House to vote on same-sex marriage, 92nd MLB All-Star Game is here: 5 Things podcast

On today's episode of the 5 Things podcast: House to vote on same-sex marriage, push back against Supreme Court

It's the latest move lawmakers are bringing amid what some see as an aggressive high court. Plus, money reporter Craig Harris talks about a USA TODAY investigation that found an inexperienced startup made millions off questionable COVID tests, the Jan. 6 House committee expects the Secret Service to meet a deadline to hand over text messages, Local IQ's Brandon Griffin explains how Gen Z'ers are fighting back against inflation and the 92nd MLB All-Star Game is here.

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 Tuesday, the 19th of July, 2022. Today, the House's latest pushback against the Supreme Court, plus how a startup made millions on questionable COVID tests, and more.

Here are some of the top headlines:

1. A devastating heatwave continues to bake Europe. Nearly 1,000 heat-related deaths have been reported in Spain and Portugal, and temperatures in parts of Britain have passed into triple digits, setting all-time records in some areas.

2. Russian President Vladimir Putin is visiting Iran today. He'll meet with leaders of that country and Turkey.

3. And Maryland will hold July's only primary elections today. There are governors, Senate, and House races.

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The House will vote today to protect same sex and interracial marriages. The move is a direct confrontation with the Supreme Court whose conservative majority in overturning Roe vs. Wade has sparked concerns that other rights beyond abortion might be in jeopardy. The vote is a political strategy setting up an election year roll call that'll force all lawmakers to go on the record with their views on the issue. It's also part of the legislative branch pushing back on what's seen as an aggressive court intent on revisiting settled laws. The Respect for Marriage Act is expected to pass the House before stalling in the Senate where most Republicans would block it. In addition, the House last week passed two bills that would protect abortion rights and the women who travel across state lines for the procedure.

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A USA TODAY investigation based on more than 30,000 documents and dozens of interviews found that a web of money, business relationships and connected political leaders in at least five states tipped the scales in favor of a startup called Nomi Health for COVID tests and PPE. That's despite the company's inexperience in public health. 5 Things producer PJ Elliott spoke with money reporter Craig Harris about what was found.

Craig Harris:

Well, we got a tip that there was a Utah company that had no public health experience that ended up getting a bunch of no-bid contracts. So we looked into it and we talked to some folks and we found out there was a company called Nomi Health and they were based in Utah and they got a no-bid contract to administer COVID-19 tests there in that state, along with three other companies. Co-Diagnostics, they supplied the tests. And then there's another company called Domo. They did the dashboards. And then there's another company called Qualtrics and they set up the scheduling and the tests. And so Nomi Health was kind of like the general contractor. So they got a contract in Utah, thanks partly to a lot of political connections. And then it went from there.

The Lieutenant Governor at Utah at the time was Spencer Cox. He would go on to become governor and he had very close connections to a business community called Silicon Slopes. And all these companies were very much involved in Silicon Slopes, the business community there in Utah. And so that's how they got the first contract. And then it went on to other states, thanks to Spencer Cox and thanks to, we found out some Republican lobbyist. They would go on to get contracts in Iowa and Nebraska and Tennessee and later Florida. And so that's where they got these contracts, thanks to a lot of Republican connections.

And when you go back to Utah, Senator Mitt Romney also helped get the testing process going. Because Co-Diagnostics, which provided the test and had been a money losing company, they ended up needing some help getting their test out of the Food and Drug Administration. And so Sen. Romney lobbied the Food and Drug Administration. And after he lobbied them, the test was approved. Now that doesn't mean the tests were faulty or they were dangerous, but they had been kind of tied up there for a few weeks compared to some other companies like a very big company called Thermo Fisher, which was a big national well-known molecular testing company. They got approved in one day. So these companies in Utah got a lot of help from Republican politicians. And we'll see in the story down the road, that these companies then gave back quite a bit of money in campaign contributions to help these Republicans who helped get them the contracts.

PJ Elliott:

So how much money did these companies make from these no-bid contracts?

