Biden administration to extend border wall touted by Trump: 5 Things podcast

On today's episode of the 5 Things podcast: USA TODAY White House Correspondent Joey Garrison breaks down the Biden administration announcement to extend the border wall previously touted by former President Donald Trump. Sen. Dianne Feinstein was remembered at a San Francisco memorial. Missouri asks the Supreme Court to revive a controversial gun law. Presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy's campaign blamed protesters for ramming its car in Iowa. Police said that's not true. USA TODAY Breaking News Reporter Cybele Mayes-Osterman talks about the latest turn in the Adnan Syed case. The subject of the 'Serial' podcast is back in court.

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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 6th of October 2023.

Today, a look at the Biden Administration's controversial plan to extend a border wall, plus remembering Senator Dianne Feinstein and the case of Adnan Syed is back in court.

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The Biden administration is extending a wall on the US Mexico border. That's despite President Joe Biden's promise as a candidate not to add to the controversial project that's long been tied to his predecessor Donald Trump. I spoke with USA Today White House correspondent, Joey Garrison, to learn more. Joey, welcome back to the show.

Joey Garrison:

Hey, thanks for having me.

Taylor Wilson:

So the Biden administration is extending a wall along the US Mexico border. Joey, what exactly does this plan entail?

Joey Garrison:

Yes, this is an interesting one. So the Biden administration, Secretary Mayorkas, of the Homeland Security Department provided notice in the federal registry that he is using his authority to waive 26 federal laws, essentially environmental restrictions, other historic considerations, thinks to essentially expedite the construction of this section of 20 mile border wall in South Texas in the Rio Grande Valley. As we know, President Biden during his campaign very much opposed a border wall that Former President Donald Trump has long championed. And so this is blatantly a contradiction of his campaign policy. Now what the administration says is that this funding, in their rightness, for this project was approved by Congress in 2019 and they say that they were obligated to comply with congressional action then, and that therefore is why they are moving forward with the project.

Taylor Wilson:

And so why is Biden doing this now, Joey?

Joey Garrison:

Well, that's a good question. there is a surge of migration right now. Migrants coming through the border illegally and actually Alejandro Mayorkas in the federal notice cites "A high illegal entry into the US." He said, "There is presently an acute and immediate need to construct physical barriers and roads in the vicinity of the Rio Grande border in Texas." Now that almost is astonishing to hear from a top Biden administration official after Biden again has said a border wall is not an effective way to stem migration. And in fact, after Biden, he was asked by reporters, "Is this an effective way to stem migration?" And he said, "No," which is a direct contradiction of the statement that we have from Mayorkas. Now, Mayorkas late Thursday issued a statement to clarify following the backlash the administration has received from immigration advocates on this issue saying, "Hey, there is no change in administration of policy from day one. We have opposed a border wall," but really there's a whole mixed bag of communications right now coming from different ends of the administration when it comes to this project.

Taylor Wilson:

And as you mentioned, as a presidential candidate back in 2020, he vowed not to build any more border wall. This was while rival Donald Trump made it a focus of his efforts to stop illegal immigration. What might this decision to go against that, Joey, mean for Biden politically going forward?

Joey Garrison:

Well, he's going to definitely, and he already is hearing it from the left and from immigration advocates, but at the same time, there could be a calculation that he's getting really dinged up on the border from the other side saying, "Hey, you need to do more to tamp down this flood of migrants coming over the US Mexico border." And so maybe in that sense, might not be a bad political calculation if there was one a year out from the election. It's hard to ignore the fact that this is happening. This funding was approved in 2019 and it seems awfully coincidental that it would be constructed right now at the height of numbers that we're seeing on the border. And so again, I think there's going to be a lot of questions moving forward. This isn't the end of this issue when it comes to President Biden and Secretary Mayorkas defending this policy to Democrats and to others on the left.

Taylor Wilson:

USA Today White House correspondent, Joey Garrison. Thank you, Joey.

Joey Garrison:

Hey, thanks.

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Taylor Wilson:

Senator Dianne Feinstein was remembered yesterday as a hero to women across the country for her groundbreaking roles in local and national politics. Political leaders gathered for her memorial on the front steps of San Francisco City Hall. President Joe Biden called her both tough and compassionate in a recorded message. And Vice President Kamala Harris called Feinstein a standard-bearer for American values.

Kamala Harris:

Diane, the Women of America have come a long way. Our country has come a long way and you helped move the ball forward and our nation salutes you, Diane.

Taylor Wilson:

Thousands attended the invitation only event. A montage of images of Feinstein over the years was shown on large screens as San Francisco Mayor London Reed and Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi also spoke among others. Feinstein died last Friday at her home in Washington. She served as the oldest member of the Senate before her death at the age of 90.

