Will Biden's oil reserve move lower gas prices?, Women's Final Four is here: 5 Things podcast

On today's episode of the 5 Things podcast: Biden to release up to 180 million barrels of oil from reserve. Is it enough?

White House correspondent Michael Collins reports. Plus, Russian troops leave the Chernobyl nuclear plant, Indianapolis Star environmental reporter Sarah Bowman talks about a new threat for U.S. lakes and rivers, we explain the World Cup draw and the Women's Final Four tips off.

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, and Happy April Fools' Day. I'm Taylor Wilson and this is 5 Things you need to know Friday, the 1st of April 2022. Today, a look at Biden's release of oil from emergency reserves. Plus the US will find out who they play in this year's World Cup and more.

Here are some of the top headlines:

1. Police found five fetuses inside the home of an anti-abortion activist in Washington. WUSA9 reported that police were searching the home of 28-year-old Lauren Handy. She was one of nine people charged in an indictment that accused them of traveling to Washington, blocking access to a reproductive health center and streaming it on Facebook.

2. Shanghai has moved to the second stage of a massive COVID-19 lockdown. The city of 26 million has locked down its residents to allow for mass testing, amid a surge in COVID cases.

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President Joe Biden has ordered the release of up to 180 million barrels of oil from the country's emergency reserves. The announcement yesterday came amid record high gas prices around the country, which have especially soared during Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Joe Biden:

Look, the bottom line is this. Between rapping up, ramping up production in the short term and driving down demand in the long term, we can free ourselves from our dependence on imported oil from across the world. Look, I know gas prices are painful. I get it. My plan's going to help ease that pain today and safeguard against tomorrow.

Taylor Wilson:

The action is the largest release from the reserve in it's nearly 50-year-history. Producer PJ Elliott met up with White House correspondent Michael Collins, to find out more.

Michael Collins:

Specifically, what he's doing, he's going to release one million barrels a day from the strategic petroleum reserve for the next six months, and that will be the largest release from this emergency stockpile of oil reserves in the reserve's nearly 50-year-history. The reason that he's doing this, of course, is because gas process are at record highs. They've been on the rise again, particularly in the month since Russia started its war in Ukraine. AAA says that the average price per gallon is about $4 and 22 cents across the country. But in some states, it's even higher. In California, for example, it's well over $6 per gallon.

PJ Elliott:

Is there any reason why it's taken so long for this to get done?

Michael Collins:

I think there are a number of reasons that the President is doing this now. Probably the biggest reason, of course, is that the gas prices are on the rise again, and one of the reasons for that is Russia's war against Ukraine. Gas prices have been on the rise since Russia invaded Ukraine about a month ago. And one of the reasons for that is this war has taken a lot of Russian oil off the market. And with that oil being off the market, that means there is a shortage, and then of course, gas prices go up. The rationale for releasing oil from the strategic reserves is you put more oil back in the system. And in theory at least, that will lower prices at the pump.

PJ Elliott:

Is there a timeframe that people can start to see the prices go down?

Michael Collins:

Not really. The President has been asked that question and nobody seems to really have an answer. The President seems pretty certain that gas prices will drop, but he doesn't know how low they'll drop. And he said nor can he predict how soon it might be before Americans would see some relief. It probably will take time because it takes a while for that oil to get into the system and for it to make a difference.

Taylor Wilson:

Biden also plans to invoke the Defense Production Act to boost US production of minerals used in electric vehicles.

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Russian troops are continuing to retreat from around the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv. Troops there are now at about 20% the force initially sent to seize the city, according to a US Defense official. But The Pentagon believes Russia is pulling back to resupply, not to wind down the war. Spokesman John Kirby.

John Kirby:

We do believe, again, that a small number are beginning to reposition. It's not exactly clear where they're going to go, for how long, and for what purpose, but we don't see any indication that they're going to be sent home. The best assessment we have, and it's an assessment at this early stage, is that they're going to be repositioned probably into Belarus to be refit and resupplied and used elsewhere in Ukraine.

Taylor Wilson:

Russian troops also handed control of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant back to Ukraine, more than a month after taking over the contaminated site. Ukraine state power company, Energoatom, said the Chernobyl pullout came after Russian soldiers received significant doses of radiation after digging trenches in the exclusion zone around the closed plant, though there was no independent confirmation of that. Some places are using brief reprieves from violence to clean up. There are still reports of shelling around the Northeastern City of Kharkiv, Ukraine's second most populated city. But residents there are also seeing more spells of quiet than the first weeks of war. This week, they finally had the chance to clean up from a devastating Russian airstrike that killed at least eight people a month ago near a transport equipment plant. Volunteers like Vyacheslav Salnikov have signed up across the city to help with similar cleanups.

Taylor Wilson translating for Vyacheslav Salnikov:

"Of course, it's important to help somehow. It's our city, our country. Not everyone can fight. Some people are fighting on this front as well."

In his nightly address yesterday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Russian forces are building up for new, powerful attacks in the Southeast. That region has been slammed by Russian attacks basically since the beginning of Russia's invasion in February. Residents in one of the hardest hit, Mariupol, continue to try and evacuate. But a convoy of 45 buses heading there to help people escape was blocked by Russian forces this week. Other convoys bringing in supplies were also blocked. More than half of the city's 430,000 pre-war residents have been able to flee, but other relief efforts continue to be stopped by Russian forces.

