On today’s episode of the 5 Things podcast: Democrats hoped Latinos would turn GOP states ‘purple.’ That may not be the case anymore.
White House and immigration reporter Rebecca Morin explains. Plus, there’s another hold on a House committee trying to obtain former President Donald Trump’s tax returns, Palm Beach Post reporter Hannah Phillips talks about what Parkland shooting victims’ family members said at the shooter’s sentencing, former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appears to hold a narrow lead in Israel’s elections and personal finance reporter Medora Lee tells Americans what they need to know amid more Federal Reserve rate hikes.
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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, the 2nd of November, 2022. Today, how Latino support for Democrats is fading, plus the latest on Trump’s tax returns, and families speak out at the Parkland shooter’s sentencing.
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Democrats once hoped that Latino voters could be the key to turning red state’s purple, but new polls ahead of midterms show that Latino support for Dems is actually fading. Producer, PJ Elliott, spoke with USA TODAY White House and immigration reporter, Rebecca Maureen, to find out more.
Rebecca Morin:
It’s unclear whether this is a 2022 phenomenon or if this is a phenomenon that’s going to continue in the coming elections. It is a warning sign for Democrats in the future for what this voting block looks like, and the hold that they thought they had is shrinking a little.
PJ Elliott:
So what are some of the top issues overall for Latino voters?
Rebecca Morin:
There’s a lot of concerns over the economy, over inflation, over rising costs. And I think there’s this misconception that Latino voters only care about “Latino issues.” A lot of the times, people focus on immigration, but Latino voters are American voters. They care about the same thing that other voting blocks do care about.
PJ Elliott:
Did Latinos usually vote as a block or are issues for, let’s say, Cuban American voters different than those from Mexican Americans for instance?
Rebecca Morin:
The “Latino voting block” has never been a monolith. It’s always been treated as such just because of the heavily democratic leaning, but it never has been. People who live on the border have different priorities than maybe Latinos who live in states like Pennsylvania or Wisconsin or Nebraska. They all have different priorities.
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Taylor Wilson:
Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts yesterday temporarily blocked the House Ways and Means Committee from getting former president Donald Trump’s tax returns. Trump had asked the Supreme Court on Monday to intervene in his legal battle with the House Committee over access to years of his returns. That request came after the US Court of Appeals declined to reconsider an August ruling that sided with the House Committee. Chief Justice Roberts has given the committee until November 10th to respond.
Trump’s team said in legal papers on Monday that the case raises important questions about the separation of powers. They also wrote, “The committee’s purpose in requesting President Trump’s tax returns has nothing to do with funding or staffing issues at the IRS and everything to do with releasing the President’s tax information to the public.” Without court intervention, the tax returns could have been provided by the Treasury Department to the committee as early as tomorrow.
Lower courts previously ruled that the committee has brought authority to obtain tax returns and rejected Trump’s claims that it was overstepping. The AP reports that Trump may be pushing to delay a final decision until the start of the next Congress in January. If Republicans retake control of the house, they could drop the records request.
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Ellen Mayor:
Justice has not been served. Now, we all have to breathe the same air of someone who wanted us to never take another breath.
Taylor Wilson:
That’s Ellen Mayor. She lost her daughter, Samantha, in the deadliest High School shooting in US history. 17 people were killed in the Parkland, Florida school shooting nearly five years ago, and families gathered at the shooter’s sentencing hearing yesterday. Jurors previously voted last month not to give the death penalty and instead to spare gunman Nikolas Cruz’s life. That decision was met with disgust by many of the victims’ family members. Criminal justice reporter for the Palm Beach Post of the USA TODAY network, Hannah Phillips, has been covering the death penalty trial and has more.
