On today's episode of the 5 Things podcast: President Joe Biden joined the picket line with striking UAW workers in Michigan. USA TODAY National Political Correspondent David Jackson breaks down the strategy behind GOP presidential candidates not going harder after GOP frontrunner Donald Trump. A judge rules thatDonald Trump defrauded banks and insurers in his real estate dealings. The Hollywood writers' strike officially comes to an end. USA TODAY Money Reporter Bailey Schulz explains why younger Americans feel they can no longer reach the American Dream.

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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, Wednesday, 27th September 2023.

Today, a look at Biden's historic visit to the picket line. Plus why Trump's challengers in the GOP are so hesitant to go on the offensive against him. The Hollywood writers strike officially comes to an end.

President Joe Biden walked the picket line yesterday with the United Auto Workers outside Detroit.

President Biden:

Stick with it because you deserve the significant raise you need and other benefits.

Taylor Wilson:

Biden visiting a General Motors redistribution center said workers deserve more of a share of the profits from GM, Ford and Stellantis. Biden's visit was historic, marking the first time a sitting president has joined a picket line of workers on strike in the middle of a labor dispute. It came 12 days into the union strike against the country's three largest automakers. Biden made the trip after a public invitation from UAW president Shawn Fain to Biden last Friday, as UAW expanded its strike to 38 sites across 20 states.

Despite his support, the White House maintains that Biden is staying out of contract negotiations. Biden has said he wants to be the most pro-union president in US history, but the trip also carries political risk as he looks to avoid national economic repercussions.

♦

Meanwhile, former president Donald Trump, the front-runner for the 2024 Republican nomination, is set to hold a rally at an automotive supplier facility in Michigan tonight. Trump announced his visit before Biden announced his trip.

Ahead of tonight's debate, many of Donald Trump's GOP challengers have been reluctant to go too hard after the former president. I spoke with USA Today national political correspondent David Jackson to learn more about their approach and whether Trump himself will ever return to the debate stage. David, welcome back to 5 Things.

David Jackson:

Hey, thanks for having me.

Taylor Wilson:

Many of Donald Trump's challengers in the GOP have been reluctant to go too hard after the former president. David, what's their strategy at this point of their campaigns?

David Jackson:

Well, they don't want to alienate the people who voted for Trump and don't want to be made to feel stupid for having done so. It's what some consultants call a delicate dance. I mean, the candidates want to contrast themselves with Trump and argue that they're a better candidate, but they don't want to do so by criticizing him over his legal troubles or just criticizing his persona or making any kind of direct attacks.

They want to do it subtly because the estimate is that there are about half of the Republican electorate is what are called maybe Trump voters. They are people who may have supported him in the past or have supported him in the past, but are open to other candidates. There is evidence those people are looking around at some of these other challengers, but they don't want to be attacked for having voted for Trump in the past, so a lot of campaigns are treading lightly.

Taylor Wilson:

David, has anyone in the GOP field really taken Trump on at this point?

David Jackson:

Right, there's a contrast. There've been two candidates who have really attacked Trump. One of them is former New Jersey governor Chris Christie, who's basing his entire campaign on New Hampshire, so he is focused on that and not getting as much attention. But he has been very critical of all the legal allegations against Trump and say the accusations indicate that he's unfit to be president and the Republicans would be foolish to try to nominate him. It's a full-blown attack, and while he's managed to attract some support in New Hampshire, it's only like 10%.

The fact is that he also has the highest negative ratings among any of the Republican candidates, and that's a sign that Republican voters just don't like to be reminded that they supported Trump, and Christie is suffering for it accordingly.

There's also former governor Asa Hutchinson, has also been very critical of the president. He was the one who actually called for Trump to withdraw from the race after his first indictment back in March. Of course, Trump didn't do that, but Hutchinson has continued to be a notably vocal critic of the former president, but he also has very high negative ratings among Republican voters, and it looks like he's not even going to qualify for Wednesday's debate because his polling is so low.

Taylor Wilson:

Maybe not for him, but will things change in tonight's debate, David, and what else can we expect?

David Jackson:

That's your basic $64 question right there. Most people, I think, think that things will continue the way that they have because here again, most of the candidates don't want to risk alienating the maybe Trump voters. They'll probably talk around Trump or not even address him at all unless asked directly. But there's some people who think that at some point the candidates are going to have to be more aggressive toward Trump because he's got such a huge lead and the standard has always been you attack the front-runner. That's how you try to catch up.

Taylor Wilson:

Donald Trump, of course, himself is missing this debate again. David, what's his alternate strategy at this point instead of debating? Will we ever see him back up there on the stage ahead of 2024?

David Jackson:

That's a good question. He is definitely on the attack. He's attacking all of his opponents as basically being ingrates who shouldn't be running against him in the first place. But he's scheduled a speech in Michigan trying to talk to some union people about some of the situations up there. It's in a big battleground state, and his goal is to try to minimize his opponents and force people to basically ignore the debate, cast it as second tier status.

