuate to safer amenities.
Hurricanes thrive on heat water and this storm was no totally different, gaining power within the sizzling Gulf of Mexico, as a sequence of marine warmth waves cowl almost half of the world’s oceans this summer season. The warmth is blamed on a number of components, together with the warming local weather, which scientists say is contributing to extra excessive climate occasions. If you wish to be taught extra about how hotter waters can influence hurricanes like Idalia, we aired a particular episode that includes NOAA’s chief scientist, Dr. Sarah Kapnick, earlier this month. You could find a hyperlink in in the present day’s present notes.
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Sen. Mitch McConnell froze in entrance of a gaggle of reporters yesterday, as soon as once more elevating considerations in regards to the 81-year-old Republican chief’s well being. At an occasion yesterday in Kentucky, he was requested about working for reelection in 2026 and appeared to start a solution earlier than rapidly freezing and going silent for seven seconds. It is the second time in lower than two months that such an incident has interrupted a information convention that includes McConnell. The Senate minority chief will probably be consulting a doctor earlier than his subsequent occasion, in accordance with an aide who requested for anonymity to talk candidly. His workplace has not responded to a number of questions this summer season in regards to the senator’s freezing on the microphone and has not shared what medical recommendation or prognosis McConnell has beforehand obtained.
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Questions over whether or not former President Donald Trump is legally eligible to run once more for the White Home are choosing up steam in New Hampshire. Republicans there can not seem to agree on whether or not or not he needs to be on the 2024 poll, a query that’ll seemingly lengthen to different states too. I spoke with USA TODAY Congress and Campaigns Reporter Ken Tran for extra. Thanks for making the time, Ken.
Ken Tran:
Thanks for having me, Taylor.
Taylor Wilson:
So what is the authorized concept that is placing Republicans in a pickle on the subject of whether or not Trump needs to be allowed on the poll for 2024?
Ken Tran:
Certain. So this authorized concept is looking at Part 3 of the 14th Modification, which says that nobody who has “engaged in revolt or riot” or “given support or consolation to the enemies thereof” is allowed to carry public workplace. So folks which can be proponents of this concept, and Trump’s opponents, say that the January sixth, 2021 Capitol assault qualifies beneath revolt or riot. And so they argue that since Trump allegedly incited the riots, it is type of, effectively, we have seen this occur earlier than our very personal eyes, so he cannot be eligible for the presidency.
Taylor Wilson:
New Hampshire is the primary main, so clearly a vital state for the upcoming election. The place do these arguments stand in New Hampshire, Ken?
Ken Tran:
These arguments have actually began to select up actual steam in New Hampshire with lawyer Bryant “Corky” Messner. He was additionally the GOP nominee for the New Hampshire Senate race in 2020. He is the one which’s actually pushing this concept and type of telling the New Hampshire secretary of state’s workplace, this needs to be one thing that ought to actually be checked out. We must always actually determine whether or not or not former President Donald Trump is eligible to be on the poll. He met with the secretary of state, David Scanlan, and he stated that he’s in a troublesome place and it is true. The workplace is at present looking for authorized steering from the state’s lawyer basic workplace and different attorneys on the difficulty.
Taylor Wilson:
So what do critics in New Hampshire say about utilizing this authorized concept to dump Trump off the poll?
Ken Tran:
So critics in New Hampshire aren’t a fan of it. I talked to Chris Ager, chair of the New Hampshire State Republican Occasion, who’s remaining impartial within the main race all through 2024. He known as it “an assault on American democracy” and he argues that if Trump actually needs to be disqualified from working for president, we must always have the voters of New Hampshire determine that.
Taylor Wilson:
And Ken, have Trump’s Republican presidential rivals spoken out in any respect about this concept of whether or not or not he needs to be on the poll within the first place?
Ken Tran:
So considered one of President Trump’s opponents, former Arkansas governor Asa Hutchinson, he has expressed assist for the speculation and he did recommend that perhaps different folks in different states would possibly file authorized challenges in opposition to him. He did not say whether or not or not he would do it himself, however he stated he does assume it is severe jeopardy for the previous president that he won’t be certified beneath the Structure.
Taylor Wilson:
So what’s subsequent for this query of Trump on or off the poll going ahead?
Ken Tran:
So Corky Messner of New Hampshire, who’s pushing it, he stated that if the secretary of state’s workplace does determine to maintain Trump on the New Hampshire poll, he’ll step in and personally partly file a lawsuit and see if he may take it to the Supreme Court docket and have them in the end determine on the query. He thinks it needs to be a nonpartisan debate. He stated he would not wish to take sides in it and it is extra in regards to the Structure. So the last word objective for him is to actually simply say look, we’ve this authorized concept, we must always have the courts determine it. So both approach, he says there will probably be a lawsuit.
Taylor Wilson:
All proper. We’ll be looking for that. Ken Tran, thanks a lot as all the time.
Ken Tran:
Thanks for having me.
