Republicans begin impeachment inquiry against Biden, Teachers on TikTok: 5 Things podcast

On today's episode of the 5 Things podcast: House Republicans began an impeachment inquiry against President Joe Biden Thursday with an initial hearing. USA TODAY Congress and Campaigns Reporter Ken Tran has a recap. A New York court rejects former President Donald Trump's request to delay a civil trial. CVS pharmacists return to their stores after a walkout over working conditions. Teachers take to TikTok to express concerns about students falling behind. USA TODAY Health Reporter Karen Weintraub explains the significance of the Framingham Heart Study on its 75th anniversary.

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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 Five Things You Need to Know, Friday, the 29th of September 2023.

Today, a look at yesterday's impeachment inquiry hearing into President Joe Biden, plus pharmacists in the Kansas City area and their walkout. And it's the anniversary of a revolutionary health study.

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House Republicans held their first impeachment inquiry hearing into President Joe Biden yesterday. I spoke with USA Today Congress and Campaigns Reporter Ken Tran to put the hearing in context. Ken, thanks for hopping on.

Ken Tran:

Thank you for having me, Taylor.

Taylor Wilson:

Ken, before we get to some of the hearing's details, why are Republicans looking into impeaching the president?

Ken Tran:

So Republicans have been investigating President Joe Biden since the start of when they took control of Congress in January. They allege that President Joe Biden has been financially and personally benefiting from his son Hunter Biden's foreign business dealings.

Taylor Wilson:

And witnesses testified yesterday. Ken, what stood out in their testimony?

Ken Tran:

So something important to note with this hearing is that it is the first impeachment inquiry hearing, but Republicans did say before the hearing that it was going to be sort of an overview over what they uncovered so far in their investigations and also provided basis for why they're escalating their investigation to the level of impeachment inquiry. So their witnesses reflected that. But one of their witnesses was Bruce Dubinsky, forensic accountant, to explain the evidence they've uncovered when it comes to Hunter Biden's business transactions. Another one is Eileen O'Connor, former assistant attorney general for the Justice Department's tax division. And another witness was Professor Jonathan Turley, a constitutional law professor at George Washington University. All the witnesses reflected that to explain why Republicans have began an impeachment inquiry against President Joe Biden, or giving the basis and just an overview over their past investigations. There was nothing groundbreaking or any new evidence they presented to show that Biden did benefit from Hunter's business dealings, but that's something that Republicans have already said before.

Taylor Wilson:

Can Republican lawmakers have said they will soon subpoena both Hunter Biden and President Biden's brother, James Biden's bank records, in the coming days? What's their aim on this and what might come out of it?

Ken Tran:

Chairman James Comer, Republican from Kentucky, chairman of the House Oversight Committee, has been heavily emphasizing that their job is to just "follow the money." So they're hoping to be able to track where this money is coming from and see if it's coming from a certain company or a certain person overseas and see if President Joe Biden was involved in that.

Taylor Wilson:

And Ken, the million-dollar question here, what are the chances at this point of Biden actually getting impeached and convicted here?

Ken Tran:

Something to note is that Democrats have said that this impeachment inquiry is already a step towards impeachment. They said that because it's certainly inquiry, they already seems very dead set impeaching the president. The Republicans say that the inquiry is just that, an inquiry. They released a memo on Wednesday evening explaining to members in the committees in charge of investigating Biden, House Oversight Committee, House Fiduciary Committee, House Ways and Means Committee, that this inquiry is just an investigation and does not mean that they have come to a conclusion on whether or not they should draft the articles of impeachment against President Joe Biden. Democrats, however, is saying that's just not possible and that an impeachment is inevitable at this point.

Taylor Wilson:

Ken Tran covers congress and campaigns for USA Today. Thank you, Ken.

Ken Tran:

Thank you, Taylor.

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Taylor Wilson:

A New York Court yesterday rejected former President Donald Trump's request to delay a civil trial. The move comes after a judge ruled that he committed fraud for years while building his real estate empire. New York Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron ruled earlier this week that Trump committed fraud by overstating the value of properties for bank loans. He scheduled a non-jury trial to begin on Monday with State Attorney General Letitia James seeking $250 million in penalties. Trump argued at the State's Appeals Court that Justice Engoron failed to follow rulings that would've narrowed the lawsuits allegations. But the court turned down that challenge. The trial to decide penalties could last up to three months according to the judge. The case is one of a handful of civil and criminal trials that Trump faces in the next year as he campaigns for president.

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CVS pharmacists returned to their stores yesterday after a walkout over working conditions that endanger patient safety. Pharmacists walked out at several dozen locations in the greater Kansas City area after they said staffing issues and certain working conditions left them unable to safely fill and verify prescriptions, putting patients at risk of serious harm or even death. The walkout caught the attention of retail pharmacists across the country who have voiced similar concerns. The American Pharmacist Association, which represents pharmacists across the country, had issued a statement of support. Organizers say CVS has now committed to a series of improvements including additional staffing and paid overtime. Others include the temporary suspension of the store's online vaccination appointment schedulers.

