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On today’s episode of the 5 Things podcast: USA TODAY Congress, Campaigns, and Democracy Reporter Miles Herszenhorn talks about a House-passed Defense bill, and looks at where Americans stand on aid to Ukraine. Most abortions are now banned in Iowa after Gov. Kim Reynolds signed a ‘fetal heartbeat’ law. Then a man has been charged with murder in connection with three women’s deaths over a decade ago in New York. And USA TODAY Health Reporter Karen Weintraub looks at this week’s World Health Organization findings on aspartame. Finally, deep sea mining might be right around the corner.
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, Saturday, the 15th of July 2023.
Today a look at where Americans stand on aid to Ukraine, plus Iowa’s Governor signs a fetal heartbeat abortion ban. And we look at the latest findings on the aspartame sweetener.
House Republicans passed a controversial defense bill yesterday. I spoke with USA Today congress, campaigns and democracy reporter Miles Herszenhorn about the legislation, and about where the GOP and Americans on the whole stand when it comes to aid for Ukraine.
Welcome back to 5 Things, Miles.
Miles Herszenhorn:
Thank you for having me.
Taylor Wilson:
So the House passed a controversial defense bill yesterday. What exactly is in this legislation and does it have a chance in the Senate?
Miles Herszenhorn:
Great question. The National Defense Authorization Act was passed by the Republican Party yesterday. It was a tight vote and it was almost a party-line vote. Just a couple of Democrats crossed the aisle to vote with the Republicans.
And the reason this legislation was so controversial, and not the bipartisan vote that the NDAA usually gets, was because of several amendments passed by conservative Republicans that essentially injected a lot of the culture wars politics that we’ve been hearing into this bill. For example, Republicans passed an amendment that would prevent the Department of Defense from funding travel for service members to receive abortions. They also passed an amendment that prevent the Department of Defense from funding healthcare for transgender service members.
Taylor Wilson:
And Miles, now that the House Freedom Caucus attempt to limit military aid for Ukraine has failed, this was a part of the legislation here, is this an indication that the GOP is on board with Biden’s Ukraine agenda?
Miles Herszenhorn:
It was really interesting to see how many Republicans supported keeping Ukraine funding in this bill. There were several amendments that sought to strip Ukraine funding from the legislation. Marjorie Taylor Greene introduced an amendment that would’ve stripped 300 million in funding for Ukraine from this bill. However, it failed spectacularly, and it did show that there was still a lot of support in the Republican Party for funding Ukraine.
That being said, it is not clear how long that support will last, especially as we get closer to an election in 2024. Voters have become increasingly wary about sending more money abroad to Ukraine, especially Republican voters. So it is something to keep an eye on, but it is definitely a very good sign for Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and American President, Joe Biden, that there is still a lot of support right now among the Republican Party for Ukraine.
Taylor Wilson:
Yeah, Miles, I want to hear about voters a little bit more here in a second, but where exactly do the Biden White House and Democratic lawmakers stand currently on Ukraine aid?
Miles Herszenhorn:
Democrats overwhelmingly support continuing to fund Ukraine. What I’ve been hearing from democratic lawmakers is that, “We support sending more money to Ukraine. We understand that it’s important and necessary.”
The one thing that I’ve been hearing is that there needs to be oversight, which is also something that we’ve heard from Republicans. But beyond that, Democrats are overwhelmingly in favor of continuing to support Ukraine in this fight and ensuring that the Ukrainian military has what it needs to defeat the Russians.
Taylor Wilson:
So Miles, we’ve talked about aid to Ukraine on a legislative level. How do Americans on the whole feel about it at this point of the war?
Miles Herszenhorn:
There are still many voters who believe it is incredibly important to continue funding Ukraine in its war effort. For example, there are some who are deeply concerned about Russia and believe that it is important and an incredibly vital American national security interest to defeat the regime of Russian president Vladimir Putin. So while some voters are concerned about the amount of money that is being sent to Kiev, there are other voters who actually have told me that it’s their number one issue going into 2024. That the next American president is somebody who is in favor of funding Ukraine and will make sure to show that that support will not go away.
But what we’re beginning to see now, more than a year since Russia launched its full scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, is that voters are becoming more wary of sending large sums of money to Ukraine. There is a growing sentiment among some parts of the electorate that this is money that we need to spend on domestic purposes here in the United States, and it is not necessarily the wisest thing to be sending that money abroad.
Taylor Wilson:
All right, Miles Herszenhorn, thanks as always.
Miles Herszenhorn:
Thank you so much. Always happy to be here.
Taylor Wilson:
Iowa’s governor signed a bill into law yesterday that bans most abortions after six weeks of pregnancy, and the ban took effect immediately. The new law prohibits all abortions after cardiac activity can be detected, which typically happens around six weeks.