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Taylor Wilson:
The Division of Well being and Human Providers has moved to reclassify marijuana as much less dangerous than heroin or cocaine, and the transfer could also be a primary step towards wider legalization. In a letter obtained by Bloomberg Information, an HHS division official wrote to Drug Enforcement Administration Administrator Anne Milgram that marijuana needs to be categorized as a Schedule 3 substance. That consists of medicine with a reasonable to low potential for bodily and psychological dependence.
Marijuana is at present a Schedule 1 substance, which is made up of medicine with no accepted medical use and a excessive potential of abuse, in accordance with the DEA. The most recent transfer comes after President Joe Biden final 12 months requested HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra and Legal professional Basic Merrick Garland to overview how marijuana is assessed beneath federal legislation. Biden additionally took steps to ease restrictions of marijuana final 12 months, together with asserting a pardon of all prior offenses for possession of the drug, and urging governors to do the identical on the state stage. 23 states and the District of Columbia have handed measures to control hashish for grownup’s non-medical use.
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A university professor with a so-called “clown fetish” harassed college students at a number of universities. So why did not directors cease him? I spoke with USA TODAY Investigative Reporter Chris Quintana for extra on this disturbing story and what it tells us about flaws on the subject of background checks on school campuses. Hey Chris, thanks for hopping on the present.
Chris Quintana:
Thanks a lot for having me.
Taylor Wilson:
So this school professor harassed college students with a form of clown fetish for years. That is startling to listen to, to say the least. What precisely did he do, Chris?
Chris Quintana:
My story is about Joseph Tokosh and what he did, it trusted form of the college he was at. However broadly, he provided additional credit score to college students who have been prepared to color their faces to appear to be clowns, in some instances. He additionally provided money, in different situations, when in a few of his courses he made it a requirement for college kids to color their faces like a geisha, like a clown, within the fashion of Day of the Useless. The twist right here is that Mr. Tokosh had posted on Reddit about having a facepaint fetish or a clown fetish and didn’t reveal this to his college students so far as we all know. So that’s what caught our curiosity on this story initially. And can’t shout out the scholar journalists at Nicholls State College who first broke this sufficient.
Taylor Wilson:
Chris, what flaws does this expose within the background verify system at schools and universities?
Chris Quintana:
The scholars I talked to stated that the failure to verify social media was actually shocking to them. Lots of them are digital natives. They have been advised from a younger age to watch out about what you put up on Fb or Instagram as a result of it could comply with you for the remainder of your life. Proper? All these posts on Reddit, on YouTube, they have been public and accessible for folks to search out, together with college directors. So the scholars particularly really feel that this was an actual failure to form of verify fundamental social media, that they might’ve been capable of finding by searching for his title, Joe Tokosh.
Taylor Wilson:
And initially some college students stated they went to campus police, that they flagged this conduct. What occurred that this was not investigated completely?
Chris Quintana:
That may be a good query and a bit little bit of a problem, and we deal with it within the story as effectively. We requested Kent State and we requested Northern Illinois about Joseph Tokosh they usually advised us each instances that there is this federal privateness legislation often called the Household Instructional Rights and Privateness Act that forestalls universities from disclosing details about college students. So Mr. Tokosh was a graduate scholar at these two establishments, and so the colleges say that we won’t inform you something about him. However that does inhibit our capacity to know what they knew, proper? And we did know at Kent State that two separate college students filed police reviews. We all know {that a} totally different scholar raised a criticism on social media, and we additionally know that whereas he was at Northern, he was posting on Reddit about these things. We additionally know that he, in 2020, was posting on YouTube and providing to promote movies of individuals tied up and getting tied. So it raises a whole lot of questions.
Taylor Wilson:
And Chris, you talked about that scholar journalists actually broke a whole lot of this story. Are you able to discuss that?
Chris Quintana:
Yeah, I talked with the scholar journalist who initially broke this story. The lead author, Sally-Anne Torres, is the editor-in-chief on the Nicholls Price now. And this actually began, considered one of her reporters heard a rumor again in January about this, and it appeared too odd to form of be actual at first, however Mr. Tokosh was then let go and he cited these grade inflation considerations. And at that time, Sally-Anne was like, “Oh man, we actually must look into this.” And they also have been in a position to fairly rapidly discover the Reddit account and have been in a position to then speak to 6 college students who actually shared what had occurred to them they usually have been actually those who broke the story out. And so it simply goes to point out the facility of scholar journalism.
Taylor Wilson:
Chris Quintana, thanks on your reporting and time on this. Actually respect it.
Chris Quintana:
Thanks.
Taylor Wilson:
And earlier than we go, in the present day marks the start of faculty soccer season, a sport that is deep within the throes of realignment chaos. May this be the final season for the game as we all know it? Tune in at 4:00pm Japanese for a particular episode of 5 Issues, after I’m joined by USA TODAY Sports activities Columnist Dan Wolken. We’ll discuss how this cornerstone of American tradition is altering.
And thanks for listening to five Issues. For those who just like the present, please subscribe and go away us a score and overview on Apple Podcasts. And any feedback, you’ll be able to ship them our approach at podcasts@usatoday.com. I am again tomorrow with extra of 5 Issues from USA TODAY.