Overall, I think you're seeing Trump already beginning to run a general campaign. He's basically taking the nomination for granted, taking it as a fait accompli, and he's already getting ready to run against President Joe Biden in the fall. He'll be talking more about national issues and the kind of things that general election voters are interested in as opposed to Republican voters.

As far as the debate, his people say that he's not inclined to do it because he's got such a big lead, and so his thinking is why give my opponents a free chance to criticize me to my face? I think the feeling right now in Trump world is he can avoid all these debates. The question on that is when debates in Iowa and New Hampshire roll around, those debates will happen right before those states vote, and I think it could be pretty risky for Trump to skip those encounters, but we'll just have to see what the polls say when those roll around. But until then, I wouldn't expect to see Trump at any debate before the end of the year.

Taylor Wilson:

All right. David Jackson, thanks as always.

David Jackson:

Thank you, sir.

Taylor Wilson:

You can tune into the second Republican presidential debate tonight at 9:00 p.m. Eastern time.

♦

While Donald Trump skips the debate this week, a judge ruled yesterday that he committed fraud for years while building his real estate empire. Ruling in a civil lawsuit brought by New York's Attorney General, New York Supreme Court Judge Arthur Engoron found that Trump and his company deceived banks, insurers and others by overvaluing his assets on paperwork when making deals and getting financing. The judge ordered that some of Trump's business licenses be rescinded as punishment. He also said he would continue to have an independent monitor oversee the Trump organization. Trump has long insisted he did nothing wrong.

♦

The Hollywood Screenwriters' strike will officially come to an end today. The Writers Guild of America Board unanimously voted yesterday to affirm a strike ending deal, which was previously announced on Sunday with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. That group represented the studios, streaming services and production companies in negotiations.

A new three-year contract agreement comes after five marathon days of renewed talks. Writers had pushed for increased compensation, better residuals and minimum staffing requirements, as well as protections from artificial intelligence. Screen actors remain on strike, but the writers' deal may help them come to a resolution with the studios, streamers and production companies, though there are currently no talks scheduled between the two sides.

♦

Many younger Americans no longer feel that they can buy into the American dream. I spoke with USA Today money reporter, Bailey Schulz, about how millennials and Gen Zers are redefining success. Bailey, welcome back to 5 Things.

Bailey Schulz:

Thank you for having me on.

Taylor Wilson:

A USA Today Harris poll dug into younger generations and their unique hardships. What exactly did this poll find?

Bailey Schulz:

One of the big takeaways that we saw from this poll was that Americans overall between different age ranges think that younger generations are facing a lot of challenges that may not have been present or as prevalent with the previous generations. Overall, two thirds of Americans believe younger people face hardships today that previous generations didn't. That same poll also found that 65% of Gen Zers and 74% of millennials say that they believe that they're starting further behind financially than earlier generations at the same age.

Taylor Wilson:

Clearly, a lot of young Americans like they cannot buy into the American dream. Bailey, I want to hear about what some of the young Americans you all spoke with are saying about this, especially on the cost of living and home ownership. What hardships are younger Americans feeling on this front?

Bailey Schulz:

I think that was something that came up in a lot of our interviews where I did this story with my colleague, Kathleen Wong. The two of us spoke to a total of nine people who were either in Gen Z or millennial, that sort of age range.

Two of the people I spoke to who were Gen Zers, younger sources, they talked about the challenges of the housing market, even renting these days where two of the people I spoke to, they were done with school, they had jobs, but at 26 and at 23, they just couldn't afford even apartments to live on their own or with roommates. At the time I spoke to them, they were living with their parents, saving up money while they could. Yet for others who were out in the world and renting, a lot of what we heard from younger Americans is just that the idea of home ownership just seems impossible for a lot of people.

Taylor Wilson:

One person from Hawaii stood out to me saying it's up to young Americans to adapt to a changing economy to meet their goals. Bailey, what are some of the solutions that folks have had to figure out?

Bailey Schulz:

That source from Hawaii mentioned, she told Kathleen that she hopes someday to have a passive income source, like some sort of rental property maybe to help supplement her income. Others are, like I said earlier, living with their parents to save money or I spoke to someone who said they had one point pulled back on non-essential spending to save money. Really we're seeing a wide variety that people are doing whatever it takes at this point to live within their means.

Taylor Wilson:

USA Today money reporter, Bailey Schulz. Thanks as always.

Bailey Schulz:

Thanks for having me on.

♦

Taylor Wilson:

Before we go, since September is National Suicide Prevention Month, we decided to do a deep dive special on the issue of veteran suicides. Stay tuned right here for a conversation my colleague Dana Taylor has with former White House chef, Andre Rush, about why vets continue to struggle and what you can do to help. That airs at 4:00 p.m. Eastern time today on this feed.

Thanks for listening to 5 Things. If you like the show, please subscribe and leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts. If you have any comments, you can reach us at [email protected]. I'm back tomorrow with more of 5 Things from USA Today.