End of COVID-era relief takes toll on kids, Miami Beach curfew begins: 5 Things podcast
On today's episode of the 5 Things podcast: Millions of kids fell into poverty after COVID-era relief expired
Education reporter Alia Wong explains. Plus, it's been one month since Russia invaded Ukraine, today's the final day of confirmation hearings for Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, Miami Beach instates a curfew after Spring Break violence and wellness reporter Jenna Ryu explains 'phubbing.'
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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 Thursday, the 24th of March 2022. Today, more kids in poverty as most COVID relief ends. Plus one month since Russia's invasion of Ukraine began, and more.
Here are some of the top headlines:
- Madeleine Albright has died. The first female US secretary of state helped shape former President Bill Clinton's foreign policy in Iraq, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and other countries. She was 84.
- North Korea test launched a suspected long-range missile toward the sea earlier today, potentially a new type of intercontinental ballistic missile. The country has upped its weapons tests over the past year. Experts say the country's goal with the test is to advance its weaponry, but also to apply pressure on Washington over a deepening freeze in nuclear negotiations.
- And a dog abandoned at a North Carolina animal shelter because his owners thought he was gay has been adopted by an openly gay couple.
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Despite many of its horrors, the COVID-19 pandemic has actually seen historic drops in child poverty thanks to a number of relief packages and temporary social safety nets. But as Education Reporter Alia Wong tells us, as much of that relief now expires, the poverty rate is increasing back to pre-pandemic levels.
Alia Wong:
In my reporting, I focused a lot on the enhanced Child Tax Credit, which was most recently provided through President Biden's American Rescue Plan. And starting last July, tens of millions of families got a tax advance essentially every month, $300 for kids five and under and $250 for older kids. And research shows a major correlation between declines in poverty and the distribution of those checks and other pandemic era relief, like the stimulus checks. Columbia's Center on Poverty and Social Policy has been tracking and breaking down the monthly poverty trends during the pandemic and saw historic drops after families got their payments. So combined with the expanded free meal programs at schools, these checks really helped to stymie hunger levels in conjunction with the declines in poverty, and food was the most common item purchased with the monthly payments and that was by both low and middle income families alike. After just two months of payments last year, the number of adults who said their children were going hungry dropped by several million.
What happened is that Democrats tried to extend these enhanced tax credits through Build Back Better and of course that failed in part because these enhanced credits really became a sticking point. Democratic Senator Joe Manchin took issue with the cost and the idea of extending what was meant to be a pandemic era relief provision. The child poverty rate is essentially back to the same level it was before the check started coming in July. A month after the enhanced Child Tax Credit expired, 3.7 million children fell into poverty and the child poverty rate grew from a little over 12% in December to 17% in January. And that was a 41% increase. And perhaps unsurprisingly, Black and Latinx children experienced the sharpest increases in poverty. The Columbia Research Center, they just release numbers for the month of February and those numbers show continuation of that trend. Really poverty levels are sort of back to where they were before the checks and are staying there. The poverty rate was 16.7% in February.
Taylor Wilson:
For more from Alia, you can find her on Twitter @aliaemily.
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Today marks one month since Russia invaded Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is calling on people around the world to protest today.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy:
It breaks my heart, hearts of all Ukrainians and every free person on the planet. That's why I ask you to stand against the war starting from March 24th, exactly one month after the Russian invasion from this day and after them. Show your standing, come from your offices, your homes, your schools, and universities. Come in the name of peace. Come with Ukrainian symbols to support Ukraine, to support freedom, to support life. Come to your squares, your streets, make yourselves visible and heard. Say that people matter. Freedom matters. Peace matters. Ukraine matters.
Taylor Wilson:
Zelenskyy will meet with NATO members by video today when he's expected to ask for more weapon support. President Joe Biden is meeting in person with NATO members in Brussels. He's expected to talk about more military aid for Ukraine, but also even stronger sanctions on Russia. Ahead of Biden's meetings, the European Union yesterday signed off on another €500 million in military aid for Ukraine. Four weeks after invading, Russia's ground offensive has gone much slower than many experts predicted. Though Russia has shifted much of its strategy to shelling from the air and seas surrounding Ukraine. And they focused on devastating a handful of cities entirely, like the Eastern city of Mariupol, similar to tactics used by Russia in Syria and Chechnya. Russia has not made much progress in the Western half of Ukraine and in Kyiv, the capital in the central part of the country. Russia has mostly focused efforts on suburbs, though there have been shellings on apartment buildings and other civilian areas like what's seen daily in the country's east.
And Kyiv's mayor said at least 264 civilians have been killed there since the war broke out. Still, a senior US defense official said yesterday that Russian ground forces appear to be digging in and setting up defensive positions about 10 miles outside the city. They're reportedly making little to no progress on the ground toward the capital city center at the moment.
As for a quick look at some of the war's numbers, it's murky. Russia is not releasing regular death tolls, but in its latest update on March 2nd, it said nearly 500 soldiers had been killed. NATO estimates that number is now somewhere between 7,000 and 15,000. That range would be in the ballpark of Russia's entire death toll in a decade of fighting in Afghanistan. An anonymous NATO military official said that estimate was based on a number of sources, including Ukrainian authorities, what Russia has intentionally or unintentionally released and other intelligence.
Ukraine claims to have killed six Russian generals, though Russia acknowledges just one. Ukraine has also released very little information about its military losses. Zelenskyy did say two weeks ago that 1300 Ukrainian troops have been killed at that point, though the current toll might be much higher. In the city of Mariupol, officials said this week that 2300 people have been killed there.
Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said yesterday that the US has determined Russia has committed war crimes in Ukraine. US Ambassador-at-Large for Global Criminal Justice Beth Van Schaack.
Beth Van Schaack:
Last week Secretary Blinken expressed his view that some of Russia's reported attacks did in fact constitute war crimes. He emphasized that the Department of State and other US departments will be documenting and assessing the facts and the law surrounding these reports. The assessment has now concluded with a careful review of currently available information, both public and from intelligence sources. This review underpins the assessment that the secretary announced today that Russian forces are indeed committing war crimes in Ukraine. I want to reiterate our solidarity for the people of Ukraine. We are committed to pursuing full accountability for war crimes in Ukraine, using all of the tools that are available to us, including criminal prosecutions. As the secretary said, those who are responsible for such abuses must be held accountable.
Taylor Wilson:
It's not entirely clear what action, if any, the US plans to take after the war crime determination. For all the latest from the war in Ukraine, you can stay with our live up to the hour updates page at USATODAY.com.
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Today is the final day of hearings for Supreme Court nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson. She continued to defend her record during a third round of hearings yesterday as Republican senators in particular teamed up around themes that she is soft on crime and vague about her approach to the constitution. AP Criminal Justice Reporter Gary Fields has more.
Gary Fields:
What makes this very, very difficult is, like I said, she has to actually sit there. You have to take it because one part is trying to make political points ... actually both sides seem to be trying to make their political points and they're replaying the grievances and the angers from previous nomination hearings. You've heard a little bit of critical race theory today, heard a lot more of it yesterday. What they've really kind of locked on for the past couple of days is her sentencings in fewer than a dozen cases, which all kind of revolve around child pornography and then by association, child pedophilia.
Sen. Lindsey Graham:
Are you aware of how many images are out there on the internet involving children in sexually compromising situations?
Ketanji Brown Jackson:
Senator, I'm not aware of the numbers, but I've seen the images in my-
Sen. Lindsey Graham:
They are disgusting, right?
Ketanji Brown Jackson:
... role as a judge.
Sen. Lindsey Graham:
Well, let me tell you the numbers.
Gary Fields:
All this, I guess, is to kind of paint a picture that she's one of those judges who would be soft on crime. She came out of the public defender's office. She's defended other people. She's one of those people who's going to be soft on crime. I know the Democrats would like to actually have this done in the next two weeks. I think once we get the experts who actually come to testify tomorrow, which is what tomorrow's hearing to be all about is folks testifying on various subject matters, that have been covered for the past two days, it'll be another two weeks and then they will vote.
Taylor Wilson:
Today, interest groups, including the American Bar Association will testify about Jackson's suitability for the court. The association, which evaluates judicial nominees, already gave Jackson its highest rating last week. Witnesses chosen by Republican senators will also speak. If confirmed, Jackson would become the first Black woman ever on the Supreme Court.
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Miami Beach now has a temporary midnight curfew as of last night. The move comes after five people were wounded in two shootings there over the weekend. Miami Beach mayor Dan Gelber declared a state of emergency on Monday. He said in a news conference that rowdy spring break tourists have created what he called an unacceptable environment in South Beach.
Dan Gelber:
In the last two nights, five people were shot. Five innocent people were shot in our streets. And that's despite the fact that we had one of the most massive deployments of police resources our city really has seen. I think we had 371 police officers operational in South Beach over the weekend. Layered Metro-Dade was there, other municipalities, gang units, robbery units, our own cops and we can't endure this anymore.
Taylor Wilson:
The rule for now will stay in effect through Monday. Miami Beach officials announced a similar curfew last year to try and curb excessive drinking and violence. That move led to the arrests of more than a thousand people.
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People may be ruining relationships without even realizing it by phubbing. Wellness reporter Jenna Ryu explains what that is and some tips on stopping it.
Jenna Ryu:
So phubbing is also known as phone snubbing and it's basically when you snub others in favor of your phone. So for example, if you're at dinner with someone and you're kind of just scrolling on your phone as they talk or if you're watching a movie at home with your loved one and you're just checking social media in the background. So it's something a lot of people do. Most of the time it is subconscious, but it is fairly common. And even though it does seem relatively harmless, it can still ruin relationships just because experts have said that it can make the person on the receiving end feel like they're being unheard or undervalued or under-appreciated. So as a result, it can kind of deteriorate that connection with the person in front of you when you're constantly on your phone.
I think the big thing that experts emphasize is that it's something that a lot of people aren't aware they're doing. It's kind of a behavioral habit just be because during the pandemic, people have been more attached to their phones in order to stay connected and kind of forget that you can connect with people face to face as well. So some common tips are to intentionally unplug from all technology. So that can include putting your phone face down so that you do don't see the notification pop up when you're with someone or even just leaving your phone at home altogether just to avoid that distraction. And another tip that one of my experts told me was that depending on the type of relationship you have with the person, you can correct them and politely call them out and say, "Hey, I notice that you're on your phone a lot," and bring it to their attention so that you can hold them accountable and curb that behavior.
Taylor Wilson:
You can find Jenna's full story in today's episode description. And you can find new episodes of 5 Things every day, right here, wherever you're listening right now. Thanks to PJ Elliott for his great work on the show and I'm back tomorrow with more of 5 Things from Paste BN.