More broadly, peace negotiations will continue today in Turkey, but progress on that front has been slow. One of the recent Western leaders to speak with Russian President Vladimir Putin was Italian Premier Mario Draghi. He spoke by phone with Putin and said the Russian leader felt conditions were not yet ripe for a ceasefire. Putin also said he was not ready for a meeting with Ukraine's President's Zelenskyy until negotiators do more work.

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A new threat has emerged for US lakes and rivers, and your lawn or toilets may be partly to blame. Sarah Bowman, an environmental reporter for the Indy Star, part of the USA TODAY network, has more.

Sarah Bowman:

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Clean Water Act, which passed in 1972. And when that passed, there was a lot of focus on addressing industrial pollution and contamination, that kind of contamination that we think of that comes out of a pipe. And a lot of gains were made there. A lot of improvements were realized as a result of that act. But now, 50 years later, we're looking at what is the state of our waterways because we haven't achieved a lot of the goals that were set out when the Clean Water Act was passed, and trying to look at, why haven't we achieved those goals? Where are we falling short? And the big problem now is traced back to what is called non-point source pollution or pollution that isn't coming out of a pipe, that's easy. But this is pollution that's coming from runoff, be it from our roads and parking lots, that's rain and water is picking up oils and other contaminants there. It's coming from the nutrients in the bacteria in fertilizer that's coming off of farm fields or sewage that is leaking out of septic tanks.

It's coming from these pollution sources that are much harder to pin down. And so it's much harder to find the source. And without being able to find the source, it's much harder to fix it or address the problem. And that's kind of where we are now when it comes to our waterways. That's not to say we don't still have industrial pollution. We do for sure. But one of the major threats to our waterways that we're trying to figure out now is these sources that are coming, very spread out from across the state of Indiana where I am and the country.

Definitely don't think it's too late. And a lot of, I think, environmental advocates and scientists, researchers, experts out there would say the same thing. That being said, how to fix it, it's not an easy solution. Some folks are talking about trying to make a change to an amendment, to the Clean Water Act, to try and close some of the gaps or loopholes, if you will, to try and make it easier to regulate these types of pollution sources. Obviously, that takes an act of Congress, which is not always the easiest thing to do, to make happen. Others are talking about just needing... We need to start with additional testing of our waterways so much. There are certain requirements laid out about testing, but given resources, a lot of times it happens really infrequently. And the vast majority of our waterways aren't even tested, so we actually don't even know whether they're in good shape or bad shape.

Taylor Wilson:

You can find more of Sarah on Twitter, @IndyStarSarah. That's Sarah with an H.

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Happy World Cup draw. Today's the day we'll find out who plays who in the group stage of this fall's soccer World Cup in Qatar. Groups are decided by a somewhat random draw, but it's not completely random. The teams that have qualified have now been placed into four pots based on FIFA rankings, which were updated yesterday. Each World Cup group will have one team from each pot. In pot one are the host Qatar, who we know will end up in group A. Also in pot one, some of the world's top teams, including the defending champions, France, along with Brazil, England, Belgium, and others. In pot two, the United States. There are also world powers like Germany and the Netherlands and Mexico. Pot three has Japan and recent Africa Cup of Nations Champions, Senegal, among others, though pot four is where things get weird.

The final three spots have not yet been decided and will not in time for today's draw. There's still one spot up for grabs out of Europe. Wales will play the winner of Scotland and Ukraine, a game that was postponed because of the ongoing war there. That'll likely be played in June, though there's no set date. We're also waiting on the winner of Costa Rica and New Zealand. Costa Rica made it to the intercontinental playoff by finishing fourth in the North and Central American region, while New Zealand won Oceanic qualifying. That game is set for June 13th and will also take place in Qatar.

And finally, we're waiting for Peru to play the winner of Australia and the United Arab Emirates out of the Asia region. That game is also set for June 13th after Australia and UAE play each other on June 7th. None of that scheduling weirdness is common and has mostly been caused by congested fixtures, thanks to COVID-19. Also it's thanks to an odd fall World Cup in Qatar, which is being played at that time because of the heat there, even though the Cup is usually played in the summer. You can find out who the US gets today at noon Eastern at 9:00 AM Pacific, streaming live on fifa.com and Peacock.

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The Women's Final Four tips off tonight in college basketball, and Cinderella was not invited. All four semi-finalists are some of the games' heavyweights. That includes three No. 1 seeds and a No. 2. But despite no underdog magic, the games themselves could be classics. First up, No. 1 South Carolina plays No. 1 Louisville at 7:00 PM Eastern. Carolina was the overall No. 1 seed in the USA TODAY Sports coaches poll all season, but Louisville is hungry for its first title ever. That's followed by No. 1 seed Stanford trying to repeat as champions against No. 2 Yukon, once the sport's cream of the crop, though they haven't won at all since 2016. You can catch the games on ESPN.

And you can find 5 Things seven mornings a week 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 USA TODAY.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Biden's oil reserve release, World Cup draw preview: 5 Things podcast