Climate change on ballot in midterms, Boris Johnson drops his return bid: 5 Things podcast

On today's episode of the 5 Things podcast: Climate change is on the ballot in the midterm elections

Here's what's at stake. Plus, former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson drops his return bid, Chinese President Xi Jinping gives himself another term, reporter Abraham Kenmore looks at whether a Georgia law will affect voter turnout at midterms and climate activists again throw food at art to protest fossil fuels.

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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 Monday, the 24th of October, 2022. Today, the importance of climate change at this fall's midterm elections, plus what's next for Britain amid another prime minister change, and more.

Here are some of the top headlines:

1. A new report shows that reading and math scores dropped across the US during the pandemic. Results from the National Assessment of Educational Progress show dramatic declines for the country's fourth- and eighth-graders.

2. North and South Korea exchanged warning shots earlier today. The moves came along the country's disputed Western Sea boundary.

3. And the World Series is set. The Philadelphia Phillies finished off the San Diego Padres, and the Houston Astros swept the New York Yankees. The World Series begins Friday in Houston.

♦

Half of registered voters say that climate change is one of the most important issues in upcoming midterm elections. So could the results on November 8th mean changes for US policy on global warming? Producer PJ Elliott spoke with National Correspondent Elizabeth Weise to find out.

Elizabeth Weise:

We've got half of registered voters saying that climate change is one of the most important issues to them. There are places in the country where very specific climate change issues are on the ballot. There are other places where who is elected will affect things that happen in states or regions. And then there are two big climate-change initiatives the Biden Administration has put into effect, and then questions are, if the makeup of Congress changes significantly, could they be changed or undone?

PJ Elliott:

Beth, can you talk about what it is that Republicans are talking about rolling back if they were to gain the majority?

Elizabeth Weise:

The Inflation Reduction Act is the most consequential piece of climate legislation the United States has ever passed. One presumes that the Republican Party would want to overturn it or lessen it as much as possible. However, that's going to be really difficult, unless Republicans gain two-thirds majority in both the House and the Senate, because otherwise, Biden could veto it. The other big one is the Securities and Exchange Commission is currently still collecting public input on a requirement that companies provide climate risk information to investors as part of their risk portfolio.

Taylor Wilson:

You can find Elizabeth's full story in today's show description.

♦

Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced yesterday that he will not run to lead the country's Conservative party. The decision wraps up a short-lived attempt to once again become Britain's Prime Minister, just three months after he was initially ousted from the job. Johnson was forced out in July during a series of ethics scandals, but he was widely expected to run to replace Liz Truss, who quit last week. Her tax-cutting economic package caused financial turmoil. Johnson spent the weekend trying to gain support from other lawmakers. Yesterday, he said he gathered more than a hundred names: the threshold to run.

But he was far behind former Treasury Secretary Rishi Sunak. He's now the strong favorite to become the country's next prime minister and could win the contest as soon as today. The 42-year-old was runner-up after Truss in this summer's Tory leadership race to replace Johnson. He ran the treasury from 2020 until this past summer, steering the economy through the coronavirus pandemic. He quit in July in protest of Johnson's leadership.

♦

Xi Jinping awarded himself a third five-year term as China's leader yesterday.

[Audio from election]

Taylor Wilson:

On Saturday, the country's ruling Communist Party reaffirmed him and a party congress also removed Premier Li Keqiang from senior leadership. Li was the country's number two official. He's pushed for market-oriented reforms, which are in contrast to Xi's moves to expand state control over the economy. Analysts have been watching for any possible challenge to Xi over the weekend, but none appeared.

At the Communist Party Congress, he pushed for state control over a broad range of Chinese life. He called for more self-reliance on technology, faster military development and protection of Beijing's core interests abroad. He also gave no sign of plans to change the country's strict zero-COVID strategy that has successfully contained outbreaks but has also frustrated China's public, and at times, its economy. Xi also announced no changes in policies straining relations with Washington and its Asian neighbors. China accused the US of so-called Cold War thinking earlier this month. The US accused China of trying to undermine US alliances, global security and economic rules.

♦

Will an "election integrity" law in the state of Georgia hurt midterm turnout next month? PJ Elliott spoke with Abraham Ken Moore of the Georgia Go team to discuss what data from the state's primaries earlier this year uncovered.

Abraham Ken Moore:

I think the main point that I got from talking to a couple of advocates is that just because people are voting doesn't mean it's, one, not harder to vote, and two, turnout isn't the only aspect of it. So there's the question of can you register and stay on the roles? And Georgia generally has very high voter registration. Then there's actually getting to the roles, and the third part is having the ballot counted fairly.

PJ Elliott:

In this story, you detail an increase in the primary in Georgia earlier this year. What does that mean for the midterm election? Are we going to see even higher numbers next month?

Abraham Ken Moore:

Everyone's expecting to. On Friday, the Secretary of State's office sent something out that said in the first four days of early voting, which opened Monday, that over half a million people have voted already. It is blowing 2018 early voting numbers out of the water.

♦

Taylor Wilson:

Climate activists in Europe are again in the news for throwing food at art in protest of fossil fuels. This time, a pair of activists splashed mashed potatoes on a 19th-century painting by Oscar-Claude Monet. The incident happened yesterday at a museum in Potsdam, Germany, with a German climate activist group taking credit for the stunt. It comes just over a week after demonstrators in Britain splashed tomato soup on a Vincent Van Gogh painting, also to protest fossil fuels, before gluing themselves to a wall. In both cases, the paintings were not damaged because they were under protective glass.

Thanks for listening to 5 Things. You can find us every morning on your favorite podcast app, and if you have a chance, please drop us a rating and review. 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: Climate change on midterm ballots, Xi Jinping extends power: 5 Things podcast