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Missouri officials yesterday asked the US Supreme Court to revive a controversial law that blocks local police from enforcing federal gun prohibitions. The State's Second Amendment Preservation Act allows Missouri residents to sue police for $50,000 if they attempt to enforce federal gun laws. The Biden administration sued Missouri over the law last year and a federal appeals court blocked it late last month. In an emergency appeal yesterday that again puts the Second Amendment on Justice's docket this year, Missouri asked the court to allow it to enforce the law while the appeal continues. If the court grants the request, it could inspire other conservative states to weigh in with similar laws. The Supreme Court is already considering a high profile Second Amendment case challenging a federal law that bars people who are subject to restraining orders from owning guns.

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GOP Presidential Candidate, Vivek Ramaswamy's, campaign vehicle was hit yesterday afternoon in what his campaign said was an intentional act by protesters in Iowa. But police in the town of Grinnell say that's not true and that it was nothing more than an accident involving a driver unconnected to a protest there. Ramaswamy campaign had blamed the incident on protesters who they said were upset about his remarks on aid to Ukraine. During the first Presidential Debate, Ramaswamy called it disastrous that the US government was "Protecting against an invasion across somebody else's border." He argued that Ukraine funding would be better spent on what he called an invasion at the Southern US border. Ramaswamy stance comes as Congress continues to haggle over funding for the Ukraine war. President Joe Biden and the State Department have pledged unwavering support for Ukraine, but that support may be wavering, especially in the Trump led faction of the GOP. Meanwhile, an ABC News Washington Post survey out last month revealed that 41% of Americans feel the US is doing too much for Ukraine. Up from 33% in February.

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The case of Adnan Syed is back in court. It's the latest chapter in a decades long legal saga stemming from Syed's conviction for the 1999 murder of his girlfriend Hae Min Lee. A case that drew international attention through the serial podcast in 2014. Syed was released from jail last year when a Maryland court overturned his conviction after a test excluded his DNA. But his conviction was reinstated earlier this year. I spoke with USA Today Breaking News Reporter, Cybele Mayes-Osterman, for the latest. Cybele, thanks for hopping on Five Things.

Cybele Mayes-Osterman:

Happy to.

Taylor Wilson:

So Adnan Syed was back in court yesterday. What's the latest in this case after his conviction was reinstated in March?

Cybele Mayes-Osterman:

So Adnan Syed was back before a Maryland Supreme Court. And basically the family, the brother specifically, of Hae Min Lee was asking for a redo essentially of the court process that declared that Syed's conviction was overturned. And that came basically because back in September of 2022, Young Lee, Haman Lee's brother, was informed of a hearing where this conviction would be overturned. But he lived in California and he was informed on a Friday the hearing was going to happen on a Monday. He said that he didn't have time to get there and although he was able to appear via Zoom, he said basically this was a violation of his right as a member of the family, of the victim. And so he requested for the trial to be redone.

Taylor Wilson:

So what does this functionally mean for Syed going forward? Could he go back to jail?

Cybele Mayes-Osterman:

So right now, since this redo is happening, it could go either way. He functionally has not been either convicted or not. That previous conviction has just been essentially canceled out.

Taylor Wilson:

And how might this case impact other crime victims in, not just Maryland, but beyond as well?

Cybele Mayes-Osterman:

So there's several different legal groups that were weighing in on this because the attorneys specifically for Mr. Lee see this as being significant to the rights of victims in being able to be present and basically be meaningfully heard in court proceedings where they're involved. So one of those was the National Crime Victim Law Institute that is also arguing along with Mr. Lee, that this is a really important right for the families of victims to be able to be informed and present in these court proceedings.

Taylor Wilson:

This has been a long saga for the family of Hae Min Lee, going on decades now. What's next for this family going forward as they search for justice?

Cybele Mayes-Osterman:

Right now, these are just the starting opening arguments in this essentially redo of the case. And so the final decisions of the judges might be put out in a written format and it's unclear exactly when those will come in. So I think there's a lot that we have to watch for in the months going forward.

Taylor Wilson:

Cybele Mayes-Osterman, thanks for your time on this. Really appreciate it.

Cybele Mayes-Osterman:

Thank you.

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Taylor Wilson:

On yesterday's show, in our segment about school psychologists, we misstated the ratio of counselors to students at a school in Hershey, Pennsylvania. At one to a 1,000, it is half of the recommended ratio.

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And thanks for listening to Five Things. You can find us seven mornings a week on your Google Podcast, Apple Podcast, Amazon Music, or wherever you get your audio. If you like the show, please subscribe and leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts. And any comments you can reach us at podcasts@usatoday.com. I'm Taylor Wilson, back tomorrow with more of Five Things from USA Today.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Adnan Syed 'Serial' podcast subject back in court: 5 Things podcast