Meanwhile, the United Auto Workers strike continues. Yesterday marked two weeks since workers walked out amid a labor dispute against the Detroit three automakers, Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis. UAW President Shawn Fain is expected to give an update on the state of negotiations on Facebook Live at 10 o'clock Eastern this morning. He could name additional strike targets if substantial progress has not been made with the automakers.

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Teachers are taking to TikTok to express their fears, frustrations, and worries about the state of education in America. Some say students have fallen behind. Others say behavior has never been worse. The problem of some students underperforming is nothing new, but many teachers say the gap between where kids are and where they should be has never been more staggering. They also say the education system isn't doing enough to address the issue and that most of their colleagues are too scared to call it out publicly. But a new viral video is emboldening others to say their piece online. The trend came after a 7th grade teacher in Georgia spoke out on TikTok last week about how much kids are struggling, revealing that most of his students entered the new school year performing at a 4th grade level or lower. His admission has gotten some 4 million views and opened a floodgate of other teachers to speak out about their classrooms. You can read more and watch some of the TikToks with a link in today's show notes.

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The Framingham Heart Study marks its 75th anniversary today. I spoke with USA Today health reporter Karen Weintraub about how the study changed health and life in America. Karen, thanks for hopping on.

Karen Weintraub:

Thanks for having me.

Taylor Wilson:

So let's just start with the basics. What is the Framingham Heart Study?

Karen Weintraub:

The Framingham Heart Study, which is 75 years old now, was set up in the '40s after FDR, President Franklin Eleanor Roosevelt, died of a stroke, cerebral hemorrhage. And people realized that they really had no idea what caused it, what it was related to and how they might prevent it.

Taylor Wilson:

And how have its findings changed how Americans and their doctors view heart disease?

Karen Weintraub:

Really, nobody had any idea at the time what caused heart attacks or stroke and had no tools and what to do about it. So they suspected that maybe high blood pressure was a problem, maybe high cholesterol. But Framingham really established those as risk factors that having high blood pressure, having high cholesterol, high blood sugar, smoking, really could be problems down the road, could cause heart attacks and strokes. And even the whole concept of risk factors wasn't there, that we didn't even know that there was this problem, that you could identify things ahead of time that could indicate that you had an increased risk for disease.

Taylor Wilson:

Karen, I want to hear a little bit more about the study's volunteers. Are any of the studies original volunteers still around? You mentioned 70 odd years. And how has the pool of volunteers changed over the years?

Karen Weintraub:

Sadly, the last remaining original volunteer died this week on Monday at age 105. So I spoke with one woman who is 73. She turns 74 shortly. Three of her four grandparents joined in 1949 or '50. Her parents joined around the same time as well. She joined as a 22-year-old, so she's been in the study for 50 years. Her kids are in the study. She expects her grandchildren to be in the study. And they go every four years or so, they get a complete workup, five hours of testing, blood tests and urine tests and the whole works. And then in between, she also volunteers for other research. She said she's gotten back a lot from the study also because she gets her own results. So whereas her doctor might not do a stress test say, or as thorough workup, she really does get a lot more information from the Framingham study.

Taylor Wilson:

How has this study inspired other similar ones, whether it relates to the heart or even other health issues?

Karen Weintraub:

Framingham, when this started, was a largely white working class community. Almost all the participants were white. As the study evolved, as our understanding of disease evolved, people realized that that was not adequate to just have white people in the study. So similar studies have been set up. There's something called the Jackson Heart Study centered in Jackson, Mississippi, for instance, to focus on African Americans and heart disease.

The Framingham study itself was expanded in the '90s and again in the 2000s to include more diverse members. We're all biologically similar, but people have different cultural backgrounds and different genetic backgrounds so it is important to have diversity in scientific research studies. They started out, obviously it's called the Framingham Heart Study, that the focus has been on the heart. But they've expanded it over the years in part because they've understood that the brain and the heart are connected. What's bad for the heart is bad for the brain as well. And so they do brain scans and they analyze people's poop for gut microbes and they study the liver and they study all sorts of other organs for general health purposes. And so it and other studies have looked at related conditions and, again, found connections they didn't know existed among different diseases.

Taylor Wilson:

What's the overarching message that folks should take away from the Framingham study?

Karen Weintraub:

So I spoke with one cardiologist who said that although this Framingham Heart Study led in part to the development of a lot of medications for things like high blood pressure and high cholesterol, that really the best treatment is diet, is eating healthy, nutritious foods. And so the focus should be on lifestyle, on eating well and exercising regularly, not smoking, sleeping. All the stuff you know is good for you is the best medicine.

Taylor Wilson:

Karen Weintraub covers health for USA Today. Fantastic insight as always. Thank you, Karen.

Karen Weintraub:

Thanks for having me.

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Taylor Wilson:

And Happy National Coffee Day. About two-thirds of Americans drink coffee daily according to the National Coffee Association. And the US imports the most coffee in the world. The Lebanon drinks the most per capita. To celebrate the day, a number of coffee chains nationwide have deals and discounts. Enjoy that cup of Joe.

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