Craig Harris:

Well, Nomi Health, what we calculated, received at least $219 million from Utah, Iowa, Nebraska, Tennessee, and Florida. Tennessee is an interesting story though. Tennessee gave a no-bid contract in excess of $20 million, but then their health department found that the test didn't work as they were supposed to, that at least was the allegation from the State of Tennessee. And so they ended up having to back out of their contract and paid about $6 million for about 45 days worth of work from Nomi.

Taylor Wilson:

For the full story, check out a link in today's episode description.

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Members of the House January 6th Committee expect the Secret Service today to meet a deadline for giving the panel reportedly deleted text messages that agents sent around the Capitol riot. A member of the committee, Congresswoman Elaine Luria, told CNN on Sunday that the committee needs to find out whether the Secret Service deleted text messages related to the riot. The committee subpoenaed the Secret Service last week for messages. Meanwhile, a trial has begun for former White House Advisor Steve Bannon for refusing to cooperate with the committee. He told the press that the committee is putting on a show trial.

Steve Bannon:

I think we'd have been more productive if we'd been on Capitol Hill in front of open mics, addressing the nation with exactly all this nonsense, this show trial they've been putting up on Capitol Hill. It's nothing but a show trial. It's time they start having other witnesses that can give other testimony, other than what they've been putting up.

Taylor Wilson:

Bannon faces contempt for his failure to appear for a deposition. He's argued that his testimony is protected by former President Donald Trump's claim of executive privilege.

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Inflation is hitting everyone and Gen Zers aren't any different, but what may be different is how they're fighting back against it. Producer PJ Elliot spoke with Brandon Griffin from LOCALiQ, part of the USA Today Network, about how they plan to meet the challenges on their terms.

Brandon Griffin:

Well, as we have seen in the news, inflation hit a 40-year high of 9.1% this month in June. And that hike in interest rates directly impacts Generation Z's ability to afford college. This is a generation that are going into college, or they're either going into the workforce. So by them going to the college, that's an increase in student debt. That increases. And then if they're graduating and going into the workforce, that's debt that they have to pay back almost immediately. So it's also impacting the type of job that they can select to go into.

PJ Elliott:

So what are Gen Zers doing differently to try to battle it from their perspective, compared to other generations?

Brandon Griffin:

Gen Z is battling it by making sure that they brush up on their transferable skills, like participating in organizations like Future Business Leaders of America. It's organizations like that that help students understand what they need to do for interviews, communication, those soft skills that will allow them to go from job to job. Because with this particular generation, they've only spent about two years in a particular job so far. And there was a CareerBuilder Survey that we talk about in the article that talks about how 20% of Millennials and Gen Z job seekers will probably leave a job within a month if they don't feel like it was advertised the way that it was when they were presented the job. And so this is a generation that no longer will work for the same company for 30 years, they're going to be moving from job to job. And so they need to be able to have these transferable skills that will allow them to get and be the most competitive employee possible.

PJ Elliott:

In your story, you wrote about something called revenge travel. Can you talk about that and explain what that is?

Brandon Griffin:

Revenge traveling is after spending months in quarantine, and this generation was deprived of social gatherings with peers, Gen Z is determined to travel again. According to a Expedia survey, nearly two thirds of Gen Z is planning revenge travel, and eight in 10 of the survey's participants are seeking unique experiences for their next trip. And so they've got this pent-up demand to want to go different places. And that's what this revenge travel is.

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The 92nd MLB All-Star Game is here. And it's the first time Los Angeles is hosting since 1980. LA Dodgers ace, Clayton Kershaw, will be the National League starting pitcher with a 2.14 earned run average going up against the American League's Shane McClanahan with an MLB leading 1.71 ERA. Los Angeles Angels superstar, Shohei Ohtani, will lead off for the AL as a designated hitter, but won't pitch this year after doing so in 2021. On the NL side, Washington Nationals star, Juan Soto, won't be in the starting lineup, but is at the center of baseball talks everywhere after the Nationals revealed he's on the training block as they rebuild. Soto won last night's Home Run Derby beating out Seattle Mariners' wunderkind Julio Rodriguez in the final round.

Taylor Wilson:

Thanks for listening to 5 Things. You can find us seven mornings a week right here, 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: House deadline for Secret Service texts, MLB All-Star Game: 5 Things podcast