Governor Kim Reynolds called the Iowa State Legislature back into a special session this week to enact the legislation, and the bill passed solely with Republican support on Tuesday.
Exceptions to the heartbeat law include cases of rape, incest, fetal abnormalities, and medical emergencies that endanger the mother’s life. The Iowa law comes after the Supreme Court last summer overturned the constitutional right to abortion.
A New York architect has been charged with first degree murder in connection with the deaths of three women found over a decade ago on Long Island. Detectives said that a key break in the case against the suspect, 59-year-old Rex Heuermann, came when they matched DNA from a pizza he ate to genetic material found on the women’s remains.
The bodies of Melissa Barthelemey, Megan Waterman, and Amber Costello, were found wrapped in burlap days apart from each other in 2010. Another woman, Maureen Brainard-Barnes, was also found in burlap around the same time. He has not been charged with her murder, but authorities said yesterday, “He’s the prime suspect in her death.”
Authorities also said at least 10 bodies were found in the same relative area over a decade ago. The suspect is not charged in most of those deaths, but police said the investigation continues. Many were believed to be working as sex workers. The suspect has pleaded not guilty to three counts each of first and second degree murder.
As you’re listening to this you may have a Diet Coke nearby, but how safe is it to drink? In a pair of reports out Thursday, the World Health Organization gave its latest findings on aspartame, the artificial sweeter found in the drink and others. I spoke with USA Today health reporter Karen Weintraub to learn more.
Hello, Karen.
Karen Weintraub:
Hi.
Taylor Wilson:
So starting here, what is aspartame?
Karen Weintraub:
Aspartame is a sugar substitute artificial sweetener that is added to a lot of foods. You may know it as Equal or NutraSweet. It’s put in Diet Coke, in things like Snapple iced tea, and a lot of sugar-free chewing gum, things like that.
Taylor Wilson:
And the World Health Organization is weighing in on this sweetener. What do they say about whether it’s bad for us or not?
Karen Weintraub:
So they have reviewed all the data available and they say that in normal quantities it’s fine to eat. So if you put a package of Equal in your morning coffee, it’s totally fine.
What they do say is in very high quantities, probably more than normal people or than anyone really uses, it’s potentially carcinogenic. It potentially causes cancer.
Taylor Wilson:
And Karen, how do WHO recommendations compare with those from the FDA or other health experts?
Karen Weintraub:
So WHO put the limit at 40 milligrams per kilogram of body weight. So that is, if somebody weighs say 150 pounds, they can have about 9-14 12oz cans of soda a day before they hit that limit. The FDA’s limit is a little higher. It’s 50 milligrams per kilogram, which is 12-15 cans a day, something like that.
Taylor Wilson:
So Karen, does that mean it’s okay for everyone to drink 12 to 15 cans a day if they want?
Karen Weintraub:
The folks I spoke to said if your health is already compromised, you might consider cutting back, particularly if you are already quite heavy, if you have diabetes, if you’ve already had cancer for instance. The diet soda’s probably not doing you any good and it might be doing you a little bit of harm. So you might consider cutting back.
What the WHO official I heard from said is that water is always best, better than soda of any kind. Certainly sugar-sweetened soda is not a better alternative than no-calorie soda, but diet soda is not going to help you lose weight, particularly according to earlier WHO studies. It might increase the risk of diabetes and water is best.
Taylor Wilson:
All right. Karen Weintraub covers health for USA Today. Thanks, Karen.
Karen Weintraub:
Thank you.
Taylor Wilson:
Deep sea mining. It might be right around the corner. The price is rising for minerals and metals critical to the green energy transition, and some of those, including copper and lithium, are found at the bottom of the ocean.
The UN’s regulatory body for the ocean floor, called the International Seabed Authority, is meeting in Jamaica later this month to try an iron out a number of agreements, and some deep sea mining could begin as soon as next year. It would first involve underwater robots scouting out areas some four miles below the surface. That’s twice as deep as the depth that destroyed the Titan submersible last month.
But environmental advocates are worried. A wide array of life exists miles below the ocean surface, from sea worms and octopi to corals that live for thousands of years. Those species could be harmed by the bright lights and loud sounds of mining, none of which exist in the depths.
There are also worries that mining could kick up silt into otherwise clear waters where species are not designed to interact with sediment and waste. One experiment done by German researchers found that even 26 years after a portion of deep sea floor had been disturbed, microbial activity remained reduced by as much as four times. For more on deep sea mining and the regulations that are being negotiated right now, keep an eye out for an upcoming 5 Things special hosted by USA Today National Correspondent Elizabeth Weise.
And before we go, did you know that 5 Things is now on YouTube? A limited number of our specials and Sunday episodes will now be available as vodcasts. We have a link in today’s show notes.
And thanks for listening to 5 Things. Dana Taylor is in tomorrow for the Sunday edition, and I’ll see you Monday with more of 5 Things from USA Today.
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