Hannah Phillips:
So the judge has no choice but to sentence him to life in prison because the jurors couldn’t agree to sentence him to death. Before she can do that, victims of the shooting and their loved ones have a right to speak in the court to address Nikolas Cruz, and that’s exactly what happened Tuesday. Families of the victims have already spoken in court before. They did that in the first half of the trial, but when that happened, their statements had to adhere to some pretty strict rules like they weren’t allowed to address the gunman. And this time around, those rules no longer apply. So we saw loved ones looking directly at him, calling him a monster, a murderous bastard, things like that, even pointing the finger at his public defenders. Those things weren’t allowed before the jury reached its verdict, which is why the families have taken this opportunity now to say everything they’ve wanted to without restriction. They called him a monster. None of them actually used his name. A lot of them called him inmate XYZ, the Parkland shooter, things like that, because they don’t want to give this person any more air time, any more glorification and fame that he’s already received.
The mood at the podium wasn’t sad, especially Tuesday. It was very charged, very angry, very vitriolic, with the speakers just doing everything they can to pick apart the image of Nikolas Cruz that his defense attorneys had tried building. They said he was a young man who was doomed in the womb because of other people’s actions, and what these family members were saying is, no, he’s not a victim at all. Their children, their loved ones are the victims.
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Taylor Wilson:
Former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appears to hold a narrow lead this morning in Israeli elections according to exit polls. The polls are preliminary and votes are still being counted. If Netanyahu does win, he’ll return to office even as he stands trial on corruption charges. Those charges include allegations that involve trading favors to media groups in exchange for positive press coverage. He was already the country’s longest serving Prime Minister, governing for 12 consecutive years before he was ousted last year. It appears that his right wing coalition will also likely be able to form a narrow majority in parliament. That alliance aims to end Palestinian autonomy in parts of the occupied West Bank, among other plans. In general, Netanyahu’s win points to a continued shift to the right in Israeli politics. Palestine’s Prime Minister, Mohammad Shtayyeh, said that the rise of Israel’s far right was a “natural result of the growing manifestations of extremism and racism in Israeli society.”
One part of that alliance wants to grant legal immunity to Israeli soldiers who shoot at Palestinians and to deport rival lawmakers accused of terrorism according to the New York Times. A government led by Netanyahu would bring an end to one of the country’s most diverse coalitions ever. Current Prime Minister Yair Lapid’s government involved eight different parties across the political spectrum, including the first independent Arab party to join an Israeli governing coalition. Netanyahu’s alliance presented the vote as a mission to preserve Israel’s Jewish identity. His opponents presented the vote as a push to protect the country’s democracy, noting that Israel is multicultural. About three quarters of the country is Jewish and 21% is Arab.
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Americans should prepare their finances for even higher interest rates this year as the Federal Reserve continues its fight against inflation. The Fed’s policy-making arm is expected to bring a fourth consecutive interest rate hike when it wraps up its meeting later today. PJ Elliott spoke with money and personal finance reporter, Medora Lee, to find out what you need to know.
Medora Lee:
We are expected to see another 75 basis point rate hike because inflation is still very high. They’re going to have to keep trying to raise rates until inflation cools.
PJ Elliott:
So is this going to be the last hike for a while or are there more coming? And could we see 5%?
Medora Lee:
I don’t think anyone thinks this is going to be the last rate hike. Maybe they might slow down their rate hikes. There’s some talk about that, that maybe this is the last 75 basis point move we’ll see. As far as 5%, there are some economists out there who think that inflation is so hot that we will have to see the Fed raise rates to at least 5% to get this under control.
PJ Elliott:
Medora, of course you know that we have a lot of small businesses in this country, and according to the US Small Business Administration’s Office of Advocacy, as of 2020, there were 31.7 million small businesses. How does this rate hike affect them?
Medora Lee:
A lot of small businesses rely on loans to get them through when times are tough, and right now, probably a lot of small businesses are hurting because of inflation and labor, and so every loan now becomes more expensive for them.
Taylor Wilson:
You can find new episodes of 5 Things every morning right here, wherever you’re listening right now. Thanks to everyone on the team who helps make the show happen, and I’m back tomorrow with more of 5 Things from USA TODAY.
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